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Friday, July 13, 2012

Playtesting


Working a full time job and coming home to a 6 month old doesn't leave much time to get out for games so this is what I do when I'm not inspired to paint.  I need inspiration to paint and right now the shift in rules has derailed all my previous army builds so here I go to the proverbial drawing board.


Bear with me as the pictures are in no particular order and my thoughts are still a bit scattered, but I'll bring everything together in the end with a final list to take to Saturday's event.

I playtested half a dozen games with all of the new missions and deployment types.  All games were against my Mordrak Shock list for consistency.  Here's one with a flyrant/trygon/ravener/warrior build experimenting with aegis lines.


I like the aegis a lot for shooty foot units.  Hammer/anvil deployment makes for interesting opportunities like starting your flyrant on the table even if you're going second due to the extreme range and pre-measuring.


Mobile assault units (NDK) have certain advantages setting up assaults from beneficial angles.  The 3" pile in can really hamstring units if you hit them from the right direction.  Top left: Tervigons are quickly becoming my favorite assault unit now.  Take 3 powers and swap them for biomancy.  With crushing claws, poison, FNP, and iron arm, you can charge recklessly into grey knight squads and cause some mayhem. 






At this point, I'm liking the flyrant a bit more than on foot with guards.  The speed is a bit addicting for a mostly slow foot army, as is the portable SiTW.  I tend to keep him on the flanks to avoid getting knocked down with pea shooters.  Also a note from this pic:  I'm not a fan of mysterious objectives.  It's really been common for one army to get really beneficial ones while the other only gets the lame ones.


Player set terrain is interesting but I think it will get real boring real fast.  If I figure out a terrain configuration that synergizes with my units, I guess I'll set up the table the same way each time with slight adjustments based on enemy units.  I think it will end up making a lot of games look and feel the same.  Pic above: Hammer/anvil GK on the bottom, Nids on top.  Nids place aegis and 2 flanking areas for ymgarls.  GK place 3 areas they can totally filly to block ymgarl deployment while also forcing all incoming units to assault into cover.   If this is the optimal way to block ymgarls and tyranid assaults in general, the GK player has no reason to deploy his terrain differently ever.  Not great for a few friends who play each other often with the same armies and a limited terrain supply (if you want to do it by the book).  I know this weekend's event is allowing player set terrain, but I hope they also do some events with TO set terrain for more cinematic tables.


Oooh so cinematic...  Won't take long to get sick of hearing that word.  I do like the new rules tho.  Something about it gives depth to the game and makes it feel like an unfolding story rather than a game of chess.  Does that make any sense?


Turns out a lot of the USR's now pass from one model to the whole unit instead of the whole unit losing it because of one model.  As such, a hive tyrant now passes move through cover on to his guard (2d6 5th ed, 3d6 6th ed).   That's a pretty big deal if you run the tyrant deathstar a lot.


Ymgarls and drop pods arrive.  At this point, I'm liking drop pods more actually.  Tervigons getting reckless again.  Hell, even my tfex wants to headbutt the NDK.  Nids win both combats but volleys from an arriving stormraven cripple the army.  Flyers are going to be a real pain for nids.  No skyfire, not allowed to manually fire gun emplacements, and no allies.  GW really does love to hate tyranids.  I truly believe that at this point.  That won't discourage me yet, but fliers could get real old if every mech army starts bringing 3 and nothing is given to nids via white dwarf.


Pre-measuring is your friend.  You can line up perfect movement and shooting every time.  Now your termagants can ALWAYS be more than 6" away when your tervigon blows.  Maintaining the old adversary bubble can be perfect every movement phase.  I even went so far as to measure out area terrain during placement for raveners to leapfrog since they always get 12" and are never slowed.


I've been using them a lot more loosely now that they won't suffer no retreat wounds.  Still can't take a NDK with 6, but against most other armies they will excel.


Here I'm settling in on a version I'm happiest with so far.  Also, hammer/anvil with the relic mission can be very amusing and annoying.  I think of all the missions, the relic will be my least favorite.  At least the old DoW deployment is gone and I hope it never comes back.

Here's some takeaways from my sessions:

#1. Bring plenty of mobility.  Every book mission rewards a unit in the opposite DZ so you better have units that can get there and survive or arrive late.  Also, can you get the relic on turn 1 (~11" movement from a scoring unit, infiltrators, scouts)?

#2. Durable HQ's are in.  Just like KP denial was popular in 5th ed, ensuring your commander survives is key to 6th ed denial.

#3. Assault has shifted.  I'm only liking MC's and cheap hordes for assault now.  Hordes to tarpit stuff until the big MC's arrive to clean up.  5+ cover, 5+ FnP, and overwatch have pretty much ruined genestealers for me.

#4. Tyranid dakka is no joke.  With PE adding rerolls of 1's in shooting and wounding, devourers are even better than before.  MC devourers are one of our best tools against flyers, even if it's just hoping for 3 glances.  Saturation is key and mobility from the flyrant is brilliant.

#5. Directional sniping is great.  Deep striking units with respectable shooting can snipe out weapons or characters hiding in the back ranks.

#6. Scoring units are even more important now than before.  Here is where some armies will really benefit by allies diversifying their scoring units.  You're going to want backfield scoring, offensive scoring, and units worthy of carrying the football (relic).  Remember heavies and fast units occasionally count as scoring with the new missions.

#7. Which unit are you giving up to first blood?  Think about it.  If you're playing tyranids and setting up across from guard, which unit is giving up the first victory point?  What's your plan to beat your opponent to first blood?  It's not a full-reserve alpha strike anymore unless you play every unit in a drop pod and hide your HQ.

Those are just some more entry-level thoughts into the new edition.  Here's the list I made for the 1500pt event based on my notes.

Tyrant + wings, devourers x2, old adversary (biomancy)
Tyranid Prime + boneswords, toxins, regen (warlord)
Hive Guard x3
Termagants x10 + devourers, mycetic spore
Termagants x10 + devourers, mycetic spore
Tervigon + claws, toxins, 3 powers (biomancy)
Tervigon + claws, toxins, 3 powers (biomancy)
Carnifex  + devourers x2 , regen

So every unit deployed is t6.  The prime is warlord because the tyrant will always be target priority #1.  The prime joins the fex and stands in front to dish out "lookout sir!".  Both models have regen (beginning of each turn) and possibly "it will not die" (end of each turn) to make for a really tough unit to kill.

The army draws 8 biomancy powers which I pretty much only use for blessings and maledictions.  If the tyrant gets iron arm or warp speed, he's gonna get in close.  If he gets endurance or enfeeble, he's a midfield harrasser/buffer.  For the tervigons, I usually liked iron arm on one and warp speed on the other (with 3 rolls it happens).  Enfeeble and endurance are used as they cross the field.  I'm hoping multiple enfeebles stack (did I read that somewhere? anyone have a reference?) because when you get MEQ's down to t2, funny stuff happens.

The spores drop in for some directional sniping with devilgaunts.  If I play really smart, they land in front of my army right about where my tyrant wants to swoop and give the whole lot preferred enemy.  If the tyrant starts in the back, maybe even the fexes have reached the right spot and the whole army unloads.  Spores are actually decent at wrecking light vehicles now with glances.

Anyways, that's it in a nutshell.  It's got a resilient warlord, five units capable of reaching the opposite DZ, no easy first blood, and a ton of dakka to focus down one unit for first blood.  Four scoring units with at least two more spawned and scoring carnifexes in one mission.  I'm pretty happy and comfortable with the list and don't anticipate changing it anymore before Saturday.  I will, however also pack up the GK's since it's a multiple list event it will be good to have a backup plan just in case.

Batreps to come after the event if everything goes well.  Allies, fortifications, and player set terrain is all on the menu.

34 comments:

  1. malediction and blsiing stack pg 68 of the manual. Type of psychic power XD

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    1. "Note that bonuses and penalties from different maledictions are always cumulative..."

      That was my main conflict. Does different maledictions mean different powers or power from different psykers. Can enfeeble + enfeeble stack from different psykers or can you not put two of the same malediction on one unit?

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    2. Different maledictions/blessings is not the same as different manifestations. You can give a model more than one blessing, but not multiple manifestations of the same blessing.

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    3. That's the direction I was leaning after playtesting. I'm pretty sure they didn't intend for enfeeble to stack and knock marines down to 2/2 or 1/1.

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  2. i'm missing something or that list is a 1705 points?

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    1. Good catch. I fixed it. Got ahead of myself scaling it up to 1850/2000 in army builder.

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  3. Looks solid. I am curious how the fexes work out for you. Regen seems like overkill... but interested in seeing how it works out.

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  4. The more I think about it, the more I like your list. The fexes are the only thing I am not completely confident in, but they should be fine.

    Does the prime have a LW? Dev or DS?

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    1. Prime has bs/bs/dev as modeled atm. Could do lw/bs/scytals with my other model as the list is actually 1490 but I'm big on wysiwyg so those are my options.

      What are your doubts on the fex/prime combo? My thoughts were making the warlord more resilient with lookout sir and providing some AA fire.

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    2. Honestly, I think I am just holding onto 5E baggage a bit. Which is crazy, because I had success with a Devilfex even in 5E. And yes, the Prime makes them super resilient.

      Currently I am trying the same concept with a warrior brood and a prime.

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    3. Oh totally. However, 6th ed improved the devilfex by:

      1. Weight of fire now guarantees dead vehicles
      2. PE allows rerolled 1's to wound which is usually the only thing str6 fails on
      3. If HP's do lead to the decline of mechspam, here comes more foot lists and they're just as good against infantry

      I also have 9 warriors waiting for some attention so LMK if you can make them work.

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    4. You like the Devourer over the Deathspitter on the Prime?

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  5. As a note, the Aegis Defence Lines need to all be placed in contact with each other and can't be spaced out like that. Page 114 under Composition, "Each section of Aegis defence line must be placed in base contact with at least one other section".

    I like the list though, it seems like it should work fairly well barring large numbers of flyers.

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    1. FYI in pic #5, each wall segment is made up of 2 pieces. Short + short, short + long x2, long + long. Each piece is in base contact with another piece. Perfectly legal by RAW.

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  6. I actually think Tyranids are really good in the relic. Deploy a Tervigon across from the relic. Turn one you spawn gants who deploy 6" forward and then move 6" forward. I would then buff them with catalyst. You then form the rest of your scoring models in a chain where each unit is lined up six inches apart. If they do not kill the gants (to kill gants means they not shooting at the monsters)then you can move the relic several feet turn two by passing it down your chains.

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    1. I think the idea of Gaunt spawning to grab the relic is good, but I think you can only pass the relic once a turn. (And it can only move 6" a phase anyway.

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    2. Yup. This is actually only 1 of 3 (?) ways for us to get the relic first turn.

      #1. Spawn 6" move 6" and grab it but expect the full unit to get wiped out.

      #2. Infiltrate genestealers to grab it.

      #3. Hope for a flyrant or PoM to become a scoring unit via warlord ability.

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    3. @jfel1 - you are right about only passing it once a turn, though incorrect about only moving the relic 6" a turn. The book states a model holding the relic can not move more than six, not the relic. Thus you can move six, pass it, and then move another six for a full foot. good catch on only passing it once though.

      Good catch on the genestealers being useful. How are other armies doing it? Rushing forward with transports/infiltrating? I have not yet heard any really gimmicky solutions yet from other armies.

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  7. Great article Aaron. Thanks for sharing what you have learned in 6th edition. I think it will take a lot of playtesting for me to get the right build. I think your idea to go MC and gant will work well... I still want to take some of the more elite units for melee. : )

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    1. Ahh to want...

      I want to take elite melee units also. While I'm at it, I want allies and TO BE ABLE TO FIRE FRIGGING GUN EMPLACEMENTS. I mean, even if I model a tyranid bastion, tyranids cannot gun it and it will always shoot the nearest visible? Really?

      I'm sure the meta will balance out, change, and re-balance a few times before we find the new fads of 6th ed, just like 5th had mech spam and melta hunters. For now though, it looks like:

      1. bring good shooters
      2. assaulters need to be resilient against low str rapid fire and overwatch

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    2. Well (hat tip Neil 11th Co) The book seems to treat Emplaced Guns differently than a Gun Emplacement. Lists them in two different places, with notably different rules.
      The Nid FAQ only addresses interacting with Emplaced guns... which makes me wonder about using Gun Emplacements.

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    3. Ugh I'll have to look it up but I don't want to argue the difference between gun emplacements and emplaced guns.

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    4. I can understand, but the other issue is that Emplaced guns have rules for automatic fire, and Gun Emplacements do not.

      Similarly, Gun Emplacements can be destroyed (T and W values) but Emplaced guns cannot.

      The Nid issue is secondary.

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    5. God I hope you're correct. Too tired to look it all up tonight but I would slap together a niddy defense line, quad gun, icarus, and bastion in a jiffy just to have some options to play around with.

      Think I'll order that GSI tentacle maker tomorrow.

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  8. Awesome article, Tyranids are back with a crunch! Basicaly it's the new Biomancy table that really tips the scales in the Devourers favor and alot of the army performance depends on how you use your Tervigons. I expect to see at least two in every list 3 as you get closer to 2000. So far I have done really well with
    Swarmlord+ 2Tyrant Guards LW
    Tervigon AG,TS,CT
    3 Hive Guard
    2 Hive Guard
    7 Ymgarl
    10 Genestealers +Broodlord TS
    Tervigon AG,TS,CT
    10x Termagants

    Stategy is simple, tarpit everything until the MC's arrive.
    Next, who has played vs Deldar?

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  9. Great article, thanks! I really like the list too (especially since I already have the models). Even though it's a (very) small chance, the idea that you could have a Troop that spits out other Troops and sports Str8, Toughness 9, 6 wounds, Eternal Warrior, Feel No Pain and It Will Not Die with 9 attacks on the charge makes me smile.

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    1. Well, it can only cast one power at a time....

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    2. Yeah Warp Speed and Iron Arm both target the psyker only and tervigons can only use 1 power per turn.

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  10. I know this is mostly nid based but I was wondering how your mordrak strike list worked with the 5th ed and what you might possibly change?

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    1. Well the list used to rely on first turn assaults via personal teleporters and the grand strategy. Now, scouts are not allowed to assault so the main focus of the list was invalidated.

      Stormravens are better now but I hate having to reserve them every game.

      NDK's are str10 now I guess and the hvy incinerator can fire on overwatch so that's gotta be a no-brainer I guess.

      Mordrak and the knights got a bit worse with swords going to ap3 and the change to wound allocation actually hurt them I think. You used to be able to pile all the low str shots on Mordrak to generate more knights. Now the only way to do that is put him in front, but if you fail the lookout sir on a str8 shot and he dies, you lose the entire unit.

      I'll have to figure out how to tweak the list. An interesting idea
      would be to add a cheap inquisitor/psyker and trade for divination. Maybe a librarian. I tested the list with a ML3 divination libby and he was just too expensive for a pure buffer. Plus, with 3 powers a turn, they seem to self destruct too often.

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    2. makes me alittle sad hehe, It cost me alot to buy the stuff to try out this list them bam! 6th comes out before I finish building them

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    3. Oh trust me, I feel your pain.

      My WWP dark eldar are totally unplayable and I was only about half way through. Now I need to invest in eldar allies, flyers, and totally re-format the units to make even a halfway decent foot list.

      Mordrak Shock took less of a hit, only really losing first turn assaults. However, with NDK's being str10 now, some of the other grand strategy options become a lot better. A scoring NDK holding the relic is a tough nut to crack.

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  11. I tweaked alittle bit to give my NDK a incinerator each, cant take advantage of the precision shot with it but locally people are abandoning mech so the flamer will be fun on the little foot soldiers

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