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Okay folks, considering what we know about the current meta, which Deathstar is most competitive?

I'd make a poll, but I want to be inclusive of choices I don't produce.

Here are a few that come to mind:

Jetseer Council (w/ Eldrad and Baharroth)
Gating Wraithguardstar
Wolfstar allied with a Librarius Conclave
Clan Raukaan Superfriends w/ Librarius Conclave
Lychstar (maxed out with scythes, Zandrekh, Obyron, Orikan, solar staff, ResOrb)
Centstar (maxed out with 5 cents, Draigo, Librarius conclave including Tiggy)
Screamerstar
Dronestar (or trimmed down versions of the last two, a la Nanavati)
Spawnstar
Kataphron Destroyer Star? (Better than cents with same support ICs?)

Feel free to add; I'm sure I missed some. And keep in mind, availability of quality support units, battle bros, points sink level etc are all valid arguments for/against.

A couple more I know of are:
Houndstar (Chaos Daemons/Khorne Daemonkin): 15-20 Flesh Hounds with either a Juggerlord/Juggerherald attached.
Farsight Bomb (Tau/Farsight Enclaves): Commander Farsight and a bunch of crisis suits.

Having fought the Houndstar before I know just how nasty it can be, especially paired with the Grimoire. I also have experience fighting against a Centstar. With invisibility, they are extremely hard to kill and have enormous firepower.

Can't comment to too many of these, but I have used the centstar, and it is absolutely lethal if played well but unfortunately now quite easily countered thanks to assassins. If the other guy has the right one (culexis I think?) your cent star is gonna hurt. Also has huge problems if it gets into melee combat.

MSU is a bigger problem for Centstar methinks. Just can't kill enough units. I think more disparate grav spam via podded cents or kataphron destroyers is optimal.

I don't know all the stars but in todays game like you say, MSU rules them in objective games. So the star that can be the most effective for the price is going to be the best.

White Scars with Space Wolves plus the conclave is the best. Scars and Librarians are on bikes - Space Wolves are on Thunderwolves.

Some peoples put Eldar characters in a Dark Eldar beastpack with the very resilient beasts.

 Dozer Blades wrote:
White Scars with Space Wolves plus the conclave is the best. Scars and Librarians are on bikes - Space Wolves are on Thunderwolves.

I'm experimenting with a version of this for an event next month:

CotGW:
Wolf Lord with Fist/SS on TWM
Iron Priest on TWM with 4 Cyberwolves
Iron Priest on TWM with 4 Cyberwolves
5 TWC with WC/SS, SS/CCW x2, BP/CCW, PF/BP

Grimnar's War Council:
Ulrik
Njal
RP with ML2, Bike and Staff
Iron Priest on TWM with 4 Cyberwolves

Librarius:
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Axe
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Axe
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Sword
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Staff

1850

Grimnar's for first turn and more warp charge. Librarius for 2+ Invis and perhaps 2+ Sanctic. The only downside is the two walking characters that have to trail behind. The crazy buffs on that unit are pretty funny though. Also, majority 4+ for Grav.

 pretre wrote:

 Dozer Blades wrote:
White Scars with Space Wolves plus the conclave is the best. Scars and Librarians are on bikes - Space Wolves are on Thunderwolves.

I'm experimenting with a version of this for an event next month:

CotGW:
Wolf Lord with Fist/SS on TWM
Iron Priest on TWM with 4 Cyberwolves
Iron Priest on TWM with 4 Cyberwolves
5 TWC with WC/SS, SS/CCW x2, BP/CCW, PF/BP

Grimnar's War Council:
Ulrik
Njal
RP with ML2, Bike and Staff
Iron Priest on TWM with 4 Cyberwolves

Librarius:
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Axe
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Axe
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Sword
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Staff

1850

Grimnar's for first turn and more warp charge. Librarius for 2+ Invis and perhaps 2+ Sanctic. The only downside is the two walking characters that have to trail behind. The crazy buffs on that unit are pretty funny though. Also, majority 4+ for Grav.

Any troops to do the scoring?

I'd hate to go up against douche-scythe webdar with that list.

 jy2 wrote:

 pretre wrote:

 Dozer Blades wrote:
White Scars with Space Wolves plus the conclave is the best. Scars and Librarians are on bikes - Space Wolves are on Thunderwolves.

I'm experimenting with a version of this for an event next month:

CotGW:
Wolf Lord with Fist/SS on TWM
Iron Priest on TWM with 4 Cyberwolves
Iron Priest on TWM with 4 Cyberwolves
5 TWC with WC/SS, SS/CCW x2, BP/CCW, PF/BP

Grimnar's War Council:
Ulrik
Njal
RP with ML2, Bike and Staff
Iron Priest on TWM with 4 Cyberwolves

Librarius:
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Axe
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Axe
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Sword
Librarian with Bike, ML2 and Staff

1850

Grimnar's for first turn and more warp charge. Librarius for 2+ Invis and perhaps 2+ Sanctic. The only downside is the two walking characters that have to trail behind. The crazy buffs on that unit are pretty funny though. Also, majority 4+ for Grav.

Any troops to do the scoring?

I'd hate to go up against douche-scythe webdar with that list.

Nah, it's just one big unit. It isn't particularly competitive since there is no scoring, but it should be pretty hilarious as a deathstar. D Scythe will be annoying since I lose FNP (or is that not a thing with the ITC?). My casting pattern would be Invis, Endurance, Forewarning, Sanctuary, Prescience and then whatever is left...


Automatically Appended Next Post:
It is pure deathstar which fits the thread pretty well.

 Hawkeye888 wrote:
I don't know all the stars but in todays game like you say, MSU rules them in objective games. So the star that can be the most effective for the price is going to be the best.

Well, the Farsight bomb can split its fire freely if you build it that way. Any psychic shooting star can hit multiple targets too. A melee star with a big footprint can multi-assault. So I bthink some of the stars adjust better to MSU than others.

Yeah, that wolfstar can multi-assault half the board and still come out on top.

What is the general ballpark of points with these units? isn't that wolf star something like a thousand points? And are all of those with normal CADs?

Roknar wrote:
What is the general ballpark of points with these units? isn't that wolf star something like a thousand points? And are all of those with normal CADs?

The wolfstar I listed is 1850.

You could obviously do it a bit differently and cut stuff out.

Holy moly lol


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Unbound or formations?

Roknar wrote:
Holy moly lol


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Unbound or formations?

3 Formations.

I'm noodling a different version:

CotGW:
WGBL with PF/SS, TWM, Runic - 165
Iron Priest with TWM and Cyberwolves x4 - 165
Iron Priest with TWM and Cyberwolves x4 - 165
5 TWC with WC/SS, SS/CCW x2, BP/CCW, PF/BP - 290

CAD:
Rune Priest with Force Axe, ML2, Bike - 105
5 BC with Flamer in Drop Pod - 100
5 BC with Flamer in Drop Pod - 100
5 Grey Hunters with Plasma, Pack Leader with Combi, 3 CCW, Drop Pod - 146
5 Grey Hunters with Melta, Pack Leader with Combi/MB, Drop Pod - 140
5 Grey Hunters with Melta, Pack Leader with Combi/MB, 2 CCW, Drop Pod - 144

Librarius:
Librarian with Force Axe, ML2, Bike - 110
Librarian with Force Axe, ML2, Bike - 110
Librarian with Force Sword, ML2, Bike - 110

1850

Casting dice are many fewer (8) and only six chances at Invis. Reroll is lost as well.

Here's my Wolfstar. The entire army is literally one giant deathstar. Of course, there are 10 ICs who can split off; so there's sacrificial lambs to eat D-scythe overwatch.

Company of the Great Wolf Detachment (1296)

Wolf Lord: Thunderwolf mount, 2x Fenrisian Wolves, Storm Shield, Runic Armor, Krakenbone

Wolf Priest: Bike, Crozius, Wolf Amulet

Iron Priest: Thunderwolf mount, 4x Cyberwolves, Runic Armor, Thunderhammer, Servo-arm
Iron Priest: Thunderwolf mount, 4x Cyberwolves, Runic Armor, Thunderhammer, Servo-arm
Iron Priest: Thunderwolf mount, 4x Cyberwolves, Runic Armor, Thunderhammer, Servo-arm

Thunderwolf Cavalry (6): 2x Thunderhammer+Stormshield, 2x Wolfclaw+Stormshield, 2x CCW+Stormshield

Librarius Conclave Formation (550)

Librarian: Bike, ML2
Librarian: Bike, ML2
Librarian: Bike, ML2
Librarian: Bike, ML2
Librarian: Bike, ML2

Total: 1846

I'm mulling over ways to make it better; possibly trimming some fat and ablative wounds to add Khan for a Scout move. But it is nasty. >90% chance at invis; solid chance at endurance on top of that. So all those 96 grav-shot AdMech or Skyhammer armies? Yeah, better hope you get top turn.

Grav goes majority armor save too, don't forget. You have 12 3+, 4 2+ and 12 4+, so that's a benefit.

 pretre wrote:
Grav goes majority armor save too, don't forget. You have 12 3+, 4 2+ and 12 4+, so that's a benefit.

Well, until a dog dies because I Look Out Sir'd an AP2 wound to a cyberwolf. But yeah, I can tank wounds on Iron Priests before that, and send the first two AP2 at the 6+ Fenrisians. So the 3rd AP2 wound will ruin my to-wound percentage from grav...of course I still have a 6+++ from the Wolf Priest.....and this is all presuming I didn't get my powers up.

So. Nasty. Hope they have a Cullexus in a pod.

Gawd those are some seriously nasty deathstars !!!

Droolz !!!

I couldn't count any deathstar as the nastiness if it relies on invisibility or other psychic powers to much. The Culuxus assassin is in every list, it seems, and can put a serious dent in those lists that rely on psychic powers.

Also the best Deathstar might be regional bias because here in Chicagoland we play with mostly the Adepticon Rules set which allows everything and does not nerf strength D in any way.

Bubble wrap super friends with the cyber wolves to block off douche scythe. Split off a single character to charge them first then super friends delete them.

DarthDiggler wrote:
I couldn't count any deathstar as the nastiness if it relies on invisibility or other psychic powers to much. The Culuxus assassin is in every list, it seems, and can put a serious dent in those lists that rely on psychic powers.

You can split the wolfstar into multiple units and deploy to avoid the culexus.

Here is my deathstar. I call it my Super-Centstar:


Grey Knight Nemesis Strike Force:

Librarian - Level 3, Hammer
Draigo
Cypher

5x Strike Squad

Ultramarines CAD:

Tigurius
Captain - 2+, Auspex, Bike Power Fist, Shield Eternal

5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm
5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm
5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm

5x Devastator Centurions - Grav, Omniscope

Inquisition Detachment:

Coteaz

1850


My list doesn't really care about the Culexus. I've got Shroud and Hit-&-Run so I can survive him. I've got 2 tanking characters and 3 Eternal Warrior characters. I've got anti-deepstrike defense to a degree with Coteaz. It won't work against all units, but it should work against Webway D-scythes as well as to push plasmas out of double-tap range. With lots of force weapons, my star is actually dangerous in Assault but if overpowered by assault deathstars, I can always Hit-&-Run or Gate out of combat. Lastly, my star has some mobility, can split off to hunt down MSU units and shoots like a mofo.

 jy2 wrote:
Here is my deathstar. I call it my Super-Centstar:


Grey Knight Nemesis Strike Force:

Librarian - Level 3, Hammer
Draigo
Cypher

5x Strike Squad

Ultramarines CAD:

Tigurius
Captain - 2+, Auspex, Bike Power Fist, Shield Eternal

5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm
5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm
5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm

5x Devastator Centurions - Grav, Omniscope

Inquisition Detachment:

Coteaz

1850


My list doesn't really care about the Culexus. I've got Shroud and Hit-&-Run so I can survive him. I've got 2 tanking characters and 3 Eternal Warrior characters. I've got anti-deepstrike defense to a degree with Coteaz. It won't work against all units, but it should work against Webway D-scythes as well as to push plasmas out of double-tap range. With lots of force weapons, my star is actually dangerous in Assault but if overpowered by assault deathstars, I can always Hit-&-Run or Gate out of combat. Lastly, my star has some mobility, can split off to hunt down MSU units and shoots like a mofo.

That seems about as effective as a Centstar can be. Seems like your Nid air force would run circles around it; but everything has its counter.

Against flyrant-spam nids, I need to pray that I get a Skyfire Nexus.

But seriously, even without Skyfire, I can potentially shoot down 1 flyrant a turn as long as I have Prescience or use my Devastator Doctrines.

I actually beat Flyrant-spam the last time I played against it with my centstar....though that was a scaled-down version of the star at 1500-pts (no captain, 1 less centurion) and against 3 flyrants + Skyblight.

The volume of fire from a well optimized Centstar will shred a flyrant a turn.

However, mawlocs can be brutal against the Centstar, especially after they've Gated around.

That's another reason why I recently ran 4 mawlocs in my latest Tyranid list - to deal with Centstar and other deathstar lists as well as Battle Company, Scatterbike Eldar, Ravenwing and infantry-based armies.

 jy2 wrote:
Here is my deathstar. I call it my Super-Centstar:


Grey Knight Nemesis Strike Force:

Librarian - Level 3, Hammer
Draigo
Cypher

5x Strike Squad

Ultramarines CAD:

Tigurius
Captain - 2+, Auspex, Bike Power Fist, Shield Eternal

5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm
5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm
5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm

5x Devastator Centurions - Grav, Omniscope

Inquisition Detachment:

Coteaz

1850


My list doesn't really care about the Culexus. I've got Shroud and Hit-&-Run so I can survive him. I've got 2 tanking characters and 3 Eternal Warrior characters. I've got anti-deepstrike defense to a degree with Coteaz. It won't work against all units, but it should work against Webway D-scythes as well as to push plasmas out of double-tap range. With lots of force weapons, my star is actually dangerous in Assault but if overpowered by assault deathstars, I can always Hit-&-Run or Gate out of combat. Lastly, my star has some mobility, can split off to hunt down MSU units and shoots like a mofo.

How do you deploy Cypher? Since the last FAQ for infiltrate, I've found him to be much less useful

 IndigoJack wrote:

 jy2 wrote:
Here is my deathstar. I call it my Super-Centstar:


Grey Knight Nemesis Strike Force:

Librarian - Level 3, Hammer
Draigo
Cypher

5x Strike Squad

Ultramarines CAD:

Tigurius
Captain - 2+, Auspex, Bike Power Fist, Shield Eternal

5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm
5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm
5x Scouts - Land Speeder Storm

5x Devastator Centurions - Grav, Omniscope

Inquisition Detachment:

Coteaz

1850


My list doesn't really care about the Culexus. I've got Shroud and Hit-&-Run so I can survive him. I've got 2 tanking characters and 3 Eternal Warrior characters. I've got anti-deepstrike defense to a degree with Coteaz. It won't work against all units, but it should work against Webway D-scythes as well as to push plasmas out of double-tap range. With lots of force weapons, my star is actually dangerous in Assault but if overpowered by assault deathstars, I can always Hit-&-Run or Gate out of combat. Lastly, my star has some mobility, can split off to hunt down MSU units and shoots like a mofo.

How do you deploy Cypher? Since the last FAQ for infiltrate, I've found him to be much less useful

Jim plays mostly ITC packet on the West Coast. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe they ruled that inviltrate can confer.....or are you just using him for Shrouded?