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 Xathrodox86 wrote:

 Brother Payne wrote:
Lysander won't be enough S10. Take vindicators. Like 3 of them. And find a way to keep the damn things alive

You're talking about thay formation with a D-blast from 3 Vindies? I just might do that. It'll fit nicely with the theme of my chapter too, so that's a bonus.

I was actually just talking about taking 3 in the one squadron - they get to combine their fire into one apoc blast ignores cover shot.

 Brother Payne wrote:

 Xathrodox86 wrote:

 Brother Payne wrote:
Lysander won't be enough S10. Take vindicators. Like 3 of them. And find a way to keep the damn things alive

You're talking about thay formation with a D-blast from 3 Vindies? I just might do that. It'll fit nicely with the theme of my chapter too, so that's a bonus.

I was actually just talking about taking 3 in the one squadron - they get to combine their fire into one apoc blast ignores cover shot.

I will probably take it. I've just found out that the Smashy CM will be present in the end...

I'd rather have a few dreadnayghts instead of vindis. He doesn't have H&R. Dreads have a lot of s10 attacks and he won't kill them in melee fast enough. The problem is that you might start having difficulties against other opponents with your dreads.

Not sure how much you can/want to alter your list for this game vs everyone else, but I can give you some thoughts from an IH player.

The bikestar is scary, but it's unlikely to be the majority of points. It's just a big threat while the normal marines take over the board and win through objectives. Sinking a third of your force into countering it is what your opponent probably wants you to do.

Trying to kill IH with weapons that bypass all their defense is a tough call that requires a ton of resources. Think of them as Terminators that aren't overcosted, and go for volumes of fire.

Number 1 priority is killing the medic. The drop of 2 points of FNP is vital for breaking the tentpole. Then try to inflict a wound in any way so you can strip the Eternal Warrior from Gorgon's Chain. Then you can finally start dropping those S10 attacks.

A really cheap investment to counter IH command squads is Scouts. A 10th company task force is a great, cheap Apothecary hunter. Snipers for Precision, plus you can give your heavy weapon Precision on the first turn. Since you're playing Fists, you get rerolls on Heavy Bolters, and an unsaved wound on the marine with the big red cross could swing the game. Krak missiles bypass power armor, but if it's a fully kitted squad, the Medic probably has a storm shield.


Edit: Thoughts on the Vindicators. The formation still only fires 12" away. The bike squad can finess position so they attack first, and if they pop one tank (which is pretty easy between Grav shots followed by a charge), that takes away the formation bonus (as does losing any of your cannons). Since it's a vehicle squad, an unlucky volley of Grav can even take out two in one go. 360 points is a lot if you're not already a big fan of Vindicators.

I ofte run iron hand bike squads, never worried about vindicators. You still can jink and spread out so only 1-2 models get hit on avg.. and the combined vindi shot strategy is more fragile then a house of cards.
There are several ways of dealing with the unit:

-If they are grav gun heavy like OP mentioned, force them to jink and it's an expensive unit with some poweraxes.
-They still die pretty quick without a CM tanking.
-Snipe the apothacary with barrage or position so the apoth is close when assaulting or shooting, los is only 4+.
-Assault them with cheap units or units with decent invul save. The unit is not that scary in close combat.
-Don't pour all your firepower into them, if they already have jinked considering taking out something else.