Army List: 1500pt Poorman's Mech

(Image from librarium-online.com forums)

Ok, so I asked around about my Dante/Sang Guard list on here and forums and I got a resounding "Meh". Apparently the Sang Guard are trash, as they are still just marines. The only aspect of them I don't like is the 5-man limit. People also point out cost or no invul save, but I'm fine with that. I just like to have enough bodies around in the event guys drop, so if it were a 10-man unit, I'd still go with them. I still intend to put them on the board sometime as a lark and find out how fast they die. But, on to more lists as I said I would. This one is a Mech list, which actually is a modified Jump Pack list. Since the transition from JPs to transport is no longer free for normal assault marines, it ended up that I had to remove models and make 9-man units to fit everything in a transport plus the points difference. *Edited RZB weapon and Libbies for more anti-tank*

• 2x Librarian (Blood Lance and ??)
• 2x 9-man Assault Squad
• Power Weapon, 1x Melta-gun
• Rhino
• 2x 5-man Assault Squad
• Razorback with LC/TL-PG
• 2x Priest
• 2x 8-man Sternguard Squad
• Missile Launcher

If you haven't picked up on it, I like mirrored lists. It might be a deep seated OCD thing I don't know about, but there it is. I think it has to do with redundancy, should one unit fail via bad-luck I have a back up. It also means the enemy can't cherry pick the "uber" unit and single out my best guy. He has equal threats on both sides, so regardless of where he attacks I have more of the same. The Libbies are attached to the large squad in a Rhino and a Priest is with the 5-man in the RZB. It was between that or an Honor Guard that comes with the free Priest and were actually very near the same cost. It came down to the fact I now have 4 scoring units in armor instead of 2 scoring units, but really it's a toss up if you compare them on paper. The RZB is to protect the Priest from being singled out, say if he was with the main assault squad. If the RZB is popped, the 5-man squad isn't kitted to fight, but could be a counter-charge/meat shield and the Priest can break off to hide in maybe the newly emptied Rhino of the original squad to keep that bubble up. The Sternguard form a fire-base and mostly lay down 30" range shots to weaken units or target MCs, etc with their more specialized ammo, instead of my squishy troops trying to assault it.

As the title suggests, this is a poor-man's mech. Of course I want better upgrades, especially on those other 5-man units, but it's just impossible to fit it all. GW is forcing me to play 1750 almost so I can round everyone out. For example, taking 10-men squads and the other melta would be great! But that's 56 points I don't have at 1500 and plus my Librarians now are kicked out and have to walk or pay even more for a transport or JP. Every time I remove men from a squad, say like the Sternguard, I get more upgrades, but I'm losing shots that could be vital against a horde. This is a take-on-whatever list, so I'm planning to be rounded, so I don't want to lose anti-horde just to get more anti-MEQ when my troops can handle it. I can't decide on the Libby powers quite yet either. The Shield seems pretty awesome to have a 5+ cover save either on foot or in vehicles and I might take Preferred Enemy as well to ensure we'll win combat. Again, I hope to not be assaulting MCs, but if it happens, I can still use my Instant Death blade if it comes down to it, since stuff like 'nids lost Eternal Warrior on everything for just being in synapse.

Caveats: Again I have no experience with the list and no one else does, so let's not start off with "this list sucks" comments 'til we enter a time when the codex isn't the new hotness anymore. This is built of personal preference, not a jumping board to 'ard boys lists and dreams of tourneys or stomping one enemy type at the local club. I hope to try this out sometime soon. I'll build more lists in the future as well, so this isn't the end all be all for me.