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Planning for an upcoming tournament and planning a shooting based war convo, the general plan is dakka ... them more dakka ... then a metric F-ton of grav dakka ... then a dakka knight for good measure.
Just a reminder that war convo gets free upgrades so i'm only paying for the basic units noted in bold. The italics points cost is the actual points cost so i'm actually fielding a 2595 point army for exactly 2000 points.

Skitarii Battle Maniple:

Vanguard 55
Phosphenix
Arc maul
Refractor field
Digital weapons
2 plasma calivers
Enhanced Data Tether
Omnispex
+185

Rangers 65
Skull of elder nikola
Arc pistol
Arc maul
2 plasma calivers
Refractor field
Digital weapons
Enhanced Data Tether
Omnispex
+180

Ruststalkers 160
Omniscient mask
Dataspike
Refractor field
Digital weapons
+205

Infiltrators 185
Phase Taser
Refractor field
Digital weapons
+215

Ballistari 55
TL Lascannon
+75

Onager 90
Icarus Array
Heavy Stubber
Mindscanner Probe
Cognis Manipulator
+165


Cult Mechanicus Battle Congregation:

Techpriest 105
Eradication Ray
Digital Weapons
Infoslave skull
Rainment of the Technomartyr
+165

Kataphron Breachers 150
Heavy Arc Rifles
3 Hydraulic Claws
+180

Kataphron Destroyers 165
Grav Cannons
3 cognis flamers
+180

Kataphron Destroyers 165
Grav Cannons
3 cognis flamers
+180

Kataphron Destroyers 165
Grav Cannons
Cognis Flamer
170

Kataphron Destroyers 165
Plasma Cannonades
3 cognis flamers
+180


Oathsworn Detachment:

Knight Crusader 425
Melta gun
Rapid Fire Battle Cannon
Ironstorm missile pod
+465

Aegis defense line 50 (Fortification in the Cult Mech Battle Congregations Slot)
Subject to house rules upgraded with a quad gun for free.

I think it's a rather beastly list but any suggestions for tweaks are appreciated.

While grav destroyers are incredible, there may be better options between the base War Convocation cost and 2000 points. A second Imperial Knight is popular, as are utilitarian Imperial allies like Coteaz and/or another Inquisitor with servo-skulls, a Culexus assassin, or the new Sisters of Silence. Or more mobile allies like Space Marine bikes or drop pods to contest those objectives.

Are you facing FW in the tournament? What format is it? Straight up GW rules or ITC/Nova etc.?

Tournament is house rules but very close to standard GW. The one exception is maximum of 3 formations so i can't take anything else once i take a war convo. No FW.

The missions are custom and yet to be released but tend to rely on objective grabbing less than most formats hence the mostly static gunline force. As it stands i think the sicarians will be enough to objective grab.

I have two alternate lists one with a second knight (i feel too much like 'that guy' bringing two knights. The other had a skyhammer which is very tempting but play testing this came out ontop because it decimated other armies to the degree they didn't stand a chance and it was gonna be a pain getting a consensus on whether war convo is one formation or 3.

I agree 3 units of grav kataphrons is a lot but they just play too well to resist - the free cognis flamers are a big help and combined with gravs ability to hurt everything is too good to resist.
Initially i had 2 units of arc breachers but grav is better against light vehicles than arc or torsion anyway.
The fact there's a lot of MEQ armies lined up also settled my mind that grav was the way to go.

Wow that tournament format is a big factor. Is it full strength Invisibility and those new Librarian powers? If so, expect psychic deathstars and you need the second Knight for Stomp, maybe even a third if it can fit.

Most major tournaments agree War Convocation, Decurion, etc are only one detachment. Talk to the organizer and see if he'll let you bring a Culexus or Sisters of Silence to at least give you a chance against deathstars to make up for his format that clearly favors them.

Exactly what Axis said. Even will all your fire power full power invis on a deathstar will roll right over this list. Other issue is you are very slow. So objective grabbing wont be your strong suit at all. If not a 2nd or 3rd knight you need a culexus to deal with invis shenanigans etc.

 dameanone wrote:
Exactly what Axis said. Even will all your fire power full power invis on a deathstar will roll right over this list. Other issue is you are very slow. So objective grabbing wont be your strong suit at all. If not a 2nd or 3rd knight you need a culexus to deal with invis shenanigans etc.

If they use full strength SM and CSM psychic powers, don't even play unless you have a deathstar to match. Electrodisplacement alone is enough to make other armies useless. A bark bark star, superfriends star, Ironhands star, or cabal star will get into your backline turn one, psychic half your army to death, then charge and eat the rest.

Normally I'm a proponent of List<Skill with 40k, but RAW electrodisplacement has no place in tournament play. >

 dameanone wrote:
Exactly what Axis said. Even will all your fire power full power invis on a deathstar will roll right over this list. Other issue is you are very slow. So objective grabbing wont be your strong suit at all. If not a 2nd or 3rd knight you need a culexus to deal with invis shenanigans etc.

Getting two Knights is tough at 2k. Three is pretty much impossible.

I do have a list i can run with two knights infantry upgrades are the same ...

5 Vanguard

5 Rangers

5 Ruststalkers

5 Infiltrators

2 Ironstrider Ballistari

Onager Dunecrawler


Techpriest

Kataphron Breachers
(arc)

4 Kataphron Destroyers
(grav)

Aegis

(everything above is as in initial post)

Knight Crusader:
RF Battle Cannon
Avenger gatling cannon
Ironstorm missile launcher

Knight Errant:
Melta Cannon
Reaper Chainsword
Stormspear

If i give the aegis defence line 3 sets of tanglewire that works out at exactly 2000.

Yes do that and keep that Reaper Chainsword protected.

Take two Wardens or Paladins instead, maybe? That way you have most of the dakka but two lots of D-Saw attacks.

Or get the TO to rule Convocation is a single detachment and bring loads of Eldar D-weapons.

 BBAP wrote:
...bring loads of Eldar D-weapons.

You should feel bad for this statement.

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:

 BBAP wrote:
...bring loads of Eldar D-weapons.

You should feel bad for this statement.

I don't. D weapons are awesome. I love to watch deathstars evapourate before the might of the Trans-Dimensional Vacuum Cleaner Squad.

 BBAP wrote:

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:

 BBAP wrote:
...bring loads of Eldar D-weapons.

You should feel bad for this statement.

I don't. D weapons are awesome. I love to watch deathstars evapourate before the might of the Trans-Dimensional Vacuum Cleaner Squad.

I mean implying he should take Eldar. I doubt he wants to lose friends by being "that guy" and the War Convo is often "tfg" enough for anyone.

Really? It doesn't look all that neckbeardy to me. Powerful maybe, but not cheesy.

 BBAP wrote:
Really? It doesn't look all that neckbeardy to me. Powerful maybe, but not cheesy.

It is worse! It is unfluffy and cheesy! For shame, sir!

I get where you're coming from, but consider this...

On it's own the War Convocation isn't unfluffy or cheesy. It's plenty fluffy *and* powerful enough to take on most things without being totally borked. However, it suffers from a specific weakness to psychic deathstar "shove and win" armies of the kind created by neckbeards to allow for easy wins against opponents who've never played against them before.

Eldar D weapons provide a reasonably good response to this kind of pigswill. Sure, adding them is unfluffy and cheesy, but so is adding Azrael, Tigurius and Sammael to a unit of Fenrisian Wolves, or having a Living Saint of the Empra follow around an Iron Hands Command Squad to give them all HnR. D-guns are only really "cheesy" against opponents who are running stupid point-sink units, like the aforementioned deathstars, Paladins, Land Raiders, etc etc. Against anyone else they're just another shooting attack, albeit a very deadly one.

That's why I wouldn't feel bad for doing it, and nobody else should either. Make a balanced army, instead of a silly one, and you'll have nothing to fear from the vacuum cleaners.

 BBAP wrote:
I get where you're coming from, but consider this...

On it's own the War Convocation isn't unfluffy or cheesy. It's plenty fluffy *and* powerful enough to take on most things without being totally borked. However, it suffers from a specific weakness to psychic deathstar "shove and win" armies of the kind created by neckbeards to allow for easy wins against opponents who've never played against them before.

Eldar D weapons provide a reasonably good response to this kind of pigswill. Sure, adding them is unfluffy and cheesy, but so is adding Azrael, Tigurius and Sammael to a unit of Fenrisian Wolves, or having a Living Saint of the Empra follow around an Iron Hands Command Squad to give them all HnR. D-guns are only really "cheesy" against opponents who are running stupid point-sink units, like the aforementioned deathstars, Paladins, Land Raiders, etc etc. Against anyone else they're just another shooting attack, albeit a very deadly one.

That's why I wouldn't feel bad for doing it, and nobody else should either. Make a balanced army, instead of a silly one, and you'll have nothing to fear from the vacuum cleaners.

Or easier still, don't play with dbags.

Considering it's still a 'friendly' in house tournament albeit a competitive one with some damn good players i was shying away from 2 knights to avoid being anywhere near 'that guy'.

I'm sticking with one reaper chainsword and a crusader for 3 weapons:
1)DAKKA
2)I'm definitely not that guy
3)more DAKKA

I'm certainly not allying in eldar D weapons ... we have a roof beam to hang anyone who trys that from.

Kataklysmic wrote:
Considering it's still a 'friendly' in house tournament albeit a competitive one with some damn good players i was shying away from 2 knights to avoid being anywhere near 'that guy'.

I'm sticking with one reaper chainsword and a crusader for 3 weapons:
1)DAKKA
2)I'm definitely not that guy
3)more DAKKA

I'm certainly not allying in eldar D weapons ... we have a roof beam to hang anyone who trys that from.

 em_en_oh_pee wrote:
Or easier still, don't play with dbags.

That would make life so much easier, and armies so much cheaper. Alas...

Kataklysmic wrote:
I'm certainly not allying in eldar D weapons ... we have a roof beam to hang anyone who trys that from.

Is it next to the one for invisible deathstar douchebags?