C:SM and the Alpha Strike

[W0lfie]

Hey B&C,

 

I have been playing gunline Space Marines for a while (I even went as far as to make a Siege Assault vanguard with Culln for tac marines 50% tougher than termies) and have been looking into a making an Alpha Strike army.  Having never made one before (my other armies are tau and guard, so as you can probably imagine I am not usually an aggressive player) I haven't much of an idea which units to use!

 

So far, I have decided I want to use Azhara Redth as my HQ to give my army infiltrate for combat tactics, as well as a simply brilliant librarian (probably the most useful psyker character in the game, maybe barring coteaz and Loth).

 

But how best to use this? Most Alpha Strike armies I've seen use vehicle or MCs, but is an infiltrating infantry force something that could even work?  I'm thinking of using it to get shooty terminators and bikes in my opponent's face quick supported by pods.  Thoughts?

 

And where would Redth's ability to use divination and grant shrouded be put to best use?

 

Any help is appreciated.

[Reinholt]

A few quick points:

 

1 - If I recall correctly, only the PA guys on foot can infiltrate in a Mantis Warriors force, not termies, vehicles, or bikes.

 

2 - In terms of alpha strike, getting there on foot and locking down enemy units is a powerful tactic, but you can't do that first turn with this force in many cases, so you're going to need enough bodies to weather at least one turn of shooting (or a counter-assault if your opponent is also a melee list).

 

3 - The idea of pods is a good one, especially if you can get the right mix, to drop a couple of ironclads or some such in someone's face.

 

Off the top of my head, the best idea I would have for this force is to try to put enough mean things directly in the face of the foe on the first turn via pod & infiltration that they can't shoot down everything. In practice, I'm not sure if a shrike or khan force might not be able to play the maneuverability game better, but it would require some testing.

[W0lfie]

A few quick points:

 

1 - If I recall correctly, only the PA guys on foot can infiltrate in a Mantis Warriors force, not termies, vehicles, or bikes.

 

2 - In terms of alpha strike, getting there on foot and locking down enemy units is a powerful tactic, but you can't do that first turn with this force in many cases, so you're going to need enough bodies to weather at least one turn of shooting (or a counter-assault if your opponent is also a melee list).

 

3 - The idea of pods is a good one, especially if you can get the right mix, to drop a couple of ironclads or some such in someone's face.

 

Off the top of my head, the best idea I would have for this force is to try to put enough mean things directly in the face of the foe on the first turn via pod & infiltration that they can't shoot down everything. In practice, I'm not sure if a shrike or khan force might not be able to play the maneuverability game better, but it would require some testing.

As far as the first point goes, Azhara Redth's entry, IIRC simply says that combat tactics is replaced with the Infiltrators USR.

 

How do you mean for the second point? Can't do that in many cases?

 

What kind of "mean things" would you suggest? I am thinking of using the infiltrate ability to get terminators and bikes up close, but I'm not sure whether or not that is a great choice. Having an Ironclad pod and a sternguard pod touch down turn one, supported by shooty terminators with cyclones and a bunch of twin-linked bolters certainly sounds like something that could work.

 

EDIT: Bikes aren't affected by it; only infantry.