2000pts BT to build toward

[Brother Kraskor]

Well-met brothers,

 

Been mulling this over and wanted to put a list out there to build toward, will have to fiddle it for 9e of course but if all the points scale up somewhat proportionally should be doable.

 

 

Black Templars 2000pts - 6CP

 

- Battleforged, (+3), Battalion (+5), Vanguard (+1)

- Chief Apothecary (-1), Hero of the Chapter (-1), Relics of the Chapter (-1)

 

 

Captain in Gravis Armour - 108pts

- Warlord

- Epitome of Piety

- Crusader's Helm

 

Chaplain Venerable Dreadnought - 143pts

- Heavy Plasma Cannon

- Dreadnought CCW (Storm Bolter)

- Litany of Divine Protection

 

The Emperor's Champion - 75pts

 

 

10 Intercessors - 189pts

- Auto Bolt Rifles

- Power Fist

 

10 Intercessors - 189pts

- Auto Bolt Rifles

- Power Fist

 

10 Tacticals - 167pts

- Plasma Cannon, Plasma Gun

- Sgt. Power Fist, Combi-Plasma

 

10 Tacticals - 167pts

- Plasma Cannon, Plasma Gun

- Sgt. Power Fist, Combi-Plasma

 

 

6 Aggressors - 222pts

- Boltstorm & Fragstorm

 

Apothecary - 50pts

- Chief Apothecary

- Healer's Aegis

- Selfless Healer

 

Redemptor Dreadnought - 156pts

- Macro Plasma Incinerator

- Onslaught Gatling Cannon

- 2x Storm Bolter

 

 

Contemptor Mortis Dreadnought - 132pts

- 2 Kheres Assault Cannon

 

 

Stormhawk Interceptor - 201pts

- 2 Assault Cannon

- Las-Talon

- Typhoon Missile Launcher

 

Stormhawk Interceptor - 201pts

- 2 Assault Cannon

- Las-Talon

- Typhoon Missile Launcher

 

 

 

 

Overall Strategy

 

The list has a fairly solid core of infantry that will be footslogging. 60 wounds worth of Marine Troops (mini Black Tide), lots of boltgun shots, and a fair amount of plasma too. I'm thinking 9e will benefit shorter-ranged firefights, and so these can move through cover and get into the best position and are unafraid of combat with a power fist each.

 

Central mini-deathstar in the form of six Aggressors backed up by a Gravis Captain, Apothecary, and Chaplain Dreadnought. Maybe the Emperor's Champion too, but I think he will more likely be elsewhere. I've doubled down on the Apothecary and envisaged surrounding him with the Aggressors so they all benefit from the 5+ invul save, which I feel they sorely lack. He can also heal them twice per turn, and re-rolls when doing so, so although it is a pretty heavy CP investment I hope he will earn it with this significant boost to the Aggressors survivability. The Chaplain Dread can give them a 5+++ too to make them really hard to shift - and provided the Aggressors keep at least three models, none of the characters can be shot at (including the Dread!).

 

The other two Dreads will go wherever they are needed -  a bit of flexibility.

 

The two Stormhawks will add some manoeuvrability that the list otherwise has none of. They can reach distant nuisances and hunt tanks pretty effectively.

 

It is pretty shooting-heavy, but definitely not a gunline, I want to be moving up the board and getting into combat as the game progresses. 

[Medjugorje]

i am not sure because i play totally different kind of lists but I think the Aurelian shroud must be included here.

 

If you start second then most armies shoot you into death at the moment. I dont think there is that big difference in 9th editon.

 

I played already 2 games with all rules already known for  9th edition. With more terrain it could work but if there is a plate without huge buildings you are damned - even more then in 8th edition.

[Hymnblade]

The Healer's Aegis is only a 1" aura and only affects models within the aura, not units. I'm not a big fan. If you want an invul bubble, the Aurillian Shroud is your best bet - not only does it give a 4++ instead of 5++, but it can also cover most of your army if you're clever with positioning (unlike the Aegis, you only need one model inside the aura for the whole unit to get the invul save).

 

Also, an annoying technicality: Chaplain Dreadnoughts can't take anything from the BT litany table, since that's only available to a BLACK TEMPLARS CHAPLAIN and they don't have CHAPLAIN. The current version of Battlescribe lets you, but it's wrong. (But who knows what will happen to chaplain dreads in the updated Forge World books.)

 

If those Tacticals are walking up the board, you might want a different heavy weapon instead of plasma cannons. Taking a heavy penalty for movement on a gun that overheats hurts. 9e conceivably might change plasma to overheat only on unmodified 1s though, who knows?

 

As an 8e list, I would definitely recommend splitting a couple of your Troop choices in half and taking one more HQ (probably a Lieutenant) so you can get a double battalion. 6CP is pretty low for a 2000-point game. In 9e, it looks like we'll be trying to fit everything into a single Battalion, so your layout would work fine.

[Brother Kraskor]

Didn't realise that about the Chappy Dread! What a bugger. But you're right, with no FW model its future looks a bit bleak. Maybe better to rejig it as a Redemptor, make savings elsewhere and take Grimaldus.

 

Would it be acceptable to not overheat the Plasma weaponry or is that considered suboptimal? At least while they move up the board, I envisage them digging in on a midfield objective to make use of Bolter Discipline, and then no Heavy penalty.

 

EDIT: On the Aegis point, my idea was for it purely to give the Aggressors the 5++ so that it would last all game. So a formation like this:

 

       A

   A Ap A

   A  A  A

 

Not illustrated too well, but essentially sandwiching the Apothecary in there. Is that allowed?

Edited June 21, 2020 by Brother Kraskor

[Hymnblade]

Not overheating your plasma is perfectly fine and sometimes appropriate - eg, if you're shooting 1-wound targets - but non-overheated plasma isn't very good for its point cost. For the double battalion idea, you could take 4x5 squads each with a plasma rifle and combi-plasma sergeant instead of 2x10, and you'd get more plasma fire overall: still averaging 8 shots at long range, more at close range, without any hit penalties.

 

 

EDIT: On the Aegis point, my idea was for it purely to give the Aggressors the 5++ so that it would last all game. So a formation like this:

 

       A

   A Ap A

   A  A  A

 

Not illustrated too well, but essentially sandwiching the Apothecary in there. Is that allowed?

It's allowed, but tricky to maintain that formation as you move up the board, especially for units that want to advance (and thus move random distances). Also, neither unit can fly, so you probably have to leave a gap in the back for the apothecary to get in. Overall, it's just a lot of hassle for a mediocre invul save on one unit. The Shroud is much stronger, even lasting only one battle round. There's also the Deredeo with its Atomantic Pavise (which you can boost with Fervent Acclamation, if desired).

[Brother Kraskor]

Ok, you've sold me on the Shroud. Is it still worth keeping the Apoc for healing purposes? Worth giving Chief Apoc and Selfless Healer or not?

[Hymnblade]

Selfless Healer can be worth it for heavy infantry like Aggressors, yeah.