Thursday, August 29, 2013

Sisters of Battle Unit Review: Seraphim Squad

Sourced: hoxiaowei.deviantart.com
Hi everyone, Eldrad Vect here, its been a while but I'm back with my review of the Seraphim Squad.
I love Seraphim, I loved them in Dawn of War and even the models around now are actually my pick for best unit in the codex! Ok, maybe I'm a tad bias, but that won't affect my review in the slightest. First off, stat line, same as your average Sister of Battle and as far as wargear goes, exactly the same, minus the Bolter for a second Bolt Pistol. These girls were the original 'Gunslingers' and while other units such as Space Marine Command Squads and Vanguard Veterans have adopted the Dual Pistol Build as of 6th Edition and the introduction of the Gunslingers USR, the Seraphim are still queens of this form of combat. Seraphim can exchange their twin Bolt Pistols for either twin Hand Flamers or twin Inferno Pistol, two Sisters may take this particular upgrade no matter the squad size, while Inferno Pistols are melta and getting 4 Strength 8 AP 1 shots is so tempting as it is effect vs MCs, Heavy Infantry and Vehicles, the Hand Flamers are the way to go, the reason has something to do with their Act of Faith.
Special Rules wise, Seraphim are just awesome, They have the typical Acts of Faith and Shield of Faith special rules, however they also have Hit and Run, Seraphim Pistols (pretty much an early version of Gunslingers), Angelic Visage and their Faith power, The Emperor's Deliverance. Angelic Visage is the big one, it allows re-rolls of failed Faith tests and Shield of Faith saves, which means they almost always pass their Faith tests and have 6+ Inuvln. save that re-rolls isn't something to sniff at. Then comes the Act of Faith and reason why I take Hand Flamers, The Emperor's Deliverance allows re-rolls to wound when shooting... BY THE EMPEROR!!! this power is amazing and is one of the few that are actually aggressive.
All up, Seraphim are an awesome FA choice that can really hurt enemies if played right, their only downfall is the price tag that comes with playing them, remember they still are just Battle Sisters so if your not keen on spending a lot on a unit that can be cut down quick, even with Power Armour, then Seraphim are not for you, but they are by far one of the best units in the codex.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Sisters of Battle Unit Review: Ecclesiarchy Priests

Sourced: hoxiaowei.deviantart.com
Hi everyone, Eldrad Vect reporting, this is quite a short review of a relatively useful Sisters of Battle unit, the Ecclesiarchy Priests.
First things first, the Ecclesiarchy Priests have pretty much the exact same Stats, Rules and Wargear as an Ecclesiarchy Confessor, although the only difference is the dreadfully low WS, BS, Attacks and Leadership and not being able to carry a Plasma Gun. They work in a similar way to Techpriests or Ministorum Priests in the Imperial Guard Codex, they count as Elites, you can have up to 5 of them and they don't take up any FoC at all. These guys are pretty damn useless, the only reason you'd dare to waste 45 points on them is to stick one in all your squads to make Faith tests easier, other than that, they are a complete waste of time and points. Harsh I know but they aren't a very good unit.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Power Weapons: Are your Warriors using the right Weapons?

Hi all, Eldrad Vect here. Ah, the humble Power Weapon, the tool of champions and no name squad leaders, however in 6th edition they released the new rules on the different types of Power Weapons, this was awesome and I think one of the greatest things in the new rulebook (I love 6th Edition so much). It does beg the question though, what weapon should I use? well I'm here to give you the run down on what I think are the best choices for each race.

Space Marines/Chaos Space Marines (and Codex Chapters)
Power Sword and Power Axe:
Starting with the most popular race in Warhammer, Space Marines and their evil counterparts excel when using all weapon types but are particularly effective with these two. Since their base Strength is 4, the Power Sword is exceptionally useful, it's AP3 at full Initiative means in the hands of a Space Marine, can pull apart xenos and MEQs with equal ease. The Power Axe is also a great weapon for Marines but should be used defensively, i.e. if you have a Devestator (or Havoc) squad leader with a Power Weapon make it a Power Axe. The reason behind this is that the Power Axe's +1 to Strength and AP2 gives it sundering power unmatched, so it is effective at holding off attackers as it mean you won't lose combat and may even sweep your attackers since the upped Strength give you an greater chance to wound your foe.

Dark Eldar
Power Sword and Power Lance:
Dark Eldar need speed above all else and the Power Axe is too clunky for Dark Eldar and is also unnecessary because almost every Dark Eldar unit has access to AP2, whether it be shooting or CC, not only that but they have access to one the best Power Weapons in Warhammer, the Agoniser which always wounds on a +4 and is AP3 which can carve through Infantry and Monstrous Creatures. The Agoniser also makes the Power Maul useless too. Power Sword is for your shooty units to give them continuous AP3 to help even the Combat Resolution and maybe prolong combat so a more aggressive unit can help, where as the Power Lance is for your attacking squads, the +1 Strength on the charge is very handy for Dark Eldar. Personally, I typically use Agonisers but I do use Swords and Lances sometimes since they are cheaper than the Agoniser.

Imperial Guard
Power Maul:
Imperial Guard Sergeants should only ever wield Power Mauls, for them, the +2 to Strength allows them a chance to pummel even Marines in combat. No other Power Weapon is worth it, in my opinion the Sword is too weak, the Axe not needed and the Lance is pointless because IG don't often charge into combat, (well, I do).  

Sisters of Battle
Power Maul and Power Axe:
Sisters are weak, sad to say it but its true, S3 is not very good and unlike Eldar and Dark Eldar, these chicks ain't fast, with I3 they have the same problem as Guard. The Power Maul and Power Axe buff the Sisters to new levels, if your going to strike last anyway may as well do it with an AP2 Axe and take some foes out with you.

Eldar
Power Sword, Power Lance and Power Axe:
The Triforce of Power Weapons used by the Eldar all work well, Swords and Lances keep the Eldar's high Initiative whilst killing Infantry easy, even Terminators or other 2+ Armour save units if the Jinx Psychic Power is in play, however you may be wondering why I have the Power Axe on this list. Eldar Aspect Warrior Exarchs have good armour and WS, this means a good Power Axe doesn't go to waste, however I only use this on units that is makes sense to, an example of this is one of my Dire Avenger Exarch, I always play Power Weapon and Shimmershield but the Diresword is AP2 and in order to give the unit a +5 Invuln. Save I have to sacrifice the AP2... well, not really, I simply give my Exarch a Power Axe, this gives him both a lovely Strength bonus that makes him quite a good Marine killer and the AP of 2 that he was missing out on. So while it all depends on your squad and what you like to use.

Orks, Necrons, Chaos Daemons, Tyranid, Tau, Grey Knights.
Sorry you guys, you either don't have access to conventional Power Weapons or have unique weapons that a similar but way better (i.e. Boneswords, Warscythes, Hellblades...) just keep doing what your doing and you'll be fine. I know that some of them do have Power Weapons but it is not as widespread as the others.

Whatever Power Weapons your troops wield just remember, it better than a Combat Knife.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Sisters of Battle Unit Review: SIster Repentia Squad

Sourced: hoxiaowei.deviantart.com
Hi everyone, Eldrad Vect here with the crazy sisters seeking forgiveness, the Sister Repentia.
These guys are insane, same stats as a Battle Sister but with no armour save, except the Mistress of Repentance which wears Power Armour, and 2 Attacks. Now these sisters have some pretty cruel weapons as each Sister Repentia is armed with an Eviserator which is pretty deadly, not to mention the Mistress who carries two Neural Whips, which are Power Weapons that give her a Strength of 8 but you roll to wound on the enemies Leadership profile. Wargear aside, what pushes the Sister Repentia squad into the area of greatness is the giant list of special rules they have.
Feel no Pain, Fleet, Fearless, Rage, Shield of Faith, Acts of Faith and Spirit of the Martyr (which is their Faith Power) this impressive list of special rules definitely make up for their lack of a 3+ Armour save. Spirit of the Martyr is their Faith power and it rocks, you take your Faith test at the start of the Assault phase, if successful, when a Sister Repentia is killed, do not remove the model, each fallen Sister Repentia gets 1 attack at the enemy before they die! its great, because if your unit get completely wiped they can still hit and I mean hit hard.
Sister Repentia are good, I use them quite a bit but they are quite often hit or miss, having only a 6+ Invul. and Feel no Pain to keep them alive they are constantly shot off the board quite quickly and Sister Repentia aren't cheap. It is a risk vs. gain scenario and you just have to take the risk sometimes, because when it pays off, it pays off big.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Sisters of Battle Unit Review: Celestian Squad

Sourced: hoxiaowei.deviantart.com
Hi all, Eldrad Vect here with my first of the Sisters of Battle Elites reviews, first up, Celestians.
A Celestian is essentially a veteran Battle Sister and has similar stats expect for an Attack profile of 2 and Leadership of 9, also they are only 3 points more than a standard Battle Sister. This is a huge difference and for a squad thats max number is 10 I was a little skeptical on how they would perform, to my surprise they are actually quite effective. Wargear wise, up to two Celestians may take special or heavy weapons, similar to the Battle Sisters squad, though this just solidifies the fact that they are just glorified Battle Sisters.
Special Rules are the same as a Battle Sister squad too, except for their Faith Power, Hand of the Emperor, which give the Celestian squad +1 to Strength and Fearless in the Assault phase, wait, what? an Assault phase power for a unit that doesn't assault. Well, I guess you could charge with Celestians and really hurt what you hit, though I think the powers real purpose, like a lot of Faith powers, is defensive as it helps a unit terrible at combat become relatively good.
At best Celestians are expensive Battle Sisters, while they can be incredibly handy and can work well, I personally don't play them since there are so many better units like Dominion squads or Seraphim squads that do much more than Celestians. I'm not saying Celestians are a terrible unit, just that they need some improvments.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Worst Unit in Warhammer 40k Ever: Kheradruakh the Decapitator

Kheradruakh Codex art, doesn't he look awesome... all rights belong to Games Workshop, I do not own this picture.
Hi All, Eldrad Vect here. My Dark Eldar codex is starting to become out of date and may need an update, well after Orks, Space Marines, Tyranid, Imperial Guard and my beloved Sisters of Battle of course. But it recently hit me that some units are starting to die off, one of them is old Sly Marbo. Since the introduction of Fortifications and that every gamer and their grandmothers have an Aegis Defence Line (except me :'( ) with Quad Gun means that Marbo is shot down before he can throw his over powered Demolition Charge at someone, thus he is no longer a regular sight on the field of battle. It got me thinking of a Special Character that is so neglected and with stupid rules that even  Games Workshop has never made a model of him over 2 whole codex editions of Codex Dark Eldar (there were only two editions of the Dark Eldar Codex). Kheradruakh the Decapitator.

To explain why he is so very bad this is kind of going to turn into a unit review but thats alright, the lament of The Decapitator must be heard. First off his stat line.
WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
 6    5   5 3  3 6 4  9    -
This straight away should tell you, he is not worth 140 Points, his Strength, Weapons Skill and Attacks profiles are all pretty good but Toughness 3 and no save is concerning. Then we look at his sole piece of wargear, his sword, the Decapitator which is a Power Sword that inflicts Instant Death on a 6, useless now because most characters have 2+ Armour saves or pretty good Invul. saves.
Kheradruakh has a save though, a 5+ Invul. save which with a Toughness of 3 means he is just going to get murdered by Laspistol fire, which for the ultimate stealthy assassin in the Universe that is a living shadow, sucks. His special rules aren't very special, he has Fearless, Stealth, Move Through Cover, Fleet, Baleblast, Power from Pain, Night Vision and then his exclusive rules Shade Stalker, Hunter of Heads and Altered Physique. First rule, Shade Stalker, mean he has to start the game in reserve and can be placed anywhere on the board when he comes in and can do everything normal except assault, which is were a Quad Gun will be waiting. Hunter of Heads is dumb, choose an enemy Independent Character, The Decapitator has Preferred Enemy against him, great that'll help me when my face is being punched in by Abaddon. Altered Physique just gives him a Pain Token which gives him Feel no Pain. Also you'll notice he is a Special Character without the Independent Character rule, I though the was reserved only for the super tough like Mephiston.
Don't worry, Kheradruakh isn't the only Dark Eldar unit that suck, queue Mandrakes, ah yes, the mini Kheradruakhs that took a bat to the face when 6th ed came along, mainly due to the 'no assaulting after coming in from reserve' and 'Independent Characters without Infiltrate can't join a unit of Infiltrator even if said unit isn't Infiltrating' and this made the already hugely unpopular Mandrakes completely unusable which is a shame because the models are really good.
The final nail in the Mandrakes and Kheradruakh's coffin came from the Grey Knights FAQ, where it says they count as Daemons. Now when I read this, I was enraged by the fact that one, Mandrake are not Daemons and two, Mandrakes don't have the Daemon special rule and so they don't benefit from rules like Fear.
But that is just the way things go and I doubt we will see Kheradruakh make an appearance any time soon.
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