Thinking about Lists

It’s been a while since I posted any lists here.  I don’t think that’s any great loss: lists, in my opinion, make for poor content… at least without accompanying text describing how they actually performed on the table.

But, I’ve been dicking around with some different lists, and they’re on my mind.  (Also, I’ve got a pile of naked mole rat images burning a hole in my Downloads folder.)


So, the big news of last week was that they updated the Dark Angels FAQ.  This makes me extremely happy.  I’ve got about 7,000 points of painted Dark Angels and have, thus far, resisted the urge to run them as “Green Marines.”  (Running them as “Green Blood Angels,” is a bridge too far and “Green Space Wolves” is heresy that cannot be countenanced.)  That temptation’s gone.

Casey threw some ideas at me that sounded pretty solid, so I’ve spun them into a list.

HQ
Belial – TH/SS
Interrogator Chaplain – Terminator Armor

Troops
Deathwing Command Squad – Apothecary, Standard Bearer, TH/SS x5, CML
Deathwing Terminator Squad – TH/SS x2, CML
Deathwing Terminator Squad – TH/SS x2, CML
Deathwing Terminator Squad – TH/SS x2, CML

Fast Attack
Land Speeder – Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer
Land Speeder – Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer
Land Speeder – Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer

Heavy Support
Whirlwind
Whirlwind
Whirlwind

In many ways, I don’t like taking lists like this: a single unit, a billion times… but it’s inarguably more reliable, thanks to redundancy, and it’s a lot easier for me to get my head around just sitting down and spitting things together.

Delightfully, I have to do very little to put this on the table.  Paint a few more terminators (the ones with the TH/SS, of course), do another two Speeders (I have three: a dakka speeder, a Sammael speeder, and one of the above), and dig up a few Whirlwind turrets (Heavy Support’s a bit light with my first legion troops).

Anyway, if you’re a Dark Angels player like me: I’m sure you’re delighted with this development.  If you’re a Space Wolf player: keep those power blue terminators Loganwing.  I don’t think I’ll be able to restrain myself from mercilessly judging you and your troops for their fickle defection from the Wolf to the Lion.


A naked mole rat and then a Dark Angels list?  What the heck is wrong with me!?!  Some Skaven lists will, hopefully, make things right.

This is the list that I ran last week, and will likely continue to run with a few changes.

Lords
Warlord (General) – War-Litter, Sword of Swift Slaying, Enchanted Shield, Poisoned Attacks
Grey Seer – Warp-Energy Condenser, Talisman of Preservation

Heroes
Chieftain (BSB) – Shield, Armor of Destiny
Plague Priest – Lvl 2, Plague Furnace, Flail, Dispel Scroll
Warlock Engineer – Doomrocket

Core
Clanrats x30 – Full Command, Shield
– Poisoned Wind Mortar
Skavenslaves x 48 – Champion, Musician, Shield
Stormvermin x20 – Full Command, Stormbanner
– Poisoned Wind Mortar

Special
Plague Monks x34 – Full Command, Plague Banner
Gutter Runners x5 – Poisoned Attacks, Slings
Gutter Runners x5 – Poisoned Attacks, Slings

Rare
Doomwheel
Hellpit Abomination
Warp-Lightning Cannon

I’ve really started to love the Plague Furnace. It dies horribly to Skinks, sure, but everything’s going to go down to something. People don’t pack in Chaos Knights because Jezzails make them sad, you know?  It’s done really well for me: it helps me bulk out to a horde of Plague Monks easily and draws a great deal of attention.  In terms of killing the life out of things… it’s surprisingly quiet.  The Monks make enough of a ruckus that the accomplishments of the Furnace are easy to miss.  (That means I should probably try running without the Furnace to see what happens.)  A horde of Monks pukes up five attacks per file… and the Plague Banner really makes that sting.

The Warlord’s relatively cheap, has a great armor save (2+/6+) and spits out a lot of attacks: 4 Poison with likely rerolls (not many things have I7) and 4 Poison maybe with rerolls (I5).

The Seer’s about what he always looks like.  If I could find the points, I’d like to give him a Power Scroll: it can be a real drag getting Dreaded 13th off, sometimes.

The BSB gets magic armor: keeping him alive is more important than fitting in the Stormbanner.  Fortunately, the Stormvermin can take it, so I’m not losing out.

I like the horde of Slaves, but I find I play too conservatively with them.  Part of me would like to double-down on it… but I’m still working on getting the one horde fully painted.

For those following at home: this is the list I’m trying to get to 100% this year.  If I go past this, great, but this is the baseline goal.


Here’s the other list I’ve got:

Lords
Warlord (General) – Sword of Might, Enchanted Shield
Grey Seer – Power Scroll, Talisman of Preservation

Heroes
Chieftain (BSB) – Shield, Armor of Destiny
Plague Priest – Lvl 2, Flail, Plague Furnace, Dispel Scroll
Warlock Engineer – Doomrocket
Warlock Engineer – Brass Orb

Core
Stormvermin x10 – Banner, Musician, Stormbanner
– Ratling Gun
Stormvermin x10 – Musician
– Ratling Gun
Stormvermin x10 – Musician
– Ratling Gun
Stormvermin x10 – Musician
– Poisoned Wind Mortar
Stormvermin x10 – Musician
– Poisoned Wind Mortar

Special
Gutter Runners x5 – Poisoned Attacks, Slings
Plague Monks x32 – Full Command, Plague Banner

Rare
Hellpit Abomination
Warp-Lightning Cannon
Warp-Lightning Cannon

Just in typing it up, I can’t help but feel like the Furnace, if not the Monks themselves, are a mistake.  Also, it’s important to note that I don’t actually see this being all that great of a list.  It’s just different.  That could be why I want to run it: I’ve heard so much about this vaunted SAD thing, I’d like to see it for myself.

I’ve also never run the Brass Orb: it seems terrible.  As likely to scatter back onto your head as it is to land where you want it.  But, hey, it’s just an Engineer, right?

The idea here, roughly, is to shoot at you until you engage.  And, when you do that, you’ve got to deal with the Plague Monks.

I expect this will do badly, but it’s just so different from what a Skaven army should be, I’m very, very curious.