Starting DW Army

[Gamerzsatx]

I want to build a well rounded DW starting around 1,500 pots and then rounding it out to 2,000+ after the initial wave. Can I get advice on what is should start with for a fun competitive 1500 pt list and then what you add to round that out over the next 3 months?

[Brother Cruoris]

2 start collecting boxes is a really nice base. Lots of bits and models. Depending on load out I would say that's around 1k points. And if you already have other marines you can easily convert a couple of jump pack and terminator models to your DW team and beef out the army that way.

The 2 dreads would need some extra bits or conversion done, as I don't think you get the missile arm in the venerable dread box. You would probably want to go twin las/missile on them.

One Artemis you can keep like he is and the other you could convert to a smash captain.

If you don't have extra marines laying around I would buy a vanguard veteran box as well. Sprinkle in a VV in a more aggressive team so the can fall back if charged. And you can also use a jump pack on you smash capt.

After that I would buy a watch master and go Primaris for the rest of the points.

10 intercessors will give you 2 teams. Get 5 hellblasters, 3 inceptors and 3 aggressors. That way you can build a deep striking plasma squad with 5 intercessors, 4 hellblasters and a plasma inceptor. And you have models for a squad of 5 assault rifle intercessors 3 aggressors and 2 inceptors with bolters that can start on the board. Those 2 squads are roughly 2x300p.

If you want a more competitive dreadnought choice I would try and get 2 contemptor dreads with 2x twin las instead of the venerable.

[Mobius0288]

I'm going to take a slightly different approach and recommend:

 

- Black Spear Strike Force (Watchmaster, 2 vets and Corvus Blackstar)

- Primaris Captain

- 3x Intercessors (5-man, 2 stalker bolt rifle, 1 auto bolt rifle)

- Hellblasters (5-man)

- Aggressors (bolt storm)

 

From there, you need to decide your anti-tank options... either dreadnaughts of some kind (Ven Dread, Chaplain Dread, Contemtpor Dread) or the repulosr executioner, potentially 2. When you get to the 2000 pt list, you need to think hard if you want a double battalion for CPs or if you want to focus on toys (battalion and spearhead for example)... which means potentially more HQs. If you need more HQs, jump pack captains and librarians are fantastic. More CPs means more points available to deep strike units at the beginning of the game if transports are an issue for your troops. Less CPs and moving toward a purposeful 2nd detachment means you need to have a feel for whatever role-type of unit your specializing with - like an outrider with bikers and inceptors, or a vanguard with relic contemtpors and ven dreads. The later will usually save you points when determining whether you bring 1 vs 2 HQ choices beyond your base battalion. You should ideally make a battalion as your starting point. Also if wanting to stay competitive from the start, stay away from melee oriented kill teams and focus on shooting power (ie Vets with storm bolters, storm shields where possible, maybe a combi weapon for the Sgt, mostly chainswords for melee weapons if no storm shield, etc.)

 

Primaris is generally easy to start with as they don't have a lot of special weapons to swap in and out, but you need some dedicated anti-tank platforms.

[Gamerzsatx]

Thank you for the input. I am looking forward to this project and will post updates as I go.

[Syward]

While it does cost less points to do a TLLC+ML Venerable Dreadnought, I really prefer to have the DCCW w/SB instead of the ML. It's nice to have some powerful melee capability for when your dread inevitably gets charged. The DCCW is a nice deterrent against being charged also, your opponent will think twice about charging when your dread can potentially wipe out the unit opposed to just sending in a unit to tie you up in CC so you can't shoot. And b/c our Venerable Dreads are usually our main source of reliable anti-amour, you really want to keep them out of CC as long as possible and once they're in CC, you want to get them out ASAP. 4x S12 AP3 D3 attacks at WS2 will definitely make your opponent carefully consider what units they want to send to their death to keep your dread from shooting, b/c they're either going to sacrifice a smaller/weaker unit or two, or have to divert a tougher unit to deal with the dreadnought. Either way, it's in your favor. You either completely wipe a couple of their units or you tie up one of their stronger units in CC with your dread instead of being used somewhere else.

 

I also like to run a mix of veterans and Primaris units. I take 'Inter-gressor' squads: 5 Primaris Intercessors w/Auto Bolt Rifles + 4 Aggressors w/Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets & Fragstorms + 1 Inceptor w/Assault Bolters.  These units spit out an ungodly amount of firepower in a single shooting phase. At 18" they'll spit out 15 SIA shots (ST4 AP-2) + 24 ST4 AP0 shots from aggressors + 6 ST5 AP-1 shots from the Inceptor + betwwen 4 - 24 shots from the frag storms. And because of the aggressors you can advance and still shoot w/out penalty, or if you stay still, the aggressors can fire twice in a shooting phase (they can also fire twice in overwatch, which makes this a nasty, nasty unit to clear out of objectives) 

 

My veterans are in Drop Pods and are all equipped with StormShields & Combi-Plasma. I usually have either a Watch Capt or Watch Master drop down with them to re-roll the plasma shots. 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Syward