Tonight I will be playing a practice game with my good friend James. Using most of the stuff I have built right now, I am attempting to build a competitive space marine list. Now in this list I am using Marneus Calgar. I don't really think hes worth his points, and I have only used him once or twice since the codex came out. However, I think he has some potential because of his "God of War" rule. This is the rule that allows your whole army to choose whether they want to pass or fail any morale test.
When I have used him, and to my knowledge, how people play him in our area/club, they treat this rule as subject to the "No Retreat" rules in the 40k Rulebook. Basically if I lost combat and choose to pass, I would have to take wounds (similar to being fearless). This was kinda like the old synapse creature rule where they passed any morale test while under synapse range.
The Nova Open, however, came out with their own FAQ for the tournament. In my opinion they cover a decent amount of material and still make it manageable to be read in about 15 minutes. For the SM codex they say that the GoW rule is not subject to No Retreat wounds. Do I think that Calgar is worth 265 points? No not really, but I feel that with this ruling, and the right list surrounding him he can be pretty effective. Im not dead set on using him, or any character for that matter, but I do want to give this a try.
Some benefits that I see by taking Calgar:
-Passing all tests and not being subject to the No Retreat wounds gives me many tactical options that aren't really available to other SM armies. If I am facing a tough complex unit like Blood Crushers, Nob Bikes, or Seer Council, I can charge with a tactical squad and terminators. I charge with tacticals first and engage many models; then charge with terminators engaging one. Only tacticals will get owned and termies will get all their Thunder Hammers off. This tactic im sure is well known and explained best here:
http://www.yesthetruthhurts.com/2008/11/how-to-kill-nob-bikers-seer-councils.html
Now, Stelek warns that you will end up losing combat but the amount of damage you cause will be great enough to compensate. With Calgar, I wont lose anything valuable. At most a tactical squad.
-Also, leadership modifying abilities, like Psyker Battle Squads are useless against my whole army. Not just a squad thats fearless but the entire army. But most importantly, I still can fail, if I want to.
So what I'm saying is that, I think that Calgar can give me a boost that no other Character can give me, despite being the same points as a land raider. The list I plan to try out tonight is version 1. Here it is:
HQ) Marneus Calgar: Armor of Antilochus........................................265
HQ) Librarian: Null Zone, Gate of Infinity.....................................100
Elite) Assault Terminator Squad (6): Thunder Hammers, Storm Shields............240
Troop) Tactical Squad (10): Meltagun, Missile, Sgt. Combi-melta, Meltabomb.....190
-Drop Pod: Locator Beacon....................................45
Troop) Tactical Squad (10): Meltagun, Lascannon, Sgt. Bolt Pistol, Chainsword..185
-Rhino.......................................................35
Troop) Tactical Squad (10): Meltagun, Lascannon, Sgt. Bolt Pistol, Chainsword..185
-Rhino.......................................................35
Troop) Tactical Squad (5): Sgt. Combi-flamer...................................100
-Razorback: Twin-linked Lascannon............................75
Fast) Land Speeder: Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer...................................70
Fast) Land Speeder: Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer...................................70
Fast) Land Speeder: Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer...................................70
Heavy) Predator: Autocannon, Sponson Lascannons................................120
Heavy) Predator: Autocannon, Sponson Lascannons................................120
Heavy) Predator: Autocannon, Sponson Heavy Bolters, Hunter Killer Missile.......95
TOTAL POINTS = 2000
Depending on what Im facing, the mission, or whether or not I go first, I can deep strike the speeders for their flamers or if I have to meltas. If I go second with this army, I have enough marines to prevent an alpha strike, but then again I don't have a death star unit to be that worried about. The terminators will generally always teleport in. That's where Calgar's teleport homer will come into use. Either that or the Beacon on the Pod. I will most likely stick Calgar in the Drop Pod because it will give me a threat early against something like Guard or Tau where I am the aggressor. I think games where I need to hold back will be slightly more difficult. I will post up a bat rep sometime this week. Any comments are welcome!
