Killing characters

[Chaplain Elijah]

Hey Brothers,

 

For a while and especially recently i've been struggling to get ride of ennemy characters, and after fighting against a Vindicare i was amazed by his effectiveness on the battlefield. I don't want to soup for various reasons so i was thinking about what are the various tools in our arsenal... personally i think i'm going to get a squad of Eliminators so if you have some feedback that would be great. If you have others suggestions i would like to hear them too

Edited February 23, 2020 by Chaplain Elijah

[Grimdark_Garage]

Eliminators are great. Though you cent rely on them to remove most characters. Especially if they have an invul.

 

We have some great character hunting units in the Ravenwing. Shoot them with the snipers then have Sammeal or Champion go on to finish the job

[eternal_warrior12]

I’ve used eliminators in a couple games. They are great but suffer from only being able to be in squads of three. Now two units, that’s where the money is made. Two units can kill a Vindicare and terrorize everything else the rest of the game. Using the Sgts ability to add +1 to hit and wound with a native re-roll of one they will get the job done. Plus the extra range for being dark angels is icing on the cake.

[Grimdark_Garage]

Two units.... Better make it three

[ValourousHeart]

It might be helpful to know what kinds of characters you struggle against and what lists they are in.

 

If they are buff characters that are only scary when there are a lot of stuff around them and they make all of those units hard to shift, then snipers are the way to go.

 

If they are beat sticks that are taking units out on their own, and only use the character keyword to stop you form shooting at them, then a scorched earth approach is best.  Remove their ability to hide behind units, by eliminating all of their units.

 

Another option for dealing with beat sticks is denying them a satisfying target.  Character beat sticks and other Death Star units tend to be expensive and also tend to have an isolated impact upon the table, generally only able to affect a single 2x2 section of the board.  If you build your list without a linchpin unit, when they hit you with their Death Star it will generally be against a relatively insignificant part of your army compared to the hammer they just hit you with.  Sure they might crush that unit, but their one shot hammer will now be out of position to deal with the rest of your forces.

[spiros14]

This is going to sound rather goofy, but I have had a ridiculously good run of success of killing characters with Terminator Squads.

Load them up with Assault Cannon and Storm Bolter goodness, teleport them in behind the character (Canny opponents will cover their characters behinds, of course, but it is surprising how many don't and then move forwards to allow that space)

Then, of course, you pop Deathwing Assault (I of course use Strike of the Archangels for the same purpose) and turn that character into a gooey mess.

 

It is immensely satisfying to imagine the enemy character, staring down your space marines with a smirk on his face, safe in the knowledge that there are twenty or so goons between him and you, only for five walking tanks to get the drop on him and cut him down to shreds.

 

As a next step, I tend to make the effort to charge into the characters bodyguard, who at this point are standing drop jawed at the actual death squad that has graced them with their presence. (or the target character, if they've somehow survived all of those bullets, because what a storm bolter won't kill a power fist surely will!)

 

Terminators, they're Proper Space Marine Assassins! 

[SnakeChisler]

Deathwing being able to shoot in the movement phase can help plow the road for another unit to teleport into the space they've just vacated

[Chaplain Elijah]

I’ve used eliminators in a couple games. They are great but suffer from only being able to be in squads of three. Now two units, that’s where the money is made. Two units can kill a Vindicare and terrorize everything else the rest of the game. Using the Sgts ability to add +1 to hit and wound with a native re-roll of one they will get the job done. Plus the extra range for being dark angels is icing on the cake.

 

 

I play 1000pts _ 1500pts max games so i'll probably take a single unit...

 

 

It might be helpful to know what kinds of characters you struggle against and what lists they are in.

 

If they are buff characters that are only scary when there are a lot of stuff around them and they make all of those units hard to shift, then snipers are the way to go.

 

If they are beat sticks that are taking units out on their own, and only use the character keyword to stop you form shooting at them, then a scorched earth approach is best.  Remove their ability to hide behind units, by eliminating all of their units.

 

Another option for dealing with beat sticks is denying them a satisfying target.  Character beat sticks and other Death Star units tend to be expensive and also tend to have an isolated impact upon the table, generally only able to affect a single 2x2 section of the board.  If you build your list without a linchpin unit, when they hit you with their Death Star it will generally be against a relatively insignificant part of your army compared to the hammer they just hit you with.  Sure they might crush that unit, but their one shot hammer will now be out of position to deal with the rest of your forces.

 

 

I struggle against both types because we have almost all the armies in the meta of my club.

So currently i have no means to take out things like a Thousand Sons Sorcerer or a Tau Priest (?) hiding behind the lines, and my attempts to kill in Combat beatsticks like Orks, Death Guard or Primaris with my own characters always end in disappointment.

[eternal_warrior12]

And you have to be wary of a smart opponent pulling casualties nearest to you turning a 9” charge to even more...

[Fierce Bear]

I've found my 3 eliminators more of a nuisance than effective so far, I do think a second unit would be make them more effective and at 154 PTS could be hard not to take... 3 for 229 PTS plus a 60 PT LT and you have a spearhead...

 

An alternative is 3 squads of sniper scouts, make up your battalion and 15 shots give you some decent chances of doing mortals to Ahriman and co...

 

Haven't run it but my Azzy almost bought it to a buddies Aeldari Ranger spam... He had like a single wound left... Sammael purged the whole lot with assault cannon fire for that!!!

Edited February 26, 2020 by Fierce Bear