MTT Build-Up Round 3

Canoptek Wraiths:  In this list, I’ve been packing a full squad of six Wraiths, half them with whip coils to save on point (and for wound allocation in the old 5th ed rules).  The Wraiths can be a bit of a mixed bag, with an average weapon skill and having to rely on Rending to get rid of armour saves, making them very reliant on the few dice they put out.  They get a decent amount of raw punching power each (3 attacks at strength 6; not too shabby) but unless you’re dealing specifically with chaff, then they don’t perform spectacularly in the punching department.  What they do excel at though, is survival.  Two wounds each and a 3+ Invulnerable save each allows them to shrug off a spectacular amount of punishment and the revising of Fearless rule makes them tarpits almost beyond compare, especially when I add in my HQ choice.

Destroyer Lord:  This guy was made to accentuate the Wraith unit.  What with the changes to Preferred Enemy conveying onto the entire unit, he enters into a nice synergy with the unit, enhancing their ability to hit and the damage.  As I mentioned earlier, their main downside in combat was the mediocre WS, so rerolling a third of your misses is quite helpful in this regard.  Add in the Warscythe and unit hits much harder and can make its presence felt on the charge.  The precision attacks with a Warscythe to take out specific models also really help in this regard.  An added bonus is the 2+ save that I’ve given him.  I tend to place him as the first model in the unit, allowing him to acts as a wound soak against light damage and use hit for Look Out Sir wound allocation tricks against the heavier hit.  It’s almost as good as a 3+ Inv anyway.

Canoptek Scarabs:  You’d have to put forward a very convincing case not to take these.  These little buggers bring forth some the best anti-vehicle capacity in the game (especially now the vehicles are far easier to hit than they used to be).  They also bring it forth at a very low price.  Quite simply, if it’s not a flyer, the Scarabs can kill it.  Without a second thought (fortunately.  Dumb little buggers).  They also make for excellent tar pits against anything with less than S6.  The reworking of the Swarm and Beast rules have really upped the mobility of the Scarabs as well, robbing them of the reliable 12” charge, but doubling their movement speed and making them immune to difficult terrain.  Because of this, I tend to keep them back, lurking in terrain to help them survive early game before using them as a counterpunch to an assault vehicle or a concerted anti-armour close assault, usually in support of my Wraiths and Destroyer Lord.  However, despite this positive paean to their gribbly goodness, I only ever really go for minimum sized squads of these guys.  But that’s because I also go for…

Canoptek Spyders: Exceptional value here.  For a mere 50 pts, you get a T6 3W  monstrous creature with a 3+ save.  Alright, you don’t get many attacks (only 2 apiece), but against a non-assault specialised unit, or a light/medium vehicle, that’s enough to do the job.  Plus, they can score in Big Guns Never Tire, making them worth their Necrodermal weight in gold.  Not only that, they spawn Scarab swarms and I cannot over emphasise how cool that makes them.  If they can spawn four bases each (and they normal do!) than they have more than paid for themselves.  That’s the main reason why I only go for minimum scarab squads.   Playing the game slightly slower with the scarabs results in a greater points efficiency overall.  And they can repair vehicles (for 10 pts).  Neat.

Annihilation Barges:  Another really solid purchase for the points.  I’ve already talked about these guys in the Necrautopsy series, so I’ll keep this brief.  Arcing is funny, but unreliable.  AP - weapons are better at killing armour now.  So. Much. Better.  The Tsla effect on a massive twin-linked cannon is freakin’ awesome and the bonus hits make it a reliable anti-air defence despite lacking skyfire.  Plus AV 13 front and side for a 90 point model is unbelievably classy.  Even if it won’t stand up to scrutiny.  Or a lascannon.

Anyway; that’s the brief sum up of the units in my army.  However, as previous mentioned, and because I am a fickle sod, the unit in my army have now changed.  But I won’t tell you how.  Not yet.

I’m not going to give everything away, after all.

See you later guys!