1850 Tournament Army

Hey guys,

Thinking of an 1850 list to run at my first outing for 7th ed., happening in Feb;

Archon, WWP
2 Medusae, 3 Sslyth

5 Warriors, Blaster in Venom, 2 Splinter Cannons (Sybarite upgrade, Warlord)
5 Warriors, Blaster in Venom, 2 Splinter Cannons
5 Warriors, Blaster in Venom, 2 Splinter Cannons
10 Warriors, Raider, DL, Splinter Racks
10 Warriors, Raider, DL, Splinter Racks

5 Scourge, 4 Haywire Blasters
5 Scourge, 4 Haywire Blasters
1 Venom, 2 Splinter Cannons

1 Ravager, 3 DLs
1 Ravager, 3 DLs

Dark Artisan Formation
1 Haemie, WWP, Liq
1 Talos, TL Heat Lance, Chain Flails
1 Cronos, Spirit Probe

1830 (20 pts left to make up somewhere)


So I do like the DA formation as either a T1 wounds soak or a deepstriking flamer bomb that is hard to shift the turn it arrives. Same goes for the Court unit, hence the Sslyth to add in more survivability. The Medusae are great for "sniping" out models/special weapons that are poorly positioned (say at the back of a unit).

I've found having a low threat Warlord helps a little with keeping him alive, but isn't fool-proof. The Venoms, Scourge and Ravagers get right to work on T1, whilst the 2 gunboats (will likely) position themselves more toward midfield, to poor wounds onto some more resilient foot slogging units (Termies, FnP Marines etc) T2 onwards.

C&C always welcome.

I would change the fast attack venom to archon or court. That way it does not grant scourging points if its killed in that mission.

Not sold on the gunboats or scourges but if they work for you thats fine.

I would also swap the flails for the ichor injector on the talos in the DA... I have found its a great addition!

Those last 20 points should go onto the haemy to grab relics from the coven book - all of them are worth it!

Massaen wrote:

I would also swap the flails for the ichor injector on the talos in the DA... I have found its a great addition!

Those last 20 points should go onto the haemy to grab relics from the coven book - all of them are worth it!

I'm not sure about the Ichor Injector - it is better against things that are T7+, but much, much worse against things that are T5 or less. I'd personally keep the flails but drop the Heat Lances. And boy do the relics in the Coven book suck. I mean the sump is probably the best of them, but it isn't very good in Dark Artisan.

I'd also drop the Sybarite and make the Haemonculus your Warlord. That will make the formation MUCH tougher and you don't have to just waste points on a sgt for no reason.

As for the Court, I'd make the Fast Attack Venom into a Fast Attack Raider with Splinter Racks. Ssylth are an amazing candidate for gunboat Raiders and you want those guys to have a transport (and they can't currently fit in a Venom).

Izathel wrote:

I'm not sure about the Ichor Injector - it is better against things that are T7+, but much, much worse against things that are T5 or less.

I'm not sure I follow. I suppose I could accept 'worse' but 'much much worse' by wounding on a 2+ as opposed to a re-rollable 2+? Yeah, it's less wounds theoretically, but often will make no difference at all. Plus against anything with multiple wounds it's better.

1++ wrote:

Archon, WWP
2 Medusae, 3 Sslyth

That seems like a lot of points invested in a 'kill infantry via shooting DS' unit. I'm not sure I think it's worth the value.

1++ wrote:

5 Warriors, Blaster in Venom, 2 Splinter Cannons (Sybarite upgrade, Warlord)

Is there a reason not to make the DA Haem your Warlord? That re-roll on 1s with FNP is pretty decent for them.

1++ wrote:

10 Warriors, Raider, DL, Splinter Racks
10 Warriors, Raider, DL, Splinter Racks

I will note that I think Gunboats are fairly inferior options, so make sure you love them and think they work best for the way you play.

1++ wrote:

5 Scourge, 4 Haywire Blasters
5 Scourge, 4 Haywire Blasters

I would happily sack one of these for a Ravager with lances.

1++ wrote:

1 Venom, 2 Splinter Cannons

I agree with Vasara about this.

1++ wrote:

1 Ravager, 3 DLs
1 Ravager, 3 DLs

Fine.

1++ wrote:

Dark Artisan Formation
1 Haemie, WWP, Liq
1 Talos, TL Heat Lance, Chain Flails
1 Cronos, Spirit Probe

I would favor the Injector over the Flails, and will admit I don't see much point to the Liquifier.

Maybe I am missing something, but how is the Archon, the 3 Slyth and the 2 Medusae fitting in a Venom? Or is the Venom just an extra vehicle to have around and you aren't putting anything in it?

I would definitely make the Haemon your Warlord as his Trait is the a major benefit to that squad. I am not a big fan of the Liquifyer on the Haemon and would rather see the Sump so he can be a CC threat or regain some wounds if needed.

I would really like to see a Razorwing or some sort of air defense in the list. You don't really have an answer to Fliers or FMCs really. Fliers will eat you up I believe.

Thanks for the replies so far guys really appreciate it!

I forgot to add into the OP that there are some restrictions to army lists for this tournie. Restrictions include "Must include a CAD", "Your Warlord MUST be from the CAD" (so no DA Haemie Warlord), "Can Ally with yourself" and "2 Detachment maximum".

So I've been tossing up between using DA FOramtion or a DE Ally Detachment. The Detachment will pretty much include a few more Venoms and another Ravager, with a Lhamean as the HQ.

Vasara wrote:

I would change the fast attack venom to archon or court. That way it does not grant scourging points if its killed in that mission. Not sold on the gunboats or scourges but if they work for you thats fine.

Thanks, the mission packet doesn;t include Scouring type victory conditions, so FA won't bleed too many extra VPs. As for the gunboats I have always liked them but haven't used them in a while, thought I'd add them back into my test games.

Massaen wrote:

I would also swap the flails for the ichor injector on the talos in the DA... I have found its a great addition! Those last 20 points should go onto the haemy to grab relics from the coven book - all of them are worth it!

Yeah I too like the Ichor Injector, esp on an MC

Thor665 wrote:

1++ wrote:

Archon, WWP
2 Medusae, 3 Sslyth

That seems like a lot of points invested in a 'kill infantry via shooting DS' unit. I'm not sure I think it's worth the value.

My original build is 3 Med w/ WWP Archon, basically a suicide unit. Should I revert back, maybe giving them a Venom...?

1++ wrote:

10 Warriors, Raider, DL, Splinter Racks
10 Warriors, Raider, DL, Splinter Racks

I will note that I think Gunboats are fairly inferior options, so make sure you love them and think they work best for the way you play.[/quote]

I do like them, I do like their midfield threat range.

1++ wrote:

5 Scourge, 4 Haywire Blasters
5 Scourge, 4 Haywire Blasters

I would happily sack one of these for a Ravager with lances.[/quote]

I am still "learning" Scourge so will keep at it a bit longer

1++ wrote:

Dark Artisan Formation
1 Haemie, WWP, Liq
1 Talos, TL Heat Lance, Chain Flails
1 Cronos, Spirit Probe

I would favor the Injector over the Flails, and will admit I don't see much point to the Liquifier.[/quote]

Liquifier is in there to give the unit another deepstriking weapon, as well as "something" on Overwatch.

SCP Yeeman wrote:

Maybe I am missing something, but how is the Archon, the 3 Slyth and the 2 Medusae fitting in a Venom?  Or is the Venom just an extra vehicle to have around and you aren't putting anything in it?
I would really like to see a Razorwing or some sort of air defense in the list.  You don't really have an answer to Fliers or FMCs really.  Fliers will eat you up I believe.

No Venom with this build - they can't fit. The empty Venom is unlocked in Fast Attack. Flyers have always underwhelmed me, I just ignore flyers mostly, and for FMCs weight of Fire works well.

New list incarnation on the way

If you are going for liquifier gun on your DA formation I would suggest to equip the Talos with it, he gets it twin linked for the same points as the haemoncolus which helps the S3 weapon, but loses 1 Attack if I remember correctly

Well after considering the recommendations and making my own assessment on my playstyle etc I've decided to go with a Venom Spam style list, single CAD:

Archon, WWP
3 Medusae
5 Trueborn, 2 DLs, Raider, DL
5 Trueborn, 4 Blasters, Venom, 2 SC
5 Trueborn, 4 Blasters, Venom, 2 SC
5 Warr, Sybarite, Blaster, Venom, 2 SC
5 Warriors, Blaster, Venom, 2 SC
5 Warriors, Blaster, Venom, 2 SC
5 Warriors, Blaster, Venom, 2 SC
5 Warriors, Blaster, Venom, 2 SC
5 Warriors, Blaster, Venom, 2 SC
5 Scourge, 4 Haywire Blasters
1 Ravager, 3 DLs
1 Ravager, 3 DLs
1 Ravager, 3 DLs
1850

The strategy is pretty simple really, just point and shoot. Tonnes of ObSec and loads of versatile, mobile shooting. Sybarite remains as Warlord

Looks very nice. A real MSU list this is.

Thanks Vasara. I decided to drop down to 1 unit of Scourge, simply because when I played a powered armoured list this past weekend they really didn't contribute anything. Now had I had a 3rd Ravager, more of those damn Death Company would have been fried

EDIT: Does anyone hate the idea of swapping out the DL Trueborn for a DL, Splinter Cannon Razorwing Jetfighter? Just listening back over Splintermind 5 and Thor you've made me think about including one in this list.

Against other flyers its probably a bit meh but against FMC's, the Cannon and the Lances probably do OK