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.

Hi everyone how's it going?
I haven't played for a few years as my old 40k buddy got a girlfriend and lost interest.

A friend of a friend saw on a Facebook post that I got some 40k miniatures for Christmas and invited me to an escalation league at a local gaming club (all these years I didn't know it was there!). I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to start playing again, hopefully more often than I used to and also make some more geeky friends like my good self.

The rules are that we need at least a patrol detachment and as the points increase (250 points a month) we can add new units and change loadouts but we have to otherwise keep the same units.

Patrol Detachment

HQ
Company Commander -30pts

Elites
Command Squad, vox caster, missile launcher - 49pts
Astropath - 15pts

Troops
Infantry Squad I- vox caster, plasma gun - 52pts
Infantry Squad II- vox caster, plasma gun - 52pts
Infantry Squad III- vox caster, flamer - 52pts

I wanted to start off with a good block of troops for objective snagging. The commander can issue orders and the astropath can hand out some buffs with psychic barrier or nightshroud while the command squad use their better ballistic skill to hit any scary guys with the missile launcher. It looks like a really squishy list though.

When we hit 500 I was thinking of adding a Lord Commissar to give me a Battalion Detachment for more command points and maybe a Leman Russ or Wyvern for some heavy support, not sure yet.

What do you think?

congrats on finding a group!

you might want to download battlescribe/buy chapter approved, as the points costs for some units have been updated- including the astropath.

What regiment were you thinking?

I'm not sold on the command squad, nor am I all that convinced that the flamer is better than another plasma gun on Squad III for this size game. Chances are, you'll have more bodies on the table than anyone else at 250pts, and with FRFSRF your troops are extremely efficient.

If you wiped the elites section and lost 1 vox caster from the squads, you could fit in a Primaris Psyker and throw a lascannon into one of the infantry squads (or spend less points and just get a meltagun into one of your squads). At 250pts, a single tank could cause you a bunch of trouble without any high damage weapons.

Thanks Rex You've given me some good points to think on there I'll get the book in the week and review my little list.

I want plenty of boots on the ground so I was thinking of either the Armageddon doctrine for the increased rapid fire range or Valhallan one to keep my morale losses down.

I've only got the models for two plasma gunners at the moment unfortunately, loads of meltaguns though if they're any good?

I have 3 unpainted autocannon teams assembled from last edition too. Maybe I could swap them out for lascannons. Shouldn't be too hard to do.

I could drop the vox casters for now and upgrade later in the campaign if I feel like I need them.

could be worth it to bring the melta on the third squad, just in case someone decides to bring something big. I don't think autocannons really add much as they're generally worse than plasmaguns in infantry squads that you want to keep mobile.

you could keep 2 vox casters, and just keep 2 squads near your CC (one with vox, one w/out) to ensure you can get orders to the third if they need them. That's if you find yourself desperate for 5 points.

Not sure how competitive people are making their lists, but a CC, Primaris Psyker, and 3 infantry squads (plas, plas, melta) will be pretty tough to beat, unless they get overwhelmed in melee.

for regiment, those are good. I'd also suggest looking at tallarn. makes your troops very fast without suffering on their to-hit rolls, which might have more utility (snagging objectives, finding cover, etc) than just straight range increase on their weapons.

Get a Tempestor Prime and a Scion Command Squad with Plasmaguns.

They're deadly and can maybe grab objectives.

Though tank heavy force might interesting in this format...

I would try to replace the missile launcher with a lascannon. The latter provides a lot more punch versus vehicles and higher toughness models.

In small games I think you can easily get away with dropping the voxcasters.

For expansion, I would go for a Primaris Psyker before a Lord Commissar as they provide a lot more versatility and with smaller units the Commissar rule doesn't add much for your force.

Add a Russ before a Wyvern. The regular LRBT has better punch and can engage more targets effectively than the Wyvern.

Regarding expansion, I'm with EmpBobo. Commissars are pretty useless now if you ask me. they shoot a guy, force a reroll, and don't provide a bonus to that morale check other than their Ld aura.

You can grab yourself a Primaris, a Russ (I like BCs and Punisher Gatling Cannons, and a mortar team for under 250pts.

Cool thanks guys, my local GW has been closed the last couple of days for some kind of meeting so I haven't been able to get the book and update my list yet.

I'm going to start with the bare bones infantry squads and commander and see what special weapons I can squeeze in. I want at least one heavy weapon in there and maybe some plasma. I thought about the command squad before for the 3+ ballistic skill but for the points I could have an extra lascannon.

I've been meaning to pick up a primaris psyker for a while now, I really like the model, looks like I have an excuse now!

I'll put a Russ in at the next points jump for sure, I've heard that the battlecannon is really good now. What points level is it worth taking a tank commander? I have three Leman Russ tanks so far, one is missing it's sponsons, one has sponsons and could be used as a tank commander, and the other has sponsons and the punisher/demolisher/executioner turret. Not having the sponsons is a bit of a drag this edition now ordnance weapons aren't a thing, I used to swap the turrets around and stick my demolisher turret on that body but is there a loadout that doesn't really suit sponsons these days?

I try to fit in as much as I can in my lists, and don't often run Tallarn, so I generally run my tanks with turret and then a lascannon/heavy bolter on the hull. I don't really need 2 HBs hitting on 5s when I move (~2 HB hits/turn for 16pts? I'd rather put more boots on the ground or add some special weapons, etc).

For the tank commanders, I'm not sure. Some people really like them, I don't run any unless it's pask. Maybe I need to experiment a bit more... The extra BS makes sponsons much more attractive and makes a punisher turret an even better way of guaranteeing that overlapping fields of fire on something tough, or to ensure that you wipe that infantry unit out.

Tank Commanders are worth it if you are running multiple tanks. They do not have any added survivability beyond target saturation so don't feed your opponents single vehicles. One thing to remember with tank commanders is it looks like they can order themselves now as there appears to be nothing in the codex or FAQ/Errata that denies this (unlike the index versions).

The battle cannon is a great all around weapon now, especially with grinding advance.

If you are adding sponsons you want to keep your tanks more static so they can fire at full ballistic skill.

Ok so I've got the Chapter Approved book and not much has changed for my little list really. Primaris psyker gaining a few points might affect my next increase a tiny bit but he gets a cheaper staff too so it's only a few points really.
If I were to field my entire collection taking into account all of the discounts and price increases I think I've maybe gained 30 points over the codex price all told. I suppose I won't really notice because I haven't actually played any games this edition anyway, ignorance is bliss!

So my new list looks like this so far:

Patrol Detachment

HQ
Company Commander -30pts

Troops
Infantry Squad I- plasma gun, lascannon - 67pts
Infantry Squad II- plasma gun, lascannon - 67pts
Infantry Squad III- meltagun, lascannon - 72pts

Total cost:236pts

I thought about swapping the lascannons for autocannons and fielding them separately as a heavy weapons squad. They're not as scary as lascannons but they could sit in a good position and put the hurt on something each turn while my troops run around capping stuff. Can you have a mixed loadout in a heavy weapons squad? Could do two autocannons and a lascannon then and use up more of my points. Or even drop a special weapon and have a three lascannon heavy weapons team.

I guess it comes down to the choice between having my heavy weapons being more effective but more vulnerable and my troops being able to move around more freely.

Really overthinking this now but I'm quite enjoying working out a list on such a short budget. What do you guys think?

You can have a mixed load out on Heavy Weapon Squads.

With the left over points you could add so power weapons to the sergeants and Company Commander.