I'm having a crisis of list creation. A friend of mine and I have been gearing up for a battle between his Orks and my Space Marines with allied Witch Hunters. He threw down the gauntlet first, setting the fluff for the battle and choosing the armies. (He actually chose Witch Hunters, but I don't have enough to play 1500 points effectively, so allied SM are okay.)So here's the deal. I don't like fielding list that would be perfect for destroying my opponents army but would be useless against an entirely different army. I think there should be more to the game than picking "scissors" if you know your opponent took "paper." On the other hand, with the fluff that has been developing around this challenge it would be completely clear that I was going to have to face Orks. Would I then be justified in loading up on plasma cannons and heavy bolters? Am I cheesing out if I take Telion to pop any Nobs with PK's before they get to whatever armor I've brought? If this was your garden variety scheduled game then I would never tune an anti-Ork list.
Should I just sort of tune an Ork list or just completely go hog wild about it?
Tailored lists are fine especially since SM are the standard target to tailored lists with tons of armies now having access to what used to be rare AP3 weapons.
ReplyDeleteAs a note I am not sure Telion is really so good for Nobs since they have 2 wounds so each one killed will require 2 turns of shooting. Now targeting the painboy in the unit of nobs is a another issue all together.
I'm usually not a fluff nerd, but if in the spirit of the back story it was well known this was a battle against a particular army, and you have prior knowledge about this enemies strengths and weaknesses.. I say roll em.
ReplyDeleteAnd I miss tabletop gaming... thanks for posting.
I say, considering the fluff that's been established in advance:
ReplyDeleteTune up your list and then tune him up on the tabletop!
And since he chose Witch Hunters for you and you're going to get SM allies, I say do some really wacky things to make him regret that decision. I think Telion is a good idea...but what could be even MORE entertaining (from you side of the table, that is) would be Telion and a Vindicare assassin. So his nobz have 2 wounds? No problem, you'll get two "called shots" a turn with Telion and the Vindicare. (OK this probably isn't the best gaming idea ever or anything, but if you've got the points, why do something VERY unexpected to put him off-balance?)
One last thought: There's no shame in using any tactic -- underhanded or not -- when you're playing Orks with SMs. I'm pretty sure the Ork codex author was on WAY too many drugs when he wrote it, it's stupidly powerful and can be easily "broken" in several ways...so always remember:
Dead Ork = Good Ork
...I hope you enjoy your game. I look forward to hearing how it when down and turned out!
You might consider talking to your opponent too. You are co-creating the story together. Ask his opinion, if your Space Marines would have enough advance notice to grab certain weapons over others or if they were on their way somewhere else. At the same time, I would be surprised if his list wasn't tailored for your SM's.
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