Wednesday, April 1, 2009

April Army List Challenge (1)

I want to try something new for Warpstone Flux this month: a challenge... just to see if anyone is interested. There are no prizes for this challenge, just kudos and honour! The real aim is to help others to think about how to build effective, but themed army lists.

Overview of The Challenge:
Design a themed 1500 points Alpha Legion army list from EITHER codex: chaos space marines or codex: space marines for a standard mission. Why Alpha Legion? Simply because it is an army that is not seen as often as other traitor legions, but has a reasonable amount of background information surrounding it (e.g. see the Horus Heresy Book, Legion).

Challenge Rules:
(1) No named characters can be used (e.g. Fabius Bile, Lysander, Abaddon, etc.).
(2) If you use codex: space marines instead of codex: chaos space marines, then state your reason(s) for doing so in a brief sentence or two. This can be as simple as "pre-heresy", or more complex reasons.
(3) Post your army lists as a comment to this posting.
(4) On April 14th 2009, I'll start a voting poll that will be open for 1 week to vote for what Warpstone Flux readers consider to be the "most effective army list that also best articulates the theme" (whatever readers interpret that to mean) out of all entrants.
(5) Winner will be tallied and announced on April 21st.

If there is sufficient interest, I might run another one of these again next month.

13 comments:

suneokun said...

Nice idea, although it depends on who has actually read Legion... I have, and loved it!

My thoughts would be for a Space Marine Army (pre-Chaotic) in line with the book. I think this actually best represents the combination of behind the scenes Alphari, with their up front 'inductees' like members of the Gene Infantry securing positions and running interference.

Combining the DeamonHunters Codex with Codex: Space Marines allows me a totally RAW result that I think closely relates to the sort of elements that you see in the books. I'm particularly proud of including the landspeeder Storm as this actually appears in the novel.

On the battlefield, the GK Terminator and Vanguard deepstriking units, combined with the assassin would sow confusion, discord and disaster among the enemy ranks while the stormtroopers and Scouts would secure the objectives with Rhino and Landspeeder Storm.

My feeling is that relic blades and nemisis force weapons correctly represent the description of the Falc 'Chaotic' weapon adopted from the Nurth.

HQ - Alpharius holds the troops together while Omegon deep strikes death.

Space Marine Captain (Alpharius), Artificer Armour, Relic Blade (Falc), Combi Melta (cos Plasma doesn't exist) - 155pts.

Grey Knight Brother Captain (Omegon) with 4 GK Termies (representing the other key characters) - 245pts.

Elites - keeping it light, who else would you have on your side?

Jon Grammaticus (Callidus Assassin) with Polymorphine (representing his 'language' psyker skill), a neural shredder (fits), poison blades (wounds on 4+) and 'a word in your ear' ability - just fits too well - 120pts.

Troops - This force is built around the cutting edge units carving through the enemy while these units secure/challenge the objectives. The 9 man Geno units have a symmetry and also mean that the Space Marine commander in Artificer Armour can tag a ride in a Rhino.

9 man Geno Stormtrooper squad, 8 hellguns and 2 melta guns - 110pts.

9 man Geno Stormtrooper squad, 8 hellguns and 2 melta guns - 110pts.

10 man Scout Squad with Sergeant and Missile Launcher - 150pts.

Rhino - 35pts

10 man scout squad with Sergeant and Missile Launcher - 150pts.

Rhino - 35pts

Fast Attack - The Vanguard are onboard to cause havoc and cover he approach of the rhino's (with their geno troops/captain) and the deepstriking terminator HQ. The storms are for strategic objective grabbing.

5 Vanguard Vet Squad, jump packs, 1 relic blade - 190pts

Land Speeder Storm - 100pts

Land Speeder Storm - 100pts.

1500pts.

Errrm, I'm not sure if it'd be effective on the field - but it reads well...

Unknown said...

I need to read Legion again.. QUICKLY!

Tigerstyle said...

Here's my entry, showing the Alpha Legion in M41, and trys to capture the feel of the Alpha Legion operating in secret and then coming together to strike out at the enemy. It uses Codex: Chaos Space Marines:

HQ
Chaos Lord, Lightning Claws, Jump Pack, Melta Bombs (145)

Elites
5 Chosen of Chaos, 5 meltaguns, Rhino (175)
5 Chosen of Chaos, 5 flamers, Rhino (155)
5 Chosen of Chaos, 5 flamers, Rhino (155)

Troops
5 Chaos Space Marines, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with a power fist and melta bombs, flamer, rhino (160)
5 Chaos Space Marines, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with a power fist and melta bombs, flamer, rhino (160)
5 Chaos Space Marines, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with a power fist, flamer, rhino (155)

Fast Attack
10 Chaos Raptors, one upgraded to Aspiring Champion with Lightning Claws and melta bombs (245)

Heavy Support
5 Chaos Havocs, 4 autocannons (155)

Total 1500

Let me explain the list:

-Fast: All units (except the Havocs) are either jump infantry or mechanized, enabling them to redploy and strike where the enemy is weakest, acting on intelligence for local cult spys.

-Jump packs: The Legion likes to test its strength against opponents, particularly loyal Space Marines. Often they will hold back parts of the army so they are attacking under strength. To represent this, all Jump Pack infantry would deep strike, being committed to battle when required.

-No heavy tanks: Operating secretly behind enemy lines, I didn't think the Alpha Legion would have access to massive battle tanks like Land Raiders, Vindicators, Defilers etc. so all tanks are simple Rhinos.

-Small units: I imagine the Alpha Legion marines operating in the field behind enemy lines in small cells of a few troopers, and I've represented that in the list.

-Chosen: The indepth planning and intelligence gathering done by the Legion means they can quickly anticipate enemy manouvers and rapidly outflank them. To represent this, I've maxed out on Chosen units (which can Infiltrate)

-Melta bombs: Part of the covert action of the Legion would be to disrupt enemy communications, fuel and ammo dump, transportation etc. I've given melta bombs to as many squads as I had points for to represent the kit they'd use to do this.

jabberjabber said...

Hi Guys:

Wow - I'm genuinely impressed!!!

Seriously, those are two terrific army lists that are well thought through! I'm also happy to see you've used this idea as a "launch pad" for articles on your own blogs :)

eriochrome said...

Interesting idea. If only I could get around to finishing Fulgrim and move on to Legion. I think Descent of Angels might be in there to someplace.

Raptor1313 said...

My take's closer to M41, and uses the Chaos Space Marines codex. The list is as follows

HQ
Chaos Lord
-Bike
-Combi-melta
-Meltabombs
-Lightning Claws
165

Elites
7 Chosen
5 Meltaguns
Meltabombs
Rhino w/ Dozer Blade
221

7 Chosen
5 Meltaguns
Meltabombs
Rhino w/ Dozer Blade
221

Troops
7 Chaos Marines
Champion w/ Powerfist
Meltabomb
Flamer
Rhino w/ Dozer Blade
195

7 Chaos Marines
Champion w/ Powerfist
Meltabomb
Flamer
Rhino w/ Dozer Blade
195

7 Chaos Marines
Champion w/ Powerfist
Meltabomb
Flamer
Rhino w/ Dozer Blade
195

Heavy Support
8 Havocs
2 Autocannons
2 Missile Launchers
160

7 Havocs
2 Autocannons
2 Missile Launchers
145

Total: 1497

I'm angling to represent the Alpha Legion as a mobile raiding force with a balanced set of capabilities.

As such, the force is mounted in Rhinos, save for the Havoc squads and Lord.

The Lord's loadout allows him to reinforce his troops against anything short of a Monstrous Creature or Dreadnought in melee. The bike lets him get there. A combi-melta and meltabomb let the Lord take out armor, and a pair of Lightning Claws lets him bail his squad out of tense melees, or zoom forward and engage choice targets in melee.

The Chosen are in there as the Legion's veterans, tasked with handling the heaviest armor and thickest fortifications. To this end, they ride Rhinos and carry what should generally be enough melta weaponry to destroy any fortification or armor. As an added bonus, melta weapons are both reliable and silent, according to the Dark Heresy books.

The core of the army is the three 'tactical' Chaos Marine squads in Rhinos. By nature, basic Chaos Marines are adept at handling infantry at shorter ranges. A flamer accentuates this, and a powerfist on the leader allows the squad to handle hardier foes like monstrous creatures, or tanks in melee. In case there's a need for demolitions work, the Aspiring Champion also carries meltabombs. You never can have too many explosives if you're a sabateour by nature.

The heavy support breaks this army's trend of speed and mobility. 7 or 8 Havocs per squad with a mix of autocannons and missile launchers gives the squad both versatility and resiliency. Armored targets get four autocannon shots and two krak missiles. Unarmored targets get four autocannon shots and two krak missiles, so the Alpha Legion heavy weapon teams can always engage the enemy at hand.

Additionally, there are a total of 5 rhinos and 50 marines, so the entire force can be mounted. Prior to battle, the Havocs can set up using intelligence from local cultists or other underhanded means.

In all, the army is mobile, versatile, and carries a heap of demolitions supplies. There is no heavy armor, as that's harder to maintain, feed, and keep concealed.

All the Rhinos have Dozer Blades, as the Legion doesn't want to rely overmuch on roads to get to their destination.

The bulk of the weapons that the Alpha Legion employ are generally reliable models. Flamers are easy to feed. Missile launchers and autocannons are cheap, easy to find, and reliable. Meltaguns are the only energy weapon used in the force, but are widespread enough to make resupply easy.

jabberjabber said...

Nice job raptor1313 - I like the sheer amount of "disruption" with all those melta bombs - great!

Raptor1313 said...

@Suneokun

I've only one problem with your list...

You cannot bring the Callidus in your current buildout.

In order to take an Assassin at all, you must bring an Inquisitor. At current, you're using the Space Marine codex as a base, and allying in the Daemonhunters. If you want to have the Callidus, you must bring an allied Daemonhunters Inquisitor in order to bring an Imperial Assassin.

this means dropping the Brother-Captain, and freeing up points for at least three henchmen.

You could get a Brother-Captain as an Elites choice, as he must lead a squad of Grey Knight Terminators. But, you can't get a brother-captain AND an assassin in as allies.

I DO like the idea of a Callidus Assassin as Grammaticus; it's pretty much what he does other than the C'tan Phase Blade. On the other hand? He just might have access to that kind of Xenotech, so who knows...

suneokun said...

@Raptor 1313

Glad I double checked...

No problem, we simply replace a 9 men Geno unit with a Geno commander, 2 psychic assistants (in the book but I've forgotten their names) and 4 warriors unit (Elites: Inqusitor and Retinue)

Drop in Carapace Armour all round, purity seals, a power weapon and hellguns/hellpistol. This unit represents the psychic Geno commander (forgotten her name) and her 'assistants' - they are mystics and therefore give you shooting against deep strikers. drop the second Rhino and buy an Inquisitorial Chimera transport.

Final list:

HQ - Alpharius holds the troops together while Omegon deep strikes death.

Space Marine Captain (Alpharius), Artificer Armour, Relic Blade (Falc), Combi Melta (cos Plasma doesn't exist) - 155pts.

Grey Knight Brother Captain (Omegon) with 4 GK Termies (representing the other key characters) - 245pts.

Elites - The Geno Commander, her aides and Geno bodyguards, and who else would you have on your side?

Geno Commander (Inquisitor): Carapace Armour, Refractor Field, Purity Seals, Power Weapon, hellpistol - 45 pts

4 Warriors with hellguns, carapace and frag and krak. - 40pts.

2 Mystics (Geno commander aides) with laspistols and hand weapons - 12pts.

in a;
Rhino - 50pts

Jon Grammaticus (Callidus Assassin) with Polymorphine (representing his 'language' psyker skill), a neural shredder (fits), poison blades (wounds on 4+) and 'a word in your ear' ability - just fits too well - 120pts.

Troops - This force is built around the cutting edge units carving through the enemy while these units secure/challenge the objectives. The 9 man Geno unit has a symmetry and also means that the Space Marine commander in Artificer Armour can tag a ride in a Rhino.

9 man Geno Stormtrooper squad, 7 hellguns and 2 melta guns - 110pts.

10 man Scout Squad with Sergeant and Missile Launcher - 150pts.

Rhino - 35pts

10 man scout squad with Sergeant and Missile Launcher - 150pts.

Fast Attack - The Vanguard are onboard to cause havoc and cover he approach of the rhino's (with their geno troops/captain) and the deepstriking terminator HQ. The storms are for strategic objective grabbing.

5 Vanguard Vet Squad, jump packs, 1 relic blade - 190pts

Land Speeder Storm - 100pts

Land Speeder Storm - 100pts.

1500pts.

erfunk said...

Modern Alpha Legion.

Command
Termie Sorc: MoSlaanesh, Lash, and a Combi-Melta (145)
4 Termies: Icon of Chaos Glory, Champ with Chainfist and Combi-melta, and 3 Combi-plas (175)

Specialists
5 Chosen: Icon of Chaos Glory, 4 Meltaguns, and a Rhino (175)
5 Chosen: Icon of Chaos Glory, 4 Meltaguns, and a Rhino (175)

Troops
5 CSMs: Icon of Chaos Glory, Champ with Power Weapon and Meltabombs 5, Plasma Gun, and Rhino (170)
5 CSMs: Icon of Chaos Glory, Champ with Power Weapon and Meltabombs 5, Plasma Gun, and Rhino (170)

Cultists
8 Lesser Daemons (104)
8 Lesser Daemons (104)
7 Lesser Daemons (91)

Fire Support
5 Havocs: Icon of Chaos Glory, 3 Lascannons (190)

Total: 1499 points


As others have indicated, Meltabombs make a lot of sense for the Alpha Legion. I also use Icons of Chaos Glory extensively, for a few reasons. The Alpha Legion has to be one of the most determined given the awkward/delicate position they find themselves in, so rerolling LD seems appropriate. But if they also need to convince their friends and foes alike that they're serving the Ruinous Powers, what better way? Also, it seems reasonable for most of them to be able to coordinate and maintain communication with their reserves, whether it be teleporting terminators or cultists. And that the cultists aren't terribly likely to show up without some of the Alpha Legion masters close by to direct them.

I've avoided heavy armor, as it's a lot harder to sneak into places unnoticed. Hence the presence of mostly infantry, and only rhinos as armor. In general Rhinos add a lot of versatility, something Alpha Legion can appreciate.

The Termie Sorc needs to be full of cunning and deceit to have made it into Alpha leadership, so Lash seemed appropriate. There's few stronger forms of manipulation available. Depending on the foe, he can be deployed behind a rhino or deepstrike with his terminators. With the termies, they can deepstrike off any of the marks to strike a decisive first strike on a high priority target, or even drop in behind. The other HQ I considered was a Tzeentch Lord, since it would have been as close to a SM Captain as possible.

Between the Chosen and the CSMs I went for smaller more covert squads in Rhinos. Depending on the mission the CSMs can hold back on an objective or rush forwards with the Chosen's Rhinos. They each have a Plasma Gun so they'd be more useful when camping objectives. The Chosen have lots of options: infiltrating, outflanking, or deploying normally.

And the biggest oddity of the list is an idea I had when the C:CSM first came out. Since Cultists aren't in the codex anymore the closest thing to them, the Lesser Daemons, can make do. They can be Cultists springing out of hiding, sleeper agents amongst the populace of a warzone, or under-geared and disposable new recruits being called upon by one of the riskier methods of arrival (there's precident in both Legion and Ravenor for teleporting even unarmored humans). They can be represented with converted SM Scouts, Witchhunter Zealots, etc, but their statline is most similar to some form of assassin. You just have to find an explanation for the cultists that fits the models you choose. I have Zealot models, so I'd say they're cultists hopped up on combat-drugs to represent the above-human stats.

If the WH-Zealots were still tournament legal and fell under the allying rules in C:WH I'd have switched the whole army list around to using C:SM just for them. As it is, there seems to be no obvious answer as to which codex they should use. Especially if they're still emulating some of Codex Astartes and Loyalist appearances to better go unnoticed (honestly, how many random hivers would know the difference between two SM chapters unless their world had a direct tie to one?).

Raptor1313 said...

@Suneokun

Still illegal...

By the DH allies rules, you are permitted:
0-1 HQ
0-1 Elites
0-2 Troops
0-1 Fast Attack
(see page 21 of the DH Codex)

You've used two elites choices as allies (the HQ, and troops choices are fine, though). Now, the old workaround was to take a DH Inquisitor and WH IMperial Assassin, but the FAQ expressly forbids it.

@Erfunk
I gotta say I like the idea of daemons as cultists, given your explanation. I can see the Alpha Legion just tossing them into a teleportor, IF they can find it. Otherwise, regular folks can spring up, or be riding on the Rhinos, or something like that...there's room to work it, I feel.

suneokun said...

Ahhahhahahaa...... going slightly mad here, can anyone add any assistance here apart from the 'helpful' "can't do that!" comments...

The list is still pretty much where it should be, but how do we overcome the whole pesky 0-1,0-1,0-3,0-1 setup...

I shall apply some thought.

suneokun said...

HQ

1 (SM) Space Marine Captain
2 (DH) Geno Commander, 2 Mystics and a squad of 7 Geno's with Hellguns

Elites

Callidus Assassin (Jon Grammaticus)

Troops

9 Geno squad, 2 GL.
9 Geno Squad, 2 GL.
5 man sniper scout Squad with Rhino (led by Sergeant Telion - being Omegon)
10 man Scout Squad with Rhino

Fast Attack

Vanguard Assault Unit (10)
Vanguard Assault Unit (10)
Landspeeder Storm

Telion and his couts take the Storm or Infiltrate. The Geno Commander (Inquisitor) take a Rhino, as does the other Geno Squad (with Alpharius), the Vanguard's are the assault force with power weapons, lightning claws and relic blades all round.

I decided against Terminators in the end as they are too heavy and limited after deepstrike. The Vanguard's special 'lictor-like' abilities are more alpha legion's style...

Thank about their assault in the desert - they draw the enemy out with their sacrificial squads and then crush the enemy entirely in close assault.

I think that's the rulesboyz satisfied too. Plus we keep Gramaticus.

Many thanks to Raptor for making this a real challenge - AND I thought I was quite clever with the first list!!

However I actually prefferred it without the Terminators... give me a moment to get the pricing together and we're done.

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