Wracks and me

So i have an issue getting the most utility out of my wracks i usually take ten with two liquiifers and a haemonculi with a third flamer.

mind you ive used this unit all of twice and both times it ended very badly

the first time i had the flamers in the back which is a stupid mistake on my part so yeah i felt dumb to say the least when i was told i cant use my flamers from the back of my unit.

the second time they were put up against a unit of three chaos bikers and the bikers munched the entire unit of wracks in two turns (would have been one but one wrack survived an entire round of CC by himself while i was yelling "HE DID IT!")  

any advice would be welcome and very appreciated

First off, your build sounds like you're footslogging them, which seems unwise.
Though specific build advice is awkward without seeing the whole list, I'll admit.

Second, I see no reason why 3 Bikers should have been able to overpower a unit of 10 Wracks. A biker is almost no different to a Wrack than a regular Space Marine is. Maybe if the Bikes did the charging and the unit had been shot up already or something...

The best way to run Wracks, in my opinion, is either as a squad of 3 in a Venom as objective grabbers or Venom spam creators. A squad of 5 in a Venom w. Liquifier as a support unit, or 9 of them in a Raider with a liquifier and an HQ as an assault choice. You seem to want your Wracks to go big, or go home, so I'd tend to suggest 9 of them in a Raider with a Haem (probably a liquifier and v. blade on the haem, though you could go power weapon pretty easy thanks to furious charge)

Wracks would much rather assault than be assaulted since they lack guns. On the charge with a heam 9 of them will do 27 poison attacks that will re-roll failed wound rolls versus T4 or less targets.

Versus Marines that means an average of 3.4 dead marines on the charge. Add in more for the liquifier hits prior to charge, more for the Haem, and more for the Acothyst if you go that route. Then, add in that they are T4 with FNP and they don't go away that easy either.

They're never going to steamroll a legit assault unit.
But versus any other army's base troops or any sort of shooting unit they are a true terror that will carve up pretty much anything within about two rounds.

Wracks also make good bullet sponges in multi-assaults - send them in first and then assault with your Wyches or Incubi to preserve the more fragile and/or expensive unit.

Thor665 wrote:

First off, your build sounds like you're footslogging them, which seems unwise.
Though specific build advice is awkward without seeing the whole list, I'll admit.

Second, I see no reason why 3 Bikers should have been able to overpower a unit of 10 Wracks. A biker is almost no different to a Wrack than a regular Space Marine is. Maybe if the Bikes did the charging and the unit had been shot up already or something...

yes Thor sensei you are correct, in my defense i simply dont own a raider to take them in... yet, but till then im just experimenting. and on the second count your guess that they were shot up first was correct, and then they smashed into my unit on assault and took out a few more and then the assault happened and i only managed to kill off one biker.

the dice gods didnt like me much that turn.

Yeah, Wracks, like Wyches, massively benefit from transports. Wracks are a bit more durable, but with a total lack of real shooting the only way they work footslogging, in my opinion, is if you have a unit kept in reserve to claim home objectives - and even then they are only moderately solid at that.

Wracks strongly benefit from having the charge - both due to the synergy of the boost with furious charge (which they'll likely have since they are usually paired with a Haem) and their poison, and also because the extra attack strongly benefits them since they usually lack power weapons and, unlike Wyches, usually swing simultaneously with whatever they're assaulting.

Being able to disembark and assault from a Raider usually gives them a better chance of managing a charge than they would have footslogging. It also helps them pick the target that works best for them - another benefit.

I'm no experienced guru, but I've been fielding 2 raiders of 9 wracks with LG and Haemy with LG for several games now, and honestly they're one of the units I'm most pleased with. As long as you focus and get those LGs in front when they want to be, you'll be fine.
As the above posters stated, getting the charge with them is important. And don't be afraid to open up with LGs before charging, either. That's what they're there for.

Each time I've fielded wracks they've taken out their weight in marines. AND they've put the fear of xenos into the marine commanders, usually taking one entire turn of shooting from >80% of the marine forces to wipe them off an objective.

My recommendation is running bigger blobs if you're gonna footslog, or (preferably) get 'em boats like they deserve. Raider with nothing but Enhanced Aethersails is my recommendation.
Turn 1- flat out
Turn 2- Charrrrrrrrge!