BA Weekend Success

[Morticon]

Greetings all. 

 

I wanted to share some success with BA that I had over the weekend at a team tournament in Beijing. 

 

Our team didn't do too well overall (4th of 8) but, individually I went 3 wins and 1 draw - and had the 5th highest WTC points (would have had 4th highest if I didn't let my clocked out opponent use my time and score). So, i'm chuffed about that. 

 

List was Gladius (because the tools given to us are just incredible). 

 

Biologus - Bolter Disc

Lieutenant with Combi.

 

Librarian Dreadnought

2x5 DC with JP - 5 PF, 5 Hand Flamer

1x5 Infiltrators

1x5 Scouts 

1x 6 Bladeguard Vets

1x6 Aggressors (bolter)

2x3 Assault Centurians - Flamers

 

1x Whirlwind

1x Lancer

1x Ballistus

 

 

OVERVIEW:

 

Our team hit the toughest opponents game one (they went on to win the tournament undefeated). 

I got the only army i was dreading - Votann  (I had practiced into Eldar the whole week expecting them to put a fast reactive army with the best player as champ). Despite Eldar being Eldar, his army was a really bad match up into my list.

 

I wound up going 10-10 ( WTC draw) into Votann - which I was satisfied with.  

 

Game 2 saw us pair down into a weaker team.  I drew a relatively new 10th Ed player (he'd only played 9th) playing Eldar, and cleaned up 15-5. 

 

Game 3 saw me up against a guard army with over 120 guardsmen. I was HOPING to pair into them - and I got it! Cleaned up 18-2 - and at the end he timed out -should have 20-0'ed him, but gave some of my time.

 

Game 4 saw me paired into Tau.   Was a tight sweaty game, but my team-mate plays tau and I got mad amounts of practice into them.  Was able to eek out an 11-9 win.  

 

Some shots for you guys below! 

 

Shout out if you have questions! 

 

 

 

[Morticon]

Send some questions!! 

[Tokugawa]

How did you choose between fixed and random secondary missions?

[Morticon]

Solid question. 

 

The decisions was based on a combination of the opponent's army, the table, and the main mission. 

 

My list plays Teleport Homers well, so I need a second strong secondary. I don't do Cleanse well because i need my units engaged in the battle, (and wont usually play it on a 4/5 objective map). So, if they have a clear option like TAU and Bring It Down, it's more obvious. 

 

I'm very partial to Storm Hostile Objective, too.

 

In game 1, vs Votann, my trick of Storm and Homer's wouldn't work on account of his list . Pushing him off objectives with his high toughness units would be an issue. I had to  play into my strenghts and use my mobility where possible. 

 

In game 2, I could bully his Eldar off objectives- so if he put stuff on it, I could steal from him.  Homers/Storm would work well here - he had mobility enough to counter my units/plays should i need to move them into opportunistic scoring areas.  So, if i drew a card than needed me to go to an area i didnt want, he could quickly react to that.

 

Game 3, vs guard, I had a similar issue as with Votann - I felt there was no way i was getting objectives off him with 120+ OC2 models.  So, I had to rely on a mixed choice.

 

Game 4 vs Tau - most Tau games you automatically choose BID - because of all the suits.  Teleport homers was an easy 2nd with the map allowing my Lieut to get behind terrain and just score 3 each turn. 

[Jolemai]

Can see you expected hoards given your build, so why didn't the FlamerBaal concept tempt you?

[Father Mapple]

What strategems were you using most? Core and detachment.

 

Are there characters you consider as a actual value add, rather than add a buff for an existing unit, like how you used the apothecary?

 

We're other marine lists using anything similar to death Co with JP?

[Goranged]

Looks like you had a great time :) 

Question, how do you deal with Tau? I have not played Tau recently and I might face this weekend in a 2k tournament, along with IK, TS, Custodes, BT, DA and Necrons. I will be playing a similar list to the one you used.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Goranged

[Tokugawa]

3 hours ago, Goranged said:

Looks like you had a great time :) 

Question, how do you deal with Tau? I have not played Tau recently and I might face this weekend in a 2k tournament, along with IK, TS, Custodes, BT, DA and Necrons. I will be playing a similar list to the one you used.

Brin was practically tabled in game4, but had already earned enough VP from BiD to ensure a victory.

[Morticon]

On 10/30/2023 at 7:27 PM, Jolemai said:

Can see you expected hoards given your build, so why didn't the FlamerBaal concept tempt you?

 

Truth be told, I wasnt! 

 

I found that the flamer DC and the flamers on the Cents allowed me to play a good overwatch game.  The flamers on the DC also allowed me to clear screens and have targets at 12", rather than 3-6 with the infernos.  I also found that while the infernos are solid when they go through, at S8, theyre really struggle to hit T9+.  I may consider 1/1 in the future, but that being said, there wasn't really many moments where i thought "man, i wish i had infernos here. 

 

The Flamer baal is tasty, but didnt bring enough.  For 25 points more, id have the cents every single time. 

 

[Morticon]

11 hours ago, Goranged said:

Looks like you had a great time :) 

Question, how do you deal with Tau? I have not played Tau recently and I might face this weekend in a 2k tournament, along with IK, TS, Custodes, BT, DA and Necrons. I will be playing a similar list to the one you used.

 

As Tokugawa said, BID is a HUGE one.  You need to go fixed vs them. Tau are legitimately unfun to play against at the moment - specifically in the hands of agood player.  They pick up almost any unit in the game, and their crisis brick is one of the most durable units in the game - not to mention difficult to engage with give their Fire and Fade strat. 

 

You need to play fixed, I feel, and just milk something like BID and Homers .

 

Other HInts:

 

1.  Use every MW strat you have.  Make use of Chaplains, Jump Assault, Grenade and Tank Shock - often often often!! 

 

2. You have to play very, very well - this involves measuring out 18" angles from the crisis bricks. Make sure you know EXACTLY where they can go.

 

3. Dont take the ghostkeel bait.  Go for better targets.

 

4. Bring two whiirlwinds if you can. 

There's a really good trick for the whirls.  When it's your turn, go into Dev doc mode  (or if you really need to save Dev doc for an aggressor bomb), then use 1 cp to go into Dev Doc with a WW (but make sure you have another CP).  Then, choose a Piranha as your Oath target.  Once you've rolled your wound roll, if you get 4 wounds from the WW, declare Storm of Fire.  (The timing of Storm of Fire is exceptional in that it allows its use ANY time in the shooting phase).  This means it ignores cover and is +1 AP - this means its a dead Piranha and a dead Tau asset.  

 

5. Do what you can as quickly as you can.  Once it's Turn 3, you're in for a horrible, horrible ride. 

 

Nothing in our army (literally - not figuratively) can withstand a volley from a crisis brick in Kauyon.  It takes out 10 Hammer terms with ease. 

 

6, Make peace with the fact that once you have a unit able to be seen, it is dead . Dont waste CP on strats like smoke and AOC. (unless you can do both, AND he doesn't have a spotter on the target, AND it's only a 3+1 man squad firing AND it's not 3rd turn, AND its not overcharged Cyclic.  Otherwise, dont worry. It's dead. The exception to this is maybe the Redemptor. 

 

7.  Bring Damage 3 - as much as you can.   

 

8. If you're not playing WTC terrain, then GG.  I feel there's little to nothing you can do. 

 

My opponent drew a few unlucky cards - that being said, you could say unlucky, but i positioned well enough to screen and counter -and he was cautious.  If we played 3 games, i rate he'd win 2.  

 

 

[Goranged]

that's awesome feedback mate, thanks 

[Tokugawa]

I feel Tetras would be nuked in next patch, then TAU (maybe) have less access to "reroll everything" and farming sustained hits.

 

FW resin repeatedly appearing in top lists, with multiple copy = death sentence.

[Morticon]

I hope so.  The tetra Dataslate is stupid.  I have NO problem with the rules of it, because they have very little damage output - it's jus tthat their defnesive profile is obnoxious given their cost.  2x T7, W7, 4+ is too good at that cost.  Especially given the W7.  Let the price stay the same, and drop to T5, W5 mounted.  Balances out their BID for loss of durability. 

[Morticon]

So, I have a singles tournament coming up, and I'd like to modify my list a little.  

 

I really liked what it did, and the tools it had, but it just didnt have enough punch to deal with some of the heavy hitters out there.

 

I'm trying to pump the amount of Cents, which were just gold.  But, I need to figure out what to lose.  I've had a few playtests, and I found that dropping too much caused me to lose out on board assets making me weak. 

 

I'm looking at something like this:

 

Libby Dread

Biologus - Dev

Lieutenant

 

2x5 DC

2x5 Scouts

1x5 Terms

1x6 Aggros

1x6 Cents

1x3 Cents

 

1x Whirlwind

1x Lancer (Or Thunderstrike - leaning to the TStrike)

1x Ballistus

 

I have a few variants on this, and i'm looking to test the Firestorm detachment too.  

 

 

From my original list, I feel like I could arguably drop the Infiltrators and the Inceptors and BGV.   

But, I need 3 more cents, so this gives me around 245 points to play with. 

I also don't mind switching out the Ballistus and Tank , but i need ranged antitank.

 

 

For those curious about the Tstrike, the Cents and Aggros with TL weapons have proved AMAZING with the synergy.

 

Thoughts/suggestions welcome

 

[Goranged]

what is your experience with the lancer + ballistus? i played last weekend against triple prisma,  ironstorm and  DG and they did nothing. Inceptors and Lemi+DC instead gave lots of points and overcharged plasmas killed several tanks. Assault Centurions sounds like fun :-)

Edited November 7, 2023 by Goranged

[horushoruseverywhere]

What do the Terminators do for you in that list? 

 

I feel like 10 or nothin' on 'em.

 

Cheers from Germany

Lem

[Tokugawa]

"How to spend the last 200pts" is a difficult question in 10th with fixed unit size.

 

Since you feel Lancer performed better than box dread, why plan to drop the Lancer but keep the dread? Any synergy unnoticed?

[Paladin777]

1 hour ago, horushoruseverywhere said:

What do the Terminators do for you in that list? 

 

I feel like 10 or nothin' on 'em.

 

Cheers from Germany

Lem

I find my 5+librarian makes a fantastic bully unit to rapid ingress into an unguarded flank. They completely destroyed a block of 20 necron warriors in one turn in my last game (or would have had I done that combat first, preventing my opponent from interrupting). 
 

they were admittedly my OoM target, but nothing else shot at them.

 

that said, they struggle against harder targets. 

 

Terminators are great, but no longer the 'kill anything you charge' unit they once were. 

Edited November 8, 2023 by Paladin777

[Morticon]

15 hours ago, Goranged said:

what is your experience with the lancer + ballistus? i played last weekend against triple prisma,  ironstorm and  DG and they did nothing. Inceptors and Lemi+DC instead gave lots of points and overcharged plasmas killed several tanks. Assault Centurions sounds like fun :-)

 

Lancer in the last tournament was amazing.  Solid, solid, solid work horse.  Ballistus was always a let down in damage role, but was tough enough to stick around, and provide a little fair tank shock.  The ballistus benefit is its hardiness.  

 

A lot of the top dogs (Jack from AoW, and others) are playing at least 1x6 Inceptors for the antitank role in BA.  Works nicely.  Not sure 6 shots is reliable enough for 3 of them for a dedicated role, and i feel 220 is just too much.  

5 hours ago, Tokugawa said:

"How to spend the last 200pts" is a difficult question in 10th with fixed unit size.

 

Since you feel Lancer performed better than box dread, why plan to drop the Lancer but keep the dread? Any synergy unnoticed?

 

None! Just the points the cost!! Id prefer the lancer generally, but the dread has better staying power too. 

[Morticon]

5 hours ago, horushoruseverywhere said:

What do the Terminators do for you in that list? 

 

I feel like 10 or nothin' on 'em.

 

Cheers from Germany

Lem

 

In the list noted, they provide another bully role that I can maneuver with the libby dread. Previously I had Bladeguard, and theyre great, but I like that the terms have have 20x 4-0-0 and 2x 9-2-d6 ranged shots as well as the combat ability - this allows them to synergize better with the strats I have and with the Storm Speeders when i was using them. 

The 10 man termy squad is AMAZING - but it's just a different role.  For 185points, 15x T5, 2+,4++ wounds is super solid! 

 

[Karhedron]

5 hours ago, Morticon said:

A lot of the top dogs (Jack from AoW, and others) are playing at least 1x6 Inceptors for the antitank role in BA.  Works nicely.  Not sure 6 shots is reliable enough for 3 of them for a dedicated role, and i feel 220 is just too much.  

 

I think that 6 Plasmaceptors probably need to be in a Firestorm Detachment to really perform as an anti-tank unit. The +1 to Wound stratagem for firing at the nearest target really helps boost their damage output. Twin linked in nice but they still need 5s to wound against most tanks. By shifting to 4s with rerolls, 75% of hits are getting converted into wounds.

 

Fortunately, BAs can make nice use of some other elements of Firestorm with the Baal Predators and DC with Hand Flamers both great units for taking advantage of Immolation Protocols.