purists like the old lists. in the 3rd ed mini-codex, Deathwing could only take three non-HQ units: Dreadnoughts, Terminators, and Land Raiders. This was before variants -- there was one kind of land raider (though the Crusader came out soon after), there was no line between assault and shooting terminators, and past armament (which created the Mortis and the Hellfire), there was only one kind of dreadnought.
today, you have more options. but, sadly, you really are limited as to how many of them you will have access to if you plan on playing deathwing effectively. terminators work better with backup, and there is no better backup than more terminators. plus, with objective secured on your hardest-to-kill unit, you have reason to take as many as you can fit. if you can kit the terminators out so as to cope with every general threat, you are able to include more terminators. if you have the capability to deal with hordes, armor, combat, and everything in between, then you don’t need to include another unit to fill that role.
in addition to the three units mentioned above, consider the effect of the following support units:
-Ravenwing bikers (including Black Knights). turbo-boost toward the enemy firebase, jinking all the way, only to drop teleport homer-guided Terminators directly in place.
-predator. you need firepower. a standard godhammer LR will give you access to armor-killing power, and a Crusader will give you volley of fire. if the FAQ ever allows the Standard of Devastation to work on stormbolters, it’s worth consideration to bring more than one Crusader. adding a predator to your list rounds out either one -- from the triple-las vehicle hunter to the volume-of-fire Hbolter/autocannon combo to kill troops. some people will swear by the fire-magnet of a vindicator, or the utilitarian nature of a tac squad in a razorback, but i've found that "go big or go home" is really the main compulsion of playing Deathwing.
-command squad. useful if you need a banner, or if you want access to the special weapon for a combat model. their disadvantage is that they are not troops, and they get expensive quickly, but they have their uses. personally, i don’t bother with them, but i would reconsider if the Standard of Devastation was explicitly applicable to stormbolters.
-Deathwing Knights. if you want to run a squad with all TH/SS, consider these instead. the shield wall power and the smite come free, and they are durable. again, though, they are not troops, so cannot secure objectives, but they have their uses and they gain the Smite ability and the Shield Wall as a tradeoff.
-Land Speeders. the Vengeance is no longer viable without the ability to shoot the plasma array when jinking. the Darkshroud is a cheap way to add cover to other armies, but provides no benefit to the 5++ terminators. regular speeders, though, kitted out with some specific armament is a great addition… particularly with an alphastriking Belial squad (wait for it…) giving you access to a teleport homer to position yourself optimally. thus, even the cheap Hflamer/Hbolter variants can rack up the kills and neutralize threats to the deathstar. dual heavy flamers from each of the squadron when placed optimally could be the secret to defending against hordes or taking out firebases behind an Aegis. What’s better, since Belial can come in during round 1, speeders can enter normally starting around round 2 with the others, backing up the Deathwing with volume of models hit.
-scouts. i see little difference between scouts and regular tac marines at this point, with only a 2-point difference per model (and less if you give them camo cloaks. i love playing with my sniper rifle squad, but i fully acknowledge they have little place unless you have spare points to spend. if you’re 50 short of limit, throw in 5 to secure an objective, but past that it’s largely irrelevant.
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