1500 point Straken List

[gamma016]

Hello everyone, so with Straken being kinda a boss in this new codex I thought I might try and creat a list around him and all his strong suits.

HQ:

Company Command Squad:
- Straken
- Nork
- Astropath
- Medi-Pack
- Plasma Guns x3

Primaris Psykers x3

Ministourm Preists x3

Elites:

Bullgryns
- Bone'ead with brute shield and power maul
- Brute shield and power maul
- Slab shield and grenadier gauntlet x3

Troops:

Infantry Platoon:

Platoon Command Squad
- Heavy flamer
- Flamer x3

Infantry Squad x3
- Commisar with power axe x2
- Sargent with power axe x 3
- Flamer x3

Veterans
- Forward Senteries
- Plasma Gun x3
- Lascannon

Fast Attack:

Vandetta

So my plan is to stick a priest and a Psyker into the bullgryns, infantry platoon, and Strakens unit. I'll roll on divination hoping for forewarning because a 4++ on a 30 man blob is just awesome, especially if you can reroll it in assaults. If I don't get something half decent I'll just take prescience because that is also good. The bullgryns will be out front to tank hits and give me a 4+ cover save. With the blob close behind to counter assualt anything that tries to take on the bullgryns. Straken will be in the midst of these two units granting counter attack and furious charge to the both of them. His unit will be mostly hunting monstrous creatures, if any, or tanks. The PCS will be in the Vandetta, and the veterans will be sitting back in cover on an objective trying to take out enemies from afar.

Let me know what you think of the list, the only really thing I am unwilling to change is Straken and I want to build a list for him. Thanks for your help.

[tallarncommander]

Gamma, this looks like a fun, assault-themed list.

I also hope that bullgryns and divination will actually allow IG blobs to get across the table without getting blown away.

My only comment is that you might find meltaguns more useful than plasma guns on Straken's squad. His unit will probably be assaulting into combat a lot more than it sits there and rapid fires. The saved points could go towards giving carapace to his CCS. As an aside, I'm not sure why they gave Straken relentless as his warlord trait, not too many Straken builds will involve heavy weapons.

Good luck!

[gamma016]

I gave them plasma guns because his squad has relentless actually. That way I can still assualt after rapid firing my plasmas.

[tallarncommander]

Ah, I had forgotten that's how relentless works.

Nice use of his warlord trait!

[gamma016]

Would it be worth it to drop the plasma guns in the veteran squad and a flamer from the blob in favor of two mastery level two psykers? The blob needs forewarning to live, and if I could also get misfortune than that would be perfect. I'm also not sure how useful the plasma guns will be if the squad is sitting back. Any thoughts on this?

[yvain]

Your biggest problem is you don't have enough men I think. Also your long range anti tank is weak. Even if you got 3 mastery 2s, you could still not roll FW at all. So you need bodies to compensate. In addition, you have the bulls for their 4+ cover save.

At your point level, Nork and Straken are too expensive together. Nork isn't too bad now, but Straken himself is already durable and is forced to challenge. Straken should pretty much kill anything he challenges unless they have EW and in which case you shouldn't be charging just shooting. If you do get into a challenge the priest should keep him alive with the rolls to invul save. I would be wary about the plasma guns too, just because that is an expensive unit that you are throwing more points into. I would actually consider taking snipers, simply because they are dirt cheap and have long range. Straken should be behind the blob not directly in front and that one shot with rending chance for nothing is kind of nice.

I don't know about the second maul on the Bullgryns, if you had a lot of points to spare sure, but as it stands maybe not. In addition, with Straken only giving 6 inch range to his bubble you might have a harder time keeping them in FC range with the size of that blob. Straken and the blobs axes are going to be doing most of the work in the charge anyway.

Drop the commissars or at least a commissar, you have Sgts in the blobs already and anything that charges or you charge will have to deal with straken right after so should fold pretty easily.

Those veterans don't need Plasma guns, they are just going to sit in the back and shoot. If someone DS, next to them they might get like one volley before they die (which they might kill themselves with)

With those changes, you could include another lascannon veteran team and 1 INF squad with power axe & flamer and 1 INF squad (if you dropped the other maul with power axe too). That increases long range fire power slightly and blob durability which are your primary goals. Or instead of INF squads you could consider conscripts, to just eat up wounds.

[gamma016]

So I recently played a game with this list against eldar, and here's what I found.

First off the plasmas in the CCS worked great. I find let's them be a threat to multiple targets at range, where as the snipers wouldn't be able to deal with light armour or hordes as well. My thoughts are with plasma you have the chance to shoot and wreck a transport, with prescience and bring it down, then assualt the contents.

Nork died quickly on me, but I think he was worth the points. He has the high toughness and feel no pain to tank shots that could ID Straken. He is a lot of points though. I'll have to try him again and see if he preforms well under pressure.

I'm thinkin of dropping the commissars in the blob in favor of more guardsmen. This is mostly because I'm tired of my psykers getting IDed from perils. They were handy when my Preists died in combat, but that was due to poor model placement.

The second maul was definetly worth it. One 5++ you can't bank on to keep the five of them alive, and also if my bone'ead gets challenged there is still a maul left to try and concuss.

Long range anti tank was defiantly an issue. He hid one if his wave serpants from my lascannon almost all game so it barley had a decent target to fire at.