Witch Hunters for a total beginner

[ArmouredWing]

Guys, regardless of anything else being debated here I think the OP should be aware that for a forgiving and, dare I say, effective list he should be looking at getting his GF at least 2 exorcists into the mix.

 

Seraphim were always my choice for tank busting at one point but when it comes down to playing a competative sisters force there's no getting away from just how important the long range support that exorcists bring to the table. The potential weight of fire that they can pump out makes kills almost a certainty. Independant characters, enemy armour, monstrous creatures, termies, crisis suits, possessed, HQ squads...they're all fair game and if you use them with extreme prejudice (i.e. concentrate fire from 2 or 3 against each target in turn) they will make a significant impact in your opponents force and will also draw your opponents attention away from other elements in your force which are less capable of absorbing fire.

 

Seraphim are a good unit, however their effectiveness/usefulness has been significantly reduced due to the troops only scoring restriction. The other thing to consider is that a squad of only 6 STANDARD Seraphim (no vets, no special weapons) come in at only 3pts less than an exorcist. Add in the IP's, MB's, Vet and the cost sky rockets, then take into account the optimum squad size for Seraphim is a squad of 8 (for survivability & faith roll effectiveness) and the costs really don't add up.

I think they'll come into their own for planet strike but in the standard game they lack that competative edge and for a beginner there are definitely better choices available.

[Inquisitor Fox]

I'd definately consider either an Exorcist or a Land Raider (as an Inquisitor Transport) going from Melissia's 1000 point army to a 1500 point army. Long range firepower is oft the crippling flaw in Inquisition armies (Daemon Hunters and Witch Hunters both), which is also often solved by the induction of Imperial Guard Infantry Platoons (especially with the new IG Codex). Personally I have the Land Raider, which is a lot of fun. I'm looking into the acquisition of a Forge World style Exorcist turret to put on a traditional Exorcist (I love the side plates, hate the pipe organ). I also use Retributors with heavy bolters for additional ranged punch as well as allied GK termies w/ psycannons.

[Saxxon the Dragoon]

my .02 imperial currency:

 

my SoB force isnt big, but i got about 1500 points worth, i got 2 exorcists, an immolator, 3 10 girl squads, and a full seraphim squad of 10, and 1-2 cannoness (pending fight).

 

its a foot slogging force, and not exactly perfect considering most armies are now mechanised, but this set up runs real nice. atleast so far, i dont have much specialist units of SoB, but if you find yourself seriously lacking you can grab some allies, but in pretty much 1k and above games, you will need 2 exorcists, its a bit expensive $ wise, but completely worth it in 5th edition. they can pop tanks and take out specialist squads in a heartbeat. unless your enemy gets close, your sisters dont have much that can hunt tanks at a distance,and you can still move 6 inches and still fire the launcher makes it both mean and keeps it from going boom.

 

another tip, take atleast 1 immolator if possible, its a great troop transport, and if you give it heavy bolters and blessed ammunition, it will tear apart most enemies because most armies rely on cover saves since they are better than their base armor save.

 

i would also recomment taking a seraphim squad with 2 hand flamers, all packing melta bombs, and give the vss a power sword atleast, and you will have one of the best and fastest moving tank and infantry mowing down force in the game IMO. especially since they can disengage from CC at the end of assault and get yourself into cover or alteast in position to re assault next turn.

[GlauG]

Thanks for all the advice, and the level of debate going on. Just a small update; We've picked up an Exorcist, and parts to cobble another one together from old SM Whirlwind pieces, as well as a second Immolator. I have a Land Raider I was considering letting the Inquisition requisiton... It'd be a shame not to use all the Necromunda figures I've been converting for Inquisitors and retinues, so we might well end up doing that. All the icons etc I've ordered from Forge World are apparrently going to take their sweet time, however. :/ The use of Imperial Armour 2 isn't set in stone at the GW store where I play, but the guys I asked are cool with it as long as I'm not bringing silly things to non-Apocalypse games, so we'll be checking out the Retributor as well. I have a /lot/ of Rhinos that do nothing for my new Deathwing/Ravenwing direction Dark Angels force, after all.

[Aidoneus]

For the record, it's the Repressor. I believe it's the very last entry in the IA2 update, which is available for free download on the Forgeworld website (downloads page). If they're only worried about silly stuff, the IA2 update shouldn't be too bad. It gets you Rhinos and Chimeras at current prices instead of our old higher prices, and allows you to take the Repressor (just a slightly better rhino, really) or Valkyrie transport as well. Quite reasonable, I think.

 

If you're taking an inquisitor, go for an allied DH Inquisitor Lord with a psycannon, 3 gun servitors (plas cannon+2 HBs is best), 2 sages, 2 mystics, and perhaps some spare models just for ablative wounds if you have the points (I take a 3rd mystic and a familiar for this purpose). It's a very powerful shooty unit, and can protect your forces from deep-strikers, especially if you keep it within 12" of an exorcist or land raider.

[GlauG]

Speaking of all the talk of Allied DH Inquisitors (usually for the Terminator Armour or Psycannon options), exactly how do Allies work in 5E? Is it a case of any org chat slots you want, but no more than 25% of the cost, or are Witch Hunters allies rules a bit looser? I went into my local GW today and got a slightly confusing explanation which wasn't helped by the promised answers not being in the Codex (which I own and had already checked).

[Aidoneus]

There are no universal allies rules for 40k in general. The only allies rules in existence are in certain codices. Specifically, the Daemonhunters, Witch Hunters, Kroot Mercenaries, and Lost and the Damned codices all have their own versions of allies rules. The Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter rules are the same, whereas the other two are not (but you don't really care about them anyway).

 

Your allies rules are spelled out on page 25 of your codex, with a list of inducted IG units and allied (essentially just inducted) space marine units you can take on page 26.

 

Basically, using the WH allies rules, you can take IG units in your WH base army. You could, instead, take Spacie units, but then you could take neither IG nor sisters units, so that's a pretty unpopular option.

 

Completely separate from those rules, you can use the DH allies rules (remember, the same as yours) to ally DH units into your sisters base. It's a weird distinction, using their allies rules vs. yours, but that's the way it works. The practical upshot is that you can take any DH units you want, up to 1 HQ, 1 E, 2 T, and/or 1 FA. Points don't matter, only number of units.

 

To start things out, I wouldn't go crazy with the allies. Those can take a while to get the hang of. However, if you're keen on using an inquisitor, the best settup (in terms of effectiveness and ease of use) is the DH firebase version that I explained earlier. It shouldn't be too confusing to ally-in that one unit. Just remember, you need a WH HQ as well, as explained on page 25.

 

Hope that helps.

[Eddie Orlock]

I've recently found some success with loading my inducted Sisters Squads into my Guard armies Valkyries. The pre-game scout move can position them nicely into fire-fight range on the first turn and of all the possible payloads they're fairly durable and scoring. Admittedly this is a bit beyond the scope of our discussion.

 

Last time I trotted out my witch-hunters army, at 1700 points I had an Inquisitor lord with plasma bandit retinue, Callidus, two full squads of arco flagellents, two squads of plasma pirate storm troopers, squad of arbites, ten zelots with stubbers, and two mobs of twenty zealots with full evicerators. The tactics were simple, I formed the arcos up in max coherency at the leading edge of my deployment zone and used them as a screen for the large cultist mobs. Everything else sat on my own objectives. Turn one consisted of activating the arco's and running them straight at the enemy (as required by 'Holy Rage') followed as closely I could be the cultists who would gain 4+ cover for being behind my 4+ invulnerable screen. I tabled my opponent, but I may have just been lucky.

[Inquisitor Fox]

edit: (removed incorrect information based on me being an idiot and missing a fairly important line in the Codex)

 

Lately I'm leaning towards my Witch Hunters Inquisitor with Sisters of Battle, Inducted Imperial Guard, Inquisitorial Storm Troopers and Assassins, and allied Grey Knights as per the rules in the Daemon Hunter Codex.

[Aidoneus]

WH Codex, page 25, under "Using Inducted Imperial Guard or Allied Space Marine Contingents," end of the second paragraph:

 

"Either inducted Imperial Guard or allied Space Marines can be used in any one Witch Hunters army, but not both."

 

The same rule appears, in bold no less, on page 21 of the DH codex.

[Inquisitor Fox]

Doh, you're right, my mistake.

 

I'll edit my above comment and wear a dunce cap for a while, can't believe I missed that line :blink:

[Aidoneus]

:blink: It's all good! I wasn't sure of the rule either, after you corrected me. I went to look it up, and at first I didn't see it. Luckily, I was searching in my DH codex, and that line (otherwise hidden within a long section) was in bold font, so it caught my eye. ;)

[Inquisitor Fox]

Hehe, yeah I don't look in that one as often as the only thing I usually end up using out of it is the GK Terminators entry and the special rules, so I just made a couple photocopies and carry them with my Witch Hunters Codex :blink:

 

I think it's safe to say the general consensus is that Inducted Imperial Guard is fantastic, but Inducted Space Marines are not so hot, because you're usually better off with the Chamber Militant for the particular codex, or running a Space Marine list with allied Inquisition forces instead of having the Inquisition Codex be your main book.

 

To add further mud to the works, if you run a Space Marine or Imperial Guard main list, it's possible to ally BOTH Daemon Hunters and Witch Hunters to your list, using the restrictions in the unit slots (1 HQ, 1 Elites, 2 Troops, 1 FA) for each Inquisition Codex (no double Temple Assassins though, that's right out).

[blindcider]

The one thing I always try and fit in my WH army is at least 1 exorcist. They are the only real mass kill item you can take.

 

I also take as large squads as I can!

 

I wouldn't bother with an assassin as for their points cost they are a little unpredictable (and I roll bucket's full of 1's at the best of times) .