The beginning of a new army

As promised this post will be about the Sons of Medusa. 

Before I start a new army I always write down an army list. Most of the time it takes me a few days to correct this list over and over again or start a new one if I'm not satisfied with the result. As I said I'm not a big gamer, but when I play with my group we are kind of competitive. Not tournament competitive, but still nobody brings a "weak" army, if something like this exists. 

One of the things I always think about when I write a list is a situation or strike force. I hope I can explain this in English... My approach is it to think about what the commander would bring to a fight in a distinct situation. For example my footy Space Wolves army is a force that has stranded in a warzone with no help and supply in sight. This explains why there are no tanks in the list and it really is a great background for the army.

Now we come to the Sons of Medusa. I knew this force had to be different to my puppies so I wanted to include tanks. The Sons bring another big plus to the table: Dreadnoughts! I've always loved dreadnoughts and the Sons gave me the justification to include at least a few ones. As this army is based on the Badab War books, I had the option to include Vaylund Cal, I really liked the fluff and he can be quite a power on the battlefield. 

There you go, these are the three points I definitely wanted to include and that gave the army the first form in my head. 

Before I write on, I show you the list I came up with:

Space Marine Scriptor ->  Plasma-Pistol,  Force Dome,  Null Zone

Vaylund Cal

Ironclad Dreadnoughts ->  Dreadnought close combat weapon, Seismic Hammer with melta-gun, 2 x hunter-killer missiles

Dreadnought -> Dreadnought close combat weapon, Plasma cannon, Extra Armour

Dreadnought -> Dreadnought close combat weapon, twin-linked lascannon, Extra Armour

Tactical Squad -> meltagun, multi-melta, Sergeant with fist and combi-melta + Rhino

Tactical Squad -> meltagun, missile launcher, Sergeant with fist and combi-melta + Rhino

Tactical Squad -> plasma gun, lascannon, Sergeant with fist and combi-plasma + Rhino

Land Speeder -> heavy flamer, multi-melta

Land Speeder -> heavy flamer, multi-melta

Land Speeder -> heavy bolter, typhon missile launcher

Predator -> heavy bolter sponsons

Predator -> heavy bolter sponsons

Predator -> heavy bolter sponsons

These are exactly 2000 points.

As you see I included all the things I wanted: Cal, Dreadnoughts and everything has an armor value or if not, it is mobilized. Many armies I play against are mobilized as well so I had to include a lot of AT fire. The (not tested) play style is to hold the army together for the first 2-3 turns in order to lure the enemy where I want him to be and still send down a lot of fire down the field. The dreadnoughts are not assault troops, but hold back to counter assault any enemy that comes to close. The speeders zip around the field, especially the ones with the multi-meltas fly their kamikaze attacks against the biggest and meanest targets the enemy puts on the battlefield. Cal is attached to the squad with the multi-melta or runs around repairing damaged vehicles. The scriptor helps out the plasma squad, together with the plasma dreadnought they should take out some units which rely on their good invulnerable save. If I play against a horde army I will change up to all three Predators into Whirlwinds (depending on the size of the horde).

This list is the goal I want to finish in the next few months and I hope I don’t get distracted by the upcoming Grey Knights. ;) Yesterday I ordered two Forgeworld Dreadnoughts (MK IV and Ironclad MK IV) and just finished building my first squad. So now I have to get the cam from my girlfriend to shoot some pics I can post next time.

Smell you later.