2500pts Terror Assault List

[Lord Asvaldir]

So having acquired the first few units for my Night Lords army, I'm trying to nail down what will work for terror assault so I can figure out what else to get. I love terror squads and I'm not a fan of painting tanks, so seems the terror assault rite of war was made for me. The only question is what fits well with terror assault and what doesn't. 

 

Preator

paragon blade, iron halo, digital lasers, jump pack, trophies of judgement

 

Dreadnought Talon

2x dccw, 2x grav guns, drop pod

 

Dreadnought Talon

2x dccw, 2x grav guns, drop pod

 

Veteran Tactical Squad (5)

melta bombs, melta gun, drop pod

 

Terminator Squad (5)

5x power fists, reaper autocannon, teleporter transponder

 

Terror Squad (10)

volkite chargers, sergeant with melta bombs and a chainglaive

 

Terror Squad (10)

volkite chargers, sergeant with melta bombs and a chainglaive

 

Terror Squad (10)

volkite chargers, sergeant with melta bombs and a chainglaive

 

Night Raptor Squad (15)

4x nostraman chainglaives, 3x power axes

 

skyhunter jetbikes (5)

melta bombs, sergeant

 

Two main things I'm not sure about-which assault units I should use (big terminator vs big raptor squad), and just how much anti tank I need. I'm very sold on the terror squads, the preator and the dreadnoughts, plus the veterans need to be in there so both dreadnoughts can drop in turn one, however from there I'm just not sure-terminators with no nucio vox seems like a risk, however I feel I need another fast unit on the ground like bikes/jetbikes/attack bikes with melta bombs to go after tough tanks. I'd like to figure out really what are options I definitely can't go wrong with buying for terror assault, more variety can come later. 

[Aeternus]

From what I've heard, NR aren't actually that good, unless they're being used as a delivery mechanism for Curze...

 

And we really need anti tank. The terror squads alone will wipe most infantry out, so the rest of the army should be geared towards anti tank...so you might want to take a heavy support option.

 

The dreads are good :) you might want to change your wording, as they are one talon, not two seperate ones (I think/presume)

 

One method for termies, if you could free up the points, could be to put sevvy in, add him to the vets in the pod, drop him down, (presumably close to enemies for the meltas), and let the terminators ds onto him without scatter.

 

Speaking of, you could max out the veterans, or get them to 9/10 so you have a better chance for 'a talent for murder'

 

I'll return with more musings :)

[Lord Asvaldir]

Ya it's a shame that jump infantry just tend to not be all that great, I constantly try to make them work with not much luck. Biggest issue I see with them is being so reliant on a d3 roll, nostraman chainglaive raptors in particular just are stuck with one attack after the turn they assault. Plus +3 armor  with no invul just makes them as expensive as terminators with no invul. 

 

For heavy support seems like a tough choice as for what to pick. I'd love to take a sicaran, but just one is going to be target priority number one, it will go down very quickly. The most viable option to me seems to be a heavy support squad with some missiles, since it's yet another power armored unit in an army with lots of power armor to worry about, or a medusa squadron that can hide behind terrain. That's some anti armor, I'm also considering land speeders, either javelins or just normal. One squadron might be a nice asset to have and would take a little attention off the dreadnoughts. 

 

Dreads are meant to be in two separate talons.

 

Sevvy is sweet, but I'd like to stick to non named HQs, at least for now. Plus a nuncio vox does the same thing for much cheaper, just means the veterans have to drop in turn one, delaying one dreadnought. In that case I'd make them bigger. 

 

So really my biggest decision I'm not sure on is if I drop the night raptors, then do I replace them with a 10 man terminator squad? Seems like a large unit to be deep striking, but on the other hand spartans are rather expensive. Could also try two units of 5 which would be easier to deep strike. 

 

Thanks for the musings, really just need to nail down what I'll be using so I can go buy more models. 

[Marshal Loss]

To be honest I think Night Raptors can work in this list - you've kept them pretty cheap, and with plenty of deep striking and infiltrating units your opponent is likely to be occupied. That being said, some games they're going to get hammered, but I still think they'll do better than a big Terminator blob.

 

You could potentially downgrade your Contemptors to normal Dreadnoughts with the same weapon options and use the points saved to add more Terminators to your existing unit (3-4 more depending on weapons), and they'll do the graviton job just as well as Contemptors.

[Lord Asvaldir]

They are already downgraded unfortunately, I don't think it's worth 100pts for essentially just +1AV, the invul save is not needed given the dreadnought gets shrouded from their pods when they show up. 

 

The hope is that my opponent is occupied, I'm just worried that my opponent will see the raptors as the biggest threat, focus them and they are finished, there goes my main assault unit. I guess with terminators to back them up though, could work out. 

[Marshal Loss]

Ah, for some reason I read it as Contemptors rather than normal Dreadnoughts. My bad!

 

You're right to be worried, but if you're using the correct amount of cover on the board (not one of those horrible spare tables) your Night Raptors will still pack a punch as they have quite a few ablative wounds to chew through before they lose combat effectiveness

[Tychii]

Why don't you just take a second night raptor squad?

From my experience 1 is such a fire magnet and clear priority for my opponents that they usally spend the whole game hiding.

But two, with attached characters to jump all over the place Work really well. One makes it in practically full in tact, and usally both get there now.

 

The terminator/night raptor idea sounds nice, but the different speeds mean that 1 is a threat turn 2, and the other isn't a threat till turn 3

[Black_out]

What about dropping the Night Raptors for something like a Fire Raptor? It'd free up some other points across the board too

[Aeternus]

What about dropping the Night Raptors for something like a Fire Raptor? It'd free up some other points across the board too

Fire raptor...

 

It'll mean he would have a fair chance at air superiority, and it can wipe most things off a table, however building it will be some of the worst modelling days of your life, speaking from experience.

 

But then again, once you have it up, nigh on everything can be hurt by it, it's manouverable, and you can shoot three units at a time, if you're in the right place.

[Lord Asvaldir]

Fire raptor is without a doubt a solid choice, however replacing the night raptors with a fire raptor takes the one big combat threat the list has, plus I feel I should always have a big combat squad to take advantage of a talent for murder. I'd rather find something else to take out. 

 

I like the idea of two raptor squads, that does leave two big units running up the board as a huge threat, the only issue is with the 3 mandatory terror squads, the praetor and the raptor squads, there is very little room left over for anti tank, which could be a large problem. I'll try and figure out a way to make that work though. 

[Brother Heinrich]

Well I personally hate the restrictions of Terror Assault, so you could always do what I'm doing and run Pride of the legion, then take a vet squad and the terminators as your compulsory troops and drop one of the terror squads to free up points for heavy support choices.

 

The fire raptor is alright, but as stated before you're not gonna have issues killing infantry, and there are better fliers like the xiphon for killing vehicles.

[Lord Asvaldir]

That is one option, terror assault certainly is fairly restrictive on what you can take. The 1 heavy I can work around, it's really the three mandatory terror squads that really adds up pts wise, if you take full size squads you're stuck at 1k pts after your hq before even considering any other options. I may just have to try taking some smaller terror squads to get pts for a 2nd raptor unit. 

[Brother Heinrich]

Yeah I'd run 'em 9 or 8-man to save some points if you're gonna go with Terror Assault.

[Tychii]

I and most people have found the same thing to be true about the terror squads. In general I find that I just don't need/want three of them.

Perhaps as a 5man reserve objective camper, but it is just so many points on something that isn't really needed.

 

I have been running my nightlords as pride with vet squads toting either plasma or melta in rhinos.

Overall a bit cheaper then the terror squads and more versatile in their target choices. Really you could just run it without a rite of war, and truly you aren't missing too much imo.

 

If you really want to run terror assault, and raptors, I would suggest running 1 bare bones 5man sqaud to lessen the points tax. They will be useless and vulnerable, but might be able to hold an objective late if you keep them out of LOS

[Lord Asvaldir]

I hear what you're saying, the thing is I love terror squads, an entire squad with volkite is awesome not to mention they are not too shabby in cc, plus preferred enemy and precision shots I think makes them better than veterans. It's just that three squads is a lot, and those pts add up fast so I will probably end up either going for small squads, around 8 or so or do as you suggest and take one 5 man bare bones squad, I need to find a way to get rid of some pts and that's probably the best way tot do it. 

 

Plus I don't think I'd be able to run double raptor squads, terror squads and pride of the legion, it's a good option if I want to go for a veteran and terminator squad but with two raptor squads I don't see how I'd have the pts to fit all that in plus anti vehicle units. 

[Tychii]

Well if you do the run Raptors I would suggest dropping the terminators, as their assault timing is off due to teleporting terminators coming in the turn the raptors would ideally be charging.

 

So running two vet squads with two raptor squads it's a nice two wave list with multiple threats during turn two and three.

 

The real idea is to find 300 pts somewhere to cover the anti tank. Options are a bit sparse.

I'm trying out 5man attack bike squads, or two squads of 2-3 with melta bombs. On paper it's a pretty safe way to get some melta bombs into some tanks, I might give them guns, but we will see how it goes.

[Lord Asvaldir]

I am dropping the terminators, there isn't close to enough pts to keep them in the list. 

 

Running two veteran squads is something I'd only do if I run pride of the legion, as while veterans are more versatile then terror squads, I'd say point for point the terror squads are just better. 

 

I think melta bombs on bikes/jetbikes/attack bikes are a great anti tank option, they just can't be the only one. You need some ranged anti tank options as well I feel, graviton contemptors being my favorite though I think speeders would fit as well, also considering a dredero dreadnought for a little anti air. 

 

So my new list is roughly looking like now is 3 units of 7-8 terror squads, 2 units of 15 raptors, preator, 5 veterans, the dreadnoughts, dredero and 2 javelins. 

[Tychii]

Hmm I like it, what is the 5man vet squad for? Other then that seems like a fun in your face list

[Lord Asvaldir]

The only reason I take the vets is so that both contemptors can drop in turn 1 with drop pod assault. I feel like if only one ends up dropping in, there's no target saturation and won't last long enough to assault something. If both drop in, chances are one will survive, not to mention that's 4 graviton blasts unleashed before my opponent gets to retaliate. 

[Caillum]

Instead of taking the Vets, give one of the Terror Squads a Drop Pod. They don't need to ride down in it, but it will get both Contemptors on the board Turn 1, and it only costs 35 points.

 

I know your not sure about special characters yet, but this is the Heresy! Big names are what it's all about! Curze is a great force multiplier for Terror Assault, and he can ride in a Night Raptor squad giving them Stealth and Shrouded... you can easily drop one unit, as I don't think 2 big units of them the best use of points. Swap the Praetor for a jump pack Chaplain, and you have a nice Deathstar with the whole army causing Fear!

[Lord Asvaldir]

Of course,  why didn't I think of that. I did double check the rules for terror assault, it does require any units that take a drop pod to ride down in it, but that's fine by me, I can just throw a small 5 man squad in there. 

 

Cruze is very cool, and I'd certainly consider using him sometimes, I just don't want him to be in my generic list, I'd rather save him for bigger games. Plus I've got awhile to go in terms of models, Cruze can come later. 

 

So updated list:

 

Preator

paragon blade, iron halo, digital lasers, jump pack, trophies of judgement

 

Dreadnought Talon

2x dccw, 2x grav guns, drop pod

 

Dreadnought Talon

2x dccw, 2x grav guns, drop pod

 

Terror Squad (10)

volkite chargers, sergeant with melta bombs and a chainglaive

 

Terror Squad (10)

volkite chargers, sergeant with melta bombs and a chainglaive

 

Terror Squad (5)

volkite chargers, drop pod

 

Night Raptor Squad (15)

4x nostraman chainglaives, 3x power axes

 

Night Raptor Squad (15)

4x nostraman chainglaives, 3x power axes

 

2x Javelin Land Speeders

multi melta, 2x hunter killer missiles

 

Deredeo Patter Dreadnought

aiolos missile launcher, heavy flamers

 

Must say I'm quite happy with this list, I get to use the large number of raptors I want and stick with terror squads. The one weakness I feel the list has is dealing with spartans-there's enough anti tank to deal with light/medium vehicles, but land raider/spartan heavy forces could be a challenge to deal with. Could always throw the jetbikes back in place of the land speeders if that turns out to be a problem. 

[Black_out]

You're definitely light on anti heavy armor with that list but otherwise it looks like fun against someone who fields infantry blobs.

[Slips]

Besides, your 2 Dreads dropping beside a Spartan should leave it with 1 HP remaining on the turn they drop in, not something all that difficult to deal with.

 

And at 2.5k you'll rarely if ever see more than one unless its a very specialized list.

[Lord Asvaldir]

That's a good point, I forgot that graviton does have a fairly reliable chance of dropping a few HP of a Spartan within a turn. It's really just armored spearhead, everything in a land raider type list I'm worried about, but then again most lists can't easily deal with a spartan and a few land raider so I guess I shouldn't be worried. 

[Black_out]

Spartans are just tough to deal with at all