Now that I have Siege in my hot little hands, I decided it was time to start planning an army. I'm not normally an IG guy, but I really liked the idea of a rough rider force. At first I was going to go straight IG, but then I thought I might do a chaos version. After all, I have a ton of the old rider models and nothing planned for them.

Slaanesh seemed a good choice based on my supply of beastrider models, but when I got to listing out potential formations and combos, they didn't seem very Slaaneshi. The riders aren't that fast and there was lots of big, heavy armored things that didn't seem in character.

Then I thought about my other option - lots of Jugger models - and it hit me:

Old-school Khorne Squats and Daemon Engines

I figured infantry, Jugger riders, lots of heavy armor and firepower all fit really well. So, I'm here to solicit opinions on whether this army composition makes sense.
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Infantry Company w/ Fire support (slave company) - 375
Death Riders (Juggers) - 250
Death Riders (Juggers) - 250
Engineers (Squats) - 300
Engineers (Squats) - 300
Macharius Company (Daemon Engines) - 350
Macharius Company (Daemon Engines) - 350
Silo - 250
Bombards - 250
Tbolts - 150
Tbolts - 150

2975 points, 11 activations. Commisars in the infantry, riders, engineers and maybe the silo (if not, one of the Mach companies). The only really fragile formation is the Bombards. 8 formations have ranged fire to prep assaults (9 with the silo, but it's rarely going to do that).

Infantry company, Bombards and Silo would be deployed near the blitz in a defense-in-depth kind of arrangement if the enemy has substantial deepstrike options. If not, the infantry might could move forward.

The forward line would be Mach and Riders, set to link up with the Engineers when they surface. The speeds are similar enough that they should work for anything from a denied flank to a pincer strategy, depending on how the formations are staggered.

Does that sound like it will work? What else would be useful.

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I think the counts-as options will give some flexibility to the army org. The Squats could be deployed as Grenadiers instead of Engineers. Making the Command Mach/Daemon Engine conversions on the large-ish side for DC2 would allow them to be used for SHTs. By the time I throw in a couple things I have laying around like some Thudd Guns for quad launchers, I should have quite a bit of variety.

One thing I'm considering just because I think it would be cool is a Reaver equivalent - either a quadraped or something more centipede-like, almost like an insectoid landtrain.

So, 40+ views and no strategy comments?

I'd be tentative taking this list, but it might work out. :-)

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Currently doing a plastic scenery kickstarter

E&C: What makes you tentative? What would you change?

Hena: I'm not terribly worried about speed. It will have a concentration of forces on/around the Blitz objective, including the BTS. The opponent will either have to come after it, or decide to give up on 2 possible goals. The Engineers are there to provide a force to go after out of the way objectives or to double up and hammer something deep in enemy territory.

I agree about the lack of a SC. The idea is to keep "must have" activation situations to a minimum.

How would you set up a heavy-rider force?

Several similarities, but a few differences. I think my strategy would have been similar to Asaura, even though the pieces have a different style. In the end my line would have been 2 Deathrider, 2 macharius, 1 infantry company, 1 engineer company instead of Asaura's 2 deathriders, 2 infantry, 1 macharius and the AA formations - both are lots of riders and infantry backed by some shooty stuff.

I think the list is pretty well balanced. Nothing about it stands out as wildly controversial or terribly weak. 11 activations, good mix of assaulting, short, and long range. I don't think your Bombards are a source of worry - there is only one formation of them so even if they are targeted (which they will be) they are only 250 and it burns an activation from your opponent. Odds are that anybody reaching out and touching it will be as expensive or moreso, plus possibly in range.

CS Ninja edit

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

For ease of reference-

At the threat of derailing the thread, what about the Gorgons is overpowering? Do you think they are unbalanced or just tough?

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author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.

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https://www.cybershadow.ninja - A brief look into my twisted world, including wargames and beyond.
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I don't think they're overpowering... but they are a bit like Thunderhawks to Marines, in that they are one of the go-to ways in which to make the list work.

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Currently doing a plastic scenery kickstarter

I've used Krieg without Gorgons a few times. I took trench positions, lots of artillery and Death Rider companies.

Nice idea with the counts as models Neal. Personally I'm a little cautious about the list, as I normally go heavier on artillery and am much more of a fan of Medusas plus Trojans for survivability and longer ranged disrupt and ignore cover. I prefer my infantry companies to either have trenches or Gorgons, but it may be workable so long as you can keep them in cover. Give it a try and let us know what happens?

It can't be a ninja edit if you tell people you did it!!

_________________
author of Syncing Forward and other stories...

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and I've got my Milkbone underwear on.