Hag’s Tally, Ep2 aka BRANDED!

by Hag on November 22, 2012

Played a rather eye opening game against my buddy Clint. He was running something along the lines of:

Primaris psyker (he got prescience and some random power)

IG blob with flamers, power axes and a bunch of autocannons behind an Aegis line with quad gun

Rune Priest (jaws, lightning)

3x 10 Grey Hunters with plasma, standard and some other random upgrades, 1 squad in drop pod

2x 5 missile Long Fangs

A bunch of Wolf Guard, some with TDA with Arjac in a pod, a cyclone guy that went with the Fangs

 

I was running my tally list, comprised (this time) of:

Epidemius

7 Plaguebearers

Lord on bike, MoN, Blight grenades, Gift of Mutation, Powerfist, Burning Brand of Skalathrax, Veteran

Terminator Lord, MoN, Poweraxe, Gift of Mutation, Veterans

10 Plague marines, 2x plasma guns, Veterans

10 Plague marines, 2x melta guns, Veterans

10 Plague marines, 2x melta guns, Veterans

16 Cultists

4 Spawn, MoN

2 Obliterators, MoN

2 Obliterators, MoN

5 Havocs, MoN, 4 autocannons

 

We played Hammer and Anvil with Relic. He went first with the IG blob behind the Aegis and the Fangs on hills behind them with Grey Hunters guarding the flanks of the blob. I lined up pretty much my entire army as far forward as I could with the Oblits behind them and the Havocs in some trees out of range of the missile Fangs. The spawn and bike lord were hiding behind a hill in the middle from the Fangs.

 

Lemme take this moment to expound upon how much fun rolling on the Gifts table before the game starts with Gifts of Mutation. My bike lord got Fleshbane for the second game in a row (yeah, the guy with the powerfist), but the Terminator lord got d3+1 gifts and wound up with Crusader, Witch hunter, Hammer of Wrath and Shred.

 

His first turn he didn’t do a whole lot since the blob’s lasguns were out of range. The GH podded down and unloaded on some PM killing maybe 4 (5+ FNP all the time is freakin great, suck it plasma!).

My first turn I got my preferred (read:only) wave and tried to land them behind some rocks only to have them deviate right in front of the entire army. In hindsight i should have deployed them much farther back. Everyone else advanced forward with the exception of the reduced PM and a pair of Oblits who turned around to deal with the podded GH. The bike lord unleashed his Burning Brand on the IG blob and fried 6 of them. I gleefully shrieked “BRANDED!” like The Dude in The Big Lebowski. I fully anticipate doing this every single time I fire that thing, it is totally awesome for getting the tally up. 

One squad of Oblits tried to fire lascannons at the Fangs led by the cyclone WG and rolled snake eyes LOL. The other Oblits fired plasma cannons at the podded GH and with the PM help killed 9 of the 10 to have the PM finish off the last one in CC. Everyone else ran forward into midfield.

 

His second turn Arjac and combi plasma Wolf Guard podded down to inflict righteous retribution on the Oblits and threaten the Havocs. The IG blob got ‘First rank/Second Rank’ and prescience. The Rune Priest tried to JOTWW Epidemius only to have him Deny the Witch (admittedly I got lucky here, it could have all come crashing down had he gotten that off and Epidemius failed his I test…moral of that story, drop them more that 24 inches from any Rune Priests). Arjac and his buddies kill one Oblit and wound the second while the drop pods kill a couple of cultists. The entirety of the rest of his army unloads on the spawn with the bike lord in them and manage to kill all the spawn and put a wound on the bike lord.

My second turn I check the tally to find that I have 3+ FNP. Everyone advances again with the exception of the wounded Oblit who runs like a bitch from Arjac and friends to get to max double tap range for his tl plasma gun shots. The bike lord drives up to the Aegis and flames several GH guarding the Rune Priest. BRANDED! The Havocs and the wounded Oblit kills 3 Terminators and the Oblit prepares for death. The bike lord charges over the Aegis and takes a wound for his trouble which he saves. The GH try to counter attack but can’t because of the Blight grenades. The lord challenges and a WG with a powerfist accepts. He whiffs his attacks while the lord kills him in return and gets +1 toughness for his troubles. T7 lord, oh baby!

His third turn the blob once again gets Prescience. One squad of Fangs manages to kill one Plaguebearer (5++ and 3+ FNP is wonderfully resilient) while the other squad unloads frags into the Cultists, killing 12 (!). Suddenly the Terminator lord is looking lonely. The second squad of GH shoots at the diminished PM squad killing 2 and then charges them. The AC challenges and a WG accepts. They flail at each other with no result while the GH kill off the remaining PM. The blob charges the bike lord and kills him (come to find that it was impossible, str3 can’t hurt t7 LOL).  Arjac and the last TDA WG kill the wounded Oblit.

My third turn sees the Tally max out and I now ignore armor saves. Some PM pick up the Relic. My shooting is just monstrous, with Havocs killing Arjac and his buddy, PM killing Long Fangs with bolters and Oblits killing IG with Asscannons. Epidemius with his PB buddies and the Terminator Lord trundle up to engage the shattered remnants of the GH/Rune Priest and IG respectively. They both make their charges and the demons mangle the marines while the guard with the help of Prescience manage to bring down the Terminator Lord before he can strike. The lone AC in the challenge with the WG manages to kill him off thanks to no armor saves and gets instant death for his trouble (which is totally useless for him, but at least he didn’t get spawned I suppose).

His turn four he doesn’t have a lot of meat left, just the shattered remnants of the IG blob, some random Fangs and the GH surrounding the recently blessed AC of the PM squad. The blob gets Prescience again and everything unloads on Epidemius and his bodyguard. After some spectacular shooting they are down to Epidemius and a single PB. At this point Clint has to go to coach his kid’s football team, so we end up calling it. I’m fairly certain that the next turn would see me tabling him. Even so, I had the relic, first blood and warlord so even then it was a fairly convincing victory.

 

Things I learned from this game re: Tally…

4 spawn is not quite enough. They really need to be 5 strong to be sure to deliver the bike lord to his target.

Speaking of the bike lord, the Burning Brand (BRANDED!) is beyond good for this list. I’m pretty sure you can’t make a serious Tally list without it.

The Terminator Lord with Cultist escort was underwhelming. The next incarnation of the list will surely omit both of these choices.

3+ FNP on t5 guys is just obscene. The only thing to be scared of is s10 pie plates, and those are few and far between and fairly easily dealt with with the 4 Obliterators considering.

Protecting Epidemius is really important assuming he comes in on your first turn and the Tally is in gear. Dropping him in the rear is really the way to go.

Plasma guns on the PM are painfully superior to melta guns, which is beyond depressing given that I have I believe 6 guys with them and only 4 with plasma (and of those only 2 painted). Groan.

Veteran status on the CC characters is totally worth it while I was unimpressed with it on the PM. They are sturdy enough and just not quite killy enough to make it so they will rarely get any rerolls from it beyond the first turn of combat over the course of a game. 30 points I am sure I can spend better elsewhere.

Much as I am loathe to do it, I think that the bike lord really needs a 4+ invulnerable, especially since he will have to be the warlord from here on. t6 will take you a long ways, but people still rock the power fists and frost blades where I play. 200 points for him is really steep, but he is necessary to bring the Brand into play to ratchet up the Tally.

 

That said, here is the next iteration of the list I will be trying:

Epidemius

9 Plaguebearers

Chaos Lord, Bike, Sigil, Gift, Fist, Brand(ED), Veteran

8 PM, 2xplasma, melta bomb

8 PM, 2xplasma, melta bomb

8 PM, 2xplasma, melta bomb

8 PM, 2xplasma, melta bomb

5 Havocs, MoN, 4x autocannon

2 Obliterators, MoN

2 Obliterators, MoN

5 spawn, MoN

 

Hopefully I can get another playtest game in with this list in the next week, though the next 40k tournament is only 1500 points so I will be crafting up a different list for that as I don’t see this list as currently constituted working at less than 2k (PM are just too expensive). Until then, Papa Nurgle abides.

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Hag’s Tally Experiment, Episode I

by Hag on October 12, 2012

With my shift changing at work, I’ve been away from 40k for a spell. Almost all my free time has been spent building a gaming table for my basement and chasing my one year old, Arya. Needless to say I have gotten next to no games in. Enter the new Chaos marine codex….oh baby.

WARNING: next to no mathhammer, just list musings :p

 

With most of my Chaos units being painted in a rather Nurglish fashion and having Plaguebearers lying around since 7th edition WFB, I set to making a unique themed list with Epidemius and his tally.

 

First a quick recap of what the tally does for you and requires of you as an aspiring marine acolyte of Nurgle.

REQUIREMENTS: Epidemius on the table, followers of Nurgle, either demons of Nurgle or units with the mark of Nurgle.

BENEFITS: Depending on number of models killed by followers of Nurgle, the following-

  • 1-4, None.
  • 5-9, Plagueswords wound on 3+.
  • 10-14, All followers of Nurgle have Noxious Touch (2+ to wound in CC).
  • 15-19, Followers of Nurgle with Feel No Pain have their FNP save increased to a 3+.
  • 20+, All attacks from followers of Nurgle ignore armor saves (including shooting attacks, per the FAQ).

 

Scrutinizing the previous table, there are some things that stick out when contemplating a marine primary Tally list.

  1. What is a follower of Nurgle. Anything that is not a follower of Nurgle is out, as any models they kill do not count towards the tally. Given that vehicles are not markable, they are out. With almost universal t5 or greater, the protection of Rhinos won’t be missed greatly.
  2. Technically speaking, Plague Marines carry stunted Plague Knives, not Plagueswords. Only models from the demon codex have actual Plagueswords. Something to keep in mind.
  3. Only Great Unclean Ones, Nurgle heralds, Epidemius, Beasts of Nurgle, Plaguebearers and Plague Marines are followers of Nurgle with FNP.
  4. High rate of fire weapons are most desirable once you’ve gotten the tally up to 20+.

 

I tried running a tally list years ago with the demons, and it is gimpy for a few reasons. It is very primary wave dependent and with ranged firepower limited to demon princes, it has a very tough time getting the tally up to where it needs to be. Using the new marine codex it still suffers from demonic randomness if you don’t get the preferred wave, but it doesn’t throw your whole battle plan to shit if it happens. I am of the opinion that all you really want from the demon book is a single wave anyways, just Epidemius and a Plaguebearer body guard.  They will function as a mobile(ish) troops unit that is very sturdy and making Epidemius your Warlord that will make it difficult/undesirable to kill him for the enemy to get the Slay the Warlord objective.

 

With the allied contingent out of the way, I moved on to the fun stuff (i.e. from the new book!). Your HQ will determine what troops you will use as the Chaos Lord makes Plague Marines troops where the Sorcerer does not. Any other HQ is going to wind up being too expensive. For the Chaos Lord he wants either Terminator armor or the palanquin plus the Gift of Mutation. It may be worthwhile to swap the combibolter for a second power weapon (power axes) for the additional attack. For the Sorcerer I would also give him Terminator armor just to keep him alive since he has a middling 2 wounds. Going hog wild with the mastery levels may be great for ratcheting up the tally if you get Plague Wind, but I think keeping him super cheap is probably the way to go.

 

For troops, you have a choice between Plague Marines and regular marines with the Mark of Nurgle. Actual Plague Marines are stupendously expensive, but you get what you pay for (fearless, FNP, blight grenades, Plagueknives, crappy initiative). Nurgle marines are quite resilient at t5, but a determined enemy can and will wipe a squad of ten out if they really want to. It is also very easy to go overboard on equipping these guys, finding a balance is tricky. I gave them close combat weapons anticipating them being in combat with noxious touch and was pleased at their performance. With no Rhinos, it is important to not get tricked into taking long rang pot shots with them if they need to cross the table to get to objectives- don’t be afraid to run forward.

A note on cultists for this particular list- I initially marked them on principle, but that winds up making them horrendously expensive for a chaff unit. They should stay an ultra cheap screen for important units and/or delivery device for a fighty hero (though it is comical when they actually get into combat with noxious touch and no armor saves).

 

For Fast Attack, I think at least one unit of Nurgle spawn is a total no brainer (and quite possibly two units). Fast, tough and able to reliably charge with fleet makes them a must kill unit for the enemy. Once they get noxious touch they are re-rolling to wound against just about everything and they can put out an astonishing amount of attacks on the charge. No save is a bummer, but clever use of terrain and/or screening for the first turn can keep them alive long enough to arrive in the enemy lines with enough bodies left to wreck house. T6 bikes with a jink save and speedy melta or plasma also seem really good for getting the tally up. The rest of the FA slots seem meh in the tally quest.

 

Heavy Support, Nurgle Obliterators are also a no brainer. They will bounce small arms fire like ping pong balls andagainst anything more frightening you can hold them back and alternate between plasma cannons and lascannons. Even in CC they will punish just about anything with their 2 base powerfist attacks. Veterans of the long war is a must though with the puny squad sizes. That said, they are very expensive, especially considering that for the cost of 2 Oblits you can have 5 Havocs with Autocannons, t5 and ld9 plus 20 points to spare. I would go for a mix of Oblits and Havocs. I used missile launchers as those were the painted models I had on hand, but I will be switching to Autocannons in the next interation (see below). As those are the only markable units in the HS slot, everything else can be disregarded.

 

 

Here is my Tally list, version1.0

 

Epidemius 110
14 Plaguebearers 210

Sorcerer, Mark of Nurgle, Terminator Armor, Blight grenades, Gift Mutation, Meltabomb 120

10 Chaos Space Marines, CCW, Veterans, Mark of Nurgle, Plasmagun x2 230

10 Chaos Space Marines, CCW, Veterans, Mark of Nurgle, Meltagun x2 220

10 Chaos Space Marines, CCW, Veterans, Mark of Nurgle, Meltagun x2 220

30 Chaos Cultists, Flamer x3, Mark of Nurgle 205

5 Chaos Spawn, Mark of Nurgle 180

2 Obliterators, Mark of Nurgle 158
2 Obliterators, Mark of Nurgle 158
7 Havocs, Mark of Nurgle, Veterans, Missile Launcher x4 189

2000

I went with Nurgle marines for the first go around after being dismayed with the cost of Plague Marines (both in their cost plus the hidden cost of running a Lord to make them troops). I put the Sorcerer in the cultists to give them ld10 to keep them from running off at the drop of a hat. I played a game against my buddy Nate’s Wazdakka/bike/lootas behind an aegis line/kannon/buggy list, and OMG it was a total blast (in hindsight i should have taken pics).  Things I learned:

  • The Sorcerer is very fragile, even in Terminator armor.
  • Missiles on the Havocs are really expensive.
  • Obliterators are beyond amazing when there is no ap2 around to keep them honest.
  • Epidemius should be the Warlord, and his Plaguebearer bodyguard doesn’t need to be so large. It should be large enough to require an obscene amount of work to wipe out but not so large as to discourage the enemy from shooting at them at all.
  • The cultists don’t need flamers and probably don’t need to be quite so large as they’re really just like salad to the HQ’s salad dressing…a delivery device.
  • Target priority is super important to get the tally up quickly and in increments of 5 since you check the tally at the start of your turns.

 

With that game under my belt I have come up with version1.1 for the tally list that I will try out next time.

Epidemius 110

10 Plaguebearers 150

Chaos Lord, Mark of Nurgle, Terminator armor, Gift of Mutation, Blight Grenades, addtl Power Weapon 147

10 Plague Marines, 2x Plasmagun 270

10 Plague Marines, 2x Meltagun 260

10 Plague Marines, 2x Meltagun 260

20 Cultists 90

5 Chaos Spawn, Mark of Nurgle 180

3 Obliterators, Mark of Nurgle, Veterans 237

2 Obliterators, Mark of Nurgle, Veterans 158

5 Havocs, Mark of Nurgle, Veterans, 4 Autocannon 135

1997

It is essentially the same list with a few changes. Fewer Plaguebearers, Plague Marines in for Nurgle marines, Havocs swap Missiles for Autocannons, lose 10 cultists and their flamers, swap the Sorcerer for a CC Lord and add an Obliterator. On paper I like the changes, it feels more trim and able to get the Plague Marines to 3+ FNP more quickly making them considerably more resilient troops than the Nurgle Marines.

 

Plague for the Plague God!

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Power Creep [Video]

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