Atrotos
10-07-2012, 10:12 AM
Hello everyone,
I'm looking to start a thread here to exchange armylists and tactics for Elysians and IG AirCav in 6th. Finding other aircav players online is actually much harder than you think! If you know anyone running this kind of list in 6th please direct them to this page and encourage them to share their thoughts.
Many folks seem to think that any army list that allows you spam flyers in 6th is incredibly strong or even overpowered. This is, of course, total garbage. I've got about 60 games with AirCav in 6th (Elysians/ Elysian+IG, IG, D-99, Inquisition w/ Stormravens) and I'm finding it extremely difficult to design an army list with consistent performance.
My goal with my airborne is to play a non-mainstream army build that rewards good generalship. It's also important to me that I maintain the theme of Inquisitorial veterans (fast, well-equiped suicide units basically) in the spirit of the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers that are no longer with us.
Here are some notes I compiled earlier in the edition - some things have changed but most of it is still relevant.
So let's see:
- Deployment: Hammer and Anvil seems very well suited to a force with flyers. Obviously we can get across a lot faster and this helps mitigates uneven objective placement (since objectives are placed after sides are rolled for). What I've also noticed is how powerful the ability to outflank our flyers is. Already strategies have developed to negate an opponents flyers by placing one's units close to the opposing table edge. Flyers entering play from this edge are forced to fly over these units and cannot, therefore, shoot them. Outflanking flyers can attack from virtually any angle making them ideal for dogfighting - the Vendetta is the best anti-flyer in the game in my 7-game experience. Combine with the astropath for an incredibly flexible attack plan (I can't make the switch to IA:8 because Elysians don' have astropaths - he's that good!)
- Missions: Having both very fast Fast Attack and Heavy Support (Vulture) makes 2 of the 6 missions a cakewalk for AirCav. Relic is a nightmare though since our guys can't just hop in their rides and leave once they grab the objective. I cannot imagine how I'm ever going to claim this primary in this mission. Rather, First Blood, Linebreaker and slaying the warlord are the goal whilst simply annihilating enemy scoring units with ranged firepower.
- Reserves: So all-reserve armies autolose now. This one has been tough for me. At first my plan was to rely on ten man Stormtrooper and infiltrating Veterans(harker) to hold down the fort until the flyers showed up t.2. This plan worked for a few games but only barely. It's incredible how fast certain armies, particularly those with flying monsters, can be in your face on turn one. These expensive units became very expensive placeholders that were sacrificed to buy time every game - a poor use of resources. Either large platoons or allies seem to be the solution to this but each has their limitations. I'll stress again how important the Astropath is (and elysians don't even get one!) for that 2+ reserve roll for the flyers. If more than one or two flyers is still in reserve on turn 3 chances are the guys on the ground won't make it.
- Allies: We'll have to wait and see about IA lists and how they ally but I can imagine they'll be Battle Brothers with the Imperial Guard codex. This will finally give Elysians access to a real Company Command squad(!) and allow the IG to take troops in dedicated Valkyries that don't count against the reserve allocation balance (I think anyway, the rules aren't completely clear). It would also give Elysians access to psykers although the Primaris, lacking access to Divination, is largely as useless as he was before. Speaking of Divination GK, DA and BA all get it. Coteaz-led Grey Knights are the easiest to ally with (for me) since henchmen are similar to IG units - I find allying with other mainstream troops such as Tacticals or Strike Squads to be aesthetically unappealing, especially if they're as stigmatized as the GK are. However Coteaz (or a Librarian from the aforementioned chapters) can be a huge force multiplier for Guard. If you give the Divination powers a once-over you'll see what I mean. Coteaz is the most efficient and the one I'll likely be taking in my lists from here on out. His blessings won't work on the C:IG units but his own henchmen will likely comprise my entire ground force anyway. As a final note Death Company make a great ally choice - both because they can fill the requisite troop slot for just 60 points and because a large squad is VERY durable and can hold out until flyer reinforcements arrive. Rage changing to a benefit made these guys awesome.
- Units:
- The Vendetta! It was great before it's awesome now. Heavy bolters on this chassis is a steal for ten points giving it 9 shots that it can fire nearly always (since vehicles are very hard to stunlock now). The Valkyrie pales once again by comparison although the expected 40k "infantry revolution" may change this. As long as flyers (especially those necron croissants) are an issue the Vendetta will be on top. Caution: Your opponent will do everything he can to kill these and when he inevitably does everyone inside will die. It is spectacular how lethal flyers are to their occupants. Getting passengers out is very difficult given that 'Hover' mode is tantamount to suicide - you will be assaulted and almost anything can kill a vendetta in one go. You may have thought AirCav was a finese army before but now it's truly an art.
- The Stormraven. An ally but one that both the GK and the BA can give us and one that scores 1/6th of the time. The GK Stormraven with psybolt ammo is a BEAST! 3 str 6 shots from the nose heavy bolter + 4 str 7 from the Assault Cannon + a potential 12 str 5 from the Hurricane bolters = 19 twin-linked shots + rockets. Four(five) weapons means it can fire all of it on the move too. I keep mine empty because it is definitely a target!
- MeltaDemoVets: The old standby has lost a lot of its attractiveness for me. These guys die even faster now when they choose to jump out and may get their ride killed too. The extended assault ranges are devastating! I'm looking at possibly using a platoon in their stead giving me cheaper PCS, infantry and special weapons squads that are still scoring. However, I love the dependability of BS4 so these will be hard to give up.
- Plasma CCS: Officer w/ 2x Plasma Pistol, 4 guys with plasma guns and carapace for the lot (don't forget the Astropath!). 185 points for a "delete button" squad that will murder the new wave of monstrous creatures. Pricier than I'd like but you if plan ahead they might survive to kill more than one thing - new rapid fire rules really extends their range.
- Henchmen: Another ally unit but one that makes a great scoring presence, especially behind an Aegis defense line. I take mine with lots of toys - Storm bolters, plasma guns, plasma cannons and a couple of monkeys. Expensive but really powerful when combined with the Divination primaris power (re-rolls to hit) and Foreboding (overwatch at regular BS). Coteaz also grants them the 'I've been expecting you' which works like the Interceptor rule. That makes them a great counter to incoming flyers and drop pods too. They're very fragile but with experience I think these guys will solve my 50% reserve issue permanently.
- The Vulture: You'll probably have read the new FW updates so you now that the Vulture is now a beautiful death-dealing machine. The value of 4x MRP's has decreased since you can't fire any blast weapons after you evade but the twin punisher cannon just dominates. Effectively BS 4 against ground targets and pinning! Vector Dancer makes the Vulture the ultimate support choice to help your guys on the ground when and where they need it most.
- Emerging Dangers: I've written a lot already but I wanted to add just this last note on things that turned out to be more threatening to AirCav than a first glance could tell me. Firstly, GW has clarified that the wings and tail boom are all "hull" and therefore can't hang off the table. This effectively means that disembarking troops on the turn you arrive from reserve is only possible with Grav Chute insertion - very risky! Second: getting to objectives by the 5th turn has turned out to be very difficult. You have to clear the landing zone completely because anything assaulting your troops is likely to kill them - no more scoring from within a Vendetta that has moved flat out. Finally, due to the fragile nature of flyers in hover mode much of the game is spent with troops inside their rides doing nothing. This was also true in 5th but is even more important in 6th where 5/6 missions are objective based instead of 2/3. I would normally recommend combat capable troops in every list but anyone getting out of a transport cannot assault so no Straken to clear the way for the rest. This is an issue I have not solved and may be a lasting weakness in our lists for the rest of the edition.
Phew! So this turned out longer than I expected; I apologize. If you like, please let me know what your impressions are of 6th ed AirCav.
I'm looking to start a thread here to exchange armylists and tactics for Elysians and IG AirCav in 6th. Finding other aircav players online is actually much harder than you think! If you know anyone running this kind of list in 6th please direct them to this page and encourage them to share their thoughts.
Many folks seem to think that any army list that allows you spam flyers in 6th is incredibly strong or even overpowered. This is, of course, total garbage. I've got about 60 games with AirCav in 6th (Elysians/ Elysian+IG, IG, D-99, Inquisition w/ Stormravens) and I'm finding it extremely difficult to design an army list with consistent performance.
My goal with my airborne is to play a non-mainstream army build that rewards good generalship. It's also important to me that I maintain the theme of Inquisitorial veterans (fast, well-equiped suicide units basically) in the spirit of the Inquisitorial Stormtroopers that are no longer with us.
Here are some notes I compiled earlier in the edition - some things have changed but most of it is still relevant.
So let's see:
- Deployment: Hammer and Anvil seems very well suited to a force with flyers. Obviously we can get across a lot faster and this helps mitigates uneven objective placement (since objectives are placed after sides are rolled for). What I've also noticed is how powerful the ability to outflank our flyers is. Already strategies have developed to negate an opponents flyers by placing one's units close to the opposing table edge. Flyers entering play from this edge are forced to fly over these units and cannot, therefore, shoot them. Outflanking flyers can attack from virtually any angle making them ideal for dogfighting - the Vendetta is the best anti-flyer in the game in my 7-game experience. Combine with the astropath for an incredibly flexible attack plan (I can't make the switch to IA:8 because Elysians don' have astropaths - he's that good!)
- Missions: Having both very fast Fast Attack and Heavy Support (Vulture) makes 2 of the 6 missions a cakewalk for AirCav. Relic is a nightmare though since our guys can't just hop in their rides and leave once they grab the objective. I cannot imagine how I'm ever going to claim this primary in this mission. Rather, First Blood, Linebreaker and slaying the warlord are the goal whilst simply annihilating enemy scoring units with ranged firepower.
- Reserves: So all-reserve armies autolose now. This one has been tough for me. At first my plan was to rely on ten man Stormtrooper and infiltrating Veterans(harker) to hold down the fort until the flyers showed up t.2. This plan worked for a few games but only barely. It's incredible how fast certain armies, particularly those with flying monsters, can be in your face on turn one. These expensive units became very expensive placeholders that were sacrificed to buy time every game - a poor use of resources. Either large platoons or allies seem to be the solution to this but each has their limitations. I'll stress again how important the Astropath is (and elysians don't even get one!) for that 2+ reserve roll for the flyers. If more than one or two flyers is still in reserve on turn 3 chances are the guys on the ground won't make it.
- Allies: We'll have to wait and see about IA lists and how they ally but I can imagine they'll be Battle Brothers with the Imperial Guard codex. This will finally give Elysians access to a real Company Command squad(!) and allow the IG to take troops in dedicated Valkyries that don't count against the reserve allocation balance (I think anyway, the rules aren't completely clear). It would also give Elysians access to psykers although the Primaris, lacking access to Divination, is largely as useless as he was before. Speaking of Divination GK, DA and BA all get it. Coteaz-led Grey Knights are the easiest to ally with (for me) since henchmen are similar to IG units - I find allying with other mainstream troops such as Tacticals or Strike Squads to be aesthetically unappealing, especially if they're as stigmatized as the GK are. However Coteaz (or a Librarian from the aforementioned chapters) can be a huge force multiplier for Guard. If you give the Divination powers a once-over you'll see what I mean. Coteaz is the most efficient and the one I'll likely be taking in my lists from here on out. His blessings won't work on the C:IG units but his own henchmen will likely comprise my entire ground force anyway. As a final note Death Company make a great ally choice - both because they can fill the requisite troop slot for just 60 points and because a large squad is VERY durable and can hold out until flyer reinforcements arrive. Rage changing to a benefit made these guys awesome.
- Units:
- The Vendetta! It was great before it's awesome now. Heavy bolters on this chassis is a steal for ten points giving it 9 shots that it can fire nearly always (since vehicles are very hard to stunlock now). The Valkyrie pales once again by comparison although the expected 40k "infantry revolution" may change this. As long as flyers (especially those necron croissants) are an issue the Vendetta will be on top. Caution: Your opponent will do everything he can to kill these and when he inevitably does everyone inside will die. It is spectacular how lethal flyers are to their occupants. Getting passengers out is very difficult given that 'Hover' mode is tantamount to suicide - you will be assaulted and almost anything can kill a vendetta in one go. You may have thought AirCav was a finese army before but now it's truly an art.
- The Stormraven. An ally but one that both the GK and the BA can give us and one that scores 1/6th of the time. The GK Stormraven with psybolt ammo is a BEAST! 3 str 6 shots from the nose heavy bolter + 4 str 7 from the Assault Cannon + a potential 12 str 5 from the Hurricane bolters = 19 twin-linked shots + rockets. Four(five) weapons means it can fire all of it on the move too. I keep mine empty because it is definitely a target!
- MeltaDemoVets: The old standby has lost a lot of its attractiveness for me. These guys die even faster now when they choose to jump out and may get their ride killed too. The extended assault ranges are devastating! I'm looking at possibly using a platoon in their stead giving me cheaper PCS, infantry and special weapons squads that are still scoring. However, I love the dependability of BS4 so these will be hard to give up.
- Plasma CCS: Officer w/ 2x Plasma Pistol, 4 guys with plasma guns and carapace for the lot (don't forget the Astropath!). 185 points for a "delete button" squad that will murder the new wave of monstrous creatures. Pricier than I'd like but you if plan ahead they might survive to kill more than one thing - new rapid fire rules really extends their range.
- Henchmen: Another ally unit but one that makes a great scoring presence, especially behind an Aegis defense line. I take mine with lots of toys - Storm bolters, plasma guns, plasma cannons and a couple of monkeys. Expensive but really powerful when combined with the Divination primaris power (re-rolls to hit) and Foreboding (overwatch at regular BS). Coteaz also grants them the 'I've been expecting you' which works like the Interceptor rule. That makes them a great counter to incoming flyers and drop pods too. They're very fragile but with experience I think these guys will solve my 50% reserve issue permanently.
- The Vulture: You'll probably have read the new FW updates so you now that the Vulture is now a beautiful death-dealing machine. The value of 4x MRP's has decreased since you can't fire any blast weapons after you evade but the twin punisher cannon just dominates. Effectively BS 4 against ground targets and pinning! Vector Dancer makes the Vulture the ultimate support choice to help your guys on the ground when and where they need it most.
- Emerging Dangers: I've written a lot already but I wanted to add just this last note on things that turned out to be more threatening to AirCav than a first glance could tell me. Firstly, GW has clarified that the wings and tail boom are all "hull" and therefore can't hang off the table. This effectively means that disembarking troops on the turn you arrive from reserve is only possible with Grav Chute insertion - very risky! Second: getting to objectives by the 5th turn has turned out to be very difficult. You have to clear the landing zone completely because anything assaulting your troops is likely to kill them - no more scoring from within a Vendetta that has moved flat out. Finally, due to the fragile nature of flyers in hover mode much of the game is spent with troops inside their rides doing nothing. This was also true in 5th but is even more important in 6th where 5/6 missions are objective based instead of 2/3. I would normally recommend combat capable troops in every list but anyone getting out of a transport cannot assault so no Straken to clear the way for the rest. This is an issue I have not solved and may be a lasting weakness in our lists for the rest of the edition.
Phew! So this turned out longer than I expected; I apologize. If you like, please let me know what your impressions are of 6th ed AirCav.