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Author Topic: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)  (Read 1469 times)

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Offline Partninja

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Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« on: March 24, 2017, 04:18:54 PM »
So for me, the best thing out of the Fracture book is the Black Guardians. I've been mulling over this list for a while before I try play testing it (this weekend).

A few initial points - I wanted to try a full on Ulthwe strike force formation. Due to the bonus of reserve rolls from turn one, and the accurate deep strikes makes these units extremely powerful in a lot of circumstances. It appears quite copy/paste and "spammy" to an extent. I use the excuse that it does make use of most of the "Guardian" units that are not often used (outside of detachment taxes). Plus, it's not like I'm just spamming a single unit or two which would probably be more efficient. Each block of four has some sort of purpose:


---Main infantry block
10x Black Guardians - CCWs, 2x Flamer (120)
10x Black Guardians - CCWs, 2x Flamer (120)
10x Black Guardians - Starcannon (130)
10x Black Guardians - Starcannon (130)
---Mobile added "umph" block
10x Black Guardians - Starcannon (130)
1x Black Guardian Vyper - Starcannon, Shuriken Cannon, Ghost Walk Matrix (70)
1x Black Guardian Vyper - Starcannon, Shuriken Cannon, Ghost Walk Matrix (70)
1x Black Guardian Vyper - Starcannon, Shuriken Cannon, Ghost Walk Matrix (70)
---Objective grabber block
3x Black Guardian Wind rider - Scatter Lasers (90)
3x Black Guardian Wind rider - Scatter Lasers (90)
3x Black Guardian Wind rider - Scatter Lasers (90)
3x Black Guardian Wind rider - Scatter Lasers (90)
---AV/MC block
1x Black Guardian War Walker - 2x Bright Lance (75)
1x Black Guardian War Walker - 2x Bright Lance (75)
1x Black Guardian War Walker - 2x Bright Lance (75)
1x Black Guardian War Walker - 2x Bright Lance (75)

Main infantry block/Mobile added "umph" block - These two blocks sort of go hand-in-hand. This is the core of the force. Mostly geared towards anti-infantry and where most of the damage is going to come from. I put an emphasis on Starcannons here due to the medium strength and low AP value. The focus is on MEQ profiles, but there are plenty of shots here to worry most horde armies. The storm Guardians make for an excellent anti-horde/back line harassment squad. Specially Xenos armies that like to hide in terrain. I'm using Vypers in this way purely for their mobility over the Walkers. They can re-position much better to get around cover saves. I consider them an additional heavy weapon platform, that holds two guns for the Guardian squads.

Objective grabber block -  As the name describes. They will focus on dropping/moving on to objectives and just support with their scatter lasers as needed. Didn't want to go too crazy with bikes.

AV/MC block - Again, pretty obvious here. Should be plenty of lances to deal with most heavy armor or MC units.

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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2017, 05:00:52 PM »
It's a gimmicky army which could work if your opponent is not expecting it. The guardians I'm super skeptical about, as well the vipers. Those units are incredibly fragile.

If your opponent null deploys and goes second, you'll have issues. Any army with interceptor can hurt you (or just Tau in general lol). The biggest issues I see is your whole army is coming in based on reserve rolls, which means your force is coming in piecemeal. The lack of any characters also means you wont have a warlord trait, which can really hurt. I would seriously consider dropping one of the detachments and taking an Eldar Cad with an Autarch, just so you have some reserve manipulation.
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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2017, 07:05:18 AM »
Hey Ninja... yeah I definitley think the concept can work. I gave the Black Guardians (Storm+Defenders) a run a couple games back and they were very impressive. Getting them with 9" of exactly where they want to be is huge. I actually found the Stormies did better then the defenders... but that was only a single game.

I actually really like the weapons loadouts you went with too... the Starcannons are quite nice... I'm envisioning them blasting up Tau Crisis Suits and even hurt the Riptides with their low AP.

However I do agree with KS on Reserves... I know it takes a chunk out of your army... but an Autarch would go a really long way. You could have the Autarch in reserve and maybe a couple of 5 man Ranger units just locking it down for you... perhaps a Fast Attack Wave Serpent just for protection?

I run big time beta strike armies and usually keep just about everything in reserve... and I can't imagine not playing without an Autarch. I think I've played with an Autarch in every single game since 6th ed... and its been huge.

So yeah... love the list... but if you could sneak an Autarch in there I think it'd be truly rock solid
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Offline Partninja

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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2017, 09:27:32 PM »
All valid points. Playing a few games tomorrow.

While guardians are considered "weak" they're really not, specially when they get to alpha strike such as this.

Vypers are actually quite resilient when in cover, hence the GWMs. With all the troop units, I feel they'll get ignored in favor of the other targets.

With the base reserve rolls of the current edition being statistically better than previous, I've never had too much problem getting units in. With so many units though I could see having an increased problem. We'll see how it goes.

Tau isn't much a problem in my LGS. Even if they take intercept on a lot of units, they'll still struggle to defend against so many units showing up at once. Full drop pod lists are something the Tau scum in my group struggle with.

Offline Partninja

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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #4 on: April 2, 2017, 05:02:42 PM »
So update after some play tests. Sorry it's quite late, but I wanted to get in a few more games (this weekend).

I played against Orks, Chaos marines (the new Tzeench stuff), Nids, Tau, and a Deathwatch marines.

I won all of the games, but the Orks and Nids gave me the most trouble due to being outnumbered almost 3:1 in models (it was a slug fest with heavy casualties on both sides). I should mention we always play tactical objectives.

Some games I had to go first, some I got to go second (which I prefer with this style of list).

Being able to stay safely off the board and place my units exactly where they need to go so so powerful. Most of the time I either removed a unit from table upon arriving, or at least crippled it enough where I was able to work it out in the following turn(s).

I didn't have much trouble with my reserves rolls in any of the games. I would like to work in an Exarch but I would really have to think about what I would take/drop fir a small CAD. Every one of the above units was absolutely needed and specifically designed for this list.

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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #5 on: April 3, 2017, 06:39:05 AM »
Thats great Ninja. Glad it worked out for you... Must have been fun having all those War Walkers and Vypers on the table. Man its been so long since I've rocked a Vyper on the tabletop.

Thats a good spread of armies you played against too. Facing Tau and Deathwatch are really good test runs for the army. While I've only faced them once... I've found Deathwatch to be really nasty business against Eldar. Those shotguns are death.

Great stuff Ninja. Glad it worked for you... yeah an Autarch would be huge but it'd be difficult to get him in there. I think if it works as is... I'd keep doing exactly what you are doing. Keep it up, and keep us posted
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Offline Partninja

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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #6 on: April 3, 2017, 03:48:35 PM »
Deathwatch is a pain. At 1500 points they don't have too many units to deal with (at least my group), but they're quite nasty when they get to work. It's the special ammo for me. I basically won due to having more bodies, and I was able to go second (forcing him to deepstrike/deploy first). 

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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #7 on: April 3, 2017, 04:04:57 PM »
Right there with you Ninja... I've only played them once... but they beat the hell out of my Eldar. It was actually a great fun game... despite how frustrating it was with all the mixed saves and what not. It really felt like a special forces type army. I won too, but only on objectives because they really bloodied me.

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Offline Saim-Dann

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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2017, 11:34:56 PM »
Hey Partninja! If I hadn't entered this conversation late, I would have suggested having a bright lance/EML combo on the War Walkers. For the AA. However your list has proven strong. A lot of strategy involved in a Guardian only force so well done, mate. Would have liked to have seen that game.

Offline Partninja

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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2017, 03:37:31 PM »
Not that it matters now with the looming 8th edition changes to EVERYTHING.

I've played a few more games with it since then, some of which had flyers. I just ignored them. A flyer heavy list would be a problem, but my LGS isn't that cheeky. The problem with EMLs, is they add a lot of extra cost for a mediocre AA option.

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Re: Multiple Ulthwe Strike Force (1500)
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2017, 04:20:35 PM »
Fair enough, Partninja! That line of thought obviously works for you. Thanks for the reply.

 


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