In these heady days of 7th ed, it can be easy to get
discouraged with the uber insanity of some of what is out there. Is it really possible
to bring an army that makes a nod to the fluff, is fun and wins more often than it loses?
Hey everyone, Reecius here from Frontline Gaming to discuss that very question! I find that if you take the Marry Poppins approach, you can
have a fun list that plays well and doesn't break the lore of the game. What I
mean by that is if you mix in a spoonful of sugar to make the medicine go down, or bring enough powerful units into a list to give it some
real teeth that compliment one another, and then mold a theme and some fun
units around that hard core, you have a winner.
For example, you want to play Astra Militarum (who have a
rep for being weak, which blows me away, they have all the tools you need to
win games). You decide you really want a mixed arms army, with tanks, airpower,
mobility, and some ground pounding infantry with artillery support, maybe even
some fun Elites choices you rarely see with AM such as abhuman units, too?!
Well, you can have those things in a list that still wins more games than it
loses and is fun in the process.
First, identify the units in your faction that really pack a
wallop. For AM, you have the very powerful Leman Russ Executioner with Plasma
Sponsons. 5 Plasma Cannon shots on an AV14/13/11 platform is no joke. Anything
on the ground besides heavy vehicles or units with very high invul or cover
saves will fear these bad boys. Two of them is seriously savage firepower, particularly
with all of the Space Marine Battle Companies running around. Now, the trick
here, is to prevent them from killing themselves with Gets Hot! (such a silly
rule). You need to let them reroll those 1's, and you can get that with a fortification
that also provides you with protection from some of the nastiest weapons on the
table at present: Grav Weapons. The Void Shield Generator with an Ammunition
Dump serves very well. Units within 2" of the Ammo Dump reroll 1's, which
helps avoid those silly Get's Hot! rolls.
Another great choice is a Punisher with Multi Melta sponsons
as that gives you a versatile tank that can threaten both infantry and armor.
One of each serves me well in my games.
And what would AM be without some big guns in the
backfield?! One of the best tools for artillery support is the Wyvern, as we
all know, but the Manticore is still great for taking out things like Knights
and Xenos infantry who typically have a lower armor save. However, my personal
favorite is a battery of Earthshaker Heavy Artillery. Why? Unlike vehicles they
are very hard to kill in a single shot, and with T7 vs. shooting and 6+ wounds
per gun (with the crew) you have a very durable unit. Best of all, the unit can
receive orders! Ignores Cover is beastly on this unit, launching up to 3
Strength 9, ap3 large blasts downfield. This gives you the tools to deal with many
of the very high cover save units out there in the game, plus Knights as
barrage weapons ignore their Ion shields. But also, Split Fire is a great order
here, too, allowing you to blast multiple units if needs be.
My choice to attach to a unit like this is the man himself,
Yarrick. He's an incredible Warlord as he can hide in a unit, issues orders,
stops morale checks form shooting casualties, fights decently well in melee and
gets back up on a 3+ if killed! What more could a plucky Guardsman ask for?
Air power helps a ton for both mobility and firepower. A
great 1-2 combo is a Vulture with Punishers and a Vendetta. The Vulture,
besides being a dead sexy vehicle, is death on wings. Av12/12/10, vector dancer
and 23 strength 5 shots is beastly. The Vendetta gives you some nice twin
linked las cannons but also, is an air-taxi for a scoring unit as AM can often
struggle with mobility issues. My favorite is a Platoon Command Squad with no
upgrades, they sit in the Vendetta till turn 5 and then jump out onto an objective.
They've won me the game on many an occasion with just that maneuver!
Speaking of infantry, an AM list without some ground
pounders would just be silly. A PCS as mentioned above to ride in the Vendetta,
and 2 units of Infantry, each with an Auto Cannon and sometimes Flamer (my
preferred loud-out). The Platoon Squads typically blob up and take Yarrick's
second order, but can also run solo to go grab objectives as the mission
requires. They also provide valuable filler to keep units from entering into
the protective cover of your VSG.
I also love taking a unit of Conscripts. They are very true
to the AM fluff and the Grim Dark in general (when the man next to you dies,
pick up his rifle and continue the fight!) and I find them to actually be an
incredibly useful unit for winning missions. For 60 points you get 20 bodies,
add in another 25 points and you get a Priest, which is arguably the best unit
in the game for its price tag. That's a fearless ObSec unit that no one wants
to waste shots on, but that serves so many important board control functions,
can tarpit, and goes and scores objectives. Really, a fantastic unit for such a
low points investment.
Lastly, in the troop department I love a unit of Vets.
Depending on how you structure your list, I like to give them Shotguns, dual Melta
with a Heavy Flamer in a Taurox, but you can give them a Las Cannon and some
Plasma, stick them on a home objective and let them shoot away, too (preferably
near the Ammunition Dump to avoid Gets Hot!). Also, I have had success just
running them with 3 Grenade Launchers and a Melta Bomb. Cheap, effective
skirmishers that run up field to grab objectives.
For a fun, and fairly effective unit to spice it up, I like
a minimum sized unit of Ogryn with a Priest. You get a really enjoyable unit to
play that is Fearless, shoots OK, fights well against things that aren't
amazing in melee, and is great for going up field to take objectives. Plus, who
doesn't love seeing Ogryn on the field?! Yes sir, boss, sir!
To round things out and give you some much needed utility,
the ubiquitous Inquisitor with Servo Skulls helps AM a lot to keep some of the
nasty infiltrating and scouting units out there at bay. You can sink him in the
blob squad to boost their leadership, of you can give him some cool kit like
the Liber Heresius to provide a ton of utility for another unit, such as the
ability to Scout, etc. Also, consider investing in some of their specialty
grenades as they're extremely powerful.
Lastly, my man, the
Culexus Assassin. He was authorized for use by the Inquisitor (of course!), but
provides critical utility for stopping some of the really nuts psychic powers
out there. My Culexus has solo'd entire Centstars on multiple occasions,
including Draigo. Units that provide a lot of trouble for AM get stopped dead
in their tracks by him if he is used well. I cannot recommend him enough. Death
to Deathstars!! =P
Well there you have. A list that (IMO) gives you an
effective army that is fun to play, fun to play against, and also feels true to
the fluff. What do you all think?
