Howdy folks!
I am currently working on my latest Word Bearers list for the forthcoming South Texas in Flames 3 event in Victoria, TX!
I knew going into this that I wanted to do a Last of the Serrated Suns list. Gal'Vorbak + Drop Pods = HELL YES! Unfortunately, I was too late in reserving Lorgar for the event (0-1 Primarchs), so Serrated Suns was my go to back up.
Before we look at my list, let's talk about what the Rite of War actually grants the army.
EFFECTS
- Company of Monsters: Gal Vorbak Dark Brethren may be taken as Troops in a Primary Detachment using this Rite of War. All units of Gal Vorbak have access to Legion Drop Pods and Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pods as Dedicated Transports, and must take one of these options.
- Drop Elite: Any unit with access to a Rhino armoured transport as a Dedicated Transport may instead take a Legion Drop Pod.
- Burning Sun: Enemy units within 12" of the landing point of a Deep Striking Legion Drop Pod or Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pod must take a Pinning test after the vehicle’s final position is determined.
LIMITATIONS
- All infantry units in the army must deploy via a Deep Striking Drop Pod, by teleportation if such an option is available or be transported inside a Flyer that has sufficient Transport capacity to carry them.
- The army may not include any Immobile units.
- The army may not include a Fortification Detachment or an Allied Detachment.
As you can see, it creates a very unique army list that brings a lot to the table. Company of Monsters makes GV troops, which is pretty nice, but most army lists can't afford to bring more than a 2-3 units, unless it's ALL you want to take. Forcing the GV to take a pod is somewhat of a tax considering they all have Deep Strike. However, they supplement this by allowing them to take Dreadclaws, a solid assault vehicle that can really give your GV not only a new heightened level of security, but the ability to roast dudes foolish enough to stick around the thin.
The real winner of a rule in my opinion is
Burning Sun. EVERY enemy unit with 12" of a pod must take a pinning test
after the vehicle's final position is determined. This means that you drop a pod, force X amount of pinning tests and then move on to the next pod! You can make multiple enemy units take multiple pinning tests before your turn truly begins! Even just one unit taking a pinning test is a YUGE advantage, especially for your units cruisin' around in Legion Drop Pods. Pinning that nearby unit that could counter-assault you next turn can be game changing!
As great as Burning Sun is, it is only one trick. This list requires a bit of finesse and will definitely run into some problems against mass infantry assault lists, I feel. Hopefully, my list will answer some of these issues. While not perfect counters, it will definitely help soften the blow.
Word Bearers
Rite of War: Last of the Serrated Suns
Points: 2500
Detachment: Age of Darkness
HQ
- Hol Beloth (Warlord/MoL)
- Chaplain - Artificer Armour, Refractor Field, Thunderhammer, Meltabombs
ELITE
- 10 Legion Veteran Squad (Machine Killers) - Legion Drop Pod, x2 Meltagun, x3 Combi-melta, Artificer (sgt), Power Fist (sgt)
- 10 Legion Veteran Squad (Machine Killers) - Legion Drop Pod, x2 Meltagun, x3 Combi-melta, Artificer (sgt), Power Fist (sgt)
TROOPS
- 5 Gal'Vorbak Dark Brethren - Legion Dreadclaw, Meltagun, Artificer Armour (sgt), Power Fist (sgt)
- 5 Gal'Vorbak Dark Brethren - Legion Dreadclaw, Meltagun, Artificer Armour (sgt), Power Fist (sgt)
- 10 Legion Tactical Support Squad - Legion Drop Pod, x9 Flamers, Artificer Armour (sgt), Power Fist (sgt)
HEAVY SUPPORT
- 8 Legion Heavy Support Squad - Legion Drop Pod, x7 Heavy Flamers, Artificer (sgt)
- Leviathan Siege Dreadnought - Legion Dreadnought Drop Pod, Grav-flux Bombard, Leviathan Siege Drill, x2 Heavy Flamers, Armoured Ceramite, Phosphex Discharger
During the Great Crusade, the Word Bearers were known for purging any anti-imperial monuments and history with fire and flame. After Monarchia, the heat turned up... Purgation squads became... well... let's say... over-used. The Emperor wanted compliance, and the Word Bearers brought it...
This is in effect what I wanted to theme my Serrated Suns list around. While there are no Ashen Circle in the list, I wanted it themed around the desecration of cultures through the glory of the Word of Lorgar. Thus, I have brought lots of melta and flame.
In a few earlier orginations of this this list, I ran a little light on melta and had a hard time peeling dudes out of transports, handling spartans, etc. I knew I had to step up the AT game. Two units of Machine Killer melta vets in a DP should do the trick. S9 Melta will make even the armoured ceramite players sweat a little.
After I built the melta squads, I knew I had to have a way to handle the guys inside. At first I considered plasma squads, but found I was running out of points way to quickly and it was messing with my drop pod manipulation numbers. I decided to go for flamers. Cheap and deadly. A 10 man support squad and a Heavy Support squad with flamers and heavy flamers was something I could definitely get behind (Did Ian have something to do with this? hmmm...). Ideally the melta squads would pop transports early in the game and the flamer squads would come in later and begin roasting anyone footslogging it.
Meanwhile, the Gal Vorbak drop in, cause pinning tests, burn people with their Dreadclaws and sit tight, waiting for their opportunity to assault. I stuck a melta gun in each unit in case the vet squads can't quite get it done. In my second play test of the list, one unit of GV hopped out of the Dreadclaw turn 2, moved 6", popped a rhino with a meltagun, and charged everyone inside. It was pretty brutal. both Dark Martyr's have a S10 Ap2 Power Fist with 5 attacks on the charge. Sweet jeebus.
Lastly, I wanted to bring my big poppa bear Leviathan Seige dreadnought. The Dreadnought Pod contributes to pod manipulation and definitely helps with his short range on the Grav-Flux (18"). A Dreadnought Pod also being an assault vehicle and open topped means the Levi can shoot the turn he comes down while chillin' inside, and then assault out on his second turn in play. Lots of fun!
As for HQ's, I wanted to bring Hol Beloth and of course the mandatory Chaplain/Centurion per the Charismatic Leadership rule. Hol Beloth is a BEAST. He took on Vulkan for THREE rounds before finally biting the dust. Granted, he only did like 2 wounds to Vulkan who then regenerated one of them back via-It Will Not Die. But that was THREE turns of Vulkan NOT smashing the rest of my force! Beloth's ability to shrug off the first wound he takes (even if it would result in Instant Death) is YUUUUGE. The Chaplain does what chaplains do best. Zealot. This time, however, I elected to take a Thunderhammer in place of the traditional Crozius. HAMMERTIME! Man... melta, flame, thunderhammers... am I playing Salamanders?!
Both HQ's will hang out in the Heavy Support squad. I dare anyone to charge that unit... DO IT!
Well, there it is! That's the list! It will either crush face, or I'm going to get rocked every game! But who cares! It's not a perfect list, but it will cause problems and that's all I am going for. Make my opponent sweat and capitalize on mistakes.
-Couchatron
Lastly, I wanted to bring my big poppa bear Leviathan Seige dreadnought. The Dreadnought Pod contributes to pod manipulation and definitely helps with his short range on the Grav-Flux (18"). A Dreadnought Pod also being an assault vehicle and open topped means the Levi can shoot the turn he comes down while chillin' inside, and then assault out on his second turn in play. Lots of fun!
One of my first 40k armies was a Chaos Night Lords army. I really liked the aesthetics of the Night Lords and wanted to play them in a fluffy manner. I elected not to take marks of chaos, ran as many raptors as I could, and steered clear from anything with the Daemon special rule. In the end, I didn't have a lot of fun. I was limiting myself to the potential of the Chaos Space Marines Codex. It was is if I was purposely neutering myself to an already widely considered 'underpowered' codex.
Death Guard? Emperor's Children? World Eaters? Thousand Sons? While I love all four of these very much, I didn't want to commit to one god in the pantheon. I like options and if I am going to embrace the taint of chaos, I want to do it undivided. With that being said, I wouldn't mind doing a few warbands with said gods, but more on that later.
Iron Warriors? I had thought about this one pretty hard. I think it would have been a really fun army to build, especially with lots of renegade guard and artillery tanks. Unfortunately, there really wasn't enough in the 40k fluff and rules to sell me on this. Perhaps I will build a single warband list later to scratch my itch, if it is still there.
Alpha Legion? Another one I considered. However, it doesn't really fit me as and my personae. While they have cool infiltration tactics and what not, they don't really inspire me on a grand army scale. They definitely feel like a small insurgency force type army in 40k. Much like the Iron Warriors, perhaps a small warband later on down the road. 
