Prot's Not So Quick N' Dirty: Az-Bomb 2.0 VS Orks

[Prot]

Hello, and Welcome to another episode of Prot's Not So Quick N' Dirty Batreps!

Disclaimer #1: Please excuse all the non-painted figs and serious usage of proxies. I have not committed to this army and as such I had to pull out a lot of models I don't normally use.

Disclaimer #2: I have to type this up quick, so I apologize for the lack of clear descriptions.

I'm Not Gonna Lie: I try to make these short but they inevitably turn into long reads. So the warning here is... this is probably gonna end up longer than intended. Now... let's do this....

The Lists:

Dark Angels: I made a 2.0 Az-bomb list thread which had some comments (thank you for that). The list is linked here:

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/292340-az-bomb-1850-v20/

Note: the list is very similar to the one you see there except I stripped some features off of the dread making him very basic, and removed the Speeder Typhoon to get in a Whirlwind, and mo' melta on the Vets.

At 1850 Pts, my opponent (Orks) had a ton of figs on the table, two Battle Wagons (AV14!), 3 Killa Kans, 2 Dakka Jets, a squad of ork Termies (always forget the name: I call them refrigerators) attached to a refridgerator Warboss making them Super Scoring! And the oh-so common double squad of Lootas.

A Note About My List:

Due to feedback, no one thought I should re-include Ezekeil in the list, so it went from Az-Zeke Bomb to Az-Bomb. Was this a good decision? You decide.

Also Az-Zeke in the last game dropped with Tacticals, thus making the unit super scoring, and the Pod was super scoring as well. In this game I went with a gut feeling and dropped a strongly equipped Vet Squad as the core of the army:

The Vets were:

8 Vets. 1 Drop Pod. 1 Melta gun. 1 Combi-melta gun. 3 were double armed. One fister (aptly named: Fist-Bro'). One Power Axer (aptly named: Come-at-me-Bro'). Of course Azrael was in this squad.

The Game:

1850 Pts - Malestrom (love this mission type) - The scenario where you can steal each others 'Capture Objective 'X'' Tactical Cards. 12" Deployment. No Night Fight, I get first turn and take it (which I never did in 6th ed for objectives, but things changed in 7th).

The Deployment:

I plopped the Bastion down, put my Devastator Lascannon team on top, manned the Quad gun, put the Whirlwind behind it. Bikes/attack bikes started on the table, ready to Scout towards all objectives possible. Everything else was in reserve (Az-vet-bomb, Termies, Tactical, Dreadnought)

Whirlwind, Bastion, Devastators, and Black Knights, at Deployment. Does it get any Dark Angely-ier than this? (P.S. I realize "Dark Angely-ier" is not a word in the Imperium Vernacular. My apologies to the Administratum)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Game Abbreviated (?): Turns That Mattered:

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Early Game:

The Ork Deployment was typically aggressive, thoughtless, full of excess gas, and with only one motivation: eat Dark Angels.

- The Orks had the Forcefield dude sitting in the Red Battlewagon. The HQ was in there, and the one next to it was also a Battlewagon with 'something-boyz' loaded up. Both enjoyed a 5+ cover save from the Force Field dude. Sounds like a Dark Angel thing. (MAYBE I SHOULD TRY IT!)

- I did my typical wide field dispersion using all my movement bonuses to my advantage. Black Knights, Biker squads 1 and 2, the Attack Bike, etc, all grabbed objectives where they could. This is how I roll. Early points were rewarded to me.

- I realized these two Battlewagons were going to be a huge problem, and the several squads of Boyz (not all pictured) were going to tarpit Az-bomb if I wasn't very careful. As a result of this, Azrael wanted no part of a passive defense, and demanded a 'hammer-strike' offensive in the heart of the filth.

What do you do when confronted with millions of bow-legged, red-vested wearing aliens? Drop right in front of them, and kick them in their over-exposed genitalia (they don't have any though, do they?)

-As a result of Azrael's plan, Az-vet bomb, Dreadnought, 5 Termies, 3 turbo'ing bikes all drop right in front of two Battlewagons and a horde of angry Orks, with 3 Killa Kans a stone's throw away.

- The Dreadnought refuses to do anything for me in any game... here he rolls a 1 to melta a wagon. The Dev squad (on the Bastion) fails to do anything to the battlewagons. The Vet Squad actually pops the HQ truck, spilling out a Warboss and 'Fridge squad. A very ugly battle is about to ensue here for a very long time. A lot of game-making and breaking decisions are made here.

- The Western front is dominated by Ork Boyz, and Lootas. I only have one remnant Ravenwing squad holding my objective.

- By the end of the early turns, I realize I must do something to stop the Killa Kans and thin out the Fridge/HQ squad or I'm in trouble, not to mention outnumbered 10-1.

- With only one blown up Battlewagon, but 2 Drop pods, and a Dreadnought in front of the remaining Battlewagon, Azrael felt the 'stand' was going well. But the untouched Battlewagon had DeathRollers and in one, single movement, blew up both Drop Pods, and the Dreadnought! (I still don't know if I can do a 'Last Stand' with a Dreadnought, but we said no).

In that one movement I lost 3 units and his Battle Wagon was still fine, rolled behind Az-bomb and dumped another pile of Ork Boyz into the mix. (Do these guys multiply on demand or what?)

Mid Game:

The Termie's with Plasma Cannon get off some shots, but fail to really do much. The plasma cannon deviates 8 inches. The Whirwind is spitting out shell after shell, apparently over-heating because I think it killed about 4 orks all game.

The Western Front is collapsing from sheer weight of numbers. Tactical Squad: "Boo-yah!" is sent drop podding into the jaws of hell. (Denying the objective just in the top left corner of the picture)

My bikes to the west are slowly falling to the weight of fire from Lootas, and a large Boyz squad advancing on a mid-field Objective. At the same time, the sheer weight of Green Tide is taking its toll on Azrael and his Vets. Termies and more bikes get into the mix. But I am slowly losing it.... but a big moment happens to buy Azrael some time:

.... The Mysterios Objective that Azrael is on gives -2" to assault charges. The Warboss, and his Fridge squad are seething at this point to reach that squad. Azreal could smell the hate (or was it Ork dung?). The Warboss was already in difficult terrain, but was fairly close to Azrael and declared a charge. Azrael leveled the 'Lion's Wrath' right at the forehead of an 8 foot Mega-armoured Ork and dropped him where he stood. This plus the -4 inches to charge range would deny the Warboss a close combat move again!

- Finally both Ork Dakka Jets come in. The Devastator Squad with 4 lascannons have been doing next to nothing the whole game. They turn the Quad Cannon on the lead Jet and only manage one hull point destroyed. Ugh. Azrael is displeased.

- Azrael's Sword of Secrets carries the stench of burning Ork Blood. Dripping to the hilt, the rancid smell is a death omen to the approaching Orks. 'Come-at-me-Bro' (Axe Veteran) and 'Bro-Fist' are also smacking Ork after Ork into the ground, but the math is catching up. Black Knights try to stall the War-boss and his Mega Armoured squad but the Plasma Talons only cause one unsaved wound. The Black Knights desperately assault but are destroyed.

The Dakka Jets roar onto the field taking down some bikes while receiving very little damage in return.

Late Game:

The Tide Stops Here: No Further! Azrael's squad is down to 2 vets including Bro-Fist, plus himself. He calls in on the last 3 bikes, and Terminators to sever the last Ork Rush. The Warboss remains, with a handful of Boyz, and still the Killa Kans remain in the background, stumbling ever so slowly forward.

The Western Front was another blood bath. All tacticals but one died, and while trying to recover an objective, the last member of squad "Boo-yah" was destroyed. The Whirlwind fired in retaliation taking down 5 more Orks, freeing up the objective.

- The Az-bomb squad is nearly depleted. The Terminators take action to halt the Killa Kans and hammer them into a junkyard.

Azrael is challenged but I can't accept. No matter how I worked it out in my head, the sword of secrets is ill-equipped for this match up. To buy time, Bro-Fist sacrifices his life taking 3 Warboss Fist wounds which SHOULD spill over during the challenge and kill Azrael BUT the "protetor" gives Bro-Fist a 3++. He makes 2 of those saves, dying with dignity, spending all of his life trying deflect the third, fatal blow.

The Terminators try to rush to the aid of Azrael, but fall to weight of firepower. Azrael now faces the Warboss in a singed field of thousands of bodies. Exchanging blows of titanic-power, the two go blow for blow until finally the Warboss punctures Azrael's chest piece and he is flattened on the corpses of his brotherhood.

An eerie silence falls over the battlefield. The Devastators must have felt it happen, and wanted to recover Azrael because they leveled their Lascannons at the Warboss and punctured a Terra sized hole through the chest of the mighty Warboss. The objective that thousands died for would remain... incontestable with a 100% casualty rate. A legendary mass of carnage.

End Game:

Total carnage indeed. The Bastion stood, as did the Devastators and Whirlwind. But all bikes were destroyed, Black Knights, Terminators, Veterans, Drop Pods.... destroyed. On the other side hundreds of boyz, both BattleWagons, the Warboss, Killa Kans, one squad of Lootas, Mega Armoured Orks.... all destroyed.

We both had Slay the Warlord of course. But my early game play had stolen a lot of points. "The Stand" performed by Azrael and Vets had made the difference. This meant the main thrust of the Ork Army could not penetrate the midfield of the battle scene and therefore had great difficulty in contesting anything on my side of the table. That battle in the very early stages of the game would go on to last 5 turns and give the Dark Angels the victory (if you can call such utter destruction on both sides a win!!!). Technically Dark Angels win 14 - 9 (I think he had 9 points but I know I won by at least 4 points).

I hope you enjoyed this. If you read this far... thank you. I will hopefully post my post-game thoughts later but have to run. Thanks again.

[Chaplain Lucifer]

That was one enjoyable read. I'm impressed by the Azz+vets resilience despite being a fan of that setup for as long as there is a DA codex.

[Prot]

Thank you very much for reading it, and commenting! These aren't easy to put together and are meant for entertainment as much as my own understanding of what went well or wrong.

 

Now with some time to reflect on the game I can further assess some units and abilities:(Note these are just my interpretation of my experiences while I chronicle my small sampling of Az-bomb games)

 

This is meant as a unit 'guide'. Anyone wanting to try Az-bomb who is curious about list synergy with the Az-bomb core can get my basic thoughts/experiences here. Again this is far from final, but will provide some basic tactical advice with the caveat that it is subject to change:

 

Az-Bomb / Az-Zeke Bomb Unit and Support Review:

 

- Nephilim: How I want to love thee. But thee don't love me back, and costs a fortune. I didn't miss it in my last couple of games. Easily replaceable by a Quad Cannon. D+

 

- Bastion: You know I used to use this in my earliest take on Ravenwing armies. And my most successful Deathwing armies as well (before I started fiddling with dual landraiders which are always a Necron game away from failure). The Bastion -feels- Dark Angel-ish. With Malestrom, and the new deployment order, I feel that even with combat squaded tacticals, and the ability for the quad to shoot normal at skimmers, it's a good unit. Real solid if placed properly. I give this unit a B+.

 

- Az-bomb: Find the right support units, combined with Vets, and I always take the FnP trait and bomb these guys on an Objective.... let the mayhem ensue. These guys are a rock (aptly so). Mobility is an issue except with proper placement, and support units in place, this is the third game that they made the win.

 

The down size is with such a huge investment of points AND commitment of support, you will rarely win HUGE with this type of army. It's not a typical typical sit back and shoot, or a Ravenwing style vicious, violent aggression. It simply out lasts you, and won't go away. A

 

- Ravenwing Support: Generally speaking this is huge in Malestrom (which I play exclusively since 7th). With small, but somewhat rugged, troops zipping to all corners for Objectives, your opponent is quickly forced to make a decision: Do I spread myself thin and try to contest? (To do this the opponent MUST use Objective Secured units as well!!!) OR Do I deal with Az-bomb before he messes up my back lines? Ravenwing (as a Troop) is key to this strat. A-

 

- Deathwing Support: Not as cost effective as Tacticals nor basic Ravenwing. However, pin point objective grabbing in far away lands, or supporting Az-bomb is key here for this unit. At toughness 5 and a Plasma Cannon, I've found it to be durable and flexible with the ranged AP2, and about 2 Hammer/Shield models. B-

 

- Elite Support:

-Deathwing Knights. I've found them too inflexible and this army leverages 'super scoring' units to compensate for LOW numbers. This means I usually only have room for 1 high pointed unit that is not scoring. C+

 

- Black Knights: Probably my favorite unit in the codex from day one. Rad grenade, Plasma Talons, turbo, scout, Corvus Hammers, Hit and Run... very flexible. As pointed out in previous reports Jink hits bikes hard and I found Jinking can really limit their effectiveness. But still as non-super scoring unit. perhaps the most flexible unit I've used to support Az-Bomb. B-

 

- Tacticals: I'm finding more and more use for these. A quick way of upping the model count. Not extremely potent, however, in a pod you have two instant super scoring units landing (hopefully) right on an objective. I use these for mid-distant support for Az-bomb. B-

 

- Azrael: The man himself. Great wargear, and a force multiplier , albeit an expensive one. The Force Multiplier is what really makes him in this list. Specifically in Malestrom. Specifically: 3++ invulnerables to his squad. Unlocking super scoring units with tremendous speed (this can be huge against a static army). Azrael himself is not what I would consider Top Tier in close combat. The sword is just too lacking against fisters, and 2+ save opponents. As a chapter master, I would have hoped he could in theory go toe to toe with anything, but this is not the case. However he is personally equipped well enough to tangle with several opponents, and his Plasma gun is a nice bonus. A-

 

Units Still in Limbo:

 

- Landspeeders: Jink is again an efficiency killer in 7th. I'm having much more trouble in 7th making these worth their points. I'm actually considering our Plasma Cannon variant in a deep strike scenario. Undecided.

 

- Devastators: A 4 Lascannon, 6 man team is reasonably priced, however close combat happens VERY fast with this army. Also even though this unit is a natural to man the quad cannon on the Bastion, it is not super scoring. Undecided.

 

- Dreadnought: No love thus far. So far it has been deepstriking to support/block Az-bomb from harm. What I do know is Vet status is useless as the model is easily glanced and in an army with very little armoured vehicles, the dread never makes turn 2. Yet it still is a big target and I have yet to try it as fire support (las/missiles) from my back lines. Undecided.

 

- Ezekeil/Libby: Ezekeil provides a great one two punch with Az but at a steep price. In an army with a model count problem, I don't think you can turn Az-Bomb into Az-Zeke Bomb for less than.... 1850 points? However, a vanilla Libby with Divination combined with Az-Bomb vets OR Devs can be a strong, discount alternative.

[SvenONE]

Sounds like an exciting game! Really feeling the lack of Eternal Warrior vs those power klaws :( You'll have to play this opponent again after the new Ork codex is released and see how this list holds up.

[FerociousBeast]

A Note About My List:

 

Due to feedback, no one thought I should re-include Ezekeil in the list, so it went from Az-Zeke Bomb to Az-Bomb. Was this a good decision? You decide.

 

 

Actually, I advocated keeping Ezekiel. And I'll do so again now. Any Librarian would have helped in this particular match up, whether you went with some AP2 psychic firepower, the standard Prescience route, or perhaps even Ezekiel's mind worm. And w/ ML3, the WS+1 boost for the unit (awesome on CC vets vs. Orks), and artificer armor, Ezekiel seems to well warrant his premium over a standard Librarian.

 

Great write up, thank you!

 

I'd also keep the Devastators. While fragile, you're going to have way too much going on in Maelstrom missions with all those scorers zipping around for your opponent to be able to focus on them. And 4 lascannons have serious potential for damage output, even if they might have underperformed in your last game.

[FerociousBeast]

Another thought. Have you considered dropping the Deathwing squad for another drop podding Tactical squad? You'd gain potentially two more super scoring units, if the Tacs combat squad, many more weapon options, and you'll probably save around 50 points. As I've shown in a thread a long time ago here at B&C (see sig below), a 10-man tac squad is roughly equally equivalent to a 5-man terminator squad in durability and almost always much more deadly in ranged damage output. The Tacs suffer in comparison to terminators only in close combat threat and, in the case of Deathwing, in the lack of Fearless.

[Gillyfish]

Nice write up Prot. I really enjoy your battle reports.

 

Sounds like the new list does well. I can see why dropping the Dread might be beneficial given the lack of armour elsewhere. Personally, if you do retain it, I'd change the loadout, possibly to an assault cannon, as it's flexible enough to deal with a range of targets and you're more likely to hit something.

 

Maybe an alternative to speeders might be attack bikes. They're scoring, can carry a multi-melta and are reasonably cheap, plus you can deploy them separately - an annoying extra unit for your opponent to deal with. If he likes big units and can't split fire, he has to divert a unit to kill your bike or risk you taking out vehicles or high-value single units. Deploy two together for extra irritation - one gets shot at and jinks? Fine, the other gets to shoot back. ;) In theory, anyway.

[SvenONE]

I agree with FBs suggestions, Ezekiel and some more bodies (in the form of tacs should I like).  The reason I like Ezekiel/Azrael combo (despite how expensive it is) is that it gives you 2 power weapons (1 being force), and Ezekiel isn't a bad challenge taker.  His biggest drawback is his lack of an invuln but with Azrael he's running the same 2+/4++ that Azrael has.  Depending on what Psyker powers you get he can be even better.  I say this from experience bc this is a loadout I've been using.  In fact recently I got misfortune and it's nice to have rending attacks on vets as well as ezekiel/azrael.

[Prot]

Thank you everyone for reading, and the comments. I really appreciate it as it further motivates me to continue, and document my experimental games.

A Note About My List:

Due to feedback, no one thought I should re-include Ezekeil in the list, so it went from Az-Zeke Bomb to Az-Bomb. Was this a good decision? You decide.

Actually, I advocated keeping Ezekiel. And I'll do so again now. Any Librarian would have helped in this particular match up, whether you went with some AP2 psychic firepower, the standard Prescience route, or perhaps even Ezekiel's mind worm. And w/ ML3, the WS+1 boost for the unit (awesome on CC vets vs. Orks), and artificer armor, Ezekiel seems to well warrant his premium over a standard Librarian.

Great write up, thank you!

I'd also keep the Devastators. While fragile, you're going to have way too much going on in Maelstrom missions with all those scorers zipping around for your opponent to be able to focus on them. And 4 lascannons have serious potential for damage output, even if they might have underperformed in your last game.

Oops. I forgot about your Ezekeil endorsement.

I find I'm in agreement on the Devastators and I'm thinking I was just really unlucky in that game. I will keep them in the list for now. And I'll try to find a way to squeeze Ezekeil back in.

Another thought. Have you considered dropping the Deathwing squad for another drop podding Tactical squad? You'd gain potentially two more super scoring units, if the Tacs combat squad, many more weapon options, and you'll probably save around 50 points. As I've shown in a thread a long time ago here at B&C (see sig below), a 10-man tac squad is roughly equally equivalent to a 5-man terminator squad in durability and almost always much more deadly in ranged damage output. The Tacs suffer in comparison to terminators only in close combat threat and, in the case of Deathwing, in the lack of Fearless.

Good advice. I am on the fence about this because with Azrael I really wanted to keep an element of both Raven and Death wings in an attempt to advocate his being there (purely from fluff perspective so perhaps not a 'great' reason.)

My first Az-Zeke Bomb games were including Deathwing Knights which just don't do enough, and don't super score. The flexibility of this Deathwing unit has improved the list... marginally. In this last game, their Hammer/Shield combo and toughness 5 with 3++ took down the Killa Kans that would have probably been too much for Az-Bomb to handle.

However, the more I play Malestrom in 7th edition I find it truly is breathing new life into lesser desirable units.... Like tacticals. I was just thinking how nice it would be to get a Second Tactical Squad in with a super scoring Drop Pod.

I've realized in these games that tactical + Pod FORCES my opponent to deal with both units. Whereas in 6th, my opponents largely ignored the Pods. So trust me, this is very tempting to try.

Thanks again for the great suggestions.

Nice write up Prot. I really enjoy your battle reports.

Sounds like the new list does well. I can see why dropping the Dread might be beneficial given the lack of armour elsewhere. Personally, if you do retain it, I'd change the loadout, possibly to an assault cannon, as it's flexible enough to deal with a range of targets and you're more likely to hit something.

Maybe an alternative to speeders might be attack bikes. They're scoring, can carry a multi-melta and are reasonably cheap, plus you can deploy them separately - an annoying extra unit for your opponent to deal with. If he likes big units and can't split fire, he has to divert a unit to kill your bike or risk you taking out vehicles or high-value single units. Deploy two together for extra irritation - one gets shot at and jinks? Fine, the other gets to shoot back. In theory, anyway.

Assault Cannon dread? Maybe. I think I'll leave Vet status out of it though... just not working out. I have to keep him cheap to be worth it. I was using him Multi melta/Heavy Flamer originally.... but Assault cannon does offer some flexibilty and hopefully as you say some hits.

I do have one super scoring Attack Bike with MM. I agree it is annoying to force your opponent to fully deal with it because it is a single model, and super scoring. I don't think I can get a second super scoring one in, but it's possible. (non-super scoring.)

Thanks again for reading this. Makes it worthwhile and I appreciate the additional tactical advice.

Right now I'm trying to put four Lascannon dudes together with some spare Dark Angel bits. So I guess that unit stays in the list for now. ;)

[FerociousBeast]

The flexibility of this Deathwing unit has improved the list... marginally. In this last game, their Hammer/Shield combo and toughness 5 with 3++ took down the Killa Kans that would have probably been too much for Az-Bomb to handle.

 

 

How are your normal Deathwing termies getting T5?

[Prot]

 

The flexibility of this Deathwing unit has improved the list... marginally. In this last game, their Hammer/Shield combo and toughness 5 with 3++ took down the Killa Kans that would have probably been too much for Az-Bomb to handle.

 

 

How are your normal Deathwing termies getting T5?

 

 

Sorry that's wrong (I"ve just been flipping back and forth from the Knights and Deathwing Termies so many times.). Plus it has no meaning against Killa Kans, but the shields/hammers just seem so much more effective than the Flails of the Deathwing Knights.

 

The toughness 5 on the bikes is nice against massed small arms though. They're just... tricky to use right in small numbers, spread out across the board.

[Chaplain Lucifer]

One thing that experience told me is that a single shot Dread will always fluff it. Thus my dreads either have twin linked or multi shot weapons. Given the fact that the dread pods in, I would go indeed for AC. It still can be used vs light vehicles and can even strip away hull points or get results on heavier vehicles. Plus pared with a heavy flamer it is a menace to infantry.

[Prot]

Yea I think I agree. Unless I put him on the backlines with Lascannons/MIssiles, I think I agree with this as a Pod-Dread.

 

I'm looking at the advice, and taking some practical experience here and I'm considering:

 

1. ++Dropping the Terminators++Testing the effectiveness of another squad of Tacticals (combat squaded) in a Pod for more scoring action.

 

2. ++Squeezing Ezekeil++ back in the list++ This is harder than it looks. The list feels very tight as it is coming together.

 

3. ++Dropping the Whirwind++ This is also tough. It rarely does anything but I find opponents are forced to ignore it because of the super aggressive nature of this list. But it's cheap.... so.... whatever.

 

4. ++Dread Changes++ Not sure. It's done nothing... but it is a threat. Lucifer is right, while it shoots once, it sucks for me. So option 1 is backline fire support (not sure I need it) or 2. Drop in with Plasma Cannon (10 points cheaper than assault cannon?! o_0 ) or Assault Cannon. (No more Ven status!)

 

5. ++Goofy Experiment:++ Dropping in (along with all the other drop stuff) a Vengeance Speeder!!!++ I know crazy right? But 3 x st7 ap2 @24" is quite a nice thought (better than Whirlwind, less survivable and more expensive). It gives more targets to opponents instead of my Dread always taking a beating.

 

 

I'm definitely running out of points. Devs and Bastion has gotta stay! A combat squaded 5 man squad may sit in 2nd floor to super score on an objecctive (I always place the Bastion right beside an objective).

 

I definitely have to drop something else aside from Termies to squeeze half of this in!

 

Thoughts? Anything look really good or really bad about the above?

[FerociousBeast]

Well, you'd sacrifice a super scoring unit and either a special or heavy, but you could trim some models from the second tac squad. You'd still have 2 scoring units to replace the 1 scoring DW unit.

 

Really looking forward to your next report! I'm enjoying seeing this list come together.

[Aegnor]

Very interesting write up and analysis. Got me contemplating a Azrael based list, which is something I've never tried before (always seem to go for Belial instead).

 

How does Azrael make his squad of Vets super-scoring? And doesn't he give his unit a 4++ rather than 3++?

[Chaplain Lucifer]

Goofy experiment at will, but don't ever fire the 3x S7 AP2. It overheats so for every 6 shots you suffer one glancing. take your chances with the s7 ap2 large blast.

[Prot]

Very interesting write up and analysis. Got me contemplating a Azrael based list, which is something I've never tried before (always seem to go for Belial instead).

 

How does Azrael make his squad of Vets super-scoring? And doesn't he give his unit a 4++ rather than 3++?

 

Thanks for checking it out. I'm sorry for the slight inaccuracies. What happens is I finish the games, edit the pictures, only use some of the pictures, and do the write up early in the morning before I head out. So all in all it takes me over an hour or two to get these reports done. As a result, I don't really proofread and make those kinds of mistakes.... I have been playing it with a 4+ save, as well as a 5+ feel no pain because I always park him on an ojbective, and always choose that specific Warlord trait.

 

In this game the Vets were not super scoring (the last game I had him and Ezekeil with Tacticals), however, they were surrounded by Bikes and Deathwing which were super scoring.

 

I wanted to try this because bikes were getting boring after... 20+ games. And Deathwing is.... very difficult to be competitive with in my metal (a lot of AP2 and hordes). I wanted to go... out side my comfort zone and try 2 characters I never thought I'd touch.

 

Wanna hear something funny though? I never liked the original metal Azrael and Ezekeil figs, and realized from other players here that the DV plastics were perfect Counts As figs. (Duh!)

 

I love those figs so they are added motivation for me to paint and use these two characters.

 

The surprising effect to me is that Azrael (in particular) and Ezekeil (to a lesser degree) play like I think they SHOULD in Malestrom. These guys are VERY difficult to move once they are on an objective. Against Nids, IG, and Orks I've had them sit through absolute hell and they looked hell right in the eye, and kicked it in the jimmies.

 

It is pricey, and unforgiving if you make mistakes with your support models. It doesn't feel over powered, and it's a lot of fun. I recommend you try it to spread your wings a bit outside your comfort zone. ;)

 

 

 

 

Goofy experiment at will, but don't ever fire the 3x S7 AP2. It overheats so for every 6 shots you suffer one glancing. take your chances with the s7 ap2 large blast.

 

You know it's one thing that the thing over heats so easy (I guess if I roll a one to hit, then I roll again I think... and on a 1-2 I glance myself?) But it's another thing that really you can't Jink with it or it's useless.

 

That being said dropping it in, and pulverizing something 'valuable' would be fun. However, at 140 points, I can get 2 WhirlWinds in the list which seems so much smarter since I have gone back to the Bastion which is perfect for hiding them.

 

I'm always trying to wedge in the unique DA units... sometimes to my detriment. :)

[Aegnor]

Thanks for the response and clarification. To be clear, I wasn't insinuating you had been dodgy in how you played, or meaning to criticize your write-up. Was more in the vein of "Azrael makes a unit of Vets he accompanies super-scoring? Holy Wow Batman, how did I never realise that - sign me up!", followed by wondering whether I was missing something when I couldn't see it in the codex. :)

[Prot]

Oh don't worry, I didn't take it that way. I am just making excuses for writing jibber-jabber. :)

 

Still trying to wedge some new things in this list to make it more efficient. I am struggling to take out the Termies but I really want to see if combat squaded tacticals (with a Pod) actually improve things, or will I miss the Hammer/Shield/Plasma Cannon combo on hard opponents?