1k Zone Mortalis Ultramarines

[Casual Heresy]

Afternoon all.

 

My local Warhammer shop is running a Zone Mortalis campaign soon which I'm keen to take part in. I'm haven't had much of a chance to play HH 2.0 yet, so still fuzzy on most rules and building an army for this edition/ruleset. I know how to build a list, but finer points of wargear selections and unit combos still elude me.

Below is my first attempt at a list for Zone Mortalis. 

HQ

Legion Cataphractii Centurion with Legatine Axe, Combi-Melta and Grenade Harness

Legion Chaplain with Crozius and Plasma Pistol

Troops

Legion Tactical Squad with Vexilla, Augury Scanner, bayonets and Sergeant with Power Sword and Artificer Armour

Legion Tactical Squad with Vexilla, Augury Scanner, bayonets and Sergeant with Power Sword and Artificer Armour

Elites

Cataphractii Terminator Squad with 4x lightning claws, 3x volkite chargers, Plasma blaster, and vexilla, sergeant with grenade harness, volkite charger and thunder hammer

10 man Praetorian Breacher Squad with vexilla, sergeant with legatine axe

I may go traitor for this force to use the Pride's Dark Power warlord trait, as the extra reaction in the assault phase might be quite useful in a close quarters game. Plus it plays into the narrative I'm writing for my Heresy era Ultramarines where they are the force that will later go on to become the Libators successor chapter, one of the more brutal and uncompromising UM successors.

Please rip this to shreds. My gut feeling right now is that list lacks high strength shooting/melee incase of dreadnoughts, and I have the parts on hand to make a Fulmentarus squad. I've also got a variety of characters, contemptors and Cataphractii and Indomitus Terminators with various options which can be made ready in time.

 

[Brofist]

You only need one troops choice in ZM so I'd drop one of those tactical squads. I don't see a ROW either- if you turn your Cataphractii Centurion into a Deligatus you can run a RoW of your favorite flavor. For example if you run Pride you can take a veteran squad as your compulsory line troops and that other tactical squad for a net increase in overall effectiveness. If you want a way for dealing with dreads, you'll want thunder hammers on your Cataphractii instead of lighting claws. A budget option is to take Indomintus terminators, who have worse saves, but cheaper wargear. Fulmentarus are very good and totally busted in ZM unless you houserule their rockets to not shoot through walls.

[Cruor Vault]

Nemesis Destroyers are frighteningly good in a ZM game.  Assault bolters and their combo of rad grenades and chainswords makes them really excellent in tight quarters.

[LameBeard]

Cool list. You will meet dreadnoughts in ZM. Consensus seems to be to fight  fire with fire … but I realise a Contemptor is a big chunk of points to rearrange the list around.

I think it’s good to have at least two ‘line’ so dropping one tactical, while tempting, is not without downsides - do the Praetorians get line? Seems a shame to have to get a RoW when ZM should give a lot of flexibility without.

 

[Casual Heresy]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone.

Turns out Praetorians do have line LameBeard. I'd love to add Nemesis Destroyers Cruror Vault, but haven't got the parts on hand to build them how I want so will have to leave for next time. I've taken Brofist's advice on a RoW and tweaked the list to the following:

Rite of War: Pride of the Legion

HQ

Legion Cataphractii Centurion Delegatus with Legatine Axe, and Combi-Melta
Warlord Trait: Pride's Dark Power

Troops

Legion Tactical Squad with Vexilla, Augury Scanner, bayonets and Sergeant with Power Sword

Cataphractii Terminator Squad with 4x lightning claws, 3x volkite chargers, Plasma blaster, and vexilla, sergeant with volkite charger and thunder hammer

Fulmentarus Terminator Squad with 5x power axes

Elites

8 man Praetorian Breacher Squad, sergeant with legatine axe

So with this version I've got three line units (Tactical Squad, Cataphractii and Praetorians) and an increase in high strength firepower with the Fulmentarus. I'm keeping the Fulmentarus to just power axes to firstly keep the cost down as all the firepower is pricey, and because in larger games they will be a back to midfield fire support unit.

I'd like to stick with the claws and volkites on the Cataphractii. One of my goals with my heresy collection is to take full advantage of weird and wonderful weapon loadouts that have no equivalent in 40k to keep my collection varied and interesting. 

Overall it might not be the most competitive list but should work a little better than version 1 and think it looks like a fluffy Zone mortalis type force.

 

[LameBeard]

I fully support the “weird and wonderful” idea, or as I like to say “distinctive emblems of the heresy” - and Fulmentarus are great example.

[Orange Knight]

I think Fulmentarus are too good for Zone Mortalis games. 

They can shoot around corners without needing LOS. They can even target units completely obscured.

That ability might be too oppressive on the small Zone Mortalis board.

[Brofist]

The ZM rules are the problem here, for sure