Fist of Medusa Strike Force
Core - Battle Demi-Company
HQ - Captain (Lightning Claw, Power Fist, Artificer Armor, Bike, The Gorgon's Chain) - 215 points
Elite - Command Squad (Bikes, Apothecary w/ SS, 2x SS, 2x Power Fists, Meltabomb) - 225 points
Troop - Tactical Squad x5 (Lascannon) - 90 points
Troop - Tactical Squad x5 (Lascannon) - 90 points
Troop - Tactical Squad x5 (Flamer) - 75 points
Fast Attack - Bike Squad x3 (Grav Gun, Combi-Grav Gun) - 103 points
Heavy Support - Devastator Squad x5 (3x Missile Launchers) - 115 points
Command - Librarius Conclave
HQ - Librarian (ML2, Bike, Force Axe) - 110 points
HQ - Librarian (ML2, Bike, Force Sword) - 110 points
HQ - Librarian (ML2, Bike, Force Sword) - 110 points
Auxiliary - 10th Company Task Force
Troop - Scout Squad x5 (5x Sniper, Camo Cloaks) - 70 points
Troop - Scout Squad x5 (5x Sniper, Camo Cloaks) - 70 points
Troop - Scout Squad x5 (4x Bolters, Heavy Bolter) - 63 points
Allies - Assassinorum
Elite - Culexus Assassin - 140 points
Allies - Inquisition
HQ -Inquisitor (ML1 Psyker, Force Sword, 3x Servo Skulls) - 64 points
Honestly not much different than the list I had created before. The goal of the conclave is to try and roll on Librarius for the re-rolling Armor Saves plus Null Zone. In an ideal world I will also roll on Telepathy and get Invisibility as well. Everything beyond that is just gravy. The Inquisitor originally was being used as a way to get Psykotroke Grenades as well as Rad Grenades; however he's too slow to join my Bike Squad. I also was using him to unlock cheap 18 point Warp Charges (Henchmen Squads, 2x Acolytes, 1x Psyker)...but I realized that Psychic powers aren't the lynch pin for the army. For now, he simply joins the Devastator Squad and hopes to get Perfect Timing to go along with Prescience depending on what I need. Given I'm normally only rolling for 2 powers in any phase, I can afford to let him throw 1 or 2 dice at a power.
I had wavered on bringing a Culexus but he helps me shut down opposing Psyker Deathstars. Considering mine doesn't need the powers to operate, I can easily dump my 3 Librarians into the Grav Bike Squad and let them perform shenanigans on their own.
Ultimately, there are a few concerns I have with the list. The most obvious one is a lack of transports/mobility. It is somewhat mitigated by having Infiltrating Scouts (plus the Assassin) and letting my two Bike Squads push forward. The other concern comes from the distinct lack of AA. At this point I'm relying on Mysterious Objectives to get a Skyfire Nexus and just being able to ignore flyers in some situations. Given that Helldrakes are still potentially a thing, I might have some issues. Still, that would be one of the tweaks. I would drop the Scouts and instead go with the AA Tank Detachment. I'd need to give up a few things (like Lascannons and Missile Launchers)...but I think that they'd work well with the list.
The Inquisitor's Servo Skulls help immensely against White Scars and other Scouting/Infiltrating Armies...especially with the change to Infiltrate and Scout moves occurring *AFTER* the seize roll. Honestly I find that to be a *GREAT* move because it suddenly adds that much more value to those units since they help you recover from a potentially disastrous situation.
So going off the top of my head, this is what my opponent (Nick) brought:
HQ - Company Command Squad (Creed, Master of Ordinance, Chimera)
HQ - Primaris Psyker (ML2)
HQ - Pask in a Leman Russ Punisher (2x Heavy Bolter Sponsons, 1x Lascannon, Camo Netting) plus a Plasma-cutioner (w/ 2x Plasma Cannon Sponsons, Lascannon, Camo Netting)
Troops - Platoon
Platoon Command Squad (Autocannon)
Infantry Squad (10x Guardsmen)
Infantry Squad (10x Guardsmen)
Heavy Weapons Team (3x Lascannons)
Heavy Weapons Team (3x Autocannons)
Troops - 10x Veterans (Upgrade that gives them stealth and forces me to do a disordered charge, Meltagun)
Heavy Support - 2x Leman Russ Tanks (Vanquishers...Strength 8, AP2, plus 2x Lascannons, Camo Netting)
Heavy Support -1x Wyvern
He had to change his list on the fly as he didn't bring the flyer stands and had forgotten quite a few of the parts he uses on his magnetized guys. Creed was his Warlord.
We rolled a D3 and got the 3rd mission from the BeakyCon sample missions. It was basically combined Scouring with Kill Points and a smattering of secondary and tertiary objectives.
I noticed in the pictures for DakkaCon this past weekend that some tables had very little LOS blocking terrain and worried I would have to deal with the same. So I purposely set up a table with a single LOS blocking piece and a smattering of ruins and such throughout the rest of the board. I still think it gave us enough items to hide units if we chose to.
I rolled Rites of War from the Space Marine Codex (all units use my Warlord's Leadership Value as their own) and then Master of Ambush from the Strategic Table. Dan rolled the Warlord trait that gave him the ability to issue 4x Orders and I am unsure of the second Warlord trait. We rolled off and I won the roll electing for Dan to deploy and go first (I didn't seize).
I elected to give my Grav Bike Squad and one Librarian Infiltrate along with my three Scout Squads and my Assassin (who all naturally have Infiltrate). Dan deployed with a strong tank presence on the left and center with the squad of Veterans on my right flank to advance and try to control the other board edge. My deployment matched his with the strength of my army on the left. I was curious to see how truly powerful my Deathstar could be.
So an aside...
The last few weeks have allowed me the chance to read up more about deathstars. In general, I find that while my deathstar is nice, it isn't truly as unkillable as others I've seen. I only have 2 powerfists outside of my Captain and did not give everything a Storm Shield. The Librarius Conclave is not maxed out and doesn't have a ton of Force Axes. So if the right chain of events occur, I'm rapidly looking at a very weak star. That said...I also like that my unit doesn't require psychic powers to be effective. The entire unit has a 3+ FNP while my Captain enjoys a 2+ FNP (5+ Base, +1 for Iron Hands Chapter Tactics, +1 Command Benefit from the Fist of Medusa rules, +1 from the Gorgon's Chain). Generally I put my shields and captain on the edges and allow them to tank the flurry of hits they'd have to face. My only real fear are D-weapons and mass strength 10...neither of which are very common in the format. But would volume of shots cause an issue?
I did not seize and as a result Nick went first. There was no first blood so I deployed aggressively to give me a reason to potentially push up and start capturing objectives.
In his turn Nick managed to push up a few of his guys and tried to get Pask in a position to fire but still stay out of my charge range. He miscalculated and made it so that Pask ended up within 21 inches of my Command Squad. (Another aside - I rolled poorly in the Librarius discipline twice and poorly on the Telepathy discipline)
He proceeded to take pot shots on all my visible marine squads (Scouts and Tactical Squads) and managed to force leadership tests on all of them. He pushed his veterans up and assaulted my diminished Scout squad in ruins (closest in the picture) and wiped them in one round of combat. I did take away one thing from this turn...
...my Captain can most definitely tank hits. Don't get me wrong...I could've very easily rolled 1, 1, 1 and followed it up with 1, 1, 1 for my FNP but it was unlikely. But my captain tanked all the Pask unit shots, a plethora of Heavy Weapon Team shots, and emerged unscathed. So my concerns about the unit not being durable were unfounded. However, I definitely see the merit in getting that re-rolling armor saves power from the Librarius Discipline.
On my turn I pushed my bikes up and managed to assault Pask and friend by rolling a 10 to charge (I needed 9). 3 Power Fist unit attacks later, the unit was reduced to nothing. They did blow up. I managed to put quite a few wounds on his small blob squad protecting his Psyker but nothing else major came of my turn. I opted to push my Grav bike squad all out to help support my Command Squad should they need extra shots.
Turn 2 Nick pushed his guys forward and seemed to dump his entire army's worth of shots into my death star (after it felled his Tank Squad). This time I had put a Storm Shield guy on my right side (randomly...though I should've done so purposely) and between him and my captain, managed to tank all the shots that hit them. In Nick's defense, his dice definitely abandoned him with him missing most of his AP2 shots.
On my turn 2, I managed to force the Platoon Command squad to run off the board (due to a few pot shots) and started whittling away at the rest of his forces. But with him unable to do anything to my command squad (and it getting late), he conceded knowing it would be an exercise in futility. My command squad would sweep across his units and would eliminate most by Turn 5 (or Turn 6 if it got to that point).
I guess this isn't much of a battle report as the game ended so quickly but there were definitely quite a few takeaways.
- This list should perform well in the absence of flyers. I think with Mysterious Objectives (or the right spells), it can deal with flyers as need be. The Death Star can hold its own if my dice do not abandon me. Keeping the Apothecary alive is key to the unit working!
- I need to be mindful of where I place my Storm Shields and Captain. In most cases they can all interchangeably tank wounds. I need to make sure to put my Apothecary somewhat central to everything.
- I need to be mindful of where I deploy and move my Culexus Assassin. That guy was in a spot that denied me 4 warp charges mostly due to bad placement on my behalf. I can deploy him away from my psykers and let him go to work...or support him with Scouts/Tactical Squads as needed.
- I should not be afraid to move my Tactical Squads even if it forces my Lascannon shots to snap fire.
- Scouts in Ruins will get a 2+ Cover Save...but if I deploy them aggressively I should be prepared to lose them as Ignores Cover isn't as rare as one might think. White Scars can get it easily, as can IG, and of course Tau!
I hope to get a rematch with Nick as he will try and optimize his list a bit. I think he might try bringing some Demolisher Gun toting Leman Russes to help negate the 2+ or 3+ FNP...but of course I should deploy in such a way that it either puts him out of position or he just cannot fire that off as often as I'd like.
Here are the powers I rolled:
Axe Librarian (Librarius):
Psychic Fortress
Might of Heroes
Left Hand Sword Librarian (Librarius):
Might of Heroes
Fury of Ancients
Right Hand Sword Librarian (Telepathy):
Terrify
Shroud
Inquisitor (Divination)
Foreboding
Nothing bad...actually all pretty bad. Definitely nothing great.
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