Now there are a fair number of combinations out there, but for the purposes for this ramble I will be focussing on the army combinations I am interested in.
Necrons & Blood Angels
Necrons & Space Wolves
Blood Angels & Necrons
These combinations offer up some interesting options, but before you begin building your Depserate Ally list you want to make sure you are clear on what the disadvantages are.
One Eye Open
Non Scoring
Non Denial
IC's Cannot join Allied Units
Allied Units count as Enemy (for Purposes of Psychic Powers / Abilites)
(If I have missed any please let me know).
So when I look at building a Desperate Alliance army you need to take the above into account, for me the main ones to worry about are the Non Scoring & Non Denial Units.
These rules basically make Troops pointless, the Non Denial is something to bear in mind but not one of the big things I consider for my army building.
So with the consideration that you arent taking your Allies for better scoring oppourtunities what I do is have a look through the Codices for units that interest me, ones that might be fun to use or try out, but that I dont want to own a full army for.
Below are the ones I really like from each Codex
Blood Angels:
Librarian Dreadnought
Death Company
Baal Predator
Vanguard Veterans
Sternguard Veterans
Necrons:
Doom Scythe
Monolith
Night Scythe
Destroyer Lord
Wraiths
Scarabs
Destroyers
Tomb Blades
C'tan Shard
Space Wolves
Rune Priests
Lone Wolves
Wolf Guard
Thunder Wolves
Why narrow it down to these? Well my aim will be to take a minimum Troop choice, and then spend as many points as I can on other toys for my Allies.
However just whacking in the toys you like will leave you coming up short. The main thing to do is to look at where your allies can buff your main detachments weaknesses.
So when adding Wolves / Blood Angels to a Necron primary force I always look to add a bit of Shock&Awe and Close Combat.
Shock&Awe is my way of saying in your face, so drop pods are good for this, even as a sacrifical unit as you can get in close to the enemy and force them to deal with you.
The other thing to consider is that in any game where scoring is the aim, your Allies should be used to destroy enemy scoring units in their deployment zone, if the enemy has a couple of Elite Units that will hold up my Thunderwolves, or a Squishy Tactical Squad to charge... charge the platoon. You dont care if you wipe them out then get shot at, especially if that is their only, scoring unit in the area.
Next time, a couple of sample Desperate Allied Army Lists!
Comments
While they are expensive, the squad sizes are very flexible so you really can spend as few or as many points on them as you want.
They have Feel No Pain on their own, so you don't need to invest any points in a Sanguinary Priest to give them that advantage.
Hammer of Wrath (if you give them jump packs) and the new rule for Rage they are pretty excellent, especially with a Chaplain (if you are using them with jump packs Lemartes is pretty fantastic).
They also are Relentless so they are pretty great on foot out of a drop pod as well, since they can rapid fire their bolters and still charge.
Lastly, if the Blood Angels really were in a desperate situation, deploying their Death Company makes the most narrative sense.
A unit of 10 of them, either running across the board at people, or arriving by drop pod should give anyone food for thought.
Relentless is a nice boost as you can do some serious damage to anything and then still get the charge in to deal with it as well.
Will draft up some lists to see if I can find one that takes my fancy.