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I read an article about how best to deal with the flurry of deathstar units we're starting to see dominate the tournament scene. In the article I read they used a Tau Enclave/Tau list to basically spam tons of low cost units to achieve an overwhelming number of devilfish, sky rays and single crisis suits running amok. So I thought I'd try and come up with a similar IG style. Not nearly as much shooting but, hey, we're not Tau, you know. Granted it's also a ton of kill points so I'd loose that game handily but it is between 13 and 16 scoring units...

So, obviously, dudes ride in their chimeras trying to live through 4 turns, penal dudes outflank and PCS are valk riders that hop out on turn 5 and flame whatever is on the objective. Meanwhile each infantry unit can put out 2 S7 48" shots, 3 S6 36" shots, 3 S5 36" shots, 3 S3 24" shots at full ballistic if the chimera doesn't move.


What a mess...

HQ: Company Command Squad, Krak Grenades, Autocannon, Chimera

Troops: Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command Squad, Flamer, Heavy Flamer
Infantry Squad, Axe, Autocannon, Chimera
Infantry Squad, Axe, Autocannon, Chimera

Troops: Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command Squad, Flamer, Heavy Flamer
Infantry Squad, Axe, Autocannon, Chimera
Infantry Squad, Axe, Autocannon, Chimera
Infantry Squad, Axe, Autocannon, Chimera

Troops: Infantry Platoon
Platoon Command Squad, 2x Flamer
Infantry Squad, Axe, Autocannon, Chimera
Infantry Squad, Axe, Autocannon, Chimera
Infantry Squad, Axe, Autocannon, Chimera

Troops: Penal Legion Squad
Troops: Penal Legion Squad

Fast Attack: Vendetta Gunship, 2x heavy bolters
Fast Attack: Vendetta Gunship, 2x heavy bolters
Fast Attack: Vendetta Gunship, 2x heavy bolters

Would you mind posting the article here? I'd be interested in reading it.

That is a ton of scoring. Pretty much a leafblower list from 5th ed IG, no? While this might present an overwhelming amount of units for Deathstars to deal with, it kinda seems like it would fall over to a more balanced Tau or Eldar list. A serpent is pretty much guaranteed to take down a chimera a turn and it looks like you'd pretty much have to put all your auto cannons into one to take it down. 8 autocannons = 16 shots = 8 hits = 1.3 glance and 1.3 pens before 4+ cover save. Can't discount the Vendettas though, they 'd do some work. 9 TL lascannon is never something to sneeze at. From the Tau end of things, SMS always ruin a guardsmen's day, and there's usually enough skyfire/EWO that your Vendettas are going to have a tough time as well. Still though, there's only so many turns to deal with 8 Chimeras plus your 3 flyers and all of the aforementioned contents.

I brought a similar style of list to a 1500 pt tourney at my LGS recently. Something like 55+ marines all in rhinos. I got 2nd place just by dying relatively slowly and sitting on objectives Anywho good luck with it, I know playing DeathStar 40K can be frustrating.

I dunno if I would call it a leaf blower list. Those lists were serious alpha strikers. This one is more like "I know we're all gonna die let's just hope it's not till the end of the game..." kinda list. Will wave serpents chew through the chimeras? You bet! A lot of stuff will. But then you gotta kill the contents, too.

Here's the article I was referring to: http://www.torrentoffire.com/3873/can-msu-work-in-deathstar-40k I like it - definitely a ton of S5 TL ignore cover shots. I have about half the models for that one and I have roughly half the models I need for this one (come on who owns 9 chimeras anyway) and with IG on the cusp of getting a new codex I'd rather beef up my IG army in anticipation of good stuff arriving in the next month or two

I also added HB sponsons to the valks for even more dakkadakka!

That list is definitely anti-meta. 32 S5 TL ignores los and cover is kind of gross lol. I think the list could use a couple more suicide fusion suits though. Having the fusion on the warlord just seems like handing that point over. That said I like the list. I just don't like that I like it. Tau ruffle my jimmies dammit.

Yeah, my only concern is that the scoring units it does have are easy to kill of if you can get a shot in. A handful of single suits running around just seems like easy pickins to me.

Though now that I think of it, don't the white scar lists that are finishing close to the top work on a similar principle? I mean at 1850 you could throw down a lot of 5 man squads of bikes, 3 stormtalons, 3 TFC's and pretty much call it a day.

So for 1600 points you can grab:

Khan
4x [5 bikes w/ 2 grav guns]
2x [5 bikes w/ 2 Melta, melta bombs]
3x Storm Talon w/ Skyhammer
3x TFC


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I wonder where shadow sun goes in that list as well? Seemed like a kind of out of place choice for the second HQ

A friend of mine plays scars (pretty much the list you just threw down) + inquisition because no expects it...he didn't run the talons but had more bikes and in the inq side he had a stormraven carrying some DAs and a techmarnine carrying an assortment of grenades. That was a brutal list. I almost beat him once with my 3xdreadknight + SW list but normally that list does kick ass...

Played my first game with the above mentioned list against - drum roll - Imperial Guard! A very different list that I was ill equipped to handle but some days that's how it rolls. My opponent was running around with 4 russes, vedetta, valk 2x troops in the flyers and an Imperial Knight! We were playing vanguard/big guns with only three objectives and he was placing two of them. Definitely an up hill battle for me. By the end of the first turn he had either blown up or immobilized half of my chimeras granting him first blood. I made some silly mistakes in deploying way to close to the demolishers and my ability to roll anything higher than a 3 to hit just wasn't happening. I also completely forgot about the melta bomb toting sergeants. Ugh.

I was winning the game by turn 5 holding all three objectives, slay the warlord and line breaker. Did it end on turn 5? No, of course not. By turn 6 I was still winning with two objectives and one secondary. Did the game end? No, of course not! Turn 7 he killed my remaining troops and ended up winning on the secondaries of first blood. Had this been an actual tournament I would have won big time due to time restraints - we would have ended on turn 5.

My take aways for the list is I needed more melta - plain and simple. On turn 5 my remaining two PCS hopped out of their vendettas and were presented with AV11 rear armor of two russes. What did I have in the old list? Flamers. So I've added a melta gun to the PCS units and dropped a flamer.

HQ: CCS, Astropath

Troops: PCS, 2x flamer, Melta
Troops: IS, Lascannon, axe, MB, Melta, Chimera
Troops: IS, Lascannon, axe, MB, Melta, Chimera

Troops: PCS, HF, Melta
Troops: IS, Lascannon, axe, MB, Melta, Chimera
Troops: IS, Lascannon, axe, MB, Melta, Chimera
Troops: IS, Lascannon, axe, MB, Melta, Chimera

Troops: PCS, HF, Melta
Troops: IS, Lascannon, axe, MB, Chimera
Troops: IS, Lascannon, axe, MB, Chimera

Troops: Penal Legion Squad
Troops: Penal Legion Squad

Fast Attack: Vendetta, 2x Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Fast Attack: Vendetta, 2x Heavy Bolter Sponsons
Fast Attack: Vendetta

Thanks for sharing! Glad to hear you had a decent time with the list. You're idea of having too many troops to kill seems to have worked, at least to some degree. As you said, that would be hella hard to take out in tournament game lengths. Update again when you take on a deathstar
\

I have a game scheduled for next Thursday against an O'Vesa star...should be interesting. I sort of consider a single Imperial Knight as a mini death star. It's hard as hell to take down without committing your entire army to the task. At least you can't one shot it like Pask did to my zomming vendeta :(

Don't forget flyers can only shoot 4 weapons at normal BS, so 1 Hb has to snap shot, so maybe drop them for more points?

If you drop them you can throw 4 meltas into your CCs which is death to knights or any super heavy really.