Topic: Sept Sa'cea 2000 Points

[Myen'Tal]

Hello 40k online, here I am with something I have not done in a long time: list-building! Now I have been a long time lore-nerd of 40k, I used to try to keep up with the parts of the setting that interested me, but that side of the hobby has declined for me over the years.

That is, until 8th edition and the shake-up of the 40k universe. Don't let the amount of post I have on this site fool you, I have only ever played two games of 40k, and one of those times was probably a decade ago when I was beginning high school. The other was when the Space Wolf vs. Orks box set came out for the campaign Games Workshop was promoting(which I won ).

Always been interested in tabletop though and love all things xenos, no matter their origins. I'm not invested in the army I'm proposing below, so anything can change. I'm really just building some list to see which faction I want to collect (Ideally, I think I would want two armies).

So without further ado, here is a list for my favorite Sept, Sa'cea .

HQ:

Cadre Fireblade: Marker light

Longstrike: 2x Gun Drone, Railgun, 2x Seeker Missile

Troops:

Breacher Team: MV36 Guardian Drone
9x Fire Warrior, Shas'ui w/ Pulse Pistol

TY7 Devilfish: 2x Gun Drones, 2x Seeker Missile

Breacher Team: MV36 Guardian Drone
9x Fire Warrior, Shas'ui w/ Pulse Pistol

TY7 Devilfish: 2x Gun Drones, 2x Seeker Missile

Breacher Team: MV36 Guardian Drone
9x Fire Warrior, Shas'ui w/ Pulse Pistol

TY7 Devilfish: 2x Gun Drones, 2x Seeker Missile

Strike Team:
9x Fire Warrior, Shas'ui w/ Pulse Rifle

Strike Team:
9x Fire Warrior, Shas'ui w/ Pulse Rifle

Elites:
XV95 Ghostkeel Battlesuit: 2x Flamer, Cyclic ion raker, 2x MV5 Stealth Drone, Target Lock

Fast Attack:

Pathfinder Team: MV31 Pulse Accelerator Drone, MV33 Grav-inhibitor Drone, 2x MV7 Marker Drone

x7 Pathfinder, Shas'ui, 2x Pathfinder w/ Rail Rifle

Pathfinder Team: MV31 Pulse Accelerator Drone, MV33 Grav-inhibitor Drone, 2x MV7 Marker Drone

x7 Pathfinder, Shas'ui, 2x Pathfinder w/ Rail Rifle

Pathfinder Team: MV31 Pulse Accelerator Drone, MV33 Grav-inhibitor Drone, 2x MV7 Marker Drone

x7 Pathfinder, Shas'ui, 2x Pathfinder w/ Rail Rifle
Heavy Support:

TX7 Hammerhead Gunship: 2x Gun drone, Railgun

TX7 Hammerhead Gunship: 2x Gun drone, Railgun

1989/2000

So, the plan is to infiltrate the Pathfinders and hunker them down toward the center of the board and provide both fire support and marker-light hits on targets I need brought down. I bought the pulse accelerator drones to increase the pathfinder's range, and will combine at least one of the teams with the buff-presence of the Cadre Fireblade for some extra shots. I'm not certain how good of an idea it is to squeeze multiple pathfinder teams into the Fireblade's radius, seems a juicy target for charges.

And then there are the mechanized Breacher Teams. So, Fish-of-Fury? I know that's kind of dead, but I think Breachers kind of bring it back in some form or another. The goal is to race up to high-value infantry squads, disembark, unleash hell, take a round of fire, then re-embark and head onto the next target (hopefully, if all goes well). Not certain how well that plan will work out in real time, though.

I brought a Ghostkeel for sneaking onto the board and providing my Breacher Teams with more anti-infantry firepower with the Cyclic Ion Raker. I could also leave him behind with the Pathfinders, and I'm not sure if he can keep up with a Devilfish, so maybe that is a better idea.

At first, I wanted more Crisis Suits in my army, and did originally have a list with three squads of them and two Breacher Teams. I'm not an expert in 40k, but have heard that Crisis Suits aren't as essential as they used to be. Are missile pods still a good bet in 8th edition? Or plasma rifles for that matter?

Yeah, I was hesitant on bringing some of the options that were more go-to in 7th edition. But then I found longstrike's profile and you know... he seemed very decent for his cost! He's a good shot and buffs other nearby hammerheads to be more accurate! And I have always liked Hammerhead Tanks... , so I bought him and two other hammerhead companions, all with rail-guns and some SMS for anti-infantry support. I think they'll serve a more defensive role though, remaining in the back lines and sniping away at vehicles, while the SMS can be used on any units that drop into my back line along with Pathfinder Support.

So, there is the list! Feedback welcome and appreciated!

[Lord of Winter and War]

Looks like a cool list to me. Marker lights and long ranged weapons to cripple enemy speed and armour elements, and then the breachers can sweep in and take down the troops. Nice combined arms force, I like the build a lot.

[Wyddr]

A couple suggestions, here, to save you some points and possibly get you something extra.

1) I am not convinced that SMS is worth it on tanks anymore, primarily because they cost vastly more than the other options and the range and LOS advantages are partially off-set by the fact that they're heavy weapons. Maybe on hammerheads, but definitely *not* on Devilfish.

Gun Drones, meanwhile, are the cheapest option, provide exactly the same firepower as Burst Cannons, and can even be detached if needed. I'd recommend those, especially on the D-fish. Very, very useful.

2) Turrets with Breacher teams are rather pointless, as you need to hold still to deploy them, and Breachers are pretty much never going to hold still.

3) I think the combination of the Pathfinder Scout move and the Grav Inhibitor Drone is possibly key to prevent those first turn assaults/deepstriking shenanigans. I don't think the Pulse Accelerator Drone is really worth it. They're pathfinders--you aren't taking them for the pulse carbines anyway, and if you *are* going to be shooting offensively with carbines, it's typically because the enemy is so damned close anyway.

4) Rail Rifles > Ion Rifles, hands down. With the points you've saved above, it should be pretty easy to upgrade all your pathfinder squads.

5) You've got enough Markerlights that you really don't need Marker Drones, too. Take those points and spend them on something with more offensive punch. More Breachers, for instance.   

[Myen'Tal]

Thanks for comments, guys! Combined Arms is indeed is the plan.I made changes to the list based off of the feedback I received. Wyddr, I actually meant to list Gun Drones for all of the vehicles, not sure why I wrote down Burst Cannons for all of them . I removed the Markerlight Drones, Ion Rifles, SMS, and DS8 Turrets (I actually thought about how useless they would be for a mechanized squad a couple of hours after I posted the list  .

I managed to squeeze in another full Breacher team with a Guardian Drone, but I don't have enough for a transport. So I guess they're combat support for the Pathfinders. However, I still have 83 points to spare. Should I just get a smaller squad of Breachers? Or perhaps an Ethereal would fit better? I should read your unit-by-unit analysis for the Tau Empire, Wyddr .

Is it me or were the Tau hit quite a bit harder with points increases? A squad of Broadsides are really expensive and certain configurations of a lone riptide can come near to the cost of a Stormsurge with a Pulse Driver Cannon .

Also, completely off topic, but I heard you published a book Wyddr? Congrats !

[Wyddr]

If you're putting them on foot, take a Strike Team with Pulse Rifles instead of Breachers. They can get some long range shooting in, they *do* benefit from a turret, and an Ethereal can help them be more effective (though I don't think the Ethereal is as useful as he once was).

[Myen'Tal]

If you're putting them on foot, take a Strike Team with Pulse Rifles instead of Breachers. They can get some long range shooting in, they *do* benefit from a turret, and an Ethereal can help them be more effective (though I don't think the Ethereal is as useful as he once was).

Understood. Instead of adding an Ethereal, I can add in two full Strike Teams without the Guardian Drone or DS8 Turret. I think that two squads would probably amount in more firepower than the support turret.

These guys can help defend nearby objectives and bolster my Pathfinders . Do you think this list would hold up well against Necrons? Not sure if that is who I'll face. Depends on if I can convince my friend to try out 40k (He digs Necrons a lot, much to my dismay ).

[Wyddr]

I haven't played Necrons in this edition (or the last edition, for that matter), so I'm perhaps not the best person to ask.

I do know that Gauss fire is not *quite* as good at taking down Vehicles as it once was (but still pretty dangerous) and the Reanimation Protocols rule can be truly brutal if a Cryptek is nearby.

Tau have always struggled with Necrons just because the best way to wipe out Necrons has always been assault, and the Tau can't do that. This may have changed a bit, but isn't totally off-base.

I would say the primary concern should be blowing up *entire units.* Don't wing a unit only to have it stand up later. Focus fire and blast away.

[Myen'Tal]

Good to know, will take that into account if/when I face them. Thank you for the advice, guys! I feel more certain about the list now, though I'm sure it could face its share of challenges. It seems like it would be good fun to use, though.

I probably shouldn't have been so scatter-brained with the Games Workshop Models I do own. I have two of the new Rubric Marine Squads, some Ironjawz, and Stormcast procured from different places/friends that temporarily got out of the game. Except the Rubric Squads, I did buy those but the new marine size has kind of killed my enthusiasm for them . I'm not really into Astartes, but I do think the new TS stuff looks amazing. Kind of wish I just bought the Tau Collect Box like I originally thought about . Oh well, life happens *shrugs*.