Another newcomer starting an army

[rex303]

I've read these boards a bit and have found some useful advice, I'm a new player trying to build an army to get the dice rolling.

 

me and my friends decided to start slowly with a 500 point army, and then move on from that nucleus, so I have been putting down a few ideas and would like some advice on these lists:

 

List 1 (498)-

 

HQ:

Reclusiarch (130)

 

Troops:

Death Company (4 marines) (80)

Tactical (10 marines) with Rocket launcher and Flamer (170)

Assault (6 marines) (118)

 

List 2 (498)-

 

HQ:

Reclusiarch (130)

 

Troops:

Death Company (4 marines) (80) with Rhino (50)

Assault (6 marines) (118)

 

Heavy:

Devastator (5 marines) with 3 rockets (120)

 

List 3 (493)-

 

HQ:

Reclusiarch (130)

 

Troops:

Death Company (4 marines) (80) with Rhino (with hunter missile) (60)

Assault (6 marines) (118)

 

Heavy:

Dreadnought (105)

 

ok, the first list was the original one I came up with. it should be pretty flexible with the tac split up in two squads and the chaplain + dc and assault team to rush the enemy. a bit light on the AT, but at 500 points it shouldn't be a problem, I suppose.

 

second list was done to give a rhino to dc + chaplain, so for fire support I inserted the devastators instead of the tacs, giving them more punch with the rockets to make up for the less volume of fire.

 

third list came to use the dread that came out from Assault on Black Reach and because I think it can be a pretty tough target at 500 points and might come useful in future expansions of the army (along a furioso dreadnought). the dread should make up for the missing AT with the multimelta and it can charge forward with the rest of the army. the hunter missile on the rhino was a way to use the extra points and it gives me a free shot at something from long range.

 

which list would be better as is and as a base for a future larger army build?

 

then I had a question abou the rules, chaplains used to be able to control DC, that is not the case anymore as I see in the 5th edition codex, right?

 

thanks in advance for the help.

[Taranis]

Welcome brother.

 

I would prefer list 2. Good combination of range and cc.

In the long run you will have to decide between mech or jump.

Chaplains no longer control dc, sadly.

 

Happy hunting.

T.

[rex303]

a couple more noobish questions: I have seen assault terminators are pretty popular, is this not the case with BA, even with a mech build and putting them on land raiders?

 

or I could see them on drop pods/deep strike with JP units.

 

are there too many better units for these builds rather than terminators?

 

do regular dreads have a use for the BA, or is the furioso just better (even if it eats up an elite slot)?

 

I can't really decide if I should go fully mechanized or JP, I would like to keep both and some flexibility, is it so much less effective not to go with a "pure" mech or JP list?

[bulley]

Welcome rex, glad to have another BA into the fold.

 

Firstly your 2 lists;

 

I think both are nice starting lists. I am sure you will see me say this again, but I am not a fan of DC in my normal lists (thought I'd happily play a all DC army in a fun game!) I have to go against my fello brother above and say I prefer list 1. I am not a fan of dreads at low point games, when I do 750 games (which I do a fair bit) a few guys bring dreads to me thinking they'll be the end of a an army, and I find they just get stuck at the back not doing much. I like the tacticals as they can combat squad - 1 sat at the back poping off misiles and generally trying to be a hard nut to crack, the others deployed forward to give mid range support for thos DC and ASM's going into combat. Though I am a fan of mech, so getting in even a rhino at 500 makes me smile. But 500 games are so quick, have a go with both! see which one you enjoy.

 

Onto your second post;

 

Assault Terms are v.popular - namely in vanilla marine lists (thunder hammer w/ vulkan or with a libby that can get rid of invul saves = godly). I personally have run a squad of x3 LC and x2 TH w/ a libby and priest in a raider, and they eat stuff for breakfast, only prob is that at 1500 I can only fit the single raider in and it does start to eat a lot of fire power. However at 1750 or 2000 I will dust it off again. They are mighty and pretty much put them against anything and they'll get results. One list I am desperate to try out is a triple raider list w/ 2 assault term squads and some Assault Marines in it, looks like fun.

 

I am not the biggest fan of dreads any more - I used to love them back in 2nd and 3rd ed. Again in vanilla marines the x2 AutoCannon dread is a nice fire suppresion device, and while I've seen alot of people run furioso's I find they get imob'd or shaken before they can get to charge range (though I had one that literally fell 1" short of my troops before I melta'd it to imob'd!).

 

As for the mech vs jp - do what I am doing now, magnetise your JP troops - that way you can run them as both versions without having to have double the amount of troops. I prefer mech, but feel I should have the option to run most BA lists - hense why I am also making as many turret options for my razors as well (including flamers for a immo spam style list!)

[rex303]

thanks for the advice.

 

well this army should be just a stepping stone for a 1000 point army and maybe a 1500 point one. I would like to use units that well in (slightly, I'm probably never going to field an army bigger than 1500) larger caps too.

 

so terminators, as I see, are probably out of the question, I will keep the models and maybe when I have a 1500 point army I can cut some stuff and fit some assault terminators in a raider and go for a larger sized army.

 

I'm going to try out the three lists and see what works better, I'm very interested at seeing what the dread accomplishes (even in the future, with larger armies). as for the rhino/devastator vs. larger tactical I'll probably try both, since I have all the stuff.

 

my doubts are mainly on how to build on this list, now. an option could be just to merge the list and create a 1k point army that way. so I would field two HQs (a second hq in that point range might be a librarian, I see they are pretty popular, or maybe I could go with a librarian and turn the reclusiarch in a regular chaplain), the DC + chap on rhino and a couple assault squads and a tactical squad. for support I could go with the devs and/or dread (if it proves useful) or I could look at some new models, such as bikes with meltas or land speeders with meltas, both seem to be popular in low point BA armies on the net.

 

if needed I could drop the tactical and go for more JP, maybe a VV. but I don't know if having three units with JP, one in a Rhino and a some vehicle/static firing unit is a good idea. it may be too dispersive. but as I said I do have all of the stuff, so the best way could be just to try it out.

 

are DoA or mech lists feasible at 1000 or 1500 points or is a more balanced approach better?