Inquiring M1nd
05-07-2012, 10:52 PM
So, from the moment I saw these two in the Codex, I knew I wanted to fin a way to make them work. The relationship between is compelling, and their rules are a fine balance between powerful and quirky-cool.
Without further ado:
HQ (550)
1 Nemesor Zahndrekh,
1 Vargard Obyron,
: Royal Court (205 pts)
1 Harbinger of Despair+veil
1 Cryptek
1 Crypteks
1 Cryptek
1 Cryptek
1 Lord + res orb,
Troops (620)
Troops: Warriors (310 pts)
15 Warriors,
1 Ghost Ark
Troops: Warriors (310 pts)
15 Warriors,
1 Ghost Ark
Fast Attack (240)
Fast Attack: 2 Heavy Destroyers,
Fast Attack: 2 Heavy Destroyers,
Heavy Support: Annihilation Barge
The general idea is that the two warrior squads are flanked by the ghost arks, and they work their way into firing range, destroyers finding tanks to wreck, with the royal court starting in reserve and being called in to bounce around and hose down heavily armored units with AP3 and AP1 short-ranged fire.
Obyron, the Res Lord, and a squad of warriors are arrayed in front of Zandrekh's squad, and they are to act as a speed bump for the second unit of warriors. When they are charged, they survive the first round of combat and Obyron teleports them out to be replenished by the ghost arks, leaving the belligerent secessionists at the mercy of Zahndrek's warriors and the two Ghost Arks, not to mention Obyron's own. The list relies on buckets 'o' die and the sheer resilience of armor 13 and big blocks of warriors. The Obyron-Zahndrek combo serves to mitigate the warrior's weak CC proficiency by letting a unit deep-strike out of CC in the movement phase with accuracy that allows one to stay safely in rapid-fire range to keep the pressure up while you recover your 2d3 warriors.
This leave me with 100 points to spare. What you see above is the Annhiliation option, which comes with a nightmare shroud for the cryptek squad. This increases the Harbinger's threat range by giving the squad an extra chance to force their target to fall back or at least do something if they get a poor scatter. The task of the Annihilation Barge is to make itself a more interesting target than the ghost arks by blowing chunks out of light vehicles and close enemy formations (this has the added benefit of encouraging wider spacing between units, giving the crypteks a better shot at hitting a squad with less support ready to avenge).
Option B is a Canoptek Spyder and minimal scarabs with 5 points to toss into either a harbinger specialization for wound allocation games, or a gauntlet of flame on the res lord, to further punish enemies that get close. The Scarabs are held in the back of the formation to bulk up in numbers and be ready to lash out at vehicles or whatever else needs to hit a speed bump.
I'm curious to hear your thoughts. For you mathhammer enthusiasts, the core of the list can pump out 50 flayer shots at 18-24 inches from the front of the phalanx (average 6 glancing hits to vehicles), inside rapid fire range that becomes 100 (average 12) and the crypteks can unload 12 AP3 shots into a target before whatever contribution the Harbinger can provide.
Without further ado:
HQ (550)
1 Nemesor Zahndrekh,
1 Vargard Obyron,
: Royal Court (205 pts)
1 Harbinger of Despair+veil
1 Cryptek
1 Crypteks
1 Cryptek
1 Cryptek
1 Lord + res orb,
Troops (620)
Troops: Warriors (310 pts)
15 Warriors,
1 Ghost Ark
Troops: Warriors (310 pts)
15 Warriors,
1 Ghost Ark
Fast Attack (240)
Fast Attack: 2 Heavy Destroyers,
Fast Attack: 2 Heavy Destroyers,
Heavy Support: Annihilation Barge
The general idea is that the two warrior squads are flanked by the ghost arks, and they work their way into firing range, destroyers finding tanks to wreck, with the royal court starting in reserve and being called in to bounce around and hose down heavily armored units with AP3 and AP1 short-ranged fire.
Obyron, the Res Lord, and a squad of warriors are arrayed in front of Zandrekh's squad, and they are to act as a speed bump for the second unit of warriors. When they are charged, they survive the first round of combat and Obyron teleports them out to be replenished by the ghost arks, leaving the belligerent secessionists at the mercy of Zahndrek's warriors and the two Ghost Arks, not to mention Obyron's own. The list relies on buckets 'o' die and the sheer resilience of armor 13 and big blocks of warriors. The Obyron-Zahndrek combo serves to mitigate the warrior's weak CC proficiency by letting a unit deep-strike out of CC in the movement phase with accuracy that allows one to stay safely in rapid-fire range to keep the pressure up while you recover your 2d3 warriors.
This leave me with 100 points to spare. What you see above is the Annhiliation option, which comes with a nightmare shroud for the cryptek squad. This increases the Harbinger's threat range by giving the squad an extra chance to force their target to fall back or at least do something if they get a poor scatter. The task of the Annihilation Barge is to make itself a more interesting target than the ghost arks by blowing chunks out of light vehicles and close enemy formations (this has the added benefit of encouraging wider spacing between units, giving the crypteks a better shot at hitting a squad with less support ready to avenge).
Option B is a Canoptek Spyder and minimal scarabs with 5 points to toss into either a harbinger specialization for wound allocation games, or a gauntlet of flame on the res lord, to further punish enemies that get close. The Scarabs are held in the back of the formation to bulk up in numbers and be ready to lash out at vehicles or whatever else needs to hit a speed bump.
I'm curious to hear your thoughts. For you mathhammer enthusiasts, the core of the list can pump out 50 flayer shots at 18-24 inches from the front of the phalanx (average 6 glancing hits to vehicles), inside rapid fire range that becomes 100 (average 12) and the crypteks can unload 12 AP3 shots into a target before whatever contribution the Harbinger can provide.