40K Tactics: Space Marine Heroes – Vulkan He’stan
Hey guys, I am Learn2Eel and this is my Codex: Space Marines Tactica! Today, I will be looking at Vulkan He’stan – the Forgefather! I hope you enjoy this article!
Space Marine players have access to the most extensive roster of unique characters in the game. This provides many diverse play-styles, and inherent advantages, that encourage players to experiment with a wealth of differing army lists. Unlike some other codices, few of these characters are solely based around damage potential; instead, they provide ground-breaking support abilities and potential for thematic army creation that you simply can’t find anywhere else. Though they are restricted to their own Chapter Tactics now, the advice given in the previous Space Marines codex very much rings true to this day; these are templates for mighty heroes to lead your forces, built to give you something you simply cannot find from a kitted out regular character. Where Marneus Calgar allows you to control the morale aspect of Warhammer 40000, Kor’sarro Khan provides free early movement to an entire force, allowing them to dominate positioning and deployment. As Helbrecht is the lynchpin for an army-wide massed and devastating assault, Vulkan He’stan gives you the means to make a Salamanders army the true masters of anti-vehicular warfare. It is such that you cannot judge these characters on the merits of combat or martial prowess alone, but on how they allow for incredible strategic flexibility in the army list creation phase, and in tactical adaptability through their considerable, palpable aura on the field of battle. These Space Marines count themselves amongst the finest heroes in all of the Imperium, and each has their own mark to leave on your army.
Vulkan He’stan, the Forgefather
Overview – In reverence of their Primarch, the Salamanders constantly have a single Forgefather that forsakes their original name for that of their sire and pursues his ancient artefacts across the galaxy. Vulkan He’stan is the latest of these most honoured Space Marines, and he is predictably one of the best equipped characters in the army; his mastery of wargear is such that it even extends to those he leads. Name plagiarism aside, He’stan is a great leader for a Salamanders force, even if they – and every other Chapter in the galaxy – no longer need his services to be a competitive army. He has a standard Captain stat-line (how many times must I say this?) which means he is a very well rounded commander even before most wargear options are included. Of course, such characters are very prone to instant death from power fists, smashing monstrous creatures and so on; this is a weakness that you always need to be aware of, so don’t send Vulkan into a fight he cannot win! Trygon Primes, Wraithlords and so on can all single the Forgefather out and slay him in a heartbeat, so always be aware of those enemies and try to avoid them as much as possible.
Now, this isn’t to say Vulkan is fragile; in fact, he is far from it with a meaty 2+ armour save and 3+ invulnerable save. He can serve as a wound tank against Heldrakes and, if you feel game enough – but I wouldn’t recommend it – those cover-ignoring Ion Cannons on Hammerheads. On that note, Chaos players will hate you here if you position Vulkan well; against flame weapons, he gets to re-roll his failed armour saves, meaning a 2+ re-rollable armour save against baleflamers! He also shrugs off a lot of AP2 weaponry, but again, having only three wounds and no Eternal Warrior means that while he will tough it out against a lot of enemies, those that force massed invulnerable saves or inflict instant death really need to be watched for. This is of course easier said than done if you are using a standard Salamander build involving lots of drop pods, but if you aren’t, I do advise Rhinos or Razorbacks to transport Vulkan with a regular squad. He doesn’t need an expensive bodyguard as he isn’t really a dedicated melee killer like Marneus Calgar for example, Vulkan is very much an all-rounder who is there mostly to buff your army. Keeping him safe, as such, should really be your top priority, provided of course he is your Warlord.
As tough (or not) as Vulkan may be, his damage potential is suitably impressive to match the theme of the Salamanders; he really is one of the best equipped Captains you can get, especially for his points cost. He has a master-crafted relic blade that lets him swing at non-2+ armoured characters with ease while tanking through his strong saves, and provided he isn’t challenged out, he can help even a Tactical Squad to victory over monstrous creatures like Carnifexes with his Strength 6 attacks. This also lets him destroy most non-walker vehicles really easily, as most have rear armour of 11 or 10; Vulkan’s four attacks on the charge alone can destroy a pesky Wave Serpent. To add to the pain and promote his effectiveness in a drop list, Vulkan has a heavy flamer that, combined with Salamander Chapter Tactics, has re-rolls to wound all the time. Paired up with a Sternguard squad or even Tacticals with a flamer and combi-flamer, and Vulkan’s unit can dish out some crazy anti-infantry damage to destroy units like massed Fire Warriors protecting Etherals or Pathfinders and their ilk. Those twenty Guardians performing the role of home objective sitters aren’t going to be so arrogant when they get their faces melted off by a swathe of promethium flames! Just be wary of his limits; he can’t really harm vehicles outside of combat, and 2+ armoured enemies will simply shrug his blows off. Walkers will also usually laugh at him; don’t ever get him and a squad of Marines into combat with an Ironclad or Soul Grinder if you can possibly avoid it, as he hasn’t got the fists of Calgar to save them! His heavy flamer is best suited in a squad dedicated to anti-infantry to maximise both the alpha strike and the defensive benefits of template weapons through Overwatch, but it is also a smart move to pair him up with combi-meltas and meltaguns to keep his squad versatile against some truly nasty threats. If you can pop those walkers before they charge you, Vulkan will already be a long way ahead in the race to survive.
And on the subject of melta weapons, there really is one major reason to take Vulkan over a Captain, Chapter Master or Master of the Forge. He is equipped very well for a Captain and all, but he still suffers the limitations of the stat-line; instead, you want him for his amazing support ability. By including Vulkan as your Warlord, all models in the same detachment – even those without Chapter Tactics – get master-crafting on their meltaguns, multi-meltas and combi-meltas for free. Basically, your melta weapons all get twin-linking which, combined with all the twin-linked flame weapons in the army, means your force will truly fit the bill of masters of fire. In gameplay terms, this leads to a severe effectiveness and reliability boost for such weapons in your force; typically, melta weapons suffer a lot from being single-shot weapons with little reliability outside of Ballistic Skill 4. Too often you will see drop-podding suicide Dreadnoughts with multi-meltas miss their quarry, or a lone meltagun in a Tactical Squad fail to hit the mark. Adding in Vulkan’s upgrade means that all of these weapons you take, all of these risky tactics you employ become far more efficient, almost completely removing the element of chance from the equation. Generally, melta weapons have very high damage-to-shots ratios against vehicles and even monstrous creatures; maximising those few shots makes them all the better. It gives Space Marines incredibly reliable sources of anti-tank even outside of their heavy support slots. A nasty trick many have noticed is that the master-crafting also applies to the special issue ammunition employed by Sternguard Veterans; it is the gun itself that gets the re-roll after all!
Of course, with the short ranged nature of such weapons and Vulkan’s focus on them comes a forced hand for Salamanders players wishing to employ the Forgefather; you need to use Salamanders led by Vulkan either in massed Rhinos or massed Drop Pods. This is because of those short ranges, and the added benefits that Salamanders get for using template weapons; the Chapter Tactics and the commander all favour army builds that maximise those weapons. Using such a force either on foot or without melta or template weapons simply wastes the competitive reasons for taking Vulkan and Salamanders in the first place. Like most of the other Space Marine special characters, you really need to build your army around these important force-changing models to get the most out of what they provide. Otherwise, why not just a combat monster Chapter Master or a supporting Master of the Forge instead? So again, I must stress the point; as good as Vulkan is overall, you are best off using him in a highly mobile mechanized force. The choice of delivery system for your melta and template weapons will generally come down to preference, though I am a firm believer in drop pods for a Vulkan list. They get the short-ranged guns into range immediately, and give you the best possible alpha strike of any Space Marine Drop Pod list.
As an aside, Vulkan does have a few little tricks up his cloak to keep in mind. First up is his guaranteed Warlord trait, Iron Resolve, which gives his unit a +1 bonus to combat resolution when he is involved. This is handy, particularly as Vulkan will often be right up in the face of enemy units anyway if you are using him to the fullest of his abilities; it is certainly a lot better than causing Fear! Additionally, his heavy flamer gives him a set of digital weapons, allowing him a free re-roll to wound in the assault phase. This is nifty for maximising his damage with his relic blade, that along with a single re-roll to hit, gives him quite the edge over similarly equipped enemies. Though these are only minor advantages to Vulkan, they nonetheless contribute to what is an incredibly strong special character overall. He is better equipped than almost any Captain you could find that is worth their salt, and he provides a crazy army-wide boost favouring a specific list build. If you utilize him and his force in the appropriate manner, which involves either massed drop pods or rhinos as well as a load of melta and flame weapons, then you will have an all star and one of the premier HQ choices in the codex.
Maximising their Abilities – Like Khan, taking Vulkan means taking as many units that get the most out of his special rules as possible. Ironclad Dreadnoughts with meltaguns, Dreadnoughts with multi-meltas, Tactical Squads with a meltagun, Sternguard Veterans with three or more combi-meltas, Command Squads with meltaguns; when put in Drop Pods, all such units are viable and important choices in a Vulkan list, because they get so much benefit from those re-rolls. Rhinos do work alright as well, but they don’t deliver your Salamanders into the fray as quickly as the Drop Pods do; as well, it doesn’t give you that all important and ridiculous alpha strike. A mixed force also works fine, but I do prefer massed Drop Pods, as a few of each won’t work nearly as well due to enemy units being able to pick and choose their targets if they go first. Make sure to include anti-infantry units in such a list as well, with five-man Assault Squads in Drop Pods armed with two flamers being the most popular choice; Sternguard are also very helpful here. Having too many meltas will lead to overkill and saturation on anti-tank, leaving you more vulnerable to massed infantry such as Fire Warriors, Termagants and the Daemonic Troops choices. For Vulkan himself, I recommend a Command Squad and a Drop Pod as his personal escort, and I would probably reserve him for the second wave if you feel confident in your other units providing a deadly alpha strike. This will keep him safe, get him close to the action quickly where he can ply his trade, and give you a lot of control over what engagements to pick; remember, you don’t always have to drop in near the enemy army if you really want to preserve your secondary victory points! A friendly tip here; in a Vulkan Drop list, if you fail to get First Blood, that probably means you are in a lot of trouble.
Thanks for reading everybody and by all means chime in down in the comments. How have you been running the Forgefather?
