How to defeat the Fist of Medusa (Angels of Death)

[akaiyou]

So my friend has decided to start playing Fist of Medusa Strike Force from Angels of Death supplement.

This thing gives him a crazy Feel No Pain on his Chapter Master/Captain 2+ and possibly even 1+ FNP.
It also makes the vehicles gain Machine Spirit which is brutal on Vindicators.

My Dark Eldar got crushed last week fighting this ungodly thing, I tossed Soul Grinders at it to negate the FNP roll altogether but still lost the game (it was close though) but on the second game I had already picked a list with Astra Militarum allies using Cadia's Emperor's Blade formation with a LOT of flamers...and well I surrendered after turn 3, realizing I had no hope of ever killing these nigh-immortal space marines. My flamer-heavy list went up in flames....

So I went back to the drawing board and our next game day (next week) I plan on using a pure Dark Eldar list and also some Dark Eldar + Tyranid Allies list and toss MCs at these superman marines while the scheming DE sneak around and nab untis on the exterior far away from the carnage.

So I'll show you the last list I played against when I had my very dead IG slaves. And if you guys can provide some solid ideas or tactics to use this type of list that'd be awesome. My opponent has a lot of dirty tricks up his bag but i'm positive he will keep using Fist of Medusa until i find some sort of hard counter to it.

Fist of Medusa Strike Force
Formation:
1 Armoured Task Force, 470 pts
1 Techmarine (Bolt Pistol; Power Axe)
1 Thunderfire Cannon
1 Techmarine Gunner
1 Vindicator
1 Vindicator
1 Whirlwind
Formation:
1 Battle Demi-Company, 729 pts
1 Captain (Bolt Pistol; Artificer Armour; Thunder Hammer x1; Digital Weapons)
1 The Gorgon's Chain
1 Space Marine Bike
4 Command Squad (Equip with Space Marine Bikes)
1 Apothecary (Space Marine Bike)
5 Tactical Squad
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun)
4 Tactical Squad
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun)
4 Tactical Squad
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun)
1 Attack Bike Squad
4 Devastator Squad (Heavy Bolter x1; Missile Launcher x2)
1 Sergeant (Bolt Pistol; Boltgun)
Formation:
1 Storm Wing, 430 pts
1 Stormraven Gunship (Twin-Linked Lascannon; Twin-Linked Multi-melta)
1 Stormtalon Gunship (Skyhammer Missile Launcher)
1 Stormtalon Gunship (Skyhammer Missile Launcher)

Imperial Knight Detachment:
1 Knight Errant [KNI], 370 pts

Total Roster Cost: 1999

[RedsandRoyals]

God damn, that is nasty. Have you tried just straight up Leman Russ variant spam? It doesn't look like he has a huge amount of Heavy AT except for that knight(unless I'm missing something, I just woke up). A mix of regular Russes with some Demolishers would seriously inconvenience those bike squads and marines. You can always take some large bare bones infantry platoons with priests for tarpittng and objective capping I suppose. It looks like the captain is a spinoff of this guy, That links has a few ideas for countering him.

I feel bad now for planning to run a similar list, but not quite this spectacularly cheesy.

[akaiyou]

I did not try running leman russ spam against him and i only have 1 demolisher, wish i had 3 to lob S10 pie plates at him all day though.

I have seen many folk recommend a tarpit strategy using guardsmen with defensive buffs, i think it sounds like a great idea due to the lack of Hit & Run in his army.

I'll post up 2 tentative lists i'm planning on running against his 'new' list next month when I dust off my Blood Angels.

[akaiyou]

2000 Pts - Codex: Blood Angels Roster - 2000 - ASF (BA) + CAD (BA)

: Archangels Strike Force (15#, 835 pts)
1 Terminator Captain, 135 pts (Lightning Claw; Storm Shield; Warlord)

5 Terminator Assault Squad, 270 pts (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x5)
1 Terminator Sergeant (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield)

5 Terminator Assault Squad, 270 pts (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x5)
1 Terminator Sergeant (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield)

1 Furioso Dreadnought, 160 pts (Smoke Launchers; Heavy Flamer)
1 Drop Pod


: Combined Arms Detachment (18#, 1165 pts)
1 Librarian, 110 pts (Bolt Pistol; Force Stave; Mastery Level 2; Space Marine Bike)

4 Scout Squad, 60 pts (Sniper Rifle x4)
1 Sergeant (Boltgun; Sniper Rifle)

4 Scout Squad, 60 pts (Sniper Rifle x4)
1 Sergeant (Boltgun; Sniper Rifle)

4 Bike Squad, 135 pts (Grav-gun x2)
1 Biker Sergeant

1 Vindicator, 140 pts (Siege Shield; Overcharged Engines)

1 Fellblade Super-Heavy Tank (IA), 660 pts (IA2 - Second Edition; Armoured Ceramite; Pintle-mounted Multi-Melta; Battle of Keylek)

Total Roster Cost: 2000

Strategy:
Since the goal here is to put an end to Iron Hands 1+ FNP shenanigans combined with Imperial Knight and PotMS Vindicators I built the list around the archangels strike force which is what i mainly want to field and then some support to counter the crap they might struggle with.

Thus the Fellblade with Keylek legacy is there to shutdown the Bike Command Squad and Imperial Knight.

My own vindicator with Overcharged Engines which gives me a similar result to my opponents PotMS Vindicators.

A bike unit with 2 gravguns and a librarian to potentially roll on Librarius for Veil of Time and Biomancy for Endurance or Enfeeble. Not to mention that Divination is also a strong possibility here.

The furioso is mainly there to mop up stragglers and devastators by dropping into the back lines and being a nuisance while the opponent can't ignore the Fellblade at barreling down his front gate. My hammernators are tough as nails and able to challenge the Imperial Knight in close combat if needed or to possibly tarpit the command squad.

[akaiyou]

Second list

2000 Pts - Codex: Blood Angels Roster - 2000 - ASF (BA) + ASF (BA) + Wyrdstorm Brotherhood

: Archangels Strike Force (17#, 915 pts)
1 Librarian in Terminator Armour, 125 pts (Force Sword; Storm Shield; Mastery Level 2)

1 Terminator Captain, 140 pts (Lightning Claw; Power Fist)

4 Terminator Squad, 200 pts
1 Terminator Sergeant

9 Terminator Assault Squad, 450 pts (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield x9)
1 Terminator Sergeant (Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield)

: Archangels Strike Force (12#, 720 pts)
1 Terminator Captain, 145 pts (Storm Shield; Valour's Edge)

1 Terminator Captain, 165 pts (Thunder Hammer; Storm Shield; The Veritas Vitae; Warlord)

4 Terminator Squad, 205 pts (Chainfist x1)
1 Terminator Sergeant

4 Terminator Squad, 205 pts (Chainfist x1)
1 Terminator Sergeant

Formation:
1 Wyrdstorm Brotherhood [SW], 365 pts
1 Rune Priest in Terminator Armour (HQ) [SW] (Runic Sword; Storm Bolter; Mastery Level 2)
1 Rune Priest in Terminator Armour (HQ) [SW] (Runic Sword; Storm Bolter; Mastery Level 2)
1 Rune Priest in Terminator Armour (HQ) [SW] (Runic Axe; Storm Bolter; Mastery Level 2; Helm of Durfast)

Total Roster Cost: 2000

Strategy:
Join all ICs to the TH&SS Terminators and use psychic buffs to build a deathstar worthy of crushing an Iron Hands Chapter Master with a 1+ FNP.
Psychic Powers I'm aiming for (in order):
Librarius - Veil of Time
Biomancy - Endurance
Biomancy - Enfeeble
Librarius - Null Zone
Fulimnation - Magnetokinesis

[RedsandRoyals]

With the caveat that I'm severely out of the Meta and I don't know the rules behind the BA strike forces, I like the first list better just because it feels like you have more flexibility than just running a terminator swarm. Then again, I'm usually a bit on the cautious side and I'd be nervous sinking that many points on terminators when there's three vindicators in play.

[akaiyou]

He fields 2 vindicators not 3.

[emptyhat]

What the zog is 1+ FNP? Does that mean they auto pass Feel No Pain unless you cancel it out with instant death?

[akaiyou]

Exactly. Until the FAQ is officially released the 1+ FNP is a real thing. FNP is not a save thus not limited to the 1 always fails rule.

[nutty]

All the buffs stack up to a 1+ I think, but I'm pretty sure it states that it can never actually be a 1+.

It does look like a nasty list though. And honestly I'm not convinced all those termi's are going to help a whole lot... unless the BA detachment lets you assault after deepstriking they will never catch up with the bikes or the vindicators.


I'm not sure what the current GK codex is like... but buckets of force weapons might help more than buckets of TH/SS terminators.

Eternal Warrior will keep the Chapter Master safe from the effects of instant death... but those attacks still ignore the FNP save. If he's left with a 2+/3++ you can hopefully kill him before he swings that hammer at your guys.

[akaiyou]

the archangel strike force basically gives you the ol Descent of Angels special rule. Deep Strike using only 1D6. I could reliably deep strike behind a vindicator and shoot it in the rear with some decent accuracy.

But i'm mostly taking that formation because i really want to try it out more than because of what it brings. It was the first thing on my 'uuuuh uuuuh i wanna try that' bucket list.

[emptyhat]

Jul 15, 2016 20:48:14 GMT -5 akaiyou said:

Exactly. Until the FAQ is officially released the 1+ FNP is a real thing. FNP is not a save thus not limited to the 1 always fails rule.

That is clearly not legit and I wouldn't let anyone play it that way with me unless we'd agreed to do it for the lols. Like the time Chemin and I played Predator vs Guardsmen.

[RedsandRoyals]

Jul 15, 2016 20:51:03 GMT -5 nutty said:

All the buffs stack up to a 1+ I think, but I'm pretty sure it states that it can never actually be a 1+.

Eternal Warrior will keep the Chapter Master safe from the effects of instant death... but those attacks still ignore the FNP save. If he's left with a 2+/3++ you can hopefully kill him before he swings that hammer at your guys.

If memory serves, the Chain of Medusa stops giving Eternal Warrior when you land enough wounds on the bearer, too, meaning those force weapons will zap him sooner or later.


Edit: Also the rules say FnP isn't a save then calls it a save literally in the next sentence so if your opponent wants to be a RAW jerk you can play that game right back at him...

DOUBLE EDIT SPECTACULAR: Admittedly not properly released, but the draft of the upcoming FAQs/Errata do deal with the issue, if you haven't seen them. I'd argue that this shows the intent behind the rule even if they aren't released. If he still wants to play with 1+ FnP just don't play him until after these drop.

[Rolling Thunder]

Plasma?