Post-Battle Unit Analysis

Hello again!

So after that last battle report, I thought I would share with you some post- game musings on how my list performed as a whole.

Hopefully if I manage to compile enough data on here, I will be able to see which units are doing well, and which units are under-performing, and adjust my list accordingly.

So, without further ado, to the analysis!

HQ:

The company command squad was awesome in this game. The commander himself, being 12 points, got so much value. Between handing out Tank Hunters and Ignore's Cover to the autocannons like candy, and taking on a power-fist sergeant and Aurelius himself, I would say that Vauban definitely earned his rations.

The flamer in the squad got value when he Wall of Death'd the Chaplain, saving the squad from a squishy fate by his hand. I definitely think he is worth the points.

The vox-caster is vital to getting the orders through to the men (plus fluff-wise, I love him), so no changes so far.

The Astropath, on the other hand is questionable. He costs 25 points and added one dice to my warp charge pool each turn. He also gave the squad invisibility, which prevented the Chaplain's hand-flamer from burning the squad to toast.

However his powers do seem very unpredictable. The first time I have used him and he rolls a double-six, almost killing the rest of the squad as well. He has no access to re-rolls, so there is no guarantee that his powers will go off when I need them to.

Realistically I suppose it comes down to weather or not another guardsman body, with +1 to dispel dice and access psychic powers, is worth the points cost. I think more experimentation will be needed to conclude.

Under here I should also mention the Command Chimera. It kept the squad manoeuvrable and allowed me to get orders to where they were needed, allowing me to abuse the autocannon's turn 1 onward. It also saved the Command Squad from being mashed by the Death Co. Plus it can add a bit of ranged dakka where required with a 36" range. Therefore for 65 points, I am satisfied with the Command Chimera. Not ecstatic, but heartily satisfied.

Ultimately the Command Squad performed admirably, and I love them for it. I don't think these guys will be being replaced any time soon.

Troops:

Let's begin with Colonel Reiss' Platoon (RIP):

Reiss' out-and-about infantry squad took out two Death Co. and acted as an effective speed bump to keep them from storming my right flank for turn 2. Reiss himself gave his life gladly in the name of holding the line. Therefore I am very happy to use the infantry squad in the same way again, as a single unit to act as harassment and as a sacrifice.

Reiss' Platoon Command Squad gave the order which felled two Death Co., so I guess that was good. However aside from that small force multiplier they otherwise just acted as food for the Dreadnought before it got pounded into submission by the autocannons. They are mandatory to fielding the infantry squads however; and at 40 points with upgrades, I feel the slight inefficiency of the squad is compensated by their utility in fielding more men and deployment of more template weapons.

On the flip side the Chimera infantry squad were very sucky this game. They essentially got out of their Chimera and died. The pro's of this death was that it saved the blob-squad from taking more wounds, and also speed bumping the melta-gunner from the Russ on the left.

That said it utterly failed to complete it's given tactical role of speeding forwards and grabbing the relic.

Obviously more testing will be needed to truly ascertain whether this unit will always be bad in this role, however in theory I still quite like having this unit around. Therefore I will not consider cutting it.

The Chimera also failed in it's mission, although that was more of a tactical error on my part for sending it so close to a melta- weapon. It did kill a good number of space-marines with its heavy flamer, however I should consider swapping that out for a multi-laser, which has the added ability of being able to threaten light vehicles and instant death T3 models, plus snipe at back-field objecting holders from my table edge with it 36" range.

Therefore I think that Colonel Reiss' Platoon for the most part under- performed in this game, with only the Infantry Squad on the right side getting significant value.

And on to Colonel Lucius' Platoon (RIP):

Lucius himself became a casualty fairly quickly, however his squad did save the Russ from the melta, and survived the whole game, with the exception being the flamer. Therefore I am not unhappy with the Platoon Command squad, for the more shots they took the less fire was directed at the real threat of the blob squad. Therefore overall I am quite happy with this 40-point unit.

The blob squad overall I felt was fantastic. It ran forward and grabbed the objective; distracted the Baal so that it sped into the firing fields of my autocannons, and tied Aurelius up for the best part of two turns. A special mention should go to the nameless Commissar who kept them men in line, allowing them to die for the Emperor in glorious battle, and then sacrificing himself to keep the HQ tied up for that one last turn. Therefore I think that the blob squad was value more for their soft impacts upon the game rather than their sheer killing power.

Autocannons (Rest In Mother Freaking Peace Brothers):

I saved a special place for the autocannon's because I feel that they truly kicked ass this game.

They absolutely slaughtered the METAL BAWKSES!

Even though they died to the Death Co. they got me so many point's advantages over the Blood Angels that I am never leaving them in my box again. Men of the freaking match, I salute you!

(But seriously, they could not have been better if Creed himself had exchanged the men for freaking Titan's)

(I have it from trustworthy sources that this was Creed after the battle... to their dead bodies... ahh well)

Heavy Support:

The two Russ'.

Well, the right Russ shut down the entire left side of Ewan's deployment zone, forcing him to deploy heavily on the left.

It also kept Ewan away from the central plain by shutting down that area to him, which was invaluable to the blob squad's survivability. It denied him so much of the map that I almost think it was worth the 150 point price-tag.

However that is where the problems begin; the 150 point price tag is massively expensive for a unit which did not have the killing power of another heavy support option I can think of.

It's large-blast templates were not effective against the combat-squad sizes of the marines, especially with the scatter dice not being in my favour at all (eldar trickery)

Therefore again this choice I feel was a lot of points spent of a unit which provided a lot of area-denial, however it's killing potential could not be utilised effectively in this game.

Similarly the left Russ fell foul of the Combat Squads, however it did kill much of Aurelius' assault team, which contributed greatly to the survivability of the blob in meleé. Other than that however, its only real contribution was to lay down a pie-plate each turn.

The large-blasts did definitely I feel change the game. Psychologically it forced the Blood Angels to come to me (however that was what they were going to do anyway, so I wouldn't call it that much of a win) also however they distracted the heavy hitters of the BA away from the autocannons, which allowed them to destroy the dreadnought.

Therefore the real question becomes, is 300 points a reasonable price for two distraction units, which become almost worthless once the opponent gets anything above strength 4 into meleé range?

More testing, in the name of the Emperor!

I'll post up here again soon, until which I am your loyal servant,

Private Shadderz