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.

Hiya guys, here's my first army list for starting 40K. I plan to expand from this list in the future, so it's not only an attempt to make a workable army, but also to try out different units and see where to expand later. Due to an unhealthy obsession with IG's sweet looking aircrafts, I'd like to eventually run an army thats quite flyer and tank heavy, which is reflected here. Let me know what you think!

EDIT: after some good feedback i've rewritten my list. The old one is here:

The new one is as follows. Hopefully it's a bit more "Steel Legiony" while still having flyer fun:

Single Battalion:

HQ
company commander
company commander

Troops
infantry squad w/ plasma gun
infantry squad w/ plasma gun
infantry squad w/ lascannon
infantry squad w/ lascannon
infantry squad

Heavy Support
basilisk
basilisk

Transports
chimera
chimera
chimera
chimera
chimera

total: 995 points


This time around is a bit more straightforward, but I am a bit worried about it's ability to handle various threats. As before, any feedback is welcome, and then hopefully the buying phase will begin

I am also starting a Steel Legion list!

If you have such an interest in flyers, have you considered looking at the elysian drop troops? There are plenty of third party grav packs you could add to standard guardsmen to save money.

With how the list stands, I cannot really see how this is Steel Legion, as most of your troops will be walking. The troops will be missing a lot of the benifits of the regimental doctrine. Perhaps consider more chimeras or valkyries to really sell that style.

For the Spearhead detachment, you should use the catachan doctrine, as that will make your battle cannons more deadly.

I would drop the heavy weapon squads, as they are fragile, and a bit static for the Steel Legion style. Perhaps look to incorporate another tank or something.

Everyone has told me that vox-caster are not all that worth it. Considering you will have a commander back with the walking troops, it may not be necessary, and can save some points for other things.

I can't speak to much else about the list itself, but I believe you'll need a second HQ choice in order to have your Battalion Detachment considered valid, right now I see only one Company Commander listed there.

 hunter5021 wrote:
I am also starting a Steel Legion list!

If you have such an interest in flyers, have you considered looking at the elysian drop troops? There are plenty of third party grav packs you could add to standard guardsmen to save money.

With how the list stands, I cannot really see how this is Steel Legion, as most of your troops will be walking. The troops will be missing a lot of the benifits of the regimental doctrine. Perhaps consider more chimeras or valkyries to really sell that style.

For the Spearhead detachment, you should use the catachan doctrine, as that will make your battle cannons more deadly.

I would drop the heavy weapon squads, as they are fragile, and a bit static for the Steel Legion style. Perhaps look to incorporate another tank or something.

Everyone has told me that vox-caster are not all that worth it. Considering you will have a commander back with the walking troops, it may not be necessary, and can save some points for other things.

Great feedback, thanks! I chose the regiment mainly for their extended rapid fire range, but you're right; it seems like the Steel Legion playstyle is centered a lot around jumping in and out of transports? what sort of strategies do you find they lend themselves well to?

good call on the vox-casters too. I'll leave them out and add them back in if there are points left over, but with commanders accompanying its probably possible to get by without them

 Adeptus Austus wrote:
I can't speak to much else about the list itself, but I believe you'll need a second HQ choice in order to have your Battalion Detachment considered valid, right now I see only one Company Commander listed there.

good catch! I'll have to throw someone out (probably the heavy weapons flamers) to make room for a second HQ

Great feedback, thanks! I chose the regiment mainly for their extended rapid fire range, but you're right; it seems like the Steel Legion playstyle is centered a lot around jumping in and out of transports? what sort of strategies do you find they lend themselves well to?

The extended rapid fire range is very helpful. The regimental doctrine is centered around putting those transports forward, dismounting in like a 17 inch range, rapid firing, and then mounting back up. I find that Plasma guns are particularly effective in the troops squads as they benefit as well.

Some tactics involve running two wave style tactics, something your original list actually had. This would be running a transport or two up with hard hitting, essentially suicide troops that force the enemy to address them, while the second wave follows behind either securing objectives, or positioning themselves so that when the first wave is killed, the second wave is now in rapid fire range. It is all about maintaining that 17 inch rapid fire death zone. This is a modified version f what is called the "distraction carnafex" tactic.

Another tactic is strategically using the land based transport vehicles to block line of sight, and cover the relatively few infantry models you have.

As far as what land based transports to use, I am still getting feedback. My go to is the chimera for fluff reasons, and because of the slightly higher armor and transport capacity. Also because it has a lot of firepower for a transport. However, Taurox are also very useful as they can go slightly faster, and cheaper at the cost of less armor, weapons, and transport capacity. If you are running a lot of normal ten man squads without commanders, those could be a better option.

If you like the flyers though, you may still want to check out the Elysian Drop Troops. They have their own orders like Hold the Line to ignore casualties when taking Morale tests, and Move and Fire meaning instead of being able to shoot after Advancing, the unit simply treats all its weapons as having the Assault type, so you could move normally (or Aerial Drop) and fire Heavy weapons with no BS penalty. Perhaps that style may be closer to what you want to do.

Nice idea, I am a beginner too so take my advice with caution: for hard hitting plasma guns are way better, also, Scion can parachute in place without the flyers. I suppose when you want to ramp up of 1000pts they can be very effective. If you want the flyers, shield them a bit with your troops, if you don't begin first, pesky Obliterators will rain down the skies and.. obliterate those men-filled flyers like there's no tomorrow (saw it happening, not fun :( )

I will echo the other comments and this isn't really a Steel Legion list. The Steel Legion hallmark is mechanized infantry. If you just want longer range weapons than Vostroyan is a better way to go. That said, you're not really taking full advantage of the extended rapid fire range because you have no Plasma Guns. Perhaps reconsider your doctrine. If you really love IG flyers, I would look at Elysian Drop Troops or air cavalry Militarum Tempestus. As Hunter mentioned, they are probably closer to the play style and aesthetic that you're going for.

 counterwavecounter wrote:
I will echo the other comments and this isn't really a Steel Legion list. The Steel Legion hallmark is mechanized infantry. If you just want longer range weapons than Vostroyan is a better way to go. That said, you're not really taking full advantage of the extended rapid fire range because you have no Plasma Guns. Perhaps reconsider your doctrine. If you really love IG flyers, I would look at Elysian Drop Troops or air cavalry Militarum Tempestus. As Hunter mentioned, they are probably closer to the play style and aesthetic that you're going for.

When you say mechanized infantry, is that basically infantry troops in chimeras? I'll poke through the forums for some other Steel Legion lists to analyze and see if it seems like an appealing play style. Honestly the first thing that caught my attention about them was the cool aesthetic, but for fielding a sea of tanks it seems like there may be better options. From a quick look Tempestus might be a great option too, like you and Findarfin said. Thanks!

Looking at the updated list, I looks like there is a mistake. taurox can hold ten models. If you are going to put all of your infantry in them, your commanders will be walking.

 Machiavelli wrote:

When you say mechanized infantry, is that basically infantry troops in chimeras?

In the fluff, yes. Armageddon is one of the primary forge worlds in the imperium that manufactures Chimeras. Mechanized infantry companies are very rare and the Steel Legion are one of the few regiments that have the equipment and resources necessary to maintain such a high number of Chimeras.

It plays out in the rules to an extent. Steel Legion vehicles ignore the AP of weapons with a -1. This doesn't extend to flyers because flyers don't have the Regiment keyword. Tauroxes are probably more efficient for their points if you're going for pure competitiveness, but any Steel Legion army not showing up with Chimeras is kind of missing the point.

 hunter5021 wrote:
Looking at the updated list, I looks like there is a mistake. taurox can hold ten models. If you are going to put all of your infantry in them, your commanders will be walking.

 counterwavecounter wrote:

 Machiavelli wrote:

When you say mechanized infantry, is that basically infantry troops in chimeras?

In the fluff, yes. Armageddon is one of the primary forge worlds in the imperium that manufactures Chimeras. Mechanized infantry companies are very rare and the Steel Legion are one of the few regiments that have the equipment and resources necessary to maintain such a high number of Chimeras.

It plays out in the rules to an extent. Steel Legion vehicles ignore the AP of weapons with a -1. This doesn't extend to flyers because flyers don't have the Regiment keyword. Tauroxes are probably more efficient for their points if you're going for pure competitiveness, but any Steel Legion army not showing up with Chimeras is kind of missing the point.

wow, how did I miss that? I ended up going with a more 'standard' list, and resigned myself to the fact that this won't be my only army; as suggested above, I'm definitely going to have to put together a Scions army in addition for flyer/ deep striking fun Frankly, at only 1000 points I might be overthinking things as theres plenty of room to bring in other things at higher points after actually playing a few games. So unless theres any glaring mistakes remaining I think it's time to paint up some models and give it a go.

Thanks again to both of you! the feeback was really useful

I'm not sure if this was clarified, but how many plasma guns per squad are we talking? I'm guessing 3 per squad?

Your list has mobility, which is good. You can grab objectives quickly and gain board control. You're also in luck in that Guard is in a really good place this edition, meaning that many builds are at least competent, if not competitive/tourney winners.

I'm not the biggest fan of Lascannons personally. This edition has been all about volume of fire, and since it's one shot per lascannon, and 4+ to hit, it can be unreliable.Typically plasma is considered better, since more shots on average means more damage output.

Basilisks are alright. They are good at finishing things off. They lean towards anti-tank but aren't the most reliable that Guard offers. LRBTs are more reliable but require line of sight. Good for the points cost though and will put out wounds. What are you envisioning for these guys to do?

This is a decent enough list for starting. It's tough to tell what you're lacking till you start playing. The only thing you MIGHT have issues with are horde based armies (i.e. Tyranids), but again, this is up for debate. Like I said, unless you have anything else to add and/or concerns, I'd give it a go.

For the chimeras get those heavy bolters. Multilaser has been nerfed edition after edition to the point that in 8th ed you are paying more for weapon that's WORSE than heavy bolter in almost all the cases.

Twin heavy flamer chimera or two has been surprisingly useful for me. 2d6 S5 -1 autohits isn't anything to sneeze and top of that ignoring damage in terms of hitting is nice. Not most super competive options but has been okay. And one chimera at least I find charging into thick of enemy in every game anyway to tie up enemy into combat where if they move out they aren't shooting or charging my main units(kinda like what enemy wants to do to MY IG but in reverse! Stay in combat with chimera(that will flee) or don't do anything for a turn and eat round of shooting! Oh and if you don't kill that chimera it's going to charge you again

I grabbed the basilisks for anti-tank ability, and the lascannons for the same reason. I'd actually be happy to switch them for plasma since that's cheaper anyway, then I'll have more points to spend on heavy bolters like tneva said. A spearhead of Leman Russes is also something I considered, but the basilisks were appealing as they could hang back while the rest of the army advanced and shoot without interruption (hopefully)

Basilisks have the advantage that they can shoot at things without LoS. Like I said, while not as effective as an LRBT or a Leman Russ executioner, units can't hide from them either. They aren't a bad choice imho and are very cost effective. Leman Russes are more expensive. I'd say keep the Basilisks for now. As much as I prefer LRBTs, I'm not sure you'd benefit as much here.

Definitely swap out the lascannons though. They aren't that great for Guard, given the whole 50% chance to hit. Plasma is probably better.

Other than that, my only concern would be horde control potentially.

Small note!

With 5 extra points, I would pass out bolt guns to the sergeants as they will be the ones who can take advantage of the regimental doctrine more often then not.

For lascannon remember they aren't one or other. You can take both. Also if you play itc any heavy weapon is practically mandatory