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Good morning Dakka,

Just starting HH and would like to ask how you would run a 2000-2500 point Ultramarine artillery train whilst also maximizing their use of RoW… Preferably this would include repeated codex entries to exploit Roboute Guilliman’s special rules as well when the list gets expanded.
First off I know that the Ultramarine RoW is not particularly competitive, in fact many people don’t like it but I kinda like the challenge.

My first thoughts on the list generally revolve around 3 units of 3 Thudd guns, 3 large marine blobs with voxes and combat blades, a couple of Medusa, an Aegis defence line, an Apothecary detachment , a couple of Masters of Signal and a Praetor. Yes lack of mobility is an issue (I’ll have to rely on the rerolls to runs if needed) but on the other hand that’s 2d3 orbital strikes, 36 strength 5 ap 5 pinning at -1 leadership blasts at 60”/ 36 strength 8 sunder attacks at 36” and two strength 10 ap1 large blasts. Meanwhile the large marine blobs take advantage of the arty tagging targets for their faction specific special rules, are meaty enough to take a pounding, combat blades in conjunction with counterattack should work nicely as should the buffs from the masters…

As said before this isn’t supposed to be too competitively, saying that how would you run it?


note: Its early morning – please ignore my poor grammar

3 lots of three quad mortars 'not too competitive'?!?!?

3 SINGLE quad mortars are enough to bring down fulgrim in a unit of palatine blades with a praetor accompaniment while occasionally sniping off contemptors - and you think three times that is 'not too competitive'?


based on my experience, I'd drop one of the groups of three to include a deathstorm drop pod with krack missiles etc, i'd drop two mortars from the second group and replace them with an anvillus pattern drop pod - then i'd split the first group and the remaining one from the second into two units of 2.
Obviously this is my personal preference, but i'm trying to get across the fact that you do NOT need three units of 3!
A lot of the time you end up with severe 'overkill' if you run three in one unit.

 SirDonlad wrote:
3 lots of three quad mortars 'not too competitive'?!?!?

3 SINGLE quad mortars are enough to bring down fulgrim in a unit of palatine blades with a praetor accompaniment while occasionally sniping off contemptors - and you think three times that is 'not too competitive'?


based on my experience, I'd drop one of the groups of three to include a deathstorm drop pod with krack missiles etc, i'd drop two mortars from the second group and replace them with an anvillus pattern drop pod - then i'd split the first group and the remaining one from the second into two units of 2.
Obviously this is my personal preference, but i'm trying to get across the fact that you do NOT need three units of 3!
A lot of the time you end up with severe 'overkill' if you run three in one unit.

Riiiight... so running Guilliman with them for 60" interceptor/tank hunter may not go down too well...On the flip side my soon to be regular opponents have invested in titans and Primarchs in Spartans so that may even things out...

Either way thanks for the heads up but the pod isn't really where I want to take the list, In more casual games though could you point me in the direction of a more artillery themed alternative over a dreadclaw?

As much as I like deathstorms, I don't see them for an artillery list. I picture guys behind the berms lobbing rounds. I would say quad mortars are a win, although I too would only bring 2 units just for annoyance purposes or three squads of two.

I am thinking Medusas, vindicators or achilles, and I hate to say it, a Typhon. Plus breachers in the troops slot.

Note this is for theme which is what 30k is all about. I appreciate that you have an oddball theme for your list and are not just going PoTL.

If you are tailoring for what you listed you need venators, graviton, scorpius, whatever that new vindicator is called with a laser destroyer. But then you are breaking theme. I know with my group, we clarify ahead of time if we are bring actual LoWs in a game or not for fairness reasons and if we want to play against them.

You are going to need a few long range units to light up targets to maximize the Legion rule, so Id recommend taking recon squads for your troop choices, and then pouring everything else into quad mortars and deathstorm

He doesn't want a deathstorm. Doesn't fit a themed artillery list. On further thought, Venators and las destroyer vindicators along with a Glaive might be what you are looking for. I would also fit in a lascannon heavy support squad with a mastor of signal but that might be too tempting a target with a titan on the board.

Recon squads are not compulsory so there isn't a benefit for taking them in addition to the tac squads unless UM have some special RoW that grants it..

 Torus wrote:

Riiiight... so running Guilliman with them for 60" interceptor/tank hunter may not go down too well...On the flip side my soon to be regular opponents have invested in titans and Primarchs in Spartans so that may even things out...

Either way thanks for the heads up but the pod isn't really where I want to take the list, In more casual games though could you point me in the direction of a more artillery themed alternative over a dreadclaw?

You can put interceptor or tank hunters on them?!?


Sure!
The whirlwind missile launcher is a bit 'old hat' but deffo fits in with the artillery thing, is cheap, can be taken in a group and has an ignores cover option as well as the hyperios variant for anti-air defence.
I also liked techmarines with conversion beamers - lacking the barrage rule but still intresting long range hard-hitters which can be mitigated by getting closer so they aren't regarded as an immediate problem to your opponent.
I love my achillies, but i wish i had gotten the achillies alpha for volkite sponsons and the quad mortar on PotMS shots.
The ol' medusa is good choice - you don't have to use S10 AP1; i found that my opponents are cool with multiple medusae if you let them know you're going to be having fun with phosphex. The spots of dangerous terrain that it leaves stay for the rest of the game and can scare an enemy unit into inactivit; it's 2" creep back to position thing is really useful too.
I played a game recently where i only got one template off at a tau command unit and it pretty much froze them in place - they were out of range of most things for the rest of the game after that.
The deimos pattern damocles command rhino can also give you orbital strikes and may be better than the master of signal? edit: or both? and then take a second command rhino as his DT...

An honourable mention goes to the basilisk - In a marine heavy environment it has a place with its AP3.

Praetor with an iron halo and paragon blade
9 man invictarus
9 man invictarus
9 man invictarus
Spartan, flare shield, ceramite plating
Spartan, flare shield, ceramite plating
Spartan, flare shield, ceramite plating
Guilliman
should be pretty close to 2500 on the nose

Thats not exactly an artillery list.

I love Invictarii but there isn't a single piece of artillery and I can't even use my faction specific Rite of War...

Sorry bro completely on me, I was just throwing down a fun list of the size. For artillery list go with a siege breaker, 2 squads of three medusas (phosphex for funsies), 10 man unit with missile launchers for the siege breaker to go in, and then you can cater to taste with your other units

I think you are only allowed one squadron of medusas or basilisks. But yeah a siege breaker and master of signal are perfect themey HQ choices, one to call for fire and one to tell everyone how to do it. Note I have no idea what the actual legion rules for UM are and whether they are even complementary to an artillery army.

I guess it depends if you want light artillery or heavy artillery. The options are available for both. Problem comes in that an artillery army is flipping great at destroying troop armies and you will devastate the average crop of multi-box BaC players, but it sucks if you are playing against someone like the people you mentioned fielding heavy armor and a titan. On the bright side, they can only field one superheavy at 2500 and it can be no more than 25% of their points. Not sure how many points a warhound is but I am pretty sure you wont see a reaver.