Here's the second part to the 15 minute list comparison. For this post, I'll remove the unit restriction and emphasize some similar build characteristics to the previous list. Then, I'll go over some of the strengths and weaknesses of the new 'spam' oriented army, and briefly compare the two. Lets see what we we get.The Restrictions:
-List <= 2000pts
-No Special Characters
-No more than 15 minutes design time.
The List: 2000pts
HQ: 100
[100] Librarian: (Might of Heroes, The Sanguine Sword)
Elites: 225
[225] 3xSanguinary Priests: 3xCombi-Melta, 2xPower Weapon
Troops: 1056
[181] 4xAssault Marines, 1xSergeant: 1xMeltagun, 1xPower Weapon; Razorback: Lascannon/Twin-Linked Plasma Gun, Searchlight.
[181] 4xAssault Marines, 1xSergeant: 1xMeltagun, 1xPower Weapon; Razorback: Lascannon/Twin-Linked Plasma Gun, Searchlight.
[166] 4xAssault Marines, 1xSergeant: 1xMeltagun; Razorback: Lascannon/Twin-Linked Plasma Gun, Searchlight, Searchlight.
[186] 4xAssault Marines, 1xSergeant: 1xFlamer, 1xHand Flamer, 1xPower Weapon; Razorback: Lascannon/Twin-Linked Plasma Gun.
[171] 4xAssault Marines, 1xSergeant: 1xFlamer, 1xHand Flamer; Razorback: Lascannon/Twin-Linked Plasma Gun, Searchlight.
[171] 4xAssault Marines, 1xSergeant: 1xFlamer, 1xHand Flamer; Razorback: Lascannon/Twin-Linked Plasma Gun, Searchlight.
Fast: 213
[71] 1xLand Speeder (Tornado): 1xMulti-Melta, 1xHeavy Flamer, Searchlight
[71] 1xLand Speeder (Tornado): 1xMulti-Melta, 1xHeavy Flamer, Searchlight
[71] 1xLand Speeder (Tornado): 1xMulti-Melta, 1xHeavy Flamer, Searchlight
Heavy: 406
[131] 1xPredator: Autocannon, 2xLascannon Side Sponsons
[135] 1xPredator: Autocannon, 2xLascannon Side Sponsons
[135] 1xPredator: Autocannon, 2xLascannon Side Sponsons
Stats:
12 Lascannons (mobile)
3 Autocannons (mobile)
9 Melta Variants (mobile)
9 Flamer Variants (mobile)
3 Predator Chassis
6 Rhino Chassis
3 Speeder Chassis
30 Scoring Infantry (6 units)
3 Non-Scoring Infantry
5 Power Weapons
1 Force Weapon
10 Searchlights
22 Kill Points
Basic Tactics:
The 3 Sanguinary Priests join the Melta toting Assault Marines squadrons (keeping Power Weapons together). The Librarian will join the Power Weapon/Flamer equpied Assault Marines squad. The razorbacks can be played in a variety of ways, from sitting back and shooting to moving full out (probably dropping smokes) to moving 12" and getting off a round of Lascannon or Plasma fire. 3 of these squads will hit heavy infantry very hard on the charge, the rest are great versus lighter infantry. There is plenty of fast Melta delivery. The land speeders offer some longer-ranged Melta fire along with the option to deepstrike. Be sure to alternate the Razorbacks carrying Priests and all of your infantry can readily take advantage of FNP making them significantly more survivable.
Basic Analysis:
Lets start with the main weaknesses of this list:
1. No long-ranged infantry-based firepower. This is not really an issue as the build's long-ranged firebase lays across quite a few vehicles.
2. 22 Kill Points offers your oppenents a higher Kill Point potential than the other (or most 2k lists) which can be disadvantageous when victory or your score are dependent upon how many killpoints you lost. However, having 22 Kill Points indicates how separated your units are which will allow you to choose more targets/turn and will give you a higher potential damage output/turn. In turn it will also reduce the damage taken/turn as your opponent will be more likely to saturate his maximum target potential. This is due to two causes 1. You have more targets 2. Your targets are all nearly identical and are all vehicles. This means that many of your opponent's weapons will be rendered useless until your vehicles are popped open.
3.Very few Deep-Striking and no Outflanking, Scouting or Infiltrating units. This is mitigated by your 3 Deep-Striking Land Speeders and this list's ability to stay in reserves and come in with good movement and long-ranged firepower (Razorbacks and Preds).
The fact that this list presents a lot of nearly identical vehicles for targets, is filled with (mobile) long-ranged weaponry and a good selection of Meltas and Flamers, renders it capable of competing in games where it goes first or second. The widespread redundancy in weapons (12 Lascannon/Plasma, 6 Flamer and 6 Melta units) allows for you to take significant losses to your units, without deteriorating your army's ability to perform any given specific task (EG anti-Infantry, anti-Monsterous Creature or ant-Vehicle).
The Comparison:
So how does this list match up versus the other 15minute (restricted) list that I made? In my opinion, it is quite superior.
1.It will be more resilient: While having very similar unit selections between the two lists, in the restricted list 'non-spam', many of the units differ in effective ranges, resilience and composition. This leads to your army operating in a piece meal fashion which makes it easier for your opponent to tear down. For example, for the first2 turns, the Librarian Dreadnoughts pose no threat, therefore they can generally be ignored in lieu of the Razorbacks/Rhinos until they're in the much more effective Melta range. On the other hand, the 'Spam' list's utilization of 6 Razorbacks (vs the 2 Rhinos, 2 RBs of the 'Non-Spam' list) means that all 6 must be dealt with to eliminate their lascannon fire and infantry mobility in the following turn.
2. It can handle more enemy army variants/styles of play. For instance, lets assume that the 'Non-Spam' list were to encounter a fully mechanized Eldar list. While yes, I would expect it to be a competitive match up, the 'Non-Spam' list would only be able to target 6 Eldar vehicles/turn at range as compared to the 'Spam' list's 12 potential targets at range/turn. This is all without the 'Non-Spam' list gaining any particular advantage over the 'Spam' list once up close. Or lets try a Monsterous Creature based Nids list. The additional 4 Razorbacks are capable of killing almost a Trygon/turn while maintaining their mobility and with the potential to stay at range (versus compromising their safety by being forced to get close to the Nids to be effective).
3. The 'Spam' list is more mobile than the 'Non-Spam' variant. There's not much to elaborate on for this one, more vehicles with similar unit/weapon types = greater mobility.
Without going on and on about varying improvements of the 'Spam' over the 'Non-Spam' list, it is important to again note, that the 'Spam' list was designed around the preeminent theme in the 'Non-Spam' list, keeping them similar (to aid with comparison). But aside from the obvious improvements, the subtle improvements also can have a significant impact on any given game. For example, the 'Spam' list incorporates 10 Searchlights, which may allow for an advantage in some scenarios that utilize the Night Fight rules.
I'll get on the Spam article next, to reiterate some of these points and to clarify the underlying benefits and detriments to unit redundancy. Also, I ask that anyone who reads this article, tries this experiment. Let me know your results, what type of restricted and unrestricted lists did you come up with? Which one do you think is more competitive and why? What are each list's strengths and weaknesses. Feel free to post your results in the comments below, or email them to me at Championship40k@Gmail.com. What are your thoughts on the article? Don't hesitate to comment!
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