Mechanized Codex SM 1500

[Spanklet]

This list was originaly built by ****** and I dropped a TAC to make it fit into 1500.

It sems a different approach to my usual SG / Asslt Termie formula and seems to have promise.

His comments regarding the list:

I can almost guarantee that there will be ruined buildings at the GT's so your scouts can have a 2+ save most games (He is referencing the HQ ability to fortify a location at game start).

You have 3 dreads, which really will scare assault armies and make them kill those dreads before they can cripple their force. Oddly enough, they also scare shooty armies (can't let them get to me!) and mech armies (stupid multimeltas). Great, that's everybody! Oh and Dreads scare most monstrous creatures even if it's only slightly. :)

The land speeders are able to do everything: kill tanks, kill infantry, and most importantly...go FAST and block enemy movement. It's a must learn skill that sadly most US tournament players (ok, most players globally) have no clue about.

The predators are just nifty good anti-infantry. They don't need SB, why pay more for so little? Just sit at 36" and pound the enemy.

Your tactical squads are in rhinos equipped the way they are so you can zoom forward 12" on turn 1 and put a lot of firepower into midfield. Run your 3 dreads and 4 speeders forward and all of a sudden you have a ton of **** threatening his entire army the next turn. The tacticals can combat squad if need be and just run the other half behind the dreads so the rhinos give dreads cover and the dreads give the marines cover.

Then you have two blasts that should wound on 2+ just about anything from your scout/master squad and Telion being a prick and picking off heavy weapons...well, let's just say this is the army I fear most when facing Marines.

A few have come awful close, but they still insist on running the Thunder Shield squad in a LR with a special character. Scary, yes. Also suffers from egg-basket syndrome.

HQ:
Master of the Forge 120 pts
(Converison Beamer)

ELITE:
Dreadnought 105 pts
(CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter)

Dreadnought 105 pts
(CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter)

Dreadnought 105 pts
(CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter)

TROOPS:
Scout Squad 147 pts
4 Scout Squad (Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle x3; Heavy Bolter w/Hellfire Shells)
1 Sergeant Telion (Stalker Pattern Boltgun)

Tactical Squad 205 pts
9 Tactical Squad (Flamer; Multi-Melta)
1 Sergeant
1 Rhino

Tactical Squad 205 pts
9 Tactical Squad (Flamer; Multi-Melta)
1 Sergeant
1 Rhino

FAST ATTACK:
Land Speeder Squadron 140 pts
2 Land Speeder (Heavy Flamer x2; Multi-Melta x2)

Land Speeder Squadron 140 pts
2 Land Speeder (Heavy Flamer x2; Multi-Melta x2)

HEAVY SUPPORT:
Predator 85 pts
(Autocannon; Heavy Bolter sponsons)

Predator 85 pts
(Autocannon; Heavy Bolter sponsons)

Predator 85 pts
(Autocannon; Heavy Bolter sponsons)


Me Again:
This list has been playtested and some have swapped in hvy flamers to the dreads but had to lose Telion to pay for it.

I may also try to sqeeze points from somewhere to get PF for the TAC but im not sure where I would take it from.

And its obvious I love the 24" radius auto psi-defense of the libbys so I may try to hq sub that

Also, I dont know why the filter is ****** the guy's name... Its not a bad word or anything.

[TheKingElessar]

That's 1527 points.

He Who Shall Not Be Named 's name is censored to prevent him joining the forum under that name. No official reason that i am aware of has been given. Censorship: Is it ever right?

[avatar8481]

It also censors the abbreviation for the blog too, so it's more than just your reason (though I'm sure that's part of it).

I've run his list at 1750 and a also version of it with Vulkan (which I prefer despite, his issues with the points cost). To drop the best of Marines to 1500 I'd just lose Telion and a Tac Squad (255 points) and leave everything else the same, if you were really ambitious or loved the MoF I'd drop the HB and the 6th scout and take a bike for the MoF since it makes him relentless and solves the range issue for the CB, (personally I'd swap that whole HQ for Vulkan though since the points are the same-ish and I like Vulkan and dislike the CB).

[TheKingElessar]

I'd sooner lose Camo Cloaks than Telion...problem being that there's little else can be done at that juncture for the remaining 12 points...maybe drop a Dakka Pred for a 5th Speeder?

I've used a friend's variant with Vulkan at 1750, it's an excellent list.

[Spanklet]

Looks like the latest AB says this army as posted is 1507. Did I miss 20 pts somewhere?

Also...you knew it was coming... what about swapping out the HQ to a non termie libby for the psi defense and null zone etc?

[TheKingElessar]

No idea if it's a typo, but my calculator gives 1527 again. *shrug*

That could work. I'm not a huge fan of the MotF if not taking extra Dreads.

[Spanklet]

God I hate 1500 for codex SM... 1750 a whole new world.

Also, should we drop anything to get hvy flamers on the dreads or are they expected to be stunned a lot?

So im thinking:

HQ:
Librarian (Null Zone; Vortex of Doom) 100 pts

ELITE:
Dreadnought 105 pts
(CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter)

Dreadnought 105 pts
(CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter)

Dreadnought 105 pts
(CCW; Multi-Melta; Storm Bolter)

TROOPS:
Scout Squad 147 pts
4 Scout Squad (Camo Cloaks; Sniper Rifle x3; Heavy Bolter w/Hellfire Shells)
1 Sergeant Telion (Stalker Pattern Boltgun)

Tactical Squad 205 pts
9 Tactical Squad (Flamer; Multi-Melta)
1 Sergeant
1 Rhino

Tactical Squad 205 pts
9 Tactical Squad (Flamer; Multi-Melta)
1 Sergeant
1 Rhino

FAST ATTACK:
Land Speeder Squadron 140 pts
2 Land Speeder (Heavy Flamer x2; Multi-Melta x2)

Land Speeder Squadron 140 pts
2 Land Speeder (Heavy Flamer x2; Multi-Melta x2)

HEAVY SUPPORT:
Predator 85 pts
(Autocannon; Heavy Bolter sponsons)

Predator 85 pts
(Autocannon; Heavy Bolter sponsons)

Predator 85 pts
(Autocannon; Heavy Bolter sponsons)

Total is 1487 giving some flex for some more stuff maybe.

[Spanklet]

It looks like only the black reach Dread has a multi melta. If you want to make those storm bolters heavy flamers instead, here is a conversion example: http://space-wolves-grey.blogspot.com/2009/06/space-wolves-dreadnought-conversion.html It does not have to space wolves, just look at the flamer part.

[avatar8481]

Yeah, it's a fairly easy conversion. If you were taking Vulkan than you'd obviously take the flamers, no contest, if not, then it's a toss-up (though I tend to like them, even without drop-podding.)

The Preds are nice, and a well-rounded choice for an all-comers list, but I've really grown to prefer Vindis in my MEQ-heavy play environment.

[Spanklet]

I also have a love for vinds but I dont know what I would do if I had a shooty type try to out range me.

[TheKingElessar]

I generally save the points, not taking the Flamer. Possibly because that's the list as my friend built it, lol.

[DevilUknow]

am i crazy or does 3 dreads in the elite section not sound right...

[Timbo]

It's just spamming dreads and preds. Looks fine to me. Both units are solid and good value for the points. It's a very tough looking SM list although with no real assault elements. The old Nurgle warptime prince might have a field day, but you might not see too many of those at 1500 points.

[Spanklet]

A variation on 1750 armies is to drop one dred for the asslt termies. And Dreads are no slouches at CC. They dont kill fast but they keep em tied up and usually kill two models at strength 10 cc attack.

[Timbo]

Dreads are ok at tying a unit up in CC, but unless you assault a unit with multiple dreads (which is really fun!) they're not real killers. Any sort of dedicated cc unit like a daemon prince or TH/SS termies will walk right through them.

[dmlachap]

Great Balance! Your list looks like it could kill infantry and tanks pretty easily. the flamer/melta combos look good.... but maybe a dedicated anti infantry or anti tank squad would be good... but maybe not. After all, the marines are probably the best if they're well rounded anyway.

[avatar8481]

Sadly for marines that will always be a problem, which is why some people are in favor of the "rifleman" dread concept (particularly Y.T.T.H). Basically 2 Twin-linked AC per dread which helps somewhat (apparently, since I've never run them) to overcome the marine's 24" range issue.

[Spanklet]

TKE you were right about the 1500 version being over 27 points, I found where I messed up.

In order to get the 27 points:
1. Swapped 120 point MotF for a 103 pt libby who will stay with one of the TACS and null zone or vortex from rhino firing port. Also, gets him in range of Lashes or other psi so he has a chance to nullify them. Not that lash does much to a mainly mech force anyway.
2. Needed to cut10 more points so I took one of the speeder MMs and traded it for the default hvy bolter so I still have 3 of the 4 MMs at least. Only other thing worth 10 pts was the hellfire shell hvy bolter the scouts use or loose the camo cloaks but they prolly need those because fire from Telion is really gonna piss the enemy off since he picks the models that he wounds in a unit.

[TheKingElessar]

I'd use ML over HB in the Scouts...a BS6 Krak threatens Mech, especially Transports and Battlewagon sides. Hellfire small Blast threatens very little atm.

:)

[mkerr]

It's a tough list for 1500pts. Lots of shooting and a ton of targets. It's sitting at 14KP, which isn't bad for 1500pts.


You have 3 dreads, which really will scare assault armies and make them kill those dreads before they can cripple their force. Oddly enough, they also scare shooty armies (can't let them get to me!) and mech armies (stupid multimeltas). Great, that's everybody! Oh and Dreads scare most monstrous creatures even if it's only slightly. :)

For 105pts, a Dreadnought with a MM is a decent deal. It's not much of a threat in close combat because of the low number of attacks, but the MM will force your opponent to deal with it before it gets too close.


The land speeders are able to do everything: kill tanks, kill infantry, and most importantly...go FAST and block enemy movement. It's a must learn skill that sadly most US tournament players (ok, most players globally) have no clue about.

With HF/MM the speeders aren't going to do much more than pull a trade. You'll kill a vehicle or two, but they are going down pretty quick. I'm having a lot of success with Typhoon Missile Launchers and Multimeltas. The long range let's me keep them alive a lot longer (I often end the game with both of them intact) and the MM gives me some additional anti-tank when I really need it. They are fantastic against low AV side armor.


The predators are just nifty good anti-infantry. They don't need SB, why pay more for so little? Just sit at 36" and pound the enemy.

The 85pt Predators give you a lot of shooting for the cost; which is awesome. What's not to love about a BS4 Autocannons? With this army, Think about couple of Thunderfire cannon instead (because there are so many target options for your opponent and Bolster Defenses is kind of fun, especially with Camo Cloaked Scouts). Although you lose some strength, the Thunderfire Cannon is crazy versatile and might add some punch to the army.


Your tactical squads are in rhinos equipped the way they are so you can zoom forward 12" on turn 1 and put a lot of firepower into midfield. Run your 3 dreads and 4 speeders forward and all of a sudden you have a ton of **** threatening his entire army the next turn.

You've got between 3-5 scoring units. One of them can infiltrate and two of them are mechanized. That's not too shabby. Since there are some high priority units (like those pesky MM Dreadnoughts), the Rhinos have a chance of surviving. I don't think the MMs are really necessary; I'd probably go with the free Missile Launcher instead.


Then you have two blasts that should wound on 2+ just about anything from your scout/master squad and Telion being a prick and picking off heavy weapons.

I tend to prefer the S8 infiltrating shot over the Hellfire Heavy Bolter (especially since you don't have a lot of high Strength weapons with significant range). Since you have plenty of shooting to deal with hordes, I'd go with a ML here too.

Here's what I like about the army: 1) all of the units are cheap, 2) you've got good mobility and excellent volume of fire, and 3) Telion is a lot of fun.

Here's what I don't like about it: 1) you are going to have some leadership issues (especially psyker battle squads), 2) the army is pretty easy to split up (speeders move fast, dreads walk slow, predators stay still) which give another fast army a chance to tear you apart, and 3) it doesn't look like much fun to play.

Best of luck and I look forward to hearing how it plays!

-- mkerr