VI Legion, Wolves

So, going back to the old Wolves, or more correctly at this point the VI Legion.  I HAVE a bunch of stuff painted up in what was the original paint scheme for the Wolves, some of that fits in quite well with the current Forgeworld Heresy era stuff…  I am liking how the Cataphractii are coming together and the “new” color scheme is looking pretty good so far.  Running a lot of just basic stuff at this point, the VI’s specific rules won’t be out for quite some time.  Still there is a LOT of “basic” stuff to use.

For instance, Veteran Squads have a number of rules they choose at the start of each game:

Fearless, Sniper, Furious Charge, Outflank, Tank Hunter

Choosing one, guessing I’ll be using Sniper or Outflank…  Not enough in the range of AT weapons to make the Bolters really effective.  Sniper gives me the ability to Wound on at worst a 4+ regardless of Toughness, Precision Shots and Rending on all shooting attacks…  Not seeing a downside, especially as this is likely my answer to the big MC type things out there.  Flank of course is just a pretty good thing all around for a bunch of the Lads…  As they’ll likely be Troops in my lists, being able to put them in my enemy’s back field seems like a good thing.

So, like I said the Cataphractii are coming along...

Happy how the test model is coming along...  5 assembled so far, ready for the next 5...  More Troops for the 6th...

Legion review and comparing it to 40K...

Well, played against a 40K Marine force with my Armored Spearhead last evening...  Wound up losing, but it was a fairly close fight.  Made my one critical error when facing a Chapter Master...  Orbital Strike against a tightly packed Breacher Squad meant I lost my Tech and 9 of the line troopers...  Forgot about that, and it cost me dearly.  That Squad SHOULD have cleared out the center.  They DID take down the Terminators, but they should have done so much more against what amounts to just a bunch of Power Armored bodies in Bolter range.  So, the 3 Squad force at 1850 was unsuccessful in an Objective based game.  DID lose one Land Raider and the Terminators it was transporting.  Ironically, the last Cataphract died in the explosion from a Rhino he tore up with his Chain Fist...

Kind of brings up the point of irritation for me...  NOT with his specific army at all.  James' force was a fairly "friendly" force based around Ultramarines using mostly Tactical and Devastator Squads with Salamander Allies.  So, essentially, lots of 3+ save bodies.  Dies horribly to Heldrake spam, but not really an issue locally at least.  More the broader picture.  The fact that Allies allow you to take a modified and likely superior FOC.  And being able to ally with yourself to gain the extra slots just seems inherently unbalanced.  Yes, everyone CAN take Allies.  Just annoying that I feel penalized by taking a basic, traditional force.  This modified FOC I think is a major unbalancing factor in the Tournament scene.  Seeing a lot of the armies bringing 3-4 of the big MC things to win.  Given the limited environment and time constraints, those armies will do well if their Troops are fairly resilient or say, their Transports are.    Some of the armies that the big MC types would I think have a harder time taking down are things like the massed Infantry/Hordes...  Not viable to play those armies in a timed event though.

I don't know.  Looking ahead I have to admit to thinking that I won't bother trying to get a team together to go to Adepticon.  A lot will depend on the FAQ that the TOs there provide.  But right now, the Eldar Wave Serpents spam on the Skyshield seems to be something nigh unbeatable.  Put enough up there and you are unassailable in Assault, have a 3+ cover save that goes to 2+ with the Holo Fields and against the few things that may remove the Cover save?  Oh, yeah a 4++...  Still looking at the RAW, and the rules for no cover save weapons specify "wounds", so strictly speaking it does NOT apply to Vehicles...

So, got the Cataphracts assembled and starting to test out a paint scheme.  Going with the Pre-Heresy Wolves...  Will have to post a pic when I remember to take my phone downstairs...  Have to say I like the way they are coming together...

Next Week's Legion list

So, looking at what I've learned from last week...  Here's what I intend to field next week:

1850 Pts - ~ Horus Heresy (THH1) Army                                       1850 Legion 2

Unit Name                       ##  WS   BS   St   To   Wo   In    At   Ld  Save     Cost

Legion Praetor (HQ)             1    6    5   4/5   4    3    5    4    10 2+/5++     135
                               Independent Character; Legiones Astartes; Master
                               of the Legion; #Artificer Armour; #Frag Grenades;
                               #Krak Grenades; Refractor Field; Rite of War:
                               Armoured Spearhead; Bolt Pistol (x1); Paragon
                               Blade; Warlord

Forge Lord (Legion Centurion)   1    5    5   4/8   4    2   5/1  3/4   9    2+       105
                               Independent Character; Legiones Astartes; Consul;
                               Battlesmith; #Frag Grenades; #Krak Grenades;
                               #Artificer Armour; Rad Grenades; Bolt Pistol
                               (x1); Charnabal Sabre; Servo-arm

Legion Breacher Siege Squad (T  19   4    4    4    4    1    4    1    8  3+/6++     395
                               Legiones Astartes; Hardened Armour; #Boarding
                               Shield; Power Armour; Bolt Pistol (x19); Bolter
                               (x15); Flamer (x3); Graviton Gun (x1); Frag
                               Grenades; Krak Grenades
  Legion Sergeant               1    4    4    4    4    1    4    2    9  2+/6++   [160]
                               (character); #Boarding Shield; Artificer Armour;
                               Bolter; Lightning Claw

Legion Tactical Squad (Troops)  9    4    4    4    4    1    4   1/2   8    3+       390
                               Legiones Astartes; Fury of the Legion; Power
                               Armour; Chainsword; Bolt Pistol (x9); Bolter
                               (x9); Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades
  Legion Tactical Sergeant      1    4    4    4    4    1    4   2/3   9    2+      [82]
                               (character); Artificer Armour; Chainsword; Power
                               Weapon (x1); Bolt Pistol
  Legion Proteus                1  BS: 4 Front: 14 Side: 14 Rear: 14 HP: 4          [200]
                               Vehicle (Tank); Capacity: 10; Access Points: 2;
                               #Searchlight; #Smoke Launchers; #Machine Spirit;
                               TL Lascannon Sponsons (x2)

Legion Apothecary (Elites)      1    4    4    4    4    1    4   1/2   8    2+        70
                               (character); Legiones Astartes; #Narthecium;
                               Augury Scanner; Artificer Armour; Bolt Pistol;
                               Power Sword; Frag Grenades; Krak Grenades

Legion Spartan Assault Tank (H  1  BS: 4 Front: 14 Side: 14 Rear: 14 HP: 5            315
                               Vehicle (Tank); Capacity: 25; Access Points: 3;
                               Assault Vehicle; #Machine Spirit; #Extra Armour;
                               #Searchlight; #Smoke Launchers; Armoured
                               Ceremite; TL Heavy Bolters; Quad Lascannon
                               Sponsons (x2)

Legion Terminator Squad (Elite  4    4    4    4    4    1    4    2    8  2+/4++     440
                               Legiones Astartes; Implacable Advance; Prototype
                               Weaponry; #Cataphractii TDA; Power Weapon (x4);
                               Combi-Bolter (x3); Reaper Autocannon (x1)
  Legion Terminator Sergeant    1    4    4    4    4    1    4    2    9  2+/4++    [55]
                               #Cataphractii TDA; Combi-Bolter; Power Weapon
                               (x1)
  Legion Phobos                 1  BS: 4 Front: 14 Side: 14 Rear: 14 HP: 4          [250]
                               Vehicle (Tank); Capacity: 10; Access Points: 3;
                               Assault Vehicle; #Searchlight; #Smoke Launchers;
                               #Machine Spirit; TL Lascannon Sponsons (x2)

  Models in Army: 41
 

So, a much smaller force...  One ancient Land Raider for the Tac Squad to go forth and camp.  Did find out that the Proteus Class LR lacks the Assault Vehicle rule, so the lads woll not get out and charge into Assault...  But, not really the plan for them.  The whole army is Scoring, at least all 3 Squads...  And The big Siege Breacher Squad with FnP, Flamers, Defensive Grenades, Invulnerable Saves, Rad Grenades and 2 decent HtH monsters hidden in there?  Should be a PITA to remove from the field once they get out of the Spartan.

So, nothing subtle, just the Spartan flanked by the other 2 Land Raiders rolling up the field.  8 TL Las Cannon shots, each Vehicle with Machine Spirit so the shots can be spread out a bit...  Less concerned about Fliers or big MCs...  Think they will have a hard time removing the Spartan with the Tech riding in it repairing as needed...

First game in with Legion vs Chaos @ 1850

So, got in a game against a Chaos force with m generic Legion army.  I fielded:

Vigilator
Siege Breaker
3 Apothocaries (Artificer, PW)
Breacher Squad (20, 3 Grav 1 flamer)
Tactical Squad (20)
Tactical Support (10, Volkite Calviers)
Mortis DN
Thudd Gun
Spartan (dozer, Ceremite)

Joe brought a Chaos/Black Legion force based on a Rhino Rush strategy:
Chaos Lord (jump pack, Axe of rage, burning blade?, Khorne mark)
Raptors (10, 2 melta, few other upgrades)
3 Rhinos with a Squad each (Melta/Flamer in each Squad, PF/PW champ)
Hel Drake
Chaos Chaplain equivalent (BL)
Chosen Squad (loads of upgrades, in Rhino)

He went first, loaded up his Left flank with 3 Rhinos full and the Jump Squad, leaving a single Rhino on the Right for himself.  I set up in a few ruins, one had the Quad Mortar one the Support Squad and one the Tac Squad from my Left to Center.  I left my Right empty, keeping the Spartan in Reserve with the Breacher Squad in as bait for the Objective there.  Siege Breaker with the Support Squad (my Warlord) and the Vigilator with the Tac Squad to give them better cover and use his Sniper abilities.  This I think is where I made my major mistake.  Had I simply fielded the Spartan ON the Objective and dared them to come and get me I would have been in a far better position late game.  As it was, nothing game breaking, we ended up with a draw as we both killed a lot of the other side and had units locked in Assault when time expired...  I got First Blood from a Rhino kill, he got Line Breaker by being in my DZ for the bulk of the game :-)...  We both found that the big 20 man Squads with FnP and 2-3 2+ Armor guys in them were annoyingly difficult to kill off.  I did not actually lose any of my Squads entirely by the game end, but I also failed to kill off enough of his to keep an Objective clear....

So, what I learned:

1. Big Squads are good, especially the Breacher Squad.  The Blast/Template re-rolls and FnP meant that bunching up coming out of the Spartan wasn't a big deal.  Also, ALL of them having a 5++ and FnP in Assault was huge.  This will I think become a standard setup piece for my lists.  Some of the lads are inbound now, guessing I'll be sculpting/casting shields to mod more of my ancient earlier MK armors to be a full Squad...
2. While it was GREAT having Apothecaries in each Squad, I need to tool out the SGT and likely have a more HtH focused IC in each big Squad to actually be a credible threat and actually keep my lads alive when they get hit.
3. Tac Support Squad with the Volkite thing...  It was "eh"...  A minor threat to the Rhinos.  But really?  I think Flamers in a Rhino will be more the norm.  Keep it in Reserve maybe and roll on to flambe a Unit that is threatening my backfield...  Plasma or Melta are options, but 30/Marine is a lot of points...  Not seeing enough Deep Strikers to say that a unit of all Plasma and Intercept would be worth the points.  Might run the Volkite thing one more time, but 3+, even in cover is just not that great anymore...
4. The Siege Breaker and Vigilator were both pretty "eh" at best.  What I REALLY needed was more HtH power, the Sniper stuff just wasn't worth the points, nor was the Tank Hunter ability really.  SB needs to be in a list with more actual Artillery and more folks with the Comm Units to abuse LoS.  Camo cloak and Specialist Ammo was completely worthless in this case.  
5. I brought a few "let's try this" sort of things...  A single Artillery piece that was no real threat to Marines, the single AA DN, etc...  The DN might stay, but even so, that was 135 points wasted I felt.  The Artillery I have to either commit to bringing a LOT in the form of actual Arty or even 3 Mortars or not at all.  Basilisk is an option, and 2 of them with the LoS abuse possible would be brutal.  So more focused list building needed.
6. ATSKNF...  Not having it SUCKS.  I got way too spoiled playing modern Marine armies for so long that I did not realize how often it might well be REALLY important to have.

So, more focused lists...  That was the big thing I learned.  Thinking the Praetor with the Armored Spearhead will be the next list.  Though I AM looking forward to fielding some Cataphractii Terminators...  Just that they do not normally HAVE the Deep Strike option and so need the 250 point Land Raider bringing the 5 man Squad cost to 440.  The Centurion upgrades I brought were also a "that looks neat" thing, but I think they really brought nothing useful to my list as unfocused as it was.  The Praetor will be different I think.  Fewer bodies, but more focus on doing what I think must be done.

All in all though, I think it was a good, fun game...  Looking forward to seeing what else I can bring to the table...

Generic Legion @ 1850 for this week...

So, I couldn't decide between the Vigilator and the Siege Breaker to lead out the Lads, so I brought them both in this list...  Though I may well bring a Librarian in place of the Siege Breaker...  Same point cost.

Vigilator (Artificer Armor, Refractor Field)  115
Siege Breaker  95

Legion Breacher Siege Squad (20, 3 Graviton guns and Flamer, Artificer on SGT)  400
Legion Tactical Squad (20, Artificer and Combi Melta on SGT)  310
Legion Tactical Support Squad (10, Volkite Calviers, Artificer on SGT)  230
Legion Apothecaries (3, Artificer Armor, 1 w/ Augury Scanner) 180

Legion Spartan Assault Tank (Ceremite, Dozer) 320
Mortis DN (TL AC)  135
Rapier Weapon BTTY (Quad Mortar/Thudd Gun)  60


So, basically, the Breacher Squad loads up in the Spartan and rolls forward if needed.  Quad Mortar, Tac Squad and Support Squad castle up with the Vigilator leading out the Tacs for Sniper support.  Siege Breaker leads out the Support Squad to give them Tank Hunter.  Loads of Str 6 shooting, with Interceptor against Deep Strikers...  A bit light on AA, just the Mortis really being dedicated AAA.  I am also a bit concerned about the lack of real Heavy Weapons...

The other option is a Praetor leading out a few Squads of 10 in Proteus Class Land Raiders.  Breachers and Praetor ride in the Spartan.  Smaller numbers, but all in AV 14, loads of TL LC to shoot down something similar...

New Legion rules and potential lists...

So, looking over the new Legion stuff, not at all sure what Legion I will end up fielding, but suspect it will be my ancient Wolves…  Though they really did not have much to do with the Terra portion of the Heresy…  The rules for the Iron Hands are REALLY good, and should our local IH player (Ted) ever get back to playing, I think he will be pretty happy with how they play.  Looking like I just play a generic Legion for the time being.  So, what HQ do I lead them out with?

1.       Legion Praetor:  Essentially a Chapter Master, albeit without some of the current things that say, Pedro gets like the Orbital Bombardment and Honor Guard.  Though they do have the “Master of the Legion” rule which allows you to customize your Legion build through one of several optional “Rites of War”.  One is Armored Spearhead, opening up Land Raiders as Transports for every squad that could take a Rhino.  Another is Pride of the Legion making Terminators and Vet Squads Troops…  There ARE disadvantages to each, for example the Spearhead requires your hole army to be Mechanized, nothing NOT transported.  And additional Secondary VC’s for each if you lose all of what the bonus gives you.  Still, an excellent way I think to build out a force if you start with a vision for it firmly in mind from the beginning.  My test list of one has 3 Land Raiders and a Spartan.  Numerically small, but AV 14, immune to Melta and with 10 TL LC shots each turn to attempt to bring down bigger targets on a mobile platform seems a pretty decent start.  A LOT of armies simply cannot deal with so much AV 14, especially if you take the easy answer of “Melta for the Win” off the table for the most part.  The other Rites I could use to build a “Proto” BA or DA force with ease.  So, an interesting and varied choice which would allow me to tailor my force to whatever I feel like playing…

2.       Centurion upgraded to Consul:  There are a LOT more choices here.  This slot is the one where the Chaplain, Librarian, Master of the Forge, etc. all come from.  And others not seen since the RT era…  The Librarian is a safe choice for players familiar with the old standard Marine Librarian as an Army Leader…  Choosing your own Discipline means that ANY of them are open, I suspect Divination will be the most popular choice for most folks.  Not horribly expensive, but no particular advantages either I think.  Safe and steady.  I am leaning toward the Vigilator or the Siege Breaker myself as I think they fit my personal play style a lot more, and the Consul will essentially be my Avatar on the field based on my own Army experience…  Vigilator gives you a free “Sabotage” to hit an Enemy unit at the start of the game and is a Stealth guy with Sniper and the Sternguard type ammo for his Bolter.  I see him leading out a Tactical or Breacher Squad setting up in Cover and being just that damn stubborn to pull off of an objective.  The Siege Breaker gives/has Tank Hunter…  The obvious choice is to put him with a Tactical Support Squad with Volkite Caliver on each Trooper for the re-rolls against Vehicles.  Should be pretty rough against Light Tanks, etc…  Or with a Heavy Support section with Missile Launchers and Flak Missiles to pull Sky Marshall Duty.  Not seeing THAT many fliers and lacking Scoring status for the most part, hard to justify the cost…

So, those are the basic HQ choices…  I can either take the Land Raider overload or a more basic one to lead out the lads… 

For Troops, I am liking the Breacher Siege Squads more and more.  Expensive, yes, but they all have an Invulnerable save and get to re-roll saves against Templates and Blasts.  Looking at the Iron Hands rules from the Massacre book, these would be my line Squads without question.  Inv save and a 6+ FnP roll on basic Troops, and LR or LR Spartan for Transports?  The Spartan has a carry capacity of 25, so Medics and other IC have room to join the Squad for a stupid huge Squad…  Even without the IH rules, the Breachers with an attached Medic will I think be an annoyingly difficult to remove Squad for shorter games like in a Tournament.  And given that they are a basic Troop choice for one of my 2 minimum required ones…

The Basic Tactical Squad is interesting, but I am not 100% sure I like fielding just a mass of Marines armed only with Bolters.  The lack of the Special/Heavy weapons in the Squad are a major concern for me.  In an Armored Spearhead, they are just Panzer Grenadiers riding in the Proteus Class Raider jumping out at the end of the assault to claim objectives or keep the Tanks from being swarmed I guess…  They are in my initial test armies, but I think my concerns about their viability are valid…  Though, arming them like my old Grey Hunters with the rifle, pistol, and sword means they are at least “kind of” Assault Squads if I need them to be.  A unit of 20 with Apothecary and maybe the Sniper leader would be interesting I think.  Stubborn defense if they start/end up in a Ruin or other Area terrain camping on an Objective.

Speaking of the Apothecaries, I am thinking that every Squad that is on foot or mounted in a LR Spartan will have one…  Points/slots permitting of course.  NOT ICs like the BA ones, but assigned out like Wolf Guard.  So, planning is required, but it just means I have to be more careful during the list building stage of the game.  An additional Character with potentially Artificer Armor and maybe a Power Weapon or Augury Scanner who also grants the 5+ FnP roll?  Yes, please.

Otherwise, I am looking at the second book (“Horus Heresy Book 2 – Massacre”), and finding that if I were to go into the Iron Hands I would be pretty well set…  I think they pretty much work the way I’d like the Legion Marines to work.  Shoot like you are voting in Chicago, early and often.  But I think I will stay with my ancient Space Wolves at least until I see what this iteration of the history is…  As I was familiar with the old Wolves, I am hoping that at the least they do not vary TOO much from the regular Legions.  So far it is just a different unit or two, the Primarch with a few characters and maybe a different Rite of War…  So basically as I start building now, perhaps I will be OK moving it over to Wolves when they finally appear in the books.  Looking at 3-4 new Legions/year it might well be some time before they DO show up.  But the Mortis DN and the Contemptor Mortis are both there for all Legions to use.  135 points for the TL AC version, so 15 points more than a new standard DN with the same armament.  15 points for the Targeting Array giving Intercept and Skyfire during your turn and the opponent’s turn if you do not move.  Um, YES PLEASE!  A reliable AA weapon that can actually do a lot more than AA I think.  AP 4 is kind of annoying, but reliably putting 3-4 Str 7 hits on a target is a solid ability.  ALMOST at the point of putting on 2 x TL Las Cannon just for the ability to put 2 Str 9 AP 2 hits out there.  ROF is a bit low for the 155 points, but the better chance of splashing fliers might well be worth it.  But for now I HAVE several DNs with the TL AC, including one of the Dust walkers that I am repainting for my Crimson Fists…  I could realistically put together another 3-4 DNs with the TL AC if I really felt the need, but not really sure it is worth it…  So, the Mortis comes with my Legion forces like my DA forces…

There IS a Flier in the book in the Fast Attack section.  A Lightning variant.  Not sure, base model is cheap(ish), and there are 4 hard points to add custom weapon loadouts…  Still, a 2 HP AV 11 flier starting at 135 points?  20 points buys you TL AC or TL Multi Laser to supplement the TL Las Cannon, so fully outfitted for Air Superiority missions I’d snag 2-3 (probably 3) more weapons bringing it to 195 points for a very fragile Flier…  The Storm Raven is 200, has Split Fire and some pretty good weapons to go along with its Transport and Assault Vehicle roles…  Depends a lot on who hits the field first, but overall I’d say the Raven will win a lot more dogfights as its weapons have to roll well below average to Glance/Penetrate…  So, certainly NOT something I’ll be rushing out to field I think.  Neat, but…

The other units in the book are all fairly neat, but things like the Drop Pod variants seem very specifically focused.  They DID fix the stupid “Deathwind” one though.  It is expensive, but it is 5 Missile Launchers each with its own Machine Spirit so it can fire at different targets and in addition to other weapons firing, etc…  Expensive, but potentially a problem that cannot be lightly ignored on the other side of the table…  And the new version of the Lucius Class Pod…  Again, “Neat”, but unless I do a Drop Army, not of much use…  Oh, but you CAN go directly into Assault from Deep Strike with it, so potentially something to surprise and scare a lot of armies, especially if you go first… 

But options abound…  Got a game scheduled against the Joe next week assuming I make it through the nuclear stress testing Monday morning…  Getting old apparently, and all the damage from all the stupid things I have done seems to be catching up J…  But, one of the reasons I took the lower pay but stable job here at the University was the excellent Health Insurance, so now that looks like a good choice on my part…

Ancient Comm Mini

Looking over at James Wappel's amazing Imperial Fists Command Group (and a post of his previous to that), I recognized one of my ancient RT era lads as something Forge World has redone.  And MUCH better I might add, though as the old Marines go, this was not really a BAD one...  Just clearly one that I never had much use for as I never even primed it in all the years it has been in the Basement of Doom :-)

So, not bad and as I eventually choose my 30K Legion, something for me to paint up in the correct colors, but still have to say the FW minis they are coming out with are amazing...  :-)  Will probably have to sell off a rifle or three to start buying more of the resin...