DOA army meta game?

[Papa Hoth]

Hey All, I've decided to get back into 40k after a 2 year hiatus due to work (or the lack of and lack of cash). I had played BA during 3rd and 4th ed, but was underwhelmed by the pdf codex that came out about the same time my disposable income dried up. <_< However work has picked up, and I'm bored and feeling the itch to play again. I picked up the new codex last week and I've been working my way thru it. In third I ran a mech list with some jumpers, in 4th I ran a drop pod force, both a balanced mix of tactical shooty and assualt elements. However after looking thru the codex and playing with army builder, I can't find a list like them that I can say will work for me, or really excite me. So I started to think outside the box and look at an all assualt DOA army. So far, for an 1850 point list I'm thinking a core of 3 RA (2 squads anti tank bias with infernos, one with flamers), a libby, 2 priests, a VV squad, a shooty honnor guard squad (4 plasma guns) and the Sanguinor. Are there any common pit falls that I'm missing or not thinking of? Eventually I'd like to do some tourney play with this force as well. So any advice would be great! Thanks!

[Mezkh]

List looks good on paper. The hard part with DOA is fitting in all in points wise <_<

 

I always suggest that it's fundamental you have harder hitting units to back up the core of Assault Marines, which you have with the Sanguinor, and it depends on your VV are kitted out. But Sang Guard and the Death company are other options.

 

Also priests are expensive, you've effectively got 3 which could be one too many.

[Papa Hoth]

List looks good on paper. The hard part with DOA is fitting in all in points wise <_<

 

I always suggest that it's fundamental you have harder hitting units to back up the core of Assault Marines, which you have with the Sanguinor, and it depends on your VV are kitted out. But Sang Guard and the Death company are other options.

 

Also priests are expensive, you've effectively got 3 which could be one too many.

 

 

Thanks for the reply Mezkh. Yeah I have the VV kitted out reasonable well a squad of 6 of them with 2 power weapon and 2 fists. So they should put the hurt on most things. The RA's either have fists or a power weapon included on the sarges. Also the 2 independent SP have power weapons as well. So I think I've got a good sprinkling of them in.

 

I thought about DC, but there are a couple of problems with them I think. First with jump packs they are damn exspensive. I don't think that I can fit a full 10 strong squad in there. Also I'm worried about the rage rule. I don't like the idea of a unit I can't really control. I didn't see anything about a chappy leading them ignoring that rule like it used to. Did I miss that or are they going to be frothing loonies no matter what? Also, they don't count as a scoring unit. That means my 2 RA squads have big targets on them in an objective game.

 

Sanguinary Guard look interesting, but I'm not certain I can really find the points for them. Just looking at the codex, kitting them out nice looks like it would be about 235 for 5 guys who don't seem that much harder than a VV squad.

 

Also another question, looking at the Sanguinor, I don't see independent character on his skills. Is this a typo, or can he not join a squad?

[shatter]

The sanguinor is a single model unit.

 

resource thread

 

^^

Read that, especially the last few links within the list including 'Descent of Angels tips and tricks'.

 

See if what you've selected so far fits into established working unit mixes. I think it fairly well does and all you need now is some games under your belt.

 

Good luck, bud.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

DoA is a great way to go. I think you'll get the hang of it no time. The Sanguinor is a great choice as an HQ for this type of list.

 

G <_<

[Judaz]

First of all I'd take melta guns instead of infernos. Extra range and cheaper than the IP. 2 extra attacks don't really matter that much, not worth 10pts IMO.

I always take lightning claw instead of PW on the VV aswell, a LC is better than a PW on the charge, and thats what VV should do. I also give the VV sarg a TH, stunning is nice.

 

And like Mezkh said, 3 priests might be one too many. I'd rather try to get another librarian or a chaplain.

[Mezkh]

Sanguinor can't join a squad. He's basically like a sort of Daemon Prince. don't let that put you off - he's crazy good.

 

Death Company I don't run a squad of 10, just 5 or 6 with a couple of power weapons and a thunderhammer. Sure that's 270 points, but they tear stuff up like nothing else. WS5 is fantastic, and rerolling hits and wounds on the charge is brutal.

 

Yep they can't be controlled, but rage isn't much of a burden with a 12" JP move, as they drop down and then the enemy basically has to be 18" away. They can still charge any unit within 6" in the assault phase, it doesn't necessarily have to be the closest. Your first model has to move towards the closest unit only, and then the rest is moved as normal as long as you keep 2" coherency. So you can still pick a 'direction' to go.

 

Sang guard are actually fairly discounted. Consider a VV with a powerweapon is 45 points each . The Sanguard squad with a banner is about 46 points each, and they're basically trading heroic intervention for a 2+ save, reroll to hit (very handy with WS4) and improved bolt pistol.

 

They fill a different role, they back up your assault squads, not first in like Vanguard.

[BigBaals]

I use Astorath in my DoA list. His ability to confer Furious Charge/Fearless 50% of the time is awesome combined with Vanguard Vets, Sanguinary Guard, and Furioso's with Blood Talons. I also have an uncanny ability to roll 1's and 2's...

 

Astorath is also a pretty solid monster in close combat. Even if he gets charged he's going to take out a few at 3's to hit and 2's to wound. I haven't personally tried out Sanguinor, but Dante is another solid choice. He and his squad don't scatter when they land, so that usually means a tank will blow up! Combine that with a good Vanguard drop and that's a dead mech'd up squad. I got burned out on Dante during the AdobeDex though. Astorath is something new and shiney :-)

[Warboss John]

id say take meltas instead of infernus pistols, 3inches is alot! shorter than you think, and i may be melta crazy but id also reccomend taking meltas instead of plamaguns for your honor guard, even though the gets-hot rule isnt a problem with the novinate's FNP, the meltas are MUCH MORE terrifying :tu: !!! and this is just me but as a reccomendation for a heavy hitting unit, this is what i built and am taking to a local gamestore's casual leauge tomorrow:

 

Astorath 220pts

Honor Guard 250pts Blood champ -1

novinate -2

melta+banner -3 (chapter banner)

melta -4

powersword -5

 

Total = 470pts

 

it is a very expensive unit, but that is my "death star" persay, very vicious with furious charge and Astoraths re-roll-to-hits, AND Astorath's nasty re-roll sucessful invulns axe! statistically it (the squad + Astorath) will kill something like 5.23? (got it written on my math homework somwhere) THSS termies on the charge, to satisfy all those math-hammer heratics who dont have faith in the Emperor ;) :(

[Papa Hoth]

Thanks much guys, you've given me alot of food for thought here. I'm seeing the posibility of maybe another list with dante and including an SG unit. Hell maybe even an SG unit in my original list, by dropping a priest and cutting the flamer squad down to 5. Also you guys might be right about melta gun instead of inferno pistols. The extra range would come in handy. But I do have my heart kinda set on the 4 plasma gun honnor guard. Double tapping str7 ap2 just seems too damn good for a mobile fire support squad, plus they would be good against anything short of a LR or monolith. And if I need to I can always stand still and fire at 24" as well for a little suprise. Time to play with army builder a little bit. Decisions Decisions!

[BigBaals]

I love my Sanguinary Guard. Just watch out for those ST8 & AP2 weapons. I'll tell ya', I tried my SG + Priest with PW/JP inside a Stormraven the other day. WOW. It's a hard hitting unit that gets in your opponents face FAST. 2+ and 4+ FNP, yes, please, and thank you. I throw in the Furioso with Blood Talons and it turns into 3 units my opponents MUST deal with. More often than not, they completely forget about the Assault Squad with Astorath and the Vanguard Vets until it's far too late. I consider the 'Raven a DoA unit at least, as with the Furioso since it is able to get into combat as quickly as everything else due to the Raven.

 

I do think that Black Orange's choppy Honor Guard is more competitive to put inside a Raven though, if the competitive/tournament scene is your thing. Check out his blog, he's got a lot of awesome tips for DoA armies. Seriously, it's the internet DoA Bible.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Thanks BB ! ;)

 

My blog is in the link down in my sig.

 

G ;)

[BrotherMoses]

I would replace The Sanguinor in your list with Commander Dante. Dante has an ability that lets you land without error. With your shooty honor guard that would be really awesome. You could use dante to drop the honor guard right at 12" and fire 8 plasma shots.