Army Lists in Warhammer 40K - Tips and Tricks to Write BETTER Ones

[@Beedji]

Building lists on Battlescribe is my favorite past-time on my phone

[@scopedog9197]

Yes most assuredly good person...

[@mannerdlover]

I'm happy I'm not the only one

[@SleepySoviet]

I've spent hours in bed on BS

[@blu_j12]

Thank the gods I'm not the only one! My friends thought I was weird because I enjoy listening building. I've spent countless hours on battlescribe and wahapedia!

[@pjfisher82]

Yes me too, spend ages putting different lists together and seeing what different options /combos are available for the points. However I do play thousand sons, so there aren't a ton of options 😂

[@PoofyKittyPants]

I didn't see a mention of mortal wounds. I always try to make sure I have a source of mortal wounds somewhere. It's a good counter to invul saves.

[@quentinantoine4183]

*Laughs in thousand sons*

[@Nionyx]

@@quentinantoine4183 I’m trying to build my thousand sons and laughed reading this lol. So many wounds.

[@stanfromaccounting2045]

Doom bolt hits different

[@norlanderduwallis9074]

A better counter to invuln saves is to buy whatever new codex comes out cause they LOVE ignore invuln saves. Fucking heretical.

[@DrErikNefarious]

"You don't want to have 20+ vehicles* Imperial Guard and Speed Freeks Orks start sweating

[@celtichistory]

*laughs in foot guard* what is this... vehicle? Is that some form of horse? The rough riders were talking about different breeds

[@Bluecho4]

@@celtichistory God, I wish the Rough Riders would come back. The Guard need their horsie bois. Kriegsmen shouldn't have all the fun.

[@celtichistory]

@@Bluecho4 thats all I want,I love the new kreig but we have a bunch of new guardmodels on the form of necromunda. Most of those kits have lasguns. All I want is rough riders back

[@jjkingish]

@@Bluecho4 I agree. So annoying they got rid of them for main guard

[@mangost2008]

@@Bluecho4 well, i know its a bit late but boy do i got some news for you

[@Haiphong778]

I almost always bring a Squad of Servitors. Not to hold an objective, but to screen out deep strikes. SUPER handy!

[@Meuduso1]

I've been in the hobby for exactly a year now and I've only been interested in building, painting and converting. That being said, I still love watching these videos

[@MrTrenttness]

Same here. I have loved painting and collecting since the end of 2019. I still enjoy these video's.

[@arrushbharadwaj6238]

As a beginner TT 40K player, this video is exactly what I needed

[@rantymcrant-pants9536]

Run. Run away while you're not hooked. It's plastic crack, mate. RUN!!!!!

[@arrushbharadwaj6238]

@@rantymcrant-pants9536 too late, Ive already sunk hundreds in. Im way past the point of dependancy haha

[@rantymcrant-pants9536]

@@arrushbharadwaj6238 LOL! Good luck with the abusive relationship that is being a fan of GW.

[@BrotherVoidBomber]

Same

[@WeOnlyEatSoup]

My whole crew and myself converted from D&D to 40k in April...the addiction is real lol

[@jossypoo]

I'm walking to work trying to figure out a list and here you are. It's uncanny. Possibly the earliest I've been to any Yt video at 7 minutes.

[@Chromed84]

The Warhammer App does have a bug involving the way I calculates the points total for the entire army list. The apps dev team is aware of the bug and working to correct it. Just make sure you look at the point total associated with the detachment versus the army point list.

[@eskhaphey2873]

the 40k app has always been crap, just like battlescribe, just use some paper and your own brain, simple enough

[@DylanChester97]

I spend most of my time trying to balance lore friendly-ness against the meta. Like, I know Land Raider Crusaders suck right now, but how can I not take one in a Black Templars list?

[@sethhagen9240]

Same in my Grey Knights. Need my giant silver beacon of DAEMON CLEANSING.

[@burgerdan4936]

By taking some land raider redeemers, the fire really silhouettes the black armor nicely.

[@davidharper142]

This man's content is fantastic.

[@warmasterraven1447]

Bit of an odd request but would you ever consider reading lore? I find your voice very calming and would love to hear you read out lore while I paint

[@malakimphoros2164]

No fluff, only crunch

[@MartynStanleyAuthor]

I enjoyed this. I recently started playing again, but so far we're just playing total annhilation until we've got the rules down before complicate things further. The first game we played was Space Wolves, Bjorn, with Primaris Techmarine to heal and buff, 10 x Grey Hunters with one flamer and one plasma pistol and chainsword guy and 10 x Wolf Guard Terminators with a mixture of 2 x Assault Cannons, storm bolters, storm shields, powerfists amd a guy with a stormshield and thunder hammer, and the packleader had a power axe. The Nids had a Hive Tyrant, Carnifex, Lictor and 12 Nid warriors split into 6 x deathspitters, 3 x dual boneswords and 2 devourers plus a venom cannon. The Gery Hunters got completely smashed and could hardly damage anything. The Hive Tyrant and the Carnifex proved really tough for the Space Wolves to deal with. The only really good option was for Bjorn to melee. The Wolf Guard Terminators lost half their squad but seemed a fair match. Shard Gullet just seemed unfair. It's a nasty weapon. The Wolves won, but it actually felt like the Nids has a stronger list. I improved the Wolves by adding Scouts with 5 x Sniper Rifles and 2 x Shotguns plus I gave the packleader a powersword. I gave the Grey Hunter Captain a Power Axe and I added a squad of 5 x Long Fangs with 4 x Las Cannons and a Meltagun. For Balance the Nids added a 2nd Carnifex and 9 x Genestealers. The second game, the Wolves seemed to have a massive advantage. But I think we were a bit short on terrain so that favoured their more shooty army. The Scouts mortal wounds on 6s to hit did damage to Hive Tyrant and Carnifexes. The biggest issue for the Nids was Bjorn and the Techmarine hiding behind. They had him down to 2 wounds after one round, but with certain abilities Primaris Techmarine heals 3 wounds per turn and Bjorn is quite tough anyway. I suspect if Bjorn had been taken off the table, the Nids could have won it, but they lost a lot of bugs trying to take down Bjorn. I'm on about 1165 pts for each army now with wargear etc... The question is what can I add to the armies to make a more interesting battle next time? I feel like the Nids are lacking weak, cheap cannon fodder to swarm the enemy. The Wolves don't particularly seem to be lacking anything.

[@rxdrxd7468]

I remember that I had an idea of horde list for Red Corsairs. It can make use of both Tide of Traitors and that Corsairs gem to resurrect CSM units. It can be mixed with mark of slaanesh for 5+ fnp for key squad at the moment. That list seems absolutely shitty but also so funny and I think even fluffy :) Just endless horde of heretics. And of course it starts on outrageous number of something like 16CP

[@magdovus]

I wouldn't want to play a competitive game with them. A games night at a FLGS? Oh hell yes...

[@Tzar-TZ]

My fave fluffy build is a list with nothing but necron destroyers

[@logangagnepain7154]

Naw, real men use only flayers

[@BlueStarr86]

The Argent Shroud's propensity for survivability, Celestians, Dominions, and Seraphim makes for a great list. The only thing you will be taking that isn't those, is Retributors.

[@56sketch]

Did you mean Valorours Heart?

[@BlueStarr86]

No, Valorous Heart is known for being masochistic and ugly. The Valorous Heart view martyrdom as a good thing. The Argent Shroud views it as a reprieve from duty, a luxury.

[@56sketch]

@@BlueStarr86 you were talking about survivability though, the Argent Shroud are renowned for fast decisive action and the Valorous Heart are renowned for being hardened and defensible because of their masochism and pain training. Propensity for survivability goes to the Heart really, even on table top, not just the lore

[@BlueStarr86]

@@56sketch Yes and despite their primary propensity for speed, they are shockingly resilient. Most Argent Shroud seem to die of old age or teamkilling, rather than combat against actual enemies. Even on the tabletop, their ability to just give themselves a 4+ FNP vs mortal wounds makes them nonsensically tough vs the armies that use most commonly deliver them.

[@snapblink]

Thank you, Auspex! As somebody who's loved 40K since he was a kid, but only just had the chance to get into it, this is very useful! :)

[@magdovus]

I'm a big fan of Excel for list building. Makes life easy and can be edited quickly.

[@benballard6132]

Auspex in the background is so good for making work bearable.

[@Chuckbreakseven]

My hero! So exciting when I get the notification for a new video.

[@d.t.m8393]

Can't really speak to other armies, but especially for Space Marine players I feel like the "not overspending on characters" tip is an important one to bear in mind. I often see Space Marine lists with roughly 500pts in 3-4 characters, and to me that's crazy (I only spend 170pts on characters in my standard 2K list).

[@joewoodland8635]

i think that is more dependant on chapter, but then again, i mostly play spikey marines, and our characters are our powerhouses. (we used to follow the classical undead style of tactics more often than not.)

[@d.t.m8393]

@@joewoodland8635 Oh yeah, I should have specified regular old loyalist Marines there. Off the top of my head I believe I run 290pts of characters in my Iron Warriors army because it's hard to resist the Lord Discordant's +1 to hit aura for all those sweet daemon engines! 😎

[@honeybeeees6666]

A single SM character in some chapters can usually output the same damage potential as an entire small unit, and is usually more durable if screened properly. I think the issue is when people SACRIFICE parts of their army to fit in more characters.

[@bocatt9202]

My Flesh Tearers list has 565 points in 5 characters, but half of that is Gabby Seth + a Sanguinary priest upgraded to Chief Apothecary. The other half is Phobos Libby, Phobos Capt, and a Primaris Chaplain, all bare bones to support other parts of the army.

[@imdeadinside792]

Well for tau I have like 500 points of commanders Because they’re just stupidly powerful

[@XanderKarr]

Hey that's my Judiciar model - nice :D

[@LegoPiMan3]

I got on youtube, thought "I'll watch something other than tactics and battle reports... *scroll scroll* Or i could watch this"

[@jothewerewolf]

I have literally been looking for this advice for years.

[@Nazasu]

Building a list for me is easy. Custodian Guard with Storm Shields. Maybe take a couple Vertus Praetors. Have a Vexilla for sweet AOE Buff. EZ PZ. Lmao, but honestly, with other armies, i have no idea what im doing, so this is very useful information!

[@NobleChile]

Custodes having few models to pick from so makes it easier. I like to start with one of each dread and go from there

[@jamesdo8988]

Just wait until you start craving the Forgeworld models that’s when the Custodes pain begins

[@Nazasu]

@@jamesdo8988 Yeeah I've been eyeing that Telemon 👀

[@RSBurgener]

Sometimes this game reminds me of MTG in the mid 90s. Back then, there was only the core set and couple of expansions. So each color had a few amazing cards and a whole bunch of really crappy ones that were ineffective. Unless you wanted to get stomped, you had to use this handful of great cards. If you use the models you love, or even the ones that came in the boxed set, you're pretty much shooting yourself in the foot. It's the same flaw in the game and it can be really frustrating. I understand the reasons for it, but it means that everyone uses the same stuff in their armies and there isn't much variety.

[@mrcaterpillow9926]

Eh, I would disagree. I play a very fluffy Space Marine list, playing in my LGS tournaments, and at home I end up winning a lot of games. An Ultramarine list, focused around Bladeguard, who are just so incredibly tanky with the help of an Apothecary and Judiciar to make them a even scarier combination to run into. My entire list, is infantry only, and I get wins. (Except against Death Guard. I struggle against them due to most of my weapons being 2 Damage, however I squeak by)

[@RSBurgener]

@@mrcaterpillow9926 I'm glad to hear it. I suppose it's not always true for everyone, which is good. But when it comes to Space Marines, there are several junk units (cough, Reivers) that are weak links waiting to pop.

[@Tehonlyspennaaah]

@@RSBurgener all intercessor types, incursors, infiltrators, redemptor dreadnoughts, terminators, assault veterans, bladeguard, lieutenants, chaplain on bike, librarians (regular and phobos), outriders, attack bikes, eliminators and an array of Forge World units are all completely viable picks. No idea what you’re on about. There are 100+ datasheets. Of course there is some junk. I’m a Space Wolves player as well and we have a further 10+ datasheets that are all great on top of this.

[@PoofyKittyPants]

It's more about avoiding the truly bad units than focusing on the really strong units. After that you can make unexpected strategies work. You can always go off meta unless the meta list you are playing against is being played by an actual pro.

[@RSBurgener]

And I may be wrong, but it's what I've observed. Players by and large watch the videos, they study the Meta. When they come to the local games store, theyre loaded for bear. That means unless you wanna be absolutely tabled, even in a casual game, you need to have a pretty tight force. Plus the newest armies just seem to be getting stronger. I would not consider myself a competitive player. But I've learned to keep up with what's strong so that I've got at least some chance. So that's kinda my point.

[@philippegay964]

Thank you for making this kind of video. Has a new player of 40k it's very appreciable!!!

[@sethwinfrey8218]

Wish I could subscribe twice bro, love your channel

[@lenbone72]

been building all kinds of idea for thousand sons right now like: Ahriman Daemon Prince wings/talons Exalted Sorc Disk 1x 10 Man squads of Rubrics w/Soul Reaper 2x8 man Squads of Rubrics w/flamers 2x 5 Man Squads of Terminators /w Soul Reaper 2x Rhinos 1 Hellbrute 1 Contemptor Dread

[@davidlopez6703]

8 is not Tzeench number xd. I always have doubts in which option is better for daemon prince. Why 2 talons instead of sword?

[@lenbone72]

@@davidlopez6703 8 is more about pts than lore friendlyness lol. I am debating either way on the Daemon Prince, waiting on the new codex to arrive in the mail, But mostly because thats how I have the model built from 8th edition.

[@КонстантинЛюлин-ы7щ]

I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE SAME VIDEO ABOUT KNIGHTS. RECENTLY, THEY HAVE GAINED SERIOUS POPULARITY, BUT AT THE SAME TIME THEY FEEL LIKE AN ARMY FROM ANOTHER SYSTEM

[@Krunk_Guy]

My KZbin recommendations are so rude, I was in the middle of writing up a new list and this popped up

[@BrotherVoidBomber]

So I kinda have a silly idea but I wanted to post this and ask anyone in the competitive scene because this would be my first army. Haven't bought any models yet but wanted to know if this was even remotely competitive or i should just scrap it and start over. Battalion Detachment Chapter Selector Bolter Fusillades, Carcharodons, Hungry for Battle, Raven Guard Successor Chapter Master in Terminator Armour w Chapter Command: Chapter Master, Master of Ambush, Storm shield, The Shield Eternal, Thunder hammer, Warlord Tyberos the Red Wake 2x Incursor Squad Intercessor Squad w Auto Bolt rifle Apothecary Acquittal, Chapter Command: Chief Apothecary 2x10 Man squad of Sternguard Veteran Squad w 2x Combi-melta 2x Heavy bolters Super-Heavy Auxiliary Detachment Thunderhawk Gunship w Thunderhawk cluster bombs, Turbo-laser destructor Total: [100 PL, 8CP, 2,000pts] The idea is that I wanna have alot of shooting but still have good melee harassment using my favorite sharks. I dont know if the master of ambush raven guard first round teleport would work on Tyberos since it says (raven guard) but if it does it thought it would be a fantastic first round charge and kill. Sorry for the long length.

[@multecoduri]

Find the strongest model per point in each category.Spam 3 of them.List complete

[@jasongarfitt1147]

I always have used excel for army list building, it just feels right to me

[@WeOnlyEatSoup]

Thanks for that Catachan list!

[@SgtDax]

The fact that the AM list has over 100 bodies and a bunch of tanks is very disconcerting to a Custodes player like me with our 20-25 models. But I guess that tracks when one of my base models costs about the same as an entire guard squad.

[@Kmwildride]

I miss the old force org chart, but the new method does look like it gives a lot more choices.

[@piotrjeske4599]

As long as the codex has them yes

[@marasmusine]

Here's my process. 1. Scrabble together the models I've collected over the past 30 years. 2. That's my army.

[@JustinBrown-gh9vv]

Great vid! Thanks man.

[@imafireingmylasar]

Hmm... Maybe I should rebuild my army, as funny as taking 8 exocrines would be maybe I could use a little more balance. If I only took 7 I could take a group of venomthropes to make shooting at them more annoying.

[@ShadowCoH316]

Been updating my 9th edition data on Battlescribe praying for the day they update the Orks stuff with the new codex goodies. All the points being different makes planning an army annoying when I'm too lazy to do math on paper

[@unparfaitunconnu3997]

They already did update the ork stuff

[@47slogra]

It is updated, but it is under orks 2021 while pre codex is orks

[@ShadowCoH316]

@@47slogra oh really?! PRAISE BE!

[@hawkfae9695]

Isn't the new ork stuff on battlescribe?

[@ShadowCoH316]

@@hawkfae9695 yes as it turns out, they just decided to separate old orks from new orks for some reason as if they were different factions. There's some stuff still not working, like the Nob On Smasha squig not taking a slot if squighog boyz are there, and also I cant choose a Warlord trait on Mozrog Skragbad, though he might have a permanent trait similar to Dante- I'll have to check. Edit: yeah he has a permanent trait like most named characters, so that's not a problem. Smasha squig thing is the only problem afaik.

[@Gothead420]

Very good tips, indeed!

[@braalkmath]

Well... It's not like BA can do anything against DG. They pretty much counter them completely. Same with DA

[@viktordickinson7844]

Heresy

[@OEFarredondo]

10th edition comes

[@speedhump231]

Dammm, i keep choosing fun stuff to include.

[@KaiZerTwitchTV]

But... I have a tank army (Imperial guards), so i cant win? :O :P

[@travelbyfire8474]

Please tell me it's a spearhead with 2 tank commanders with demolishers and 9 demolisher leman russes.

[@PeteofHartainia]

You can, just need to be really careful about line of sight and model placement.

[@KaiZerTwitchTV]

@@travelbyfire8474 Build and painted my army when the Vigilus campaign was :P So my army: 3 tank commanders (BC, Punisher, PC) 3 Leman russ (2 BC & 1 demo) 3 Hellhounds 3 Sentinels 1 Manticore 1 Shadow sword 1 Tech priest I wanted a Hellhammer instead, but some people had knights :| . But i want some more leman russes (and a hellhammer), but we will see when i buy some more ^^

[@Pers0n97]

"Surprisingly involved process" is a generous way to say "a fucking pile of rule bloating"

[@Bluecho4]

^This. It's this kind of thing that makes me prefer One Page Rules. For better or worse, the game isn't that complex. You win or lose on your capability as a general, not on how well you can cheese arcane mechanics.

[@Pers0n97]

@@Bluecho4 Yeah... I got what they tried to do, giving a lot of "customization" to your army, but to me it looks more like a cheap way to get around their constant gutting of the wargear options.

[@diacuuu7185]

everybody gangstar till i drop 100 poxwalkers in a terminus est

[@SWIFTO_SCYTHE]

Not sure why there are so many veteran 40k players telling new players to find another game. Guess the vets had their years of fun and do not want new players to fill in their now vacant spot in the hobby.

[@maxw383]

are there?

[@thee_pyro3590]

The reason is because of the boycott on GW for their policy on fan animations.... They are trying to hurt GW by preventing GW from gaining new customers.

[@d.t.m8393]

@@thee_pyro3590 To be fair there are more reasons than that for people currently being unhappy with GW. Rules bloat is a thing many don't like, and drip-feeding us physical codices instead of publishing the rules online still seems like an archaic money-grubbing practice (I mean we are over a year into 9th edition now aren't we and about half the factions still don't have 9th edition rules -it's crazy if you think about it! You wouldn't buy a boardgame who's rulebook was 50% blank pages with a note in it saying "rest of the game rules to come later"). There's also the issue of their ever-increasing prices in an age of 3D printers and easily available recasts, which makes buying from them at those exorbitant prices harder and harder to justify.

[@eskhaphey2873]

@@thee_pyro3590 GW does a good enough job of scaring off new players with the abundance of crap easy to learn games and the abominable entry cost... even kill team 2 designed to target new players have overly complicated and crappy rulings...

[@47slogra]

@@eskhaphey2873 If you find killteam rules complicated I am afraid you are not a very smart person

[@wyattkerper2024]

I don't need a guide I'm just going to build a 2000 points worth of death riders of kreig and nobody is going to stop me

[@Warsinthewarp]

1st awesome channel BTW

[@timothytimmins5119]

Custodes are boring, change my mind

[@soerenkepler]

How on Earth can you recommend the Warhammer,er app…. Its still full of bugs. Its impossible to create a bugfree list..

[@Part_Time_Catboy]

GW should be paying you

[@konigstiger3252]

I only care about lore when i make list

[@marineultra8055]

My tips and tricks.......throw away your current army, unless its admech or dark eldar, then if u dont have one, buy an admech or dark eldar army, then win over 70 percent of your games without trying......

[@kosmosfantasias7545]

The battleforge in wh40k app is just so bad. So many missing features compared to Battlescribe. Unsubscribed today.

[@rantymcrant-pants9536]

Find a better system, made by a better company and play that instead?

[@d.t.m8393]

Or if you're just playing within a circle of friends, just houserule things to be better like you would if you were playing a D&D game with them. Works for us.

[@rantymcrant-pants9536]

@@d.t.m8393 That would fall under 'find a better system', no?

[@d.t.m8393]

@@rantymcrant-pants9536 Thing is, you'd have to buy (and learn) the rules and models for that other game system, and find other players that play it. If you just patch 40K you can keep playing against the same players with the same models so it's easier.

[@rantymcrant-pants9536]

@@d.t.m8393 Again, coming up with your own rules is finding a better system.

[@47slogra]

Nah, I enjoy 40K. If you are angry at GW don't try to force your opinion on others

[@eskhaphey2873]

... please guys try not to use the 40k app or battlescribe, they are both shite... you have to constantly check since they both keep making simple mistakes, points being wrong, the adding up being wrong, options being wrong... just use paper, or word, or excel, easy enough

[@47slogra]

never seen Battlescribe be wrong before, you sure that isn't it just you not knowing how to use it?

[@eskhaphey2873]

@@47slogra I've run tournaments at my local club before, and have had to resort to banning the use of battlescribe due to checking battlescribe lists with peoples codexes!

[@adamrowell1588]

Given the rate of points updates and errata, Battlescribe is *more* accurate than a printed codex

[@Internetbutthurt]

@@eskhaphey2873 that could be sneaky players presenting a list that looks like its from battlescribe but its fake. There are some devious cheats out there that have zero honor

[@fovarberma752]

I don't mind saving the labor by building with an app, and then doublechecking by myself, but having a codex that doesn't require me to triple check with goddamn erratas would be nice.