Chaos Marines- The Strength 7 Consideration

These dudes. More of these dudes.

Several games of 40k into 6th edition and I have come to one conclusion:

Assaulting is pointless and useless.

I have given it my best, really I have, but the "terrain density" rolls make for a board which is pretty much wide open and where firepower doesn't just dominate, it rules the day. Add to that Overwatch fire and you have a meaningless gesture that just gets your dudes killed really dead. To this end I am getting ready to tweak my army again. No more assault-oriented units. The Bloodletters have got to go. The Khorne Marines will be dropped. And the Daemon Prince? Well forget that guy.

Seriously, forget this guy.

Why am I dumping the mini I spent the most time and effort on (second to all that accursed Heldrake and all its detail)? Why drop the mini I so loved at the time I purchased?

It just plain sucks.

In all of my games he has gotten at the most a single movement phase before getting uncerimoniously shot to pieces. In my last game he got offed before he even got to think about moving. With performances like that he has to go.

It's really a shame, as I love the mini to death, but when it does nothing but waste 265 points, why bother?

What do I need then? Plasma. Lots of plasma. Strength 7, AP 2, Rapid Fire. Sure it Gets Hot, but so what? at most you'll probably lose a single miniature to overheats. No biggie. The bonus is that I get two plasma guns per squad. Not the template that the Heavy Plasma Gun the loyalists get, but it can snap fire. Not too shabby. Plus the ability to shoot on the move. That's huge for going after objectives. I can press the attack while gunning down loyalist scum.



More plasma!!!

Since the meta of 40k has shifted entirely toward shooting, I feel really let down that I once again have to go and buy more minis. I don't have unlimited funding, and that makes each purchase a really big gamble. I'm looking at over $111 just to get the next three squads I'll need. By the way, that's not three squads of plasma gunners- that's two.

The other squads will be used to build Havocs.

Autocannon Havocs.

These dudes should lay down enough fire to dissuade enemy squads from sticking their noses out of cover, since eight Strength 7, AP 4 weapons will make even Space Marines sweat. Then there are the Bolters.

I want to make these.

...Or at least that's what the Internet says. I've yet to be blown away by Autocannons (See what I did there?), Missile Launchers have thusfar been where it's at. The problem lies in making these heavy weapons.

Since I did away with my bits box a few years ago, I have regretted not having access to the parts I need for several conversions. Not the least of which were the scads of Autocannons I had lying around from an old Imperial Guard army that carried nothing but Lascannons. Ah, the heady days of Las-Plas. But now I need the fronts of Autocannons in order to chop apart the Heavy Bolters I have lying around and turn them into respectable weapons.



Another victim of edition change.

Then there's my Chaos Lord. He has also yet do...

...Do anything. He's stood there and gotten gunned down by Dark Angels over and over, That is not productive, nor is it fun. To this end I am trimming the big guy down a bit, rearming him, and building an entirely new mini out of parts I already have lying around. This time I'll put together a firepower oriented Lord. This time, the Burning Brand of Skalathrax!

If Demitra already hates my Heldrakes and their Baleflamers, he'll rage at the inclusion of the Burning Brand. Strength 4, AP 3, Torrent. Oh, yeah. Burn Marine boy, burn.

I'm not sure if the new lord will be getting a Sigil of Corruption, in fact I'm not sure how bargain'basement I'll be going on all of my squads. What I do know is that this army needs more infantry, stat. I'll try to have an ultimate (for now) destination army liist up ASAP. Now, off to poke away at Army Construction Software in the hopes of creating a new and more capable army.