Counter Offensive 5: Introduction 
On August 9 and 10 2008, Dream Wizards, in Rockville, Maryland, will host Counter Offensive 5,  a casual gathering of gamers for a weekend of 40K brutality. No entry fees, no registration, no tournament: just show up and play.

Due to family obligations, I wasn't able to make last year's event, but this time, I will be there--and I'm bringing along my older daughter Beth, who recently got into 40K. To get ready for CO5, I thought I'd present my army lists and explain my thinking behind them. My hope is that these lists will inspire you when making your own.

Each list is no more than 1500 points (so I can get in several games a day) and is centered around a certain theme. And this time, I don't mean "theme" like "all Scouts" or "lots of bikes" or "Shooty Army From Hell." This time, I mean "theme" in a more philosophical sense. Come along, and I'll show you what I mean...

“Character” list (1500 points): Fighting Tigers Space Marines
This Space Marine army is built around a specific character, and all the unit choices are made to reflect the character and his story. Sudra Patel, once a disgraced Gray Tiger, redeemed himself by foiling the nefarious plans of the Dark Eldar. After being re-instated, he was sent to Auros IX to fight in the Blood Deserts Campaign and rose to take command of his squad. After serving in several other successful missions, Sudra Patel has been promoted to the rank of  Kshatriya, or Captain. This army represents the first detachment he has ever commanded.

Sudra's superiors want to test his ability to lead, so he's been given a small but diverse group: a few units from each jatis (caste) and sabha (association) of the Fighting Tigers. In addition, because he was once a Gray Tiger, he has a unit of them. If he is successful in leading this shikar (campaign army), he will be assigned larger detachments.

• Kshatriya Sudra Patel. Commander (Captain) w/ power weapon and storm bolter (80 points). Singh (Command) Squad. Veteran Sergeant w/ power fist and bolt pistol; Apothecary w/ bolt pistol, close combat weapon, narthecium, and reductor; Standard Bearer w/ bolt pistol, close combat weapon, company standard; two Singh w/ flamer (167 points).
• Tiger Eternal Surya Ashoka (Jatis Mahaduyana). Dreadnought w/ missile launcher; twin-linked lascannon, extra armor, and smoke launchers (143 points)
• Grey Tigers (Veteran Space Marines). Five Harijan w/ bolters; one w/ plasma gun; one w/ multi-melta; all w/ Infiltrate (146 points)
• Tigers of Rudra (Tactical Marines), Squad 1. Veteran Sergeant w/ power fist and bolt pistol; seven Marines w/ bolters; one Marine w/ flamer; one Marine w/ melta gun (Cleanse and Purify trait) (200 points). Man-eater. Rhino w/ extra armor, smoke launchers (58 points)
• Tigers of Rudra (Tactical Marines), Squad 2. Veteran Sergeant w/ storm bolter; two Marines w/ bolters; one Marine w/ plasma gun; one Marine w/ lascannon (120 points)
• Tigers of Puchan, Tactical Mode (Scouts). Veteran Scout Sergeant w/ bolter-flamer; eight Scouts w/ bolters; one Scout w/ missile launcher (158 points)
• Tigers of Puchan, Assault Mode (Scouts). Veteran Scout Sergeant w/ bolter-flamer; nine Scouts w/ bolt pistols and close combat weapons (148 points)
• Tigers of Kali. Three Attack Bikes w/ multi-meltas (195 points); all have frag grenades
• Sabretooth. Whirlwind (85 points).

Once an exiled disgrace to his chapter, Sudra Patel is now a Fighting Tiger Captain

“Effectiveness” list (1500 points): Yblis’ Bzrkx Necrons
While I enjoy playing my Necrons, they perform very poorly: at the time of this writing, their record is an underwhelming 2 wins, 8 losses, and 2 ties. One contributing factor is that I have not written good army lists for them, so this list is built solely and unapologetically to win. The key to victory, I believe (and others have said, as well) is Warriors, Warriors, and more Warriors; accordingly, I’ve jammed as many as I could into this list.

• Centurion Lucifer 1.1. Necron Lord w/ Staff of Light, Resurrection Orb, Veil of Darkness
• Unit 2.1. Fifteen Necron Warriors
• Unit 2.2. Fifteen Necron Warriors
• Unit 2.3. Fifteen Necron Warriors
• Unit 2.4. Fifteen Necron Warriors
• Unit 3.1. Seven Scarab Swarms
• Unit 4.1. Three Heavy Destroyers

“Fun” list (1496 points): the Kurindans
Of my armies, the Kurindans (using Lizardmen models and Tyranid rules) are my second-favorite (behind the Fighting Tigers). The theme for this list is “fun”: in building this list, I went for units that I like, and whether or not they are effective together on the tabletop was inconsequential. I don’t care if I win a single game at CO5 with it: I’ll be happy if “JoJo” and “Larry” (my two tooled-up Carnifexes) can romp and stomp on part of the other guy’s army. If my Finbacks (Raveners by another name) can shred something too, that’s gravy.

• Warlord !Klrt  (Broodlord; 70 points)
• Retinue of six Trogolodytes w/ armor (Genestealers w/ extended carapace; 120 points)
• Newt Rampage #1. Twenty-four Newts (Hormagaunts; 240 points)
• Newt Rampage #2. Twenty-four Newts (Hormagaunts; 240 points)
• Four Troglodytes on Kangasaurs  (Tyranid Warriors w/ wings, rending claws, and scything talons; 152 points)
• Six Finbacks  (Raveners w/ rending claws and scything talons; 240 points)
• Megasaur #1  (Carnifex w/ adrenal glands [+1 WS], enhanced senses [+1 BS], bonded exoskeleton [+1 T], reinforced chitin [+1 W], extended carapace [+1 Sv], crushing claws, and venom cannon; 217 points)
• Megasaur #2  (Carnifex w/ adrenal glands [+1 WS], enhanced senses [+1 BS], bonded exoskeleton [+1 T], reinforced chitin [+1 W], extended carapace [+1 Sv], crushing claws, and venom cannon; 217 points)

“Discovery” list: Fearful Symmetry Chaos Space Marines (1499 points)
The Fearful Symmetry is the army that I have the least experience with, so I’ve devised this list to test out various units to see how they work. Again, I’m not too pressed about winning or losing: as long as I learn something useful for future battles, I’ll be happy.

• Raja Shamshir Talatra.  Chaos Lord w/ Terminator armor, twin-linked bolter, Mark of Khorne, daemon weapon, personal icon (160 points)
• Squad Indra.  Four Chaos Terminators, including three w/ power fists and one w/ heavy flamer (155 points)
• Greater Rakshasas.  Fourteen Possessed Chaos Space Marines (364 points)
• Squad Rudra 1.  Aspiring Champion w/ combi-flamer; seven Chaos Space Marines w/ boltguns; one CSM w/ flamer; one CSM w/ meltagun (190 points). Mounted in Rhino w/ dozer blade and extra armor (55 points)
• Squad Rudra 2.  Aspiring Champion w/ combi-flamer, power fist; seven Chaos Space Marines w/ boltguns; one CSM w/ flamer; one CSM w/ meltagun (215 points). Mounted in Rhino w/ extra armor (50 points)
• Bronze Tyger 1.  Defiler w/ +1 Attack replacing reaper autocannon; Havoc launcher replacing heavy flamer (155 points)
• Bronze Tyger 2.  Defiler w/ +1 Attack replacing reaper autocannon; Havoc launcher replacing heavy flamer (155 points)

So…let’s see how these armies fare, shall we?
 

Related Pages 
Other Counter Offensives

Posted August 2008
 

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