BA Death Star?

[Stormshadow]

Hi all!

 

I am a Grey Knight player my self, but I am trying to help out a friend. And therefore I am wondering: What is the most powerful “Death Star” in the BA codex?

[knife&fork]

Hi all!

 

I am a Grey Knight player my self, but I am trying to help out a friend. And therefore I am wondering: What is the most powerful “Death Star” in the BA codex?

 

Assault terminators with furious charge and FNP are pretty scary. We have lot's of other hard hitting stuff, but it's either specialised on MEQ or lower or not nearly as durable. Mephiston, death company (with Lemartes, embedded uber chaplain that can't be singled out) and talon dreads comes to mind.

[DreadLift]

I go with a LRC, Assault Termies, 4 x TH and SS, 1 LC with Sanguinary priest. Sometimes I chuck in a Libby in TDA as well, point at enemy and kill enemy, rinse and repeat :tu:.

 

Another is Death company with a Blood Talon Dread flying around in a Storm Raven. That's quite nasty ^_^

[Drachnon]

Depends on how much points you want to spend as well as the rest of your list. A JP honour guard with banner power weapons/fists + librarian and or relcusiarch attached can already deal a lot of damage for about 400 to 500 points. If you have more to spend you can look into other things like terminators in a storm raven with priest and reclusiarch (S5 lightning claws with reroll to hit and wound are pretty fun).

 

Making death stars is pretty easy for blood angels though, we have plenty of force multiplies in the form of:

Librarians (reroll to hit power and/or 5+ cover power)

Reclusiarchs (reroll to hit on charge)

Chaplains (in case you already have 2 HQ's)

Priests (pretty much a must for any death star)

 

combine those with a variety of assault units and fast transports and your friend should be able to come up with something.

[toaae]

Death Company probably have the most potential, but Rage and no invulnerable make them tricky to reach that potential. That said, Lemartes is up there on the list of "characters-that-will-mess-stuff-up", once he takes that first wound.

 

Mephiston is a one-man wrecking ball.

 

Assault terminators are durable and deadly. Their slow speed is their biggest problem, followed by the fact that they require independent characters to reach their potential. In order to overcome their speed problem, you have to put them in a land raider or a storm raven, which limits the size of the squad.

[Leonaides]

and for a contrary viewpoint- you're looking to help him and you are looking to foist a death-star unit on him... Those two statements dont necessarily go hand in hand. Regretfully, i suspect that if he hasn't been able to spot some of these units already on his own he probably wouldn't know what to do with one. And i dont mean that in a bad way. A death-star unit is very easy to use...... badly. Its much harder to use well, and if he doesn't already get the tactical uses of normal units, then a death-star unit is simply more points in one place to waste. Perhaps a clarification of why he needs this help would be useful... What beneficial purpose do you think this unit would serve in his army? To throw it straight at your death-star unit until one side gets slaughtered?

[Grizzly Adams]

In my lists, what has always worked well for me is:

 

Lemartes/Chaplain/Reclusiarch

7-10 Death Company

---3x Power Weapons, 1x Power Fist

Death Co. Dreadnought

---Blood Talons

Stormraven

 

This unit/units is capable of taking out almost anything, its amount of attacks is staggering. The nice thing is that it is fast, and is versatile, as you can throw the dc and the dread at multiple targets. The dread and the DC complement each other well, and make up for the other's deficiencies. I am not going to say it is the end all be all, but in my setups it is the most effective unit i have come up with. The Raven makes them so fast that the opponent is forced to deal with them on turn one, leaving the rest of my army pretty safe.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Here is the best deathstar:

 

Furioso dreadnaught w. 2x Bloodfist, extra armor & heavy flamer

Epistolary w. jump pack, Unleash Rage & Sanguine Sword

Honor Guard w. jump pack & banner - 2x (lc & ss), pair of lc, th|ss

 

Put them all in a Stormraven and have fun with it.

 

G

[glayvin34]

Yeah, BA are a great deathstar army. I usually play at 2,000 points and I've tried:

 

Land Raider

9x Death Company with 2x PWs and 1 Hammer

Reclusiarch

-This one is great for wiping non-assault specialists in one turn or tarpitting more dangerous foes for a few turns until they die (like nob bikers). More or less a one-shot unit, so deploy them in the center of the enemy lines or pick your target carefully.

630 points

 

Stormraven

DC Dreadnought w/ Talons

10x Assault squad, 2x melta and a PF

Chaplain

-The AS can take out any non-assault specialist but I would be careful of the bigger fighty units, and the dread can take out almost anything.

560 points

 

Mephiston

-Kills tanks, small squads and ICs. Also small enough to hide behind a Rhino. He cut down 2 Land Raiders in 2 turns for me last night. Just remember than PWs and plasma are bad for him, but he ALWAYS makes his points back when he hides behind some things and then pops out in turn 2 or 3. He can even take on terminator squads of 5 or less.

250 points

 

I always balance the above out with a ton of cheap units, like 4 5x Assault squads in las/plas Razorbacks or 6 Land Speeders or something like that.

[Quixus]

@Black Orange: Hmm I'm thinking about nearly the same deathstar. Why do you take the Blood Fists? I'd prefer the Meatgrinder Furioso (F Dread with Talons). You have Antitank with Sanguine Sword, the Thunderhammer, the Dread's Meltagun and possibly with the Stormraven's armament (Multimelta, AC/Lascannon).

Maybe magnetizing the Talons/fists would be a good idea.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I take the DCCWs to insta gib TWC.

 

G :rolleyes:

[Grizzly Adams]

Here is the best deathstar:

 

Furioso dreadnaught w. 2x Bloodfist, extra armor & heavy flamer

Epistolary w. jump pack, Unleash Rage & Sanguine Sword

Honor Guard w. jump pack & banner - 2x (lc & ss), pair of lc, th|ss

 

Put them all in a Stormraven and have fun with it.

 

G :tu:

 

BO, that is one nasty lil squad, with some big stick hitting power. Do you ever run into issues with a lack of attacks or with big squads with it?

[Hannibal.Lictor]

I have 2 Death Stars in my list. I run Dante with a SG. I also have a assault termie squad with liby in TDA with SS. I have a libby dread with wings that follows Dante around and I have another furioso dread cruise with the termies in a SR. The SG squad is a troop so they can cap points and what not. To back Dante up I have started running a HG with 4 meltas. I make sure that they keep Dante and crew in the FNP bubble. Dante hits at I7 with 7 attacks at str5. (I have a banner). Then you have 20 attacks at I5 also at str5. You can have a total of 6 rerolls due to master crafted. The HG can chime in with 20 or so attacks in that round as well at I5. My biggest problem is having to take incoming fire after I consolidate.

 

Having two hard hitting units divides the attention of your opp.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Here is the best deathstar:

 

Furioso dreadnaught w. 2x Bloodfist, extra armor & heavy flamer

Epistolary w. jump pack, Unleash Rage & Sanguine Sword

Honor Guard w. jump pack & banner - 2x (lc & ss), pair of lc, th|ss

 

Put them all in a Stormraven and have fun with it.

 

G :P

 

BO, that is one nasty lil squad, with some big stick hitting power. Do you ever run into issues with a lack of attacks or with big squads with it?

 

Not really - with the banner on the charge Libby is throwing down five attacks, each HG with LC|SS is throwing down four attacks apiece, HG with pair of LC is throwing down five attacks and HG with TH|SS is throwing down another four attacks plus the Furioso is throwing down four as well if he joins their melee. All attacks with LC reroll hits and wounds... There's not much that can stand up to that level of abusiveness.

 

 

Here is another awesome deathstar...

 

Recluisarch

Corbulo

5x assault terminator - 3x TH|SS & 2x pair of LC

 

Load them up in a Stormraven with a Furioso and go kill something ! :lol:

 

G

[Hannibal.Lictor]

Must agree, a furioso is a must have in a death star. WS6 dread with AV 13, 'nough said. Go blender hands vs mob, fists vs mech and profit.

 

Oh and grapple. I cant say how awesome this is. I shoot it first and with a good chance drag a rhino/raider/serpent to with in a n inch then blast it with my melta. Most often this pops the thing and you can assault the softies inside.

[Deschenus Maximus]

While there's many ways to do deathstars (of varying levels of goodness), I would tend to say that they are not necessary in a BA army. Reason being that BA basic troops are already profficient at melee thanks to Priests and also because BA armies tend to be low on bodies. Investing a lot of points into a few models just amplifies that weakness. YMMV

[Grizzly Adams]

Must agree, a furioso is a must have in a death star. WS6 dread with AV 13, 'nough said. Go blender hands vs mob, fists vs mech and profit.

 

Oh and grapple. I cant say how awesome this is. I shoot it first and with a good chance drag a rhino/raider/serpent to with in a n inch then blast it with my melta. Most often this pops the thing and you can assault the softies inside.

 

now i may be wrong, but isn't a magna grapple a ranged attack, therefore it and the melta would be shooting simultaneously, therefore you couldn't shoot one, drag it then shoot the other?

[JamesI]

Must agree, a furioso is a must have in a death star. WS6 dread with AV 13, 'nough said. Go blender hands vs mob, fists vs mech and profit.

 

Oh and grapple. I cant say how awesome this is. I shoot it first and with a good chance drag a rhino/raider/serpent to with in a n inch then blast it with my melta. Most often this pops the thing and you can assault the softies inside.

 

now i may be wrong, but isn't a magna grapple a ranged attack, therefore it and the melta would be shooting simultaneously, therefore you couldn't shoot one, drag it then shoot the other?

You are correct, Grizzly.

[BOBMAKENZIE]

I propose 30 Death Company, Jump packs and Dual Thunderhammers on each.

[JamesI]

I propose 30 Death Company, Jump packs and Dual Thunderhammers on each.

With Lemartes attached.

[Quixus]

I propose 30 Death Company, Jump packs and Dual Thunderhammers on each.

With Lemartes attached.

LOL 2940 points for one unit.

Give them all Powerfists, paint them yellow and call them Angry Marines :D It's really cheap too 2650

[knife&fork]

While there's many ways to do deathstars (of varying levels of goodness), I would tend to say that they are not necessary in a BA army. Reason being that BA basic troops are already profficient at melee thanks to Priests and also because BA armies tend to be low on bodies. Investing a lot of points into a few models just amplifies that weakness. YMMV

 

Not having any real hard hitters is a weakness too. You'll simply have no effective way to deal with your opponents deathstar.

[Stormshadow]

@Leonaides:

Bothe I and my friend have enjoyed playing Death Stars fore quite some time, but we have slightly different approaches to them. I fore example prefer durability and staying power and tend to lean towards Terminator, Land Raiders and the like. My friend on the other hand, favours speed, fines and damage output, and is therefore more fond of jump packs, Storm Ravens, myriads of attacks, and so on. He has made several attempts to pot together Death Stars for the new BA codex, but we have both found them a bit under whelming… I continue to scream TERMINATORS at him but he is reluctant to los the mobility and damage output of a jump pack oriented unit. To bypass my partialness I decided to find out what other BA players think so that I could better help my friend to work out a more suitable Death Star.

 

I must say that I am growing fond of Black Oranges suggestion, “Epistolary w. jump pack, Unleash Rage & Sanguine Sword

Honor Guard w. jump pack & banner - 2x (lc & ss), pair of lc, th|ss”

 

The three SS’s shod make the unit quit resilient :D

 

Thanks for all the help every one!

[BOBMAKENZIE]

I propose 30 Death Company, Jump packs and Dual Thunderhammers on each.

With Lemartes attached.

 

good catch James *Mod Hug* :P

[BA.Rauk]

When it's time to get serious I put down the joke units and often run the tried and true :

Reclusiarch, Priest w/ 5 Assault terminators (3 TH/SS) in a LRC w/ EA and MM

And on top of that, I have Meph following them up to either combo assault some things or to just throw the whole thing into an opponents death star and rip it apart in one round of combat. Haven't lost it to another Death Star yet. Expensive? Yes. Absolutely deadly and able to practically solo a good number of armies (or in objective missions guarantee they won't be holding their own objective) very yes.

 

The Libby + Honor guard in the SR with the Furioso attached is also an incredibly punchy prospect. Then there's Dante, Priest, Libby and Chaplain attached to a SG with banner. Yet another big choppy unit of choppiness.