I am looking to try something different today, in order to establish some of the significant differences in 40k between the edition change by listing out every single game I have played so far. There has been a noticeable shift in the meta between editions and I feel that there is a distinct need to identify these differences and make adjustments in order to remain competitive on the tournament scene.
Lets do a breakdown of my games: I have played 22 games of 6th edition, 2 of which were teaching games with Grey Knights, the other 20 with some form of Space Marines. Out of those 20 games (excluding GK), there have been 12 wins, 2 ties, and 6 losses. The vast majority of those games have been played at 1850, where only 4 of them have been played at 1750.
What have I faced you wonder?
Listed in order of appearance:
Army faced -- Army used -- Allies? -- Result
(old) Chaos -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Win
Space Wolves -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Win
Space Marines -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Win
Necrons -- Grey Knights -- No -- Win
Chaos -- Grey Knights -- No -- Win
Chaos/Daemons -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Loss
Chaos/Daemons -- Command Squad Build -- No -- Loss
Grey Knights -- Terminator Build -- Blood Angels -- Win *
Daemons -- Terminator Build -- Blood Angels -- Loss**
Orks -- Command Squad Build -- No -- Win
Guard -- Command Squad Build -- No -- Win
Chaos (Zombies) -- Command Squad Build -- No -- Win
Tau -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Win
GK/Guard -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Loss
Tyranids -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Draw
Dark Eldar/Eldar -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Loss***
Space Marines/IG -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Win
Necrons -- Terminator Build -- Space Wolves -- Loss
Daemons -- Command Squad Build -- No -- Win
Dark Eldar -- Tau Build -- Tau -- Win ****
Daemons -- Tau Build -- Tau -- Draw
Dark Eldar -- Tau Build -- Tau -- Win
* The Blood Angel build will be covered in a future article.
** This loss was a result of me not understanding how the reserve rules works. I didn't know that models came in on turn 4 automatically. I conceded the game after rolling 3 ones for reserves for my unit of death. If I played better, I would have gotten a win, but it was after midnight and my 4th game in one day.
*** This loss was a result of the most terrible luck imaginable. Failing numerous pinning checks, charge distance checks, outflanking roles, and killing vehicles. I should have had a win!
**** The "Tau" build will be covered in a future article
As you can see, there has been a noticeable shift from mech armies and space marines to armies which are good at kill daemons or are daemons/chaos. The armies which have tanks and transports generally result in a victory for me. These armies include Dark Eldar (twice) Grey Knights, Space Marines (twice), Orks, Imperial Guard, and Grey Knights. Armies which have a large quantity of lightly armored infantry, I generally have enough fire power to when I can focus on one unit, noting guard, zombies, and orks as the primary examples. This didn't occur in the GK and Guard build. Daemons are currently giving me a head ache. Between their durability, consistent invulnerable saves, and high damage output to my low model count lists, it is an uphill battle. However if I can kill off the troop choices on the table, the game will likely result in a draw.
So what are the main problem areas that my list has to deal with?
1) Flying monsterous creatures. One creature is generally fine, two or more and it becomes a real problem for my build as I have no solution to deal with it.
2) Massed flyers. I have not come across this yet, but once again, I have no real solution to this problem outside of out maneuvering them and killing off all the stuff on the table.
3) Low Model Count. While this has always been a problem for a bike army, it is magnified by the quantity of anti-infantry fire power I have been seeing on tables. I will say though, I actually have a larger army now then I did in 5th edition!
4) Not enough long range fire power. One of the trends which have notices is the distinct move to high rate of fire weapons that are short ranged. The game is all about rapid fire weapons because of pre measuring and quantity of shots. Therefore, if I can find units that either out range them or out gun them for an effective point cost, it might be worthwhile to include in the army.
Therefore, the next logical step in solving these problems is developing alternatives and solutions which fit those needs. But as this is getting long enough, I need to cut it here