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Author Topic: Hellhammer + Emperor's Wrath list: 1850  (Read 2650 times)

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Offline Wyddr

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Hellhammer + Emperor's Wrath list: 1850
« on: January 5, 2016, 08:50:50 PM »
So, over in the Superheavy thread, I alluded to an interesting little list idea involving a Hellhammer and an Emperor's Wrath detachment. Here's that list:

Combined Arms Detachment

Company Command Squad w/Carapace, 2x Melta, Vox, Astropath
Part of the Hellhammer's "escort". They hang with the Techmarine and hide behind the giant tank. The Astropath has a 1/3 chance to get either Invisibility or Shrouding, and Psychic Shriek is always useful for trying to kill MCs or even Wraithknights.

Plasma Grenadiers w/ 2x Plasma, Vox
Plasma Grenadiers w/ 2x Plasma, Vox
The rest of the Hellhammer's "escort". They act as speedbumps if needed, add weight of fire to targets that need it, and, if any of them survive (and 1-2 tend to), they secure an objective somewhere.

Banewolf w/Dozer Blade, Hvy Flamer
Assault deterrent. Drives around where needed. Anybody who gets close gets roasted. Anybody who assaults a vehicle is goop next turn. Well, assuming they aren't rocking Terminator saves.

Avenger Strike Fighter
For those unfamiliar, this is a Forgeworld flyer with a pair of lascannons and a nasty, MEQ killing rotary cannon. It can also deepstrike. This is for me to get at those targets I can't otherwise hit (for whatever reason) or to hunt enemy flyers, Flying MCs, or the rear armor of troublesome vehicles. Handy plane.

Hellhammer Superheavy Tank w/Pair of Sponsons
This thing puts out an absolutely *stupid* quantity of firepower. 1 Demolisher Cannon, 1 Hellhammer Cannon (i.e. OUCH), 2 Lascannons, 3 TL Heavy Bolters, and an Autocannon. All weapons can shoot at separate targets, so it can engage and do serious damage to several targets at once. It is also damned hard to kill without using Str D weapons.

Emperor's Wrath Artillery Company
Company Command Squad w/Carapace, Mortar, Master of Ordnance, Volkov's Cane
--in Chimera w/Multilaser, Hvy Flamer
The Cane means the artillery tanks nearby pretty much always follow orders. The Master of Ordnance is just to beef up the number of pie plates.

Manticore
Basilisk
Basilisk
The 1812 Overture, 40K style

Enginseer
Hangs with the Combined Arms CCS, repairs vehicles as needed

Overview
This list drops 6-8 pie plate blasts (or larger) just about anywhere on the board, most of which can ignore cover when necessary (or have tank hunters or monster hunters or pin or...). My warlord would be the Artillery Company Commander, since he is not likely to go anywhere near the front lines and die. I could shave the carapace armor off the Artillery CCS and buy the Banewolf a Heavy Stubber or something, but I'm not sure that's precisely worth it.

I've run some "tests" with this list (basically me playing against myself on a simulator) and, while hardly real games, it has performed very well. The amount of carnage the artillery and Hellhammer can wreak is impressive indeed. The cheap psyker gamble I'm taking with the Astropath has paid off more often than not.

I wouldn't argue that this list is unstoppably good by any means (hell, what IG army is these days?), but it is certainly an army that can win games, and convincingly. It would struggle a lot against Death Stars (not sure there *is* an IG solution to deathstars), and anything with Invisibility would eat me alive. I stand by its ability to munch on bikes with nigh impunity, though, and nobody can outrange or outshoot it easily.

Anyway, there's my idea. What do you think?
« Last Edit: January 5, 2016, 08:53:02 PM by Wyddr »

Offline Calamity

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Re: Hellhammer + Emperor's Wrath list: 1850
« Reply #1 on: January 8, 2016, 03:18:38 PM »
It gets a thumbs up from me!  :)

Yeah, looking through the list and your battle plan I can't really recommend any changes to it.  I'll be interested to see how this plays out, so if you do play a game with it please post the results here.

Offline Wyddr

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Re: Hellhammer + Emperor's Wrath list: 1850
« Reply #2 on: January 8, 2016, 09:25:33 PM »
It gets a thumbs up from me!  :)

Yeah, looking through the list and your battle plan I can't really recommend any changes to it.  I'll be interested to see how this plays out, so if you do play a game with it please post the results here.

Thanks, and I absolutely will. It might be a while, though. I only own about a third of these models at the moment.

From what I can tell from my tests, the big drawback here is that it doesn't have a lot of bodies to absorb hits. The infantry tend to die fast. Don't think swapping out the vets for a platoon or two would help this by much, though.

Offline Calamity

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Re: Hellhammer + Emperor's Wrath list: 1850
« Reply #3 on: January 9, 2016, 04:40:13 AM »
Thanks, and I absolutely will. It might be a while, though. I only own about a third of these models at the moment.

From what I can tell from my tests, the big drawback here is that it doesn't have a lot of bodies to absorb hits. The infantry tend to die fast. Don't think swapping out the vets for a platoon or two would help this by much, though.

Yeah, I see what you mean.  Guard infantry drop like flies when targeted by nearly anything.  For the same price as your two squads, you could get a bare bones infantry platoon and vet squad with no upgrades whatsoever.  This would at least increase the body count from twenty models to thirty five.  That's probably an extra turn of absorbing hits, but it's damage output wouldn't be great.  Then again, their main purpose is to defend the tank that is doing all the damage so maybe it doesn't matter?

Alternatively, you could ditch one of the plasma guns in each squad for the grenadier doctrine.  That would at least help a little against the usual small arms fire, and it works out at the same price.  These aren't ideal solutions but they're the only ones I can think of without drastically altering your list.

Offline Wyddr

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Re: Hellhammer + Emperor's Wrath list: 1850
« Reply #4 on: January 9, 2016, 02:05:35 PM »
They've already got the Grenadier doctrine. Hence being identified as "Grenadiers."  ;)

A bare bones platoon doesn't really appeal, frankly. I've got a choice here, basically, between "more bodies" or "more guns." For my entire 40K career I have always picked "more guns" and it hasn't let me down yet. Offense over defense, every time.

Still, it is a weakness in the list. With a 2000 point list, it isn't a problem as much (I could take a platoon with a smattering of heavy weapons). Rather doubt I'll be playing many games that size, though, given the number of beginners around here.

The things that are potentially "swappable" in my eyes are the Bane Wolf and the Avenger. Both of them are pretty damned useful, frankly, but one wonders if I'd be better off taking an Executioner and another squad of Grenadiers, instead. I'd lose the "strike the awkward target" value the Avenger offers and also lose the assault deterrent created by the Bane Wolf, so I'm on the fence on that one. 

Offline Calamity

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Re: Hellhammer + Emperor's Wrath list: 1850
« Reply #5 on: January 9, 2016, 03:31:44 PM »
They've already got the Grenadier doctrine. Hence being identified as "Grenadiers."  ;)

Doh.  :P

The things that are potentially "swappable" in my eyes are the Bane Wolf and the Avenger. Both of them are pretty damned useful, frankly, but one wonders if I'd be better off taking an Executioner and another squad of Grenadiers, instead. I'd lose the "strike the awkward target" value the Avenger offers and also lose the assault deterrent created by the Bane Wolf, so I'm on the fence on that one. 

How about a compromise?  Swap either the Banewolf or the Avenger (I'd say the Wolf myself) and add in either an Executioner or another Grenadier squad?

Offline Wyddr

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Re: Hellhammer + Emperor's Wrath list: 1850
« Reply #6 on: January 9, 2016, 05:13:26 PM »
The Executioner is too expensive to take with only one cut. The vets are too cheap. I'm left with either 30-ish I need or 30-ish to spend (depending).

Hmmmm...
I think this is a problem best solved with actual experimentation. I'll need to build the list first and then test out options.

 


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