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Oh yeah, that was already given for granted. The sister lists don't have the fire power of a marine one.

As others have mentioned a motorized list spamming T7 might also be very sturdy, especially now that tanks cannot be deactivated by touching them any more. Guard seems to be a pretty cheap option. From the top of my head some variations at the current price tag, but assuming that heavy weapons don't get -1 to hit in vehicles anymore:

Leman Russ Spearhead:


T7 Spam


I'm pretty sure both can be built much better, but I think they bring home the general idea. Lots and lots of T7/T8 vehicles with 3+ and jury rigged repairs allows for healing that is independent from squishy Support characters. The Atlas Recovery Tank also heals and is still T7 3+

Oh I know you said you didn't like the nurgle look, but Drukhari PoF army is 4++, Grots and Talos are 4/7w models with a 6+++ as well. And gain +1T near Haemonculus.

A footsloggin ork army can be extremely durable as well. As many blobs of boyz with KFFs and FNPs (snakebites or dok's aura) you can fit along with 18 smasha gunz. A bit harder to do in 9th cause a list like this requires lots of characters, the loss of precious CPs and anti horde weapons will be improved, but still possible. A list with:

Warboss
3 Big meks with KFF
Weirdboy (or 10 more boyz)
150 Boyz
10 Gretchins
18 Smasha gunz

... fits 2x Snakebites battallions in an 8th 2000 points game and it's somehow competitive.

Ork Killacanz army!

 Amishprn86 wrote:
Ork Killacanz army!

Unfortunately kanz suffer a lot from morale so 5-6 man squads aren't that durable, even if their profile makes them durable for their points. The max amount for kanz (18) allowed by rule of 3 is also just costing 800ish points. Full dread ork armies can be quite durable though, they are easier to shield with KFFs and a unit of walkers (like 3 dreads) can also get a permanent -1 to hit by kustom job. Kanz, dreads, tons of Mek gunz, maybe a tellyported naut... they can be very tough.

Yeah i mean a Mech walking army in general. I have a friend that only plays Mech walking Orks. Its harder to play now for sure b.c of Ro3 and he has to play with 3 troops.

Necrons are supposed to be very durable. They have pretty reasonable toughness & armor save values, and a few special rules to make their units more durable. The main one is "Reanimation Protocols", which allows you to at the start of your turn roll a die for every model that each unit has lost, and you get to put it back on the field if you roll a 5+. Theoretically it's very powerful, and allows you to outlast almost any army in the game in a battle of attrition. The problem is, you don't get to make these rolls if a unit has been entirely wiped out, so at higher point games it's very easy to negate by focus-firing and wiping out a whole unit at a time.

Necrons also have some other rules that help with durability. Living metal, a rule on most characters, allows them to recover wounds. Quantum shielding, a common rule on vehicles, gives them some extra defense against high damage fire. There's also a myriad of units that boost survivability/reanimation protocols/repair units, such as the resurrection orb equipment or the ghost ark vehicle. But all these things don't really make up for the weaknesses of reanimation protocols. Necrons are going to be the poster xenos faction for 9'th edition, however, and GW has confirmed that they'll be getting a rework with the first codex of the new edition, so hopefully they'll be getting fixed with that release. If you like the aesthetic and fluff of the faction, this should be a great time to pick them up with all the stuff coming out for them in 9th!

Look I know you said no deathguard, but they’re really your best Option. No other army has the ability to get cheap vehicles with 3+, 5++, and 5+++. With PA you can now have those same vehicles rocking a 4++. I also noticed you mentioning blightlords who now can get - 1 damage against ranged attacks. Iron hands are very tough and hit harder than deathguard, but just can’t get close to that level of durability after their nerfs. Also deathguard can ally in a lord of change, who is probably the most durable unit in the game right now (16 wounds so can be hidden with 9th’s terrain rules, and he comes with a 3++, a - 1 damage warlord trait, and a 6+++ that heals him every time he makes a save with it).

If you really hate the idea of deathguard, than either flavor of custodes terminators might interest you more. If you are willing to spend 5 CP you can have a squad with baseline stats of 2+ , 4++, with the abilities to; not to be wounded on anything less than a 4+, ignore AP -1 and AP -2, and negate enemy re-rolls. Realistically you are probably never using all 3 do these abilities at once, but having access to all of them is very nice.

Drager wrote:
Prophets of Flesh or Artificers of Flesh grotesque blobs are good for this feeling. T6 W4 6+++ and either a 4++ or 5++ and -1 to the enemies damage stat (min 1).

T5 5++ 6+++ regenerating Racks (Wracks?) can start to feel awfully tanky, especially if your opponent is good at timing the regen strat amd denying LoS and you've failed to wipe a squad all the way for the third time in a row.

KurtAngle2 wrote:

Spoletta wrote:

KurtAngle2 wrote:

ERJAK wrote:
Footslog VH SoB can get the entire army to 4++ immune to AP-2, with a 6+ FNP.

Still worse than IH tanky infantry builds with the added malus of having a much worse shooting (both accuracy, AP and number of shots if not within 12")

VH sisters are much more tanky than IH infantry builds, being practically immune to any form of AP and being 1W models makes them simply too hard to crack, but it is correct that they don't shoot as well.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
By the way, don't build anything that is dependant on blobbing models around an aura. From what we are seeing, 9th edition is not going to be nice for those kind of builds.

With no access to:

T4
5++ via Feirros
5+++ FNP (compared to a 6+++ of VH)
Transhuman Physiology when you need it
Immediate access to cover if you go for a 6+++ instead of a 5+++

Also they need fewer auras to be effective (2 for this defensive setup), whereas for the Sisters build you need:

Imagifier
Saint Celestine
Character with +1 to Invulnerable save

And that's still WORSE than IH Infantry builds...

P.S. Saying that 1W is a "benefit" when you're paying LESS per wound that a Sister (8,5 ppw vs 9 ppm) is utterly wrong

One has to wonder when reading like, any post you make ever, how often you actually play the game.

You seem to live in this world where you're perpetually receiving the perfect amount of firepower with the exact damage profile to support your math hammer. What if it's a 2 damage or even 3 damage weapon? There's a million things that could throw out your statements, the game is deeper than mathhammer, but you refuse to ever even consider another person's point of view.

And of course, Craftworlders! The Wave Serpent is deceptively durable. Wraithblades and Wraithguard come with T6 and 3W, some of which come with a 4++. There are a number of ways to boost that durability further with different factions and psychic powers. Wraithlords are fairly cheap T8 monsters.

Also, if for some reason you went Ynnari, Wraithseers can be Suuuuper tanky.