The case against blaster trueborn

[The_Outsider]

I am utterly convinced that 3 squads if blasterborn are godawful and a complete waste of your elite slots. Having a single squad is fine, they are only a small element of the larger army - once you start investing huge amounts of your anti-tank fire into blasters though things can go wrong very, very easily. The only reason it even works is because blasterborn are normally backed by warriors in venoms so you do literally drown the enemy in light hulls. This still ignores the fact that DE infantry really aren't going to take anything at 5 strong, so you get completely screwed by certain units if you cannot stop them - i've seen a variant of the green tide at 1500 dismantle a venom spam army simply because the venoms couldn't get enough wounds on the boyz AND their supporting fire before the sheer numbers proved their worth.

Even then it just smacks of stupid list design because the internet thinks spam works - here's a hint: it doesn't unless you play silly points. Blasterborn have their place, but building an army out of them isn't the way to do it (i've seen some interesting things happen with trueborn armed with shredders and maybe splintercannon depending on points).

[DEfan]

I am really enjoying this new release of DE- really nice looking army. However, compared to my old DE lists and old codex, I find myslf taking less darklight. The elite slot doesn't, for me, offer much in appeal. Wyches in 8s with the other slot left for a Haemy and my Archon are my lynch pin unit. Just the hekatrix/agoniser upgrade are fine for helping out the Archon. Fnp makes them much more survivable against explosions and rf and it is normally the right number to last 2 rounds of combat- my turn and my opponents. Venoms are great anti-infantry gunboats by themselves but as the assault payload really only leaves incubi viable, i seldom have them in my list. I don't like having infantry that lack those assault invulnerable saves. AT can be well handled by ravagers and raiders zooming about. My fast slots see more points now- RJBs, Haywire scourges- these are my AT platforms. Just my style. Would love to see the RJB get back that invulnerable save for extreme speed though, aye?

[dizzie]

Would love to see the RJB get back that invulnerable save for extreme speed though, aye?

Off topic, but they still get that, all turboing bikes or jetbikes get a 3+ for turboing over 18"

[Psyan]

I love jetbikes, but I still think they're slightly overcosted. If they bumped the regular save to 4+ or decreased the price by 2-3 points, I'd take them more often.

[Templarius]

Going back to the trueborn:

I have been doing well with the army and have never taken a trueborn "blasterborn" unit in the time that the new book has arrived. I have written many a list with them in it, but have not used them. I intend to at some point... the main reason being the high saturation of armour in the game... sometimes you just need to pop something and there are just not enough dark lances... I also run a razorwing, therefore I need other places in my list to compensate for the lack of a third ravager.
The key to them, of course would be to play smart... remember, they don't only kill transports, but all sorts of terminators and marines... in droves, and if you can catch them out in the open even better.

If I do run them it will be in squads of 3. Not too many points and just killy enough.

[mrvegas]

I love jetbikes, but I still think they're slightly overcosted. If they bumped the regular save to 4+ or decreased the price by 2-3 points, I'd take them more often.

The big problem with jetbikes is twofold. DE has enough anti-infantry that I find myself wanting to use Jetibikes to go vehicle hunting. Especially since they can hide 6 inches after shooting. Problem is the horrible saves and toughness 3(4) doesn't mean this unit can survive much against enemy fire. Sure you can get lucky and find terrain to hide behind that prevents line of sight but a smart enemy will try to avoid this. The other big big problem with jetbikes is we can't put an archon with them in this ed. I tell you that was my bread and butter tactic. Turboboost archon T1 and instant CC turn two.

I have got to say for the best FA against vehicles I'm a big fan of 5 scourges (2 with haywire blasters). It's cheap since it doesn't require 6 guys, gets 24" (better than heat lance imho), it's assault so we can move 12 and shoot, great way to stunlock items with a high level of certainty since you only need a 2+. All in all a very cost effective unit for anti-mech

[DEfan]

Quite clever isn't it of GW? Make our DL spam from last edition very expensive so that we look to alternative forms of weaponry spread across different units in different boxes. Want the haywire blaster, heat lance and venom blade?- get scourges. Want an agoniser for your Archon?- get a wych or kabal squad. Want good strong bones? Get milk.
I brought the new kabal warriors to proxy trueborn. They still haven't been made after 6 months even though they are way cooler to look at than my much loved but now very outdated 3rd ed warriors. I really want to put Trueborn in my lists but everything else is so good going forward and wins priority.
For me "blasterborn" are still not due their turn. My elite slot goes to wracks or bloodbrides.

[kloma]

variations on this list were the top 2 players at januarys throne of skulls tournament.

the one with more venoms ( beat the one with 6 venoms

both had 3 ravagers