Goatboy’s 40K: Triad of Traitor Goodness
Today Traitor Legionnaires we talk about the Secret Agents, Cult Leaders, and Heavy Metal Bands amongst you.
Goatboy here again and before the new year begins I want to finish off some basic legion list ideas. We have 3 Legions left and they range in power level pretty differently. Of course I still think there is uses out of them – they just don’t have nearly as much power as some of the other legions. But enough of that – will probably have one more article where I go into all the good things out of each legion and how you can do some combinations using the glue that is the KDK book and Daemons not having a “mark” of chaos.
Word Bearers
The first army we’ll look at is my favorite Legion fluff wise – the Word Bearers. I wish their traitor powers were better – but I can’t have everything I want. They look to be set up as a pseudo Tetrad like build that can utilize Daemon Princes and their ability of getting a 3+ to cast Malefic powers. There is also the thought of doing some crazy Boon table stuff and create a super Warlord. I kinda think that is the way to go as it feels pretty fun and matches up with the armies Detachment Bonus’s. Let’s start with that and build out from there.
The Grand Host Detachment
Core: Chaos Warband
Chaos Lord, VoTLW, Bike, Powerfist, Lightning Claw, Sigil of Corruption, MoN, Gift of Mutation, Baleful Icon, (Have to keep the theme of lots of boon rolls)
Sorcerer: Bike, Spell Familiar, Lvl 3, Meltabomb, Gift of Mutation
Terminators X 3, Combi-Melta X 3, Power Maul X 3
Chaos Space Marines X 5, VoTLW, Rhino
Chaos Space Marines X 5, VoTLW, Rhino
Chaos Bikers X 3, VoTLW, Meltagun X 2, VoTLW
Helbrute, Powerfist X 2, Perdus Rift Anomaly (Seriously go look at this – 20pt Coteaz upgrade from FW)
Lord of the Legion
Daemon Prince, VoTLW, Wings, Armor, Lvl 3, MoT, Spell Familiar, Malefic Tome
Lord of the Legion
Daemon Prince, VoTLW, Wings, Armor, Lvl 3, MoT, Spell Familiar
Lord of the Legion
Chaos Lord, VoTLW, Bike, Powerfist, Lightning Claw, Sigil of Corruption, MoN, Gift of Mutation, Blight Grenades
Aux:
Spawn X 5, MoN
This again seems to be the common set up with a basic Warband and some kind of star build. I went with some Daemon princes to help get some Boons of Mutation going with the Mark of Tzeetnch and ways to just have a crap ton of boon rolls. The unit itself stars with 3 rolls and then you get to pick one again, roll 2 and get a total of 5 before you even begin. From there depending on what you roll you could have this crazy super villain running around, punching things, and being a complete pain in the butt. Or you could have a blob of goo as they all get changed into Spawn.
Alpha Legion
Next up will look at the Alpha Legion. These guys seem set up to be a cultists factory. I don’t know how good that will be – but will go with that type of build as it seems to be the most focused of their list. A crap ton of never ending cultists will end up dying a ton – but heck its replacing units instead of really creating a ton of new ones. Now of course there is an FAQ question about how the Lost and the Damned and their Detachment bonus work – as both sorta do the same thing but with different rule keyword and different results. I am under the opinion that you roll twice and if you both get a 4+ you get 2 units of Cultists. Will go with that interpeetation as I think it is the only way to really make a powerful Alpha Legion army that isn’t just a combo creator by giving you the best Hit and Run in the game (Mind Veil).
Insurgency Force Detachment
Core: Chaos Warband
Chaos Lord, VoTLW, Bike, Lightning Claw, Powerfist, Sigil, The Mindveil
Sorcerer, VoTLW, Bike, Lvl 3, Spell Familiar, Icon of Insurrection, Meltabomb
Terminators X 3, Combi-Melta X 3, Power Maul X 3, VoTLW
CSM X 5, VoTLW
CSM X 5, VoTLW
Chaos Bikers X 3, Meltagun X 2, VoTLW
Helbrute, Powerfist X 2, Perdus Rift Anomaly
Aux:
Spawn X 5
Aux: The Lost and the Damned
Dark Apostle
Cultists X 10
Cultists X 10
Cultists X 10
Cultists X 10
Cultists X 10
Lord of the Legion
Sorcerer, VoTLW, Bike, Lvl 3, Spell Familiar, Blade of the Hydra (This guy is gonna try to get Iron arm – daemon weapon, smash, extra hits = ca ca ca combo!!)
Lord of the Legion
Daemon Prince, VoTLW, Lvl 3, MoT, Spell Familiar, Drakescale Plate
The idea here is to have a ton of guys get in the way and constantly refresh and recycle. The Bubbles of Fearless can be really good to keep people there – or move away to let that unit evaporate. The Mindveil is pretty powerful so this unit will be very hard press to keep locked in. The Daemon Prince is there as Clean up duty to move around, engage units, and hopefully be a real pain in the butt with a reroll 2+ armor save. I don’t know how this army will be very killy but it seems like it can at least run the games and run the missions pretty well.
Emperor’s Children
Finally we get to one of my favorite legions right now – the Emperor’s Children. I have high hopes we see Fulgrum in all his evil glory at some point. I haven’t had a chance to build my Magnus yet – but the idea of getting him and the rumored future Primarchs is just too much to handle for a super fan like me. But enough of that – lets look at an Emperor’s Children only list.
The Rapture Battalion
Core: Kakophoni
Chaos Lord, MoS, VoTLW, Bike, Power Sword, Sigil
Noise Marines X 5, VoTLW, Blastmaster
Noise Marines X 5, VoTLW, Blastmaster
Noise Marines X 5, VoTLW, Blastmaster
Noise Marines X 5, VoTLW, Blastmaster
Noise Marines X 5, VoTLW, Blastmaster
Noise Marines X 5, VoTLW, Blastmaster
Core: Warband
Chaos Lord, MoS, VoTLW, Bike, Power Sword, Sigil, Intoxicating Elixir
Terminators X 3, MoS, VoTLW, Combi-Melta X 2, Power Sword X 3
CSM, MoS, VoTLW, Rhino, Dirge Caster
CSM, MoS, VoTLW, Rhino
Chaos Bikers X 10, VoTLW, MoS, Icon of Excess,
Helbrute, Powerfist X 2, Perdus Rift Anomaly
Aux
Chaos Spawn X 1, MoS
This army is really about trying to have a ton of stuff on the battlefield with a really annoying central killing unit in the Bikes plus 2 Lords. One of the Lords will be pretty nutty with the Elixir and all his extra bonus’s. If he gets a couple of Boon Rolls he could be very troublesome indeed. The Noise Marines themselves will be able to throw some Blastmaster Fire downfield and the Warband helps give you objective secured and the bike squad. I don’t know if the Noise Marines themselves are worth it – as I think you could do pretty well with just Warband and some guys – but then why aren’t you playing Death Guard or World Eaters.
Overall I found the Chaos Space Marines to be a nice update with decent rules. I think the overall downfall of troop choices and unit cost issues will keep the army from consistently reaching the top. It does have very specific builds that can hurt some of the top level armies – but it again faces issues with some of the mid tier gatekeeper lists that are out there. Personally a combo based legion list utilizing some Black Legion sorcerers and some Death Guard meat might be the better one. I also think the Alpha Legion Mindveil Chaos Lord who gives you Shrouded the first turn might be very good too. The other crazy thing is there is no limits to putting some of the 2+ armor saves on Daemon Princes so MoT guys will be pretty powerful on the table top even without the Chaos Daemon Rewards they miss from not being a true Chaos Daemon choice.
Right now I hope FW updates some things that could be taken in a Warband or other Legion based formation. I would love to take some Sicarians as a heavy option or at least have some updated Formations. I know I over used the Perdue Rift Anomaly but it is one of the few things that just seems way to go and beneficial for the bad guys to not use.
~Hope everyone had a great Christmas and this next year kicks butt model wise.
