40k Stronghold Assault: Pick your Castle!

Stronghold Assault presents a wealth of Fortification options for your armies, it’s time to get the most out of them in 7th! 

Most of us are familiar with the Bastion and Aegis line of old, and there isn’t much new about them. Just about every tournament or pick-up opponent will be fine with you using one of the older Fortifications. However, Stronghold Assault is being integrated into the game more and more, and it’s time to use the new buildings to their full potential! 

The Wall of Martyrs has similar length to the Aegis line, but also provides cover  from multiple directions, to protect from Deep striking units or Barrage weapons, and grants stubborn. In my opinion it is worth the points increase over an Aegis to lend protection to a “bubble wrap” unit like a Guard blob stretched out in front of a Tank gunline. There are characters that can provide similar or better special rules, but the Defense Line is available universally and can never be challenged, killed or sniped out of the unit. For any kind of bubble wrap unit, I think the Wall of Martyrs is easily worth the 30 points more than an Aegis. 

The Defense Emplacement is a curious case because it is much smaller than the Defense Line or Aegis, but does provide some nice benefits to the squad inside. If you only need the line for a single unit, this is 10 points cheaper than an Aegis, but usually you will get much more mileage out of the Martyrs Defense Line. 

Now, here is where things get fun! The Bunker is just as durable as a Bastion, and is 20 points cheaper, but you may fire more models from inside the Bunker! For less points, this is just as good and often better than the normal Bastion. You do miss out on the Heavy Bolters, but the Bunker can fill the exact same role for your army, and has access to all of the same upgrades as a Bastion, for less points. What’s not to love? 

4. Wall of Martyrs Firestorm Redoubt: Again, we have 4 AV 14 hull points, but 6 models can fire out from inside. Also, this bad boy has a pair of 2 shot Lascannons, with twin-linked, skyfire, Interceptor, and  a 96″ range! 

True, this guy only has BS 2 and must auto fire it’s Quad-lascannons, but this guy still provides some excellent anti air defense. It’s important to note however that it must shoot the closest Flyer/FMC if there is one in range. It may also replace those Lascannons with Battle cannons or Punisher cannons, and may be upgraded to have BS 3 with a Magos Machine spirit. But this is a very solid building that can still function as a building with good firepoints and a transport capacity. The main selling point, however, is the firepower that the Redoubt can lend to your army. If your army has suffered against Flyers in the past, this will provide a great threat to help clear the skies! 

Just like the Redoubt, these are designed to add some firepower to your army easily. It also has access to Quad lascannons and Battlecannons, just like the Redoubt. Essentially, you pay 50 less than the Redoubt and get to split up the weapons, but also lose the transport capacity. There are very few armies that don’t benefit from adding this kind of Firepower. Just imagine a Knight army that suddenly has 4 skyfire twin linked Lascannons in it to round out uneven point values! (*Please note that I previously mentioned that Vengeance Weapon Batteries can take the Magos Machine Spirit, this is incorrect.*)

I believe that the best way to use the Pipes would be to keep a unit with an armor save better than 4+ behind the wall, so that you can take your armor instead of cover save when needed, as you need to minimize the chances to roll a 1 and take more wounds from the Promethium Line’s potential explosion. However, it is a good way to get a 4+ cover save for cheaper than an Aegis line and buffs your (non vehicle) flamer weapons as well! 

The usage here is rather obvious, it provides protection for all of your infantry, and can even essentially lend extra hull points to your vehicles. Also, note that these Shields regenerate on a 5+ each round once they’re taken down. With a 12″ radius, these extend past your deployment zone easily and can be used to provide protection for advancing assault units, as well as to protect a gunline. 

This is by far the most powerful fortification in the book, thanks to the long ranged strength D, but in fairness it costs more than a pair of Land Raiders. If you take this building, it will be as the anchor of a ridiculously powerful gunline. AV 15 is incredibly hard to destroy at long range, and the firepower this puts out will delete units. On the other hand, losing this monstrosity will cripple your army due to the points it costs, and a single meltagun can take it out with some decent rolling. It’s a lot of points for a single model that can die quickly with unlucky dice, which balances out the firepower it possesses. 

Again, this is frightening amount of damage output, but what did you expect from a single model that costs over 500 points? It is also prone to being killed by a lucky melta gun, or massed anti tank weaponry, and trust me every single anti tank gun will be leveled at this Building once they read the rules! As the anchor of a gunline, it is incredibly powerful but is expensive and needs to be protected at all costs. Remember, don’t stay too close, as the Vortex missiles themselves can explode if the Strongpoint goes down… 

In conclusion, the Stronghold Assault rules can add a ton of protection and firepower to your army. However, the more you want, the more points you have to put in, and many of the options are far from cheap! Some of these buildings will protect your gunline, but others can support an army that charges forwards. Either way, there is a lot of potential for every army to get some good mileage out of these units.