Saim Hann Private Reserve

So, I was going over my last 2k Saim Hann list (not intended to be especially 'eavy but 3 fire prisms is pretty mean), which currently looks something like this:

Farseer - jetbike, spirit stones, mind war, fortune, guide, runes of warding, singing spear

6 Guardian jetbikes - 2 shuriken cannons
Warlock - jetbike, embolden, singing spear

6 Guardian jetbikes - 2 shuriken cannons
Warlock - jetbike, embolden, singing spear

6 Guardian jetbikes - 2 shuriken cannons
Warlock - jetbike, embolden, singing spear

10 Dire avengers
Exarch - diresword/pistol, bladestorm, defend
Wave serpent - twin-linked scatter laser, shuriken cannon, spirit stones, star engines

Vyper - scatter laser, spirit stones, shuriken cannon, holofields

Vyper - scatter laser, spirit stones, shuriken cannon, holofields

Vyper - scatter laser, spirit stones, shuriken cannon, holofields

Fire Prism - spirit stones, holofields, star engines

Fire Prism - spirit stones, holofields, star engines

Fire Prism - spirit stones, holofields, star engines

Anyway, I was thinking this army might do well to take advantage of the 5th edition reserve rules. Holding everything back could be beneficial for several reasons:

• The main strength of the army is being able to engage the enemy on your own terms. This tactic might be the most drastic expression of that, essentially a drop pod army with a little less reach but the ability to redeploy surviving forces (by hauling ass and regrouping) if the enemy comes on too strong.


• Given that the bikes all have to ride flying bases, absolute cover is pretty impossible with any bike squad size over 4 or 5. If I didn't get first turn, any decent gunline could make mincemeat of many key units before I could budge (or cast fortune). But not if I didn't have anything on the board yet! And since deployment zone choice would be pretty moot, I could always choose to go second and deny my opponent even more time to shoot up my guys.


• Moving on from my own table edge is not that big of a deal given the ridiculous movement capabilities of every single unit. In spearhead deployment, I could attack and defend both quarters along my table edge and potentially have access to a very wide flank on the enemy. It could prevent scuttling nids and other fast assault units from engaging 1st turn in the dawn of war scenario, and a surprise group of bikes and tanks coming in from the table edge in a later turn could pick the weakest point in their line, blow through it, and disrupt the whole attack.


• I still haven't played against chaos demons, but trickling my army out more slowly might mitigate the surprise deep-strike shooting attacks that demons are capable of.


• The less time my enemy has to immobilize or destroy my skimmers, the better. The vypers, fire prisms, and wave serpents all have key secondary roles to play as objective contesters.

A few more thoughts. The biggest cons to using this strategy would probably be the sheer unpredictability (somewhat overcome by redundant units) and the drastic reduction in killing power by trickling my guns onto the table a bit at a time. The army thrives on concentrating as much firepower as possible on one or two key enemy units at a time, and without backup, units might not survive long enough to make any kind of dent into the crucial targets (big guns, troops holding objectives). I know there's a few fellow wild riders out there, so drop a line. I still haven't even put my warhost up on those bedamned flying bases yet, but they're all based. I'm still going to try and finish the nid paint jobs before moving on to the eldar.