E-mail: 1750 Razorspam

E-mail in from TKE:
I seem to have lost my Codex :(

Can you please hit me up with a Razor Spam 1750 list without SCs?

Much gratitude... <3

(Of course, you being in the US, I might find the Codex before you even wake up, or at least, stop playing Reach, lol)

*Returns to looking for the bastard...*

I did manage to pull away from Reach, so yay for you and me.

Well, allow me to post a bunch of filler about Razorspam.  It's essentially this: lots of Razorbacks.  This is shocking, I know.  Wolves get tons of cheap Razors everywhere, so you can bring plenty.  Of the Razorback variants available, I like the lascannon and twin-linked plasma guns.  Yes it does double the cost, but let's look at the other options.  Heavy Bolters come free, but they really aren't much to write home about.  Lots of S5 shots doesn't really threaten mech and infantry can be handled by your free flamers and ultra grit.  Heavy Flamers look neat, but have a silly short range and don't come on a Fast vehicle, like an Immolator or BA Razor.  TL Lascannons work fine, but look at the same price range.  Assault Cannons kick out a ton of shots at medium S, plus rending, so they can threaten most anything.  Range is an issue of course, especially considering that the best anti-Razorback weapons (autocannons and missile launchers) have twice the range.  Las/plas gives what TLLC does, only you trade the marginally more accurate TL for an extra gun that hit the sweet spot between basic infantry and stuff like Terminators/Carnifexes that lascannons have problems with.

So, las/plas all day.  Razorbacks aren't very tough, so you need lots to offset their fragility.  1 Razor is scrap, 10 is a whole other matter.  Las/plas Razors are ideal for busting up transports and killing off heavy infantry and MCs, but they have problems with AV14 and lots of basic infantry.  You'll be needing melta or massed fire to handle AV14, and Razors really do the latter well.  You can kill off their support easily to ping away with tons of S9.  Termies, Storm Shield or no, hate TL plasma.  To go for hordes, flamers work just fine.

I'm not going to post a single list because there is no definitive list.  I'm just going to present some options, let you know how I decided on them, and whichever you like best is up to you.

First off, you need an HQ and Troops.  A Rune Priest is always a good starter for his low cost and runic weapon alone.  Storm Caller is handy if you bring lots of armor, and the 2nd power is really your call.  Living Lightning is great for knocking out transports, but you have to get out and lascannons do a bang up job already.  Tempest's Wrath is looking better every day with all those DS armies around.  Thunderclap is a good crowd control weapon, very handy if you get surrounded by assaulters.  Jaws is good for popping out to snipe a problem target, but with all that plasma you shouldn't have to worry about MCs much.  Murderous Hurricane slows bad guys down, and that's always good for a shooty army.  Freki and Geri are not all that useful here consider you'll be riding shotgun most of the game.  A Chooser is also useful to prevent the enemy from closing, since you'll want them as far away from you as possible most of the time.  For the Troops, 5 GH in a Razorback only costs 150 points.

So, at a minimum you're looking at 410.  10 GH is a bit low for 1750, so double it.  710, time for support.

Long Fangs are always a cheap and efficient support unit.  You can either put them on foot or hide in a Rhino bunker, trading shots and and cost for survivability.  3 Fangs with 2 missiles and a Rhino bunker is only 100 points.  5 Fangs with 4 missiles and a Razorback runs 190.  Since we're doing Razorspam, the latter is the way forward.  Since the Fangs will be on foot, you'll need to bring lots.  3 units will be 570.  That's 1280 spent.

Long Fangs need ablative wounds, and Wolf Guard are happy to provide.  We can also get more Razorbacks too!  3 Wolf Guard with a Razorback is only 129 points.  Split one off to join the LF as a bullet catcher and you're set.  While we're here, let's tack on some combi-meltas to help out should AV14 rear its ugly head.  139 each and 3 units comes up to 417.  1697 spent.

Now, we've got 10 Razorbacks and 3 units of Fangs deployed on foot.  With that last 50 points we can add HKs to a couple units for even more blast turn 1, or drop the Chooser and give each unit of Fangs an extra heavy bolter bullet catcher.

So, here's one
HQ
Rune Priest w/ Storm Caller, Tempest's Wrath

Elites
3x 3 Wolf Guard, 2 combi-meltas, las/plas Razorback

Troops
4x 5 Grey Hunters, flamer, las/plas Razorback

Heavy Support
3x 6 Long Fangs, 4 missiles, heavy bolter, las/plas Razorback

Total: 1747

Obviously the 3 smallish foot squads can cause problems.  However, if deployed in cover, the best way to nail Fangs is with massed medium S fire.  The best way to handle Razors is also massed medium S fire.  Small arms have too short of a range and heavier stuff is negated by cover.

If you want to go full on Razorbacks though, turn the Fangs into bunker units and add more Grey Hunters.  You lose out on 6 missile launchers, but gain 2 more vehicles and scoring units.

Another option is to bring in Dreads and Speeders.  Rifleman Dreads complement Razorbacks quite well.  Swap out the WG for Dreads and you can save a couple points.  Add in MM/HF Speeders to give you that melta and extra burny.  Typhoons are an option as well, but they end up pricier.  You cut back on overall Razorback count, but add in tougher vehicles as well as speedy support that can reserve or Deep Strike to help keep them alive until they're needed.


So, them's my thoughts on Razorspam.  It's a nasty MSU build, but it is comprised of glass cannons and is a bit on the "metagamey" side.  It will mess up light armor spam or mech all day, but it will have a harder time with certain rock armies like horde Orks or dual Land Raiders.  That's why it pays to include melta and flamers or real combat units.  If I had my say on Razorspam, I'd be throwing in TWC to give you that extra bite in HtH.

Hope that helps.