Starting an army question

[malorn24]

Don't know if this is the right spot for this so if not then sorry and please move.

 

When starting an army list where do you personally start?

 

HQ ??

 

Troops ??

 

What is the thought behind your build? I have a tendency to start with a HQ and throw points at him but I am realizing that may not work. So I am throwing it out to all of you guys.

 

 

[Lysere]

That is a surprisingly tough question for me actually. Basically it is different every time I make a list. If I'm making a list with an army I'm used to and know the basic theme I want out of it I will drop my points into the two troops I need. From there I tend to pick a few specialized units I think would fit with my end goal and work myself to the point where I have around 200 points left, at which point I finally pay for my HQ and match them into my armies ongoing theme.

 

If the entire point of the list is to try out some new units or ideas I start with the units in question and work out from there into troops, support, then HQ. Usually though unless I'm running a specific HQ build or named character (my Librarians I run in non templar armies are the exact same regardless of the rest of the list) I will always save the primary HQ for one of my last choices, simply because it is way too easy to spend too many points on them and you end up with an HQ that doesn't fit the list.

 

As a better example to my rambling I'm making a potential list for a game tonight with Carcharodon Tactics. So I knock out my two troops 160 points each before specific weapon upgrades. Usually run just the melta gun with no heavy and a power sword on the vet sgt so that makes the total list already 370. From there I pick preferred method of transport, probably Rhinos since I can only really run two pods, and then the whole list just goes from there.

[Robert2004]

I try and think about how many 'big' things I can fit into a list first! The HQ and troops come after, usually a tac squad and a scout squad and what ever special character matches my needs, lately have been running with the chief librarian because he is just too good to pass up! I love allies too and always look for about 1k-1.1k points to leave some spare for my allies in a standard tournament 1850 game!

 

My list which I am play testing at the moment includes khan, bikers, scout snipers, dev centurions, land raider transport, stalker AA and some allies in the form of a bells and whistles tau commander, kroot, fully loaded broadsides and a riptide! It should be quite nasty =]

[Disruptor_fe404]

When starting a new army list, I always start with Troops. Two 5-man Tactical squads, in fact.

 

Why? Because that's the bare minimum I need (barring Scouts) before I can include actual fun stuff.

 

More accurately, I think up something gimmicky that I want to try, put that in a list, then add in the 200 or so points of Troops I have to take.

[UltraTacSgt]

I start by picking units to cover the most basic needs you will have as a Marine commander.

 

Mid to long range anti-armor unit, mid to long range anti-infantry unit, mobile scoring unit, and weight of fire unit for example. Then I fill in from there trying to overlap as many of those basic needs as I can with the rest of my units.

 

When I know that I have all my bases covered reasonably with a primary and secondary unit capable of each important job, then I start handing out the wargear and taking whatever units seem like they will be fun to play.

[minigun762]

I usually start with one full sized troop choice per 500 points.

[ScionsofLight]

i plan how i want the army to perform and then jot down all the units that "fit" that style/tactics

 

example

Imperial Fists CT

terminator capt w/ primarchs wraith 

termie unit w/ land raider

tacs in rhinos with no special

storm talons for mobile AT

 

fast moving gun line that can take soak up a lot of firepower while once they get in range they pour it on

 

no it is not a "competitive" list but i play with non competitive people; the point is how do you see this army (that you are building) playing as it will be your $$ and time spent on it

[hallodx]

Decide the main structure first.

Say, if an IG player want to play heavy mech, he will put in as much tanks as possible, then fit some vet squads and a commissar in it.

If a CSM player want to play a Chaos Lord Musou list, he will give his lord whatever killy stuff he can, and build a army that can support his lord, maybe take unwanted challenges or bodyguards to send him into combat.

So what do you want to play?

[Excubitor]

It depends what mood I'm in when I'm making the list. Sometimes I want to run a list based around a certain unit/s, other times a certain HQ/s, CT's, etc.

 

For example last time I decided I wanted to try out the IF tactics, so I went tactical/devastator heavy.

 

I think I'm going to bite the bullet and try out a UM list with Tiggy next time, or a WS Khan list...or a Tarnus Vale/Mordecai Blaylock heavy armour build (lots of terminators/land raiders!).

[facmanpob]

Well, I didn't plan my Guardians of the Covenant, they just sort of happened!

 

My Heresy-era DA are being planned however. I have taken the story in Fallen Angels as my starting point, noted down that the force taken to Diamat by the Lion consists of veteran Astartes, a Chaplain, Contemptor Dreadnought and a couple of Apothecaries and gone from there....

[Tanhausen]

When building a list, the first question is:

 

- Is this a just for fun list? Fine, then just throw in the units you REALLY want to play and then round up with mandatory troops if needed.

 

- Is this a tournament list? Then usually you know what units you ABSOLUTELY must play in order to make a hard list, combination or whatever...and then try to cover the short commings that core has.

 

IME, the best way to go is usually have a core army (say 70-80%) and force yourself to paint 1 or 2 units...that way you are always experimenting and your PAINTED army grows at a steady rate.

[Axagoras]

i reserve anywhere from 250 to 290 for my chapter master then another 145 for his bike squad. Then I go from there

[Azash]

I like one troop choice for every 500 points in the list. In a competitive environment if you skimp on troops people just spend the entire game troop hunting till you have lost.

 

One I know what I have left over I usually pick one or two units to build the army around. Then I fill in the rest supporting the focus or negating any glaring weakness. Any left over points I look to spruce up with special war gear like melts bombs on sergeants and such.

[infornography]

I generally start with the big ideas.  Pick Chapter Tactics first.  Plan your rough strategy second.  Pick units that match that strategy last.

 

For example, my current list I started with "I want to run Salamanders CT"  From there I went to "Drop pods are cool"

 

Then I added Vulkan and 4 5 man tac squads in drop pods.  2 with melta and combi melta, and 2 with flamer and combi flamer.

 

Then I assessed what roles I had vs what roles I wanted.  I had anti tank and anti infantry.  I also had forward objective takers.  What I needed were anti elite infantry, anti flyer, backfield objective holders, and melee powerhouse units. 

 

I decide that anti air needed to be addressed next.  I add an ADL with quad gun and a storm raven.

 

I need a melee powerhouse unit so I take a chapter master and some honor guard.  This unit also doubles as anti elite infantry.

 

I need backfield objective holders so I take some sniper scouts.

 

I'm still a bit light on anti tank and anti infantry so I break off the scouts as an allied imperial fists detachment and add lascannon devs to that detatchment as well as a mastery level 2 librarian.

 

And lastly I finish up the list with a thunderfire cannon for the extra anti infantry.