Making Noise Marines Scream

[Disciple of Fulgrim]

@Azadul: Thanks much for the incredibly useful insights!

 

Shame on me for not figuring this out myself.  I've been converting my Slaaneshi CSM warband (which was a real hodgepodge to begin with) into NM, largely based on this thread - while I'm only partway done, I've had some real successes in my last three games (three close wins against a very competent SW player) as I try to implement this strategy.  My distinct impression is that the strength of this type of list is that it makes the most of what a military guy would call "combined arms, fire and maneuver tactics" - basically meaning that the shooty and choppy parts of your army work together, and that no single unit is more important than any other.  Besides being really fluffy (which I love - CSM don't do gunlines) this is also a "thinking man's list" (which I also love) - no "deathstars" here.  So again, shame on me for thinking the 'nettes plus Herald might be intended to fill this role - they're clearly just as expendable as any other portion of this army.

 

P.S. Absolutely loved your comment that this army "confuses" people - very, very true in my limited experience.  For instance, the one unit of Cultists I still run (partly for fluff reasons, but also because they're so cheap) has suddenly become much more survivable - they've lived though my last three games, and thus have also become much more useful.  (i.e. gunning down a couple of SW WG in TDA in one game, and actually getting me "Slay The Warlord" in another, by finishing off a Rune Priest in Runic Armour - now that's entertainment!) How did this happen?  Because my opponent was so focused on my Fearless (and deadly) NM that he couldn't spare the time to run my meatshields off the board.     

[Bonzi]

You might have answered these before but they didnt stick out before. Why dont you upgrade the invuln, switch the sword to Claw when you dont get a +1 attack anyways from taking the brand,  and why take a bike over a steed?

 

Disciple of Fulgrim and Azadul hit the nail on the head with their answers.  That is not to say that the steed, claw or better invuln are bad choices, they just don't fit my style/priorities.  The steed especially opens up exciting options for an NM army, but I think you would need an army built around deployment shenanigans.  A NM Lord on a steed paired up with Huron could make for some good fun.

 

ive been wondering your target for the netters, i run a similar list from time to time but stray away from demonic allies and the fact that the netters have no gernades beffudles me. What stops a squad from parking inches from the netters and rapid firing in thier face, and then swinging first after an overwatch. i suppose the obvious answer is well thats why you have blastmasters, but it seems these demons should have a better use. I guess what im asking is how do you pick priority target for your netters, and have you ever found thier lack of gnades to be an issue?

 

I've never had nette grenades be a crippling issue as I play my army in a very flexible style.  The biggest thing that weights in the nettes advantage vs campers is that 40k is played in a finite time frame on a finite game board.  Sitting in cover for the entire game with the entire army is rarely an option to win the game unless the board is set up in a heavily slanted fashion.  Also in regards to the time frame...chasing your opponent into the bushes burns up their turns and free movement trying to dodge a unit of cheap models.  Knowing (and remembering) the key objectives of the game can help you anticipate where your opponent must expose themselves to win the game.  Also, if the opponents army is reliant on cover that generally means the nettes will eat them up even if they swing last (CC power houses rarely sit in cover and killing those units is the bread and butter of nettes).

 

When I play the nettes I don't designate a particular target for them and go after it no matter what.  The nettes role depends on how my opponent deploys and what my strengths and weaknesses are vs their army and build.  I've had games where the nettes were used as expendable pawns chasing aggressive units into cover and getting shot to pieces doing it, but it still played to my advantage because it bottled the opponent up.  I've had games where the nettes hung out in cover in my backfield as a deterrent to DSing and Podding units.  I've thrown them at deathstar units to get mulched just to buy time for other units to maneuver out of range.  I've used them as a sledge hammer against armies that dedicated all their fire power to killing my blastmasters.  The way I use them changes every game.  Nettes strengths are being cheap, fast, fearless, and deadly in CC.  I don't expect every unit in my army to have the all-round ability inherent in an average Space Marine army.

[RolandTHTG]

What do people recommend for anti-air in a Noise Marine force? I'm not interested in Helldrakes, so I was considering picking up a Firestorm Redoubt (can also provide cover and a firing platform for one of my Blastmaster squads) What else are people using for anti-air?

[Bonzi]

What do people recommend for anti-air in a Noise Marine force? I'm not interested in Helldrakes, so I was considering picking up a Firestorm Redoubt (can also provide cover and a firing platform for one of my Blastmaster squads) What else are people using for anti-air?

I've allied in a Soul Grinder from the daemon side of my army.  An ageis wall with a quad gun wouldn't be a bad investment either. 

[Bowlzee]

 

What do people recommend for anti-air in a Noise Marine force? I'm not interested in Helldrakes, so I was considering picking up a Firestorm Redoubt (can also provide cover and a firing platform for one of my Blastmaster squads) What else are people using for anti-air?

I've allied in a Soul Grinder from the daemon side of my army.  An ageis wall with a quad gun wouldn't be a bad investment either. 

 

Soul Grinder's BS3 makes it not very reliable AA :(

[Bonzi]

What do people recommend for anti-air in a Noise Marine force? I'm not interested in Helldrakes, so I was considering picking up a Firestorm Redoubt (can also provide cover and a firing platform for one of my Blastmaster squads) What else are people using for anti-air?

I've allied in a Soul Grinder from the daemon side of my army. An ageis wall with a quad gun wouldn't be a bad investment either.

Soul Grinder's BS3 makes it not very reliable AA

It's still better than hitting on 6's and the Soul Grinder isn't a pure AA platform which means the points are not wasted if your opponent skips on flyers. For the most out and out cost effective AA for Chaos it's the Hellturkey every time, but if TJ doesn't want the turkey it becomes time to start talking about other options.

[Bowlzee]

Don't get me wrong, I have the Soul Grinder and field it in my Daemon Army and my CSM/Daemon army. I've just never had any luck in the AA department. So if your meta is heavy Flyers, and you really want something to combat it, then you need to look at an ADL with Quad Gun.... I never field an ADL btw :)

[Bonzi]

The advent of the slow season at work brings us another battle report for the Noise Marines.  It was a very tight game against Nids using my most recent Noise Marine / Slaanesh Daemon list.

 

1500pts.  The Scouring with Vanguard Deployment

 

My List:

 

Chaos Lord: bike, power sword, burning brand, sigil of corruption, mark of slaanesh

 

x5 Noise Marines: blastmaster

x5 Noise Marines: blastmaster

x5 Noise Marines: blastmaster

 

x5 Bikers: x2 meltaguns, power ax

 

x2 Obltis: mark of nurgle

x2 Oblits: mark of nurgle

 

 

Herald of Slaanesh: lesser reward, greater reward, locus of beguilement

 

x20 Daemonettes: allures, greater reward

 

Soul Grinder: balefire torrent, mark of slaanesh 

 

 

His List:

 

Flyrant with guns

Swarm Lord with swords?

 

x3 Tervegons

x10 Gaunts

X10 Gaunts

 

x3 Hiveguard

Doom of Malanti in spore

 

x3 Biovores

 

 

I came out swinging and dominated the first two turns of the game by killing off almost all of his gaunts (even the ones he spawned), hanging wounds on all of his Tervegons, and having my Nettes + Herald eat his Swarm Lord.  On turn three his Flyrant and the Doom of Malanti came on and from then on it was a nail biter where my luck turned against me and I had to play out of my skin just to hold onto a small points lead.  The Doom eventually accounted for a squad of Noise Marines, my bike squad and my Lord.  His Flyrant killed off the other two squads of Noise Marines with my inability to roll 3+ saves.  My Soul Grinder was absolutely dominating one whole half of the board and then on turn four, two hive guard managed to roll one hit and then two sixes, one to pen and one to explode it.  I survived the game on the early advantage my Soul Grinder gave me and on the strength of my Nettes and Oblits.  The game ended 2 to 5 in my favor but all I had left on the board was my Herald + Nettes and my Oblits.  He had the Doom, the Flyrant, x2 Hiveguard, and the Biovores.  

 

Unit Review:

 

Lord + Bikes:  Made a fair showing killing off a unit of Gaunts and a Tervegon.  Spent the rest of the game locked in combat with the Doom of Matlanti who at that time had 10 wounds and Str 10.  My opponent rolled his 3+ invulns like a fiend and I could never do more than shave a single wound off of the Doom each turn.  Eventually the Doom's aura did the whole unit in.

 

Noise Marines:  Made an average contribution to the game.  Initially held three objectives, the blastmasters killed a number of Guants and some wounds on the Hiveguard.  Eventually one squad melted from the Dooms aura and the other two ate several rounds of Flyrant shooting and couldn't make decent saves.  A lone Sarg distinguished himself by killing the last Guant of a unit and shooting up spore mines.  He died a valiant death holding a 3pt objective by himself and forcing the Flyrant to devote another turn of shooting to end him.

 

Oblits:  A solid unit.  Kill assists on two of the Tervegons with ranged shooting.  One unit killed off a squad of Guants and contested an objective by trying up a remaining Tervegon in close combat.  These guys absorbed a huge amount of punishment and kept the pressure on the Monstrous Creatures.

 

Herald + Nettes: MVP no questions.   Ate the Swarm Lord in a single round of combat.  Charged the Tervegon + Oblit combat and killed the Tervegon in one go (his last scoring unit) and occupied the 4pt objective securing me the game.

 

Soul Grinder:  Huge beatstick in this game.  Balefire made a mockery of his Gaunt swarms and punched a Tervegon to death.  AV13 had my opponent panicking as I burnt his army up and he was reduced to hopping for a lucky shot from his Hive Guard (which happened).   Until his untimely demise this guy was keeping the game firmly in my pocket.

[Forté]

Wouldn't a Lightning Claw be a better option on the Lord? Same points and shred.

[Bonzi]

Wouldn't a Lightning Claw be a better option on the Lord? Same points and shred.

It would be but I don't have him modeled as such.  I'm considering switching his weapon to a power maul or a lightning claw, I haven't decided which yet.

[Forté]

I'd go claw for the AP and wound reroll.

[Disciple of Fulgrim]

@ Bonzi: A few more questions/comments for you, to hopefully contribute to this great thread:

 

1. Would you say the way Night Fighting is handled in 6th moderately helps this type of list?  I've found that it does (though my only available opponent plays SW) and I now never forget to check for Night before deploying.  Half the time we start the game in darkness, which lets my maneuver element (equivalent to your bikes and 'nettes) race forward much more boldly, while my BM can still open up (out to 36") as if it were daytime.  (As a corollary to this, I also now never forget that vehicle searchlights can extend my BM's range back out to 48", which can sometimes be surprisingly helpful.)  (Note to self: Of course I may change my tune on all this if the SW get Night Vision back in their next dex.) 

 

2. Speaking of forgetting things, I now never forget the BM's Pinning ability, which (shame on me) I did for my first few games.  It's kind of hit or miss sure, but when it works it's a very nice little bonus.  (Much more so than say, Soul Blaze.)

 

3. What's your opinion on using "bullet bending" to try to further maximize the utility of your BM?  I learned this technique here on B&C, and while pefectly legitimate according to RAW, some consider it rather cheesey.  I definitely don't use it to target specific models, but think it's perfectly okay to use in order to avoid wasting my BM shots.  (i.e. some SW GH are closing in on my NM, and their pointman/tank is a WG in TDA - maneuvering the other four NM to "bend" the BM shot "around" the 2+ TDA just makes sense, and IMO also nicely simulates my BM gunner being the cunning veteran he's supposed to be.)

 

4. Do you regularly take a particular Warlord Trait with your list?  I realize these are highly variable, and at best "icing on the cake," but every little bit helps and I'm constantly going back and forth on which one to take.

 

Thanks again for a great thread - DoF   

[Bonzi]

@ Bonzi: A few more questions/comments for you, to hopefully contribute to this great thread:

 

1. Would you say the way Night Fighting is handled in 6th moderately helps this type of list?  I've found that it does (though my only available opponent plays SW) and I now never forget to check for Night before deploying.  Half the time we start the game in darkness, which lets my maneuver element (equivalent to your bikes and 'nettes) race forward much more boldly, while my BM can still open up (out to 36") as if it were daytime.  (As a corollary to this, I also now never forget that vehicle searchlights can extend my BM's range back out to 48", which can sometimes be surprisingly helpful.)  (Note to self: Of course I may change my tune on all this if the SW get Night Vision back in their next dex.) 

 

2. Speaking of forgetting things, I now never forget the BM's Pinning ability, which (shame on me) I did for my first few games.  It's kind of hit or miss sure, but when it works it's a very nice little bonus.  (Much more so than say, Soul Blaze.)

 

3. What's your opinion on using "bullet bending" to try to further maximize the utility of your BM?  I learned this technique here on B&C, and while pefectly legitimate according to RAW, some consider it rather cheesey.  I definitely don't use it to target specific models, but think it's perfectly okay to use in order to avoid wasting my BM shots.  (i.e. some SW GH are closing in on my NM, and their pointman/tank is a WG in TDA - maneuvering the other four NM to "bend" the BM shot "around" the 2+ TDA just makes sense, and IMO also nicely simulates my BM gunner being the cunning veteran he's supposed to be.)

 

4. Do you regularly take a particular Warlord Trait with your list?  I realize these are highly variable, and at best "icing on the cake," but every little bit helps and I'm constantly going back and forth on which one to take.

 

Thanks again for a great thread - DoF   

#1.  I have found Night Fighting to be hugely helpful to my NM armies for both the reasons you listed (moving assault units & blastmasters ignoring the cover saves).  It was one of the reasons I started out so strong in my most recent game. 

 

#2.  Pinning is HUGE on blastmasters and like you I often forgot it in my early games.  It becomes especially critical in games against tough shooting armies like Tau and Imperial Guard.  Against other armies it happens far more rarely, but when you do pin a unit of Space Marines it has a much bigger effect on the game.

 

#3.  I don't bullet bend but I am familiar with the tactic.  I find it no more silly than the idea that one guy in heavy armor in front of the squad can take all the shooting that comes at his squad.  In normal games I won't do it because I'm a more casual player, but if my opponent starts doing things like TDA Wolfguard tanking for GH squads then I reply in kind.  In general these sort of things get decided based on your local meta and personal preference.  More often than not I have multiple squads of Blastmasters with plenty of range and if the squad in front of the target can't get around the TDA saves then the squads to the sides will start shooting at the unit instead.  I always try and remember that shooting at the closest squad with the closest blastmaster isn't always the best plan and I always plan my shooting phase with my opponents special weapons and sergeant positions in mind.

 

#4.  I assume you are asking which Warlord table I prefer to roll on (although I do know of some gaming locations where the local rule is to pick your trait).  I generally default to picking on the Chaos table in the hopes of getting D3 infiltrate although I've only rolled it a couple times.  I have found infiltration to be hugely useful in my lists for getting my blastmasters into optimum firing positions and for getting my Nettes that much closer to the enemy.

[Bonzi]

Another battle and another victory for the Noise Marines.  I got my first crack at the new Necrons and played with an opponent who was coming back to the game from a year long hiatus.  A lot of fun and rule learning was had by all.

 

 

1500pt Scouring (again!) with Hammer and Anvil Deploymet

 

My List:

 

My List:

 

Chaos Lord: bike, burning brand, mark of slaanesh

 

x5 Noise Marines: blastmaster

x5 Noise Marines: blastmaster

x5 Noise Marines: blastmaster

 

x5 Bikers: x2 meltaguns, power ax, meltabomb

 

x2 Obltis: mark of nurgle

x2 Oblits: mark of nurgle

 

Herald of Slaanesh: lesser reward, greater reward, locus of beguilement

 

x18 Daemonettes: allures, lesser reward

 

x5 Seekers of Slaanesh

 

Soul Grinder: balefire torrent, mark of slaanesh

 

 

His List:

 

Lord: Warscyth, Chariot

 

x10 Immortals: stormtek, gaus

x10 Immortals: stormtek, gaus

x10 Immortals: tesla

 

x5 Deathmarks

x5 Deathmarks

x5 Deathmarks

 

x7-8 Wraiths

 

Monolith

 

I was excited to play against a Necron opponent for the first time because I have heard that the new book is quite nasty.  From reading online battle reports I knew the Lord and Wraiths would be nasty business in close combat, that the Immortals would be death to vehicles and put out a big volume of fire, and that the Deathmarks were snipers on steroids.  For the most part my I was correct although I greatly underestimated the Death Marks.  Those guys turned out to be really really nasty.

 

As the game started I found myself in possession of a 1 and 2pt objective while my opponent had a 2 and 4pt objective so I knew I would be running into the teeth of enemy fire to get the points I needed.  I got first turn and played my aggressive hand by advancing my Soul Grinder, Seekers, Nettes, Bikers, and Obliterators towards enemy objectives.  (Part of this was a foolish move as I should have held back my Seekers knowing how frail they are.  I could have used them as protection for my Noise Marines and a late game objective grabber or at the least I should have hidden them behind my Soul Grinder as I have done in the past.)  I hung my Nettes way out in front of his Wraiths to bait a charge and put my bikes nearby on the left flank to help if the Nettes needed it.  My blastmasters and Oblits laid into the Immortals to thin their ranks, coming to within one model of a first blood kill against his center squad.  One of my blastmasters scattered off target and hit a Wraith, getting past his invuln and generating an instakill.  My initial round of shooting shocked my opponent in the volume of ap 2 and 3 blasts that I threw at him.

 

In return my opponent advanced his Wraiths towards my Nettes (yes!) and put his Lord Charriot between my Soul Grinder/Oblits and his Immortals.  (This move on his part can be chalked up to new player experience on his part as he wasn't familiar with Grinders or Oblits.  I expected to have to chase the Lord down as he did flyover attacks on my army.  His intention was to tie my up Heavies and protect his Immortals which was a fair enough idea as my Grinder was going to hit them like a wrecking ball next turn, but now my Grinder had a much more desirable target right in front of him) .  My Seekers got blasted down to one model by a round of tesla fire (stupid me).  My Grinder lost a few hull points to glancing shots but his invlun kept him in the game.  The Wraiths charged my Nettes and died glorious deaths for their foolishness, leaving just two of the original 6 or 7 to make their attacks.  The Wraiths did a number of wounds but I rolled hot on my invulns so combat would continue into the next turn. (another opponent shocked to see his CC/tarpit squad eaten alive by the Netts).

 

Top of turn two saw my Bikers sweeping up the now clear left flank as my Nettes were tied up with the Wraiths.  One unit of Oblits shuffled for better firing position on his Chariot while the right flank Oblits continued forward to put pressure on his Immortals which were threatening my Grinder with Gaus.  My Soul Grinder moved directly in front of his Chariot Lord and grinned.  The remaining Seeker raced back to my lines to hide behind a building and deny the enemy a fast attack kill.  Shooting saw my Lord reach out with the Burning Brand and tag a unit of unsuspecting Immortals, killing one or two.  Blastmasters continued to hammer at the Immortals which had now been spread out to reduce the damage of blast templates.  The squad which I had almost gotten first blood off of the first turn is again reduced to one man (two of his friends had gotten reanimated last turn only to be reterminated this turn).  Flanking Oblits killed a couple Immortals with plasma guns while the other squad lit up his Chariot with multimeltas and blew it up!  His lord was now standing on foot in front of my Grinder who promptly assaulted him.  The Grinder splootched the lord before he could even swing but then the Lord reanimated (huzzah and curses!).  My Nettes finished off the last two Wraiths before they could swing and consolidated towards the enemies deployment zone.

 

In his turn the Monolith and one unit of Death Marks arrived.  The Monolith came down in a bottleneck between my Nettes & Bikers and his remaining Immortals, effectively road blocking the Nettes from continuing their advance.  The Death Marks came down behind one of the squads of Blastmasters and marked them for death.  The reanimated lord advanced towards the nearby unit of Oblits. while the Immortals shuffled away from my Bikers and Nettes (just in case they made it through the Monolith).  Shooting saw the Grinder lose more hull points (thank god for invuln saves and lucky It Will Not Die rolls in the previous round).  His Death Marks picked out and killed my Blastmaster and Sarg from their designated Noise Marine squad.  The Monolith threw shots everywhere but did little.  The Lord charges my Oblits and kills one and make the other punch himself in the face, causing one wound.

 

Top of turn three and my Bikes advance to melta range on the Monolith.  Netts advance as far as they can with the Monolith blocking the way to get to the tasty Immortals.  Soul Grinder (with one hull point) moves towards the Necron Lord/Oblit combat.  Flanking Oblits continue to advance towards his Immortals.  One blastmaster continues to shoot at the Immortals killing a few while the other blastmaster targets the Death Marks but his shot scatters off of center and he only kills three.  The flank Oblits use assault cannons on the single Immortal left from that cursed squad I have almost killed for three turns now.  The hail of fire brings down the last Immortal and ends the squad.  My Biker lord uses his Brand to hit the Monolith first (which is unharmed) and taging a unit of Immortals on the other side (who are harmed), killing two.  My melta biker misses the Monolith.  The Bikers assault the Monolith and hang a meltabomb on its hull, wrecking the vehicle right in the middle of the bottleneck (I will now have to go over difficult terrain or conga line around the Monolith).  Soul Grinder charges into the Lord/Oblit combat and splootches the Lord again, but not before the Mind Scarabs convince the remaining Oblit to punch himself in the face one more time, killing the Oblit.  This time the Lord doesn't get back up.

 

Bottom of three sees his other two Death Marks DS into my deployment zone and target the remaining two NM squads for death.  His remaining tesla Immortals huddle around his 4pt objective while his last gauss squad advances towards my Grinder to finish him off.  His Death Marks pick out my last two Blastmasters and whittle down the squads as well.  His gauss fails to glance the Grinder and he gets to live another turn.

 

Top of four and my Bikers conga line around the Monolith towards the tesla Immortals.  My Nettes advance three inches into and up the dangerous terrain separating them from the gauss Immortals.  The move is enough to bring the Immortals into my sight but the charge range is 9".  My Grinder is in position to either run back to my NM and help kill Death Marks before they finish off my NM squads or to advance on his gauss Immortals for a certain charge to finish them off and clear his 4pt objective.  I choose to focus all my efforts on the Immortals and the 4pt objective knowing that my Bikes and/or Nettes will be able to claim the objective.  The NM and their 1 and 2pt objectives has just been deemed expendable so I abandon them to their fate.  Shooting sees the Bikers & Lord reduce the tesla squad to just 4.  The Grinder uses his flamer and cannon on the gauss Immortals bringing their number to 3.  NM ineffectually shoot at the Death Marks with bolters and pistols, doing nothing.  Bikers charge the remaining tesla losing one on the way in.  The Grinder charges the Immortals and gets his last hull point glanced off from overwatch. (The colossus is finally down after having beaten the odds so many times....a moment of silence is observed) The Netts attempt and extreme distance charge on the gauss unit and make it without even needing a reroll!  The Bikes enter a grinding combat with the Immortals killing a few only to have most of them stand back up.  The Nettes wipe out the gauss squad and consolidate onto the 4pt objective.

 

Bottom of 4 and the Death Marks finish off another NM unit.  My Bikers finish off the last of his tesla Immortal squad.

 

Top of 5 sees my Bikes race back down the board to kill some Death Marks with the Burning Brand.

 

Bottom of 5 and the last squad of my NM fall to Death Mark fire.

 

Top of 6 my Bikers make a mighty charge and catch a Death Mark squad in close combat.  The Bikers do little and combat continues.

 

Bottom of 6 and his remaining two DM squads charge into the Biker combat.  My Bikers win combat by making one kill, all the DM's fail their break test, the Bikers chase down one squad and other other two run for the board edge.

 

Victory to the Noise Marines 7vp to 1.

 

Needless to say things got really ridiculous in the last three turns.  Turns 5 and 6 were mostly played just for fun as the battle was over after I took his 4pt objective and killed his last scoring unit.

 

After battle summary to follow after work.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Paulochromis]

Aren't Monoliths immune to Melta effects?

[Bonzi]

Aren't Monoliths immune to Melta effects?

I was told by the player that the Monolith lost the 'Living Metal' rule in the new dex so meltas get their 2d6 pen against them now.

[Brother Ambroz]

A good read and congrats on the victory over the Crons.

[Bonzi]

Honestly, this game was to be my Bike squads swan song.  The unit and lords performance has been so generally lack luster that I had already written lists to use without the bikes.  To say their performance in this game has earned them a reprieve would be an understatement.  Busting the Monolith, killing two units and breaking two more in a single game takes their performance into the realm of showboating.  I know that much of what they did was lucky rolls, but at the same time I know that there are not many units which could have taken advantage of the situation like the Bikers could.   That Monolith dropping down and bottle-necking my proud Herald and Daemonettes was a good education in remembering the versatility of a Marine unit.  It takes both the CSM and the Daemon sides of my list to make the whole thing work.

 

At this point I have written so many battle reports that singing the praises of my successful units has grown somewhat tedious and very repetitive so I'll be brief.  My Herald and Nettes were wonderful chopping things into tiny bits, the Oblits were fantastic at melting armor and faces, the Noise Marines were great at chasing the enemy out of cover, and the Soul Grinder made a wonderful mess of the enemies plans and his warlord.  

 

More interesting at this point is my failure.  The Seekers that I threw in at the last second and used so poorly that no real conclusions can be made about their value.  The Seekers were a strong lesson in not including units into your army when you don't have a clear idea of the roll they will play in the list.  I had some vague notion that they would be a handy harassment unit to hunt small squads or perhaps a good CC assist for my Bikers who always seem to get tar pitted into pointless combats.   Yet when I deployed them I didn't put them down near the bikers as an assist unit and I didn't hold them back to hunt the Death Marks when they arrived.  Instead I placed them down behind my Soul Grinder (a rote lesson in mobile cover I learned long ago).  When the big tough Grinder move forward and to the side to take advantage of cover, my Seekers were pushed straight ahead into the firing lane with no protection and no clear idea what I wanted them to do if they ever reached the enemy (such a small squad would have bounced off the large units of Immortals that they were pointed at).  My opponent solved my mistake for me by blasting the Seekers off of the board, handing him a free victory point to boot.

 

In 20/20 hindsight the obvious use of the Seekers was as a backfield reserve unit, waiting to pounce on the small Death Mark squads as they dropped in and targeted my Noise Marine units.  I could have protected my scoring units and then used the squad in the last turns to make an end game grab of one of the midfield objectives.  This ideally could have gained me up to 6 more victory points than I ended the game with, and it was all because I didn't think when I put the unit in my list or when I put the unit on the board.

[Brother Ambroz]

That or you could have added in a few more daemonettes. Did you consider giving your lord a power sword at all? Your batreps with your Soul Grinder have me considering getting a Grinder too, even though I've already got nettes on my painting qeue thanks to you haha. How often do you find you use the benefits of MoS on your grinder?

[Bonzi]

That or you could have added in a few more daemonettes. Did you consider giving your lord a power sword at all? Your batreps with your Soul Grinder have me considering getting a Grinder too, even though I've already got nettes on my painting qeue thanks to you haha. How often do you find you use the benefits of MoS on your grinder?

 

The Lord lost his power sword because I needed the points to squeeze the seekers and the lord has never really done anything impressive with his sword.  I am going to drop the Seekers from the list and probably give the Lord a Power Maul back.

 

MoS on an mobile assault style grinder is fantastic.  The rending has only ever mattered when the Iron Claw gets shot off.  It is the fleet and extra run distance that is the selling point.  The rerolls to run and extra 3" are not always useful, but when you need to get your walker somewhere fast it can really take an opponent by surprise.  It is the rerolls on charge distance that is the biggest seller.  The rerolls make the Grinder much more reliable on the charge and make longer range charges more likely and you really don't want your Grinder hanging out in midfield after a failed charge.  For sitting back and shooting with Phlem I would always take the Mark of Nurgle.

[Brother Ambroz]

Yeah that's what I was thinking. If you want a shooty grinder take Nurgle and CC grinder take Slaanesh. Seems like the CC variant is just much better though, never heard of a shooty grinder doing all that well. Have you tried it? Don't remember you ever using Nurgle on it but my memory isn't the greatest.

[Disciple of Fulgrim]

@ Bonzi: So out of curiosity, if you were to drop the Bikes (and presumably the Bike Lord too) what would you replace them with?  Reason I ask is that "conventional wisdom" says these are our current "go-to" choices for an HQ and escort (albeit usually with MoN vice MoS.)  Not that I think a Bike Lord is obligatory by any means (I currently don't run one myself, and still have had a fair amount of success with the BM NM concept) but you're going to need some sort of Lord with MoS to unlock NM as Troops.  Maybe a Brandlord on a Steed, escorted by Spawn?  Or perhaps Lucius and nine Possessed riding in a Rhino?  (Just kidding on the latter.)  Do tell!

 

(For what it might be worth, I was first running a Jump pack Lord escorted by Raptors, but now put my Brandlord in TDA and send him off to war in a LR Proteus along with a CC NM MSU.  The latter option has generally been a blast for me, probably because my only available opponent is a SW player - thanks to the Proteus' Scout ability and Ceramite armour, I usually make it across the board quite handily and can then count on the Brand and my NM Champ's DS to start melting one Squad of LF or GH per turn.)  

[AtlasDM]

Wow, I'm really psyched about finding this thread! If the link hadn't been in your signature I never would have looked for it on my own. I'm going to reread a few parts of this over the next week and dust off my Angels of Ecstasy chapter Chaos Marines. I originally bought 500 points worth so I would have two armies that I could use to teach new players but as it turns out, pink is a horrible color to paint and I got discouraged before I could finish. After reading the first three pages I'm a lot more motivated to paint them than I was before.

[Bonzi]

@ Bonzi: So out of curiosity, if you were to drop the Bikes (and presumably the Bike Lord too) what would you replace them with?  Reason I ask is that "conventional wisdom" says these are our current "go-to" choices for an HQ and escort (albeit usually with MoN vice MoS.)  Not that I think a Bike Lord is obligatory by any means (I currently don't run one myself, and still have had a fair amount of success with the BM NM concept) but you're going to need some sort of Lord with MoS to unlock NM as Troops.  Maybe a Brandlord on a Steed, escorted by Spawn?  Or perhaps Lucius and nine Possessed riding in a Rhino?  (Just kidding on the latter.)  Do tell!

 

(For what it might be worth, I was first running a Jump pack Lord escorted by Raptors, but now put my Brandlord in TDA and send him off to war in a LR Proteus along with a CC NM MSU.  The latter option has generally been a blast for me, probably because my only available opponent is a SW player - thanks to the Proteus' Scout ability and Ceramite armour, I usually make it across the board quite handily and can then count on the Brand and my NM Champ's DS to start melting one Squad of LF or GH per turn.)  

 

I was thinking of a lord on foot in a cultist blob for fearless objective taking/meat shield for the NM squads.  I was going to replace the bikers with another swarm of Nettes and rework the whole list as a 'Pink Tide' style horde list.  The list would be dang scary to anything except AV 14 heavy tanks.  I'm still working that list out as I have not been please with the whole so far.  It could be that bikers and a bike lord just make too much sense to go any other route without some significant drawback.

 

Wow, I'm really psyched about finding this thread! If the link hadn't been in your signature I never would have looked for it on my own. I'm going to reread a few parts of this over the next week and dust off my Angels of Ecstasy chapter Chaos Marines. I originally bought 500 points worth so I would have two armies that I could use to teach new players but as it turns out, pink is a horrible color to paint and I got discouraged before I could finish. After reading the first three pages I'm a lot more motivated to paint them than I was before.

 

Pink is a beautiful color to paint.  Somewhere in this mess of text I made a post on why it is fun to play a pink army.  If you read the whole thread (this blog has reached a point where it is daunting to go back and find specific posts) you might find it.  

[Tenebris]

Make a White Skull spray base, a thin layer of Emperor's Children Pink, than a thicker layer of EC Pink and than wash with Carrobourg Crimson. Highlight if you wish with Fulgrim Pink. That works like a charm even on models basecoated in black.