Salamanders HQ Pt1

Salamanders HQ Characters

Good morning!

Today we’re looking at Salamanders HQ Characters, which in my personal opinion are pretty good.

Kicking off we have Lord Chaplin Nomus Rhy’tan. This guy is pretty awesome. He’s a Master of the Legion Chaplin with Artificer Armour, WS6, 3 Attacks and Ld10. Downside? BS4. 

He’s not cheap, though. Coming in at just over 200 points he’s one of the most expensive characters around. That's not to say he’s not worth it, quite far from it. 

Coming fully equipped with Artificer Armour, Iron Halo, Combi-Flamer and with the Zealot rule (chaplains a chaplain after all). Zealot is awesome. Re-rolls for Firedrakes in combat? Yes, please! If Zealot isn’t good enough Rhy’tan confers his amazing Ld10 to all friendly units within 12” (yes this does mean allies; Solar Auxilla, Allied Space Marines (of which Sallies have lots of) and Militia (who have terrible LD normally)).

As the regent of Nocturne during the Isstavan “incident” Rhy’tan is the keeper of the keys to the legion’s dreadnoughts. This allows you to take a non-compulsory Dreadnought Talon as an HQ slot. This is any type so you could have 3 Leviathans as your non-compulsory HQ choice. Now these guys can’t be warlord but who cares, you can have Leviathans as HQ. This does help for the 2nd Mission Onslaught, where deployment is staggered and HQ is the second to last section. 

As if this guy wasn’t awesome enough, he comes with an awesome relic for his melee weapon; Darkstar Falling. This is an awesome weapon. Somewhere in between a Thunderhammers, a power maul and a Chainfist. That's right, all 3! Darkstar Falling is a +2 str, ap2 Armourbane, Concussive hammer of death. Yeah, it’s awesome. Now it is two-handed so no +1 attacks for having a bolt pistol. 

Consider that he benefits from his own Zealot, this guy makes for an amazing combat character. You can actually be sending him against the likes of Praetors as Rhy’tan has a Mantle of the Elder Drake. With concussive Rhy’tan can possibly duel with a Primarch for a turn or two. Eternal warrior on this guy is insane! You’d still be better served by accepting a challenge with the Firedrake-master and then smashing the Primarch with the rest of the squad and Rhy’tan for the first turn. This way you keep your Zealot conferring model alive for as long as possible. 

In terms of unit combos, I’d be running Nomus with Stormshield/Thunderhammer wielding Firedrakes together in an assault transport and I’d be hunting down threat units like HQ, Monsters, Tanks and Primarchs. 

Now, considering his high points cost and the expensive combo unit I’d recommend bringing this guy in higher point games where his use as a point hunter is more justified and there will be more targets to go after. 

Overall; a great choice, possibly one for higher point games but a very competitive choice for buffs, survivability and combat power.

Cassian Dracos

Previous first commander of the Salamanders interned into a Dreadnought Sarcophagus. This an even more expensive HQ choice, who great news; can’t be attached to a squad. Good news, he doesn’t give up points for Warlord kill, and is not a character! While he looks like normal box-nought with 14/12/10 armour this guy is actually a hard nut to crack. Cassian Dracos is immune to Lance, Armourbane, Melta, Sunder, any rule that reduces or permanently degrades his armour values AND anything that gets to roll an extra D6 for armour penetration (so Primary weapon and ordnance?). This is awesome, if only he wasn’t a Walker. As per walker rules, Cassian can only move 6” + charge distances a turn/Run moves. This sucks. Cassian can’t join squads and can’t really be transported by anything under a super heavy class/LOW.

Not only is he almost impossible to damage, Cassian Dracos has IT WILL NOT (F**KING) DIE. This guy is ridiculously survivable. Not only that, he has Venerable as well, so your penetrating hit, that's a glance now. 

Will he may not be great for small games, in games where you can bring the new Mastodon tank he could actually be great. Pack that thing with Cassian (make him your only HQ choice so he can be warlord) and Firedrake Terminators with Stormshields. T4 2+/3++ with a 5+++ FNP save for being within 3” of Cassian (his warlord trait). This is one bubble of deathy awesomeness.

Cassian comes with 2 heavy flamers (Str6 because salamanders) which as a gimmick, can be fired as a melta gun if both weapons are on line. This is pretty neat as Cassian can go horde clearing for your Firedrakes. Not only that, but Cassian can opt to deal one Str6 Ap4 hit on every model in base contact at I1. RIP Solar Auxilia. 

With 4(5) attacks with Dreadnought Close Combat weapons and the sunder rule, Cassian can quite happily take on that tank that’s carrying the unit you want to charge with your Firedrakes.

All in all Cassian Dracos is another good HQ choice for larger games. He is not viable without a transport, but with one, and a retinue he can be a formidable force to fight against.

Salamanders HQ choices are very solid, maybe best for high point games but very dangerous.

That's it for this time, more to come for Salamanders HQ once I’ve done some digging into the new book.

Thanks for reading and Happy Wargaming

Salamanders Special Units

Now that you have an idea on how our friendly space pyro's work, let's take a look at their special units.

These two units serve very different purposes in a Salamander army and as such will be more or less effective depending on your army composition and direction.



Okay, so kicking off we have Pyroclasts. These guys are artificer armoured pseudo terminators. Coming with artificer armour and a 5++ invulnerable against melta, plasma, flamer and Volkite weapons these guys are pretty well protected. (I don't see the last two being overly helpful but it's nice to have, I guess...)

With basic marine stats, these guys don't have an awful amount going for them besides their apparent durability. Coming with flamer weapons, Pyroclasts come equipped with basic flamers (Str5 because of Promethean Gift), but with a twist, they may also make a 6" melta attack at Str6.

In my honest opinion, this attack is nearly worthless. At a 6" max range you're only going to get the extra D6 within 3", and with only Str6 the average score is 13, meaning you're only going to be penetrating the side and rear armour of light-medium vehicles. Given the short range of these weapons, it's frankly unlikely that you'll get in range of your target before you get shot up.

You can take a land raider to mitigate this range issue but that land raider is probably better spent on a unit that will be more effective.


While they can be effective anti-horde, Heavy Support Squads do this for 10 points less and have Str6 so they'll be causing instant death. Yes, they don't have 2+ armour but really I don't see that being such a major issue against horde armies.


Overall a relatively weak choice from my perspective. I'd rather have 6 flamer equipped marines with a promethium pipeline for torrent than 5 flamer marines with a 2+ save and a nearly useless melta attack. Flamer marines shouldn't really be under attack from heavy weapons and should be in cover anyway so they don't really need a 5++ invulnerable save.

In the above example, you can have 6 marines with flamers with a promethium pipeline for a 4+ cover save (that will blow up on a 6+ if you make a cover save (not destroying the pipe, just doing damage)) (barricades are an option of personal preference. If you don't like cover that explodes on you drop a marine and take the barricades for a 4+ cover and difficult terrain) all with Torrent on their flamers. Or, you can take 5 marines with a 2+/5++ equipped with normal flamers and a 6" Str6 melta attack.

Personally, I’d be taking the pipeline squad as they have Scoring and do not take up a Heavy Support Slot






Moving on to one of the best units in the from all heresy forces (I think), Firedrake Terminators!


Terminators with 2 wounds and Cataphractii pattern armour for a glorious 4++ invulnerable save. Already pretty appealing. Add to that Implacable Advance (so Scoring) and you have a pretty awesome unit.

With the option of Powerfists, Chainfists and Thunderhammers, these guys are perfect for squashing that annoying little 2+ save, multi-wound FnP death star your opponent keeps bringing.


With concussive Thunder Hammers, Firedrakes make for good Primarch or Monster hunters. With Chainfists, drakes make for excellent vehicle hunters, and with ap2 and str8 they are more than able to deal with whatever payload that Spartan Assault Tank was carrying.



As if this all wasn't enough, these guys can get, Drumroll........... Storm Shields! That's right, these guys can get the dreaded 3++ save.

Charging out of their own Spartan tank with Stormshields and Chainfists/Thunderhammers (based on opposing list) you can be sure they'll shred whatever they came to shred and you can bet that your opponents entire list will swing around to kill them, freeing the rest of your list from fire for at least a turn.

Another option I particularly like is giving these guys a Kharybdis Drop pod, this 20 man drop pod can carry a full squad or 9 and someone else (I’ll come back to that), Deep Strike in, move as a flyer, do damage to everyone near it with its Fire blast attack. Then you sink like hell for the enemy turn (they’ll be hitting on 6’s as its a flyer), fly up on your turn and drop out the payload on top of whatever poor target you selected.



As this unit is quite expensive you’ll want to have them going after priority targets, not generic joe squads. Drive or drop these guys into the hardest part of the enemy (timing can be important with the pod, you’ll want at least 1 other pod so it does come in turn one when it's isolated), rip and tear the expensive core of the enemy army while the rest of your list targets the weakest sections wolf pack style. This gives your opponent a nearly impossible choice; ignore the giant 2 wound terminators with str8 ap2 running amok in their lines and defend their dying support and scoring units or, take out the Terminators but sacrifice their support and scoring units.

In an ideal world this can cause castle ups, which is awesome as you can spring from assault to assault without having to footslog, and, it gives you near total control of the mid-field and your deployment zone. Meaning you’re free to capture mission objectives and score points while your opponent is boxed into their starting area.

The drop pod version of this tactic is more difficult and relies on a highly mobile force that can ensure that the terminators aren’t isolated. Because of this I recommend a full drop pod army, with either light forces coming in turn one to establish a beachhead and some rear board presence before the heavy units come in, or heavy units come in turn one, charge turn 2, allowing your light units to drop in and score without the fear of destruction.



The favourite nasty tactic for Firedrakes is to attach a Primus Medicae to them inside their transport. This adds an extra layer of protection in the form of 5+++ FnP on top of their armoured transport, their 2+ armour and their 2 wounds. Additionally, with to the new space marine powers (which at the time of writing are HH legal) you can add a Librarian rolling on Geokinesis for Earth Blood. This gives the unit ITWND and replenishes the wounds of a nearby character (Lib or Firedrake Master). By adding either (or both if you’re a real jerk ;D) you can dramatically increase the durability of this squad to stupid levels.

Finally, they can be taken as a bodyguard unit for Vulkan, which gives you an extra slot (as this bodyguard unit exists outside the FOC)

Overall; this unit is one of the strongest Legion Specific units in the Horus Heresy Expansion and one of the most versatile assault units. With options for both anti TEQ/Monster/Primarch or anti-Vehicle war gear, this unit can bring the pain of any expensive enemy unit (and if you’re playing Alpha Legion it’s defiantly worth a steal through Coils of the Hydra). While this unit needs a transport, it is one of the strongest units and capable of easily earning it points back when pointed at the right targets.




Salamanders’ special units are a (50/50) mix of pretty garbage and amazing. Their Pyroclasts are equally gimmicky as Word Bearer Ashen Circle and their Terminators are on par or better than Gal Vorbak, depending on play style and use.

I would strongly encourage you to look at fitting in Firedrakes into your army if and where you can. Pyroclasts, not so much.




That's all from me for now, final thoughts on Salamanders are incoming, looking at both Rites and their Characters in due time.
Until then, Happy Wargaming you crazy pyromaniac space marines.

Word Bearer special/unique units (I do not rate them)

**EDITED**

As I wrap up with the word bearers, here is my overview of their Legion specific units.

So starting off we have the Ashen Circle: WS 5 assault marines all with hand flamers (str3 ap6 so they're pretty bad) and special chain axes, which reduce fall back distances by one inch (only ap4). Not great as it means they're closer to you for a counter charge but then again you have 5-10 hand flamers so charging you isn't really the best idea.

They can all get power axes for 5 points but as they only have 3+ armour terminators and ultramarine 2+ squads are going to eat you for breakfast before you get to attack at initiative 1 this may not be as good as it sounds.

When Ashen Circle deep strike, units within d6 take damage from their flamers, nice, but not that game breaking. Their hammer of wrath counts as flame damage so it's less effective against salamaders. Over all pretty meh. Can't be joined by HQ because they have the same rule as destroyers. Can purchase phospherex grenades, doesn't do a lot for them. 

Ashen circle are supposed to attack the things that give the enemy morale. Yet you can't burn down banners and they don't have ap3/2 on intitive so they can't kill HQ or bodyguard squads effectively. Over all I do not rate this sqaud, even as troops with Zaylak. (Dark channeling doesn't make up for how meh this unit is).

Honestly an expensive unit that loses most of its bite against a tactical squad of 15 is not a winner in my books.


Ashen Circle
Kill 3 with hand flamers
-1 to over watch
Kill 1.5 HoW

Kill 2.6666666667 Chain Axes
- 1.5833333333 return combat
Kill 5.7777777778 Power Axes
-1 Sergeant return combat

- 3.5833333333
Kill 11.4444444445

Win combat by: 7.8611111112

 2.77777778% Rally Chance (snake eyes for LD)

Odds of sweeping 66.66666667%

64.8148148166% winning combat.

Meh

Gal Vorbak:

2 wounds (3 on the sergeant) Str/toughness and Initative 5, weapons skill 5 demon marines the size of terminators. Awesome. One problem, 3+ save 5++ invol. These guys are wanta be terminators with 2 wounds and higher toughness.

They are good, they have deep-strike, cause fear and are fearless. A better option stick them in a spartan or land raider Phobos and charge them into TACTICALS, never charge a squad with lots of power swords. These guys will go down even with T5, the 5++ helps but against a veteran squad with power swords you will be massacred (especially if they charge you with furious charge).

You can take 1 in 5 weapons like melta guns (don't you'll waste shooting) or power swords (TAKE THESE). The captain can take lighting claws or a Power Fist. Power Fist is probably your best bet as it goes to str10, with rending. Unlike Sergeants the Dark Mytar has T5 and 3 wounds so he can easily afford to go last.

These guys have rending, which counters their lack of ap anything when they come stock. This doesn't mean you can charge terminators, it just means that you will be better against marines.

Coupled with Rage and 2 CQC weapons each model has a whopping 5 attacks each, meaning you can expect a decent amount of rending hits.

Also nice little gimmick is they have bolt pistols so they can shoot unlike 40k possessed.

Over all a good unit but one that needs to be upgraded before its any good.

A full squad can convincingly take out a large Tac squad in one round of combat.
My preferred load out is for a full squad: DM with Art armour and a Power Fist, 7 stock Gal Vorbak and 2 Gal Vorbak with Power Swords.

If need be, you can equip them for vehicle hunting, giving them Power Mauls (Str5+2+Rending) and a Powerfist (Str10+Rending)

Finally we have the Mal Ghara contemptor dreadnought. This guy is very expensive points wise so make sure you know what you want him to do.

 The rules for this guy seem to contradict how WBs work: he damages near by demons and psykers. Two of the main things that sets WBs apart from the other legions by having. *facepalm*

With 4 attacks on the charge at Str 10 he is nasty in the assault. Don't put him in combat with marines they will just tie down your expensive model all game. Charge tanks and blow them up.

He has a nice rule where you have to reroll successful invulnerable saves in close comabt with him if he has his close combat weapon. Also you must test for morale of the unit suffers ANY casualties from his shooting. Can take a plasma cannon, multi melta and auto cannon with this rule (las cannon doesn't get this rule). This rule is nice but you want your enemy to be close to you with Word Bearers as they are an assault legion.

Over all I don't rate the Word Bearer special units (Expetion for Gal Vorbak). Unlike their special characters these units are over costed for what they do and don't really give you anything great that normal units couldn't do better for less points.

 I would say don't get these units, invest your points in legion units, give them dark channeling and artificer armour and power Axes, take the WB special characters and buy units that will work together.

This concludes my Word Bearer legion focus, if any new units are released I will come back and do an over view of them. Up next is Iron Hands, followed by their best friends/murderers the glorious Emperors Children. 

Hope you enjoyed this first legion overview, and I look forward to creating more.

Emperors children updates incoming

Hi everyone, you might have noticed some of the Emperors children posts were updated recently, this was because of the changes to Terminator armour, in particular being able to sweeping advance. 

However it looks like my job is not yet done, word from the Weekender is that Emperors Children have some major rules changes as of the upcoming books, namely a legion wide rule where assaulting units gain +1 initiative, Sonic Shriekers now reducing enemy weapon skill and new profiles for Kakophoni weapons (The Cacophany) hearing that it may become Heavy 2 and/or may lose Gets Hot/rite removes Gets Hot. Which in conjunction with relentless and being Troops in the new rite means they will need a total overhaul, especially if the weapon Ap changes.

Also the new rites will an effect how EC builds are made (jump infantry themed one could be used with Eidolon, Palentines and Assault marines (who might get a points reduction, here's hoping)), but I'll probably do a post on each legion I've done already or as a group on how to use and benifits/drawbacks of the new rites of war.

Because of this some more EC material will be rewritten or edited, until then just hold tight while I finish the updates and figure out Salamanders.

Cheers, -Argel Tal

Nathaniel Garro, Knight Errant, Hand of the Sigillite

Hello all, welcome back to the tactica blog. Today we're looking at Malcador's servant, Captain of the Death Guard 7th Battle Company. Nathaniel Garro is an Independent Character HQ choice counting as an agent of the emperor (he may not be warlord however).

Garro's stats are similar to that of a Praetor, but with one less point of weapon skill. His points come in at 75 points more than a stock Praetor. This cost is pretty balenced considering his wargear. (Bear it in mind that as Garro is unattached to any legion I will not be considering his benifits in context to allying to an particular legion force)

Garro comes with an Ap3 sword with rending that causes x2 wounds in a challenge. I myself am not a fan of this, RENDING DOES NOT SUBSTITUTE AP2, Rending relys on number of attacks and considering this is an attack from a single model even 5 attacks (4+1(charge bonus), the sword is twohanded no +1 for 2 CQWs) does not give enough attacks to get reliable wounds. I say this because in combat garro will be hitting on 4s against other HQs, dropping down to 2/3 hits which then will require 6s, which can then be saved against by the defender. This is why im predominantly not keen on Garro.

To combat Garro's weak offensive capability he comes with a super Iron Halo, conferring a 4++ which becomes a 3++ in a challenge. In addition when Garro dies he becomes Saint Celestine (no joke it's practically copy paste from Adepta Sororitus). When Garro dies you roll a leadership test and if it passes he is kept in play with a single wound left.

Keeping with the Rending trend Garro has an Assault 3 Rending Mastercrafted bolt gun. This allows to in theory out shoot other marines but those 3 shots will be against 20 man tactical squads Rending or no Rending. Garro does have precision shot so he can snipe out apothecaries or characters but that relys on 6s to hit and most likely 6s to wound, not good.

Garro's final and cool factor war gear is called; by falsehood cloaked. This wargear allows Garro to deepstrike with no scatter and forces all incoming shots that turn to be snapshots, meaning no Ap1 str10 blasts or Las-Cannons will kill him THAT TURN. This when combined with his resurrect ability and his IMPLACABLE ADVANCE RULE means that he is able to score 2/5 of his special objectives with realtive ease. These are of course Enemy DmZ and score an objective, more on these objectives in a second. This rules combo can net you from 1-3 victory points provided Garro doesnt die before the end of the game.



And now we come to Garro's major drawback (as if he wasnt crap already). At the start of the game you note down 1 of 5 secret objectives (your opponent doesnt know which one). Each one is worth a specific number of VPs if achieved, however if you fail to achieve your objective for Garro you MAY NOT CLAIM A VICTOY, FULL STOP, EVER, AT ALL. Because of this I would always say, pick either 1 or 3 as they are easily achievable considering Garro's ability to preform. These objectives are:

Be in the enemy Deployment Zone at the end of the game (1VP)

Pick another IC, if they survive you get 2VPs

Control an objective (why Implacable Advance is a rule for him), 2VP if the objective is out of
enemy DmZ and 3 if its in enemy DmZ

Kill enemy warlord in a challenge (3VPs)

and Slay a Primarch (3VP), Garro doesnt have to do all the wounds, just land the final blow.




Thanks for reading this little bonus post and Mortariton and Vulkan will be coming up soon. In the mean time Happy Wargaming everyone.

Tactica Newflash FaQ Terminators

As of the newest Forge World FaQ Terminators (with unspecified patterns of TDA) can now be equipped with either Cataphractii Pattern Terminator armour or Tartaros Pattern Terminator armour, which in particular (here we go.....) ALLOWS SWEEPING ADVANCES!!!

Also as Grave Wardens and Pheonix Guard Terminators have UNSPECIFIED Terminator armour patterns, meaning they can choose which pattern they want!

Death guard I'd lean towards Cataphractii. However for Pheonix Guard Terminators this is amazing! Take the Tartaros every time. Bettwen their special charge rule which gives them Initiative 5 on the charge and Sonic Shreikers which give +1 for a crazy I6 on the charge (I5 charged). Which combined with Emperor's Children Astartes having Crusader means these guys are insane now!

(For a cheaper and just as effective option take Eilidon and Legion Terminators with Tartaros Pattern Armour and give them all 5pt Pheonix spears (equal to cost of power fist). With Eilidon's shreiker they go at I5 with ap2. With Eilidon going at I7 (5+1 for shreiker & +1 for being in a challenge) and EC having Crusader built in automatically you should be able to sweep almost anyone and anything (barring fearless so avoid that #chaplains). 

This is awesome stuff from Forge World.

One a sad note heresy era drop pod now work the same way as 40k drop pods where disembarkment is forced on arrival (negating assault vehicle on normal pods).

Also this update makes the main advantage of Gal Vorbak (being able to sweep with a durable unit) redundant so RIP them (they still have T5 and 2 wounds so they're not useless by any means But they're kinda meh now)

But who care we have SWEEPING ADVANCING TERMINATORS.

Thought I'd share this news and give some ideas on how to use the new ruling (expect surprised looks and be prepared to show opponents the FaQ).

If this post seems out of character I'm writing this at a very late hour (I'm a terrible person). Hope some of it made sense & happy wargaming and good night everyone!

Blog Update and Forge World Open Day Link

Hi all, just a quick little blog update for you guys. I've nearly finished my road trip so there will be some new content very soon (probably around the 9th this month NZ time).

Also I thought I would share with you guys the link to some of the photos from the Forge World Open Day (if you haven't checked it out already) as there is a whole bunch of awesome swag that has just been released, namely CORAX HIMSELF WHO LOOKS FANTASTIC  (must buy that model asap!), Dark Fury Assualt Squads (awesome raven guard vanguard vet type units with ALL LIGHTNING CLAWS WITH +1 INTITIVE ON THE CHARGE), the Mastadon Super Heavy Transport which is super sexy and carries 40 troops and has DOUBLE FIGURE HULL POINTS! Also they showed off the new Alpha Legion Head Hunter Squad who look amazing too, quality from FW just gets better and better, yay! Also finally new Warlord Titan Weapons and Head if you need more Titan Dakka!

Super excited about these releases if you can't already tell (they look amazing) and will probably be spending Christmas funds on them myself. Here's the link to the blog with the posts on it: http://battlebunnies.blogspot.co.nz/?m=1

Enjoy the gallery!

Death Guard Legion Specific Troops

Been a little while since my last post, my apologies for that.

Okay so continuing on with Death Guard, today we're looking at their Legion Exclusive units; Death Shroud Terminators and Grave Warden Terminators. I'm going to say now that these aren't the most competitive choices against marines, however against Solar Auxila and Cults these units would be amazing. 

Death Shroud: The elite body guard of the Primarch Mortarion, and you can see why! With (normal) Terminator armour and 2! wounds they are incredibly durable (excluding a Vindicator/Medusa shell to the face). They are expensive at 40 points each but considering you are effectively paying 10 points for an extra wound they are worth their points.

They are armed with Chem Munition Hand Flamers (shred mitigates the strength 3 but gets hot still sucks) (eh) and Deathshroud Power Scythes for lovely Ap2. These are effectively Two-Handed power axes. However they have a special rules where they can swap out their normal attacks for a number of attacks equal to the models in base contact. Normally this would be not a great idea as they would have 3 attacks on the charge but in later turns of combat where your models are more surrounded it could be a good idea (more of a gimic than anything good in my opinion). If you're playing Terminators or you play against Terminators these guys would be a good investment, also they look really nice.

As they have Implacable Advance they are scoring units which is always good.

If there's 5 or less models they can take a Phobos which is a good choice (protects them from pesky Medusa str10 Ap1 Large Blasts). In addition as part of a Orbital Strike rite army they can Deep Strike and with 2 wounds, a 2+ armour save, Ap2 and scoring they will be a threat and difficult to remove.

Finally they can be taken as an HQ choice by them selves as well as Elites, and as characters they can be warlord. Not only that but they can also be taken as bodyguard for Terminator Praetors and the Primarch, meaning if you wanted to you could take a crap ton if them in an army. Take Pride of the Legion and Mortarion: 3HQ, 4 Elite, 6 Troops, 1 LOW bodyguard. 14 Units (double Nurgle's sacred number no less).

Next and finally is Grave Warden Terminators. Cataphractii Terminators with here's the kicker; only Ap4 weapons (told you they were Auxila killers). They have 2 shot str6 for negating Auxila FNP and 2 shot blasts that cause Toughness tests and INGORE COVER (die Auxila fools, die). In addition they can all fire a template with Ap4 that triggers Toughness tests in the same why.

They are all armed with power fists which is an incentive not to charge them already. And as if each Terminator firing a wall of death attack AND power fists wasn't discouraging enough any unit charging them will count as Disordered (no plus one attack or Furious Charge) and they count as going across dangerous terrain. Making them one if the hardest units to charge in 30K if not the whole 40K universe.

Against marines these guys won't make their points back easily but against armies with 4+ armour or worse they will make their points back super fast.

My apologies for the long delay and the short post (not a lot to review). Primarchs Mortarion and Vulkan will be up next, leading into Salamaders as the next legion.

Also let me know who you would like to see next, I'm thinking Night Lords/Raven Guard or Iron Warriors/Imperial Fists. Thanks for reading and happy war gaming. 

Emperor's Children Special Units (Re-Written as of Feb 2016FAQ,recommended Re-Read)

++EDIT: this post has been majorly re-written in light of the February 2016 FAQ (primarily over Terminator armour becoming able to Sweeping Advance). If you've read this post before and you like Emperor's Children I would re-read this post!++

I am finally back, sorry for the lack of new content on the blog recently, having just finished with mock Exams and being midway through my break I've not found much time for writing, but never the less, I am back and I bring the specialists of the Emperor's Children with me. So without further ado, let's get started

Special units for the Emperor's Children Legion in the Forge World Horus Heresy Expansion.

Kakophini: right off the bat these guys are specialist heavy support marines with early sonic weapons that preceded noise marine weapons. With Heavy 2 gets hot weapons they're not amazing. These weapons, however, have a special rule where if one or more unsaved wounds are caused by a weapon with this rule, the target must take a leadership test with a -LD modifier squad equal to the number of wounds suffered. If the test is passed there is no effect. If the test is failed the target unit takes D6 instant death wounds that cannot be saved against. This makes these guys amazing against Mechanicum Monstrous Creatures (Automata) and Multi-wound Legion terminator and Characters.

If taken as part of the newer (book 6) Emperor's Children Rite, they become Troops (therefore scoring) which is amazing AND they gain RELENTLESS which makes Kakophoni amazing. These guys will pretty much outshoot any other troops at a better range, the only issue is that they will occasionally blow themselves up. Clocking in at 270 for a full squad with Artificer armour and a Phoenix Spear on the Orchestra they're pretty cheap for the amount of damage they can do to elite units. 

I'd buy these guys a rhino to be honest, gives them some turn one survivability. Turn one drive into cover, turn two, get out with relentless and open fire.

-Footnote- With the new Legion rule (+1 Initiative on the charge) and sonic Shriekers stock these guys can actually hold up well in an assault. Don't run them head first into combat but don't be afraid to charge a weakened squad after shooting them (relentless). 

Priority targets for these guys should multi-wound models; Automata, 2 wound legion terminators and Independent characters and their squads in order to get the maximum effect from their weapon's instant death bonus wounds.

Also as a note, these guys are more deadly in shooting than an equivalently priced tactical squad (10 kakophini vs 15 tacticals with extra swords and sonics)

Pheonix Guard Terminators. Ok, right away these guys have NO ranged weapons. They do have phoenix spears which means that these guys really shouldn't be in combat with other terminators that have 2 wounds, unless they have already been reduced in numbers (ie Justaerin and Deathshroud) as they become ap3 in the second round of combat. These guys do have one interesting (awesome) benefit; they are equipped with Tauros pattern terminator armour, which means that they are able to SWEEPING ADVANCE!! While this seems awesome the draw back from the Pheonix spears is still a major issue for them. 

This unit also has a special rule which confers +1 initiative in the first round of combat (this stacks with the updated legion rule for I6 on the charge (I7 on the Champion) which is awesome as it allows you to take full advantage of the Ap2 round of combat with their Pheonix Spears in killing the enemy before they get to strike back and to make sweeping advances easier (I7+D6+D3)

With Weapon Skill 5 they hit on 3's, go before their opponents, and then SUPER SWEEPING ADVANCE.

The major issue with these guys I have is over killing the enemy and getting iced by plasma, Melta or Medusa guns the next turn. To counter this make sure you've killed those threats before you charge in. I like to but these guys in a Caestus Assault Ram giving me a Large blast Melta shot before I disembark. My lists also have Mortis Contemptors with Kheres Assault Cannons which I use to kill threat tanks and Phoesphex Rapiers to kill off special weapon squads (and pretty much EVERYTHING (with 3+ saves)) Plan and act at least 1 turn ahead of the game and maintain Target Priority/Saturation on threat units until the offending unit is removed. Bottom line, If your Terminators will be at risk, don't disembark them.

Enter the final Emperor's Children special unit; the Palatine Blades. More WS5 marines armed with bolt pistols (don't forget) and charable sarbers, why are these guys good, well they can ALL opt to take Power swords (great for anti-PA as they will get 3 attacks each on the charge each all at ap3  {pistol & melee weapon+charge bonus+base=3}) hitting on 3s or Phoenix spears for ap2 anti-elite attacks (two handed so only 2 attacks on the charge)

Instead of giving them Pheonix Spears I'd take power swords as this unit should be used for taking out power armour units, not terminators, leave that for your more heavily armoured units and artillery.

These guys are like improved Veterans as due to the new Legion rule they're I5 in the charge with super cheap Power Swords (each power sword cost a melta bomb) 

As chosen warriors they can ALL opt to accept challenges  (protecting your sergeants in artificer armour from ap2 weapons) (but as they are not characters they do not get the extra +1 initiative for being in a challenge, much sad face). 

Palatine Blades can also take jump packs for improved movement and hammer of wrath attacks, which making them a better version of the yet to be created VANGUARD VETERANS. (I like doing this in a Angels Wrath or Drop assault Vanguard rite of war army with Eidolon as it allows them to repeatedly benefit from both the Shriekers and Pheonix Spears in addition to Eilidon's charging benefits  [hit and run for jump pack infantry])

Giving them jump packs is a great way of avoiding having these guys removed from the table before they do anything. The increased movement reduces the amount of firepower that can be directed at them as they cover the table faster and they can get stuck in much faster than if they were footslogging (and a Rhino transport does not allow assaults after disembarking leaving them vulnerable for a turn) 

These models are vulnerable to fire -compared to terminators or other legion elites- due to their 3+ armour and one wound each so they should either have jump packs so they can get stuck in faster or a transport vehicle preferably with assault vehicle (land raider comes to mind).

The reason you would take this unit over Pheonix Terminators is that they have shooting potential, can be transported in cheaper vehicles in larger numbers and can be given Jump Packs. Always get rid of charnable sabres, unless you need a meatshield body. I would jet packs or an assault vehicle transport (LR, Storm Eagle etc) on this unit. I'd give the sergeant Artificer Armour and Melta Bombs just to tank wounds and provide flexibility to the unit. 

Keep in mind this unit is either for removing 3+ armour units of infantry (Power Swords) or units that have 2+ armour but no invulnerable save (when given Spears), not both! You need to pick one and tailor them to that chosen task. Also, these guys are NOT FOR REMOVING TERMINATOR SQUADS! Who will have ap3 or better for cheaper than you!

Also keep in mind this unit is very expensive and gets more so with Jet Packs and aren't scoring!

That concludes my review of Emperor's Children special units. 

Would love to hear input and/or thoughts from you guys on my lists and any of the ideas within these tactica posts. As always check out my other posts for more Horus Heresy reviews and Tactica. 

We've got Death Guard and Salamanders up next, post in the comments anytime with what legions you would like to see me review next.

Thanks for reading, Argel-Tal out.