The Black Buzzards - 1500 point list (attempt 6)

Although I am playing an interesting foot list at them moment, I'm also working on a hybrid list. Here are three drafts:

List A:

HQ
Archon, blaster, venom blade, shadow field - 110

TROOPS
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70

FAST ATTACK
9 Reavers, 3 blasters, arena champion, venom blade - 258
9 Reavers, 3 blasters, arena champion, venom blade - 258

HEAVY SUPPORT
Ravager - 105
Ravager - 105

Total: 1500

List B:

HQ
Archon, blaster, venom blade, shadow field - 110

TROOPS
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70

FAST ATTACK
9 Reavers, 3 blasters, arena champion, venom blade - 258
9 Reavers, 3 blasters, arena champion, venom blade - 258

HEAVY SUPPORT
Talos, Twin-linked liquifier, Twin-linked splinter cannon -105
Talos, Twin-linked liquifier, Twin-linked splinter cannon -105

Total: 1500

List C:

HQ
Archon, blaster, venom blade, shadow field - 110

TROOPS
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70
9 Warriors, blaster - 96
Raider, racks - 70

FAST ATTACK
9 Reavers, 3 blasters, arena champion, venom blade - 258
9 Reavers, 3 blasters, arena champion, venom blade - 258

HEAVY SUPPORT
Talos, Twin-linked liquifier, Twin-linked splinter cannon -105
Ravager - 105

Total: 1500

The reasoning for no night shields is I don't think they work that well in a hybrid list. As for the nine man warrior squads, this gives my archon more options if for whatever reason his transport gets destroyed. Personally I'm leaning towards list B as the talos give me a counter assault unit and more assault presence. Thoughts?

i dont like "c" having only one ravager or talos usually means it will get splattered rather quickly

personally i prefer "a" but that's cause i prefer shooting and dont generally want to be in close combat. "b" however is nice gives a big scary treat for people to shoot at with their long range otherwise the talos when they get there will do bad things to whatever they hit all the while keeping up a constant rain of splinterfire.

as a random aside how do your usual wych and bikes list and other bike heavy lists you have tried go against lists with equal or at least comparable speed?

you already know I prefer A, but knowing you your going to go with B

I am sorry but anything over 1000 points the first thing I do is max out all my heavy slots, before even thinking about troops, or HQ, or whatever. IMHO this list is light on long range AT the 24" provided by the Warrior blasters is just not enough in my opinion. (Move 6" shoot 18")

While true that with their speed your Reavers are the equivalent of two Ravagers they cost you 2.5 times the price. The size of these squads make them impossible to hide and even with Jink+skilled rider many will die to simple bolter fire and I am not even talking about templates or pie plates.

The Blaster Archon doesn't really add anything to the list with his 6" blaster. For this list I would rather have a cheaper HQ say a Heami with Liquifier. He is cheap allowing spare point to be put toward the acquisition of 3rd Heavy slot and which ever squad he joins will have FNP which is awesome.

Or if you are dead set against the 3rd Heavy slot you can give one more warrior with SC to all those Warriors squad and then you are truly taking advantage of those expensive splinter racks.

Hope this helps
Cheers

@Immelman... Dont even try. Its taken this long to even see Mush have a ravager in a list. Lets take what we can get

Also the archon has a blaster, not a blast pistol. So his range is still 18" (24" when you move) and his BS7 makes it rarely miss. Its not the best HQ for a list like this, but its still decent.

Also Splinter Cannons can not use splinter racks, only pistols and rifles (heck, carbines dont even get the bonus) So to save points, the idea of not having that 10th guy is an interesting choice

if he is having a blaster in the squad then are they really primarily a infantry or tank hunting unit in which case do they need the racks ... if they are an infantry hunting unit id prefer 9 rifles and a cannon sure the cannon cant reroll but it gets 2ce as many shots

I think A is probably the best choice, although it's pretty much one sided and has fairly obvious weaknesses.
You can count on those ravangers being shot down pretty much on the first turn as they have zero survivability and your list is focused on lances, and ravagers having the most lances in one place. The 2 Talos offer some balance but they are out of place and can't be supported.

Play it against IG or Crons and if it holds up then it's a really solid shooty list

My mind says A but heart says B. I just love pain engines.

Seshiru wrote:

The 2 Talos offer some balance but they are out of place and can't be supported.

For the sake of discussion what is your reasoning behind this?

Seshiru wrote:

Play it against IG or Crons and if it holds up then it's a really solid shooty list

That's always the test of a good DE list!

I would say A, but i just know ravagers wont work for you. The universe wouldn't let it, you will miss and glance but nothing special because the universe would be a loss when you become another raider/venom spamming ravager push creature of the night. On a serious note i think you should continue with your talosi because, as of yet, when have they let you down? I can name loads of times when dark lances have failed me, and blasters seem to fail you, you need the dependability of the Talosi to anchor your forces around.

What idea is behind warrior squads in raiders?

They are not the most brutal choice out there, thats for sure.

I would go with B. It is, in my opinion, the most fun list to play. Recently I have fallen into loving Coven units, though.

How about using the double Succubii Grotesques unit you mentioned in an other topic? It sounded very promising back then and it would be very interesting to see how you would use it.

alexwellace wrote:

I would say A, but i just know ravagers wont work for you. The universe wouldn't let it, you will miss and glance but nothing special because the universe would be a loss when you become another raider/venom spamming ravager push creature of the night. On a serious note i think you should continue with your talosi because, as of yet, when have they let you down? I can name loads of times when dark lances have failed me, and blasters seem to fail you, you need the dependability of the Talosi to anchor your forces around.

I wouldn't be surprised.

Azdrubael wrote:

What idea is behind warrior squads in raiders?

The idea behind 9 man units is if the one with the archon gets taken down, he can hop into another raider near by.

Cavash wrote:

I would go with B. It is, in my opinion, the most fun list to play. Recently I have fallen into loving Coven units, though.

Coven units are awesome I have to say I love my talos (I'm also currently tweaking my foot list).

Scorpion wrote:

How about using the double Succubii Grotesques unit you mentioned in an other topic? It sounded very promising back then and it would be very interesting to see how you would use it.

That is something I need to try out, at the moment there's just so much to test, this codex is just amazing each time I think i have it sussed I discover something refreshing and new.