Revised list...

Wow, bit of a flashback there :-)  Apparently I had an older version of a post there...  So, looking like the last week for the league, and I have to get a few more things painted up before Monday...  Close.  Almost everything is painted to the 3 color standard at least, most of it is actually completely done...  

Thinking on it again, not at all sure I have the time to get used to the Storm Raven in a single week. I may well bring the Dev Squad, and maybe the Vanguard Vets, at least a 5 man squad...  Just to throw them in to dig out the CPT, hopefully on Turn 2 with the DoA rules.  Unfortunately without the Raven, my AA solution is not there.  So, probably the Aegis line with Quad gun.  Goes without saying, the Techmarine is right out.

Looking like:

CPT Sariel (Tycho)

Death Company (5, Jump Packs, 2 Power Axes)

Scout Squad (10, 9 Snipers, 1 Heavy Bolter)

Sanguinary Priests (2, 1 Terminator, 1 Jump Pack)

Assault Squad (10, Melta, Flamer, SGT w/ Power Weapon)

Sternguard (7, Heavy Falmer, 6 Combi Melta, Drop Pod)

Baal Predator  (HB Sponsons, TLAC or Flamer?)

Dev Squad (3 Heavy Bolters, Missile Launcher?)

Whirlwind

Land Speeder or Attack Bike?

Aegis Line w/ Quad gun...

Pretty simple list, but effective and VERY direct...  Hammer, and hammer again...  This time with a few Heavy options to erase Infantry at a distance...  Armor I deal with via Assault Squads, etc...  Fliers?  Well... Aegis line I guess, otherwise I have no choice but spread out, hit everything else, get into HtH and hope for the best...  Feeling a bit Wehrmacht, with the complete LACK of air superiority, having to plan for that...  We'll see what works out :-)

Random odd things, Techs and Jin Roh...

Jin Roh is one of the Anime (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin-Roh:_The_Wolf_Brigade) that I really liked, the source of one of my favorite lines of all time: "Wolves only lose in Human fairy tales" :-)  The Infantry in this Kickstarter: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dreamforge-games/something-wicked-this-way-comes-crusader-plastic-m?ref=card REALLY remind me of the armored troopers there.  I'm going to be kicking in to get some of the lads...  Probably use them as "Storm Troopers" for my Praetorians, or maybe my Veterans...  The APC they are going to produce looks awesome, but I still have a Chimera I have not assembled, so there is really no way I can justify the $50 for that as amazing as it looks...  Yet :-)  If the things take off and they go into distribution, I'll certainly be ordering some through Dave at the Gopher...  The main part of the Kickstarter is supposed to be the Titans ("Leviathans"), but since I HAVE an ancient Warhound class Titan (Armorcast resin), and have started making another out of card stock...  And so $90 for a plastic one, while an amazing deal...  I cannot justify the purchase as I would almost never use it...  Now, should the game Dreamforge is looking to hit with takes off...  Well, maybe :-)  It sure looks like the figures are going to be amazing...

Looking at:

CPT Sariel (Tycho)
Death Company (4, Jump Packs, 2 Power Axes)
Scout Squad (10, 9 snipers, 1 Heavy Bolter or ML)
Sang Priest (Jump Pack or Terminator Armor?)
Assault Squad (10, Melta, Flamer, Power Weapon SGT)
Sternguard (Drop Pod, 8, 6 Combi Melta, Combi Plasma, H Flamer)
Baal Predator (HB Sponsons, TLAC or Flamer?)
Storm Raven
Devastator Squad (6, 3 HB, ML?)
Techmarine (Servo Harness, Power Weapon, pistol)

DN (either DC DN or TLAC/AC firepower DN)
Vanguard Vets with Power Weapons...

So, I can bring the regular DN and the Vanguard Vets, or the Death Company and DC DN...  With the Vanguard, I assault directly from Deep Strike, have DoA and can follow the Beacon down to assist the Sternguard and their CPT.  The firepower DN really does just that.  On the other hand my Death Company is solid for me, and I've fielded them since 3rd ed...  And being Fleshtearers, it fits the fluff I think...  We'll see I guess.  I have a few days to get to painting over the weekend...  I want at least a basecoat on everything...  And the Storm Raven is not...  Eh, I really just want to see what it does in the new ruleset, thinking the DC and DC DN will be terrifying rolling out of that and if I have to, bring it onto the field in Skimmer mode...

Bringing odd things...

Thinking about bringing a Techmarine...  Looking at the terrain we use locally, there is ALMOST always a ruin, and playing the "Dawn of War" deployment by fiat...  And my Scouts would be REALLY annoying with 2+ cover saves...  And 3+ saves for a Dev squad would be fairly nice...  Just the whole need to find the 50, 65 or better yet 90 points for the fully equipped Tech.  Pretty sure I won't bother with Servitors lacking a significant number of vehicles...  But the extra Plasma/Flamer and Power Fists might be nice for a backfield defense... Just having a hard time with the 90 points being the same as a Whirlwind for me.  For a single wound non IC model.  Yet another "GK Exclusive" as their Techs for whatever reason ARE IC.  Annoying, one of those things I want to bring, but it is one of those things I think I am playing at a disadvantage with given the clearly superior choices, in general.  Yes, I can imagine that there might be some situation where the Servo Harness Tech repairs a DN, Razorback or the like and goes on to clean up a HtH situation in my backfield...  But just don't see that happening all that often. Eh, I have several I have not played since the PDF codex days...  When the Techs were like the Tech Priest Engineers of the IG, not taking a slot, etc...  "Eh" even then, but cheap and I played a LOT of Mech as a holdover from my 3rd Ed army, so always amusing having him piece together a crippled Rhino hull to annoy the enemy...

Other than that, looking at bringing back my Vanguard Vets...  Sternguard hitting and the VGV following the Locator Beacon to assault out of Deep Strike and hopefully pull the Sternguard out alive...  Or at least avenge their sacrifice...  Though I am finding not many people are prepared for the Sternguard with CPT Tycho and a Medic...  Dropping a bunch of pissed off Assault Vets with Power Weapons, etc. into the mix just seems like overkill, but it will be VERY fast and decisive...  Something to consider...  NOT a "nice, fun" list, but damn I think it would be terrifyingly effective...  Well, against everything but a flier heavy force...

Magnets, weapon swaps and Devastators...

Well, finally getting to use the wee tiny magnets I picked up from Dave up at the Gopher (http://armored-gopher.com/)...  I have WAY too many Plasma Pistols on my Jump Troopers, but with the Death Company set, there are Inferno Pistols, Hand Flamers and oh yes, MORE Plasma Pistols...  So, my test case is done with in essence a hand swap with Plasma and Inferno Pistols....  Looking like I'll wind up doing this on a few of the lads if it works out, and it is looking very good so far...

Devastators,  thinking that I'll field one unit of the lads...  But not necessarily the standard 4 Missile Launchers...  Thinking of a few Heavy Bolters, maybe a Missile Launcher or two...  Finding the weight of fire thing is pretty important, a LOT of saves forced is a good thing.  Not so sure they will do squat for me in terms of AA fire, I guess the DE and maybe Necron fliers might be concerned about Heavy Bolters...  But missing the GK Psycannon s...  Leads me to a bit of a mini rant :-)

The more I think about it, the more I am annoyed by the GK codex.  Yes, they have a limited selection of Heavy Weapons, but the ones they have are almost perfect for about anything.  No snap fire needed for it because they can shoot Assault 2 OR Heavy 4.  It's Str 7, Rending, so it can punch through whatever is out there as opposed to say, a Heavy Bolter...  The Lightning Claws they use are NOT LC, but they do the same thing without the disadvantage of losing the shooting attacks they have...  And oh, wait, theirs are Str 5 and Assault 2 when they buy the upgrades...  So a HUGE mass of Str 5 shooting followed by Force Weapons hitting in HtH if needed.  Yes, they all have Power Weapons...  Actually Force Weapons, so multi Wound models can all just die too...  And fliers that just murder Psykers...  Scoring units all over the place, an option for anything :-)...  Sadly, I HAVE a GK army, but honestly I feel bad fielding it.  It just seems like I am min maxing and borderline cheating by just fielding the options in the book.  Not really much of a challenge to field a really powerful army, so I'd rather field an army I will have an actual challenge winning with than one I can just wipe people off the table with...

:-)  Looking at converting a Pedro Cantor, or if I can find the actual figure in METAL maybe picking it up...  This way I can resurrect some of my ancient Crimson Fists as an Allied Detachment in REALLY big games to make Sternguard scoring and even more awesome...  Will have to throw together more Drop Pods as well of course...  LONG term plan, especially with this being a 2000+ point concept I think for me...

REALLY tired, changing out some of my workout stuff...  While "planking" LOOKS easy, it is not so much so...  Sore and exhausted...

Yes, they can kill tanks...

So, between the Sternguard, Assault squads following on and the Death Company assaulting, I WAS able to  deal with an overload of Leman Russ class tanks.  Fortunately, there were not nearly enough Infantry to bog me down, and his fliers got stuck in reserve long enough for me to deal with his Punisher tanks.  Did have my Sternguard and CPT Tycho endure a turn of him unloading some 90+ shots into me, killing 4 of my lads.  And by soaking so much fire, the Death Company and DC DN were able to roll across the field and wreck lots of stuff, each accounting for a squadron of Russes...  So, I think the Army is tweaked enough.  Time to see what else I can field, maybe try a Dev Squad and the Storm Raven...

New FAQ, and let's see how the army does this week...

Well, new FAQs came out at the end of last week...  Tycho for instance can completely ignore armor in his HtH attacks.  Neat I guess, and since I am fielding him I'll take it...  I thought it was kind of odd because "ignores armor" IIRC was just the wording for "Power Weapon" in the previous edition.  Could be wrong of course :-)  I just don't feel like looking it up.  Not sure the justification for Bone Swords ignoring all armor, effectively becoming AP 2, but not facing any in the League at least...  Jamie will likely field them of course, so likely see them there, but nothing yet to be concerned about.

So, fielding a variant of last weeks force I think:

CPT Sariel (Tycho)
Sanguinary Priests (2, 1 jump pack, 1 power weapon, Axe)
Scout Squad (10, snipers, Heavy Bolter or ML, might drop the PF)
Assault Squad (10, flamer, melta gun, SGT w/PW/PP or inferno pistol)
Assault Squad (5, Razorback with TLAC ro Las/Plas, melta gun)
Sternguard Squad (Drop Pod, 5 Combi Melta, 1 Combi Plasma, Heavy Flamer)
Baal Predator (TLAC or Flamer, HB sponsons
Whirlwind

Aegis line w/ Quad Gun

Looking at dropping the power fist on the Scouts, so saving 25 points that I have yet to use during this league...  Maybe put a power weapon on one of the Sang Priests...  Maybe Terminator Armor?  That seemed to work out well in the Drop pod...  Or 30 points that I have left over becomes another Sternguard trooper with a Combi Weapon...  Hmmm...  That might be the plan.

I still think army is weak against a mass flier army, but overall it is looking good...

Fleshtearers Heavy Support?

Well, I haven’t used the Heavy Support much in the BA list…  Wound up winning on VCs because I was able to kill off a bunch of them like a Land Raider, Vindicators, etc…  Dropped in Sternguard, Assault Squads and Death Company assaulting are pretty hard to handle for Vehicles these days, assuming that it cannot be bubble wrapped to prevent the charge or Drop in the first place…  But overall I have been playing my Fleshtearers as a fast assault force, so almost no room for non scoring things that do not move quickly…

Thinking about bringing a Dev Squad, but concerned about the whole idea of fielding a bunch of 3+ armor save guys whose job is really to be shot at…  On the other hand a squad of lads with Heavy Bolters and Missile Launchers might just tear something up, especially if I have the Aegis line or a building to base them in…  Keeping a Medic nearby might be a really good idea, and mixing them in with my Sniper Scouts might be amusing.  If I bring 10, I can Combat Squad and either run a super Dev squad with 4 HW’s or split them into 2 Squads with 2 HW each.  Neat, but not being Scoring for most of the missions I’m not so sure they will be valuable enough in general.  Have a hard time bringing a Las Cannon or even a Heavy Plasma given the point cost, but the Heavy Bolters and Missile Launchers are 10 points and so might be worth overloading on.  Bringing a Razorback for the Squad might give me another Assault Cannon or keeping it cheap another TL Heavy Bolter on a fast chassis…  But having a hard time with that over say, a Predator…  In fact, having a really hard time thinking the Dev Squad would do better than a Predator roaming about.  2 Las cannon and an Auto Cannon gives me 4 shots, so fewer I guess, but FAR more mobile if push comes to shove… 

:-)  Just killing time and trying to think about slightly different things to add to the list...