To play Black Templars as they should be, and to not always feel like "Why am I not playing another Space Marine chapter that's better?" we really need to capitalize on what they offer that others don't. First up is the Crusader Squad. Between small 5-man units of Heavy + Special weapons and the ability to take Land Raider Crusaders as dedicated Transports, we need to try to field them in a way that it's understood that no other Chapter could fill out the list. For me, that means a list needs to be tailored around 1 or 2 ideas...and that's mainly taking some 5-man Las+Plas units inside a Rhino (Plasma beats out a solo grav-gun, as most lists will probably find a Rhino blowing sooner than later...so we don't want two relatively immobile weapons in a 5-man unit) or taking a heavy 15+ man Crusader squad in a LRC and filling the rest of our Heavy Support slots without double booking our HQ (2 HQs tosses in the idea "Why not field in Allies and get the fourth Heavy Slot?).
While there are tons of list ideas floating around my head and on the internet, I have just over a month to be ready for this tournament, so the list has little wiggle room and the foundation needs to be set as of now. And it is. Here is what I got:
HQ - Chapter Master on bike, /w Eternal Shield and PF (the Standard new hotness)
Troop - Bike Squad x5, /w combi-grav and 2 grav-guns
Troop - Bike Squad x5, /w combi-grav and 2 grav-guns
Troop - Bike Squad x5, /w combi-grav and 2 grav-guns
Troop - Crusader Squad, x10 Initiate, x5 Neophyte /w LRC
Fast Attack - Stormtalon, /w Skyhammer Missile Launcher
Fast Attack - Stormtalon, /w Skyhammer Missile Launcher
Heavy - Thunderfire Cannon
Heavy - Thunderfire Cannon
...and that's the start. The list isn't fleshed out above, and there's another 170 points lurking in the shadows if I straight up pimp out the Crusader Squad for melee - The Sword Brother is guaranteed...as that gives me 5 characters that can re-roll and rend in challenges. I don't feel like I need to fill in that Heavy Support slot, either, as I can move the LRC down to Heavy so it's scoring for Big Guns Never Tire. With 170ish points, the thing I'm debating is a Command Squad on bikes with an Apothecary, as that's making the Chapter Master bulkier and having a squad that can stand a chance versus a Helldrake. But I can just put in another 5-man bike for even more troops. So many options, but I'll playtest the above and move on from there.
So, my to do list:
-Finish Painting Stormtalons.
-Paint LRC
-Put bits on Neophytes.
-Build Initiates and Bikers and put Templar bits to make them extra awesome.
-Buy another pack of bikes and put them together.
-Plan out the look for the Chapter Master and get cracking on getting that guy together.
-Buy a Thunderfire Cannon*.
-Figure out the rest of the points and buy and assemble the units.
(1? I need 2! But maybe not. 1 Thunderfire Cannon and 2 Whirlwinds fill my Heavy Support options with points to spare. With all that Barrage, I just need to look for LoS and sit tight. Without LoS, camp in a ruins that will get a 3+ cover save. For a bit more points, 2 Whirlwinds can handle what 1 Thunderfire Cannon is supposed to occomplish - I hope...the larger pie template may help out for smaller trouble units that get spread out to help negate the Thunderfire Cannon. Thunderfire Cannon really helps against one unit in multiple ruin floors, right?)
I'll be posting my finished painted stuff to my archives, but I don't think I'll be doing full painting, just base coats with some key details pulled out. It's a lot to build, buy, and paint in a month, so my goal is to have a tabletop army that is primed, and hopefully painted reasonably for the tournament. I can always go back and handle more details later.
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| Practical Joke on GF |
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