1999+1 Army for GT

I have an army list that I would like picked apart. Explanations later, but first my army.

[TOTAL: 1992]

Duke Sliscus XXX

3 Trueborn, 2 Dark Lance w/ Raider, Dark Lance 146
3 Trueborn, 2 Dark Lance w/ Raider, Dark Lance 146

5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades W/ Venom, 2 Splinter Cannon, Night Shields 135
5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades W/ Venom, 2 Splinter Cannon, Night Shields 135
5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades W/ Venom, 2 Splinter Cannon, Night Shields 135
5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades W/ Venom, 2 Splinter Cannon, Night Shields 135
9 Warriors w/ Raider, Dark Lance, Splinter Racks. Night Shields 161
10 Warriors, Splinter Cannon w/ Raider, Dark Lance, Splinter Racks, Night Shields 180

3 Reavers, 1 Heat Lance 78
3 Reavers, 1 Heat Lance 78
3 Reavers, 1 Heat Lance 78

Ravager, 3 Dark Lance, Night Shields 115
Razorwing, 2 Dark Lance, Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon 165
Razorwing, 2 Dark Lance, Flickerfield, Splinter Cannon 165

[Please do not perform the subtraction necessary to deduce Duke's points cost, lest a friendly mod give you some red-text]

I'm taking this to the NOVA Open next week. It's a 6-8 round tournament that has a set terrain and objective setup with round-specific special rules and deployment borrowed from the yellow rulebook. With over 200 other players, I have no idea what I will be facing, but I have tried to address my personal biggest fears. Let me know if I am off-base or if there is a better way to approach these problems. My model limit is almost completely taxed by this army, but I have some things in reserve/can borrow.

#1. Mechanized armies (Mech Guard, Razorbacks) Gotta pop those cans before the Venoms come online. To that end, lots of Turn 1 shooting- Lanceborn, a Ravager, and spare Raiders, while Reavers can start trying for lucky hits Turn 2. The Wyches are for the really bad parking lots: I don't want to throw my scoring units to their deaths. Night Shields defend against Heavy Bolters and Multilasers.

#2 Necrons- I think these guys are popular enough to get their own entry. The Razorwings are meant to deal with blobs of metal men, while splinter fire can concentrate on Wraiths. Night Shields do their thing. Wyches and Reavers are less helpful here unless I can pull off an assault without getting Rapid Fired or Teslas'd to death.

#3 Enemy fliers- The only reason my Razorwings have Lances instead of Disintegrators, and my mind is still not made up on that count. I fear the AV 12 Guard flyers most, but since every army and their mom just got these (okay, not Tyranids) I want something of higher strength. Once the Razorwings are gone I'm SOL versus flyers, and I'm pretty much going to fold to 9 Scythes or similar, but I want some game against a token Stormraven or something.

#4 Hordes/Triple Long Fangs/Devs- If people believe vehicles are bad, they may go horde, and infantry heavy support is never a joke. I'm not sure I actually have enough AI, but every time I consider switching I have visions of 6 Razorbacks laughing off my lances. Razorwings, bladevanes, and the big splinter squads are for these, and maybe just bum-rush the Devs with Wyches.

Well, there is my army and my thought process. I would appreciate any insight. Ultimately, I'm going to have fun, but it would be nice to bring a coherent and balanced army to the table for 6+ rounds. To that end, I want some fresh eyes giving it a critical gaze. have at it!

I like the list, you're bringing the right tools for the job. Its kinda tough to gauge who's bringing what to these events as we are still in the dawn of 6th.....but you're definitely going with your gut, which is where most of us are anyway....

I'd like to add $0.02, more-so for discussion:

Trueborn Venoms: An interesting debate with me personally. I'm thinking that Venoms being 2HP are geared more for keeping to their safer being at maximum distance, now to take small armours fire out of the equation. I think Dark Lance TB pair up nicely for this reason. 2ndly, they have a FF standard, so you don't need to move to get the same save as if you where moving......play test it, see how they go.

Haywire Wyches in Raiders; pretty much the same reason as above yet in reverse. Raiders having 1 better HP so I personally feel better having that (tiny) bit extra when moving forwards.

Reavers as AI: Reavers are awesome now, and to a certain extent better than Venoms at AI - esp against MEQ. They have 48" range and a 3+ cover. Its when versing T5 and above that Venoms own it........also when boosting over a unit, your opponent isn't taking models away from the front, jeapordising any ensuing charges. I'm pretty sure Bladevanes will get FAQ'd to hit like Screamers - has the NOVA FAQ'd this one yet I wonder...?

Lastly, I just want to offer a thought on taking on Flyers - when Zooming (only) flyers enter the game, they have to move min 18" - we have the speed to get as many units as close to their 18" minimum line as possible - basically meaning tat when his flyers enter the game, they fly right over the top of you - you can then keep moving behind him due to his limited movements. If he has the Hover option, great, he'll shoot away, but then 5 Wyches will wreck it in the next turn....

Anyway, some slight adjustments that I presonally have noticed with DE, would like to hear what you think

1++ wrote:

Lastly, I just want to offer a thought on taking on Flyers - when Zooming (only) flyers enter the game, they have to move min 18" - we have the speed to get as many units as close to their 18" minimum line as possible - basically meaning tat when his flyers enter the game, they fly right over the top of you - you can then keep moving behind him due to his limited movements. If he has the Hover option, great, he'll shoot away, but then 5 Wyches will wreck it in the next turn....

Unless there is something I have missed Flyers don't have to come on in a straight line. This means that they can fly in on an angle and still hit your models that are within 18" of the table edge.

Orthien wrote:

1++ wrote:

Lastly, I just want to offer a thought on taking on Flyers - when Zooming (only) flyers enter the game, they have to move min 18" - we have the speed to get as many units as close to their 18" minimum line as possible - basically meaning tat when his flyers enter the game, they fly right over the top of you - you can then keep moving behind him due to his limited movements. If he has the Hover option, great, he'll shoot away, but then 5 Wyches will wreck it in the next turn....

Unless there is something I have missed Flyers don't have to come on in a straight line. This means that they can fly in on an angle and still hit your models that are within 18" of the table edge.

Quite true. When coming in from reserve you can enter at any angle you wish. Therefore if you are Zooming, you must move in a straight line, minimum distance of 18". So really, my movement idea wouldn't really counter anything LOL...

one of the warrior squads is not legal, u need 10 ppl for a DL

Thank you for the replies! Though, callofdoobie, my notation of "w/ Raider, Dark Lance, etc." is meant to say that the Raider has a Dark Lance, not the Warriors. Though, I am adding in a Lance squad, so it's all good!

After playing the army, I have come to agree with many points that you raised, 1++, particularly the need for a Flickerfield vehicle for Lanceborn that they can start in and the value of Reavers as anti-infantry. Although there are many flight paths that fliers can take, I think 2 is too many, especially when X amount of Dark Lances is never enough, such as when it is hard to deploy the Haywire. I have shuffled things around considerably, and spat out an army that squeezes points and my army to their limit and beyond: I need to pick up a 5th Venom! (The 4th Raider from the earlier list resumes its former life as a Ravager, magnets FTW!)

[TOTAL: 2000]

Duke Sliscus XXX

3 Trueborn, 3 Blaster w/ Raider, Dark Lance, Night Shields 151
3 Trueborn, 3 Blaster w/ Raider, Dark Lance, Night Shields 151
3 Trueborn, 2 Dark Lance w/ Venom, 2 Splinter Cannon, Night Shields 161

5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades w/ Venom, 2 Splinter Cannon, Night Shields 135
5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades w/ Venom, 2 Splinter Cannon, Night Shields 135
5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades w/ Venom, 2 Splinter Cannon, Night Shields 135
5 Wyches, Haywire Grenades w/ Venom, 2 Splinter Cannon, Night Shields 135

9 Warriors w/ Raider, Dark Lance, Splinter Racks, Night Shields 161
10 Warriors, 1 Dark Lance 115

6 Reavers, 2 Cluster Caltrops, 2 Heat Lance 196

Ravager, 3 Dark Lance, Night Shields 115
Ravager, 3 Dark Lance, Night Shields 115
Razorwing, 2 Disintegrator 145

My 6th Troops choice is now a static block of Warriors, which is a shame, but two squads of Splinter Warriors is too many considering how bad they are at it. A big squad to go camping and fire some pot shots seems good: should they have a Splinter Cannon+Blaster for this, instead? Blasterborn are back in minimal squad sizes, basically there to unlock Venoms and support the army when it is against an opponent that it can or must turbo-boost up on to pop its metal boxes. They are even decent against fliers, as seen when a Dark Eldar opponent stunned two of my Razorwings in one game with his Blaster squads. A token squad of Lanceborn and 2 Ravagers fit in for when the army wants to play the long game.

The Reavers are currently playing double duty: they can either drop S6 hits or go in deep and get 2 HL shots, but I'm not sure if this is wise. I am really tempted to drop 1 Cluster Caltrop in order to give my Razorwing its Cannon and FF. Should I drop either both Heat Lances, 1 Caltrop, or neither, and if I drop neither, should I put the special weapons on only two models, or spread them out on four different ones?

Beyond those concerns, any nitpicks?. I am getting very excited, and painting like a madman as a result. I intend to post my army pictures for the first time, but the little details and tasks keep piling up. Nothing like a tournament to be a motivator!

I think if you look at things mathematically between a unit of 3 Blasterborn and a Ravager should score one hit on a Flyer. You have 2x 3 Blasterborn and 2 Ravagers, so again mathematically you should score 2 hits in a Flyer.

I've found that reserving my Reavers has its hidden benefits; in Vanguard deployment, you can attempt to "guide" your opponent to move closer to your side of the table,by moving the long way around, as when your Reavers come on (and if in Melta range) you'll get side or even rear armour shots - assault jump into or behind cover, then begin Bladevaning from the next turn onwards, so I think at least 1 HL would be worth taking. Ultimately if there are no Tanks with the 21" Melta range, then look at Bladevaning right from the start. I've found that a unt of 6 Reavers w/ 1 Caltrops has about the same wound output as a Venom, so great for T3/T4 units

After an informative playtest courtesy of ShadowsRevenge, I feel somewhat confident in this army's ability to adapt on the fly, which is really what I was going for. I am going to drop one Cluster Caltrop to but the Razorwing to buy its Cannon and Flickerfield. I should have a tournament report up by Mondsy.

Good luck tomorrow!

good luck man. My Harliestar got trashed badly But I expected as much with how mobile his list was. Cant wait to hear how well Nova went for you!