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Defensive playing as BA... hm


calgaryBA

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I signed up for a little tournament on the 30th that requires either one 1500 all around list if you choose, or one 1500 offensive list and one 1500 defensive list depending on their scenarios. One thing is for sure though, I will have to defend a stronghold of some kind for half the games, and take it for the other half.

 

Herein lies the problem, I've never played a defensive game of 40k successfully, hence playing BA. I have quite the list of units to choose from, and time to get some more and paint them before the tournament.

 

What I need are some ideas on how to play BA defensively, and what units are associated with each idea. Also, I'm not used to playing at the low value of 1500, so my staple HQ, Mephiston might have to take a back seat, which scares the hell out of me.

 

From what i saw of the sign up, about half the players are SM with Ork, IG and chaos thrown into the mix. I signed up decently early, so there were still plenty of spots left for the unexpected.

 

Thanks a lot.

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tacticals, sternguard, devvis, and anything that makes them harder to kill, like priests (try corbs) and libbys with sheild. you can really just use te units you normally wouldnt cause they are too slow, ith a few assaulty squadto back up the line where needed. trmies would actually be ace...

Ahoy!

 

I play around the 1500 limit usually.

 

You have a few ways to go about doing this.

Since youre worried about points, my first suggestion of Astorath may not be best - but if you do consider it- fearless marines work perfectly for defensive games.

 

Also, although people really rate the 5man RAS Razor squads - the 10man Tactical Razor squads are just as good, if not better value for points.

 

300 points will get you a 10man squad with lascannon and heavy razorback that can either combat up, or stay in its 10man formation. If you combat up, the las goes in support and the razor helps out.

 

I would probably go for something like this ->

 

Libby - Termy Armour (Rage/Fear)

Corbulo

5 Terminators - AC (or Cyclone)

10 TAC - LasCan, Flmr, Fist

Razor - TLAC/TLPG-LC/TLLC

10 TAC - LasCan, Flmr, Fist

Rhino

Baal Pred -HBs

10 DEV - 4ML

Pred - LC Sponsons

 

Its a very decent shooty counter ( i think). You play nice and tight and everything supports everything else and you put out loads of dakka to bring the enemy to you.

I go through phases where I toss a few shooty BA lists on the table.

 

Tactical terminators, deployed on the board. Full squad. Pretty much impossible to shift without killing them all, and that's not easy. Don't point them at tanks, scythe down light vehicles and infantry.

 

Surprisingly, bike squads are good at counter charging, line support, and harassment in this context. Keep them cheap, toss on a couple flamers, and get to roasting. Kills ork mobs dead.

 

Sternguard are nice, period. They can be played as a normal tactical squad, dropped in, any number of ways. I've had success running them out of a standard Phobos Land Raider. LR keeps them safe, and those twin lascannons really do make a difference (my lascannon marine hates me, heh). On offense, I'd pod them, but on defense, that Land Raider has been ace for me.

 

Sanguinary priests. Enough said. Toss a couple along your battle lines.

 

Dreadnoughts are an workable choice here. Their slow speed doesn't matter as much if deployed next to a shooty squad. Big guard dog to the henhouse, so to speak. Orks kill them dead with Power Klaws though, so its something to consider.

 

As for shooty tanks, pick your poison, we have lots of good choices.

 

 

One concept that I had a hard time getting my head around was deploying and moving such a list. You have to keep your units close enough to support each other, because assault is not always your strong suit on the defense. However, keeping your units far enough apart to prevent getting multicharged is just as important.

 

Hope this helps, good luck.

mort - that essentially is a variant of your recent tourney list with dev's/terms/lib instead of the bikes/meph.

 

I do like lists like this - I am in the process of making my mech BA's more versatile should I want them (so having a tactical or 2 squads on hand, having devs/bikes/speeders and different preds). Also lists like these allow you to run quite easily as space marine standard codex if you feel like mixing it up or rocking a standard special character.

Defensive list :

 

Librarian

 

5 man assault with razorback no upgrade/upgade

5 man assault with razorback no upgrade/upgade

5 man assault with razorback no upgrade/upgade

10 death company in rhino

death company dread

death company dread

dakka dakka dread

las/missile dread

 

and what ever else points into whatevers

Defensive list :

 

Librarian

 

5 man assault with razorback no upgrade/upgade

5 man assault with razorback no upgrade/upgade

5 man assault with razorback no upgrade/upgade

10 death company in rhino

death company dread

death company dread

dakka dakka dread

las/missile dread

 

and what ever else points into whatevers

 

This is a joke right? Defensive list where 3 of your units you cannot control effectively? And no Sang Priest to help keep the RAS alive is just wrong in a defensive fight.

surelock - "The best defense is a strong offense."

 

"The best defense is not to offend." - Chuck Norris ( Right guard commercial) ^_^

 

I'm going to jump in here on the ban-wagon and say... sternguard, tacticals, preds, regular terminators and IMO dakka and hellfire dreads would work great.

They could even be used offensively. Slow but provide great cover fire while on the move.

 

Someone had already mentioned having a counter-assault unit or two. This is very wise 'cause it could happen!

 

J

Whirlwinds. Pinning slows the agressor allowing easier focus of fire on the enemy units not pinned that turn. They can also get wounds on models advancing behind a mech screen. 270 points gets you 3. Crazy cheap and with no sponsons, they pack together into a defensible block well.

I like (counter-)'assault geared' sternguard too. Big or small with 2 heavy flamers (assault weapons).

 

If you have a (dakka) SR, lemmie and minimal DC are an awesome firebase/countercharge combo.

I'm thinking about going all infantry on the defensive, with some priests to make it extremely difficult to route me out of the base. And i really like the idea of dusting off some tactical termies.

 

I'll post a link to the list when i post it.

 

 

EDIT: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.p...howtopic=212937

Don't tailor your list towards being defensive. Vanilla marines are for bunkering down , Not blood angels. Run 2 Lascannon razorbacks for holding down the fort if you must. also a general idea of the models you have available would help.

 

But generally it would be better to remain on the offensive with some long range firesupport.

corby- ever been suckerpunched? Thats the best way to win a defencive mission. Mobility comes second-place to durability in that situation, esp since our units cost a lot. A small/average counterattack unit and a good multi-role unit like tactical terms is a much better proposition than trying to misdirect the enemy and hope you can get him chasing shadows. If he keeps his eye on the objective, you need to be able to throw out as much firepower as possible pm you preserve your force till he makes it into combat, which is where you need the numbers to overwhelm him.
CalgaryBA, that's not a bad looking list. I'm still not so sure about Mephiston here. He could work, don't get me wrong. I just think tossing in Tycho for Rites of Battle might be a good idea. It's not like he's a total wimp in CC either. That would free up some points for a speeder, whirlwind, or attack bike. A MM attack bike would give you some more oomph in your shooting phase, since your anti tank firepower is good, but focused primarily on one unit that can't split fire since it's only 8 models and can't combat squad. With what you have listed, I think that a transport heavy army would give you difficulties, as there would be too many targets and not enough big guns to crack them. Of course, that's me talking, if you think what you've got works for your local gaming scene, then go with what you know. :lol:

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