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So I've been working on a potential 2000pt army list as an "end goal" (funny thought) to work for while collecting models. Here's what I've put together, please provide comments and criticism to help guide me towards a good list:

-=HQ=-
Overlord w/ Sempiternal Weave, Warscythe, MSS, Res Orb (160 pts)
Court:
Desktek (35 pts)
Veiltek (60 pts)

Overlord w/ Sempiternal Weave, Warscythe, MSS, Res Orb (160 pts)
Court:
Destek (35 pts)
Veiltek(60 pts)

Total: 510 pts


-=Troops=-
10x Tesla Immortals w/ Night Scythe (270 pts)

10x Tesla Immortals w/ Night Scythe (270 pts)

15x Warriors (195 pts)

15x Warriors (195 pts)

Total: 930 pts


-= Fast Attack=-
5x Wraiths (205 pts)
3 w/ Whip Coils

Total: 205 pts


-=Heavy Support=-
Doom Scythe (175 pts)
Annihilation Barge w/ Heavy Gauss Cannon (90 pts)
Annihilation Barge w/ Heavy Gauss Cannon (90 pts)

Total: 355 pts

Army Total: 2000 pts


My plan was to use the warrior units (each with an overlord and both crypteks) to provide early-game board control. Veiling out of trouble or near to enemy ground-based AA, relying on gauss shots and eldritch lances to do some damage and take out threats. The annihilation barges and wraiths will tie up other threats and, in conjunction with the veiling warriors, slow down scoring units. Once the flyers arrive, they can mop up infantry and just generally give my opponent a difficult time while the Night Scythes pop their immortals down on objectives.

Any help would be appreciated. Am I on the right track here? Should I trash it and start anew?

I see the concept here but I have a few reservations.

First with the warrior units, you are DS'ing 18 models up to twice in a turn. That is very risky on a unit of that size. One slip up and you can mishap the whole thing away. Plus, it becomes a very tempting pie plate target..

You don't need three Whip coils with your wraiths, I can tell you now.. most people are just going to shoot them up first. Not many people will let them just roam around.. you will be lucky if they don't put the whole group down.

I'm just not a fan of the doom scythe myself. You have to rely on it coming on the board early to even get a couple uses out of it... with all the skyfire and interceptor ( even just a quad gun) you could lose it before it ever once fires the weapon.

I'm always a fan of troops in a NS for objectives, but 340 points of telsa shooty goodness locked up in flyers for at least 2 turns ( likely more becuase if you drop them to early they will just get shot up)If you are using troops that way, there is no reason not to just put 5 warriors in each NS and put the immortals on the board. I would much rather see them with a veiltek jumping around burning stuff up. Put a GA behind the warriors and let them blob it up like they do so well.

Okay, thank you for your input. I'd like to use Night Scythes (and the Doom Scythe, but that can be dropped if it simply isn't practical), so should I use them as you suggested- with small groups of warriors for pinpoint objective control?

@Roci's points on the veiling of large units are spot on, also on locking up your shooting in scythes.

Disagree on the whip coils though. Sure, they will be a target, but if you veil 15 warriors around, they'll be a target too. I would never take less than 2 coils for 6, normally I take 3, because there is no point getting into the combat and hitting last.

Not sure how much you have played, so you may know some of the below:

a) Tesla immortals are better at longer ranges (because Tesla!). If you want to bring them out of scythes, switch them to gauss because you get rapid fire (which is better at close ranges <12". If you aren't going to bring them into rapid fire range when you drop them, it probably isn't worth putting them into scythes.

b) Scythes are good, but as @Roci says, anything you put in them isn't going to shoot. Using them to precision drop 5 warriors on objectives is great. If you are using this, swap destructeks for Stormteks, cos then you have a vehicle killing unit!

c) The only reason you need 2 overlords is because you are taking 2 veils. If you want to use scythes, get 2 squads of 5 deathmarks, because they will definitely take the heat off the wraiths.

d) If you want to use warriors, use them as blobs with ghost ark support.

e) I also find Doom Scythes underwhelming, but YMMV. For 175 points I'd use 2 spyders and 5 scarab bases instead. In your list, they would also provide a distraction from the wraiths. The combo also gives you 2 MC plus the ability to eat any vehicle in the game.

f) Recently I'm finding myself taking less Scythes. They are good, but the points are being used for other things (like more warriors). As with all flyers, the problem is that if they don't come in they lose a lot of effectiveness.

Obviously, you'll be constrained by the models you have/are buying.

Most important thing is to play the models you like/have fun with.

Thanks for the help- I appreciate it.

MarkCron wrote:
b) Scythes are good, but as @Roci says, anything you put in them isn't going to shoot. Using them to precision drop 5 warriors on objectives is great. If you are using this, swap destructeks for Stormteks, cos then you have a vehicle killing unit!

c) The only reason you need 2 overlords is because you are taking 2 veils. If you want to use scythes, get 2 squads of 5 deathmarks, because they will definitely take the heat off the wraiths.

d) If you want to use warriors, use them as blobs with ghost ark support.

I actually hadn't considered using 5 man squads- I suppose the goal is to clear off all threats before dropping them.

Do you recommend dropping Deathmarks out of a Night Scythe, or deploying them using their normal rules and using the veil + potential abyssal staff cheese?

And finally, are blobs of 20 warriors not really worth using without a ghost ark? For whatever reason I'm not a huge fan of the model, but it seems that the advantages may be too overwhelming to ignore them.

Again, thank you and I apologize for the simple questions- I've only played a few games in the ~1000pt range and thought it would be wise to seek advice before proceeding further. That being said, I do have 2 scythes to be assembled and would like to employ them somehow- the Doom Scythe I would love to try but may end up dropping in the future.

Mark is spot on here...

As for the deathmarks, I prefer to drop them out of a NS. You get more precise shots this way and more impact on template placement. After the mark target is dead the template weapon is pretty meh so your down to a hand full of sniper shots. Though if you veil both groups, they could create enough of a distraction to let you sneak in your wraiths. ( on a side note, many people take three like Mark, My meta pretty much just focus fires any wraith they can see so I always end up assaulting with no more than 3 of them) My preferred method will always be out of a NS. I do also tend to take two despair teks with my DM so I really want to get every inch out of my templates.

20 man warrior blobs aren't bad, it's just that the GA repair barge makes them very hard to keep down. ( plus you can replace the tek if you happen to lose it) You will still get some good use out of your blob as you don't have to have the GA.

Re the Deathmarks, as @Roci says the most common use in 6th is to drop them out of a Scythe. If you use twin Despairteks, this is definitely the best way to get the placement and results you want. Result = Unit? What unit?.

The disadvantage with dropping them out of a scythe is that they may not turn up when you need them to.

I started in 5th when flyers were basically non existent, so I tend to veil my first unit of deathmarks. If I have 2 units then I put the second in a Scythe.

Recently I nearly always start the DM on the board, with the veiltek. The advantages of this are:

a) I have a much better shot at getting First Blood (I tend to run troop light lists, so secondaries are very important to my strategy)

b) The opponent has to deal with a T1 alpha shooting strike, even if it is nightfight. This is highly disruptive for the opponent, which is fantastic.

c) If the DM do what they are supposed to, I remove a key unit from the opponent in T1.

Disadvantage is a DS mishap - however with careful placement and a little luck, you can minimise that. I don't lose the unit often (in fact, never) but I have had it shot to death a couple of times (the opponent gets to place and places them 25" away, smack in front of their lines where everything can shoot at them). In any event, I view the unit as a suicide unit so it really doesn't matter - the distraction value is well worth it - plus, if they are shooting at my Deathmarks, they aren't shooting at the wraiths/spyders/AB.

I recently had a spectacular success - Kharn and 10 bezerkers were hiding behind LOS blocking terrain, it was night fight. I started the DM on the board, marked Kharn. Veiled, scattered 3 inches closer to the unit (phew...) ........ boom - Despairtek killed the Bezerkers and the DM accounted for Kharn. That kind of disrupted the opponent plan

So, re the DM, pick whichever strategy you like - both have risks but DM are too awesome to leave out of a 2000 pt list imo.

Re warriors I have to confess I don't like the blob. I'd rather have 2 groups of 10 with GA support. Better flexibility cos I get to choose whether to devote 20 or 40 shots (in RF range). Sometimes, 20 will do.

edit:forgot something!