Lists, lists and more lists...

Greetings folks,

No, I'm not talking about shopping lists, no siree, I'm talking about army lists.

In my last post, I waffled on about which HQ choice to go with for my Novamarines army. I have two contenders, Kayvaan Shrike or Vulkan He'stan.

Each option changes my army list dramatically, so I thought I'd post both lists up for your perusal (all two of you). Both lists are Drop Pod lists, as thats the whole point of the army (did I not mention that?).

First up, the Shrike list. This list relies on the scary hitting power of Shrike and ten Assault Marines Infiltrating/Outflanking into the enemy lines. Shrike and the unit he is with can pull off a devastating first turn assault if pulled off right. This combined with anywhere up to thirty other Marines landing in DP's on the first turn makes for some serious ouch time for the bad guys. Anyway, heres the list:

HQ: Captain Kurtt Halcyon (195 Pts)
Counts As Captain Shrike; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Iron Halo; Jump Pack; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; The Raven's Talons

Troops: Tactical Squad (245 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Multi-Melta
Sergeant; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Combi-Meltagun; Power Fist
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Troops: Tactical Squad (235 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Plasmagun; Plasma Cannon
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Troops: Tactical Squad (220 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Flamer; Missile Launcher
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Troops: Scout Squad (90 Pts)
4 Scout Squad; Bolt Pistol (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle (x4)
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle

Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad (160 Pts)
4 Sternguard Veteran Squad; Bolt Pistol (x4); Bolter (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Bolter; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Elite: Dreadnought (150 Pts)
Dreadnought CCW; Multi-Melta; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Heavy Flamer
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Fast Attack: Assault Squad (205 Pts)
9 Assault Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Chainsword (x9); Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Jump Packs; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Power Weapon

Total Roster Cost: 1500

And now for the Vulkan list. This list relies on lots of Flamers and Melta weapons to capitalise on Vulkan's chapter tactics rule. Its designed as a hit em hard hit em fast list, with the ability to nuke most armour it sees, or burn down massed infantry:

HQ: Chapter Master Kurtt Halcyon (190 Pts)
Counts As Vulkan He'stan; Artificer Armour; Bolt Pistol; Digital Weapons; Frag Grenades; Gauntlet of the Forge; Kesare's Mantle; Krak Grenades; Spear of Vulkan

Troops: Tactical Squad (255 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Meltagun; Multi-Melta
Sergeant; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Combi-Meltagun; Power Fist
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter; Locator Beacon

Troops: Tactical Squad (245 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Plasmagun; Plasma Cannon
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter; Locator Beacon

Troops: Tactical Squad (220 Pts)
9 Tactical Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x7); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Flamer; Missile Launcher
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Weapon
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter

Troops: Scout Squad (90 Pts)
4 Scout Squad; Bolt Pistol (x4); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle (x4)
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Scout Armour; Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle

Elite: Sternguard Veteran Squad (340 Pts)
9 Sternguard Veteran Squad; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter (x3); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition; Combi-Meltagun (x4); Heavy Flamer (x2)
Sergeant; Bolt Pistol; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades; Power Armour; Special Issue Ammunition; Combi-Meltagun
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter; Locator Beacon

Elite: Dreadnought (160 Pts)
Dreadnought CCW; Multi-Melta; Searchlight; Smoke Launchers; Heavy Flamer
Drop Pod; Storm Bolter; Locator Beacon

Total Roster Cost: 1500

So, there you have it. Two very different lists, that work in very different ways. I've begun to play test the Vulkan list, but need to do the same for the Shrike list. We'll have to see how I get on.

Cheers,

WW

And the winner is...

Greetings folks,

I've been trying to decide which lucky Space Marine special character would get to lead my Novamarines army. After hours of pouring over the Space Marine Codex, I've whittled the short list down to two serious contenders. Shadow Captain Kayvaan Shrike or Forgefather Vulkan He'stan.

Both are seriously tough cookies when it comes to assault, but its what they bring to the table in terms of Chapter Tactics that interests me the most. Basically, Shrike allows your entire army to use the Fleet universal rule, and He'stan allows you to treat all Flamer and Melta weapons as twin linked, as well as treating all Thunder Hammers as master crafted. Hmmm...

Obviously, whichever I use will be a 'Count As', namely my own version of the charater. Also, whichever I use dictates what sort of army I'm going to field. I'll go into the actual army list in a forthcoming post. Thats a whole posts worth of ramblings in itself!

Shrike favours lots of assault type troops, and He'stan lots of burny goodness in the form of Melta weapons and Flamers.

As its going to be one or the other, and I have enough models to do both lists, I've gone ahead and made my 'Counts As' miniatures. Here they are:

Shrike

He'stan:

I think both are cool models, but I'm going to have to decide in which direction to take my army...

Cheers,

WW