#42: The best of the best...

I contemplated tackling Troops next, as they're the building blocks of every legion list as well as compulsory elements to every army, but it was hard not to get straight into arguably my favourite Force Organisation Slot, Elites. I personally look to elites when I want to add some serious punch to my army, as there is a tool for the job here. 

I mentioned in last week's post that I would include Command Squads here, so what better way to kick off this post that with these boys! Typically used as a Bodyguard unit for your Praetor, these fine fellows fill a very specific role in your army. The whole unit (of up to 5) are characters, so they can issue and accept challenges, potentially saving your Praetor from a rather unpleasant or undesirable situation. They all come stock with Artificier Armour, making them a unit that will require some serious firepower to deal with. Alternatively, they can all be clad in Terminator armour, which unlocks Land Raider Phobos' as transports. Jump packs, bikes and jetbikes are also available to the Command Squad. Now, while this unit can be geared up for some serious combat pain, they do have a few flaws. The first being dedicated transports; unless you put the squad in Terminator armour, the only transport available is a rhino, which poses some obvious problems for an assault unit. No assault ramps means leaping out of your transport and copping a round of shooting and your opponent getting the chance to move away and deny you charges. This can be remedied, by purchasing a land raider from Heavy Support, but HS is already a brutally competitive slot. The next downside is that only Praetors unlock these boys for purchase, which is alright unless you intend on bringing Centurions or special characters. On the bright side, with a small points investment, these elite marines can quite easily wipe the floor with most infantry they come across. It should also be noted that the Standard Bearer has two wounds, making him the ideal candidate for a Power Fist, increasing his chances of surviving long enough to swing it. 

Our first actual elite choice is the Veteran Tactical Squad. These are probably best described as the 30k equivalents of the traditional 40k tactical squads, but with abilities and wargear that actually reflect their status as experienced vets of hundreds of battles. This squad can number anywhere from 5 to 10, and for every five guys, you can purchase a traditional special weapon or a heavy bolter/missile launcher with a suspensor web (allowing the weapon to be fired as an assault weapon at the cost of halving its range). This gives the squad a great deal of flexibility without sacrificing damage output. The sarge also has some great options, ranging from thunder hammers to Artificier armour, allowing you to tailor this squad even further to a specific role. Lastly, and definitely most significantly, the squad can select a special rule to apply to the whole squad, be it Fearless, Furious Charge, Outflank, Sniper or Tank Hunter. Essentially, this unit is your ready to tailor gap stop unit capable of being equipped to fill a multitude of roles. 

Terminators! Terminators have been a mainstay of elite shock troops in marine armies since the earliest of days, and for good reason. The squad has the option of chain fists, power fists, lightning claws and a range of ranged weapons for thier Volkite arsenal to auto cannons and heavy Flamers. The main choice is whether you want regular terminator armour and act as normal infantry, or choose the added protection of Cataphractii armour, which increases their Invulnerable save to a very respectable 4+, but slows them down significantly. If you do opt for Cataphracts, consider a transport as almost mandatory in order to pose an urgent and constant threat. 

Destroyer Squads are something else. At first glance, I considered this to be a dunce choice (and due to running Salamanders, my Rite of War excludes them from my available units as it is), but these guys can pose a serious threat! They dual wield bolt pistols, they can be mounted in a Rhino or rock jump packs, and they pack some serious punch in the form of Rad Grenades and Suspensor-webbed Missile Launchers (also packing Rad Missiles). The idea behind this squad is to tag a squad with as much Rad as you can, dropping their toughness dramatically, and then flooding them with hits to force as many armour saves as possible! Quite a neat squad, if used in the right army! The Sarge can also throw Phospex bombs around to devastating effect!

Tech marines can be taken as 1-3 in a single Elite Slot. These guys can be accompanied Servo-Automata, and can raise your average Toungbess to five! They also have access to some pretty cool toys. They may have a place in some lists, but I won't be taking any, if we're honest...

Apothecaries are the absolute business! These guys can be taken in the same manner as Techmarines (1-3 per Elite Slot), and they are worth their weight in gold. These fine fellows can be allocated to any number of squads, handing out Feel No Pain as they go. The bigger the squad, the more bang for your buck. Definitely worthy of your points! 

Dreadnaught Talons are as they have always been; Armour 12/12/10, plenty of weapon options, and some great defensive tools in the form of Ceramite Plating. They can pack a punch, but unfortunately be brought low with even the simple Krak Grenade, unlike our next friend...

The Contemptor Dreadnaught!! This guy is significantly more expensive than a regular Dreadnaught, weighing in 50 points more, and bringing an Invulnerable save and front armour 13. Is it worth it? I think yes. That extra point of armour puts him out of reach from damage by Volkite weapons, and mitigates much of the damage front S7 weapons as well. These guys can easily tank squads and splat characters with ease! He comes with Fleet, making it easier to get to combat, and can rock a multitude of weapon kit-outs! The Mortis Pattern Contemptor is the less-combat/more-death-from-afar gentleman. Instead of a hulking Dreadnaught Close combat weapon, he packs as many guns as humanly possible upon his heavy-set chassis, and gains all kinds of special rules to handle aircraft, or any number of threats for that matter. 

Lastly, I'm going to tackle my personal favourites from Elites; Rapier Platforms. These field guns are points efficient, and come with four options for the guns mounted on these tracked weapons platforms. A quad heavy bolter is the standard, but comparing to the other options, this is by far the least impressive. Laser Destroyer Arrays are perfect tank-busting guns, punching out reliable, high strength, low AP shots every turn with terrifying range and efficiency, while Graviton Cannons can cause absolute havoc and long range. Then there's the Quad Mortar; the devastatingly brutal Thud Gun. This artillery piece is either loved or hated, depending on what side of the gun you're on. Don't expect to make any friends with them, but expect to break everything you shoot at! Whether your Thud battery is dropping 12 strength 5 templates a turn or bring Shatter Shells down upon your enemy's prize tank, firing these babies will be satisfying!

Thanks for reading, everyone. Next week, we'll be tackling Troops.

Thanks,

Gabriel

#41: The Horus Heresy and all that comes with it...

As Silly Season (and it is Silly!) is upon us, my schedule is actually winding down, which is nice. Two short weeks of work left after a frantic and brutally busy few months (hence the almost complete lack of content being added here); and for that, I apologise. 

But onto the real reason you are here. Heresy! Plastic MkIV marines, Cataphracts and Contempotors, Oh My! How long have we been wishlisting for this? 

Really freakin' long, that's how long! 

But it's here, and the new kits are exquisite! The marines are brilliantly designed, and fit enough cool extras and special weapons (not to mention the revamped missile launcher and drum-fed heavy bolter!) to gear up squads however you please! The Contemptor, while being practically mono-pose without some clever converting, is no less a brilliant kit, and comes with the option of a Multi-Melta...

...which is perfect for my Salamanders, or a Kheres Assault Cannon, which, if you can beg, borrow or steal one from another hobbyist, makes Mortis Pattern Dreads an incredibly simple (and brutally effective) conversion!

That's not mentioning the brilliant characters or the option-laden sprues of the Cataphractii Terminators!

So, here's what we are going to do, you and I! Each post, I am going to tackle a different Force Organisation Slot and review what options are available, what's good, bad, and downright useless (although, to be fair, pretty much everything has its uses). Legions along with their Rites of War, characters and unique units will get their own post as I work through them! It's gonna be a long road, but a fun one!

So, let's tackle HQ first. 

Legion Praetor: 

This guy is your biggest, baddest character, with huge stats, access to a variety of Rites of War, and so many options for wargear, that his damage output can be tailored to deal with any threat. Unless you're taking a Primarch or special character as your warlord, this fine fellow should be your go-to-guy!

Legion Centurion: 

Centurions are your building blocks for ALL of your secondary characters, able to purchase upgrades to fulfil different roles spending on your needs. Legion centurions have almost as many upgrade options in regards to wargear, not to mention some 'Consul' upgrades come equiped with wargear built into their costs. 

The first upgrade is Chaplain. For 35 points, you get a Crozius Arcanum and the Zealot USR, which is a big deal in 30k, because these armies aren't rocking ATSKNF. This makes leadership really important, especially if you find yourself in a bad situation. These guys are good frontline combat characters.

The Master of Signals is the polar opposite, preferring a defensive, backfield role. The Master, being most at home in a gun line, comes with the tools to amplify that play style. His first force-multiplier is a Cognis-signum, giving one nearby unit +1BS, making their shooting phase more accurate and more effective. He also rocks a Nuncio-Vox, allowing him to be the eyes for friendly Barrage weapons. To top it off, he can call down D3 S8 Ap3 large blasts once a game to hammer a position from orbit. Top notch character, and worth every point in my mind, IF he is in the right list. 

The Legion champion is pretty self-explanatory. He gets an extra Pip of weapon skill for being such a boss at sword-fighting, he can choose a weapon to be master-crafted, must always issue challenges and can re-roll Heroic Intervention. This guy is a little more specific in his role, seemingly being designed for going after other Consuls. 

The Vigilator is a total bad ass, being basically a Batman-Consul. Scout, Sniper, Infiltrate, Move Through Cover and everything in between, this guy has the tools to play complete havoc if used well. But therein lies the tricky part; he is hard to use. His recon armour makes him much easier to kill than a power armoured Consul. He comes with a special-ammo bolt gun, which makes it undesirable to replace it with another, perhaps more useful, weapon you have to pay points for. The one great rule he has, though, is Sabotage, where this Ninja plants a demo charge on an enemy unit and blow it sky-high before the game even starts. This S6 bomb hits rear armour on vehicles, making them prime targets! Used correctly, this fellow can cause complete carnage and remain a thorn in any General's side. 

Librarians are pretty straight forward. They can be raised to Mastery Level 3 and choose a single psychic discipline. Useful, but expensive. This choice, I think, will come down to fluff and background for me, and personally, I probably won't use one. 

A Forge Lord comes with Artificier armour and a Servo Arm. He can purchase items from the Techmarine equipment, and comes with Battlesmith. Iron Hands, anyone?

The Primus Medicae is your Consul-level Apothocary, who can also deny VP's claimed by the enemy from nearby friendly Infantry. Not a terrible choice, but much more affordably accessed through Elites for less points and a very minor tweak in special rules. 

The Siege Breaker is one brutal demolition man! He and his unit's heavy weapons gain Tank Hunter and Wrecker, he comes with a Nuncio-Vox as the Master of Signals does, and can take Phosphex bombs! To further impose his love of brutally inhumane weapons, he can stock any Medusa Siege Tanks with Phosphex shells! Taking this guy will determine where a large chunk of points is to be spent if you want to get your money's worth with this cold-hearted chap. 

Last and certainly, CERTAINLY not least, comes the Moritat, a Chem-fuelled gunslinger capable of quick-firing his way out of any duel. This guy comes with Scout, Counter-attack and Rad grenades. He can only join Destroyer squads.  And he rocks two pistols. This is where he gets silly. Upgrading either to two plasma pistols or two Volkite pistols, your Moritat can 'Chain-fire', basically blasting away until they miss (with BS5), or they kill whatever they were shooting at. This can be a clutch move, and well worth investing points into!

That's all for tonight. You'll notice the admission of Command Squads. Fear not, I have not forgotten them. They will be in the next post! 

Thanks for reading,

Gabriel