2000 point Word Bearer fast assault

[depthcharge12]

So here's a list I'm brainstorming, I still can't get everything I want in there :P #legionsareawesome

 

 

HQ

 

Diabolist [170]

+Twin lightning claws, AA, burning lore, jump pack

 

Chaplain [95]

+ AA, power axe

 

 

Elites

 

5 Gal Vorbak [225]

+ Power fist, artificer armor

 

Destroyer Squad [220]

+ rad launcher, phosphex bomb, rhino

 

 

Troops

 

Assault Squad (15) [380]

+2 power swords, 1 power axe, Sgt. w/AA and power fist

 

Tactical Squad (20) [310]

+ extra ccw, Sgt. w/ AA and power fist

 

 

Heavy Support

 

Sicaran [175]

+ Lascannon sponsons

 

Sicaran [175]

+ Lascannon sponsons

 

Land Raider [250]

 

What do you guys think? The Gal Vorbak runs in the land raider and the chappy goes with the tacs, and the diabolist jumps with the assault squad

[Triacom]

This looks okay, but I think it can be improved, I don't think you really need the destroyer squad, your Sicarans should be able to handle any high toughness model or groups that show up at this points cost, you can use their points upgrading existing stuff, adding more models to existing squads, and/or giving you an entirely new squad+transport (or even a flyer transport for your existing 20 guys) if you want, and I'd never recommend only putting one Rhino on the table, it's best to keep it to a minimum of two, otherwise anything that has trouble hurting your Land Raider will be pointing right at your one rhino and it'll get shot off the table turn 1, forcing your five guys to footslog it which is a death sentence in 30K, at least with two you have much higher odds of one of them living.

 

If you want the AP2 fire the destroyer squad gets you'd be better off relying on Burning Lore on both the Diabolist and Chaplain since you get Smite automatically with it now, and with both of them firing you'll get off far more shots than you would with the Destroyer Squad.

 

You also seem to have forgotten to include the land raider the Gal Vorbak have in this list.

[depthcharge12]

This looks okay, but I think it can be improved, I don't think you really need the destroyer squad, your Sicarans should be able to handle any high toughness model or groups that show up at this points cost, you can use their points upgrading existing stuff, adding more models to existing squads, and/or giving you an entirely new squad+transport (or even a flyer transport for your existing 20 guys) if you want, and I'd never recommend only putting one Rhino on the table, it's best to keep it to a minimum of two, otherwise anything that has trouble hurting your Land Raider will be pointing right at your one rhino and it'll get shot off the table turn 1, forcing your five guys to footslog it which is a death sentence in 30K, at least with two you have much higher odds of one of them living.

 

If you want the AP2 fire the destroyer squad gets you'd be better off relying on Burning Lore on both the Diabolist and Chaplain since you get Smite automatically with it now, and with both of them firing you'll get off far more shots than you would with the Destroyer Squad.

 

You also seem to have forgotten to include the land raider the Gal Vorbak have in this list.

 

Whoops you're right, it's just a plain jane land raider.

 

I was originally going to put a plasma squad in the rhino but thought the destroyers would be more fluffy.

 

 

I was going to try and originally do a praetor and jump pack command squad, but having to take an additional chaplain or centurion is kind of a pain.

 

 

I think the chaplain is a bit redundant in any WB list due to the true believers roll, but fearless is always helpful.

 

 

Should I break it into 2 ten man assault squads with a command squad and praetor with jump pack to support the assault and provide fearless instead?

 

 

I like the idea of bike assaulters too but lack the points. I truly believe that Word Bearers are one of the better 30k assault legions out there at the moment due to having crusader and rolling 3d6 for leadership

[Triacom]

If you want to be more fluffy, I'd recommend the Ashen Circle (they are a destroyer squad), they've already got fantastic equipment, +1WS which is huge since almost everyone they'll be up against will be WS4, and they can take Phosphex bombs as well as power axes (or you can stick with the Axe Rakes, which are still better than the default equipment the regular destroyers get), and they are FAR cheaper than the regular destroyers with their equipment and upgrades, the only downsides to them is that you can't take pistols with everyone (though hand flamers are better, even though they don't give you +1A) and you cannot take the rad missile launcher, but as I said, you don't need it with this list.

 

I would not recommend two ten man assault squads, they come at a heft premium that only pays itself off at 15+ man squads.

 

The word bearers are a great assault army for 30K, a way I think you can make them even better is if you want to leave the second HQ as a chaplain, but get a jump pack so he can tag along with the assault squad, having hatred makes them so much better, and you might be better off deep-striking the Gal Vorbak, regular Land Raiders are almost always never worth it (there's entire articles you can find on why) and I'd spend the points saved on both the destroyer and Land Raider on either more people for your squads, or upgrading existing squads (more Gal Vorbak, or you can turn the regular tactical squad into another assault squad that you can put your chaplain in).

 

Here's another thought, if you swap out the destroyers for the Ashen Circle (deep striking), Deep Strike the Gal Vorbak, and swap the tactical squad for an assault one, you should still have plenty of points left over for a third Consul, that way you can get a master of signal with a jump pack to travel with one of the assault squads, and this means that when you close in, your deep striking squads will not scatter, this way you don't have to worry about losing your Gal Vorbak to a mishap, and you can make full use of the burning descent rule the Ashen Circle has, as well as perfectly position them to get the most out of their flamers and Phosphex bombs.

 

If you do these, you should have enough firepower from your Sicaran's to keep everyone who can kill your squads pinned down, while you close in, then deepstrike the Gal Vorbak and Ashen Circle to overwhelm your opponent.

[depthcharge12]

Only thing I'm worried about when taking out the land raider is that the target priority will largely shift over to the two Sicarans, and while AV13 is nice, it won't hold up to most lists, especially decently constructed ones like my 1st legion one.

 

Also I'm largely afraid of deep striking the gal Vorbak due to the amount of intercepting weapons from things like Kheresnaughts and augury scanner armed squads. I've learned the hard way how bad volkites can hurt things and Kheres cannons are no exception either.

 

 

The tips are nice on the ashen circle and I might still try them out. I take a Spartan in my 1st legion force, however the points and cost of the model are prohibitive to a list like this.

 

 

It's almost like the Gal Vorbak need the beast rule or something to move up quickly.

 

 

Should I shoot for an orbital drop rite of war instead with lots of jump packs and drop pods for things?

[Triacom]

I'd recommend against the Orbital Drop RoW with this list, the only way you can get it is if you massively overhaul your entire list.

 

I wouldn't worry too much over the Sicaran's getting shot at, there's not too much in 2000 points that'll really give them a run for their money, and anything that does can usually be gunned down by them (including Contemptors if they have Lascannon Sponsons), and if you find yourself facing lots of AT or a lot of fire directed at your Sicaran's then that should mean things won't be as bad for your infantry jumping across the table, the enemy will be too busy shooting your tanks which keeps the fire off of the real threat, your troops.  Give the Sergeants melta bombs and they can do the vehicle killing on their own once they get there since even spartans explode when a melta bomb so much as touches them.

 

So I was doing a little math on the ashen circle, if you swap the destroyers for them, and get a Phosphex bomb, Artificer Armour, and Melta bombs for the character they only cost 200 points, so they're already cheaper than the regular Destroyer squad while doing the same job, plus they have jump packs (which cost an absurd amount of points for the regular destroyers) as well as flamers, that leaves plenty of room for upgrading the tactical squad to another assault, as well as giving the Chaplain a jump pack and melta bombs, you could also choose to leave the tactical squad as is with the Chaplain staying with them, and some trimming will allow you to take a master of Signal with a jump pack to go with the Assault squad for pinpoint deepstrikes, or you can take them without trimming to stay with the Legion Squad and make them all BS5 for as long as they are alive (not to mention using their orbital bombardment rule to keep the pressure the enemy troops and armour), or trim something slightly to give the Chaplain a jump pack while leaving the Master of Signal with the Tactical squad.  Fury of the Legion (even at max range) with BS5 is a nasty thing to get caught in.

[depthcharge12]

I'd recommend against the Orbital Drop RoW with this list, the only way you can get it is if you massively overhaul your entire list.

 

I wouldn't worry too much over the Sicaran's getting shot at, there's not too much in 2000 points that'll really give them a run for their money, and anything that does can usually be gunned down by them (including Contemptors if they have Lascannon Sponsons), and if you find yourself facing lots of AT or a lot of fire directed at your Sicaran's then that should mean things won't be as bad for your infantry jumping across the table, the enemy will be too busy shooting your tanks which keeps the fire off of the real threat, your troops.  Give the Sergeants melta bombs and they can do the vehicle killing on their own once they get there since even spartans explode when a melta bomb so much as touches them.

 

So I was doing a little math on the ashen circle, if you swap the destroyers for them, and get a Phosphex bomb, Artificer Armour, and Melta bombs for the character they only cost 200 points, so they're already cheaper than the regular Destroyer squad while doing the same job, plus they have jump packs (which cost an absurd amount of points for the regular destroyers) as well as flamers, that leaves plenty of room for upgrading the tactical squad to another assault, as well as giving the Chaplain a jump pack and melta bombs, you could also choose to leave the tactical squad as is with the Chaplain staying with them, and some trimming will allow you to take a master of Signal with a jump pack to go with the Assault squad for pinpoint deepstrikes, or you can take them without trimming to stay with the Legion Squad and make them all BS5 for as long as they are alive (not to mention using their orbital bombardment rule to keep the pressure the enemy troops and armour), or trim something slightly to give the Chaplain a jump pack while leaving the Master of Signal with the Tactical squad.  Fury of the Legion (even at max range) with BS5 is a nasty thing to get caught in.

 

 

Yeah in that case I'll take the ashen circle. That only gives me 20 points then to switch them out from the destroyers, so I can slap a jump pack on the chaplain (jump packs for centurions, consuls, and praetors is 20 points :/ )

 

 

What are you proposing to do with the 250 points dropped from the land raider? I'm not too fond on taking a MoS especially since he'll look ridiculous with a jump pack.

 

 

I just noticed that the Ashen circle though don't have rad grenades, which are incredibly helpful. Should I move some points around to grab a moritat to stick with them so they get the rad grenades (coupled with axe rakes means they wound on 2+ for MEQs :D ) and a good shooting attack when they drop in?

[Triacom]

I didn't think of that, including the Moritat is probably a good idea to make them even better in combat (hitting on 3's, wounding on 2's)

 

For the points saved, I'd recommend upgrading that regular tactical squad to an assault squad like the first, that way you can split the chaplain and the preator between the two squads and cover more ground, and, if you pull out all of the stops on the Moritat and get him the gear most people get him (Artificer Armour, 2 plasma pistols, a jump pack and melta bombs) he comes to 160, leaving you with 20 points to spare, and I'd recommend putting melta bombs on your independent characters as well as your Assault Squad Sergeants which should break even.

[depthcharge12]

I didn't think of that, including the Moritat is probably a good idea to make them even better in combat (hitting on 3's, wounding on 2's)

 

For the points saved, I'd recommend upgrading that regular tactical squad to an assault squad like the first, that way you can split the chaplain and the preator between the two squads and cover more ground, and, if you pull out all of the stops on the Moritat and get him the gear most people get him (Artificer Armour, 2 plasma pistols, a jump pack and melta bombs) he comes to 160, leaving you with 20 points to spare, and I'd recommend putting melta bombs on your independent characters as well as your Assault Squad Sergeants which should break even.

Is that from taking the points from the land raider?

 

Sorry I'll rewrite the list when I get a second

[depthcharge12]

Here I rewrote the list :)

 

HQ

 

Praetor 200

+ Thunder Hammer, Iron Halo, digital weapons, Burning Lore, jump pack

 

Chaplain 130

+ Artificer armor, jump pack, burning lore, power axe

 

Moritat 185

+Artificer armor, 2 plasma pistols, jump pack, power sword

 

 

Elites

 

5 Ashen Circle 200

+ Phosphex bomb, melta bomb, artificer armor

 

5 Gal Vorbak 225

+ Artificer armor, power fist

 

 

Troops

 

15 Assault marines 370

+ 2 power swords, sgt w/AA/PA/MB

 

15 Assault marines 370

+ 2 power swords, sgt w/AA/PA/MB

 

 

Heavy Support

 

Sicaran 175

+ Lascannon sponsons

 

Sicaran 175

+ Lascannon sponsons

 

 

What do you think? I think the moritat is a huge asset because he is able to scout up the Ashen Circle guys to get into flamer range and lends his John Woo plasma shooting to take care of armored targets. Also his rad grenades make the squad hit most MEQs on 3s and wound on 2s for the first turn.

 

 

Gal Vorbak will deep strike in and either double tap their bolters or run to space them out a bit and close the gap between them and the enemy.

[Triacom]

That's a good fast list in my opinion, just remember with the moritat, he cannot assault after chain firing, so split him up before he does that otherwise your squad can't charge either, preferably have him take on 2+ save units (mostly terminators) while your guys assault a regular squad, or just use his regular gunslinger rule, if you're charging the unit you hit with the flamers you shouldn't need to chain-fire.

[depthcharge12]

That's a good fast list in my opinion, just remember with the moritat, he cannot assault after chain firing, so split him up before he does that otherwise your squad can't charge either, preferably have him take on 2+ save units (mostly terminators) while your guys assault a regular squad, or just use his regular gunslinger rule, if you're charging the unit you hit with the flamers you shouldn't need to chain-fire.

 

Yup that's the plan ^_^

 

I was almost considering taking the Angels wrath RoW to get hit and run, but then I'd lose out on good shooting units like the Sicarans.

 

 

Only problem is that the list is compact and can be picked apart.

 

 

The plan with the moritat was to scout him and the unit up so he can laze a squad quickly and the flamers can get off some shots (they can't assault first turn with scout anyway).

 

Charging the squad would be suicide with all of those flamers, they would also get hammer of wrath off too due to counter attack from the moritat, not to mention the -1 T from the rad grenades :)

 

 

I built that praetor in mind to squish other praetors in CC. Shouldn't I be able to roll on the chart for biomancy in addition to getting smite even with ML1? If that's true, the praetor might get endurance for the squad or iron arm, and be a beast.

[Triacom]

Yes, you get a role on the Biomancy chart as well as smite, and if you get lucky and get endurance (or Iron Arm) you're going to have an extremely hard to kill squad, and a Praetor that will completely destroy others in close combat (slightly less so with Iron Arm).  The rest of Biology is pretty good too.

 

You also have the option of specializing in Daemonology instead, personally I consider the summoning portion of that to be a VERY broken lore, especially if you manage to get the one that allows you to summon Heralds of Tzeentch who can then specialize in summoning some more, up to you whether or not you want to use it, if you're worried about your list being too tight, that's a very good way to expand it, and it could be just the thing that this kind of list needs.

At least there's a very good reason as to why Daemons would be constantly appearing with the Word Bearers.

 

The list is compact, but you should be able to kill whatever can wreck you with the Sicaran's, or if there's a lot of armour (like Iron Hands) then you should be able to distract them with the Sicaran's for a bit, and then kill them when you get into CC.