40k-metrics: Stillfrosty's White Scars

Since this is still new the more armies we can push through system the better in order to see how various lists stack up.  Stillfrosty of White Scars blog was kind enough to submit his current 2k list for consideration.  Since he placed 5th at Adepticon with the 1850 version it's safe to say that his list is competitive and a good indicator of where a competitive bike army should be.

Picture this with another 150 points.

First the list...

Khan on bike

Command

Bikes

Vet with lightning claw melta gun

Vet with power fist and storm shield

Vet with power fist melta gun and storm shield Champ Apothecary Bike squadron 8+1 2x plasma guns fist mmab Bike squadron 8+1 2x melta guns fist mmab Scouts with s rifles and camo

2 typhoon speeder with h bolter

2 typhoon speeder with h bolter

2 typhoon speeder with h flamer
2 Thunder Fire Cannons

=2k

So here is a competitive list that is high on defense (all troops either have a 3+ invulnerable or are T5) and high on mobility.  In theory, the sacrifice for being tough and fast is you lose offense.  But remember, the player writes his own list, and the proper use of metagaming comes to mind.  Right now, you rarely see Land Raiders or Russes at the top tables of Grand Tournaments.  If you go with that assumption, it's safe to skimp on, say, melta in order to keep the other firepower metrics in your force high while still retaining mobility and toughness.  

How does this proven winner stack up?

Stillfrosty 2k DMS DMCC DRPG DLRPG Notes Khan 0.29 2.18 2.00 0.00 Bike 5x Command 2.00 6.05 15.00 6.36 1 LC, 2 Fist, PW, 2 melta 8 bikes 4.85 2.68 7.40 1.98 2 Plasma, fist, MM ab 8 bikes 3.72 2.68 9.31 5.94 2 melta, fist, MM AB 5 scouts 0.68 0.90 0.87 0.00 sniper rifles 4 typhoons 6.20 0.00 13.20 0.00 Heavy bolters 2 Typhoons 3.99 0.00 6.60 0.00 Heavy Flamers 2 Thunder Fires 6.73 0.00 4.80 0.00 Totals:  28.46 14.49 59.18 14.28 So how does this list stack up to the top NOVA lists from last year?  Pretty comparably.  Like I said before, his army is fast and tough, so there are inevitably trade-offs that can be seen.  The key is trading off in economical ways that minimize the impact of the trade offs so that you don't feel their loss. His anti-MEQ shooting is right on par with those lists.  It seem that the low to mid-twenties is where all these competitive lists are scoring, Orks not surprisingly coming in the lowest of the bunch due to a focus on close combat over shooting ability.  Since his score is nearly a 30, we can see he is packing significant anti-infantry firepower. The White Scars close combat ability is where some of those economical decisions were made.  As you can see, his score is below the 4 NOVA lists but still rather close to the mech-BA list.  He does have an uber unit in terms of the command squad and Khan, which will single-handedly wipe out a full MEQ squad per turn between their shooting charge.  It's a tough, tough unit that is something of a swiss-army knife for this list in terms of it's problem solving ability.  Incidentally, the trading of CC ability may be a very good choose for this list in a NOVA style tournament.  With 5 objectives in every missions and table quarters, the list has the ability to turboboost and grab/contest real estate.  It doesn't need to wipe you off the objectives to win, it will be very happy to contest 2 of them, secure one or two of it's own, and use the command squad to clean you off the 5th and win 2-0.  So CC is a decent place for this list to make its trade-offs. It's penetrating hits on Rhinos per game is on the low side, but still very comparable to Tony's NOVA winning list, coming in with identical scores!  Right now the sample size of lists I've broken down is 6 lists big and this is right in the wheel house of non-MSU lists I've looked at in this category.  Mid-to high 50's seems to be a very acceptable zone for a competitive 2k list in this category. Penetrating hits on AV14 is another place I don't see him losing much by skimping on, for reasons above.  When there is a strong chance you won't see any Land Raiders at a tournament, there is no reason to sacrifice the balance of the rest of your list just to shore up anti-AV14.  While his score is lower than the some of the lists, the chances of facing a Land Raider at the top tables of Day 2 at a GT are low enough that a person can reasonably risk sacrificing some anti-AV14 to gain the mobility and defense that frosty does here. So all in all, his scores are right in line with competitive 2k GT lists, which isn't surprising since we know his list is a competitive GT list already, too.  I would like to say that someone could definitely use this as the baseline/benchmark criteria list for any other bike list that comes down the pipe and feel confidant they were getting a good comparison. Questions?  Comments?