Tourney Advice

[Fortunate Son]

Moved recently and facing some tough opposition.

 

I was recently at a tourney where the top 3 places were Tau, Tau, and Imperial Guard.

All 3 armies castled up and shot all comers... not exactly leafblower lists, but definitely effective.

 

There were also a horde ork and a can ork army. The can army had deff dreads, cans, and buggies.

Not exactly the best tournament armies, but mostly because of all the time the turns took. I imagine you just need to make the most of the turns you get against them, which boils down to target priority.

 

I've been playing 40k forever, but haven't gotten in nearly enough games lately. And most of the ones I've gotten have been against MEQ armies. I was just wondering, if I'm to have a chance at local tourneys, what would work best against these two styles. And obviously, I'll be facing both again.

[Malatox]

What kind of army do you yourself play?

Tactics wise it all depends on what you are using and how you play it.

 

Malatox

[Fortunate Son]

Looking at the Ard Boyz results and batreps has given me some ideas.

 

I've been playing a long time and have just about anything to choose from.

I wouldn't say there's a usual army list for me. I have mixed it up a good bit.

I've been playing light mech lists lately (ie. no LRs, although I have 4 of them)

But then again, I've been playing 1500 pts, not 2000 and that changes the game.

That's why I was looking for some advice.

[BOBMAKENZIE]

are the games usually at 2K or ???

 

Edit: A few rough example lists might help too.

[Morticon]

If you're playing 2k games, that's awesome.

 

There are loads of things that you can get in at that points level.

 

A jumpy (or rhino borne) fear libby is a great asset vs. Tau and some IG builds. Less against horde ork though. But, if his other power is Rage - it means you have options for everything, even orky hordes.

 

Mephy is a great all-comer HQ as hes a one man squad by himself.

 

 

Troop wise, depends what you're into. Shooty or assaulty - and as a result mech or doa or a combo.

I prefer a healthy combination.

Tau are fearsome at close range. The amount of medium-high strength shots they can put out at 12"is no ones business. So, DoA comes with its own host of probs.

 

Let us know what you've been rocking. It may help give us an idea of where youre standing.

[Fortunate Son]

Sample 1500 list:

Chaplain

9DC-2pf/bolter, 7 bp/ccw

Rhino

10 Tac-pf, fl, ml

SPriest-pw

Razorback-HB

10 Asst-pf, 2mg

Rhino

2 Attbikes-mm

Librarian- shield, sword

5 Scouts-snipers, ml

Dread- tlac,ml

Baal-HBS

-

The first half is take and hold, the second half is fire support.

 

But like was said, there's a lot that can be done at 2000 pts.

I've been looking at Mephiston, but I haven't used him in ages.

Seems like he's a beast in all the battle reports I read. (and if not, he'd at least draw fire)

 

I don't normally play DoA armies, but I've got enough jumpers from back in the Vet Asst squad days...

and I've got DC outfitted all sort of ways.

And I don't mind picking up some Drop Pods, but I'm not sure this is the answer.

 

I've built Stormraven/speeder squad lists that I like, and I've looked at fielding some of those LRaiders.

Either of these options get point-pricey with low model counts.

 

And honestly, haven't played regularly against Tau (or a great IG player) in about 8 years.

[AbusePuppy]

Tau hate being Flamer'd, since it can often bypass their Kroot screens (or kill them before they can be useful.) DoA also bypasses their Disruption Pods and Jump Packs make it much harder for them to effectively move-block you. They are not, however, complete pushovers and can lay down a terrific amount of shooting at point-blank range. Fear the Darkness is an excellent tool against them, as they have shoddy morale. Take out Pathfinder squads early to prevent them from denying you your cover saves. Make good use of those Fast vehicles- once you've gotten past their Kroot, they are dead. Tank shock, apply template weapons, etc.

 

IG are sorta like Tau, but they have more template/blast weapons to punish you with and are a more modern (and hence more flexible) book. Unlike Tau, they often hide their firepower inside transports; wreck those transports to expose it, which will also often cause problems for them via casualties, pinning tests, etc. Vendettas are obviously a high priority. Remember they have AV10 on the sides of a lot of their tanks, it's a big weakness.

 

Horde Orks are hilariously easy for most BA; just send in your Assault Marines with Priest bubbles up and watch them fall like wheat. If you have enough firepower, you can make multicharges to double up on your No Retreat! kills. Kan Wall is moderately difficult for DoA lists, but most other lists should smother it pretty badly. DoA can do some damage to it if you get the charge, though- you're just looking to need a bunch of sixes on those penetration rolls to do much. If you can focus your assaults properly, however, you should be able to wipe out a squad when you charge, assuming you Meltagun going in and have a Power Fist on the tail end of things. If you are getting charged, however, it is bad news.

 

In terms of the timeout issue... make sure the Ork player is playing with all due haste. He should really have some kind of measuring tool- even just a 6" stick of sprue works quite well to speed up play. Obviously you will be able to play faster than him, but if you are consistently only getting three turns done, then something is very wrong- you should at LEAST finish turn four in the vast majority of games. I played to turn six on all three of my 'Ard Boyz games using a Tyranid army with over 200 models in it, so there's really no excuse for someone with much experience with such a list to be grinding things to a halt unless they're doing it intentionally. (Another useful thing to do is to allow movement and Run moves to be rolled together, which is technically incorrect but can save a lot of time. If you do this I strongly recommend that you not allow him to Waaaagh on a turn that he measures in this way, however.)

[BOBMAKENZIE]

thats a pretty solid list. Nothing jumps out at me as being easily revised to make it better.

[Zagman]

A Blood Talon Furioso in a Pod can really really ruing an Ork player's day. So can 7 packless DC with one Fist out of an SR or LRC!

 

A Fear of the Darkness Libby will trash most Tau and non Meched IG squads. Having him in a Rhino is even better. Give him shield and he can increase the survivability of your units.

 

A 5 man packless assault squad in a LR is a solid objective holder with some long ranged output. Also very difficult for a guard player that isn't packing melta in a Valk or Vendetta. If the IG are meched up TLAC/LC Preds are a great AT option.

 

Mephy is an absolute tank, but you'll find him severely lacking against horde orcs. You need to avoid getting him locked in assault with lots of boyz and hidden power klaws. He's hilarious against Kans thouth!

 

You have a ton of options besides these. Tons.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I see Tau as being the easier army to beat. Guard is going to require more work and thinking on your part. Versus Tau a couple of can wreck them with a long strung out multi charge.

 

G

[Black Memories]

Important thing to remember against Tau is he will probably blow up a lot of your transports quickly. Just keep running at him. Both the last two times I played against tau all my transports were gone by turn 2 pretty much, yet i still won convincingly.

 

The only thing i'd change about your list is picking up mephiston. He's going to terrorize against orks, ig, and tau. An absolute beast. Even if you lose him, he'll do irreparable harm to your opponent's forces. There aren't many units in the game better than giving your an opponent a nice kick to his knees than mephiston. Consider giving him a shot.

[Fortunate Son]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Will be adding Mephiston and I'll let you know how it goes.

[AbusePuppy]

Mephy is total overkill against Tau. Two ASM getting into combat will kill most Tau units- Mephiston is using the proverbial sledgehammer on a fly.

[Brother Nathan]

if hes casteling then possibly consider using vanguard, very little they can do to stop them... :)