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I have some explaining to do. Let me say up front this is an utterly fun build, and it basically breaks the game in terms of mathematical damage potential - however[i], I fully concede this isn't a competitive tournament list, just an incredibly powerful casual to semi-comp list. Don't bring this to LVO, definitely bring it to your LGS lol.

The basic premise here is coupling Vengeful (6's to hit cause an additional hit) with Wrath of Khaine (6s to wound do +1 damage) with all units that have very high rates of attack. Once I built the list and started doing the math I realized, this math can't possibly be real, and yet it is. Let me explain. I attempted to calculate maximum damage potential for each unit in a given combat; this assumed a full strength unit, rolling all 6's to hit and all 6's to wound. Let me stress this doesn't represent reality in any way, nor does it represent the average damage the unit can do. All it does is calculate the maximum potential damage for the unit in a perfect world. I still like to calculate this out because when you do it for every unit in your codex it provides figures that can be compared to one another and generally let you hone in on units that give you a lot of random potential. Once in a while you will spike a bunch of sixes, and units with a really high value will reward those moments more than others.

I basically selected the most cost-efficient units that also had high rate of attack, so as you'll see, scorpions, banshees, phoenix lords, avatar etc. I'll just break down one unit here as an example, then throw the list up.

Ten striking scorpions with an exarch power and a biting blade. Scorpions and Karandras are particularly broken with these two craftworld attributes because of their built-in exploding 6's as well as their mortal wounds on 6's to wound (mandiblasters). I'll point out now that sustained assault, the ability that gives them natural exploding 6's specifically states that these extra attacks cannot activate their mandiblasters, however the Vengeful attribute does not include that limitation, so yes, working out the math is tedious, but it's also just broken lol. So lets do one scorpion separately, the exarch separately, then extrapolate that out for a 10-man unit.

A single scorpion has 3 attacks base, and +1 attack for the scorpion chainsword, 4 attacks total at damage 1. If that single scorpion rolls four 6's, it will proc both sustained assault and vengeful for 12 total hits. If that scorpion then rolled all 6's to wound Wrath of Khaine would give you 12 wounds at 2 damage each for a total of 24 damage. At that point you would then calculate mandiblasters. 6's to wound do 1 mortal wound in addition, but the attacks from sustained assault cannot count towards it, so that's 4 of the 12 wounds taken away, but still leaving you with 8 mortal wounds per scorpion. 24 damage + 8 mortal wounds per scorpion. 32 total damage times 9 scorpions = 288 total potential damage for those 9 models.

The exarch quickly: 5 attack base + 2 for the biting blade gives you 7 attacks at damage 2. 7 hits becomes 21 hits if you were to roll all 6's, but now at damage 3 - so 63 total potential damage without mandiblasters. Add in the mandiblasters for 14 of the hits, you get a potential for 77 total damage from just the exarch.

288+77 = 365 Total damage potential from a single 200ish point unit. Just crazy stuff. The Scorpions represent the most extreme example with this math, along with Karandras' 2 mortal wounds per mandiblaster proc; but the math gets bonkers with everything, even storm guardians - the avatar is crazy ferocious lol. List below:

Vengeful Wrath of Khaine 9th Edition 2000 points

- Vengeful/Wrath of Khaine Battalion Detachment – 12 CP

HQ – Avatar of Khaine (92 TDPT)
HQ – Karandras (124 TDPT)
HQ – Jain Zar (54 TDPT)

Troops – 10x Storm Guardians (90 TDPT)
Troops – 10x Storm Guardians (90 TDPT)
Troops – 10x Storm Guardians (90 TDPT)

Elites – 10x Striking Scorpions w/ Biting Blade (Scorpion’s Sting) (375 TDPT)
Elites – 10x Striking Scorpions w/ Biting Blade (364 TDPT)
Elites – 10x Howling Banshees w/ Mirrorswords & Cronescream (Piercing Strikes) (178 TDPT)
Elites – 10x Howling Banshees w/ Mirrorswords (150 TDPT)
Elites – 3x Warlock Skyrunners w/ (Quicken/Restrain, Protect/Jinx) (48 TDPT)

Fast Attack – 5x Shining Spears w/ Khaine’s Lance (126 TDPT)
Fast Attack – 5x Shining Spears (126 TDPT)

1907 TDPT!!!!!!!!! I BROKE THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!! (TDPT = total potential damage per turn)[spoiler]

If you followed the whole idea, explanation, and army list through to completion, thank you! I would love your feedback and or reactions! And please remember before you blast me for something - I don't claim that this is competitive, nor do I claim that this math is representative of a statistical reality lol! It's still a lot of fun!

Just for fun the most 6's I ever saw rolled in a game of 40k for single attack was 4 in a roll. It was a Tau Broadside in 4th edition vs a eldar forgeworld vampire. 6 to hit, 6 to wound, 6 on some chart, 6 on the result... one very dead flyer. Tau lost that game soundly as the turn before the vampire and all the rest of the eldar had decimated most of the Tau army.

You should recalculate this with average rolls, I'm curious to see how that compares to the 1 in a million once in a lifetime case.

Thanks for the feedback! I haven't calculated that out, but I'm almost positive the result would be "pretty good." That's why I say the list is almost certainly a stronger "casual" list. With every unit having lots of attacks you're always going to get some 6's, and when you do things snowball nicely.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
OK I ran the math on just the 10-man squad of scorpions with the exarch with an exarch power and biting blade, ballistic skill 3+ against toughness 4 infantry. Averages out to 43 total hits and 48 total damage after rolling to wound, factoring in double exploding 6's, +1 damage on 6's to wound, and mandiblaster mortal wounds on 6's to wound. 48 damage is still very very sweet lol. Your 190 point unit should be able to take out well above it's points cost in a single round of combat.

There are many builds that offer better and more reliable attacks.

chadbrochill17 wrote:
There are many builds that offer better and more reliable attacks.

Then by all means please share them....