One of the down the road armies I've got on my project list is the Space Sharks. Even under the PDF Blood Angels list I thought they might work with how I wanted to do the Sharks (with assault squads for troops) and the new codex didn't change that. I picked up the codex the other day and after a quick skim worked up an initial list possibility. I'll do some more possibilities with regular SM and Space Wolves too and see what looks better.
The Space Sharks seem to like Drop Pod assaults, and I do too, so I'm leaning towards a pod list. I think that chainswords are the essential 40K weapons and go well with the idea of sharks, so I'd like to use a lot of them, ripping the enemy apart into chum. Looking at the BA options, Seth with his huge honkin' chainsword would seem like a good fit, and dreads with harpoons? Sign me up!
So here's the basic idea:
Space Sharks (Codex Blood Angels) 1850pts
HQ: Seth (160) (Big choppyness, good for enemy walkers or high T critters, getting to tack some high Str wounds on at initiative)
HQ: Librarian (Blood Lance, Shield of Sanguinius) (100) (Lance to hopefully have some fun with enemy parking lots upon arrival, Shield in enemy turn to help protect disembarked troops and dreads.)
Each HQ also lets you take an Honour guard squad, which look good to me - 2A base, include a Sang Novitiate for the FC/FNP bubbles in the cost. Let's take two and stick the ICs in with them.
(HQ) Honour Guard x5, Champ (PW/combat shield), Meltagun, Drop pod w/beacon (190)
(HQ) Honour Guard x5, Champ (PW/combat shield), Meltagun, Drop pod w/beacon (190)
(Drop in with characters, hope to pop something then provide bubbles for the army and dig in with those chainswords)
Elite: Furioso Dread, Frag Cannon, meltagun/dccw, magna grapple, extra armor in pod w/beacon (200)
(Destroy tanks or shred infantry as needed. Grapple to sometimes drag tanks into line for the blood lance if don't destroy them outright)
Troops: 5xDeath Company, PF, Infernus pistol, Drop pod (175) (2A base, bring their own FNP so can drop them away from the main force if needed, and they unlock...)
(Troops) Death Co. Dread, magna grapple, meltagun/heavy flamer, drop pod with beacon (195) (Similar to other dread, but a bit more assault oriented)
Troops: 5xAssault Marines, flamer, sgt lightning claw, pod (125)
Troops: 5xAssault Marines, meltagun, pod (110)
Troops: 5xAssault Marines, meltagun, sgt power fist, pod (135)
(Second wave to grab objectives and help deal with hopefully disembarked enemy troops)
Fast: Land Speeder - HF/Typhoon missiles (90)
Fast: Land Speeder - HF/Typhoon missiles (90)
Fast: Land Speeder - HF/Typhoon missiles (90)
(Shoot stuff at long range or zip in on locator beacons, HF clumps, contest objectives if survive)
Basic idea is the first wave would be the two dreads and two honor guard + IC pods, try to take out what tanks can. Second wave arrives with aid of beacons if needed, aiming to get in range of the FNP bubbles, then chop up whoever's left. Speeders either deploy to cause early trouble, zip in via regular reserves to get side shots once enemy has turned to face podders, or deepstrike in depending on scenario/enemy.
The main thing I might change would be to swap the death company out for another regular assault squad so they can score, which would also swap the DC dread for another Furioso.
To take it to 2000, would just add 7 deathwind launchers to pods and another beacon or misc. upgrade.
As a special treat for all the Space Shark fans check out this great army over at Target Gaming Blog.
wait until Imperial armour 10 gets released; it has the space sharks (now called the carcharadons) in it. which probably means they'll also get a character that alters their chapter tactics for use with the SM dex :)
ReplyDeletePossibly. After going through IA9 I'm not too hopeful in the way of Space Shark specific rules. A SC wouldn't be enough for me to deal with the hassle of getting people to play with FW rules, and I'd like the option of taking them to tourneys and such. I am hopeful though that FW will put out some cool bits at least.
ReplyDeleteAs noted the regular SM dex is still an option, as are SW (who probably do podding the best, with bolter/bp/ccw and counter attack). With a little planning and a few extra figs I could probably do all three.
Space Sharks are supposed to be buddy-buddy with the Space Wolves, and supposedly their tactics complement each other... I think you should just do your own chapter called the Blood Sharks! It's a way cooler name anyway.
ReplyDeleteI like the list. I'd personally go wtih bigger assault squad units to survive longer, but that's just me...
ReplyDelete@Mr.Esty - How can a name possibly be cooler than Space Sharks? ;-)
ReplyDelete@fluger - The small squads are definitely a concern. The assault squads get less "efficient" (from free pod) as they add members, but doing something like dropping a speeder or the DC to add members, or drop both to add a 4th assault squad and members are possibilities.
I really like this idea for a Space Sharks army. I think the concept is great and the list looks like it would be a lot of fun to play. Seth seems to me to be a perfect fit as a Space Shark. And while this might be going too far overboard for your tastes, you could even model the dreadnoughts' magna-grappels to look like remoras!
ReplyDeleteHoly crap, I forgot they get a free drop pod! DOH!
ReplyDelete@Papa JJ - That might be a bit much, even for me. I'll just stick with nice, boring barbed harpoons. ;-)
ReplyDelete@Fluger - :-)