1850 Mechanized Strike Force

Well it's time to start up a new army and I'm very excited to join the ranks of the seasoned archons of the Dark City. Figured I would post up the list I have come up with. Most of the units and choices taken should be pretty familiar to most everyone around here..... Overall it's a little spammy but seems very effective for 7th edition.

Duke Sliscus

4 Incubi
Dual Cannon Venom (duke runs here turn one)

3 Trueborn
2 Splinter Cannons
Haywire Grenades
Dual Cannon Venom

9 Kabalites
Raider with Racks (duke deploys here for poison)

10 Kabalites
Raider with Racks

5 Wyches
Haywire Grenades
Dual Cannon Venom

5 Wyches
Haywire Grenades
Dual Cannon Venom

5 Wyches
Haywire Grenades
Dual Cannon Venom

5 Wyches
Haywire Grenades
Dual Cannon Venom

6 Reavers

6 Reavers (for bladevaning)

Ravager with Lances
Flickerfield

Ravager with Lances
Flickerfield

Ravager with Dissies
Flickerfield

Really trying to not use our craftworld cousins just to make it a bit more challenging. I am thinking about dropping the duke for a huskblade archon but the duke brings so many nice buffs for poison unit, the option to deep strike some units if needed, and the drug reroll for Wyches and Reavers. Anti-tank is mostly haywire Wyches and little ranged support from Ravagers. Pretty much it, thanks in advance for any thoughts.

-Archon Amornar

I'd drop the unit of 10 Kabalite warriors in the raider w/racks, 1 reaver from each squad, and 1 of the haywire wyches to do the following:

1. Turn your 3-man trueborn squad into a 4-man squad with blasters.
2. Get another 4-man squad with blasters in a dual cannon venom.
3. Add a cluster caltrops to your reaver squads(the extra D3 hits and changing to S6 makes a big difference.)

I'm actually a fan of sliscus. He really does add a lot to an army. Making the changes I noted above, I'd typically plan to keep the 2 venoms carrying the blasterborn in reserve to deep strike behind priority targets for a combination of S8 lance shots to rear armor and venom splinter dakka into infantry behind cover.

The cluster caltrops on the reavers, to my mind, are simply a no-brainer. They're free hits, as with all bladevaning, except they're at S6 and you get double the usual amount of hits. Since you're getting double the number of hits from this one unit, it's ultimately the equivalent to what you have now except 1d6 of them is at S6, and the unit has 1 less wound.

EDIT: Had to make a small change because I fudged the math.

The duke can't be deployed with the incubi first turn.
He must be deployed with trueborns, or standard cabalites.

BetrayTheWorld wrote:

I'd drop the unit of 10 Kabalite warriors in the raider w/racks, 1 reaver from each squad, and 1 of the haywire wyches to do the following:

1. Turn your 3-man trueborn squad into a 4-man squad with blasters.
2. Get another 4-man squad with blasters in a dual cannon venom.
3. Add a cluster caltrops to your reaver squads(the extra D3 hits and changing to S6 makes a big difference.)

I'm actually a fan of sliscus. He really does add a lot to an army. Making the changes I noted above, I'd typically plan to keep the 2 venoms carrying the blasterborn in reserve to deep strike behind priority targets for a combination of S8 lance shots to rear armor and venom splinter dakka into infantry behind cover.

The cluster caltrops on the reavers, to my mind, are simply a no-brainer. They're free hits, as with all bladevaning, except they're at S6 and you get double the usual amount of hits. Since you're getting double the number of hits from this one unit, it's ultimately the equivalent to what you have now except 1d6 of them is at S6, and the unit has 1 less wound.

EDIT: Had to make a small change because I fudged the math.

Thanks for the great reply BetryTheWorld. I considered blasterborn while making the list but was resistant to them for their price and the fact that I felt the wytches could do the same job for cheaper and still be objective secured troops. Especially with the new edition and stripping hull points as the name of the game. I do really see their appeal though....would one unit be enough? I know most units are more effective in pairs in 40k but some are downright gimped when run alone. I'll think about the blasterborn and see how I like the list looking at it.

Caltrops on the other hand do seem like a must by now that I relook at them...definitely have to squeeze them in....

Zenotaph wrote:

The duke can't be deployed with the incubi first turn.
He must be deployed with trueborns, or standard cabalites.

Sorry Zenotaph, I should have been clearer, the duke deploys in the 9 man kalabite squad and turn one jumps out to hop into the incubi unit parked next to the warrior's raider. He runs off to assault and the kalabites go off to reroll their 3+ poison shooting.

4a. Please refrain from double posting. You may "bump" a post every 48hrs if you feel you are not getting responses. Double posts in project logs are acceptable. /Mod Vas

I see. That's possible. Caltrops are great. I use them every time since 5th. Helped me out a great deal.

Amornar wrote:

I felt the wytches could do the same job for cheaper and still be objective secured troops. Especially with the new edition and stripping hull points as the name of the game. I do really see their appeal though....would one unit be enough?

The thing about wyches is that they aren't really going to benefit from deep striking behind a vehicle to target rear armor. They can't charge after deep striking, so at best, they get 1 haywire grenade thrown at it. The blasterborn get to fire all 4 blasters at it.

Also, no, I wouldn't personally go fewer than 2 units of blasterborn. The only reason I didn't recommend 3 units of blasterborn is because I saw what you were aiming for with the incubi.

As far as blasterborn cost: 4 trueborn with blasters costs you 108 points. 3 points more than a ravager, while firing 1 extra shot. Since you're deep striking, the loss of range is less of an issue than the tactical advantage you get of being able to target rear armor.

Got a rework done finally......


Duke Sliscus

4 Incubi (duke runs here turn one)
Raider with disintegrator (raider over venom for 5 points cheaper, extra hull point and one gun for a unit moving as fast as possible plus I'll have two raider models anyway)

3 Trueborn
3 Blasters (saved a lot of points for 3 over 4 and deep strike I feel two units of three work fine)
Dual Cannon Venom

3 Trueborn
3 Blasters
Dual Cannon Venom

9 Kabalites
Raider with Racks (duke deploys here for poison)
Trophies (reroll bubble with extra 5 points)

5 Wyches
Haywire Grenades
Dual Cannon Venom

5 Wyches
Haywire Grenades
Dual Cannon Venom

5 Wyches
Haywire Grenades
Dual Cannon Venom

5 Wyches
Haywire Grenades
Dual Cannon Venom

3 Reavers with Caltrops (for bladevaning)

3 Reavers with Caltrops

3 Reavers with Caltrops

Ravager with Lances
Flickerfield

Ravager with Lances
Flickerfield

Ravager with Dissies
Flickerfield

Same basic idea with some unit tweets based upon BetrayTheWorld's excellent advice and reading more what other people are running. Thanks all!