So lets move on to force list for the Arctic Apoc. game, even though i haven't posted how the game went ill go ahead and put in both a pre game and post game comment on each unit and how they did. Hopefully this might be helpful if your thinking of including them in your own apoc games.
My list ended up as
-Company Command Squad
W/ Straken, and light options
Pre-Game: I didnt tool him out as i usually do mostly because of points i needed for models i wanted to also include, but also a little bit because (and im ashamed to say this) the new nids scare even Straken a bit in close combat.... I figured he would stay back and help keep my guardsmen in line with his standard and orders, then provide counter assault when the bugs came too close.
Post-Game: He did little to nothing because he stayed back as planned. Our deployment was so snug to the board he never even really had LoS to a nid that wasnt some deep striking trash that would die to lasgun fire....he eventually died to a well placed scheduled bombardment. I think my original idea to put him in a vendetta flyer and drop him in the thick of it with his tooled out CC squad would have been far more fun, i dont think the original plan of line support was bad it just didn't end even being necessary as the nids kinda ignored me.
-Steel Fury Formation
W/ 2x Baneblades, 212 Arethusa (Baneblade character)
Pre: Their job was too huddle around the shield gen. and massacre bugs. The lascannons would go toward Phants, the demo cannons too if they got that close, but everything else including the big gun would be better off against other stuff. I specifically didnt make 212 the command tank of the formation, because i wanted 2 targets for my enemy, the command tank is valuable because of its integral role in the formation and 212 is valuable for its beefed up stats. Making them one and the same would just make it a no brainer for the enemy as to which Blade should be pounded.
Post: People had said Baneblades were "ineffective overall" to me many times pre game. This might have been the story if i were facing math hammer players trying at all costs to win the apoc game with tooled out titans of nothing but D weapons, but for our game they did amazing. If it was within LoS, it died. The Blades main cannon wiped out massive swaths of anything, i ended up firing it more at phants then i originall thought because i could then position the templete on the phants outside edges so as to catch a good chunk of nids with it. With the co-axil autocannon allowing me to then reroll scatter i never once had a problem hitting what i wanted.
Sadly they ended up so restricted in deployment that they just cleared up my area and slowly moved onward to get more LOS on the rest of the horde. 212 lost its main gun, and was immobilized, but otherwise there was no other damage done to them. One of the Heirophants tried real hard, but that just annoyed my boyz so we had to put it down ... =) On their kill list was 1 Phant, and 1 Heirodule as well (though they just sniped off its last wound in reality)
-Infantry Platoon
W/ Command and 3 Inf. Squads 3 Chimeras
Pre: It was their job to take up space, plain and simple i didnt want deep strikes or outflanks getting to my Baneblades so i bought a bunch of meat to put around them. The Chimeras are basically there for the exact same reason and would be deployed empty.
Post: They did there job i guess, the nids kinda ignored me so they killed some random stuff. one of the squads couldn't be put out in deployment because we didn't have room and ran out of time so it came in later to help my team mates. Overall they didn't do much but i think thats more because my deployment area was so small i couldn't form the circle of them around the Baneblades so they go stuck on table edge duty.
-Vet Squad
W/ Harker, snipes, autocannon
Pre: I love harker and his boys, i just assumed they would kill stuff as usual, take up space around my tanks with the platoon, and get a 2+ save from the other IG players reinforced lines.
Post: We didnt get to deploy them due to space in our deployment, they eventually came on to support my allies and killled a broodlord and some stealers before being assaulted to death. I think again their strat was fine but the deployment problems screwed up their use.
-Leman Russ and Leman Russ Demolisher
Pre: They would be support and provide extra fire as needed, no amazing plan here.
Post: it actually did quite well, no real surprises. The normal russ sniped from a hill and the Demo ran out in front of the Blades as they advanced. Honestly i wish i would have had points for more.
-Manticore Missile Launcher
Pre: no strats beyond the obvious here, lob missile of doom kgo.
Post: worked as expected, though it fired an annoying 3 volleys of only 1 blast out of its 4 volleys...we'll get to our dice problems in the battle report.......
-2x Scout Sentinels
W/ Autocannons
Pre: extra cheap firepower and i enjoy bringing these guys as theyre extra armor running around distracting shots to them selves.
Post: nothing amazing, sat back and shot at Zoanathrops mostly.
-Banewolf
Pre: I figured the nids would have Carnifexs and what not, the formation that gives Carni's Fleet sounded pretty nasty to me, so this would be there to rush out and get an extra few wounds then hopefully get assaulted. Being Fast it can move 12 inches and be hit on 6's in CC, plus as the Banewolfs Chem Cannon is Str 1 it counts as Defensive and so it can fire both hull and turret after going 12 which is why i ended up with it instead of a hellhound.
Post: wow, loser of the battle award right here....it immobilized its self on turn 1, 6 inches from my board edge....it did literally nothing all game.
-2x Vendetta GunShips
Pre: They get Flyer and hover in Apoc, their plan was simple. Shoot at stuff, mostly Heirophants.
Post: They did well, they assisted in taking down the 1st Phant, but because my allies hadn't received my Astropaths 30 odd messages about bring anti Phant weaponry and thus had caused about 1 wound on the phants to far from the rest of my force, my vendetta's moved on to more precision strikes against other targets like a tervigon that took 16 of his little buddies with him at death. They also had some fail creep in late game, but that was the dice gods laughing at us really...let me tell you right now before the actual battle report, the dice gods were there in force.....
Of your side's units, I think the clear victors were the baneblades. Despite you saying that we didn't fire anything at them, they took a ton of abuse and never really got rattled.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised as I thought they were generally an inferior choice to units like titans and russes, but they certainly held their own. Next game against them, I'll have to try to get some MC's into combat with them...
yeah they did great, like i said above though i think in other games they might fair worse if people are massing D weapon fire.
ReplyDeleteAll these Titans that bring every slot equipped with the same thing just ruins it, it is super easy for them to just smash the blades in one turn. Thats honestly why i think Apoc is more fun with smaller less amazing units like baneblades. Sure they have a lot of firepower, but you get cover saves, they dont insta wound, insta death, or auto ignore armor.... D weapons are cool and have their place, but its Apoc, not Titans vs Titans with some random stuff around them.
of course thats just my opinion =)