CSM Zeench - Bolt&Flame 1850

[l0rdf1end]

My current Zeench list im play testing.

Zeench Bolts&Flame

HQ-
Sorcerer+2 Mastery Levels,MoT,Sigil
Sorcerer+2 Mastery Levels,MoT,Sigil
150 x2 (300)

Troops
4 Thousand Sons, 1 Sorcerer Aspiring, Rhino
4 Thousand Sons, 1 Sorcerer Aspiring, Rhino
150x2 (300)

6 Thousand Sons, 1 Sorcerer Aspiring, Rhino
6 Thousand Sons, 1 Sorcerer Aspiring, Rhino
196x2 (392)

Fast
HellDrake
HellDrake
HellDrake
170x3 (510)

Heavy
Havoc Auto
Havoc Auto
Havoc Auto
115x3 (345)

1847

So what do I have here for those not familiar.

2 sorcerers which get all 3 Zeench powers.
The best one being DoomBolt.
18 inch Beam Str8 AP1

4 more sorcerers in the thousand son units.
Each have a 50% chance of getting DoomBolt from rolling on the Zeench Dicipline.

Thousand Sons are Fearless 4++ with AP3 bolters.

3 Helldrakes, we should all know what they do by now.

3 squads of Havocs with Autocannons.
That's 24 shots Str 7 AP4 (used for glancing things to death)

So the general plan is to open up transports with bolts and havocs, then kill what comes out with Drakes and Sons.

I wanted to go for Nurgle and Typhus for the zombies.
But as it stands Zombie units can only be 10 strong because they aren't allowed any upgrades.
I'm going to take a look at the other gods and allies but this feels like one of the better options currently.
Its not stupidly overpowered at all. It's favoured matchups will be anything with a 3+.

Comments welcome.
What are you guys considering, those that are going Chaos?

[dakkathrope]

It is what I will eventually aim towards with my own tzeentch army, although I'm not a fan of redundant choices so I would probably take some different options.

[ZergLord]

What are you going to do when you face horde armies or Flyers?

[rpricew]

Page 70 of Codex: Chaos Space Marines says that a Sorcerer can only devote a maximum of 50% of his Mastery level to a Chaos Discipline. Therefore you can only get a Maximum of 2 powers per Mastery 3 Sorcerers, and one per Aspiring Sorcerer (Mastery 1).

[dakkathrope]

^ I did not catch that, better decide which discipline I like the best after I roll for tzeentch stuff

[ZergLord]

I almost forgot. Very important.

Drop Sigils on Sorcerers and give them Spell Familiars.

Having Re-rolls on failed psychic tests is way better than having a 3++ save because they aren't very good in combat. Also when you face Eldar who are kings of shutting down psychic powers, you really need those re-rolls. Especially if you base your army on psychic powers.

[jahatch42878]

the only thing I'd do differently is make units 9 strong just for the fluffbunny... although you'd lose some of the aspiring sorcerers so I understand why you wouldn't want to do that...

also, I have to somewhat agree with the idea of variety.. do you need 3 helldrakes? and aren't you sick of painting autocannons (lol)... I was going to suggest a unit of obliterators but I guess that's very anti-thousand sons of me, so I can't do that... I do appreciate the simplicity of the army (which for thousand sons is a good thing), but I do see a lack of melta-weapons, you are relying on rolls on the psychic chart to get you your only AP1 stuff in the list, and I'm pretty sure by looking at the list that a fast melee army might be up in your grill and hacking through your troops pretty quickly (what with deep strike, other flying transports, and knowing they don't have to fear any of your troops in melee really.. I'm thinking dark eldar (where the AP3 is a waste) and maybe even some ork or tyranids if they know what they are doing might be your anithesis especialy if they can get to you while still embarked in rhinos )... IMHO

[paxmiles]

Well, GK and IG will give that list some trouble, but it should give most other armies a nice run for their money.

Your troops are your biggest weak point, as the invulnerable saves just encourage the opponent to dump volume fire weapons into your meager 24 infantry and 4 rhinos. They really don't add much to the army (besides theme).

Helldrakes seem excessive, but as I haven't seen them in game, I'm not really sure on this one.

Are the havocs really that cheap? I read 115pts for 4 autocannons on 5 guys.
-Pax