A Techpriest Dominus

A unit of Skitarii Vanguard or a unit of Skitarii Rangers

An Onager Dunecrawler





A Techpriest Dominus (because it comes with the box set)

Two units of Skitarii Vanguard

A group of Skitarii Rangers

A group of Sicarian Infiltrators

A Sydonian Dragoon

Two Dunecrawlers (I kept suggesting three but he'd prefer two)

Building an Army List

He's making a list and checking it twice.

Techpriest Dominus





Skitarii Vanguard & Rangers

Sicarian Infiltrators

Sydonian Dragoons





One's a kill point, two's a crowd and three's a party.





Onager Dunecrawler

S10, AP1 blast with a 48" range. Combine that with a 6" movement and you've got a 54" threat range. My Dark Eldar are jealous. It's called a neutron lazer! These guys are all about the steampunk and you're given the chance to field a neutron lazer! Who could say no!??!?

Death Ray (Necrons)

Neutron lazer (Skitarii)

Dark Artisan (Dark Eldar)





Futuristic grimdark spider tank with a giant gun. What's not to love!? I want a neutron lazer.

Army Balance

neutron

TEQ (T4 2+, 5++) or even Canoptek Wraiths: 2x

AV14: 1x

Hordes of T3 models: 4x

Flyers: 0x

(Flying) Monstrous Creatures: 0(3)x

MEQ (T4, 3+): 4x

First Blood: 1x

1-6 Objectives: 4x

Getting to objectives that are across the table: 3x

Dealing with super heavies: 1x

Linebreaker: 3x





Skitarii Maniple (745/750)

TEQ (T4 2+, 5++) or even Canoptek Wraiths: 2x

AV14: 3x

Hordes of T3 models: 4x

Flyers: 0x

(Flying) Monstrous Creatures: 0(3)x

MEQ (T4, 3+): 4x

First Blood: 3x

1-6 Objectives: 6x

Getting to objectives that are across the table: 3x

Dealing with super heavies: 3x

Linebreaker: 3x

Radium Carbines & You











Something worth mentioning before we move onto talking about some of the synergy between the Vanguard and the Sicarian Infiltrators, is that the radium carbines used by the Vanguard have the "rad poisoning" special rule, which causes 2 wounds on a roll to wound of a 6, regardless of the target's toughness.

This is worth mentioning because it's partly where the army gets some of its' anti-monstrous creature capabilities. This fact -- combined with their lower points cost -- is one of the reasons I've chosen to stick with the Vanguard rather than switching over to the Rangers. Note that the transonic arquebuses also have anti-monstrous creature potential, as they wound on a 4+ and have a good AP value.





The other source of anti-monstrous creature weaponry in this list comes from the Onager Dunecrawler.

Army Combos: Sicarians and Vanguards











For example if we look at the Sicarians, we can start with the fact that they can infiltrate, which means that (in 7th edition anyways) they can also outflank, which is all good stuff considering that they're close combat-oriented.



Combine that with the fact that the Vanguard's transonic arquebuses are sniper weapons, and you soon realise that if you were to kill a model with an arquebus before charging the unit with the Sicarian Infiltrators, there's a chance you'll cause a failed pinning check which -- in turn -- would nullify overwatch. Beautiful! Also keep in mind that the Skitarii Vanguard have the relentless special rule, so you can move and shoot that arquebus without worrying about the accuracy of their firepower.





As if that wasn't enough, the Infiltrator's neurostatic special rule reduces the WS, BS, I and Ld. of enemy units with a model within 6". If you were to split the unit of Vanguard with the arquebuses into two smaller groups as I have, not only would you have more units with which to score objectives, but you'd also double your chances of causing a pinning check.



So all in all the army is fairly versatile and can adapt to most other armies, unless it's got some flyers -- but at 750 points, you might not encounter too many of those -- or perhaps that's just what Tzee...er.... your opponent wants you to think. Now that we've got a list that can deal with almost anything that comes its' way we can start to think about our general pre-game strategy. When I talk about a "pre-game strategy", what I mean is your over-all plan before you even know who (or what) you're going to face on the tabletop. When it comes to this list in particular the general strategy lies in the potential unit combos.For example if we look at the Sicarians, we can start with the fact that they can infiltrate, which means that (in 7th edition anyways) they can also outflank, which is all good stuff considering that they're close combat-oriented.Combine that with the fact that the Vanguard's transonic arquebuses are sniper weapons, and you soon realise that if you were to kill a model with an arquebus before charging the unit with the Sicarian Infiltrators, there's a chance you'll cause a failed pinning check which -- in turn -- would nullify overwatch. Beautiful! Also keep in mind that the Skitarii Vanguard have the relentless special rule, so you can move and shoot that arquebus without worrying about the accuracy of their firepower.As if that wasn't enough, the Infiltrator's neurostatic special rule reduces the WS, BS, I and Ld. of enemy units with a model within 6". If you were to split the unit of Vanguard with the arquebuses into two smaller groups as I have, not only would you have more units with which to score objectives, but you'd also double your chances of causing a pinning check.So all in all the army is fairly versatile and can adapt to most other armies, unless it's got some flyers -- but at 750 points, you might not encounter too many of those -- or perhaps that's just what Tzee...er.... your opponent wants you to think.