What do you do when your absolute pillock of an opponent deploys an offensive number of armoured vehicles in his DZ with a smug (OMG I'd love to slap him) face on? He also probably has brought with him a shopping trolley full of dice which he can't wait to use and when you mention the Assault phase he smiles and says 'what's that?'. The guy probably wears pants that come up somewhere between his belly button and one of his many chins.... I'm getting carried away. Calm down. So what do you do? If you're anything like myself then this kind of list presents an enjoyable challenge. First of all I'm going to look at the tactics that will probably be used by someone with this kind of list, then I'll have a look at how best to beat it.
*Please note that whilst the following is certainly consistent with my experience of the list, there are some cunning, almost sly players out there who may well vary tactics and army list.
Deployment
This will probably consist of a line of Chimeras screening another line of HS choices with the two plasma units in between. The Vendettas will be put in reserve, along with the scout Sentinel.
Tactics
So simple it almost hurts. Chimeras and HS choices will just sit back and punish you with a huge number of high strength, large blast shooting attacks whilst the veterans and command sqd will counter attack any infantry or light vehicles which get too close to the gun line. The Vendettas and scout Sentinel will come on and claim / contest objectives and be a general nuisance.
How to beat it
Well this is the tricky part. Target priority is so important here. The Chimeras are relatively easy to pop, and the nice soft juicy guardsmen inside can be comfortably dealt with but don't become obsessed with them. Taking out the heavy support choices and the Cmd squad and Veterans with shooting is essential. Once achieved, your combat units will be able to cause unopposed havoc as targets are usually very close together. As there is an officer of the fleet then this can disrupt the arrival of reserves. This is a blessing for combat-based choices as you don't want them exposed to all that firepower early on but a nightmare for any shooting-based choices. My advice is to use the shooting-based choices from the onset to bring down those essential targets ASAP. Also, I know it sounds obvious but utilise cover! Those 4up saves (or 2ups if you're beardy enough) are so important and will help your army survive long enough to throw some punches to the face.
So that's it. Simple eh? I know I know it's still a tough ask but the above advice will help you. I'm off to the Throne of Skulls event in October and I expect to come up against a few of these types of lists (I know I did last time) and I really wish I'd had a heads up as to how tough they can actually be. Believe me, if you're not prepared for it then you'll spend turn 2 onwards with a ridiculously low number of models and have to spend a lot of time staring at that smug grin on that stupid face...
Here's a typical list in all its glory. A Psyker Battle Squad is also a common sight (Large blast S10 AP1/2)
1750
HQ - Company Cmd squad
4 x plasma guns
Officer of the Fleet
Chimera
Troops - Platoon Cmd squad
2 x flamer
Chimera
Troops - Infantry squad
Autocannon
Chimera
Troops - Infantry squad
Autocannon
Chimera
Troops - Veterans
3 x plasma
Chimera - Heavy Flamer
Troops - Special weapons sqd
3 x Meltagun
Troops - Special weapons sqd
3 x Meltagun
FA - Vendetta
FA - Vendetta
FA - Scout Sentinel - Autocannon
HS - 2 x Manticore
HS - 2 x Hydras
HS - Medusa - Enclosed crew compartment
