Armageddon Strike Force Alpha: 1,500 Point RTT List

Hey all, since a few other people have been kind enough to post their army lists for the upcoming RTT at our local game store, I thought I'd do the same.

Right around the time Ian started fleshing out his Death Company (that is to say, when the Storm Raven came out), I read an article in White Dwarf about the Armageddon campaign. Now, I've always loved the fluff behind the Second and Third Wars, but I'd never had an army that I liked and that had participated in the war. After reading through the new Blood Angel book and seeing how awesome their new models were, I was sold.

I wanted to make a rapid strike force, a group that would identify Ork threats, zoom in, do their job and then GTFO; kinda First Recon with Air Support. So I settled on Scouts with Camo Cloaks, Speeders and a Storm Raven full of Sternguard vets that count as "Death Watch".

As chance had it, there was a 1,500-point RTT coming up (March 12th). I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to début the army.

Here is the list thus far:

(NOTE: This is not supposed to be competitive, just a fun little idea. Though I realize the amount of Ass. Cannons may insinuate otherwise...)

1 x "Death Watch" Librarian with Fear of Darkness and Shield of Sanguinius
7 x "Death Watch" Sternguard Veterans w/ 2 Combi-Flamers
1 x Furioso Dread w/ Frag Cannon, Melta and Extra Armor
1 x Storm Raven with Twin-Linked Assault Cannons, Twin-Linked Multi Meltas, Hurricane Bolters and Extra Armor

5 x Scouts w Camo Cloaks: 4 x Bolters, 1 x Heavy Bolter and a Locator Beacon
5 x Scouts w Camo Cloaks: 4 x Bolters, 1 x Heavy Bolter and a Locator Beacon

2 x Land Speeders with Assault Cannon and Multi Melta
2 x Land Speeders with Assault Cannon and Multi Melta
2 x Land Speeders with Assault Cannon and Multi Melta

I'm thinking about dropping the Furioso as it doesn't really match the whole "fast" feel, but I have no idea what I would sub in for the same points...

I should have some pictures up soon, along with a little Scout Tutorial.

Lemme know what you guys think!

-Aaroon

BADCo, til the day I die...

Previously, I had mentioned that I was building an all-Death Company army. I have dubbed my 2000 point list "the BADCo." (read as "Bad Company", stands for "Blood Angels Death Company") So for this installment of SGS I thought I'd break down the army list.

The impetus for the BADCo was when I was reading the Blood Angel codex a while back and stumbled upon the facts that all Death Company models have the Relentless USR, and a Death Company model may have both a Boltgun and a Jump Pack. This combination is unprecedented in my eight years of playing 40k. The persistent little seed of an idea took root, and I found myself continuing to come back to Army Builder, trying to build an army around the idea. I was enamored with the idea of a unit being able to lay down considerable suppressing fire, bouncing back and forth, balancing that 12" Rapid-fire, and choosing where and when they'd get into close combat.

After several unsuccessful attempts, I had found out that DCo. with jump packs were just too darn expensive to not be applied to close combat. 35 points per model, needing at least 10 models, preferably 15 to get the volume of fire I was looking for. Plus a Powerfist, two if the squad was 15 strong, to help dig their way out of CC. Then you're looking at investing in a Jump Chaplain for the twin-linked To-hit/To-wound to make up for the lack of that extra attack. Not to mention having to take Astorath, who costs almost as much as a Land Raider, just to unlock the 0-1 restriction on DCo. All in all, I figured I was spending too many points on a gimmick that would be ultimately less effective than just shoving DCo. into close combat.

But that idea tenaciously stuck around, clinging to the cliffside I had shoved it off of. I continued to tweak the list, and finally found something I was happy with, here it is:

-Astorath
-Death Company w/ Jump Pack (12x)
-5x Bolt Pistol/Chainsword
-3x Bolt Pistol/Power Weapon
-2x Infernus Pistol/Power Weapon
-2x Bolter/Power Fist

-Chaplain in Power Armor (Bolt Pistol/Crozius)
-Death Company (9x)
-8x Bolter/Chainsword
-1x Bolter/Power Fist
-Drop Pod

-Chaplain in Power Armor (Bolt Pistol/Crozius)
-Death Company (9x)
-8x Bolter/Chainsword
-1x Bolter/Power Fist
-Drop Pod

-Death Company Dreadnought
-Blood Talons
-Heavy Flamer
-Meltagun
-Drop Pod

-Death Company Dreadnought
-Blood Talons
-Heavy Flamer
-Meltagun
-Drop Pod

-Death Company Dreadnought
-Blood Fists
-Heavy Flamer
-Meltagun
-Magna-Grapple
-Drop Pod

Granted, the list is a lot spammier than I like, lots of duplication. But when you're limiting yourself to two entries in an entire codex, things get a little redundant. The plan is to hold everything in reserve, decide if Dreadnoughts or Footsloggers will do best first turn, send them in. Astorath and Company Descent of Angels in at their convenience. The cheap Chaplains add another four Power Weapon attacks and allows the DCo. to re-roll To-Hits and To-Wounds, making for 18 Bolter rounds, plus 24 S5 attacks and 3 P-fist attacks, all of which are twin-linked twice, essentially. And you save almost 150 points by putting the Boltgun DCo. in Drop Pods instead of giving them Jump Packs.

Food for thought, lemme know what you think.
-Ian

De-Emoed Astorath

Hey all!

Just quick update for all you faithful SGS viewers. I'm here with an Astorath "Counts-as" model for my all-Death Company army. I really don't care for the Astorath model, so I tried to come up with an appropriate substitute. When I do "counts-as" models or armies, I strive to make sure that when playing games, my opponent will be able to immediately associate my "counts-as" model with its intended rules.

I read the fluff, and kept in mind that Astorath's job is to mercy-kill Death Company before they go so insane as to become a danger to their fellow battle-brothers. He also has a two-handed executioner's axe. I figured that a Grim Reaper, with its visage and scythe personified this role perfectly. Astorath also has a jump pack, so I had to make sure I included that.

The starting point for the model was the new Lemartes figure, but including a two-handed weapon was stumping me for a bit. GW doesn't produce a whole lot of figures that are actually wielding a weapon two-handedly that wouldn't add another $15 to the overall cost of the conversion, (my first thought was Typhus, but I didn't want to pay $25 to get his Manreaper). I searched through my Marines bits box and found the new Blood Angel Death Company Thunder Hammer bits (right-handed) and the Space Wolf Pack Frost Blade bits (left-handed). Based on Lemartes' posture, the Frost Blade looked best. I cut the Frost Blade axe head off and the handle below the right hand off. Two lengths of shaft were added to both sides from an old "Custodes Halberd" bolter/halberd/force weapon bit. The bottom of the Frost Blade was reattached to the bottom of the weapon shaft, and the power core of the BADCo Thunder Hammer bit.

The trickiest part was the scythe blade, which was made from scratch from plasticard. It took a long while to get the shape right, and even longer to get the blade part smoothed down. Some thin wire and dots of plasticard rod were added for the power weapon "nodes", the power cable from the BADCo Thunder Hammer arm was attached to the back, a top spike from the BA Librarian Dreadnought Force Weapon, two of the BA wing/blood drop icons from the BADCo box and a few purity seals.

All in all, it came out like this:



Be back soon!
-Ian