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[2000] - Mono Astra Militarum Cadians - High Model Count, Optimal Builds  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
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Made in us
Prophetic Blood Angel Librarian




Not played for a couple of years since just after 8th dropped as I am currently on the other side of the world from my models, however I have been following 8th and have just read the new Chapter approved with the points changes. The following is taking these into account.

1 Brigade, 1 Battalion, 1 Vanguard

Knight Commander Pask
Executioner Plasma Cannon, 2 plasma cannons, Heavy bolter
With this build Pask will put out 2D6+2D3 st8 ap-3 d2 shots hitting on a 2+ rerolling 1s (not counting the HB). If he hasn't moved, he will also be able to use the order to reroll either or both d6 for the amount of executioner shots as he will have a natural reroll 1 from not moving. Combined with a warlord nearby with old grudges/relic of cadia/overlapping fields of fire etc, this will become pretty nasty for its 220 pts.

Tank Commander x3
Built like Pask, 35pts cheaper but hits on a 3+ not a 2+. So 4 very damaging executioners altogether. Worth noting that chapter approved reduced this build by 40pts total. (Only 15pt reduction for Pask (Edit to avoid confusion - the 15pts is from the plasma reduction not the base model))

Company Commanders x3
Bolt Gun, Power Sword
For 1 point to upgrade from a laspistol to a boltgun would be silly not to if optimising. Same with the powerswords

Platoon Commander x3
Built like company commanders

Veteran Squad x3
3 Grenade Launchers, Autocannon,, Boltgun.
Built like this the squad is a measly 70pts and its weapons synchronise well enough (although not massively important in 8th). The Grenade Launcher over plasma... 3pts compared to 11pts. All the 'to-hit' special weapons cost more for vets, GLs don't - keeps the squad cheap and they still put out 3 st6 ap-1 dd3 (or d6 st3),2 st7 ap-1 d2 shots plus the bolter and lasguns at bs3+ with rerolls of 1 or rerolls of all to hits. If horde clearance is needed the GLs put out almost as many 'lasgun' shots as FRFSRF (3.5 on average) but at upto 24" range and the ability to receive a different order on top of it, such as reroll all hits.

Infantry Squad x7
Plasma Gun, Lascannon, Boltgun
Each squad is potentially dangerous with this loadout, but the opponent will have other worries to focus upon, plus if you lose a squad, there is more where they came from.

Infantry Squad x2
Plasma Gun, Heavy Bolter, Boltgun
Needed to save 23pts, downgraded 2 Lascannons to HBs

Heavy Weapons Squad x3
Autocannons x3
Autocannons went down in price by 33%, now being only double that of a mortar. Mortars are taken so they can be hidden, but with threat saturation the autocannons could survive longer. And if the opponent does wipe out all 9 of them, it's only 126pts gone. If he doesn't that's 18 st7 ap-1 d2 shots a turn, potentially with rerolls to hit all for 126pts.

Armoured Sentinel x3
Autocannon
Not a bad autocannon platform for 40pts but still only there to fill out brigade requirements. Another unit build drastically reduced in points, from 55pts to 40pts.

1999pts

4 Veteran Tanks, 3 Sentinals, 144 Guardsmen. Will be large board coverage. Orders, choice of relics and the large amount of CPs keep it all flexible. The things I am questioning are optimal are the 6 power swords but they give the opportunity for a small measure of counter assault (late game when there are more orders than units going about), plus it's only 24pts... but that could upgrade the 2 HBs back to LCs. Thoughts?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2019/01/16 10:23:08


 
   
Made in us
Stealthy Warhound Titan Princeps






So, my thoughts on this / things you should keep in mind.

1) You have 4 tanks on the board. If you go second, it's very likely that Pask + another Tank Commander is going to die, because there's nothing on the field big enough to draw fire away from them. My solution to this in my Mono-Guard army was to take a Shadowsword... about as expensive as 2 tank commanders, slightly more durable, and draws a ton of fire. If you go first, great, you annihilate enemy super heavy tanks. If you go second, Shadowsword will probably die or be crippled, but losing it is better than losing pask and a commander executioner. The other solution is to include a Knight Gallant... which makes your army not mono guard anymore. The Gallant is cheap enough that losing it turn 1 isn't terrible, and durable enough that removing it isn't easy. It's also scary enough that it will likely draw a ton of fire, because if the enemy doesn't deal with it and you clear their screens with anti-infantry fire it will mess them up.

2) All of your tanks are plasma-based, meaning they really need to overcharge to do real damage to tanks / vehicles / heavy infantry. This makes them a massive liability vs armies with minus to hit modifiers, like Eldar or Raven Guard. You cannot safely overcharge if you're wounding yourself on 1's and 2's, or worse vs Eldar fliers, you may be wounding yourself on 3's and 4's as well if they stack up a -3 to hit. Consider taking at least one or two battle cannons so you can fire at these things without risking blowing yourself up. I also added Hellhounds to my list specifically to try to counter minus to hit armies, since they automatically hit, and are quite good for their points costs.

3) Your HWS are all autocannons, and while they are fairly cheap and have good firepower for their cost, they are super fragile, and are all likely to die immediately turn 1. Mortars are generally a better choice, since you can hide them out of LOS and they do really decent damage.

4) Veterans aren't really worth 70 points per squad, they will usually be firing at beyond 12" range, so it's effectively 2 autocannon shots, a grenade shot, and 7 lasgun shots for 70 points. So 210 points buys you 6 autocannons, 3 grenades, and 21 lasgun shots. Compare that with 216 points buying you a pair of Basilisks... I'd go with the Basilisks.

5) You really don't need Power Swords, if you have a guy in close combat he's already dead. Those points are usually spent better elsewhere, though if you have an extra 4 points at the end throwing one on your warlord can be cool.

6) I know Plasma got cheaper for infantry, but I'm still not a fan of it. With BS 4, they're not very accurate, and if you drop all of them that's 63 points saved, which could buy you another squad and a half. The main point of Guardsmen IMO is to keep the enemy away from your tanks, to stand on objectives and die, and to throw themselves at enemy units to prevent shooting, so more bodies > better equipped Guardsmen.

7) I'd probably try to add a techpriest, at only 30 points over the course of the game he can easily heal a full Leman Russ worth of wounds on your tank commanders. If the enemy knocks you down a wounds bracket, Jury Rigging + Techpriest can often push you back up to the higher bracket again, so you're shooting more effective longer.
   
 
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