Having trouble against IG

[Zynk Kaladin]

So my buddy and I played another game on Friday. Let me set the stage up with the lists. Mine was:

 

Libby(prescience)

Honorguard(x4 melta, x2 flamer)

Sang Priest(JP)

10 sternies(x6 combimeltas, meltabombs)

x2 10 RAS(x2 melta, meltabombs)

x2 2 attack bikes(MM)

Raven(MM, TLLC)[carried sternies and libby]

 

His was:

 

Command Squad(x4 plasma) with chimera

x2 10 man vets(x3 plasma) with chimera(HB)

x2 10 man vets(x3 melta)

x2 russes(plasmacannon sponsoons)

x2 hydra

x2 vendetta[carried melta vets]

 

Honestly, I did not expect the vendettas. He proxied them knowing full well I was going to try out my new Raven that game. I understand he wants to test their effectiveness, but I only expected the hydras... I really wanted to try out a Prescience sternguard squad and a raven. Obviously, it did not go well. Anyway, we rolled for mission and deployment and got Relic and Hammer and Anvil(which really screwed my reserved raven idea). We did not get night fighting on first turn(further screwing my plans). He chose me to go first. He also turtled up in a corner like a coward using the plasmavets and chimeras as bubblewrap.

 

I used the bikes to form a wall for my RAS and priest as both made way across the board. This is a great combination and they survived well enough during the first turn of shooting. My honorguard deep struck and flamed a vet squad and the raven came in and moved 36". In hindsight, perhaps I should have deep struck the raven as well and plopped my sternguard down. I was reluctant to do so because the deep strike formation makes great targets for his russes. Or maybe I should have hovered in my deployment zone and got the jump on his vendettas. Either way, it went badly. His vendettas entered play and with the combined firepower of the hydras, my raven and sternies didnt have a chance... I knew I could "evade" my raven and get a 5+ save, but I didn't know I had to roll for evade right after his to hit rolls. He already rolled to penetrate/glance when I looked up the evade rules and he didn't allow me to roll them anyway. Fine...

 

The rest of the game was just terrible melta damage chart rolls and me not being able to do anything effective. What was left of one of my RAS squads I sent to retrieve the relic died quick and the only point I got was First Blood. He pretty much crippled my army by turn 3.

 

In conclusion, I find playing against IG very frustrating on varied levels. I'm going to try to play less aggressively next time and see how that goes. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Dallas Drake]

Well first off, that's a real hard list for your SR.

 

I played a similar IG list last night, same mission & deployment too. I lost 1-0 (only because he got First Blood). But we decided it was pretty much a draw since I killed ALL of his troops. I find Relic is a hard mission, mainly because you need troops to sit on the objective & then they're slow getting it away... Anyway;

 

My opponent ran something like (not too great on IG structure);

 

Plasma Command Squad in Chimera

Plasma Vets in Chimera

2 x Infantry Squad in Chimeras with 1 Lascannon & 1 Missile Launcher team.

2 Leman Russ

Medusa

Melta Vets in Vendetta

Aegis with Quad Gun

Marbo

 

So, it's a little similar to your opponent though probably not so (anti) flyer heavy.

 

I must say your opponent is a bit harsh for not letting you roll your evade, 40k is a game, it's about having fun & as far as I'm concerned that kind of thing just creates ill-feeling & nobody enjoys those games.

 

Tactically - he knew that by giving you the 1st turn your flyer would liker enter play on your turn 2 & then his could come on & take yours out, I'd expect as much. I'm not sure I could do any better but I think I'd start my Librarian & Sternguard on the board & footslog into a position covering the Relic, lets see him advance on that with you using Prescience on Special Ammo!

 

I'd Zoom the SR onto the board & then just try to unload everything at either/or his Plasma Vets Chimeras or his Hydras. I'm not sure what your load out is but I use TL-Lascannons, TL-Multimelta. That's 2 x Bloodstrikes & a TL-Lascannon at one of them & then a POTMS TL-Multimelta to finish it off another, or 3 x Bloodstrikes (1 using POTMS), TL-Lascannon & a TL-Multimelta on just one of them, depending on range etc. I'd probably aim to take out both Hydras if I was close enough. If both Hydras were unable to shoot the SR then it's up to his Vendettas.

 

Vendettas - They're BS3, if I remember correctly they're twin-linked so we'll give him (for both) 4.5 hits, you evade 1/3 or 1.5 so that's 3 hits, S9 vs. AV12 = 1/2 so that's 1.5 pens. It's not great for the SR but it's not that bad; this is just maths anyway, last night my opponent fired his 3 x TL-Lascannons at my Tacticals, rolled a 1,1,2. We both lolled as he picked up the dice to us his TL, he rolled 2,1,3. Hey, these things happen! If your SR survived then it might have been a different battle!?

 

That's the best advice I can give you mate, sounds like you did nothing wrong & just got unlucky against a pretty sound list (can't wait till he come up against an army with skyfire & no flyers though :tu:

 

A few observations on your list...

 

1) Why are you running your Librarian & Sternguard in the Stormraven? I can understand you want to use its speed etc but a Drop Pod will do pretty much the same thing for hundreds of points less. I personally think you need to either run your SR as an assault transport or as a gunship. You are so exposed when you Hover that I prefer to keep Zooming around. If you want to use it to drop melta then take JP Honour Guard & use Skies of Blood. You can still shoot everything on the SR too. I personally ran 10 DC with a few power axes & a Chaplain in mine, lets just say they erased whatever they charged (which was his troops - if I can't win then he can't win!

 

I'd also say that if you want to run your Librarian with Sternguard, do it in a Rhino & play to dominate the mid-field. You want those combi-weapons 'in case' you get an opportunity (& you will). Use Prescience with Special Ammo & you will have a great time making it hard for anyone to take objectives, Librarians should not really be in melta or plasma strike teams IMO.

 

- Dallas

[SnorriSnorrison]

In addition to what Dallas Drake said, I'd drop the Sternguard completely. Replace them with Terminators(the shooty ones) and roll up the tanks after you deepstruck. Together with your honour guard you should be able to pop 2 tanks per round, while being very resiliant against any kind of fire, thanks to your FnP and 2+ save.

 

Sanguinary Guards are also great this edition. Some infernus pistols and they're good to go.

 

Give your Libby a JP and put him in the Assault Squads. They need support and the libby is the best they can get. Re-rolling your meltas is very important. Upgrade to an Epistolary if you can! The psychic dominance is yours, use it!

 

 

 

Since the veterans aren't your problem, you could boost your SR on the battlefield and nuke a tank from above(no coversave I'd imagine?), nuke more tanks with your honour guard and Multimelta-attack bikes. You should be in Melta-range with them on turn 2.

 

the vendettas are probably the biggest problem. So, in opposite to what I suggested above, nuke them instead of the hydras. Leave them for your deepstriking troops and attack bikes. The SR can move 18" and fire all it's weapons, and two very good anti-tank weapons fired at a squadron of flyers should do the trick. Just go for it, you will lose much more if you don't try to get rid of them.

 

 

 

And...get rid of your tough luck. :)

 

 

 

 

Snorri

[Ushtarador]

I'd also advise podding the sternguard and putting some termies or a dreadnaught in the raven. Then zoom in 36'' and jump out with skies of blood if he has lots of anti-air. If he lets you go first because he wants to hit your raven, you usually have to weather only 1 phase of shooting before you can mop up all of his stuff in melee. Two vendettas won't win him the game if you manage to kill his ground units, 6 lascannons kill only about 2 marines if you have decent cover saves.

In general, if you're a shooty army, letting a fast assault-based army go first isn't worth it, even if you can hit his flyer before he can hit yours, because you lose 1 whole turn of shooting with the rest of your army. I played versus IG yesterday and he had FIVE flyers, while I only fielded my single raven, but I only lost the game in turn 7 because I made two rather big errors - and I would have won the game if it had ended in turn 5. While I couldn't get rid of them, I had most of his ground stuff cleaned up by turn 3 because so many of his points were bound in flyers.

 

edit:/ I strongly advise against playing less aggressively, I feel that IG will outshoot anyone with ease. On the contrary, rush forward and kill his tanks and plasma-weapons, then he'll be helpless.

[Zynk Kaladin]

@Dallas Drake

 

Yea not being able to evade really sucked, but in all honesty I think 8 TLAC and 6 TLLC shots still would have gotten through. I'll just make sure when my buddy messes up a rule due to innocent ignorance I'll pay him back kindly.

 

You know, footslogging the sternguard would have been a great idea. I really should have stayed back and forced him to move his army closer. His battlecannons scare the piss out of me, but I think I had enough cover to make it manageable. This would have lengthened the game enough to be effective later on for objective nabbing. For some reason I have this insatiable desire to bring the fight to my enemy.

 

I think next time I will go with the drop pod for sternguard as you suggest. I decided not to do so this game because my raven is brand new and I was very excited to use it. I also wanted to try prescience sternguard! Combining the two ideas was easy enough considering I only expected 2 hydras. I also think its pretty thematically awesome having a squad, guns blazing whilst exiting an air transport! Too bad it's not as effective as I hoped. :(

 

I love the idea of Death Co in a raven, but I don't know how I would use them against a list like his. Sure they chew troops into oblivion, but I'm always worried about being nuked by high strength, low ap weapons. Considering he turtles up, I have a hard time breaking his vehicles, too.

 

@Snorri

 

I've found that Murphy's Law ALWAYS applies to me. Do I have to sacrifice a goat or something for better luck? I think it's time for less aggressive play and more forgiving tactics. ;)

 

The thing about tactical terminators is his abundance of melta, plasma, lascannons, and pie plates. Sure I get a 5++ save, but they're so expensive for a unit that's probably going to die on his turn (like my sternies :) ). When I deep strike I can expect to be nuked to oblivion. I can't slag a russ effectively because of his turtle position where he bubble wraps his tanks with vets and chimeras. I also always seem to scatter on my deep strike rolls, so I always take that in to effect even if it's just 6". It's hard to find spots to squeeze my units in.

 

I would LOVE some sanguinary guard, but with his abundance of high strength, low ap weapons I would have a heart attack just fielding them. Really his list laughs at my armor saves when I get too close.

 

I'll try the libby with the RAS. I used to run a sword/shield libby, but I want to try some divination powers.

 

Nuking tanks and chimeras was my plan... but I only got 1 chimera that entire game! He deployed as far back into a corner as possible(the exact opposite of where I deployed) and my raven wasn't close enough to utilize melta effectively enough. The bikes didn't do so well on turn 2 either. I had hoped the raven would punch through one of his russes side armor with a TLLC and 2 bloodstrike missiles, but alas... nothing. I just hate being screwed because I can't reliably punch through his turtle defense.

 

@Ushtarador

 

I would love to be able to chew through his ground units, but I have never been able to do that... ever. His abundance of armor usually keeps him alive while attrition whittles my army's effectiveness down. I don't really have an effective army by the time I get into CC with his stuff. If I deep strike near him, his battlecannons and special weapons eat up the bunched up units. If I jump pack towards him, he usually gets 2 turns of shooting... lots of shooting. It sucks.

 

 

Thanks for the advice so far, guys. I'll take it to heart.

[Lysere]

While I'm not sure how BA would do it best I have a regular opponent who is IG. A big thing to remember is even if they take units for it they are pushovers in CC. His tanks are only tough in the front, and his squads have terrible armor saves. (They pay quite a bit to give vets a 4+, and it looks like he didn't) Units that can lay down solid short range firepower or can do well in CC are usually best. If they can do both then even better.

 

Also remember that a Russ with plasma sponsons rolls gets hot, and shaking it makes it so most of the guns it can have can't fire. Be aggressive, but be smart about it. Avoid overkill where possible. If your squad has an IC with them and they can already destroy a squad in one go, separate them, or multi-charge even. You want to win in his phase not yours.

 

One last thing, take some drop pods instead of a SR maybe, and if he boxes himself in, drop in with some flamers of various kinds and ruin his day.

[Dallas Drake]

In addition to what Dallas Drake said, I'd drop the Sternguard completely. Replace them with Terminators(the shooty ones) and roll up the tanks after you deepstruck.

 

Can you explain how you would use the Terminators? I'm not quite seeing how they would hurt tanks on the turn they DS (are you arming them with Assault Cannon/Cyclone?).

 

Give your Libby a JP and put him in the Assault Squads. They need support and the libby is the best they can get. Re-rolling your meltas is very important. Upgrade to an Epistolary if you can! The psychic dominance is yours, use it!

 

I agree. An Epistolary with Prescience & Iron Arm (or Enfeeble) makes RAS quite tasty!

[Zynk Kaladin]

While I'm not sure how BA would do it best I have a regular opponent who is IG. A big thing to remember is even if they take units for it they are pushovers in CC. His tanks are only tough in the front, and his squads have terrible armor saves. (They pay quite a bit to give vets a 4+, and it looks like he didn't) Units that can lay down solid short range firepower or can do well in CC are usually best. If they can do both then even better.

 

Also remember that a Russ with plasma sponsons rolls gets hot, and shaking it makes it so most of the guns it can have can't fire. Be aggressive, but be smart about it. Avoid overkill where possible. If your squad has an IC with them and they can already destroy a squad in one go, separate them, or multi-charge even. You want to win in his phase not yours.

 

One last thing, take some drop pods instead of a SR maybe, and if he boxes himself in, drop in with some flamers of various kinds and ruin his day.

 

Ah, I forgot the plasma sponsoons roll gets hot. I always forget these little details so I'm writing this down! Thanks!

 

Perhaps another RAS squad with another MM bike screen. I feel that the Hammer and Anvil deployment screwed me over in this case, but with another squad of each I would have been able to do a heck of a lot more damage.

 

I'm kind of dissapointed my like-new raven might have to take a back seat in future games. I got it 57% off GW price used and was able to clean it up with Simple Green. It's my baby at the moment and seeing it ruined on its first game gets the blood going. Vengeance I say!

 

EDIT: On a positive note I did remember to roll for Red Thirst this time! I didn't get any... :)

[Lysere]

While I'm not sure how BA would do it best I have a regular opponent who is IG. A big thing to remember is even if they take units for it they are pushovers in CC. His tanks are only tough in the front, and his squads have terrible armor saves. (They pay quite a bit to give vets a 4+, and it looks like he didn't) Units that can lay down solid short range firepower or can do well in CC are usually best. If they can do both then even better.

 

Also remember that a Russ with plasma sponsons rolls gets hot, and shaking it makes it so most of the guns it can have can't fire. Be aggressive, but be smart about it. Avoid overkill where possible. If your squad has an IC with them and they can already destroy a squad in one go, separate them, or multi-charge even. You want to win in his phase not yours.

 

One last thing, take some drop pods instead of a SR maybe, and if he boxes himself in, drop in with some flamers of various kinds and ruin his day.

 

Ah, I forgot the plasma sponsoons roll gets hot. I always forget these little details so I'm writing this down! Thanks!

 

Perhaps another RAS squad with another MM bike screen. I feel that the Hammer and Anvil deployment screwed me over in this case, but with another squad of each I would have been able to do a heck of a lot more damage.

 

I'm kind of dissapointed my like-new raven might have to take a back seat in future games. I got it 57% off GW price used and was able to clean it up with Simple Green. It's my baby at the moment and seeing it ruined on its first game gets the blood going. Vengeance I say!

 

Tis the law of new models. Either they do super well in the first game or they blow up turn 1.

[Zynk Kaladin]

Tis the law of new models. Either they do super well in the first game or they blow up turn 1.

 

Yea tell that to my landraider... she's blown up 1st turn in both of the games I have fielded her. Night Angels aren't particularly good with new things I suppose.

 

Every time I've run Dante, though I've won. Perhaps it's a sign.

[CrimsonMajick]

I ran into a very similar instance yesterday... 3 Valks, 2 hydras, the lascannon aegis defense line... and a bunch of the other IG stuff. He turtled up behind the defense line and let rip.

 

I used a drop pod Sternguard and got shot up, but they did keep his attention off of Mephiston and my other goodies while I closed. I also had a SR with embarked Death Co. I kicked them out on the turn they came in so as to avoid the Interceptor fire. All in all, not my best fight, but I did pull the victory.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but they can only Interceptor fire against one target per turn?

 

If so, I would run my Sternguard drop pod and a Furioso Libby. use the Sternguard to draw Interceptor fire and then dump the Libby on the field. Or simply two Furioso Libbys. (In both cases run something else in a drop pod also in order to get 2 on the first turn) Both Libbys with Blood Lance. If he wants to turtle up, I would have no prob trying to pop two or three tanks as the Lance tears them apart. Then if he doesn't destroy the Libbys... shoot AND charge next turn.

 

And in the meantime let Mephiston close the distance... I think I hear the theme song from Jaws... or the Imperial March...

[SnorriSnorrison]

@Snorri

 

I've found that Murphy's Law ALWAYS applies to me. Do I have to sacrifice a goat or something for better luck? I think it's time for less aggressive play and more forgiving tactics. ;)

 

The thing about tactical terminators is his abundance of melta, plasma, lascannons, and pie plates. Sure I get a 5++ save, but they're so expensive for a unit that's probably going to die on his turn (like my sternies :) ). When I deep strike I can expect to be nuked to oblivion. I can't slag a russ effectively because of his turtle position where he bubble wraps his tanks with vets and chimeras. I also always seem to scatter on my deep strike rolls, so I always take that in to effect even if it's just 6". It's hard to find spots to squeeze my units in.

 

I would LOVE some sanguinary guard, but with his abundance of high strength, low ap weapons I would have a heart attack just fielding them. Really his list laughs at my armor saves when I get too close.

 

I'll try the libby with the RAS. I used to run a sword/shield libby, but I want to try some divination powers.

 

Nuking tanks and chimeras was my plan... but I only got 1 chimera that entire game! He deployed as far back into a corner as possible(the exact opposite of where I deployed) and my raven wasn't close enough to utilize melta effectively enough. The bikes didn't do so well on turn 2 either. I had hoped the raven would punch through one of his russes side armor with a TLLC and 2 bloodstrike missiles, but alas... nothing. I just hate being screwed because I can't reliably punch through his turtle defense.

 

Yes, sacrificing a goat is a sound idea, but do you speak the unholy 13 verses of bloodshed and violence while doing that? If not, no wonder the dice gods don't hear your pleas! :lol:

 

On regards of the terminators, yes, they are expensive. Against Russes with Demolisher cannons, however, they get an armour save, which the Sternies don't. Same for Sangguard. The latter also have great mobility. I also almost factor in cover and FnP, so you basically have 2 chances to avoid plasma wounds.

What I'd try is to turn his biggest advantage into his biggest disadvantage. You can't nuke the tanks because of the chimeras? Immobilise them, make them unable to move and let them be circled up for a turn. The side sponsons won't be shooting over their own tanks. He needs to move in his turn to get full advantage of those plasma cannons.

The hydras, however, are a scarier bunch. The SR is your friend, if nothing else. You will have full LoS when shooting from the air, so nuke them off. Regarding the range...did I read it wrong or do you have a twin-linked Lascannon on that Raven? ;)

 

Russes are best killed by meltaguns. So, in order to get them to their target, nuke the chimeras with your assault squads, attack bikes and, if you have something left, try to get your raven into the whole situation. Since firing at flyers is almost pointless, use the Raven for that at first. While it is fighting in the sky, your groundforce needs to make an impact on his tanks. Chimeras are weak targets, but if you manage to immobilise them, they become traps for his shooting lines.

 

 

For more accurate deepstriking, a Locator beacon could help.

 

 

 

Remember, the Divination Libby(Epistolary) can also use his powers on your bikes to re-roll shooting attacks and buff other squads in one phase!

 

 

 

Can you explain how you would use the Terminators? I'm not quite seeing how they would hurt tanks on the turn they DS (are you arming them with Assault Cannon/Cyclone?).

 

Yes, I'd lean towards these. A Cyclone, probably. Next turn, and given they survive(take out the vendettas first!) the terminators can go assault tanks(WS1) and fist them to death!

 

Or, if the chimeras have already blown up and you're facing two squads of plasma vets, some frag missiles and stormbolters can do wonders! They are very versatile and quite resilient. Plasma pie-plates still have scatter and Imperials are not the best shooters. ^-^

 

 

 

Snorri

[Ushtarador]

If you're playing versus IG parking lots, you also might want to consider vanguard veterans with meltabombs :) Drop in and multicharge tanks and some units, then hope to stay locked in combat. You can easily take out 2 tanks and bind a normal guard unit with just 5-8 guys, and they aren't too expensive either.

[Dallas Drake]

@Dallas Drake

 

Yea not being able to evade really sucked, but in all honesty I think 8 TLAC and 6 TLLC shots still would have gotten through. I'll just make sure when my buddy messes up a rule due to innocent ignorance I'll pay him back kindly.

 

You know, footslogging the sternguard would have been a great idea. I really should have stayed back and forced him to move his army closer. His battlecannons scare the piss out of me, but I think I had enough cover to make it manageable. This would have lengthened the game enough to be effective later on for objective nabbing. For some reason I have this insatiable desire to bring the fight to my enemy.

 

I think next time I will go with the drop pod for sternguard as you suggest. I decided not to do so this game because my raven is brand new and I was very excited to use it. I also wanted to try prescience sternguard! Combining the two ideas was easy enough considering I only expected 2 hydras. I also think its pretty thematically awesome having a squad, guns blazing whilst exiting an air transport! Too bad it's not as effective as I hoped. ;)

 

I love the idea of Death Co in a raven, but I don't know how I would use them against a list like his. Sure they chew troops into oblivion, but I'm always worried about being nuked by high strength, low ap weapons. Considering he turtles up, I have a hard time breaking his vehicles, too.

 

Do Hydras have Interceptor? I would expect the SR to take out at least one of the Hydras, I'm not really suggesting you were likely to survive but if you did get through, not impossible his Vendettas would be in trouble.

 

If IG want to deploy so far back in a game where there is one objective in the centre of the board then let them. My opponent deployed quite far back but not on the board edge since he loves his Aegis. I used my Rhinos speed to get them into the centre of the board & block his LOS right next to the Relic, forced him to send his troops running forward on turns 4 & 5 to try & get the Relic because he couldn't shoot my Tac squads hidden behind the Rhinos (he immoboilised both Rhinos but they frustrated him no end).

 

Battle cannons are pretty mean, my opponent rolled Hits about 3/4 of the time too, so frustrating! But remember, he needs LOS & you still get cover saves. I used a cheap Vanguard Vet squad to take out one of his Leman Russ on turn 2, Multi-melta bikes did the next one on turn 3. So, I didn't see much of them. His Medusa was way nastier but because I forced him to make a move on the objective he had to risk firing his ordinance close to his troops, in turn 5 it actually scattered way off target of my DC & blew up his infantry squad sat on the Relic - Hehe :)

 

Sternguard in a Drop Pod are useful, but don't spend more than 230 points on them. Also, unsupported they die, fast. I tried 7 with 6 combi-plasma & Corbulo, ran them into cover instead of shooting their combi-weapons - didn't end well. Corbulo is fantastic but he dropped a pie plate on me (Medusa again!) & that was that, 5 dead. Meh. I'd rather drop dual melta Land-Speeders, cheaper & does roughly the same thing, plus it gets a cover save. I think to get the best out of Sternguard with a Divination Librarian you need to think about a Rhino & mid-table play, using cover etc. I'd want at least 3 or 4 turns of Prescience combi-weapons/Special Ammo, not one turn before I get wiped out.

 

DC against IG. Multiple Combats is your friend. Plus DC are tough enough to draw a lot of his fire-power. You get FNP against a lot more stuff now so you can shrug off plasma 1/3 of the time. You don't need the +2 attacks on the charge against IG & it only takes a few DC to mince a squad. I used to run small DC units but now I'm utterly sold on large ones, 10 strong, they really shine when they take things like MCs & Terminators off the board. Plus, a SR is an Assault Vehicle, that's factored into its cost, makes sense to use it.

 

Dallas

[Zynk Kaladin]

Hmm, lots of food for thought. I've always wanted to increase my ranks of SG and DC in my army and vanguard vets are a nasty idea, too. I do have some nice Space Hulk tac termies as well. I have deep struck some dual MM speeders in the past with great results as well. I'm not looking to make a purely anti-guard list, though, so I like to take all-comers into consideration(MM attack bikes and RAS seem to do well in all comers anyway).

 

Should I field a squad of SG(x2 infernus, 1 pf) and priest with my RAS and attack bikes, then, while putting a squad of jumppack DC in the raven?

 

Also, how does the epistolary benefit me? I haven't looked too deeply into the 6th ed librarian, so please pardon my ignorance. Does prescience effect vehicles?

[Dallas Drake]

Hmm, lots of food for thought. I've always wanted to increase my ranks of SG and DC in my army and vanguard vets are a nasty idea, too. I do have some nice Space Hulk tac termies as well. I have deep struck some dual MM speeders in the past with great results as well. I'm not looking to make a purely anti-guard list, though, so I like to take all-comers into consideration(MM attack bikes and RAS seem to do well in all comers anyway).

 

Should I field a squad of SG(x2 infernus, 1 pf) and priest with my RAS and attack bikes, then, while putting a squad of jumppack DC in the raven?

 

Also, how does the epistolary benefit me? I haven't looked too deeply into the 6th ed librarian, so please pardon my ignorance. Does prescience effect vehicles?

 

1 x RAS (2x melta), 2 x Tacticals in Rhinos & 2x2 MMABs are my backbone, I won't swap them out for anything. Never used SG so can't help you there. Put non-jump pack DC in it, you need numbers & weight of attacks. 15 points for a JP is nearly the price of another DC.

 

Epistolary lets you use 2 powers in your turn, plus it gives you a 4+ Deny the Witch. So if you take 2 x Divination & get say Prescience & Foreboding you can cast both. Have a look at page 419-423 & look at some of the interesting powers & combos you can do (I suggest Divination & Biomancy). These powers work well on units beside just Sternguard :)

 

Dallas

[Zynk Kaladin]

Sanguinius gave me luck yesterday.

 

I played another game with my buddy! This time we went to our local GW and played on an actual table with legit terrain. We each made 1k lists and because we only had 40 minutes to play before closing(there were only 2 tables and were in use when we go there :cuss ), we had to play a speed game. We decided to go for a simple kill point mission. Oddly enough I did A LOT better not having any reserves this game. Somehow flying across the board worked out better for me.

 

My list consisted of:

 

Libby(JP, prescience)

Furioso Libby(wings shield)

sang priest(JP)

2x10 RAS(x2 melta, meltabombs)

2x2 Attack Bikes(MM)

 

His was:

command squad(x4 melta)

2x10 vets(x3 melta) with chimera

10 vets(x3 plasma) with chimera

x2 hydra

1 demolisher russ

 

I used the bikes and libby dread as a wall for my libby, RAS, and sang priest. Unfortunately, because of a plethora of terrain I had to split my army up because it would have been difficult to move them in a giant blob of dark blue. I got to go first and actually got night fighting this game, for once! I got the warlord trait that made night fighting automatically happen, which is cool because my army is the freakin' NIGHT angels. I survived first turn enough to really damage his army by turn 3.

 

Prescience really helped slag through the front armor of his demolisher russ, which was a boon. I had my libby, libby dread, a RAS squad, and a attack bike squad on that flank. The bikes fell to the demo cannon even though I had a 3+ cover save(flat out and stealth). I still managed to get the RAS and dread through the gauntlet of fire and nab that russ and destroy a weapon on a chimera.

 

The other flank with a squad of RAS, the priest, and the other squad of bikes did slightly better, blowing up 2 chimeras and chewing through the yummy vets.

 

I have one really important question though. If I slag a chimera with my RAS's meltaguns, can I assault the contents of that chimera with the squad I just used to slag it? I had to wade through a turn of shooting before being able to assault because we were unsure if that was legal or not. It wasn't too bad, though.

 

I'd just like to thank everyone for your help. You have given me a lot of ideas and food for thought and I wish I could buy you a beer or something. Maybe if you ever come to the great state of NoVA ;)

 

EDIT: I would like to say, my buddy was on the receiving end of pisspoor melta rolls. Finally the dice gods were on my side for once, but I would like a game some time where luck doesn't contribute so much.

[John_f]

Congratulation on your victory, and yes you can assault the content of a transport if you destroy it in the shooting phase. Thats why you are running meltas =)

[Ushtarador]

However, if I remember correctly, if a unit shot at the transport and did NOT destroy it, this unit can not assault, even if the transport got wrecked by another unit afterwards. Is this still right? ^^

[SnorriSnorrison]

However, if I remember correctly, if a unit shot at the transport and did NOT destroy it, this unit can not assault, even if the transport got wrecked by another unit afterwards. Is this still right? ^^

 

I think it never was. :P If the transport is not destroyed by lets say a JP RAS, however a lucky lascannon shot blows it up after you failed, you are allowed to assault with the RAS 'cause the unit it shot at(=transport) is removed from play and with it the restriction is removed as well.

 

That's how we handled it in my first 6th edition game on wednesday. ;)

 

 

Snorri

[Ushtarador]

At least in 6th you're right, I just read it up. Every unit that took shots at a transport may attack its contents :)

[Zynk Kaladin]

Congratulation on your victory, and yes you can assault the content of a transport if you destroy it in the shooting phase. Thats why you are running meltas =)

 

Ok, cool. I'll have to look it up in the rulebook to prove it to my friend.

 

Thanks guys.