Tactica AM / TM: 7th Ed

[deFl0]

Setting up threads to talk about the different armies in 7th.

[deFl0]

0. So the whole internet is going crazy about daemon summoning... One word. Wyverns.

1. Tanks got better. Which is good since chimeras went up in price.

2. Tactial missions are largely about speed so you might see taurox now. Plus they became more resileint.

3. Multiple force org. 3 company command squads means you don't bring reserves in unless you a 6+. That pretty solid. Also consider the 3 telepathy psychers as well. Invisibility is that good. Especailly for an army made up on mass t3 5+ template bait.

4. Multiple force org: Think 6 manticores. Lol. Sound fun.

5. So AM get cheap div but not a lot of ways to get their warp charge pool up. So a little nerfed there.

6. Characters lose precision shot. So Pask slightly less crazy good with a punisher. That said with tanks being hard to kill the vanquisher gets better.

7. Regular lemans still suck.

8. Indirect fire becomes less accurate.

9. Bane blade varients are really good. Especially the ones that ingnore cover. S10 Ap1 ignore cover apocalypse templates are nasty. So are 30 S6 Ap3 shots.

10. Orders are really good. They fix some abuses in 7th. things like precision shot fix a lot of the combos.

11. Orgryns / Bullgrryns might become a solid unit for deathstars with the new endurance and biomancy table

12. Ratlings not a bad cheap objective sitter on turn one for tactical missions.

13. Wyrdvane psychers have deamonology. Not sure if that is really a route for them though... Unless you are just going to blow them up which is fine for 50 points.

14. Levels. So the rules about indirect ordinance hitting only the top floor are gone. So not sure how the rules actually work now. Maybe you pick a floor or hit all of them. All that said, you can blast the crap out of troops. I largely think this solves the whole daemon thing, but I really need to see how it works out on the table.

15. Allies: So AM have so many ally opportunities it's hard to even figure out what's best. There are quite a few options. TIgerious seems good. Azrael is really good. Uriah is really good. Khan is really good.

16. Lord of war: So the bane blade varients are really quite good now that Str D has been nerfed. The reaver is also pretty good.

17. Forgeworld: AM is a solid codex but it has some holes that can only be filled by overly expensive units. Sabre defense platforms help a lot, although now they are not as good as they used to be. Air defense is a tricky one for IG. It's hard to say how valuable vendettas are now with the better jink. Beyond that the Vulture is a great option too.

[elrodogg]

I largely agree with you. It's a real shame about leman russes. Some of the variants are promising, but I fail to understand why the standard leman russ is always a simply inferior tank. To that end, I don't understand why heavy tanks have to snap fire their secondary weapons when they shoot ordinance. That alone would have fixed the issue with the standard leman.

When it comes to multiple force orgs, do you still need to populate the troops? If so, I guess some vets in a chimera are the way to go, as infantry platoons just get pricey. Also, that's how you up the warp charges. Just spam psychers in each detachment. Still.. it ends up being 37.5 points per psychic level. If you're content with a medium psychic phase, then 6 levels plus the d6 gets you 2 or 3 powers a turn, or one demon summon plus something else.

Chimeras should always have extra armor. Yeah its 10 points, but it keeps them moving and you need the movement for tactical objectives.

[The Gunslinger]

Buying 7th edition today. Wish I could chime in. Characters losing precision shot is lame but it rarely happened anyway, or I'd forget about it.

[deFl0]

yup. each org is 1 hq 2 troops.

i dont think you need to go crazy with ig psychic. they have great special rules built into the list. Prescience is great as a plus. maybe try for telepathy with shrouding or invisibility.

precisions shot, first rank fire second rank fire, and ignore cover + wyverns takes care of most things in the game. also with helldrakes being nerfed, vendettas are much better. especially with a 3 command squad embargo

[elrodogg]

5. So AM get cheap div but not a lot of ways to get their warp charge pool up. So a little nerfed there.

i dont think you need to go crazy with ig psychic

Which is it?

Based on zero games of actual 7th ed experience and nothing but theoryhammer... I think a medium psychic phase is enough. 3 level 2 psychers. One divination, one telepathy and one demonology. Keep each one kept to a single discipline so they get the base power.

What are your thoughts on the demolisher and/or executioner (the plasma one)?

[CrabstuffedMushrooms]

Is there a way to handle Assaults without needing to rely on allies? Un-competitively speaking: How often do you think people will take three+ command squads? Isn't that the same thing as taking three chapter masters?

[Toranaga]

I've used the leman russ executioner to brutal success in my last two games, both against space marines. Each turn it reliably fried between 3-8 marines, depending on how many I could get under the template. If you can combine it with a lucky prescience, five plasma cannon shots will obliterate most heavy infantry units in the game, and the fact that it's about 20-30 points cheaper than before depending on how you run it makes it a very appealing choice. However I'd be hesitant about firing off all five plasma cannons at once without prescience (or the preferred enemy bubble from the aquila) as the chances of overheating get too close for comfort - in those cases I just fired the turret usually. The punisher is also looking very good - and in the same list it was reliably taking out a combat squad each turn give or take. 29 S5 shots (when armed with 3 heavy bolters) just hoses down any infantry. I must say also that dozer blades are a steal for only five points and the ability to take your ram strength up to 10.

Another unit that's been working very well for me is Armored Sentinels. 3 mobile lascannons for 150 points is a very viable alternative to a vendetta seeing as they start the game on the board, have more hull points and are generally harder to kill because of the new vehicle rules. They can also more easily benefit from prescience and the aquila, though often times I have more pressing beneficiaries of the prescience blessing (like the executioner, punisher, or a manticore). The sentinels can support your infantry blobs by being a mobile source of firepower, great screening unit for cover, and also half-decent as a counter charge unit (or at least to hold other assault units up).

In terms of counter-assault units for IG - I don't have much experience as my army is more of a gunline. I've used Yarrick in a large blob with a priest - they never got into assault but theoretically they could be good as you can hide lots of power axes in the squad and the priest gives fearless and re-rolls to hit and other situational combat buffs. I feel like such blobs act more as an assault deterrent as over watch from them can be pretty rough. I can also see a bullgryn squad lead by yarrick and a priest as being pretty kick-ass, though tough to justify as generally IG is much better at shooting and for the points you could probably afford an Imperial knight as allies.

Having three command squads is a bit redundant in my opinion, unless you're not blobbing your infantry platoons (why wouldn't you?). I've found having one senior officer is good enough, as I don't have enough infantry units to take advantage of more than 2 or 3 orders. I'd take two max, but I think any more is overkill unless you're running pure infantry MSU.