9th list building & split role detachments.

[dreadmad]

With my whole country Tomb World going into lockdown Stasis for most of the last 9 months I haven't really actively hobbied since March. However, having remembered TableTop Simulator exists I am starting to get more 9th edition games under my belt and an increasingly large pile of grey plastic models to approach. looks sadly at 2k+ of Tesla models...

 

With the self-indulgent pre-amble out of the way, I wanted to discuss what I have found to be a very strong marriage of Custom Dynasties I'm not seeing discussed. For context, so far all of my testing has been verses Marines - mostly Iron Hands.

 

The core of the list is 2 detachments, one the ever present Eternal Conquers/Relentlessly Expansionist Outrider but also a Patrol or Battalion of Pitiless Hunters/Healthy Paranoia (+3" range/rapid fire at max range if stationary). The melee Outrider tends to consist of 2-3 units of Scarabs and 2-3 Units of Wraiths, backed up by a heavy hitter of some sort (I have tried Skorpeks with a Chronomancer and Sword&Board Lychguard here as being hard to kill is as important as being punchy in combat). This gives strong midfield and objective control. I have also been running a C'tan, and while I'd love to say I've tried all 4 variants - I just don't see a reason to take anything other that the Void Dragon for this specific build.

 

The shooty Patrol tends to be a single noble (Overlord with Hand of The Phaeron if you can afford it, basic lord if not) with 2-3 units of Immortals, 0-1 units of Deathmarks, 0-1 units of Gauss Reaper Warriors to Veil & 0-2 DDA. It works by being super tough to remove, happy to sit in the back field in cover and also provide lanes of efficient firepower. If you run 3 units of Immortals and an Overlord you kill ~10/11 Marines a turn, which adds up (no cover save, because Solar Flare is such a cheap effective strat). If 30 Intercessors with a captain shoot at your Immortals in cover, they kill ~3/4 models in return. T5 2+/5+++ is hard to shift, and Gauss Immortals have pretty good strat support.

 

I'll drop my most recent variation of the list below, but I'd love to hear any thoughts you may have about the list/concept as a take all comers tournament style list. While it plays very well into marines, I'm struggling to think about how well it would play into Daemons or Harlequins - both who I would never have expected to take the forefront of the meta if you asked me back at the start of the year!

 

 

9CP, 2000pts

 

Outrider [Relentlessly Expansionist/Eternal Conquers]

 

Lord, Warscythe & Relic Res Orb

 

10 Lychguard, Sword & Shields

 

5 Scarabs

5 Scarabs

5 Wraiths

5 Wraiths

5 Wraiths

 

Patrol [Healthy Paranoia/Pitiless Hunters]

 

Lord, Staff of Life, WL [Thrall of the Silent King]

 

10 Immortals, Gauss

10 Immortals, Gauss

 

10 Deathmarks

Void Dragon

 

 

Honestly I think the main weaknesses the list has currently is the lack of good relics/traits that benefit it. Obviously Veil of Darkness is a classic, but doesn't fit into the list super well - and aggressive relics are a bit wasted on Lords with their poor stats. Suggestions and discussion would be welcomed! I'd like to hear what potential pitfalls I could be stumbling into before I commit time to painting up the real.models for this list! Also, suggestions for the best "hammer" unit would be great - I'm keen to try 3 Spyders with a Chronomancer and Particle Beamers too.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention but it seems to score and deny quite well - I've been running Domination, Grind them Down and Ancient Machinaries to good success so far in the GT mission pack.

Edited November 13, 2020 by dreadmad

[Kozz]

I really like this list concept, especially the obsec Canoptek detachment. 

Personally i prefer the reaper warrior / veil combo for the second detachment (mostly because i don't have the immortals to try out yet), so i was thinking either
[ HealthyParanoia / Unyielding or Butchers ]. Might also be a decent custom dynasty to bring 2 x 20 reaper warriors and reserve one of the units. 

I'm not sure if there is any major pitfalls in your list, i can agree on the Void Dragon, its an excellent all rounder shard. He will also eat a few higher dmg shots each turn, that would otherwise be aimed at your surging Wraiths. 

The Deathmarks are amazing in my head, but i've yet to really make the most of them. I've envisioned them popping some devastators coming out of pods etc, but a lot of the time those devastators are coming in turn 1 (when we are unable to intercept them). That being said, if facing Space Marines (and pods), starting them on the board might be the play. 

All in all, great list. I'd love to hear more about your experience with the 3 x 5 wraith units. On paper they seem enormous for contesting offensive zone objectives. 
In my experience, there is nothing more frustrating to an opponent than an 8-9 scarab unit with 5++ deep in enemy lines. 

Thanks for sharing!

[dreadmad]

Thanks for the reply! I had a game against Drukari yesterday that ended as a pretty close loss, although I think that was more due to my misplay than any list issues. I will say though, I don't think Lychguard (Sword&Board) are the way forwards here, they just don't have the combat umph the list needs.

 

I have considered running a Reaper blob in that list, and I'll have to try it out - the issue is making it worthwhile is difficult. I can't really afford the points for a Chronomancer in that detach, so they melt very quickly. Maybe there's some play in running Orikan over a Chronomancer in the Obsec detachment if I use Skorpeks or Spyders. Something I do like is Healthy Paranoia let's you Veil of Darkness in without getting Auspex Scanned off the board.

 

Deathmark's are... Eh. They are pretty good snipers, but not good enough to reliably threaten characters you need to kill. They average 4 wounds against T4 4++, probably only kill 2 Devastators as they come in. That's something, but not quite the anti-drop pod threat I was hoping for. 2w marines make things difficult for sure. I like them, but I think with all the terrain in 9th they're too easy to avoid if you deploy them (both Character-wise and deepstrike threat), and if you leave them in deepstrike they waste 2+ turns of shooting potential.

 

Wraiths are great! If I can I'll be running 3 units, they're so hard to remove (the sweet spot being S5 AP-1 or 3D weaponry). Unfortunately they're underwhelming in combat, they kill marines ok but don't even think about trying to kill vehicles! That's why I think the Skorpeks are probably required for some actual CC punch. Scarabs are great too! I'm definitely not as all in on them as some lists, but even 5 man units require dedicated firepower to shift - 10 Intercessors with a Captain barely kill 2 bases!

 

I want to try running DDA's in the shooty detach too. It adds some anti-tank, but each is also 20 S4 AP-1 shots at 27" on a pretty sturdy chassis! They should help with scoring Grind them Down T1 if that looks like the best bet.

 

My next list looks like this:

 

9CP

 

Patrol: Pitiless Hunter/Healthy Paranoia

 

Overlord, Tachyon Arrow & Hyperphase Blade. WL

 

10 Immortals, Gauss

10 Immortals, Gauss

 

Void Dragon

 

Doomsday Ark

Doomsday Ark

 

Outrider: Relentlessly Expansionist/Eternal Conquers

 

Chronomancer

2 Cryptothralls

 

6* Skorpek Destroyers

 

5* Scarabs

5* Scarabs

5* Wraiths

5* Wraiths

 

 

I'd love to fit a 3rd Wraith unit in, but I don't know how. Maybe drop the Overlord to a Lord, Cryptothralls and a unit of Scarabs. I'd still need to find 30 points somewhere though.