Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Email in: 1250 Blood Angels

This email is from forever ago.  Not really sure how I didn't respond to it, I actually have a fully typed analysis for this email, but for some reason never posted it.  Before my thoughts, here's the email:





Greetings!
 
I think this is the second list I’ve submitted to you and you’ve always done wonders to help me work on it.  A bit of a status update on my clan first.  We are now about 6 people strong and trying to recruit new people in the Columbus Ohio area.  I set up a ‘paint’ night at my house on Thursdays and although it hit a rocky start it has been flourishing now.  It seems no one wants to play with an unpainted army (which I approve) so we aren't playing to much.  Anyway here is the list.
 
 
Unit Name Cost
HQ Librarian 100
  (+) Fear of the Darkness Free
  (+) Unleash Rage Free
Troop Assault Squad 100
  (+) Meltagun 10
  (-) Dedicated Transport -35
Dedicated Transport Razorback 55
  (+) Hunterkiller Missile 10
  (+) Lascannon / Plasma 35
Troop Assault Squad 100
  (+) Meltagun 10
  (-) Dedicated Transport -35
Dedicated Transport Razorback 55
  (+) Hunterkiller Missile 10
  (+) Lascannon / Plasma 35
Heavy Support Stormraven Gunship 200
  (+) Hurricane bolters 30
  (+) Multi-Melta Free
  (+) Lascannon Free
Elite Chaplain 100
Fast Attack Vanguard Veteran Squad 115
  (+) Additional Models (4) 80
  (+) Power Fist 10
  (+) Power Fist 25
Elite Sanguinary Priest 50
  (+) Power Sword 15
Troop Assault Squad 100
  (+) Meltagun 10
  (-) Dedicated Transport -35
Dedicated Transport Razorback 55
  (+) Hunterkiller Missile 10
  (+) Lascannon / Plasma 35
  Total 1250
 
Not much on the board just 3 Razorbacks and a Stormraven.  My overall strategy is this.  If I go first I turbo boost my Stormraven to the nearest high value vehicle (trying to place it so that the marines can assault next round too) and melta it.  The razorbacks will follow suit and provide lascannon fire destroying vehicles with their lascannons and hunterkillers.  My ‘deathstar’ is in the stormraven its 9 Veteran Vanguards (two powerfists) and 3 IC’s with them.  Let me know what you think as far as a 1250 Army.
 
 
My response:
 
Hey man, sorry it took so long for the response.  First I should tell you that I'm not extremely experienced with 1250 point levels- 1750 and up is more to my comfort level, since most tournaments are generally 1750 or more.  However, I think I can give you a few thoughts.
My first reaction is that this list would be a pain in the ass to deal with.  The Raven + 3 razors is pretty good- 3 scoring units and a nondependency on your 'big squad' to perform makes the list structured well (by nondependency I mean that if they die or fail to get into combat, you can still win the game through your ability to score, etc.)

The second reaction I have to it is this:  against a good general, if that Raven dies in turn 1 or 2, you might honestly be screwed.  At 1250, I think my wolf list would be as follows:

Rune Priest
Rune Priest
Grey Hunters in Rhino
Grey Hunters in Rhino
Grey Hunters in Rhino
Longfangs
Longfangs
Longfangs

That would give me more than enough firepower to take the Raven down in turn 1, and the rest of the army I could deal with later.  I think there are plenty of armies out there that could do so.  

I said earlier that you don't 'depend' on the Raven + Star to work in order to win, and to an extent that's true.  You can still somehow pull a win out, but it would be unlikely.  More likely would be a messy draw, if you're lucky.  It was, like I said earlier, a first reaction.

The thing is, this list is predicated on a single AV12 transport surviving for at least 1 turn of shooting (maybe 2) in order to win games.  If the vanguard don't make it into combat via the Raven, you aren't going to win against a skilled opponent, generally.  Um, here's a link to an article I wrote for Jawaballs a while ago.  It helps explain why one squad in a transport shouldn't be the entire basis of your army.  Lol, now that I just linked it, I see by the comments that you already read it.  Ah well, maybe someone else will find use from it :-p

If you want a Raven in this list, I'd go with something with less eggs in one basket.  Here's how I'd do it, most likely:

Librarian

5x Assault Termies
Sanguinary Priest w/ Power Claw (Claws are better than Power Weapons)
Sanguinary Priest w/ Jump Pack

5x Assault Marines w/ Melta, Las/Plas Razor
5x Assault Marines w/ Melta, Las/Plas Razor
10x Assault Marines w/ 2x Melta, Fist (note:  jump packs)

Storm Raven w/ EA

This would give you more of a balanced attack- two units advancing, the two razorbacks providing what cover fire they can while scoring.  The FNP Jump Marines are tough to deal with, and the FNP Termies hit pretty hard, with Preferred Enemy and such given by the Libby.  In the end, you want efficiency over raw hitting power- the Vanguard + 3 IC's is simply too many eggs in one fragile basket.  This way you at least have two eggs, and each is pretty tough to deal with by itself, much less next to the other.

Still not ideal, but without entirely restructuring your army, I think this is likely to be the best course of action.  Just enough ranged support along with some strong close combat presence should be alright in most 1250 games.  

Hope this helps :)

Any comments from anyone else?  Something I missed?

2 comments:

ServvsUmbrarum said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ServvsUmbrarum said...

Thank you for posting this (this is the email I sent). It helps a lot to see some of the tactical mistakes I've made with that setup.

A bit of an update, the group is now moving onto 1500 point armies and I've taken out the veterans and thrown in a terminator assault squad.

Looking forward to seeing more content from; especially the "relearning" articles you put up on Jawaball's blog.

Oh, if you could be so kind I'm trying to get my blog out there so if you know anyone who would like a newbies perspective of the hobby. I think they might like to check out my blog. I don't have any friends who are serious about this game and no mentor to fall back on so I'm just trying to move with the punches!

"The Initiate" calmbeforewar.blogspot.com