ffoley wrote:
I think the viability of these options depends a lot on what form (if any) the separate thunderfire formation takes. Without it the list appears to lack any <200pt formations which affects activation count.
Without thunderfires as a separate unit, then trying to rejig typical existing lists might look like:
4 core formations with thunderfire upgrades and an SC (1200ish)
3 support formations (gyros, bikes, OLs) (700ish)
2 Big WE with AA (1000ish)
That's only 9 activations and I'm not sure that's enough
That's a fair point and one worth looking out for. There is nothing wrong with Squats having a cheapish scoutish formation, just that thunderfires were not the best option.
But then again, I would modify your rejig a bit.
Let me have a go:
Warrior formation, rhinos 200
+3 thuddguns + 100
+ thunderfire + 50
+ Supreme Commander + 100
(Defensive unit, sits on blitz and snipes with thudd/thunderfire
Berzerker Squat in Termites - 200
(objective grabbing tunneler)
Berzerker in Rhinos 200
+ Robots 125
(Close combat)
Thunderers in Rhinos - 200
Thunderfire -50
Thuddguns maybe? -100
(move forward into ruins to shoot and hold centre)
SUPPORT
Mole Mortars - 175
Bikes - 225
Overlord - 225
Overlord - 225
WAR ENGINES
Goliaths - 300
(always useful)
Big WE with AA, Living Ancestor - 525
(BTS)
Core - 1325
Support - 850
WE - 825
That's 10 activations going quite heavy on core too. I guess the 200pt berzerkers and the 175pt Mole Mortars are the chaff. Considering that you're including a Reaver-class War Engine for 550 points you're going to be slightly tight on points.
One other solution is to increase the number of Thunderfires per core unit it could be
Berzerkers: 1
Warriors: 2
Thunderers: 3
instead of
Berzerkers: 0
Warriors: 1
Thunderers: 2
Which would mean you could shrink down to 3 core units for another 2 activations in cheap support