'Pain is simply righteousness entering the body'
- Sister Ectarine, Order of the Valorous Heart
As most of you will know we attended a recent tournament in Brighton. I'm going to save my blogs around that for after the podcast comes out so not to ruin any surprises!
For now I just want to talk a little bit about the current Meta in the south here and try to get an army down on paper that I've been playing around with in my head for a little while now.
I have to say the Sisters with Guard work really well. Very well in fact to a point where people are just so confused that I was winning games with Sisters! (Including the other DoG guys!)
They work *especially* well when Forgeworld is allowed. It opens up units that potentially break the game. A couple of examples - The Manticore that costs less than the IG codex one with a STR 9 AP 2 7 inch blast? Sabre Defence Batteries counting as troops, being T7 with Interceptor and Skyfire? Thudd Guns with their 4 STR 5 AP 5 barrage shots that can be made to re-roll and have prescience?
Anyway, long story short the reason I wanted to collect Sisters in the first place was to challenge myself to win with an army that was considered not first class. In hindsight now it almost feels like I was cheating a little bit by allying up with Guard who no one will be surprised are considered the strongest force to ally with along with Tau and Eldar.
So where does that leave me? I need a new challenge! Something to consider is that I wholeheartedly believe that pure Sisters will never be competitive. Ever. Not in 100 years. Don't get me wrong - they will win games, but they will never have the depth and breadth of other armies to be able to compete for a tournament win against any other army they could face in 5/6 games.
So it's pretty much back to the drawing board for me. I've started to look at armies that I've enjoyed playing in the past. Blood angels were the first that sprang to mind. My 5th edition FNP rocket spam army was quite successful and I used them for the longest I've used any army. They are pretty close to my heart as far as fluff goes too!
So the first question when considering allies should be this: Can the allies do 1 of the following -
- Plug the inherent weaknesses of my primary force. (weak troops, lack of Skyfire etc.)
- Bring something to the table that is overpowering enough that it renders my primary armies weaknesses void (i.e. a tonne of shooting, first turn pressure, large amounts of high AV tanks etc.)
That in mind - here are 2 army lists that I've come up with gearing up for our next tournament which is the Death or Glory tournament in September (woo!)
If you haven't heard of the tournaments details here are 2 things I'm considering;
If you haven't heard of the tournaments details here are 2 things I'm considering;
- Non-Forgeworld means a lot more flyers about.
- Its a simple rule book win/draw/lose setup so troops aren't a massive factor.
(A) Mephiston Lord of Death - 250
10 Sisters - Meltagun, Multimelta - 145
Rhino - Searchlight - 36
10 Sisters - Meltagun, Multimelta - 145
Rhino - Searchlight - 36
(A) 5 Assault Marines - Flamer - 105
(A) Land Raider - 250
(A) 5 Assault Marines - Flamer - 105
(A) Land Raider - 250
Exorcist - Searchlight - 136
Exorcist - Searchlight - 136
Exorcist - Searchlight - 136
Total - 1847
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Saint Celestine - 115
(A) Mephiston Lord of Death - 250
(A) Corbulo - 105
10 Sisters - Meltagun, Multimelta - 145
Rhino - Searchlight - 36
10 Sisters - Meltagun, Multimelta - 145
Rhino - Searchlight - 36
(A) 8 Assault Marines - Flamer - 159
(A) Land Raider - 250
Exorcist - Searchlight - 136
Exorcist - Searchlight - 136
Exorcist - Searchlight - 136
(A) Stormraven - Multimelta, Lascannon - 200
Total - 1850
The basic premise for the armies are that I still think Mephiston has a place in current south Meta which is predominantly dominated by Tau and Eldar who both do not bring high STR AP 1/2. Also you have to consider with these lists that not only is the Saint charging at you who can get straight back up with all her shenanigans, but now there is also Mephiston doing exactly the same thing. Mephiston also brings a high initiative force weapon for any big gribblies (even though its only ap3)
AV14 is a bitch at the moment also which is why I like the idea of Land Raiders being able to hide the rest of my army.
I must admit I am leaning towards the bottom army that includes the Stormraven. Against certain slower armies it gives Mephiston his own personal Land Raider meaning he could potentially swap his powers out for Biomancy/Telepathy.
I'd also quite like to win a game thanks to the Saint failing her 4+ get back up but successfully re-rolling it from Corbulo and contesting an objective!!! Corbulo is also making that troop unit a *LOT* more survivable and potentially a pressure/line-breaker unit in the Stormraven.
The Stormraven is also pretty useful as I suspect there will be quite a large flyer turnout at DoG.
So guys what do you think? I'd like you to imagine your army playing it. How would it fair? Would you be worried? How would you beat it?
Leave a comment below or on our Facebook page *here*!
Speak to you soon!
Steve
I played at Ribble Rumble last weekend, Tau and Eldar were out in force and I have to say that after looking at all the lists I thought to myself that AV13/14 would have a field day but sadly not a single land raider was to be seen. I think come the GT heats that may change though.
ReplyDeleteApart from the list that came 2nd had a GK LRC full of assassins ;).
ReplyDeleteList 2 looks more rounded but very troop light. You'd need to play very carefully against Tau or Eldar or the sisters will be vaped quickly!
Oh and yeah, all the Tau and eldar I played definitely struggled vs the LRC. Even wraithknights don't really like shooting AV14 that much as long as it is in cover or has a 4++ invun save!
ReplyDeleteYehr thanks for the feedback guys they're all good shouts.
ReplyDeleteSomething for me to consider is definitely whether I want to use an army whereby 1 lucky turn 1 shot can mean I lose.
Food for thought!