Astorath

[Nemisor]

Hey guys,

 

not sure if this should go here or in army lists but

 

I'm am working on a 1850 list for a few tornaments coming up soon and i wanted to get your thoughts on including astorath. curently my list is....

 

Librarian in termy armour with SS. Powers are unleash rage and sanguine sword

 

2 preists 1 with JP and power sword

 

9 man assault squad with fist in a redeemer (bare preist and libby ride with them)

 

10 man assault with fist (JP priest with them)

 

10 man assault with power weapon and 2 meltas

 

Furioso in pod with frag cannon, heavy flamer

 

1 landspeeder typhoon with MM

 

1 landspeeder typhoon with MM

 

7 vanguard vets with 3 power weapons a thunder hammer and 3 melta bombs.

 

now the rest of the list i'm happy with but after a few games i find the libby is just not cutting it when it comes time to put the beat face on an enemy big bad, like the avatar or eldrad :D

 

i was thinking of droping the libby and 2 vets for astorath and having him fly around with the power fist assault squad. what do you think? is he worth his points? i can see he definitly has benifits over the libby but the lack of psy defence worrys me.

 

cheers.

[JamesI]

I am an emphatic yes on Astorath. There will be others who come along and say he is useless outside of pure DC armies. I completely disagree.

 

Astorath is the only model we have with a real relic blade. In fact, his is better than a normal relic blade with the forced reroll of invul saves.

 

I recommend to keep a Priest near him, his 2+ armor save with FNP is really good. Also, with Furious Charge he fights at I 6 (though his strength his unaffected by FC). I6, S6 and forced rerolls can kill many characters before they get to swing.

 

In a list with lots of units with the Red Thirst, Astorath is great. When I don't use him, best case scenario is 2 units fall in a large game. Generally none fall. With Astorath, I have played 1850 games where my entire army fell to the Red Thirst.

 

I currently run Astorath in a list with 3 full assault squads, 2 units of attack bikes and 2 units of devs (falling to the red thirst is great for units like attack bikes/devs/sternguard or shooty scouts as they become fearless and will stay where you want them to stay until either killed or assaulted).

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I would run Astorath with a choppy Honor Guard and include the banner for the +1A. I have used him when I was experimenting with different DoA lists and liked him best with pure Death Company but I agree with James he is good in other types of army as well. Like James said Red Thirst is almost not a factor in your armies without him.

 

G :D

[The Yncarne]

Use Astorath when:

• You want to run multiple Death Company squads
  
• You are playing a larger points size game and need a force multiplier
  
• You have more dedicated assault-focused squads than you do Sanguinary priests
  
• You are not using chaplains or a reclusiarch
  
• You run an all, or nearly-all jump pack army
  

 

Minimize using Astorath when:

• You aren't running any Death Company or you are using a single squad (Reclusiarch is arguably more cost effective)
  
• You have enough chaplains or Sanguinary Priests for all of your dedicated assault units
  
• You have less than three jump pack squads
  

[JamesI]

Use Astorath when:

• You want to run multiple Death Company squads
  
• You are playing a larger points size game and need a force multiplier
  
• You have more dedicated assault-focused squads than you do Sanguinary priests
  
• You are not using chaplains or a reclusiarch
  
• You run an all, or nearly-all jump pack army
  

 

Minimize using Astorath when:

• You aren't running any Death Company or you are using a single squad (Reclusiarch is arguably more cost effective)
  
• You have enough chaplains or Sanguinary Priests for all of your dedicated assault units
  
• You have less than three jump pack squads
  

Pretty much agree with this.

 

People complain about Astorath's cost, but I find he actually is cheaper than having to run 3+ sanguinary Priests, plus a Reclusiarch (or Librarian) and at least 1 chaplain.

[1Drop]

I'm using astorath with a squad of 5 cc terminators (2 LC and TH/SS) and a sang priest

I can't give you any more info on why he is great other than what has already been mentioned

But I'm taking him for a few reasons, I need a chaplain and I don't have any more room in elite's

And he's 10 times more badass than a normal chaplain or reclusiarch anyway!

And on top of that his rule that increases the chances of units being affected by the red thirst is really good

 

So yeah my answer is astorath is an amazing addition to your army and if you're using him to replace as chaplain or reclusiarch then he's perfect!

 

+ more than one unit of DC, thankyou very much.

 

@BO.. I thought of making him his own HG (using DC robed bodies and sg jp's) and making the

Very choppy with black wings!

I'm already making similar models for dantes retinue though so I may use different models for dantes HG and use the robbed/winged ones for astorath as this suites him ALOT I feel!

[JamesI]

I've only tried the choppy HG with Astorath once, and it did not turn out well (mainly due to my inability to kill opponent's demonically possessed vindicators).

 

I don't remember the exact HG unit, but that is something I will probably try again after I rebuild my HG.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Here is how I run my HG (jump packs):

 

Lightning claw & stormshield

Lightning claw & stormshield

Pair of lightning claws

Thunderhammer & stormshield

Novitiate

 

G :D

[1Drop]

Here is how I run my HG (jump packs):

 

Lightning claw & stormshield

Lightning claw & stormshield

Pair of lightning claws

Thunderhammer & stormshield

Novitiate

 

G

 

That sounds lethal.. Where did you get the LC's, SS's and TH's from?

The only LC's I have are terminator ones, same goes for the rest too other than the TH from a DC box!

[vharing]

The main reason to use him in any troop heavy army is the fact that you have a better chance of getting red thirst. I had a DOA army with a furioso in a drop pod. everything got the red thirst. The army hit like a hammer.

[Nemisor]

thanks for the response guys B)

 

so do you think he would fit well with that list i gave, putting him with the fist assault squad and preist was what i was thinking.

[JamesI]

Personally, I would use Astorath in one of two types of units (assuming the army is not pure DC, clearly in a DC army he goes with a DC unit with either jump packs or a Storm Raven).

 

1. 10 man RAS, 2 meltaguns, fist or hammer and a Sanguinary Priest with a power weapon/lightning claw (this is how I use my Astorath) This unit hits surprisingly hard with the rerolls on the charge and Furious Charge. The meltaguns are there for the simple reason that I believe all Assault squads should carry as many meltaguns (or flamers) as possible.

 

2. Honor Guard similar to the one posted by BO, probably add the Chapter Banner. I'd like to squeeze in a few meltas, so a few weapons changes if I built the squad.

 

In a DC army, he should go with as large a DC as possible, jump packs or Storm Raven.

[Isryion]

Use Astorath when:

• You want to run multiple Death Company squads
  
• You are playing a larger points size game and need a force multiplier
  
• You have more dedicated assault-focused squads than you do Sanguinary priests
  
• You are not using chaplains or a reclusiarch
  
• You run an all, or nearly-all jump pack army
  

 

Minimize using Astorath when:

• You aren't running any Death Company or you are using a single squad (Reclusiarch is arguably more cost effective)
  
• You have enough chaplains or Sanguinary Priests for all of your dedicated assault units
  
• You have less than three jump pack squads
  

Pretty much agree with this.

 

People complain about Astorath's cost, but I find he actually is cheaper than having to run 3+ sanguinary Priests, plus a Reclusiarch (or Librarian) and at least 1 chaplain.

 

I agree with JamesI. He's extremely cost effective, provided you roll the red thirst on average or only a bit below and aren't being redundant with sang. priests (ie one or none). My only quibble with the list is that, because of that, Astro actually shouldn't be minimized in couple of the cases listed. He's actually a great choice if you have no death company because you have more chance to roll red thirst, and he should be taken instead of a chaplain or reclusiarch (though the point about the sang priest is a good one).

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

@ 1Drop

 

Here is a pic of my choppy Honor Guard...

 

http://www.gmmstudios.com/pictures/modelphotos/kr11.jpg

 

I used large power axes for most of the lightning claws - the pair comes from a limited edition SW Captain. I used mostly stormshields from the terminator kit as well as one lightning claw.

 

G :)

[SamaNagol]

I wouldnt touch him until 2000pts, personally.

[gundog8324]

I would say go for him because a better chance for FC on the Vets will be worth it, and he can lead an HG

 

However If you need a Chaplain for a DC, use Lemartes much more power.

[vharing]

I wouldnt touch him until 2000pts, personally.

 

I would have to agree. I actually dont ever use special characters unless I am playing a bigger game. They just take up to many points.

[Redo]

The step up from a similarly equipped Reclusiarch to Astorath is 65 points...yet obviously Astro has the unique weapon, artificier armour and slightly better stats. These and his "Shadow of the Primarch' rule make him more than worth it if you have an army with lots of units. As someone pointed out Fearless and Furious charge are a real plus.

[The Yncarne]

@ Isryion

 

Yes, I agree that one of Asorath's chief benefits is the Red Thirst roll, which is why I suggest taking him in the first conditional list. I think the final minimize condition is key: if you have less than three jump pack squads. This is because arguably a pair of priests is going to be cheaper and more reliable for securing furious charge. I don't see much reason for taking Astorath unless you are running a high percentage of jump packs (or want to rock multiple DC units). Sure, your other squads get an improved chance at Red Thirst, but are they going to be able to take advantage of it?

[Khorneeq]

I''l just add what haven't been mentioned before regarding Red Thirst.

It's just golden when we're talking about Vanguard Veterans as they cannot benefit as easily as the rest of units from Sanguinary Priests bonus. In my opinion Red Thirst is twice as good on them as on other units.