"In Your Face" Astartes army

I just had an idea for a Space Marines army list. I need to check the Infiltrate / Scout rules to see if this makes sense or can be improved, but the first version goes something like this:

HQ:
Shrike (195)

Troops:
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)

Elites:
8 Assault Terminators (320)

Fast Attack:
10 Scout Bikes (210)
10 Scout Bikes (210)
10 Scout Bikes (210)

Total: 1985 pts


The important thing is that Shrike gives everyone Fleet, and everyone has Infiltrate- this means they can start the game anywhere that is 18" away from the nearest enemy unit, and have an 18" assault range - just enough to touch the nearest enemy units, who then have to pile into them.

That guarantees that your entire army will be in their face on the first turn, barring terrain slowing you down (luckily scouts have Move Through Cover, and I think bikers are not slowed by difficult terrain, the Terminators might not make it but Shrike can split off to ensure that he at least can reach the enemy). If you get first turn, that's pretty devastating - 186 attacks from the scouts, 63 from the bikers, 32 from the termies (assuming claws for the sake of argument) and 5 from Shrike himself, for a total of 286 attacks on the first turn!

Obviously this is just an example, you would really want to trade a unit of Bikers or two for some melta and power fists, which would probably be a good idea since in real life there would be no-way to actually get all your units in close combat right away, but it's still fun to consider.


If you want a more interesting and slightly less spammy list, try this:

HQ:
Shrike (195)

Troops:
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)

Elites:
10 Sternguard Veterans - Drop Pod (285)
10 Sternguard Veterans - Drop Pod (285)
10 Sternguard Veterans - Drop Pod (285)

Fast Attack:
10 Assault Marines (190)
5 Assault Marines - Drop Pod (100)
5 Assault Marines - Drop Pod (100)

Total: 2000 pts

This time we drop the scout bikers and a couple of units of scouts for some Sternguard Veterans in drop pods - the 5-man assault squads give us super-cheap drop pods so we can drop the three Veteran squads in the first turn. That gives us close-up AP3 firepower to back up our (reduced) assault teams. Again, we will probably need to trade for some heavier firepower though.

The point is there's a lot of room for variety while sticking to the basic formula of putting everything in their face in the first turn. For example, first time I wrote the list I had a Librarian with Gate of Infinity instead of the drop pod to carry the third Sternguard unit forward. You can trade the 10-man assault marine squad for assault Terminators or Vanguard Veterans (with or without jump-packs), who obviously get an extra attack and all the wargear you can afford. Or you can trade one or both Veteran squads for a Dreadnought or two in drop-pods (if you can tie up all their anti-tank with your assault units then this is safer, or use smoke and/or cover when they land and assault in following turns), or for Heroic Intervention Vanguard Veterans (while they can assault enemies that your infiltrators may not be able to reach, you cannot predict which turn they will arrive in and deep strike scatter can hurt them). It might be a good idea to trade the small Assault squads for a Tac squad in a drop pod, to better hold objectives.


You know what? Let's try one more time, this time we'll try for a less spammy list than the first but more powerful than the second:

HQ:
Shrike (195)

Troops:
10 Scouts - Telion, Heavy Bolter, 3 Sniper Rifles, 5 CC weapons (200)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)
10 Scouts - CC weapons (140)

Elites:
10 Assault Terminators (400)
Dreadnought - Drop Pod (140)

Fast Attack:
Land Speeder Storm - MultiMelta (75)
Land Speeder Storm - MultiMelta (75)
Land Speeder Storm - MultiMelta (75)

Total: 1860 pts

This time we use Land Speeders to give us a bit more range (by my calculations a scout unit assaulting from a Land Speeder Storm has a 24" assault range, or they can shoot and still assault 18") and some multi-melta firepower. Telion splits off in a 5-man group and snipes special models while sitting on an objective. The Dreadnought is vulnerable but still provides target saturation on the first turn and should put at least one melta attack into the back of a tank before he goes down. And we still have 140 points left, enough for some power fists or a small tac unit to hold objectives or a small Devastator squad with missile launchers or multi-meltas. Upgrading to a Furioso may be a better bet too thanks to it's better armor.


Let me stress that I'm only writing these lists for fun, I wouldn't actually build it - I like variety in my models, and I plan to build an army with as little duplication as possible. Still, it's fun to see what you can do with a codex.

New job

I just finished my first week at my new job at a SFX company in London. There's a lot to learn - I see it as a balancing act between reading and working, at least at first. Having said that I have yet to actually get to work, I'm still just starting to figure out how they do things here. It seems like a nice company though, surprisingly organized and they seem to treat their employees quite well. I do hope to fit in and prove useful.

I am quite busy with both the change in location and in profession (I mainly worked with games before), living out of a suitcase right now and trying to pick up a half-dozen new skills, so I don't think I'll be working on my engine for some time, though I do hope to do a little miniature painting.

Speaking of, I finally got the chance to step in to a Games Workshop yesterday. It's been months since the last time. Saw the Storm Raven, the front is kind of cool, very aggressive in a military, form-over-function kind of way - it really is a flying tank - but the tiny back just unbalances the whole damn thing. If I was ever to get one for my Grey Knights - not that I'm planning to - I would have to do something to make it a little more balanced.

But more importantly, I took a brief glance at the Space Wolves codex. Grey Hunters cost a point less than regular Space Marines but have an extra attack and the (very useful) counter-attack rule? What the hell? That's just disgusting. Downright obscene in fact. This blatant example of power-creep presents me with a conundrum. Do I play with the Space Wolves codex and take advantage of how powerful it is, or stick with the regular Space Marine codex in protest of this unbalanced filth (which, I reckon, is tailor-made for min/maxed WAAC armies)? A big part of me dislikes the idea of paying more for less with regular Space Marines, but the other part hates jumping on the 'latest and greatest' bandwagon and is annoyed at the first part for being so weak.

The other thing is that Space Wolves have some units that I really like, especially the greater versatility in Terminator use and equipment. At the same time I'm thinking of looking at Blood Angels, who also have some cool stuff. Regardless of what I decide to 'major in', I plan to get all the codices and buy/convert/paint any specific models that I like regardless of whether I actually use them or not, that's what I enjoy after all. I'll probably end up with one of those 'counts as' Space Marine armies in the end, and play them as different things on different days. Why the hell not right? Variety is the spice of life after all.

Also waiting on the Grey Knights. I can honestly say that the Grey Knights were a big part of what got me to finally take the jump into Warhammer 40K, they were always my favorite models and the Grey Knight books are still my favorite Games Workshop novels - each one is better than the last (bear in mind though that I certainly haven't read all the Black Library novels, still not started the Horus Heresy for example).

To wrap things up, there's a lot of changes in my life right now, sometimes I feel homesick but I'm trying to keep busy - I do have a lot to do after all - and I'm hoping for the best.