Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

So in a month, I'm going to enter into a local tournament with a few special rules to make it interesting. See the following for a link to the rules (https://www.facebook.com/events/1559304604291048/)
Basically though, the idea is no duplicate units outside of troops, and Dedicated Transports may only be taken once. Otherwise all expansions may be used. 1 Lord of Lord may be used, but not worth more than 25% of points (462).

Its an interesting set of rules, and really invalidates the way I like to play Eldar (3 Wave Serpents, 2 Falcons). And my Imperial Guard don't quite have the numbers for an 1850 game yet (my collection is at around 1400), especially with these restrictions. So it looks as though my Slaaneshi CSM are going to have to step up to the plate and attempt to make a move from being my warm and fuzzy fluffy army to competing at a higher level! Here's what I got.

(165) Chaos Lord- MoS, Steed, Sigil, Power Fist, Lightning Claw
(155) Chaos Sorceror- MoS, ML3, Spell Familiar, Aura of Dark Glory, Force Sword

(328) 12 Noise Marines- 8 Sonic Blasters, 2 Blast Masters, Icon of Excess
(192) 6 Noise Marines- +CCW, Doom Siren, Power Sword : Rhino- Combi Melta
(57) 10 Cultists- 2 Auto Guns, Flamer [Deploy in Firestorm]

(124) 3 Terminators- MoS, 3 Combi Meltas, 3 Power Mauls [Deep Strike]

(212) 6 Bikers- MoS, 2 Meltas, Icon of Excess, Lightning Claw
(140) 5 Raptors- MoS, 2 Meltas, Lightning Claw [Deep Strike]

(152) 2 Obliterators- MoN

(325) Firestorm Redoubt- Magus Machine Spirit, Escape Hatch (or Void Shield), Quad Gun, 2 Barricades [Quad Gun deployed off the battlements behind the barricades]

Overview: The list is legal for the tournament rules, No repeat units outside of troops, and only 1 Rhino.

The Firestorm is a lot of points, but I think overall its worth it. The 12 inches of Barricade is as good as an ADL for Fearless Noise Marines, and I gain a lot of anti air, which means I don't get walked on by any fliers or FMC I end up coming across. I also get a safer place to stash my weak cultists. I'm currently debating between the Void Shield and the Escape Hatch. The extra access point from the Escape Hatch essentially lets the bunker control two objectives 18 inches apart (12 inches + 6 inch disembark). Which could be huge in the objective games. On the other hand, that is far more powerful in variable objective games which are not in play for this event, and a void shield's extra defense may really come in handy against armies who rely primarily on melta guns for anti tank (like my own).

The big issue with the Firestorm is its high cost and relative specialization, and that because of the format, I'm less likely to come across heavy flier armies. Though to be fair I am fully expecting to see a healthy amount of Fliers, just fewer in each army list. For reference, I could take an Imperial Strong Point consisting of a Bastion and an Aegis Line with 2 Quad Guns for about 100 points less. It offers less dedicated anti air fire power, but frees up some points in my army for another fast unit (such as Spawn). That said, against AV12 fliers and 3+ FMCs I would really miss those Quad Icarus Las Cannons. One the one hand I don't want to over invest in anti flier which may not come into play, and on the other hand I want to be able to quickly shut down Heldrakes and Space Wolf fliers before they tear me to pieces.

I use a steed lord because I have an awesome conversion, both characters go in units with the Icon of Excess for FNP and that extra little bit of defense. Anyway, I'm interested to hear what people think of the list. I haven't really played with Stronghold yet, just got the book recently for the data sheets. So it'll be nice to finally have some good Anti Air.

Brief update. So after doing some soul searching I reorganized the list a bit. I feel that because of the limiting nature of the format I don't need *as* heavy anti air, but I still want something with the bite of the Firestorm just in case to hammer those durable high damage fliers that I'm sure will crop up. If I need to I can bubble wrap it to protect from a turn 1 drop pod melta assault. I also went for a few melta bombs, which I think can help a lot in terms of general utility on fast moving units like Raptors and Bikers. You never know what you may end up charging.

I'm currently debating trying to squeeze in an Ammunition Dump upgrade to place by the Fort. If I need the damage, re-rolling ones on my sonic blasters could be devastating. But the models need to be 2 inches from the dump, I'm not sure how big an Ammo Dump even is, and it requires my Shooting Noise Marines to be close to the Fortification, which they may be better served holding an objective in cover elsewhere (depending on opponent of course). If I wanted the points I could drop the Mark from my Sorcerer (and just go pure telepathy) and Veteran from my Lord.

(170) Chaos Lord- MoS, Steed of Slaanesh, Sigil of Corruption, Power Fist, Lightning Claw, Veteran
(140) Chaos Sorcerer- MoS, ML 3, Spell Familiar, Force Sword

(328) 12 Noise Marines- 8 Sonic Blasters, 2 Blast Masters, Icon of Excess
(152) 6 Noise Marines- +CCW, Doom Siren, Power Sword, Melta Bomb
(35) Rhino
(57) 10 Cultists- 2 Auto Guns, Flamer

(124) 3 Terminators- MoS, 3 Combi Meltas, 3 Power Mauls

(217) 6 Bikers- MoS, 2 Meltas, Icon of Excess, Lightning Claw, Melta Bomb
(145) 5 Raptors- MoS, 2 Meltas, Lightning Claw, Melta Bomb
(99) 3 Spawn- MoS

(152) 2 Obliterators- MoN

(230) Firestorm Redoubt- Magos Machine Spirit

To continue my monologue. I got a few games in over the weekend and now have additional thoughts about the list.

I have been enjoying running my Chaos Lord with the Bikers. The extra durability and the FNP save has been very helpful for him. And the Bike's let him play a bit more aggressively with their added durability between Jinking and FNP against heavier weapons. I think I will continue running Lord with the Bikes. I still don't really want to outflank him, as not having him on the board and able to assault until turn 3 at the earliest worries me.

At the same time, I feel like my Spawn have been struggling in close combat. I think the unit is still good, 9 t5 wounds at Calvary Speed is excellent for grabbing unguarded objectives or tying up shooting units. I just need to reanalyze how I use them. When they were ablative wounds for the Chaos Lord I didn't really need to worry about their CC ability because the lord was tearing things apart with his lightning claw. Now that they are on their own, I should probably look into finding the points for Mark of Nurgle (sorry Manticores / Vindicators) and just rely on them as speedy harassers, and objective runners.

I was really impressed with the Chaos Sorcerer and Telepathy in general. Bubble Shrouded is very cool especially if the Bikes are nearby. I'm still debating going full Telepathy or not, but I do like 2 of the 3 Slaanesh spells, and the extra point of initiative is nice on a Force Weapon if gak does hit the fan.

I've always mixed Blasters and Masters, I've never really regretted it. The added firepower at 24 inches really helps when things get nearby, and its usually pretty easy to cover multiple objectives in your Death radius.

I'm not liking my current raptor set up. I think that the MoS and lightning claw are starting to cost me too many points, and the unit just doesn't perform worth 145 points. I may need to strip them down even further, and use them as a true throw away unit. 5 guys, 2 Meltas + Combi Melta. That gives them the same anti tank power as the Terminators on the Drop, and losing the Mark and Claw frees up some extra points elsewhere. I have had really positive results with the MoS and Lightning Claw combination with Champion of Chaos, but I'm thinking its not worth it on a drop melta squad which tends to be pretty vulnerable on arrival. The other option is to drop them for a Heldrake, but I'd have to find additional points for that, and that lowers my Anti Tank even further.

This is a good list. I agree, the Raptors might be overkill, there's other things you could do with the slot (such as a Heldrake) that might be more useful

The bikers with IoE are awesome. I used to run the same as a 9 man squad with an attached biker lord and got great results with it. I do wonder - is the lightning claw on the champ really necessary, considering you have one on the CL? It might be more useful to let it go from the CL and replace that with an artefact like the Black Mace or the Burning Brand.

Other than that this is an awesome list. Would love to know how it performs.

I would trim the Raptors as suggested, and also remove the MoS from the Terminators to keep them cheap. You should have enough points for an extra Spawn?

Thanks for the feedback guys. You were right Aurelian, I was able to fit in an additional Spawn, a Nurgle Spawn to boot. Converting another Spawn shouldn't be a big deal either. I'm starting to really like how this list is looking. Its getting meaner and more efficient. Although I miss all my Marks of Slaanesh. I suppose I can bring them back in a less competitive environment


(165) Chaos Lord- MoS, Steed of Slaanesh, Sigil of Corruption, Power Fist, Lightning Claw
(140) Chaos Sorceror- MoS, ML 3, Spell Familiar, Force Maul

(328) 12 Noise Marines- 8 Sonic Blasters, 2 Blast Masters, Icon of Excess
(152) 6 Noise Marines- +CCW, Doom Siren, Power Sword, Melta Bomb
(35) Rhino
(55) 10 Cultists- Flamer

(112) 3 Terminators- 3 Combi Meltas, 3 Power Mauls

(217) 6 Bikers- MoS, 2 Meltas, Icon of Excess, Lightning Claw, Melta Bomb
(120) 5 Raptors- 2 Meltas, Melta Bomb
(144) 4 Spawn- MoN

(152) 2 Obliterators- MoN

(230) Firestorm Redoubt- Magos Machine Spirit

Total: 1850