HQ
Farseer Sildaen ‘The Starspear’ Sarien: Singing spear, Doom, RoWa 98pts
Troops
Guardian Jetbike x 9, 3 shuriken cannons, 228pts
Storm Guardians x 10, 2 flamers Warlock Destructor 127pts
Wave Serpent, Shuriken cannons, spirit stones 110pts
Troops total: 465pts KP: 3 Models: 21
Elites
Howling Banshees x 8, Exarch Executioner Acrobatics,Warshout 160pts
Wave Serpent, Shuriken cannons, spirit stones 110pts
Harlequins x 8,8 kisses,2x Fusion pistols and Shadowseer 226pts
Fire Dragons x 6, 96pts
Wave Serpent,shuriken cannons Spirit Stones 110pts
Elites Total: 707pts KP:5 Models:24
Heavy Support
Fire Prism 115pts
Fire Prism 115pts
Heavy Support total: 230pts KP:2 Models:2
Grand total: 1495pts KP:11 Scoring:2 Models:47
First off I’d like to thank Irisado for his patient and expert guidance in helping me organise this list. This is my interpretation of an Ulthwe Strike Force. In terms of the fluff that I’m going to use to accompany them they will be known as ‘The Arrow of Ulthanash’ and led by the Farseer Sildaen Sarien called ‘The Starspear’ as his singing spear glows with the ghostly light of a distant star i.e. I’ll paint his spear white. My local store pretty much is dominated by space marine and chaos space marine players so with that in mind I took units that would be good at taking down MEQs.
In terms of tactica I’m going to play fairly aggressively and use the speed of my list to my advantage. Most likely using a flank rush type of strategy. In terms of unit by unit tactics the jetbikes, being my most vulnerable unit at the start of my games will try to utilise the jetbike slide strategy to survive, as well as using the harlequins for a 4+ cover save or turbo boosting for 3+, their main objective will be opportunistic attacks on enemy transports and trying to turbo boost objective grab at the end of the game.
The storm guardians and the howling banshees accompanied by my doomseer are my main anti-infantry punch and will be delivered right where they need to be by the wave serpents. The harlies will also form part of my assault force as the Shadowseer means that they can’t reliably be targeted outside of about 12”-14” and straight out cannot be targeted outside of 24” this is what will protect them at the start of my game and by the time they fleet of foot to the enemy the rest of my forces should already be there. Specifically the harlies will be my anti-heavy infantry unit as the two fusion pistols give them a good chance of thinning a terminator squad out before they furious charge with their rending attacks, they can also assault a tank if I absolutely need them to. The FDs serve the fairly standard role of my big tank hunters and possible heavy infantry destroyers.
My heavy support is two bare fire prisms which will act as my long range support to soften the enemy up before I get there specifically targeting non-transported squads such as assault squads. I also could use them in a defensive capacity in the late game by placing my home objective in the open but in an easy firing line of the fire prisms meaning the enemy can’t get a cover save and my prism can blast them off just before my jetbikes boost in to claim it and give themselves a 3+ cover save. The prisms can also provide an extra bit of anti-tank if needed, although they won’t be as reliable as the FDs in this capacity. Lastly are the waveserpents which provide most of my mobility and also can provide cover and a good supply of tank shock assaults on the enemy to contest and push them off objectives as well as using their shuriken cannons to help out my squads.
I started this thread to get a list rating but anyone else who feels like commenting is welcome and thanks again to Irisado for all your help.
Sorry for the late reply... I did warn you it would take me awhile to get around to this.
Chaplain Swordwind Rating:
Durability: 1/2
Honestly, I think I was a little generous here, as I don't really think you have any "tough" units in the list. However, its not quite a "house of cards", so you get the benefit of the doubt. Here's the thing: Nothing in this list has any durability of note. Whatever your opponent decides to target will likely die (he'll have to get close to target the Harlies, but once in range, that's it). What you do have going for you is a variety of deadly units that will make it difficult for the enemy to establish firm priorities; that indecision will be beneficial to you.
Flexibility: 1/2
You're going to need some luck to win with this army. Your Jetbike squadron is too large to easily hide, and without a Warlock w/ Embolden, all it takes is a few casualties to make them run. That leaves you with the Storm Guardians to claim objectives. If you come up against a horde army that can shake, stun, or destroy your Fire Prisms, you'll likely want those Storm Guardians to perform drive by attacks to thin out the swarm, which means they'll also be exposed. My point is, with only two scoring units, neither of which is exceptionally tough to kill, you MAY run into trouble in objective based missions. You have the tools to win, but it won't be easy.
Lethality: 2/2
This is the area where your list does very well. Pretty much every upgrade you purchased is offensive in nature... you spent practically nothing on defense. Provided you can survive long enough to get your units where they need to be, you'll be able to kill anything the opponent puts in front of you.
Mobility: 1.5/2
Mobility is a significant asset in this army. The Harlequins are the only unit that cannot move faster than 18 inches per turn, but with the Veil of Tears and their ability to ignore terrain as they move, they should be able to close the gap quickly enough. You're not quite fast enough to get everything into the fight immediately, but you'll be able to bring significant combat power to bear quickly.
Synergy: 1/2
You have some units that compliment each other well, but the list does not quite feel cohesive to me. The loss of the Fire Dragons leaves you with nothing to threaten enemy armor significantly (Fusion Pistols on the Harlequins are better than nothing, but still not much). As I mentioned earlier, you have only two fragile scoring units. The loss of either leaves you struggling to take objectives. You do have two good close combat units, but neither of them can afford to take a beating. Because they are such "glass hammers", the loss of one will make it tough for the other to carry on alone.
Overall: 6.5/10
Its a decent list, but not quite "competitive" by my standards. I think the easiest fix would be to make the list more durable. To do that, I'd drop some jetbikes, but give the remainder of that squad an Embolden Warlock to keep them from running away prematurely. I'd give the Farseer Spirit Stones and Fortune, to make the Howling Banshees tougher. I'd also bump that squad up to full strength (10). Lastly, I'd think about upgrading the Fire Prisms. Spirit Stones at a minimum, Holo-Fields if you could manage it.
Most likely you will not be able to afford everything I suggested without increasing your points limit. However, a few tweaks here and there would make the list more durable, which would be enough to make it more competitive.
C.S.