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So I have a GW event coming up that has a 1000pt limit, space marines chaos. I'm still kind of new and figuring things out too. I have some general build questions since the point limit is so small. I play SM and BA.
1. Is it better to have a build with lots of weaker scoring units like scouts and tac marines or more expensive, powerful units like terminators, honor guards, and land raiders?
2. I don't know what style will be played so should I build more offensive assault BA builds or defensive shooty SM builds? I' m split between a dantewing build and a pedro-sternguard build.

At 1000 points it's more important to have boots on the gruond. The two tactical squads and a captain you'll need to make a legal army list will take up half your points, so there's not much choice. A Pedro/Sternguard build (which I run) is very hard to do well under 1500 points, since one Sternguard squad and Pedro isn't quite enough to build an army around.

THe more bodies the marrier. For 2/3 to 3/4 of the points you could run, say Lasander a 5man termi squad and a LR and round out hte squad with two 5 man combat squad with no special weapons and you can feel pretty good until you run up against someone with 2 large 'Nid';steeler swarms and a swarmlord hive tyrant and findout real fast that as tough as it looks the bugs can really have a chance to mess you up...where as if you run 3 tac squads a razorback and a rhino with your HQ of choice you'll find yourself in a better position because shots count more when you have less wounds to allocate them onto.

Think of it like after the 3rd or 4th round in a normal game and your starting to get thin on units, you play different, now maximize the units you'd want on the board the last couple of rounds of the game and now find the balance with that and sound early game strategy.

A lot of list building is finding a balance between shiny toys and boots on the ground. Generally a Marine army that invests too heavily in elites can't handle objectives (Sternguard with Pedro being the exception) while an army built too heavily around troops choices lacks the punch to kill a lot of the enemy.

Here's a 1000 point list I was going to use, but I think it's still a little small for Pedro+Sternguard:
Pedro Kantor: 175
Sternguard x9, fist, combi weapon x2, rhino, dozer blade: 300
Tactical Marines x10, melta, multimelta, fist, rhino: 235
Scout Marines x10, fist: 165
Dreadnought, twin linked autocannon x2: 125

You have the two rhinos driving up while the dreadnought puts down covering fire, blowing up enemy transports and the like. The scouts come in, tying up a unit of the enemy while your tactical Marines and Sternguard focus on killing more important targets.

1000 points is a small limit, so you have to be very conservative with your points. Special characters are right out; that includes Pedro and Dante. You'll also need to play to the mission objectives. Assuming that's capturing objectives, you'll need a good few mobile scoring units too.

Low points matches are often a little rock/paper/scissors-y. Without enough points for most armies to cover all the bases, if you take a very anti-tank orientated list and come up against a nid swarm, you're probably buggered before the game begins. With that in mind, a good 1000-point list has to be versatile. Preferably, every unit should be effective against every enemy unit. I reckon your best bet, is to take a Blood Angels force, focusing around small assault units in razorbacks. I haven't got my codex on me so I can't do specific points, but something like:

Librarian w/ Shield of Sanguinius, Blood Lance. (~100)

5-Man Assault Squad w/ Meltagun (~110)
Razorback w/ Twin-Heavy Flamers. (~20)

5-Man Assault Squad w/ Meltagun (~110)
Razorback w/ Twin-Heavy Flamers. (~20)

5-Man Assault Squad w/ Meltagun (~110)
Razorback w/ Twin-Heavy Flamers. (~20)

10-Man Tactical Squad w/ Missile Launcher (~170)

Land Speeder w/ Multi-Melta (~60)

Predator w/ Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons (~135)
Predator w/ Autocannon, Lascannon Sponsons (~135)

~990

So, remember what I said about 1000 points being rock paper scissors-y? Most 1000 points armies will be unable to cope with 6 vehicles, especially if three of those will be covered by Shield of Sanguinius. Concentrate fire to take out their anti-tank units first, and their problem deepens. The Tactical Squads sits in cover somewhere to take your closest objective (or combat squads if it needs to take two). The Predators take out anything you don't really want to get close to (i.e. Monstrous Creatures) and to disembark units in transports. The Land Speeder takes out any hiding artillery or other vehicles, and can additionally help contest on the last turn. The three Razorbacks and Assault Squads either melta vehicles, or stay in their tanks and heavy flamer large units, with the librarian with them to keep them shielded and potentially fire a lance off.

You've got 4/5 scoring units, which means you should have plenty for the objectives. There's no single obvious target like a huge mob of terminators would be, and everything's quick and deadly.

I know this is off topic, but a vehicle with a tl heavy flamer for only 20 points... wtf?

If the blood abgels drop their jump packs they get a discount

oh ok.

ObliviousBlueCaboose wrote:If the blood abgels drop their jump packs they get a discount

Pretty much. And the twin heavy flamer upgrade is free for BA razorbacks. It's one of the best deals in the codex.