Hey SS82 & JBWargamer87 fans
I'm interested in what ideas you people have when it comes to a competitive 2k lists to fight against SS82 etc but the lists to have the same balance as my bros when it comes to the 40k lore and no spamming and cheese if pos lol! furthermore the 2k lists will only ever be for the IG Cadian regimental doctrine, and for the smurfs Ultramarine chapter tactics. also no proxy of weapons if pos for list ideas.
Cheers guys
James B-).
Hmm, kinda hard to remember (without reviewing a lot of reports) exactly what all your models are armed with for posting lists that are wysiwyg, but I'm sure people will do their best.
I think the AM list you've been running is already pretty efficient for a "take all comers" list. Hard to go wrong with Executioner tanks and lots of infantry. :) I do like having a close-combat element in most armies, and Ogryn are pretty cool and quite solid if armed correctly. I might try to mock-up a list using them and see what you think, but as I said I think your list is good, just need to keep honing your tactics.
Now your Ultramarines have been taking some knocks; their current Win/Draw/Loss tally is 7/0/6. That's just above breaking even. Compare that to the T'au with a record of 8/2/4; a much better showing. Now the Ulramarines have always put up a fight and most games are very close, but still the record stands. Part of that is due to not always fielding Guiliman, but I think it's good he's not in every game (more dramatic when he does show up), although I don't think he's an auto win by any means.
Still, I thinks there's definitely changes that could be explored with your UM that could result in a rise in performance....if played correctly of course. ;P
I think the early Ultramarine lists that you took against Tyranids on the snow map were very optimized. Guilliman, Hellblasters, Chapter Ancient with Banner. I think that was a great list. The only thing I'd like to see added is some kind of close combat. Perhaps combat terminators in a Thunderhawk going aggresivley in, while Guilliman, Hellblasters and other foot elements move in as the second wave.
Yet Reece from Frontline Gaming took an Ultramarines list to NOVA Open that was excellent and not spammy at all and made it into the top 20. He talks all about it in the final 20 min./ half hour of this video. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/306276621 It featured Guilliman, Chapter Ancient with Banner, 2 units of Devastators with Heavy Bolters and Missile Launchers and I believe 2 units of Sternguard. The way he played it revolved around using the Hellfire Shell stratagem and Skyfire (mortal wound missile launcher attack) as much as possible. Popping the stratagem in his own shooting phase, and also popping the stratagem when models died and got to fire again using the banner. He used this to tackle Knights, Magnus Mortarion and the like and did really well. The Sternguard were used to eradicated Guardsmen, Tau Firewarriors and other screening type units with extreme prejudice lol. Also he had Tigirius as well.
I think you'd like that list James. If you even adopted just a part of it I think it'd add an interesting dynamic to your games. However I think the old list with Guilliman the Hellblasters and the Banner was really great. My only thing is I'd add a more aggressive, faster moving unit like a Storm Raven to go out there and hunt targets down. I'd love to see some Thunderhammer Terminators in there too maybe with a captain to re-roll hits. That'd be competitive but have a challenging and expensive unit to try and master like the Terminators.
James, given how things are shaping up with a lot of your bro's armies, I would recommend packing a few squads of ratlings in your Guard list. Say about 3 squads of 5-6 or so. Their dirt cheap and can help pick out troublesome characters such as psykers.
Speaking of psykers, I think you should start packing a Culexus assassin. He 85 points, but totally worth it and with Guard's overflowing Cmd point pool, you can eat the -1 cmd point for bringing him in an Auxiliary Support detachment easily. Just imagine bringing him against Luke's Secret Army or his Eldar. Should help reduce the impact of all those psychic powers being thrown around.
I also suggest fielding 2 Astropaths so you can double down on protecting your super-heavy tank.
You obviously should still be fielding Pask and at least 2 leman russ buddies. Battle Cannons and Executioner Plasma Cannons are great. Exterminator Auto-Cannons and Punisher Gatling Cannons are worth considering as well depending on how you want to use your tanks, but I wouldn't take any of the other main guns.
I still like your squads of 2 Mortar Teams and 1 Heavy Bolter Team.
Add in your choice of super-heavy tank (my personal favorites are the Baneblade, Banehammer, & Banesword) and then fill the rest of the army with infantry of your choice with the points left.
Reecius has posted a great article on his list and how it works:
He suggests a couple of changes he'd make as he made a selection mistake and was really impressed with the Apothecary...he even had his own Ultramarine Smash Captain! Not quite as good as a Blood Angel one, but with Shield Eternal pretty darn good...for a smurf...
On this one, can anyone clarify for the less experienced how you can do so many mortal wounds in a turn with the Devs? I thought you could only pop the Hellfire and Flakk strats once per phase, for 2d3 mortal wounds max per phase, rather than the 4d3 mortal wounds if the enemy unit has fly. Is he saying the Cherub removal shots carry over the strat abilities for the 4d3 mortal wounds for that phase (if the enemy unit has fly), and that is the way its played and accepted by top level judges?
That article and list alone have almost made this Blood Angels fanboy want to play Smurfs!...almost... ;-)