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Ok so the plan here was to build a TAC list that didn't spam out on things like Wraiths and AB's, instead being more rounded. I'll put desired feedback at the end of the post. So, the list...

HQ
Overlord-Warscythe, Sempiternal Weave, Phase Shifter, Res Orb, MSS 205pts

Royal Court;
Lord-Warscythe, Res Orb, MSS 90
Lord-Voiblade, TL 65
Stormtek 25

Elites
Triarch Stalker 150
5 Deathmarks 95

Troops
10 Warriors 130
Ghost Ark 115
10 Warriors 130
5 Warriors 65
Night Scythe 100
5 Gauss Immortals 85
5 Tesla Immortals 85

FA
4 Wraiths-2 Whip Coils, 1 Transdimensional Beamer 170
3 Tomb Blades-T-L Tesla, Shield Vanes and Nebuloscopes 105
5 Scarab Bases 75

HS
AB 90
Doom Scythe 175
3 Spyders 150

Total 1995

In terms of feedback could I get some thoughts on;
1. Is the Royal Court large enough? Are other Crypteks a good idea?
2. Are Tomb Blades a viable TAC unit?
3. The Spyders in general

Oh and anyone who wants to say spam Wraiths, NS or AB, please don't because that's not what I want from this list

1. Some general feedback I have is that I think an OL like yours would be better as a generic lord. Instead of a 205pt OL I would just get Zahndrekh and a lord with WS, MSS, SW to follow him around. I wouldn't give a lord the VB or TL either. The deathmarks need a Despairtek. It's just too good to ignore and isn't cheesy like wraith/AB spam.

2. I like using Tomb blades. I generally give them the PB and ignore the other upgrades. If I did upgrade them further it would be only shadowlooms for the 4+ jink. Just those two upgrades makes them 40pts each. Fairly expensive for what you get imo.

3. Nothing wrong with scarabfarming. I would drop your scarabs down to 3 as you can easily get the unit from 3 to 9 in the first two turns.

I think your squad of 10 warriors and 5+NS should be merged. The D&D can then be put into the scythe. I would also have the Tesla Immortals at full size.

I'd drop the 65 point lord for a couple more crypteks, with an upgrade(s). Don't have my rulebook on hand, so I couldn't say which ones (havn't been playing crons lately) Group the 5 warriors and the 10 warriors together, because they will fare better in assault, though I can see (I think) that you are trying to get a small group of highly mobile warriors to swoop in and capture objectives deep in the opposition half in the last couple of turns, which I'm sure they will perform admirably, however 100 points for 5 models just seems like a waste to me. Do whatever you want with the scythe, and put your remaining lord with the new squad of 15 warriors, for maximum uses from that res orb.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

Dethchef wrote:
1. Some general feedback I have is that I think an OL like yours would be better as a generic lord. Instead of a 205pt OL I would just get Zahndrekh and a lord with WS, MSS, SW to follow him around.

IMO thats a lot of points for a 1 wound model, and he doesn't even have good mobility, or an invulnerable save. Therefore I would suggest a Destroyer lord with semp weave, war scythe, res orb (and mss if they can take it) because thats a relatively cheap cc monster right there. You could have him with the wraiths for some extra fun. That said, the lord you have will chew through most units and would do well in any situation, which does fit with the TAC army, however, he is a big points sink. Hope this helps!

I'm with Nemesor on the OL keeping him as is because a D. Lord is about 190 with the upgrades mentioned and lacks an inv. save. I'll certainly merge the 10 and 5 together, probably attach the Lord from the Court too. I will also drop the VB Lord for a Despairtek with Veil they're about the same points, maybe drop a couple of Scarabs to sneak in a pulsetek too.

Thanks for all opinions so far keep them coming!

I would suggest either dropping the spyders and scarabs and getting a second A.B 2 isn't spam IMHO and they perform better than one (i do feel 3 can be over board at times) but if you rather keep spyders/scarabs at least drop one spyder and get the T.L P.B (i found its nice to be able to shoot since they dont move fast.) the O.L is fine the way he is i like to kit mine out too. put the immortals in the night scythe with the O.L and give them all tesla while putting the one squad of 5 warriors into a 15 man blob with the arc giving support. add the lord to the blob and drop the TL/V.b and give him res orb M.S.S and drop w.s on the other lord and one warrior with the ghost arc squad so that the other lord can join them and ride along. (i havd a squad in my acr like this stand toe to toe with a mauler fiend for 3 turns finally broke last turn after Chaos SM joined 2 turns ago) and lastly the storm tek can join the immortals in the N.S.

i hope this helps you list is pretty solid it just needed to be polished a little and i felt i gave little but effective changes for you to try.

Spyders and Scarabs are a good combo which is made better by taking Zandhrek (as scarabs with furious charge is nasty).

In respect of some of the feedback:
a) Deathmarks need a despairtek plus a delivery mechanism, either veil or scythe. You can use them without, but they won't be anywhere near as effective.

b) Generally, lords should have warscythes because they are the most efficient. Resorbs only for max unit sizes.

c) I understand that you are looking for something different, but assume you don't want to waste points. So, ditch the shooting weapon on the wraiths. Similarly, the TL is highly situational and you would be better off getting SW.

d) With the troops, I don't think you should combine the ten and the 5. The 5 warriors should be in the scythe with the Stormtek. However, you should combine the two 10 warriors into 20, stick in a lord with Resorb. Use the GA to regenerate and for cover if necessary. Better still, ditch one Lord, get a couple of Lanceteks and stick them in the GA. Then you have a supported foot blob with a GA AT gunboat. Having 5 warriors in reserve makes a lot of sense.

e) For the immortals I'm not sure 5 Tesla and 5 Gauss works in this list. 10 tesla for a longer range benefit seems to make more sense as they are walking and plus they LOVE twin linking from the stalker. You have enough Gauss as it is.

If you want a more rounded list, think about working in some S&B lychguard (or even the warscythe kind) and putting them in a scythe. They don't get a lot of love but they can be really effective.

I'll put up a second attempt soon, but so I get it right....
Drop the VB/TL lord?
Despairtek for the deathmarks
Merge either the two 10s or the 10 and 5 warriors
Merge the immortal into a 10 man tesla squad and put the OL in there too
Drop the TDB from the wraiths
Less scarabs because the spyders will make up the numbers, and add a gun to the spyders

Any other opinions/suggestions welcome

No, don't add guns to the spyders. Maybe add a gloom prism, but no guns.

Why? S6 AP5 T-L large blast seems nasty and the gloom prism has a tiny range

Because having a heavy weapon that you can't snapshot on a spyder that will have trouble keeping up with the scarabs anyway doesn't seem like good value. I find that I get more value out of spyders when they are spawning scarabs.

Gloom prism is the only psychic defence we have...I did say maybe!

I always take a prism on my spyders they are real helpful if you are sure to spread out your spyders. The gun isn't worth it since you will most likely be running them to keep up with the scarabs to get the most out of their spawning

Ok I'll run with that. So if I took, say, 2 prisms and 1 Claw Array for if i ran into a damaged vehicle, would that be viable do you think?

Personally, I'd save the points on the prisms and claw array and see if you can scrape up enough for another wraith.

So a prism is 15, 2x15 is 30, +10 for the array is 40... Wraith is 35 with no upgrades so it would fit, but I don't really think I need it, I deliberately didn't overdo the wraiths because I've a pet hate for spamming and 4 + D Lord will do the business imo. Thanks for the opinion though it makes sense, but I don't wanna have to rely on the wraiths too heavily for winning the game.

5 wraiths is hardly spamming. Plus, you have to buy 6 so might as well use the model.

Btw, I strongly suggest you grab Zandhrek for this list - it wasn't in your list of things to do.

Ok fair do's forgot about kit sizes I'll give it a look. And Zahndrekh is actually cheaper than my OL so I could keep the spyder upgrades anyway.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok, Take 2...

Zahndrekh 185
Lord-Scythe Orb and MSS 90
Despairtek with VoD 60
Stormtek 25

Triarch Stalker 150
5 Deathmarks 95

15 Warriors 195
10 Warriors 130
GA 115
10 Tesla Immortals 170
NS 100

5 Wraiths-2 Whip Coils 195
3 Tomb Blades-TL Tesla, shield vanes and nebuloscopes 105
3 Scarab bases 45

Doom Scythe 175
AB 90
3 Spyders-2 prisms 1 FCA 190

Total 1995

So, feedback...
1. Do I need the DS considering the NS?
2. Are the Spyder upgrades right?
3. What should I arm the TS with?
4. Would the arrangement of the Warriors be better as 20+5, 15+10 or 10+10+5?
Any other comments welcome, thanks again to everyone who's commented

1. Up to you. 2 Scythes is not spam imho. If you drop it, add another stalker.
2. Your call - seem fine as you have points to spare
3. If you only have 1, go with the HGC for additional range. I see the primary role as providing twin linking
4. I would go 10 + 10 +5 , with the 5 in reserve and keeping the 10+10 close to the ark. Otherwise, 10+15.

Actually I ran my list as posted earlier against a DA/GK force and won comfortably in the end. Still some teething issues but it works, I'll be looking at your ideas and tweaking my list to see what works. Thanks again, any further opinions welcome

My quick input:

1. Is the Royal Court large enough? Are other Crypteks a good idea? HoS I generally only run with my units that are in Night Scythes (i.e warriors) for the purpose of scooting around the board vehicle wrecking go-to squads

2. Are Tomb Blades a viable TAC unit? Being jetbikes I imagine they would; but I've only played with them on a handfull of occasions and they've gotten smoked every single time.

3. The Spyders in general

I love running my Spyders and Scarabs combo They pull their weight and i'll sometimes add 2 or 3 Fabricator Claw Arrays to repair Lost hull points on nearby vehicles.



Automatically Appended Next Post:

MarkCron wrote:
1. Up to you. 2 Scythes is not spam imho. If you drop it, add another stalker.
2. Your call - seem fine as you have points to spare
3. If you only have 1, go with the HGC for additional range. I see the primary role as providing twin linking
4. I would go 10 + 10 +5 , with the 5 in reserve and keeping the 10+10 close to the ark. Otherwise, 10+15.

Stalkers main goal in my lists are also twin linking; If you do end up adding another stalker have one HGC and one HR; thats generally how I run mine if I have 2, but yeah if you do only go with one HGC is the way to go for the twin linking.

They are nice to use against targets then drop a squad of warriors next to them within rapid fire range with a Night Scythe.