As many of you know, the new thing to do to play effectively with marine armies is to take a lot of vehicles and missile launchers. Missile Launchers are for a reason I won't get into right now, so let us look at the vehicle, and as an example, Razorback spam. Why is it so good? Well, I'm no professional at this, but let's look at one main reason why vehicles are so popular.
Right now, in 40k, "mech" is king. Vehicles have at least Armor Value 10, which means you need strength 4 to even glance it. Your average vehicle these days has at least 11 front armor, which is what you will most likely be seeing. With AV 11, you can pen that with S6. Well, six S6 shots at BS4 (two Psycannons) only has about a 20% to kill it (assuming my math is right). If they have cover, you pretty much half your percentage. Throw in more shots, and your chance goes up, obviously. But all of your S5 and S4 shots might as well mean nothing. Sure, S5 can glance and remove turrets, but then the Razorbacks become mobile cover for other vehicles and so on and so forth. Boost your strength to one twin-linked lascannon at S9 and you have about the same chance. Problem is, unless you are spamming vehicles with heavy weapons, too, you won't have too many Lascannons to spare firing at vehicles attempting to kill them. Get unlucky on one roll, and you just lost your chance to kill it. In order to have a 50% to kill a Razorback with Twin-linked Lascannons, you'll need 3 (again, my math can be wrong, I've always hated probability). If they are in cover, you'll need 6 or 7. So, taking a Razorback out of the fight is tough. And when your opponent has even six of them, let alone three or four, these 'cheap' weapons are going to constantly ping your own vehicles and weather you down. As Grey Knights especially, you need vehicles to reliably kill your opponents. Problem is, your opponent will most likely have twice his or her number of points spent on vehicles than you. This is where Imperial Guard allies come into play.
If you are having trouble taking out opponents vehicles, you're probably going to want some more anti-tank, and for cheap. And no army has cheaper anti-tank than Imperial Guard. I've already gone into some more reasons why and why not, so have a look at these two articles if you want to read up some more. So, let's say that you have a list like this:
- 1 Grey Knight Grand Master with NFW, Psycannon, and Psychic Hood(HQ) @ 404 Pts
- 4 Grey Knight Terminator Retinue with Thunder Hammer + Storm Shield, Psycannon @ [209] Pts
- 9 Grey Knights (Troops) with 2 Psycannons + Targeter @ 326 Pts
- 9 Grey Knights (Troops) with 2 Psycannons + Targeter @ 326 Pts
- Platoon Command Squad w/ 3 Meltaguns @ 325 Pts
Orders to use on other Guard Allies
Chimera w/ Hull Flamer - Infantry Platoon Squad
Chimera w/ Hull Flamer - Infantry Platoon Squad
Chimera w/ Hull Flamer - Heavy Weapons Team with 3 Autocannons @ 75 Pts
- 1 Grey Knight Dreadnought (Heavy Support) w/ Twin-Linked Lascannon, Heavy Flamer, and Smoke Launchers @ 143 Pts
- 1 Grey Knight Dreadnought (Heavy Support) w/ Twin-Linked Lascannon, Heavy Flamer, and Smoke Launchers @ 143 Pts
- 1 Grey Knight Land Raider (Heavy Support) w/ Extra Armour, Smoke Launchers @ 258 Pts
You have two "naked" Imperial Guard Infantry Platoon Squads. I wish I could kit them a bit better, but that's all I could squeeze in points wise. You could drop a Terminator or Dread flamers and give them some heavy weapons and meltaguns, but let's just focus on the three distinct parts in this list.
First off, you have your Grey Knight units. This consists of your Terminators and Power Armor units. This is pretty core. Your HQ and your two troop choices, consisting of about half of your points.
Next you have your Grey Knight vehicles, your Dreadnoughts and Land Raider. They both serve as a fundamental part of your army's anti-tank and also support your units in other ways such as the Dreads in close-combat and the transport of your Land Raider.
Lastly, you have your inducted Imperial Guard. The platoon has three meltaguns, a pretty good chance of penetrating anything, and a good chance at killing them, too. Your Autocannons in the back provide some nice support fire and the two infantry squads can combine and act as buffer unit from assaulting squads or as an objective holder in the back. One Chimera goes to the Platoon Command Squad, and the two others can be assigned to your Grey Knight squads.
I guess I've been working up to this the entire article. What do Chimeras offer for your Grey Knights? Well, as a transport vehicle they offer up a lot of survivability. AV 12 is tough to get rid of, and even if it does explode, it isn't a huge death-trap to your units inside. Don't be surprised if you lose one or two Knights, but the losses are significantly cut down from what they would be if you were out in the open taking fire. Sure, the Shrouding helps a little, but not nearly as much as a couple of bricks of the Imperium. They also add Heavy Flamers and Multi-lasers. Multi-lasers are Strength 6 and they add that slight chance to take out light armor and keep infantry at bay. The Heavy Flamer helps with horde armies, as you are probably dropping Incinerators (well, not probably, but possibly) to pick up some Chimeras.
Well, you have a couple Chimeras, but how do you use them? There are two main scenarios to be in. Either you are attacking or you are defending. If you are defending against a close-quarters army, you're probably going to not want to move the Chimera more than 6". Moving 6" will require a 4+ in close combat to hit you while still allowing one gun to fire and top-hatch firing. Every time you fire, check the range of your opponent. As they get closer and closer, you're going to want to get ready to counter-attack. Continually fire what you have out of the firing points (there are 5) and try to maintain a 4+ cover save if possible, just make sure your multi-laser can see your enemy. If your multi-laser can see, so can your firing points. Once your opponent is within 12" disembark and move out with your Grey Knights. Pivot the Chimera if you must to get in charge range, but you most likely want to deny your opponent the charge. If you don't think you can take out the enemy quite yet, keep moving away from them once they are within 18" and try to weaken them as much as possible.
If you are on the offensive, you're probably going against an army that isn't as strong in close-combat, so you want to get there, as soon as possible. Move your Land Raider, Chimeras, and Dreadnoughts together, using your Platoon Command squad to demech your opponent as you move up if you think you need them. Try to "juggle" smoke launchers. Imperial Guard smoke launchers give a 4+ cover save, so if you already have a cover save, you don't need to use smoke launchers. Anyways, your Land Raider will be able to move 12" and have the units inside assault, but your Chimeras cannot move while still allowing the units inside to move out and smash. Use this in-between turn to either move your Land Raider 6" and try to get off as many Lascannon shots as possible or assault early and weaken your opponent before the rest of your force arrives. Just be sure not to over extend yourself. You are driving into the heart of your enemy, where melta shots are easily in an extra die for armor penetration. Just try to remove enemy vehicles with your autocannons in the back, meltaguns, and Lascannons as your Dreads lag behind a bit only moving 6" a turn. I should point out that if you don't feel like you have to move 12", don't. The extra shooting as you move up can add up to a lot.
While I would love to include some pictures, they'll have to wait for another time. This post is getting much too long as is. If you have any concerns or questions, comment away, and I'll be sure to get back to you as soon as possible. If you have any ideas for blog posts, send me an email at xethik@gmail.com and I'll do my best to respond appropriately. Always remember: "Our faith is what makes us strong!"
Be sure to follow Fritz40k and take his advice with objectives and deployment to make sure you get the most out of any tactic.
Until next time,
Xethik
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on Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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