#Ultramarines 3k, Balancing Power and Fluff

58 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

shrewd fjord
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So, this is my first army and I've been toying with it for a while, but I don't have any practical experience and am mostly going off of YouTube and Goonhammer for guidance. My concept is a XIII Legion force that got brutalized at Calth and is rebuilding in some unconventional ways, like secretly taking in deserters from other Legions (presented here as Inductii). Before that, they were siege specialists, hence the focus on breachers and explosives. Due to their underdog status, I've intentionally avoided any legion-unique units.

I worry that I might be pumping too many points into suboptimal units; some of these investments are more negotiable than others (for instance, the breacher sergeant with a thunder hammer is just kind of a cheeky "because I can"). One conundrum is that I don't know if any of my many scoring units are that suited to guarding any backline objectives.

Any feedback is appreciated!

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Oh yeah, and the abundance of bayonets is because 1. it's cool and 2. I might want to pivot to Logos Lectora and I like the idea of maximizing units that can benefit from any command.

shrewd fjord
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Update: it just hit me that if pairing a non-Heavy IC with a Heavy unit takes the benefits away, I've kind of screwed myself out of some synergy. I can free up points to give my Praetor a Command Squad but I don't know what to do with anyone else.

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Might be back to the drawing board.

swift loom
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I like it.. Verrrrry fluffy~

shrewd fjord
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Thanks! I might be doing a major rework though.

tepid shadow
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its great, but I worry this list might be too weak

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I feel like this list cant kill a contemptor, not to speak of a leviathan

shrewd fjord
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That was another concern I had... What would you consider a good minimum of anti-dread firepower?

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I have an alternate arrangement set up where the Typhon is swapped out for a melee Levi and some other stuff

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Have also considered laser vindicators if those are good

swift loom
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Melta Predators are my go to if you have em

shrewd fjord
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Well for the time being all I have is the Battle Group box, but I plan on buying AoD and whatever else winds up in the list. Preds aren't my current vibe but I'm open to switching things up, honestly most of the new plastic is pretty aesthetically pleasing to me.

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I resold the Dorito from the aforementioned box because I think it looks too much like a battlemech but that's another matter.

shrewd fjord
swift loom
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I mean. I keep Bobby g in suz. They heavy. He isn’t. /shrug

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Never been an issue

shrewd fjord
tepid shadow
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technically yes but theyre too much

shrewd fjord
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Too pricey or too meta?

swift loom
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For what they do they are effective.

Indirect plasma missiles are nasty esp ap2/brutal2.

The splinter are even worse in my experience due to mass of fire at 36” indirect /w pinning and Breach 6+

They are way too easy to counter tho as most folks set them up as “turrets”. So you just avoid their radius and/or punch them outside that range.

One hallucinate or a solid ws5 melee unit melts them.

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If you wanna take dreads down landspeeders are a good option las/melta.

Fast. Reroll shrouded rolls and pretty durable

shrewd fjord
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Wait wait, I just remembered something I thought was cool... would a laser rapier help?

swift loom
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I honestly love raipers.. the only thing about em is they are low LD (7 iirc) and cant react. I mostly see folks use em in-direct or with the splinter shells (pinning)

They get expensive with lasers but they do work

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They do eat up an elite slot, which in UM is very open most of the time too

shrewd fjord
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I'm just very drawn to stuff that's not present in modern SM, that's why my draft had volkite breachers in a termite lol

swift loom
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Dude.. I love that~

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I run an all angels wrath list.. its super fun

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Id give predators another look.. Honestly.. they do work in every config I have used!

shrewd fjord
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Gotcha!

shrewd fjord
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Sorry to keep dancing around your actual suggestions but how effective would, say, giving my Seekers melta bombs be?

swift loom
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Very!

shrewd fjord
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Nice nice. I'm still tweaking some things but rn I've freed up some points by stripping down one of the Breacher squads for backline duty and setting the Librarian aside.

shrewd fjord
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Updated update: I have removed one of the more lackluster Inductii units in order to maximize the Praetor's melee blob, and have shuffled around some vehicle weapons, though right now those feel a little arbitrary. Does this all add up to something sufficiently punchy, or might a more drastic reallocation be necessary?

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If I really need more anti-armor I might swap the Typon out for a couple las-Vindicators, I'm just pretty attached to the idea of an oversized seige tank.

blissful prairie
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I don't play UM, but i can give some general advice

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missile HSS kinda suck, sure they're generalist, but other options are a lot better at their niches, but if you like missiles, go for it! they're cool

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big melta on the dread is good, but for the fist gun, graviton is probably better, gives it more punch against dreads

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for your praetor, i'd maybe consider a tougher transport than a rhino

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that's a big scary melee blob, but a rhino is easy to pop

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could probably drop the vexillas from some units, like the HSS

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might be blind, but i don't that see any of the command squad has the legion standard

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give em that, makes em line and gives em fear and fearless

shrewd fjord
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Thanks! I'm going to work soon but I'll try and give a more thorough response later

shrewd fjord
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There is a standard bearer but it's listed as a specific guy in the squad rather than a piece of equipment, that's probably why you didn't notice

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I'm down for the graviton fist, always fun to mix and match. Might see about magnetizing.

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I definitely see your logic about the command blob but at this point I feel like I've already diverted a lot of points into them. Feels like I gotta pump it to max dudes to make the most of the transport, but I also have to bump up the transport to make the most of the dudes. I will think on it.

shrewd fjord
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To elaborate on the rocket launchers: yeah partially it's just rule of cool, though I was also trying to avoid the las meta. But I was also thinking the flexibility is more useful in the context of the UM advanced reaction allowing them to join in another unit's Return Fire; makes it harder to feel safe shooting at just about anything with just about anything, at least in theory.

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The vexiliae were also kinda aesthetic but I'd also been told they were almost an autopick, I can trim some if there're better uses of 10-30 points. My understanding was it was worth it to prevent backline units from running off the board, but would having the MoS attached be enough of a Leadership boost to makes that much less of a concern?

blissful prairie
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For the HSS, you're sticking the MoS in the no matter what

shrewd fjord
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Oh yeah that's a given

shrewd fjord
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Following up on the "ten scary guys in a rhino" situation, might the shields make it so even if they get their ride junked, they can slog the rest of the way without getting wiped?

blissful prairie
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Probably not. It's not the highest amount of survivability, and anyway, it's not just about survival, it's about reaching the fight at all

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Lets say you get unlucky and the rhino dies turn 1 or 2, so far away from anything they can charge

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And your opponent is probably keeping the threat range in mind, and moving accordingly

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Even if they don't die, chances are they just don't do anything

shrewd fjord
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I see. Idk where I'm gonna get the points for a land raider.

shrewd fjord
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I think this is my last draft for now. Got kind of sidetracked and realized "wait these units aren't perfect but they're what I have models for." Gonna be pairing the Praetor with the LR Breacher team, Heavy loss be damned.

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