1000pts Word Bearers Zone Mortalis

[ChainMachete]

Following on from my recent post in the tactics forum, I've put together a couple of alternate Zone Mortalis lists for my Word Bearers. Both use the new Zone Mortalis Rite of War for the improved Breacher invulnerable saves and the option to deep strike my terminators.

 

Here's my initial thoughts:

 

• Zardu Layak + Bladeslaves (275)
• Legion Centurion with Artificer Armour, Power Fist & Boarding Shield (90)
• 5 Terminators in Tartaros armour with a Chainfist on the sergeant plus a Heavy Flamer (195)
• 10 Breachers with Artificer Armour, Combi-flamer, Breacher Charge & Melta Bombs on the sergeant plus 2 x Flamers and a Nuncio Vox (265)
• Contemptor Cortus with DCCW & Heavy Flamer, Kheres and Havoc Launcher (175)

 

Exactly 1000 points. The Centurion goes with the Terminators to give them defensive grenades. Zardu will go all in on Maelefic Daemonology, probably taking Sacrifice, Cursed Earth and the primeris Summoning. The Nuncio Vox helps with Daemon summoning in case I can't get Cursed Earth up or in the unlikely event I choose to deep strike the Terminators (then the Centurion will either go with Zardu & his Bladeslaves or with the Breachers).

 

Alternatively, I was wondering about dropping the Havoc Launcher on the Contemptor, swapping the Flamers and Combi-flamer for Meltaguns and Combi-melta and using the spare 5 points to give the Centurion Melta Bombs. So:

 

• Zardu Layak + Bladeslaves (275)
• Legion Centurion with Artificer Armour, Power Fist, Boarding Shield & Melta Bombs (95)
• 5 Terminators in Tartaros armour with a Chainfist on the sergeant plus a Heavy Flamer (195)
• 10 Breachers with Artificer Armour, Combi-melta, Breacher Charge & Melta Bombs on the sergeant plus 2 x Meltaguns and a Nuncio Vox (275)
• Contemptor Cortus with DCCW & Heavy Flamer and Kheres (160)

 

Less fun against opponents without Hardened or 2+ armour, but slightly better against Walkers and big Mechanicum robots.

 

I have everything except my Breachers built and I'm about to do those, so need to decide now how I'm going to equip them (and don't want to use magnets on models this small).

 

A third option would be to drop the Bladeslaves and use the points on Burning Lore for the Centurion, an Apothecary with Artificer Armour and another Breacher.  But this still leaves the melta vs. flamer question open.

 

 

 

[Aquila]

In the context of this list, I'd probably lean towards Meltas.  I think the bane of your list is going to be Walkers with armored ceramite, though.  Pray for some 6's on that assault cannon!

 

Personally, I'd probably swap the Breacher Charge for a Powerfist or Thunderhammer.  The Breacher Charge is just as likely to waste your own squad as it is the enemy, and a 50/50 of doing nothing at all.  I'd rather something a little more reliable for the times you get stuck in for a couple rounds, especially since the rest of your army is pretty close combat oriented.  

 

You could go either way on that, though, just don't expect too much from it.  And make sure to take a picture for us so that we can see the look on your face when it scatters and shreds your whole Terminator squad :)

[ChainMachete]

In the context of this list, I'd probably lean towards Meltas. I think the bane of your list is going to be Walkers with armored ceramite, though. Pray for some 6's on that assault cannon!

Personally, I'd probably swap the Breacher Charge for a Powerfist or Thunderhammer. The Breacher Charge is just as likely to waste your own squad as it is the enemy, and a 50/50 of doing nothing at all. I'd rather something a little more reliable for the times you get stuck in for a couple rounds, especially since the rest of your army is pretty close combat oriented.

You could go either way on that, though, just don't expect too much from it. And make sure to take a picture for us so that we can see the look on your face when it scatters and shreds your whole Terminator squad

I thought the Breacher Charge sounded fun and originally thought Zardu would go with the Breachers and I wouldn't bother with the Bladeslaves. Zardu has Zealot, so it would have been a 75% chance of hitting if I got the charge off. If I miss, I guess I have a 50% chance of killing my sergeant with his own Breacher Charge. My other HQ option was going to be Hol Beloth, so was going to use his +1WS ability when I charge with the Breachers, so probably a 66% chance of hitting in that case. Still risky of course.

But I think you may be right if I can't boost their to-hit odds - 50% probably isn't worth it. If no Breacher Charge, then agreed, it's probably also worth paying the points for a decent close combat weapon. I've never really bothered with Thunder Hammers in the past. Is the extra 5 points really worth it over a Power Fist? Particularly in ZM where most opponents will probably only have 1-2 2+ wound models (unless I'm playing Mechanicum). But since I've never really played ZM, any real-world experience would trump my theory-hammer, so would love to hear differently, particularly since I think a Thunder Hammer would look pretty cool in a unit of Breachers.

As for the Melta vs. Flamer argument, the only unit that will really struggle against Dreadnoughts is Zardu Layek & his Bladeslaves. And even then, he can always try and summon some Plaguebearers and rust them to death. The Breacher sergeant has a Melta-bomb (unless I give him a Thunder Hammer or Power Fist), the Terminators a chain fist and my Centurion a Power Fist. Do you seeenough walkers in ZM games, to mandate Meltaguns weapons?

[Aquila]

Yeah, putting an independent character with the breachers seems like a waste, especially if he's got Zealot.  In close combat they're offensively equal to a tac squad.  Zealot is a great force multiplier, but with a breacher squad there's just not much to multiply!  Running the ZM rite, where your breachers really want to be is trading shots with other infantry squads at 12".  I'd keep Zardu with the blades and the Centurion with the Terminators.

 

Problem with the breacher charge is it's really two separate rolls to hit.  Standard WS roll to use the thing in the first place, and then even after that it's a 2/3 chance to scatter.  If we further assume that half the models around your sarge are enemies, it's about a 50% chance to hit your own guys if it does scatter.  Probably a little better than that with smart placement.  It's not necessarily the risk that bugs me about it, it's the fact that it's your only offensive option in melee, and too high a chance of not helping you.  Especially when you've got a lot of good melee options in your army, the smarter play seems to be - stay alive, tarpit, get some reinforcements in to win the combat.

 

I do think the combat weapon is justified because with the rite, you're a pretty decent tarpit in melee.  The enemy unit loses their charge bonus due to the shields and you get a 4+ save, so you've got pretty good odds of surviving the first round of combat even against elite units.  The powerfist will really make them reconsider challenging your sarge, since you'll have a 50% chance of surviving the typical sergeant duel which is usually mutual suicide.  Is the hammer worth it over the fist?  In most cases probably not, but if you've got 5 points to spare, it's not a bad place to spend them.

 

My experience is limited with ZM, not many people play it regularly - but almost every list I've seen brings a dreadnought.  Everyone I know that owns a Leviathan tries to cram it in there somehow, so you will have to deal with it eventually.  I'm playing ZM on Sunday and I'm almost guaranteed to be smacked around by my buddy's Leviathan, so we'll see how that goes :)

[ChainMachete]

Problem with the breacher charge is it's really two separate rolls to hit. Standard WS roll to use the thing in the first place, and then even after that it's a 2/3 chance to scatter. If we further assume that half the models around your sarge are enemies, it's about a 50% chance to hit your own guys if it does scatter. Probably a little better than that with smart placement. It's not necessarily the risk that bugs me about it, it's the fact that it's your only offensive option in melee, and too high a chance of not helping you. Especially when you've got a lot of good melee options in your army, the smarter play seems to be - stay alive, tarpit, get some reinforcements in to win the combat.

...

My experience is limited with ZM, not many people play it regularly - but almost every list I've seen brings a dreadnought. Everyone I know that owns a Leviathan tries to cram it in there somehow, so you will have to deal with it eventually. I'm playing ZM on Sunday and I'm almost guaranteed to be smacked around by my buddy's Leviathan, so we'll see how that goes

The Breacher Charge doesn't work quite like that in the rules on my iPad. You place the template anywhere in base contact with your sergeant, so that it covers enemy models, but not friendly models. You then roll to hit against the majority WS of the enemy (this is specifically called out in the Breacher Charge rules, so applies even in challenges, so pretty much always hits on a 4+ even against enemy Praetors and Consuls). On a successful hit, the template stays put. Only on a miss do you roll the scatter dice (and keep re-rolling it until you get an arrow) and then you flip the template according to the scatter dice arrow. So only 50% chance to scatter back and kill your sergeant and possibly a few Breachers. In a challenge, you choose which model you want to swap with your sergeant, so as I see it, you can probably limit the downsides somewhat depending on who you choose.

I wasn't expecting to face too many Leviathans in ZM since they should be modeled on an 80mm base and that limits them on where they can go on a ZM board. Hopefully you'll be able to use the table & terrain against your opponent. Remember all difficult terrain counts as dangerous for walkers in ZM. But good luck against that Leviathan if you can't avoid it. I was hoping the worst I'd see would be a standard Contemptor or two. I can't think of anything in my list that would stand up to a Leviathan. I think I'd have to try and summon loads of Plaguebearers to try and hold it up and hopefully rust it to death. Or perhaps a lucky blow from my Terminator sergeant.

[Terminus]

Leviathan is too big for Zone Mortalis.

 

Regarding your list, you could drop the blade slaves and use the points on apothecary as you said and rather than extra breacher take a pair of combi-flamers on your terminators (they already have power fists right?).

[Slips]

It actually isnt since only MCs have a base size limit. What stops the Levi from being used in ZM all that much is the size of the Corridors since it has to physically fit in them.