1850 Competitive AM Gunline

[slobulous]

HQ

Company Command Squad : 80
- Master of Ordnance

Inquisitor : 55
- Prescience

Inquisitor : 55
- Prescience

Troops

Platoon Command Squad : 50
- 4x Grenade Launchers

Platoon Command Squad : 50
- 4x Grenade Launchers

Combined Infantry Squad (x3) : 210
- 3x Lascannon Teams

Combined Infantry Squad (x3) : 210
- 3x Lascannon Teams

Fast Attack

Armored Sentinel Squadron (x3) : 120
- Multi-Lasers

Armored Sentinel Squadron (x3) : 120
- Multi-Lasers

Heavy Support

Vanquisher Squadron (x3) : 435
- Hull Lascannons

Wyvern Squadron (x3) : 195
- Hull Heavy Bolters

Manticore : 170
- Hull Heavy Flamer

Fortification

Aegis Defense Line : 100
- Quad Gun

Total
1850

I have played about a couple dozen games with this list and it has done extremely well so far.

One of the keys to its success has been the extremely large combined footprint that it puts on the table. The army fully deploys with nothing held in reserves. By utilizing the ADL, full unit coherency, and my own board edges, I can create a massive castled-up safe zone all the way to the board edges with literally nowhere for the enemy to deep strike or outflank. I'm talking like a huge block of units set up strategically, spaced out to prevent massive blast/template damage and cover more area with gaps between units that are just slightly too small for something to deep strike in.

Deploying in this way prevents any kind of behind-the-lines enemy action going on in my backfield and forces the enemy to take me head on. For instance the best place a Drop Pod full of Sternguard with Combi-Meltas could land is on the other side of my defense line with about 12 inches of guardsmen between them and the closest vehicle. This allows me to safely set up my Company Command Squad completely out of line of sight, buried behind multiple layers of bubblewrap and rows of tanks and walkers. From here, my CCS is free to issue orders and lob Basilisk shells while denying Slay the Warlord.

The Inquisitors each join a blob squad to provide it with LD10 and Stubborn. Combined with Prescience and Fire On My Target or Bring It Down, these squads can delete Broadsides dug in cover and the like, or take down Land Raiders or Wraithknights. Throw FRFSRF on 'em and now they're mowing down Marines. They take a hell of a lot to get them off my objectives as well. The Platoon Command Squads are used for additional bubblewrap and fire support and can advance on foot with Sentinels to midfield if necessary.

Armored Sentinels are so cheap for how durable they are, I absolutely love them. They serve as bubble wrap and armor save spammers, and can tackle some light transports or light flyers too. I have tried them with Lascannons but for the points I much prefer the stock multi-laser. I found that for the Lascannons to be effective on them, they really need Prescience. But I would much prefer to use Prescience on the blob squads' Lascannons because they can get Ignore Cover, whereas the Sentinels cannot. So I stick with the cheapness and volume of shots that still usually wound on a 2+.

The Vanquishers do what they do very well. Again with the all-important Prescience, they can take down most hard targets. The Russ hull is also just so durable for the points nowadays, especially stacked with the 4+ ADL save.

Full units of Wyverns are just murderous to anything with T4 or lower, regardless of armor save. They wipe out units wholesale, its ridiculous. Like 26 armor saves on a 10-man MEQ squad. And that's just from their stormshard mortars, the hull heavy bolters get to shoot also! I would call them borderline OP at 195 pts for all 3.

And the Manticore, still worth its weight in gold even after the price bump. Delivering multiple STR10 Ordnance pie plates with great accuracy anywhere on the table feels like Godlike power. To be able to blow up things like Hammerhead Gunships tucked behind a building on the other side of the table first turn. That ability is invaluable in my experience.

The list is very long-ranged with devastating amounts of firepower and has no real need to move off its home objectives. The main plan being to be just a huge dug-in resilient brute of a war machine, putting out such torrents of fire to clear the enemy off their own objectives while holding steadfast to my own. This army very much says to me "COME AT ME BRO, Or not... We're gonna pound the hell out of you either way!"

[Mad Cat]

Looks a good list.

I would drop the master of Ordnance and downgrade a few PCS GLs to sniper rifles to free up 30 points in total. Then convert the Vanquisher squadron into an HQ with a tank commander giving one of them BS4 and the split fire order with a 5/6 chance of working. You could even leave one vanquisher in heavy support and take a 2 tank HQ alowing you to shoot 3 enemy tanks in one turn. Should make a mess of enemy transports. 2-3 leman russ are also a lot more resiliant than a 5 man CCS so protecting the slay the warlord better and I personally prefer the warlord traits at the bottom of the chart. Who needs relentless on a 5 lasgun CCS squad?

That done your antitank firepower jumps quite a bit so you could swap out lascannon for ACs+GL on one platoon maybe.

I also think you need at least one mobile scoring unit so you could drop a few sentinels for a chimera + 10 vets.

[Katharon]

I'd second most of what Mad Cat advised. I'd say however that you should keep the CCS as your warlord and simply have a 2nd HQ choice -- seeing as how those Inquisitors are an Allied Detachment (enjoy those Battle Brother rules for as long as possible).

I would also suggest splitting your heavy weapon teams away from the combined squads and putting them into Heavy Weapon Squads. That way you have more available units to fight where you need them, and your blob squads can act as a speed bump while your heavy weapons are further in the rear.

I'd also suggest changing the weapons on the Sentinels to missile launchers. It's by far the best weapon choice for them, and gives them diversity: tank hunting or blowing holes in infantry squads.

[This Dave]

Ordinarily I'd agree with Katharon about the HWTs but I get the feeling you're keeping them in the infantry squads so they can use the Inquisitor's Ld 10 for taking orders. Separating them out means they have to use their own Ld 7 for orders as well as being more vulnerable. I also get the feeling you use the "Forwards for the Emperor" and/or the "Move Move Move" orders to get the platoons to objectives later in the game. I would maybe suggest swapping the Lascannons for Autocannons though. You already have good anti vehicle firepower and the ACs can pop light vehicles as well as shoot a bit more effectively on the move. They can also work as a decent back up air defense, which is about the only weakness I see with this list.

[Harley]

No, keep the Lascannons. Ignores cover and AP2 is golden. Wasting that order on AP4 takes away one of the new codex' distinct advantages.

When you find yourself facing 6+ Broadsides entrenched in ruins you'll know why.