Dear Wych Cult of Gore,
I'm a returning DE player (after a 5 year hiatus in the army, ugh), who hasn't played a game since v3 in 2004. As I wipe the dust of my old models, what are some new tactical considerations I should be aware of?
Welcome to the forum draconjoke!
Although I am glad you posted your question here I will also advise you that by design, not everyone is allowed to post in this section "Wych Cult of Gore" unless they are a member of it.
What do I mean by "member"?
The forum started a little project a couple years back that recruited the members of the DE forum and placed them Kabals (and this Cult) as a system of generating a type of "role playing" in the form itself. In fact, there was even a system of battle amongst the different Kabals for supremecy of the forum in a fairly complicated on-line ruleset found in the
Chain of Ascension and important links to past "Stickies".
You will notice that there are 3 Kabals and 1 Cult. You will also notice that some of the members actually have rank within their Kabal/Cult listed in their Avatar. Only these members are allowed to post in their respective Kabal/Cult. For example, I am the Archite of this section and I can not post in any of the other Kabals (I don't belong to them) although I am free to read them. Same goes for non-Cult of Gore members, they can not post here either other than read what's going on.
So, since you do not belong to any of the other Kabals I will respond to your question but only me and the other Cult members will be able to respond to your question. To be fair, you might want to post this question as a new thread for everyone to participate so you can get as many opinions.
Otherwise, I can comment from a Wych Cult point of view even though I am unsure you are asking for it (are you running a Kabal or Wych Cult?).
Anyway, in a nutshell, wyches and warriors/Raider squads are going to be the backbone of your choices. They are both very solid performers and once you filled out the troop and elite slots with them you can spend the points on the other aspects of the army.
Tactica Outline (my opinions):
*Get as many “scoring units” into your list, at least 4 up to 1500 points and at least 5 from 1750 on up
* Mechanize your army as the movement phase is now (in my opinion) the most important phase. When you take a Raider with your units you are actually getting 2 units – that raider can move into scoring or contending position on the last turn
* Annihilation is a killer mission that will never be in our favor. Our army is designed to be mechanized and the game now punishes mechanized lists so do not let Kill points design your list. I am not saying “give up” on annihilation games but your only real recourse is trying to table your opponent
* Ravager disintegrators are hugely popular and most people take at least 2 ravagers with all disintegrators. I personally on take one while the other two ravagers have 3 lances. In a wych cult I find balancing the list by making the ravagers tank hunters and leave the “crowd control” to the wyches. Strictly a matter of style – I play in an armor rich gaming club and have a huge need for some dedicated tank hunters and “sniper squads” just don’t cut the mustard.
* I have been playing a “Raider Rush” style army and just bum rushing the opponent on the opening turn. Sure, you will lose some raiders but I have found getting into close combat by 2nd or 3rd turn to be a good tactic. I do use “reserves” at times depending on the mission, enemy and setup but with true line of sight I find you might as well put everyone on the table and blitz. Too many times I have held back and have given my opponent too few targets to focus on and just fed him “piece meal” my army. Engage him as soon as possible.
* I do not care for the WWP anymore, its too expensive for what it offers. True line of sight, the new IC rules and the fact that the enemy can reach you anywhere on the table by turn 2 puts the nail in the coffin on its effectiveness. Too many times I have lost the wwp to outflankers, deepstrikers, teleporters, scouts and drop-podders and I am not found of dropping the wwp on the first turn (what's the point?). Using "Reserves" is free, more reliable (guaranteed to give you the rest of your army) and still can allow your raiders to be on the mid-way line in one turn (usually by that time the enemy is already on my half on the table anyway).
Hope this gives you some ideas, I can contribute more but it really is just my opinion on the game.
Are you running a "Wych Cult"?