1k DA Vanguard Detachment of DW & RW

[Berzul]

Hey everyone.

 

Got a few games lined up on saturday. Helping a friend who plays a mean Adeptas Sororitas army to prep for a 1k tournament our local gaming store is putting together. I'm trying something that can pack as much of a punch as possible, within the constraints and limits of my collection. 

 

I'm looking for advice, not so much on the list itself (although any comments are welcome), but more on how to best play it. Things I should keep in mind in terms of deployment, positioning, and the use of the units at hand.

 

Anything you can offer in terms of military wisdom, would be appretiated.

 

So, the list is as follows:
 

DARK ANGELS

1000 Points

Vanguard Detachment (-3CP)

Hero of the Chapter (-1CP)

 

HQ

Company Master on Jump Pack

+ Warlord: Calibanite Knight

+ Heavenfall Blade, Plasma Pistol

 

ELITES

5-man Deathwing Knights squad

+ Watcher in the Dark (as I had 5 points to spare)

 

Apothecary

+ Chief Apothecary

+ Hero of the Chapter: Selfless Healer

 

5-man Ravenwing Black Knights squad

 

FAST ATTACK

3-man Ravenwing Attack Bikes squad

+ Multi Melta

+ Multi Melta

+ Multi Melta

 

5-man Ravenwing Bike Squad

+ Storm Bolter on the Sergeant

 

 

A variation to this that I thought took out the Chief Apothecary upgrade on the Apothecary (thus saving 1CP) and the Watcher in the Dark (this netting me 40 points). With that CP and those 40 points, I'd make the Company Master into a Chapter Master, give him Master of the Codex, and then use Paragon of the Chapter to add Brilliant Strategist.

 

As the list stands, it starts the game with just 2 CP, but using the Apothecary costs me 0 per round, and the Company Master is meant more of a buffer for the bikes before going into melee himself.

 

On the variant, the list still starts with 2 CP still. The Apothecary costs me 1 CP per use, but the list has a 4+ per round to get me extra CP. Plus, the Black Knights would have full rerrolls, and the Chapter Master could act more as a buffing unit, by granting me two rounds of Devastator Doctrines for the Attack Bikes and two rounds of Tactical Doctrinces for the Black Knights.

 

Not sure which way would be the best to go.

[Berzul]

Just for the fun of it, this idea also came up in conversation about this same list:

 

1000 Points

DW Detachment 

 

Interrogator Chaplain in Terminator Armor

+ Master of Sanctity

+ Warlord (Wise Orator)

 

10 Deathwing Knights

 

Deathwing Ancient

+ Chapter Ancient

+ Pennant of Remembrance

 

Deathwing Apothecary

+ Chief Apothecary

+ Hero of the Chapter (Selfless Healer)

 

Venerable Dreadnought

+ Rites of Initiation

+ Heavy Plasma Cannon & Powerfist with Storm Bolter

[Berzul]

Actually, playing with Battlescribe, I thought of an even better list for this theoretical one:

 

Still a Deathwing Detachment, still 1k points, with 4 starting CP

 

Belial

+ Warlord (Inexorable)

 

10-man Deathwing Terminator Squad

+ Sgt. with Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield

+ Marked for Command (-1CP; Master Crafted Thunder Hammer)

+ 4x Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield

+ 2x Cyclone Missile Launchers

 

Deathwing Ancient

+ Chapter Ancient

+ Pennant of Remembrance

 

Deathwing Apothecary

+ Chief Apothecary

+ Hero of the Chapter (-1CP; Selfless Healer)

 

Venerable Dreadnought

+ Rites of Initiation

+ Heavy Plasma Cannon, Close Combat Weapon, Storm Bolter

 

You pretty much just group everyone. Have the whole formation walk up the board, firing Wisdom of the Ancients every turn. The terminators will shooting 20 storm bolter shots and 4 missile shots with full rerrols on the hits and rerrolls of 1 on the wounds. The Apothecary and the Ancient make the squad (while it has shields) a 1+/4++/6+++/-1D fortress of transhumanly resilient infantry. The Dread uses the aura of rerroll 1s for both attacks and wounds to fire up WotDA-enhanced plasma shots at D4 whenever CP allows. Then, once you get into melee, you just crush everyone with thunder hammers hitting on their normal 3+ due to the chapter ancient, and rerrolling everything again. With the sergeant's hammer doing some D4 on its hits for good meassure.

 

In a 1k tournament setting, I have NO idea if this would even work... but it would get some looks around the place, I'm sure.

[Vulshra]

I'd say the second or third list is better because it retains obsec, whereas the first list has none. For strategy,apply terminator brick to biggest enemy thing, repeat as needed. Edited August 20, 2021 by Vulshra

[Berzul]

Well, these lists were just to give my buddy something fun to clash against, so he could tune up his own list for the tournament that is coming up.

Now the tournament has split into two dates, due to excess of registered players, and there is room for the second date, so I think I might just register for it as well.

 

That being the case, although I still plan on playing these lists against him for practicing purposes, I am also thinking of something I could bring to the tournament as well.

 

The ravenwing + deathwing list suffers from lack of objective secured. It is mostly a rush forward and cause trouble type of list.

The other two deathwing lists suffer from a lack of bodies on the table. They are fun thought experiments to see how people manage them, once they are deployed.

 

For playing in the tournament myself, and still tied to points and the limits of my collection (as the tournament will be mostly wysiwyg), I think I'd go with this:

 

PATROL DETACHMENT

1000 POINTS

5 CP

 

Company Master in Jump Pack

+ Thunder Hammer & Master Crafted Bolter

+ Warlord (Champion of Humanity)
+ Rites of Initiation

 

Lieutenant in Jump Pack

+ Teeth of Terra & Plasma Pistol

+ Hero of the Chapter (Calibanite Knight, -1CP)

 

10-man Tactical Squad

+ Bolters & Bolt Pistols

 

5-man Deathwing Terminator Squad

+ Assault Cannon

 

5-man Ravenwing Black Knights Squad

+ Plasma Talons

 

3-man Ravenwing Attack Bikes Squad

+ Multi Meltas

 

I'm building this list, planning around most likely playing for Stubborn Defiance or Engage on All Fronts for a Battlefield Supremacy Secondary, and Martial Interdiction for a Purge the Enemy Secondary (the third secondary I am not planning much, to give myself some room to adapt to the scenario and opponent).

 

I'd most likely be either playing the Tactical Squad in my backfield to hold out the match (probably combat squadding to add survivability), or a combination of deepstriking Terminators, sitting Tactical Marines, and spread out Ravenwing, to take the quarters of the board. 

 

Also, I am building the Company Master to try and max out Martial Interdiction. Hoping that 6 attacks hitting on 2+/2+ with D3, will indeed take out whatever character I have to to get it. With the Lieutenant to either take care of surrounding elites, or to pick up the task should the Company Master fail to get the objective himself.

 

In terms of planning out CP allocation, I'd be starting with 5 (although I AM tempted to take a second trait on my Company Master to give him Inexorable, and make sure he has more survivability; as well as to take a Master Crafted Thunder Hammer, to make those attacks D4). 

 

With that, I'd try to ensure that I save:

 

• 2 CP for the first two rounds, for at least 1 volley of Weapons of the dark age with the Black Knights. 
• 2 CP for the third to fifth round for Only in death does duty end, so that if my Company Master gets taken out in melee due to poor positioning on my part, he can attempt to get a partial score for the secondary objective anyway
• 1 CP for the first two rounds of the match to use Skilled Riders, or 2 CP at the start of the battle to use The Hunt; to try and keep my bikes safe from alpha strikes and to fix bad deployment choices
• 2 CP for the second round, to combine Fury of the First and Deathwing Assault, should I manage to drop the Terminators into a good position to clear out a key light infantry unit of the enemy, with 2+ bolter hits and a +1 to wound with them, at the same time.

Where I to use all of these, I'd be spent at 9 out of my 10 potential CP. 

[Hannibal]

Why not pure Ravenwing on 1000 pts. Seems to be stronger IMO.

[Berzul]

While pure RW has been the absolute best way to go with the DA codex since many editions ago, I find pure RW lists kinda boring, to be honest. I enjoy using mixes of wings, even if it is far less efficient or competitive.