Deathwing Command Squad Preview

[moi_a_mania]

Agreed, Plasma is going to need to be absolutely a no brainer for the DA.  GW needs to get this right in the FAQ.

[Tacitus]

28 minutes ago, moi_a_mania said:

Agreed, Plasma is going to need to be absolutely a no brainer for the DA.  GW needs to get this right in the FAQ.

Disagree there - almost nothing should be a "no brainer"

[Interrogator Stobz]

What is the likelihood of a Plasma Cannon killing one MEQ?

Or wounding a Rhino?

 

They are trash as they stand. That does kinda make them a no-brainer to leave on the shelf.

[Tacitus]

18 minutes ago, Interrogator Stobz said:

What is the likelihood of a Plasma Cannon killing one MEQ?

Or wounding a Rhino?

 

They are trash as they stand. That does kinda make them a no-brainer to leave on the shelf.

Assuming MEQ with an MSU size 5? 

PlasmaL

D3 Shots Blast - ~2 +1 for Unit Size 5, 3 shots, 2 hit, 1.33 - with 1/3 save .89 D1 wounds,

or Overcharge:

1.68 woundings - 1/6 save 1.411 D2 Wounds. 

 

Frag does:  2D6 7+1 = 8 shots, 4 wounds, after 3+ save 1.32 D1 Wounds.

Krak does 2 shots, 1.34 hits, 1.12 wounding D6, 0.75 x D3.5 damage after saves.

 

Assault Cannon has 6 shots, 4 hits, 3.36 wounding D1 (with Devastating Wounds) for  0.9 D1s and just over half a mortal,

 

 

[Interrogator Stobz]

Cheers Brother. 

That's what my mental arithmetic says.

PCs on TDA are rubbish, kill half a MEQ or <10% of a Rhino unless you supercharge, then one dead MEQ or <20% of a Rhino and risk 3MW.

 

Whilst CML Krak are a tad swingier they will most likely kill a MEQ and do 10-60% of a Rhino. No risk.

CML Frag almost always half a MEQ, maybe a kill. No risk.

 

ACs should only target infantry. 

Reasonable chance of a dead MEQ, no risk.

 

[Tacitus]

Yeah, it all looks 6 of one half a dozen of the other to me. vs MEQ, and they'll swing differently vs other targets like Guard/Little Bugs and so on.  

 

I've never been a CML fan, though they are improving, I'm usually going AC. 

 

But they all pretty much look like they're less lethal than they were before. 

 

If I'm doing anti-MEQ with this squad I'm likely going melee anyway - Well with this squad I'm likely going melee as a Take All Comers - it synergizes better with both the Champion's rules, and the SS/Apothecary gimmick - probably the 3 specialists, 4 TH/SS and 3 Twin LC for a nice balanced loadout- plus potentially Belial (who probably rerolls charges/advances) or Azrael (and potentially a Strike Master) attached that will also benefit from the Champion's +1 to Charge and Advance.   Lest we forget this particular example is a Command Squad meaning attached characters who are almost always more punchy than shooty - thus so much of this squad is screaming out for punchy melee. 

[Interrogator Stobz]

That's very true, it's definitely geared to CC over shooting.

I guess I was thinking about this shooting and how my PC Devs and Tacticals will fare, not well by the looks. My mind was going a little off topic.

Definitely attach CC monsters and crash parties with these lads.

[FarFromSam]

I love these weapon break downs. 

 

I hate that GW isn't releasing points costs.  It's so hard to guess how they'll balance T>8 until we can see costs.   Maybe we'll be fielding lots and lots of cheap infantry that are ineffective at popping big stuff.   Or maybe it'll be a monster mash,  armored spear head edition.  

[Prot]

The thing about these conversations is they can change immensely when points come out. Part of me would love the simplicity of having free stuff in squads as we closed out 9th. I'm tired of ripping weapons off of stuff every couple of months. 

 

That said, I know it's probably better of being separately pointed but that too changes every... 3 months? So I'm going to hold off until I see the strats. Weapons of the Dark Age was something I used almost every turn. But for all I know a unit like... Plasmaceptors and/or Hellblasters turn into really bad units.

 

The thing is I 've watched some of the 10th ed games and it feels like you get one strat a turn really, and overwatch is such a gigantic mechanic (or so it appears) I have to wonder if this was a mistake. (Movement phase overwatch is something I'm just trying to get my head around the 'why' of it).

 

Anyway going off the rails a bit here... my point was there's just too many variables. I do love this command squad, and I'd love to take it fully tooled up and see if I could "deathstar" it up a bit. I really do want to see the Repulsor though as it compares to a landraider. Though I doubt more than 5-6 termies fit?

 

 

[Tacitus]

15 hours ago, farfromsam said:

I love these weapon break downs. 

 

I hate that GW isn't releasing points costs.  It's so hard to guess how they'll balance T>8 until we can see costs.   Maybe we'll be fielding lots and lots of cheap infantry that are ineffective at popping big stuff.   Or maybe it'll be a monster mash,  armored spear head edition.  

After looking at the SM Datasheets released - I think we're going to see a lot of different builds as people incorporate different "wombo-combos". 

 

Incursors for +1 to hit, and Oath of Moment.

 

Uriel Teleports Calgar and a Beef Unit.

 

Storm Raven transports Calgar and a Beef Unit, along with a Brutalis Dread.

 

The All Primaris all DIY Command Squad?  6 BGV, 1 Primaris Apothecary, 1 Primaris Ancient, 1 Primaris Champion, 1 Primaris Captain fits in a Drop Pod or a Land Raider. 

 

3 of the Invictor Warsuits standing behind the Phobos Objective camper just begging you to shoot at the phobos. 

[BrainFireBob]

You can only attach 2 characters to a unit.

 

Edit: More, you can only double up Apoths or Lieutenants with Captains/Chapter Masters/Lieutenants. It's an explicit exception on the cards.

 

Money's probably on Judicar+Bladeguard

Edited June 11, 2023 by BrainFireBob

[Tacitus]

2 hours ago, BrainFireBob said:

You can only attach 2 characters to a unit.

 

Edit: More, you can only double up Apoths or Lieutenants with Captains/Chapter Masters/Lieutenants. It's an explicit exception on the cards.

 

Money's probably on Judicar+Bladeguard

Oops, I missed that - I assumed all the Company Command characters had the same thing so you could.. you know - make a company command squad.   Hopefully that gets changed. 

[Frater Cornelius]

So I was thinking of using a DWCS with TDA Captain and Ancient.

 

Captain provides charge rerolls (which pairs well with the charge bonus of the Champion) and 0CP strats. Ancient with Enchancement provides a FnP, +1OC (with the DA base rule and the Ancient in the CS, that is a 3OC for the unit that can't be Battle-shocked away), +1 to hit (which is amazing for all the 3+ profiles) once one member is missing and +1 to wound once half a missing.

 

Given that the DA seem to want to do Objective play, I'd actually want some dakka in the unit, so that they can shoot back with the strat (one model dies, they shoot back for 1 or even 0 CP with +1 hit). Plus, they can be quite deadly on the charge.

 

At 5 dudes plus 2 characters it'll be just over 400 points. Around 630(?) If you go for a full 10man squad. I think that's going to be an amazing midfield anchor.

[march10k]

I'm attaching Belial and heavenfall claws strikemaster to my command squad and then stuffing them into a crusader.  The two extra bodies are AC/PF and claws.

 

/edit/The clawsmaster is a version of Belial that I did up back when he had multiple weapons loadouts.

Edited July 26, 2023 by march10k

[Helias_Tancred]

On 6/9/2023 at 2:03 AM, Tacitus said:

Disagree there - almost nothing should be a "no brainer"

 

I kinda understand your point .... the better system is where there is a "no brainer" and weapons are role specific?

 

 

Edited July 26, 2023 by Eilio Tiberius