:-) Well, my Fleshtearers did quite well over the course of the league and wound up placing 2nd for the Tournament... Not bad, the Codex is really quite good, and I think that playing a Jump Infantry based force is certainly viable, at least locally.
So, just kind of a rambling unit by unit analysis:
Scouts: Well, have to say they were probably consistently my weakest unit. Yes, on a few occasions they DID win me the game by simply sitting on an objective. OTOH, I think I can count on one hand the number of things they actually killed over the course of the dozen games. OK, maybe that is a BIT of an exaggeration, but my point being that while they were kind of hard to kill for a lot of folks, it was ~200 points of "eh". In almost every instance having a 10 man Assault Squad would have server FAR better. BS 3 for Sniper Rifles just doesn't cut it with the 50% to hit followed by the 50% to wound followed by a likely good armor or cover save... 8 regular Snipers, assuming everything goes exactly by the odds, that gets me 2 wounds. Just not enough damage output for the cost. Shame, one of the units I had high hopes for, and one I have been playing for decades... I'll still play them I think now and again, but overall I think they drop quite a bit on my "I should take them" list...
Assault Squads: Not bad... Jump troops worked out fairly well for me overall. I REALLY like the mobility they bring, and the Deep Strike option. Finding the need to be decked out with 2 Special Weapons, and the SGT should have the Power Weapon/Pistol I think... Not sure what if anything they can do against the 2+ Armor Saves... Well, other than just shoot them with Melta/Plasma type weapons of course :-)... Mounted in a Razorback? "Eh", I think the min squad worked well for me, giving me the Light Tank in a Razorback with the TLAC (Twin Linked Assault Cannon). Problem being that I cannot assault out of the Vehicle in this edition at all, even if the bloody thing gets destroyed in the other player's turn. So, short of Land Raiders or Open Topped Vehicles I think that Mech builds are going to be somewhat problematic, at least for armies that intend to ever Assault... So, probably the go to Troop choice for me...
Baal Predator: "Eh"... In one game it won everything for me, and in a few others, having an Assault Cannon appear on a flank was nice... But overall, it does not score, it does not throw out THAT much firepower, and it does tend to just die. The TLAC is nice, but short ranged. Sponsons are not really useful... The Heavy Bolters throw out 6 "eh" shots, unlikely to be all at full BS with it always moving. The fact that it does not ignore cover or 3+ Armor usually (unless you bring the Flamer turret) combined with it's short range means it is a niche unit I think. I'll probably use it on occasion, but to be honest, I think the time of the Baal Predator is mostly behind us.
Devastator Squad: Surprisingly, they were actually quite good. I never played them in the "Big Guns Never Tire" mission, so no real reason for the enemy to focus a lot on them... Well, other than the fact that it is a Heavy Weapons Squad lighting them up from across the field of course... But with the way I play the army, if they can be focused on, it is because all of the other stuff is dead.
Sanguinary Priests: Yes. Only question is 2 or 3. One riding down in the Drop pod and at least one with the Assault Squads/Dev Squads. I've converted several for Jump Packs and Weapon Swaps, over the years I have picked up a bunch of Medics, and I made a Terminator suited one for the Tournament. So, one Elite slot for me is taken pretty much always with FnP being so valuable. It failed me a LOT the last few games of the League and the Tournament, but there were times when it was annoyingly (well, to the guy on the other side of the table) consistent and kept some units alive a LOT longer than they should have.
Sternguard Squad(s): Liking them overall. Definitely keeping them, not sure if there was any particular time they were NOT useful... Unfortunately, it also delivers my Warlord and 4 kill points to close range with a likely pissed off enemy... If I go first it almost guarantees "First Blood" though... That was the difference in a number of games between winning and losing.
Drop Pods: I have one built and painted... It worked, but I think 3 would have been the right number for a full Drop type army. Locator Beacons are HUGE. With 6" from the Vehicle, and the Pod opening up like it does that leaves a HUGE footprint for follow on things Deep Striking in... Down side, it is 35 points for the deploy once and probably give up an easy kill point or more... Redeploying is problematic, so it does determine my battle plan. But it does make for a quick and decisive battle.
Whirlwind: Conditional yes... Locally, there are NO armies that do not have anything that isn't hurt be either the Str 4 AP 5 no cover save or the Str 5 AP 4, both of which being Ordinance... 90 points is fairly steep, paying for the Fast status on the Rhino hull... Not sure it is worth it overall as it cannot hurt fliers, heavy armor and really struggles against 2+/3+ armor... So, having one I put together all those years ago and repainting it, I'll probably keep fielding it... Ord sniping is looking powerful...
CPT Tycho/Gabriel Seth: Well, if I could modify Seth to give him a Jump Pack I'd use him in an instant... As is, he has 2 special rules, one completely useless in the current edition and his HtH weapon is Str 8 but only Rending, no AP value... So, great against light Vehicles but almost useless against anything with Armor. Tycho is all around pretty good... Not sure he is really worth 175 points, but looking at fully decking out a Vanilla Marine CPT, it goes to that range pretty quickly. BA CPTs are crap, so no point comparing really.
Reclusiarch: Decent, a cheap(ish) HQ option coming more or less fully decked out, can lead the DC REALLY well, but otherwise "eh"...
Death Company/Vanguard Vets: Yes, the way I play... DC are solid under the new rules, a crapton (metric) of attacks. I was fielding them deployed and have them Jump to support the Drop Pod Assault... Vanguard Vets assault out of Deep Strike and hit almost as hard... Since they support the Sternguard, there is a Sanguinary nearby for Furious Charge... So, either works well :-)
Dreadnoughts: Both the Furioso and Death Company versions are quite good. Definite keepers there. Have to admit, I missed the DC DN's Fleet ability when I fielded the Fury during the Tournament. AV 13 was great, and it rolled through a bunch of stuff without fear of retaliation as people have stopped taking Power Fists in every squad... Still have to deliver it there, and Melta is everywhere... Still, fairly cheap, and a good "linebacker" unit at the least...
:-) So, a bit of time on my hands as I decide what army I play next... Looking like an escalation league. The last league had some loopholes that kind of killed it, but good thing about the locals, easy to fix it and not a problem to do so...
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