I gave in to the dark side.

With just over a week to go until Blog Wars it's time to confess my sins. I've caved in and settled on a list led by Mephiston. I was really against using him for a number of reasons; he is the de-facto choice for most Blood Angels players, Grey Knights are just going to laugh at him, he's not really a force multiplier, he's a bit of a one-trick-pony, the list goes on.

In fact I spent a lot of time working through various lists with Corbulo and I was very close to going with a list which was all foot-slogging (except for some drop pods to get my midfield units in place on turn 1). But in the end I just didn't have the right models in my collection to get the list to feel right to me.

So here we are with a hybrid jumper/mech list and some last minute painting (the Sanguinary Guard are a new addition):

HQ
Mephiston

ELITE
Sanguinary Guard
(5) Power Fist, 2x Infernus Pistols, Company Standard
Sanguinary Priest
(1) Jump Pack
Furioso Dreadnought
Blood Talons, Extra Armour

TROOPS
Assault Squad
(10) Jump Packs, 2x Flamer, Power Fist
Assault Squad
(5) Meltagun, Razorback w. Lascannon & Twin-Linked Plasma
Assault Squad
(5) Meltagun, Razorback w. Lascannon & Twin-Linked Plasma
Assault Squad
(5) Razorback w. Twin-Linked Lascannon

FAST ATTACK
Land Speeder Typhoon
Heavy Bolter, Typhoon Missile Launcher
Land Speeder Typhoon
Heavy Bolter, Typhoon Missile Launcher

HEAVY SUPPORT
Devastator Squad
(5) 4x Missile Launcher

The concept of the list was based on the fact that I wanted it to be fast with the ability to be aggressive but to also have the option to sit back and shoot with the threat of a strong counter assault. I spent well over a week trying to work out a list that could do all this and include the ability to effectively deploy the whole army from reserved should the situation arrive. Sadly I couldn't come up anything I was comfortable with, given the models at my disposal!

The standard plan is to run the Sanguinary Guard behind the Assault Squad giving them a cover save and allowing them to act as a counter assault unit. The Priest goes somewhere in this “blob” giving his FNP and FC bubble to both units, typically Mephiston will go with these units as well to get the benefit of the Priest as well.

The Razorbacks pack a lot of fire-power into relatively low cost units but are, of course, rather fragile. Usually I'll play them as a midfield unit to support the jump element, thanks to them being fast they can keep up with the Jumpers and still put out some fire-power. In the event that I face a multi-Land Raider list I'll need to use the plasma-backs to get my melta squads into range asap to support the Sanguinary Guard and Meph as the only other reliable AV14 crackers in the list.

The Typhoons speak for themselves really; fast, mobile, long range fire support. However the last two units are out of kilter with the rest of the list, the Devastator Squad and the Furioso Dreadnought. Neither is particularly mobile, obviously the Devs are completely static! I like the Devastators because it's the one unit that cannot be rendered entirely useless by a single lucky shot and they can put out an awful lot of pain to pretty much any unit I might have to face.

The Furioso can perform a couple of rolls, he can plod behind the Razorbacks, taking advantage of the cover the afford him to get across the table an provide a genuine counter assault threat to anything eyeing up my 5-man assault squads once they get de-mech'd. Or he can act as a decoy/area denial tool, I can put him out on his own to protect a refused flank or objective, at AV13 he's not easy to kill and you don't want to get too close but the longer you ignore him the close he gets to your lines and becomes more and more of a threat. If all else fails he can give cover to a Razorback if I'm sitting back and shooting it out.

Anyway that's my list and those are my thoughts. I'd be happy to hear yours.