Building a competitive catachan army

[robomummy]

So after growing tired of orks I have been messing around with different armies to see which one I wanted to start next. A while ago I started Catachans but never really picked up on it, now I am back to building a Catachan army but one that is built to go to local tournaments and generally be a good list if not too competitive. My problem is that I am having difficulty proceeding from just owning the battle force so I need some help building my list and also playing a guard army.

I do have a rough Idea of what I want to do with the army and I would like to keep it at somewhat fluffy.

First, this means nothing that wouldn't be able to move around in dense jungle. I would like to keep my vehicles limited to Fast attack choices (sentinels, hellhounds, etc.), Artillery (Basilisks, hydras, manticores), and aircraft. This way I wont be without armored support but it will still fit into the overall theme of my army.

Second, I am toying with the idea of using veterans to be an elite force of jungle fighters and so I wont need to spend a lot of money on infantry. The problem is that I don't want a mechanized list and veterans would be difficult to play if they are all on foot whereas I can use platoons and have a more durable list.

Third, I'm fairly sure I would like to include Stracken, Marbo, and Harker in the list but I'm not sure if they are worth it or not to play. I have had good experiences with Marbo but have never tried out Stracken and Harker before and they cost a lot of points for what they do.

So any recommendations or suggestions? I will try to write a potential list later and post it.

[robomummy]

Ok so I finally got around to making a list, currently it is 1900 points so I need to figure out what to add to make it a 2000 point list (If anyone has any Ideas please let me know).

Company command squad- Power weapon, Medi-pack, regimental standard, autocannon, carapace armor, master of ordinance, master of the fleet.

Techpreist- 2x servitors

Guardsman Marbo

2x Infantry platoons
-PCS with vox caster, autocannon
-2x infantry squads with vox caster, autocannon
-heavy weapons team with autocannons

Veteran squad- Demolitions, 3x meltaguns

Veteran Squad- Demolitions, 3x Meltaguns

Scout sentinel Squadron (3 sentinels)- Heavy flamers, camo netting

2x Valkyries- heavy bolters, multilasers, Hellstrike missiles (veterans will ride in Valkyries)

2x Basilisks- enclosed crew, camo netting

Hydra- Camo netting

Total points cost is 1900, any thoughts as to what I should add or what I should change about this list?

[Kwodd]

I've always loved the sentinel model and it just fits the jungle fluff where you're likely to navigate over downed trees and other areas impassible via wheel or track.

[Lanesend]

I used to play a lot with Harker (this is about 2-3 years ago. I don't know if the FAQ changed any of his rules).
Pretty good in my opinion. Infitrate the squad in some terrain (stealth) and you have 3 plasmaguns and a relentless heavy bolter.

If you can find a good spot, you can claim a 3+ coversave. And with the new (6th ed.) rapid fire rules, you can pump out a lot of shots.

[WestRider]

Harker's good, he's just kind of expensive. Note also that Camo Cloaks no longer give Stealth, just a +1 on Cover Saves, so his bonus stacks with the Camo Cloaks from the Forward Sentries Doctrine.

Straken can be excellent in the kind of Power Blob Army that I'd go with for Catachans. The main problem is that he's stuck in a dinky Command Squad, so he's pretty easy to take out, but 40 Guardsmen Charging with a bunch of Power Axes on the Sergeants and Furious Charge is impressive when you pull it off.

Scout Sentinels: I know the Heavy Flamers are fluffy, but I'd really rather have Autocannon or MultiLasers. Heavy Flamers guarantee that they're going to be, at best, one hit wonders, while longer-ranged Weapons let them hang back where their fragility is a bit less of a problem. I like Hunter-Killers on them as well, Outflank and hit stuff in the side Armour/from behind linear Cover.

Valkyries: Hellstrike Missiles are terrible. They're Ordnance, so if you fire one, all your other Weapons have to fire Snap Shots that Turn. Go for the Rocket Pods, and leave Anti-Tank to your Meltavets and Artillery. Or just go with Vendettas, since you are kind of light against tougher Targets.

[Anggul]

Make the Valkyries Vendettas, they're just so much better.

I think Medusa are generally better than Basilisks, they have much less range though, so I guess it depends on how you're playing the army.

[WestRider]

Medusae also don't have Barrage, which is a pretty significant limitation, especially on such a fragile platform.

[robomummy]

Nov 28, 2013 18:24:05 GMT WestRider said:

Harker's good, he's just kind of expensive. Note also that Camo Cloaks no longer give Stealth, just a +1 on Cover Saves, so his bonus stacks with the Camo Cloaks from the Forward Sentries Doctrine.

Straken can be excellent in the kind of Power Blob Army that I'd go with for Catachans. The main problem is that he's stuck in a dinky Command Squad, so he's pretty easy to take out, but 40 Guardsmen Charging with a bunch of Power Axes on the Sergeants and Furious Charge is impressive when you pull it off.

Scout Sentinels: I know the Heavy Flamers are fluffy, but I'd really rather have Autocannon or MultiLasers. Heavy Flamers guarantee that they're going to be, at best, one hit wonders, while longer-ranged Weapons let them hang back where their fragility is a bit less of a problem. I like Hunter-Killers on them as well, Outflank and hit stuff in the side Armour/from behind linear Cover.

Valkyries: Hellstrike Missiles are terrible. They're Ordnance, so if you fire one, all your other Weapons have to fire Snap Shots that Turn. Go for the Rocket Pods, and leave Anti-Tank to your Meltavets and Artillery. Or just go with Vendettas, since you are kind of light against tougher Targets.

Interesting about Harker, I was considering taking him to give a boost to going to ground on an objective but I don't think his points are really worth that.

As for scout sentinels the main reason I have them in there is to deal with pathfinders which I know are common in the tournament scene at my LGS.

Didn't see that about Hellstrikes, I might just change them to vendettas since I have the points for it.

As for Medusae instread of basilisks, they are very good but the limited range is just too crippling, I have them sitting back with a techpreist but If I use medusa then they need to move forward and be potentially exposed.

these are all helpful, anything else I should look at?

[WestRider]

If you can regularly find Ruins to hang in, Harker can be kind of hilarious along with Forward Sentries, because you can pick up 2+ Cover even without Going to Ground. It's awesome until some (please do not swear) comes along with something with Ignores Cover or manages to Charge them.

Oh, I'd probably drop the Enclosed Crew Compartments on the Basilisks (Since the introduction of Hull Points, that upgrade is badly overpriced), and the Camo Netting on the Scout Sentinels (it only works if they don't move, which is really hard to pull off with Heavy Flamers).

Also, I just thought about this, but since you've got no Interceptor, and you do have 3-4 Units in Reserves, one of them probably Outflanking at least sometimes, an Astropath might be a better option than the Officer of the Fleet.

For filling out the last points, more basic Infantry might be your best bet. 70-some Scoring GEqs is kind of light at 2K these days.

Ratlings could also be good. They're a nice handy harassment Unit that can actually start doing a surprising amount of damage if you take a big Squad. Especially to things like WraithKnights (remember that they can be issued Orders, so you can use Bring It Down).

On a purely competitive basis, tho, the best thing would probably be a Psyker Battle Squad. Another big Blast never hurts, and Weaken Resolve is an awesome power, especially since you've got Barrages to force Pinning Checks.