Devastator Company (30k Transition)

[Sonoftherubric21]

So to give an idea; currently own a rather large 30k Thousand Sons army, the army was themed for the "Order of Ruin" in 30k which is the Thousand Sons siege company so I figured this would be a fairly natural transition as I didn't use Volkites so everything else almost translated straight. 

 

Just recently I decided to give it a shot in 40k and due to it being heavy on big guns I decided to field it with lots of Devastators. 

 

Any luck on the front of Devastators from anyone here? I have 3 squads, An 8 man squad with four las cannons. an 8 man squad with 4 heavy bolters, and an 8 man squad with 4 Missile Launcher 

 

As well as 30 tac marines, Combi plas sarge, Plasma gun, missile launcher in each squad. and ten scouts all with Sniper Rifles. 

 

a single whirlwind, rhino, dreadnought (this is a castellax-Achea pattern from FW and is heavy bolter/fist with storm bolter....simply due to Wysiwig and me not wanting to shred a gorgeous model in conversion), and 1 contemptor (kheres/fist) As well as a autocannon/las sponson predator. All have their uses

 

I have a squad of 7 terminators as well (Tartaros) though I am not sure where they fit in the list design as of the moment.  

 

Anyone have any advice for successfully running this list or a list something akin to it?  More scouts to fill a troops gap and take less tacs? Obviously Chapter Master trait will be used before game.  Thunderfire cannon perhaps? I would like this list to be 100% normal marine. NO Primaris is my only true limitation. Simply keeping the list pre-heresy accurate as possible while still being able to play in 40k 8th. Advice appreciated for this type of army build and how to  be successful with it. 

 

Added question; appropriate chapter tactic? Crunch wise raven guard, and tactics wise id think that Imperial Fists are probably the better choice. though I am open to all forms of suggestion.

[MARK0SIAN]

Missile launchers and lascannons are pretty good in a squad, especially if you’ve got access to rerolls for hits and wounds. I’ve found heavy bolter squads less useful to be honest but I think that’s probably more to do with the type of opponents I tend to face. The problem with heavy bolters from my perspective is that a squad of inceptors just does the job much better. I know you said no Primaris but I’m just trying to explain why I don’t use heavy bolter dev squads :)

 

One thing I would say is that 8 men per dev squad is probably too many. It’s good to have one or two ablative wounds in a squad but the points for 3 of them could probably be better spent elsewhere.

 

As for the tacs in your list, I think most people would agree that space marines tacticals are not great at the moment so I certainly wouldn’t take 30 of them, I’d definitely take more scouts instead or even just another unit entirely like the dreads.

 

As for tactics, if you’re running a very shooty list then the imperial fists ones are great but the Raven Guard ones will keep your guys alive longer.

 

For the Terminators it depends how you’ve armed them, whether they’re CC or ranged as to how you’d use them best. In either case though, Terminators are also not in a good place now. If they’re CC ones (and to a lesser extent standard ones) then the change to deep strike in the beta rule has really hit them hard. They’re also very expensive and not very survivable. Your opponent will have easy access to weapons that will force them to rely on their invulnerable save and a 5++ isn’t going to keep them alive for long. My general advice would be to leave the Terminators out of the list unless you’ve got a really specific plan for what you want them to do.

[Machine God]

I take it that you are going to repaint them as loyalist then instead of Heretics.

[Galron]

My guess is they are still painted red and not blue anyway.

[Sonoftherubric21]

My guess is they are still painted red and not blue anyway.

 

I take it that you are going to repaint them as loyalist then instead of Heretics.

 

Galron is correct! They are cherry red, the shiny red.  Primed gold at the moment but a few of them are quite bright red. 

 

Always though the Red / Gold scheme was their better loyalist selves.  And I am bloody SICK of painting blue...given my huge 40k thousand sons list (full on chaos) 

 

I figured these guys were part of the 6-7k Sons that were off Prospero when it was hit by the wolves. I am sure theres a loyalist story in there waiting to be told beyond Revuel Arvidas. 

 

 

Missile launchers and lascannons are pretty good in a squad, especially if you’ve got access to rerolls for hits and wounds. I’ve found heavy bolter squads less useful to be honest but I think that’s probably more to do with the type of opponents I tend to face. The problem with heavy bolters from my perspective is that a squad of inceptors just does the job much better. I know you said no Primaris but I’m just trying to explain why I don’t use heavy bolter dev squads

 

One thing I would say is that 8 men per dev squad is probably too many. It’s good to have one or two ablative wounds in a squad but the points for 3 of them could probably be better spent elsewhere.

 

As for the tacs in your list, I think most people would agree that space marines tacticals are not great at the moment so I certainly wouldn’t take 30 of them, I’d definitely take more scouts instead or even just another unit entirely like the dreads.

 

As for tactics, if you’re running a very shooty list then the imperial fists ones are great but the Raven Guard ones will keep your guys alive longer.

 

For the Terminators it depends how you’ve armed them, whether they’re CC or ranged as to how you’d use them best. In either case though, Terminators are also not in a good place now. If they’re CC ones (and to a lesser extent standard ones) then the change to deep strike in the beta rule has really hit them hard. They’re also very expensive and not very survivable. Your opponent will have easy access to weapons that will force them to rely on their invulnerable save and a 5++ isn’t going to keep them alive for long. My general advice would be to leave the Terminators out of the list unless you’ve got a really specific plan for what you want them to do.

 

Thank you for the input!  I get the point about inceptors, but I expect them to be relatively similar in output. I will look into the marines in a squad of 8, id consider dropping to 6 or 7 certainly depending on size of game. 

 

the list is almost entirely ranged, the termies are just built standard fist/bolter..... They seem like an afterthought, main reason I don't own any Forgeworld Sehkmet. 

 

I can definitely consider getting another 10 scouts, or at least another 5, Maybe do a unit of 7 and a unit of 8. Id take 20 tacs with the weapons in the squads see what they can do. I just don't want to purchase 40+ scouts lol. Having 20 I am most certainly not against.  and for the tacticals I can always do the "2 units of 10, divide into 5's, stick into rhino for 4x plasma coming out of a rhino" strategy as I have had success in my chaos doing something similar.... if need be. 

 

I figure 1 contemptor and 1 box dread is good enough for line-protection, reasonably grindy for shooting (10 shots per model) with good melee if need to engage something big and nasty coming their way.  I intend on using some of the Blade Occult models that i own as lightning claw veterans (or duel chainsword depending on how big the game is) to intercept whatever gets into melee with some of the squads.  it sounds like a decent strategy that would work in most games.  

[Claws and Effect]

.....paint the pauldrons a cream color and run them as Blood Ravens.

[justicarius6]

.....paint the pauldrons a cream color and run them as Blood Ravens.

Nice and fluffy then too! :D

 

Seriously, the devs will work fine but I'd mix and match the heavy weapons up and buy a cherub for each. You don't want all your heavy bolters or all your missile launchers dying from one salvo as you need them to make use of their respective stratagems.

 

Tacticals in Rhinos is a fairly solid board control option that can work surprisingly well if done right, perhaps add combi weapons to the sergeants to increase plasma spam.

 

Also consider a lieutenant or two for the wound re-rolls. Right now the only thing Marines really have going for them is the fairly easy access to hit and wound re-rolls.

 

This may seem counter-intuitive but potentially having your marines as Blood Angels may work if you're intending to leverage all those tacticals into doing something more than just standing on objectives. In numbers, and backed up with a character or two they can really hurt a lot of things on the first round with their +1 to wound.

 

Overall, it's a decent enough listing but don't expect much competitive mileage. Any kind of cheesey list will most likely roll over it.

[Dracos]

Thumbs up to the idea of Tacticals in Rhinos. While not a killer combo, I feel it’s truly been maligned as an option for Space Marines without proper play testing.

 

... as “proof” ;)

 

What’s the number one bytch that you hear from Primaris players ... they want a cheaper dedicated transport option ... Sounds like a freaking Rhino to me :D

[Sonoftherubric21]

 

.....paint the pauldrons a cream color and run them as Blood Ravens.

Nice and fluffy then too!

 

Seriously, the devs will work fine but I'd mix and match the heavy weapons up and buy a cherub for each. You don't want all your heavy bolters or all your missile launchers dying from one salvo as you need them to make use of their respective stratagems.

 

Tacticals in Rhinos is a fairly solid board control option that can work surprisingly well if done right, perhaps add combi weapons to the sergeants to increase plasma spam.

 

Also consider a lieutenant or two for the wound re-rolls. Right now the only thing Marines really have going for them is the fairly easy access to hit and wound re-rolls.

 

This may seem counter-intuitive but potentially having your marines as Blood Angels may work if you're intending to leverage all those tacticals into doing something more than just standing on objectives. In numbers, and backed up with a character or two they can really hurt a lot of things on the first round with their +1 to wound.

 

Overall, it's a decent enough listing but don't expect much competitive mileage. Any kind of cheesey list will most likely roll over it.

 

 

Thank you! good summation. 

 

Ill have a look over some of the list builds and ill try and add a Rhino at some point. 

 

The blood angel idea had occurred to me.  (already red and gold lol!) 

 

and the Pyrae cult is known for having more Melee stuff, so thats a good way of looking at it.  As well as oddly having a Psychic dreadnought! lol. 

[Sonoftherubric21]

.....paint the pauldrons a cream color and run them as Blood Ravens.

 

I have a couple hundred dollars in 30k 1k sons parts on them; so that won't be happening lol. 

 

All of them have their heads, elites have the Achean equipment.  So its gonna be some form of codex marines, but now I need to give thought to blood angels as a possible concept.