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Hey everyone, I'm in the process of fine tuning the list I'll be hitting my FGLS with after my written exams, and was wondering if anyone on here could poke a few holes in it or offer some critiques / suggestions

So, The Army:

HQ: 175pts

Pedro Kantor

Elites: 895pts

1) 10 Man Sternguard Squad
5x Combi-flamers, 4x Combi-meltas, Drop Pod, Sgt with Combi-melta

2) 10 Man Sternguard Squad
5x Combi-flamers, 4x Combi-meltas, Drop Pod, Sgt with Combi-melta

3) 6 Man Sternguard Squad
2x LC, 1x Combi-Flamer, Drop Pod, Sgt w/ Combi-Flamer

Troops: 362pts

1) 10 Man Tactical Squad
Flamer, LC, Drop Pod, Sgt w/ out upgrades

2) 5 Man Scout Squad
3x Sniper, HB, Camo-cloaks, Telion

Fast: 65pts

1) Lucius Pattern Drop Pod

Heavy: 415pts

1) Contemptor Mortis Dreadnought
2x Kheres Assault Cannons, CML

2) TFC

3) TFC

Fortifications: 85pts

1) ADL
Icarus Lascannon

Total for Army: 1997pts


The plan is to put the 2 TFC into ruins in my backfield and screen them with the Tactical squad (possibly combat squaded), and place Telion and his gang on the Icarus behind the ADL. The small Sternguard squad with the lascannons will either go behind the ADL with Telion or can join the TFC and or Tactical squad in cover / ruins, or pick a completely separate spot of cover depending on the situation.

Pedro, the 2 10 man Sternguard Squads, and the Contemptor all Alpha strike in on the enemy. The Sternguards combat squad on arrival, and lay waste to the hardest targets they can find, and spread out to utilize cover / screen the Contemptor vs assaults. The contemptor will unload on the scariest squad / vehicle it can reliably decimate, then offer ongoing AA fire support / fire soak for the Sternguard.

The two drop pods on the Tactical squad and Small Sternguard squad are there to allow three pods in turn one and will be used as distraction / cover or denial of terrain / movement as needed when they arrive.

All sterns are scoring due to Pedro, so if the Tactical squad combat squads I'll have 8 scoring units, abeit all 5 man ones (save for the 6 man Sternguard squad)

Assuming first turn:

4 Lascannon shots (one from icarus), 8 TFC shots, 12 Kheres Assault Cannon shots, 2 CML shots, 10x melta shots (two batches of 5), up to 10 flamer templates (stern), 1 Helfire heavy bolter, 3 sniper rifles, 9 regular bolter shots, 4 bolters with special ammo (from small Stern), 4 stormbolter shots (Pedro), 4 Storm Bolter shots (pods), and probably a few more I forgot.

Assuming Second turn:

The above minus whatever was killed

Overview: I've tried variation of this list by proxy, and it does well, but my Contemptor Mortis will be arriving this week and I really want to get him on the table for his first win in the next few weeks.

Here's a link to Ianpowell's page for a pic of the beautiful paint-job he did on the Contemptor http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/455292-Crimson%20Fists%20Relic%20Contemptor%20Dreadnought.html

Tell me what you think, all comments welcome.

It's a ton of firepower but if you encounter some good CC oriented army your sterns aren't gonna last long.

Should be a lot of fun to play though! Just make sure you pod your sterns carefully to be able to use them more than just one turn.

I agree pheonix, they are vulnerable to CC, though I have had good luck so far in mitigating the threat through firepower.

I think I'll really get a run for my money the first time I go up against a Deathwing army. If they go first they've got a good chance of putting the hurt on my backfield units. I can always counter-alpha, but not sure how well that will work out.

Hopefully I'll get the chance to play test it soon

You forgot to list the Tactical Squad pod in your actual army list. (I had to make a battlescribe army to check(I didn't read the other stuff!))

Why Lascannons + Combiflamers? You'd be better off with Lascannons + Combi Plasmas.

I currently run 2 Mortis Dreadnoughts in my 2000pt list. Maybe i'll put it up later.

EDIT: Are the Tactical Squad and the small Sternguard squad not riding in their drop pods? If the Sternguard aren't dropping, no point giving them combi-weapons, imo. I guess it's something to counter the first charge, but it might be better to throw a plasma gun on the tactical squad, and have that combat squad move up a bit to help support the Sternguard. I doubt they are going to take many bullets when you have 20 Sternguard and a Mortis dropping in their face.

Crazytrain: Thanks for spotting that, fixed the list to put the Pod in

The reason I put the combi-flamers instead of the combi-plasmas into that small Sternguard squad was simply to provide some anti-cc deterrence. This works as any assaulters would be 1) assaulting into cover (ideally), 2) facing snapfire from special ammo and lascannons 3) facing 2-6 automatic flamer hits. This will only deter light deepstrikers, but may serve to thin the ranks of those that do pile in and let my sternguard tie them up for longer, hopefully preserving my other backfield units for another round or two. In addition this squad will be sitting in my backfield and will probably wind up being out of the 24" range of the plasmas for most things that the LCs will be shooting at in the firs few rounds. Plus I didn't want to run the risk of "gets hot" in such a small squad as I need the other 4 marines to serve as ablative wounds if my opponent tries to silence the LCs with long range fire..

 Instinctual wrote:
Crazytrain: Thanks for spotting that, fixed the list to put the Pod in

The reason I put the combi-flamers instead of the combi-plasmas in that squad was simply to provide some anti-cc deterrence. This works as any assaulters would be 1) assaulting into cover (ideally), 2) facing snapfire from special ammo and lascannons 3) 2-6 automatic flamer hits. That squad will be sitting in my backfield and will probably wind up being out of the 24" range of the plasmas for most things that the LCs will be shooting at in the firs few rounds. Plus I didn't want to run the risk of "gets hot" in such a small squad as I need the other 4 marines to serve as ablative wounds if my opponent tries to silence the LCs with long range fire..

Fair point. On the other hand, with 20 Sternguard and a Mortis coming in, I can't imagine what he'd be sparing to shoot your Lascannon Sternguard Squad. I'd be more worried about the Krak Grenades going to charge my tanks, the Mortis, or the fact that the Slay the Warlord port was sitting pretty in my Deployment Zone. Of course, past turn 2 or 3, your Sternguard might be dead, but, by then, I'd imagine you'd have neutralized a lot of the long range firepower!

As always with a drop pod list, be aware if your opponent is smart enough to reserve. Dropping the 2 empty pods and the Mortis might be a better plan if he puts his juicy land raider/vindicators/whatever in reserve, and using your Sternguard as a reactionary force for when the opponents reserves come rolling in. (Of course, you knew this, just stating it for any new players who might read!)

Crazyterran wrote:

 Instinctual wrote:
Crazytrain: Thanks for spotting that, fixed the list to put the Pod in

The reason I put the combi-flamers instead of the combi-plasmas in that squad was simply to provide some anti-cc deterrence. This works as any assaulters would be 1) assaulting into cover (ideally), 2) facing snapfire from special ammo and lascannons 3) 2-6 automatic flamer hits. That squad will be sitting in my backfield and will probably wind up being out of the 24" range of the plasmas for most things that the LCs will be shooting at in the firs few rounds. Plus I didn't want to run the risk of "gets hot" in such a small squad as I need the other 4 marines to serve as ablative wounds if my opponent tries to silence the LCs with long range fire..

Fair point. On the other hand, with 20 Sternguard and a Mortis coming in, I can't imagine what he'd be sparing to shoot your Lascannon Sternguard Squad. I'd be more worried about the Krak Grenades going to charge my tanks, the Mortis, or the fact that the Slay the Warlord port was sitting pretty in my Deployment Zone. Of course, past turn 2 or 3, your Sternguard might be dead, but, by then, I'd imagine you'd have neutralized a lot of the long range firepower!

As always with a drop pod list, be aware if your opponent is smart enough to reserve. Dropping the 2 empty pods and the Mortis might be a better plan if he puts his juicy land raider/vindicators/whatever in reserve, and using your Sternguard as a reactionary force for when the opponents reserves come rolling in. (Of course, you knew this, just stating it for any new players who might read!)

Excellent points Crazytrain, I think I still had the possibility of Deathwing in my head. I'm going to be using the Chapterhouse Studios Combi-weapon kit to make this stern squad (its a new addition), so swapping out the combi-weapons should be easy. I'll playtest the plasma vs the flamers and see how it shakes out.

And yes, dropping the empties and the Mortis is nice vs a reserve army, as the Mortis should decimate at least one unit arriving from reserve per round (assuming he's in range of course).

Also, yes, please post your list! I've been contemplating a double Contemptor army and would like to see what you put together

Anyone have any further critiques?