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So I was thinking of running the following ...

2x
Overlord - Phaeron, ResOrb, Warsyche
1 Harbinger of Despair - Abyssal Staff, Veil of Darkness
1 Lord - Sempiternal Weave, Gauntlet of Fire
5 Dearthmarks
-360-

So two of these squads run 720 points but they mark two units and do a lot of damage. The rest of the list would be 3x night syche msu warriors, 3x a. barges and six destucteqs (two pulses thrown in) - runs 1750.
Do you think this has merit? I saw a unit like this go against GKs and do some heavy damage. I was surprised. The rest of his list seemed a little weak though. No barges or sycthes but blobed warriors and a few arks
and some scarabs and spyders. I think I woulkd rather go tesla spam with lanceteq backup. Now admittedly I am borrowing an idea here and running the mini deathstar my way. I assume this is a legal configuration
with two royal courts. I just have the lord, overlord and cryptek join the deathmarks and either DS in or jump around the board from the start.

You should run a ctan with Grand Illusion and mark 2 targets for each unit.

I love deepstrike formations. Its so nice for all my pretty pie plates. So you drop down and maybe kill a single MSU unit that costs 150 pts, assuming you even crack the rhino before hand. Then you get hit with multiple plasma cannons, battle cannons, demolisher cannons, etc.

I don't think a deathmark deathstar is going to be very effective.

Interesting idea. Certainly the problem with a traditional Death&Despair combo (just the death marks and the veiltek) is that if you come down outside rapid fire range the unit gets decimated by enemy shooting or assault before it can do what it is supposed to do. So, Phaeron would be helpful there. Problem is, if you come down outside of rapid fire, the velitek abyssal staff doesn't go off either, which to me greatly reduces the effectiveness of the unit.

For me the purpose of the unit is to drop in, put wounds on a suitably juicy target (MC, HQ, long fangs, termies etc) then die. In the games I have had, that is generally what happens - the unit has one shooting turn to make its points back, then gone. However, happy to do that because the unit is only 160pts and I'm generally targeting 200pts+. It is also a good distraction if by some miracle they do survive (more on that later).

If you try and increase the survivability of the unit (after all 2+ wounds on 2 targets is not to be sneezed at) by adding some CC ability (which I think is what the lord/Olord is supposed to be doing) then you increase the cost - for 385pts you can get 5 Lychguard (S5T5A2) with swords + boards + veiltek +OrbLord with Scythe,MSS,SW instead. That is a CC unit . Also, if you use the lychguard, the Overlord can go into the CCB, which is where he really shines.

If I was going to do the deathstar I'd focus on coming down within 12 inches so you can get rapid fire and use the veiltek. So, I'd be looking to beef the CC survivability. I can think of 2 ways:

5xDeathmark, Veiltek, Lord with Orb, MSS, Scythe, SW (maybe PS if you have the points) for 235 points. This would free the overlord to the CCB

Or, if you really wanted to just play with these units behind lines,

(475)
Overlord, Phaeron, Orb, Sw, MSS, Scythe, PS
Veiltek+Shroud
Stormtek + Lightning
Deathmarks x 5.

As all members of the squad wound marked units on 2+ (remember this is any marked unit) this should effectively deter your marked unit from assaulting you. You also have the shroud if you are out of abyssal staff range, lightning to further deter specialist assault squads, and Haywire to make a mess of nearby vehicles. Course, this is pretty expensive.

If you just wanted to tweak your original idea, I'd do this

Overlord, Phaeron, MSS, Scythe, SW
Veiltek
lord, Orb, scythe, MSS
5x Deathmarks (395)

I reckon this gives you more flexibility (you can detach the Overlord after you land and he can go off and crack some vehicles) and better CC deterrent. Whenever you get a lord with a war scythe, get MSS. It is SO worth it.

BTW, watch out if you start on the board because you can only mark units on the battlefield. I don't think you can mark units in reserve.

Its so nice for all my pretty pie plates. So you drop down and maybe kill a single MSU unit that costs 150 pts, assuming you even crack the rhino before hand. Then you get hit with multiple plasma cannons, battle cannons, demolisher cannons, etc.

I will be walking in from reserves and I can use veil at that point. By then, hopefully, i will have hurt some vehicles with my lance teqs, tesla etc. A squad of deathmarks with staff and gaze, resorb, etc. will do some damage to any squad ... even paladins. Remember there is a phaeron lord here.

I'm not sure I would want to go over 360 points. That is already an investment of 720 with two squads.

Grand Illusion is almost too much with this and also it is really expensive. At 2000 points though ... tasty.

Try it with trazyn maybe, make it a 10 man unit. Now they are a scoring veiltek unit with phaerun.

felixcat wrote:

I'm not sure I would want to go over 360 points. That is already an investment of 720 with two squads.

ok, What about this?

5XDeathmark
Overlord, Phaeron, Scythe, MSS, SW, Orb
VeilTek
StormTek w Lightning
(370) (or 355 without SW on the Overlord).

Seriously, in the initial setup that additional lord is not adding anything. Gauntlet of Fire, as a template weapon, sucks compared to the abyssal staff and the Orb can go to the Overlord. If you want another template weapon, get another Despairtek (obviously without the veil). Changing the lord for the StormTek gives you anti vehicle capabilities and a real deterrent to any would be assaulters. If you really want to keep the lord, change to a staff of light or a war scythe.

Really, though, you don't need the overlord in here at all. Phaeron is basically only letting you fire 5 sniper shots on the turn you move if your vod misses and you land outside 12". Meh.

I really like the concept of beefing up the Death and Despair units to make them more effective. I reckon the best bet is to go shooty (with Staffs of Light instead of warscythes or a StormTek for vehicles) with an assault deterrent offered by the StormTek lightning field.

If you want a more CC unit - get the Lychguard instead. You get a tougher unit with power weapons and an invul save for about the same price.

A stormteq is a good idea and cheaper than a Lord. It also has some AT punch when veiling in if needed.

If you want a more CC unit - get the Lychguard instead. You get a tougher unit with power weapons and an invul save for about the same price

No ... has to be shooty. I agree. And I'm thinking of Staff and Phaeron and ResOrb on the overlord.