Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: How An Army Wins in 9th Edition
Goatboy here to talk about everything your army lists need to do to win in 9th Edition.
9th edition has really started to come into it’s own with all events using GW missions and terrain layout starting to fall into a common design and goal. This means that you can easily plan your army out to complete some basic tasks and hopefully be successful in your tournament.
Needs to Move
The number one thing you need to figure out is how your army is going to move. This is important as your lists need to move around the table, hold objectives, and complete secondaries. Now this doesn’t mean you need to be on your opponent’s half of the table or near their deployment edge – it just means you need to figure out some way to cross the halfway mark, survive whatever happens over there, and maybe do some damage. Most of the successful lists have fast-moving options that either get to the opponent to stop their movement, gum up the middle of the table with bodies, or just have options to get to specific quarters quickly. A static shooting base will not win you enough games even though you are doing a lot of damage.
This flows into those units that don’t deploy like a regular option. This could mean Deep striking options or those pesky infiltrators. I think we all really need to look at those units that force armies to shift their plans by being in the way. These units can range from quick secondary options, fast damage dealers, or just models in the way. You see this in how a lot of the “strong” armies have these options built onto a cheap body which allows the other parts of the army to work. Having fast options that don’t need to kill but are good at scoring is very helpful to most lists.
Needs to Wipe Out Units
Speaking of damage a big important factor in this game is you have things that can close out an enemy unit. What I mean by this is you have enough damage to take out something important your opponent has. This can range from enough firepower to cover an enemy in “wounds” to roll thru. This ability to pull a bit of bullet hell into an enemy unit is important to help control your opponent’s ability to react. If they only have few fast units – you have to find ways to remove those so now they have to work really hard to get moving across the table. Having the ability to do damage and in some ways overkill key targets with that damage is important.
Needs to Get Stuck In
Assault is an important factor for this game as it gives you another form of movement. I don’t think every army needs to be assault powerhouses but if you haven’t been noticing – most armies have that option available. Sometimes you need to get that extra bit of movement and deliver a round house kick to a unit and clear an objective. That is one of the things that hurts shooting in that while you can remove an opponent’s models you didn’t “gain” a section. Assault gives you more than just killing an opponent. It can help you lock down things, hold objectives, and even do the damage you need to remove enemy assets.
Needs to Score Secondaries
One of the things I have failed a lot on in my initial events is not figuring out how to score my secondaries. I have gotten better (and newer armies do this easier) but it is something I fail at from time to time. It is the same thing where you get so focused on one aspect of the game you forget the other parts and then oops – you end up losing because you never got to hold that one neoprene objective.
It is why I have kept moving towards MSU style lists as it gives me a lot more options to try and win the game. It might take 2-3 MSU units to put enough damage on your opponent’s unit – but that is how you get as many chances to do something. When you have 5 units that can make an assault it usually means 1 or 2 will get there. When you leave yourself with only 1 avenue out to win that means you probably won’t win the game at the end.
Putting It All Together – A Training List
With that – let’s look at this DG list. I try to have some movement, some options to do some damage, and enough board control as needed. I am leaning heavily into FW as well as the Blightlord Terminators as I feel both of these units help the army work in today’s environment. Having guns that can hurt anything that are also long-ranged mixed with a few fat units is very helpful.
DG Battalion – 0CP
The Inexorable
-HQ-
Death Guard Chaos Lord – Lightning Claws X 2, Warlord – Ferric Blight – 95pts
Malignant Plaguecaster – 95pts
-Troops-
Pox Walkers X 10 – 50pts
Pox Walkers X 10 – 50pts
Pox Walkers X 10 – 50pts
-Elites-
Blightlord Terminators X 5 – Reaper Autocannon, Plague Flail – 210pts
Blightlord Terminators X 5 – Reaper Autocannon, Plague Flail – 210pts
Blightlord Terminators X 5 – Reaper Autocannon, Plague Flail – 210pts
Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought (-1CP) – Twin Volkite Culverin X 2 – 150pts
Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought (-1CP) – Twin Volkite Culverin X 2 – 150pts
Hellforged Contemptor Dreadnought (-1CP) – Twin Volkite Culverin X 2 – 150pts
-FA-
Foetid Bloat Drone – Fleshmower – 135pts
Foetid Bloat Drone – Fleshmower – 135pts
DG Patrol – -2CP
The Inexorable
-HQ-
Death Guard Chaos Lord – Lightning Claws X 2, Warlord Trait – Arch Contaminator – 95pt
-Elites-
Tallyman – Relic – Tollkeeper – 70pts
-Troops-
Plague Marines X 5 – Blight Launcher, Plague Flail – 125pts
Pts: 1980 CP: 5
What Does What?
This is utilizing the shooting base of Dreadnoughts to help shore up some issues, it has 2 Bloat Drones to move forward, and then it has Terminators that can deep strike and do things as needed. The two Chaos Lords help shore up some reroll’s to hit and can do some damage if they get close. They are pretty cheap and with their dual Lightning Claws and Ferric Blight can become a pain to deal with. There is also not a whole lot in the army that if lost doesn’t cripple my chances which is always helpful. Yay redundancy.
Build wisely, and go forth and earn victory!
