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Which Army?
Death Guard (Deathshroud and terminators)
Grey Knights (Paladins / Terminators)
Harlequins
Knights
Necrons

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Made in gb
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout






Hey guys. Thanks for all your input recently about the armies I've been asking about!

I'm trying to limit or figure out which army I'd like to contrast my imperial guard! I'm not bothered about being a meta chaser or winning games, but I'd like to stand at least a chance against my friends who all play seemingly great armies! (Sisters, Admech, custodes).

The choices are listed below as what I think I'd like to try! Any help would be massively appreciated.
   
Made in us
Damsel of the Lady




I mean, Custodes match the topic title to a T. Of the ones listed, probably Harlequins. Your troops are very Samy, but your HQ is an elites can be a lot of fun.

Knights allow for a lot of customization too. Also strong contender.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/08 17:01:49


 
   
Made in gb
Storm Trooper with Maglight





My choice out of that list would be Grey Knights. Simply because they can ally with your Imperial Guard. Maybe throw an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in the mix to tie the two armies together.
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka




NE Ohio, USA

I voted Necrons.
Even if you build them as a low model count army & spend the CP for fast/Elite/Heavy (and maybe LoW/Auxillary) detachments you've got a lot of options & themes - without ever building a single warrior. And a lot of different cool looking models.
You could build 4-5 very distinct low count armies, eventually add in a common core of warriors/Immortals (enough to satisfy the Battalion Troops requirement) & have options for quite the varied force week after week.
I like Necrons alot.

The worst would be Knights.
They are very cool models. But play-wise they're very limited if used as a whole standalone force.

   
Made in us
Damsel of the Lady




El Torro wrote:
My choice out of that list would be Grey Knights. Simply because they can ally with your Imperial Guard. Maybe throw an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor in the mix to tie the two armies together.


They can, but you'll lose Tides.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Wait to see what the Knight codex is like if you're thinking about that. None of those other armies will be competitive played low model count, though some of them will be ok. The best builds for all of them go wide, at least by the standards of their own army. I.e. DG don't do well without pox walkers to go with the termies and/or Morty, Harlequins do best with wide foot troupe builds, Necrons do best with lots of stuff on the table, even GK these days take purifiers instead of paladins, etc.
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba






I put harlequins. I've played them since they came out in 7th and they are 100% one of the most fun armies in the game to play.

"Got you, Yugi! Your Rubric Marines can't fall back because I have declared the tertiary kaptaris ka'tah stance two, after the secondary dacatarai ka'tah last turn!"

"So you think, Kaiba! I declared my Thousand Sons the cult of Duplicity, which means all my psykers have access to the Sorcerous Facade power! Furthermore I will spend 8 Cabal Points to invoke Cabbalistic Focus, causing the rubrics to appear behind your custodes! The Vengeance for the Wronged and Sorcerous Fullisade stratagems along with the Malefic Maelstrom infernal pact evoked earlier in the command phase allows me to double their firepower, letting me wound on 2s and 3s!"

"you think it is you who has gotten me, yugi, but it is I who have gotten you! I declare the ever-vigilant stratagem to attack your rubrics with my custodes' ranged weapons, which with the new codex are now DAMAGE 2!!"

"...which leads you straight into my trap, Kaiba, you see I now declare the stratagem Implacable Automata, reducing all damage from your attacks by 1 and triggering my All is Dust special rule!"  
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Harlequins are definitely fun. They're just not really low model count, unless you think anything is low model count that doesn't have 100+ infantry bodies. The typical competitive Harlequin lists will have 60ish models, 50ish of which are infantry.
   
Made in gb
Sagitarius with a Big F'in Gun





Custodies seem to be the army that fit all the criteria.

Approx armies
9000pts AdMech (Main army)
7000pts Black Templars (original army)
3500pts Death Guard (lazy side project)
2000pts Imperial Knights (extension of AdMech)
2000pts Harlequins (fun side project)
 
   
Made in nl
Jovial Plaguebearer of Nurgle





I voted DG because I'm biased towards them but will add the caveat that if you want an effective Terminator force you will probably need to toss in at least some poxwalkers, even if only to camp backfield objectives. Contesting the midfield is the name of the game and while Termies do that effectively you will need something in the backyard for which they themselves are too expensive.
I think harlies and custodes might be a better fit but I also think DG are good because if you ever want to get more out of your force DG allows you to do that whereas Custodes/Harlies are a bit limited options wise if you wish to expend your force later on.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




I am not sure I would call Custodes "fun," that really depends what you're looking for in an army. Most people who play 40k seem to enjoy more than just playing the objective game and winning because your opponent tables you too slowly, but that's really Custodes' only game. They do it well, but their complete inability to actually kill anything - they are laughably, absurdly bad at doing damage relative to any of the top tier armies, whose damage output makes custodes look like a total joke - makes for a rather limited play style.

That said, because they don't have any mono-faction bonus, you can soup them effectively with lots of stuff that does have top-tier damage output. I think a mixed Custodes / <SoB / Ad Mech / Guard / Space Marines> list could definitely be a lot of fun to play, while also being quite effective.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/08 17:56:00


 
   
Made in gb
Storm Trooper with Maglight





The OP can speak for himself, however I think the reason he has discarded Custodes as an option is mainly because one of his friends plays Custodes, as mentioned in the opening post.

Which is fair enough. If you're playing with a limited number of people it's best not to collect an army that somebody else already collects.
   
Made in gb
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout






El Torro wrote:
The OP can speak for himself, however I think the reason he has discarded Custodes as an option is mainly because one of his friends plays Custodes, as mentioned in the opening post.

Which is fair enough. If you're playing with a limited number of people it's best not to collect an army that somebody else already collects.


This is exactly why.
   
Made in us
Agile Revenant Titan




Florida

Death Guard. Great models, updated for 9th edition and can be a low model count army for sure.

No earth shattering, thought provoking quote. I'm just someone who was introduced to 40K in the late 80's and it's become a lifelong hobby. 
   
Made in us
Shadowy Grot Kommittee Memba






"Are harlequins too fragile? Does the speed and hitting power make up for it?"

Hahahahahahahahaahaha no, no they are not.

In my current harlequin list if I get to go second my opponent has their pick of any squad of T3 with -1 to wound 4++ 14pt models that count as 6" farther away than normal for ranged weaponry.

Harlequins arent quite as tough as space marines, but to target them you essentially have to get within their threat zone (because any given squad can just double move at you, and there's bikes and a solitaire in there ready to feth you up) and they don't care at all about your AP stat, period, every point of AP you take against harlequins is an utter waste.

"Got you, Yugi! Your Rubric Marines can't fall back because I have declared the tertiary kaptaris ka'tah stance two, after the secondary dacatarai ka'tah last turn!"

"So you think, Kaiba! I declared my Thousand Sons the cult of Duplicity, which means all my psykers have access to the Sorcerous Facade power! Furthermore I will spend 8 Cabal Points to invoke Cabbalistic Focus, causing the rubrics to appear behind your custodes! The Vengeance for the Wronged and Sorcerous Fullisade stratagems along with the Malefic Maelstrom infernal pact evoked earlier in the command phase allows me to double their firepower, letting me wound on 2s and 3s!"

"you think it is you who has gotten me, yugi, but it is I who have gotten you! I declare the ever-vigilant stratagem to attack your rubrics with my custodes' ranged weapons, which with the new codex are now DAMAGE 2!!"

"...which leads you straight into my trap, Kaiba, you see I now declare the stratagem Implacable Automata, reducing all damage from your attacks by 1 and triggering my All is Dust special rule!"  
   
Made in it
Waaagh! Ork Warboss




Italy

Harlequins, hands down. They're fun to assemble, customize, paint and play.

Their low model count build is also the only way to play them so there's small risk to have the entire army invalidated by a few nerfs as GW doesn't want a faction to be completely useless. It might happen to a couple of elite units like terminators though, which means a full termy Deathguard army can be nerfed into oblion in a single round of FAQ without invalidating the average rating of the army, and that's something that might happen unlike strong nerfes to the 1-2 Harlequins' key units.

GK and IK are too skew oriented and for many players they're boring no matter the list they play, just like Custodes. Necrons and Deathguard have well written books with lots of choices but lists with low model count tend to be quite boring to play as well and as I said before they might not work forever.

However Deathguard and Necrons can be an excellent choice if you want to build something middle of the road and not a full elite oriented force.

 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




The best harlie lists at the moment go wide on troupes, so I dunno where the idea that the only way to play them is low model count. It's not a classic horde in the sense that you have 100+ infantry models, but it's definitely not low model count. You'll almost certainly have more models than the average space marines list, for example, which is half of what you'll face.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/04/09 20:37:54


 
   
Made in nl
Jovial Plaguebearer of Nurgle





Well boring is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. I do enjoy playing the objective game and winning that way, which is why DG is a perfect fit for me. If OP thinks that is a fine way to play than DG could be an excellent choice. But even if he doesn't I know of several DG players who prefer highly aggressive tactics, relying more on tabling the opponent than moving slowly on objectives. Both playstyles can be done with low model counts too although the second would probably skew more towards Demon Engines than Termies.
   
Made in it
Waaagh! Ork Warboss




Italy

yukishiro1 wrote:
The best harlie lists at the moment go wide on troupes, so I dunno where the idea that the only way to play them is low model count. It's not a classic horde in the sense that you have 100+ infantry models, but it's definitely not low model count. You'll almost certainly have more models than the average space marines list, for example, which is half of what you'll face.


Who says he must get the best list the faction can have? An average/casual collection of models will do just fine, probably even more that just that considering that Harlies are pretty strong no matter what they bring to the table. And by the time someone starts buying, assemble, paint and learn how to play the best lists that the faction has once the army is finished will likely be very different from their current top lists.

 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




You said it was the only way to play them. I was just pointing out that that not only isn't true, it isn't even the strongest way to play them. That's all.
   
Made in de
Longtime Dakkanaut





I have four Imperial Knights and they are fun... when NOT used in a common 40K game.

   
Made in gb
Mekboy Hammerin' Somethin'





United Kingdom

From that list I vote Death Guard.

Outside of the list, I vote for Ork buggy lists. Great fun, and has a very low model count for Orks.
   
 
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