Test Run for the new CSM
So, had the opportunity to play against some of my buddies who had not played in quite a while, and had never played 6th. I ended up playing two mini-games (first 3 turns each due to time constraints and to maximize the lessons learned and people playing). First was an 1850 vs 1850 and second was a team game of 1000 x 2 vs 1000 x 2.
So, with one of the larger tournaments I attend, the Standish Standoff which is a local hobby-centric tournament I attend annually in Standish Maine at my FLGS, looming on the horizon and how busy I am lately I am likely only to get in a handful of games before then. So I need to test out the new CSM for my Nurgle Tally list (my favorite as of late). But I need to identify what I need to add. I break it down into a few categories.
Speed: Yeah…nurgle daemons don’t do this generally speaking…it sucks.
Fire support: Again, daemons struggle with this. Even though some daemons CAN shoot, NO daemons can fire greater than 24″ with a sole exception of the Soulgrinder’s battle cannon. Psykers: Daemons don’t have any and they can be massive force multipliers and killers.
The Daemons can provide: Troops, Toughness, and Tally. Sort of the 3 T’s of Nurgle lists.
Well that said, I am looking at Havocs for fire support, Warp Talons for speed, Typhus for my HQ and Psyker, and cultsts (Zombies if they FAQ it to allow a MoN and large squads…or hell, maybe zombies anyways) for cheap troops that can be brutal if they get the tally up. However, I am lacking some serious melta (normally chosen and plagues, now both elites).
So that leaves an elite slot… With plagues being elites now, it changes things. So, my options, as I see them are: Hellbrute, Possessed, Plaguemarines, or Chosen.
So I tried the first two out as well as a confirmation for the talons, havocs, and Typhus (oh,… and cultists).
First game was against Tau. I ran Possessed this game in a rhino, and only 5 of them. However should these guys be the chosen to run the standoff, they will be in a rhino with Typhus. With S5, T5, 3/5++ save and 33% of the time power weapons and 33% of the time extra attacks, they have a good chance of bringing down most vehicles quite handily as well as posing a very real threat to pretty much any unit besides terminators. Throw in Typhus ( as he can fit in a rhino as long as only 8 possessed are in it) and between the psychic powers and the close combat power this unit is one to be focussed on, leaving my havocs, talons, and epidemius alone (though no one is going to ignore Kugath…he is a fire sink that normally shrugs off enough wounds to make the enemy sweat a little). With a Rhino, they can assault (most likely) turn two (18″ move, rhino gets blown up turn 1, 6″ disembark, next turn 6″ move and a 6″ assault means 36″ threat on turn two…)
Well, in the game I ran them, Typhus never saw the table as he didn’t come in turns 1,2, or 3. So the possessed ran up in their rhino. The rhino got popped and they came out and shrugged off a fair amount of fire. They then slaughtered a squad of Kroot and kept moving, the champion rolling on the boon table and getting rerolls to armor saves. They then kept going and just shrugged off a hellish amount of fire, making armor saves from the champion…well, like a champ. The game ended and all 5 were still on the table. These guys have awesome models, highly customizable, and are tough and strong to boot. Only downside is that they are a little pricey and have a low number of attacks.
The cultists worked exactly as T4 guardsmen are expected. They are great and cheap cannon fodder and good for holding those objectives. I will be using them with autoguns as I already have painted models for them. They are not a huge threat until they get the tally up and then at 20 they have the ability to drop full squads of terminators through volume of no armor save shots.
Plaguebearers continue to impress me, and now with SAP being less debilitative and HPs being what they are, a unit of plaguebearers can strip those rhinos and even vindicators down quick and in a hurry.
My GUO continued to shine. They are the only greater daemons that perform so consistently well that I cringe at not including them in an army. Tough to kill, with smash they are monsters against tanks, and against troops with their breath of chaos or aura of decay they can ruin anyone’s day. In this game he shugged off railguns, took two wounds from three turns of consolidated fire, and wiped a squad of crisis suits. Not bad seeing as he still had 3 wounds left.
Next game was a team game. Got to try out the hellbrute, finally my talons, and Typhus (as well as thousand sons which rolled terribly and died to 6 bolter wounds by only making one save as well as trying out a sorcerer with all kinds of goodies only for him to die to a lone railgun shot and he failed his LOS on a 2+ and his 3++ save. Damn.).
Hellbutes: Took him for his MM, but with only 1 shot, no VOLW, and the fact he is not a daemon, does not have it will not die, and has no invuln save, he fired once, missed, then was gunned down. He might work in some cases, but my first experience with him made me not eager to use him. he was out for sure!
The talons were assaulted by space wolves and fenrisian wolves. None of the assaulters survived and two talons died out of 5. With 2 attacks each, 3 for the champion, rerolls to wound, and preferred enemy (Space marine), and a T5 with 3+/5++ saves they are worth the cost. I just need a way to give them hatred, and they would be monsters in combat. A squad of 5 was good, 7 would be better, but likely I will stick with 5. I had stuck them with Typhus, but I will likely deploy them solo and let them go to work so the enemy is not overly tempted by so many points so densely packed. With the tally, they will wound on 2’s with rerolls and can ruin any unit’s day.
Lastly, Typhus. He was a monster…just like I figured. He stood toe to toe against a wolflord on a thunderwolf and won the combat by one wound (Typhus dealt two wounds, the wolflord dealt one). Alas, the wolf lord was eternal warrior and so did not die. Overall, it was the last assault of the game and the wolflord counted as destroyed as he lost by 5 or 6 and broke leaving Typus with 2 wounds left (had taken some shots previously) and 3 talons after a combat where they were originally outnumbered significantly.
So, I suspect that my list will encompass Chosen or Possessed. The Chose have the meltaguns, but without infiltrate they have to drive across the field. With no invuln, they become bait to plasma weaponry, and any of the myriad of AP3 weapons. The possessed are a little more survivable and after weapons and marks, aren’t significantly more expensive.
Thanks for reading,
KI
High Die 40K: battle reports, stories, WIPs 