CP Economy in 1k Patrol of Dark Angels for local tournament

[Berzul]

Hey everyone!

 

So, this list I originally posted in this thread here, but the thread itself was not about this list to which I arrived after a couple of posts. I figured I might post this on its own, see if I can get some comments and feedback on it. Mostly with regards to Secondary Objective selection and CP Economy, as applied to the availability of units in the list.

 

The purpose OF the list is to serve as a balanced force, assembled within the constraints of my model selection, and trying to keep things as WYSIWYG as possible for the tournament in which it will be played.

 

 

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 (with each secondary being open to change per the matchup, and specially the third secondary being left open for now, so as 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).

 

I am trying to mentalize an economy plan for these CP.

• I need to reach melee with an insurance amount of 2 CP for Only in Death Does Duty End to maximize my use of the Company Master, so I have to have 2 CP saved at all times beyond round 2.

• I can only afford one shot of Weapons of the Dark Age, and I need to maximize its effect, so if I get it to go off it has to be on round 1 or 2. Beyond round 2, or beyond 2 casualties in the squad, I'd save my CP for something else.

• What can mostly consume my CP is trying to keep the bikes alive. This can either mean having to spend 2 for The Hunt before the battle begins to redeploy as a counter to the enemy and/or having to spend 1 CP for Skilled Riders in case I get shot at with something S5 or higher on the bikes.

• Terminators will have to be brought in by round 3, but I'd prefer to bring them in by round 2. In any case, I'll be sure to save 1 CP on the round for Deathwing Assault. but if I manage to deploy correctly and not need to use The Hunt, then I can also invest 1 CP here for Fury of the First, to make the squad hit on 2+/2+ against light infantry. Clearing an objective from light infantry before moving in to cap it.

In any case, I can only spend up to 6 CP by the end of round two, so that I can go into round 3+ with 2CP banked at the least. This means I will probably have to forgo any use of command rerrolls, unless it is for something truly critical. Such as a charge roll with my Company Master.

[Berzul]

Managed a game today. My opponent brought his Sisters of Battle, for a Center Ground match from the 2021 Grand Tournament Book.

 

He brought

 

Morvenn Vhal

A Dogmata

12 Sisters

4 Mortifiers

5 Seraphims

An Exorcist

 

Battle went on for three full rounds, before it became a clear win for one side.

 

The board was set up with two big ruins for cover. One on each quarter of the board. Then a set of ruined walls, on the other two quarters. Some pipes everywhere to create some cover. Finally one crater on each of the sorter edges of the board.

 

I got first turn, and took Oath of Moments, Stubborn Defiance, and Martial Interdiction, as secondaries.

 

TURN ONE went to me.

 

We were both entirely out of LoS, except for my tacticals, and his sisters.

 

I moved my tacticals over the objective on my side, to claim it for Stubborn Defiance, and my Attack Bikes from out of cover in a risky gambit to break his sisters.

 

I managed to kill 7/12 sisters with two bikes in range, thanks to my buffing characters. Miracle die saved them from running, though.

 

In return, the mortifiers showed up from behind the ruins down the edge of the board, and both Morveen and the Exorcist showed up from behind the ruins down the center of the board.

 

I spent 1 CP for Skilled Raiders on the Attack Bikes, and with the combined effort of his entire army he managed to take out 2/3 attack bikes.

 

TURN TWO I brought my Terminators to the side opposite of the mortifiers. I missed the objective on that side by a quarter of an inch, though. Still, they were correctly placed to hold back Morveen and snipe out the Dogmata.

 

I spent 2 CP to use Steady Advance on my Tacticals to clear the Sisters; then 2 CP for Fury of the First and Deathwing Assault to attack the Dogmata.

 

And, she managed to survive with ONE wound.

 

Meanwhile my Black Knights used my last 2 CP for Weapons of the Dark Age to fire at the Mortifiers. Sadly, despite having the full support of the Company Master and Lieutenant, plus D3 shots, they only managed to kill 1 of them.

 

I decided to use my last Attack Bike to take one more mortifier down, then moved in for a charge. My logic being that it would drag his two last mortifiers in towards my black knights, getting him to set himself up for a countercharge withy Company Master.

 

I did not consider that this would bring him on top of an objective before his turn. Also, I miscalculated the room between ruins and my Company Master. So, this was a big mistake.

 

In his turn his Seraphims showed up from behind the ruins and killed all my bikes sans one. His mortifiers did 3 wounds to my Company Master.

 

In turn, my Company Master killed one Mortifier.

 

On the other side of the battle Morveen fought the Terminators, but only managed to kill 4/5 through two activations.

 

TURN THREE was the decisive turn.

 

My Tactical Marines shot the mortifiers down to one vehicle with two wounds. My lieutenant charged the seraphims and killed them all. My company master killed the las mortifier.

 

Then, Morveen killed the last terminator, and began moving over to the block of marines on my side.

 

A hail of shots cut my tacticals down to three, and with Morveen's charge, my two characters met their end.

 

So, by then he could just sit his Dogmata and Exorcist on two objectives for two rounds while Morveen killed the last three Tactical Marines. So we could project a result of 78/34 in favor of the Adeptad Sororitas.

 

Quite a challenging match.

[Berzul]

Im thinking that perhaps I might apply two small fixes to the list. By spending one CP to give the Company Master a Master Crafted Thunder Hammer, and saving 10 points, taking out the Assault Cannon on the Deathwing Terminators. Those points might go towards a Storm Bolter on the Sergeant of the Tactical Squad and a Watcher in the Dark.

[Berzul]

The more I think the list over, and review how it behaved on a first go (while still trying to change as little things as I possibly can), the more I find myself thinking:

 

1) If indeed taking the Deathwing Terminators with just Storm Bolters would not be a better way to go. Saving 10 points.

 

2) If perhaps the Calibanite Knight warlord trait on the Lieutenant is not overkill. After all, he is going in with A7 at S6 on the charge. Since the trait only works on infantry and bikes, and most infantry or bikes will be T3 through to T5, you will still be rolling on 2+s or 3+s to wound. This could free me 1 CP, taking me back to starting 6 CP.

 

3) Having the starting 6 CP could free me to use other stratagems that I would otherwise not consider due to CP economy. Like, The Hunt, for instance, which I was tempted to use on this battle but didn't due to cost.

 

4) Finally, one radical change that I could do, is take out the lieutenant (sacrificing the wound rerrolls on the bikes) to add a librarian to join the Tactical Marines. With Psychic Fortress and Veil of Time, to help them cap an objective better throughout the first two rounds, before moving towards the Terminators wherever they do fall, to improve their fighting ability. This would be a big change to the list, though. I might try this out after a few more games under the belt.

[Vulshra]

Id say a second warlord trait on the master and dropping it on the LT may be the way to go here. I would also question the need to put a plasma pistol on such a valuable character as the LT, and I think dropping the assault cannon is the right decision. These changes would give you points to play around with, which could plasmas on the tactical or corvus hammers on some knights.

 

As an out of the box idea, you could also make the Lt a thunder hammer Lt and then use the relic slot to make it master crafted on the master. Probably not the best idea but worth considering

[Berzul]

Well, there are a few reasons behind the way the models are taken, and it has to do with how I built them, plus a preference to try and proxy as little as possible.

 

When I made the lieutenant I made him by rule-of-cool. He looks pretty awesome with his blade and pistol. Now, the pistol itself I just rarely overcharge. Given that it is free of cost, taking that over a bolt pistol or something similar has never been much of an issue. The thunder hammer, on the other hand, he just doesn't have. Taking one now would be hard to do.

 

I do agree with you that it seems like dropping the WT on the Lt. is the way to go here. I can use that 1 CP to give the Company Master a Master Crafted Thunder Hammer, or I can even just free that CP for stratagems in the game. 

 

Also, yeah, I do not think the Assault Cannon on the Deathwing Terminators is worth the points. I can definetly make small adjustments to the list for those same points.