Librarian Powers

[IK Viper]

When running a melee support Libby If I get a crap roll with my first Div roll (1 or 5 I always swap out) I think there may be some utility in making your second roll on Telepathy in order to get Psycic Shriek if you are facing alot of 2+ stuff or high toughness, as a possible way to bring in some more Armour Ignoring hits that ignore Toughness

 

I say this in reference to dealing with all the new Chaos units that are T5 or 6, you may end up coming out better Shrieking them instead of casting Prescience when fighting things like Nurgle Bikers, Wraith Lords, Trygons, etc. and if your lucky you may screw around and get lucky and roll Puppet Master :-)

 

I certainly would not do this against alot of armies but it could pay off if you look across the table at somthing your ASM squads will have alot of trouble wounding even with S5 on the charge...

 

Alternatively the old school Shield and Sword powers make a libby really good at beating the hell out of high toughness stuff as long as its not 2+

 

Question: when writting army lists for tournaments do yall indicate BRB powers or Codex powers and that is the only options you have, or do you write in the Codex powers you want and if you wish you can swap those out for BRB powers, I have seen it ruled both ways in local tournaments, I personnally think you should have the option to choose which you take,

 

Assuming you get to pick Codex or BRB every time, I think your standard Libby w/ JP needs to run Shield and Un. Rage or Shield and Sword so you have the Strength to deal with high toughness, and then if you don't face that you switch out for BRB powers you like

[mmaarrkk]

I thought you had to choose where both your powers are coming from before rolling for them?, i.e you have to choose to roll one on divi one on telephaty etc, also you should not roll both powers at once, should be one after the after even going on the same table

[Brother Maikel]

I thought you had to choose where both your powers are coming from before rolling for them?, i.e you have to choose to roll one on divi one on telephaty etc, also you should not roll both powers at once, should be one after the after even going on the same table

 

Rolls are done one at a time, and you make the choice of table before each roll (BRB pg 418, under Generating Psychic Powers).

 

When running a melee support Libby If I get a crap roll with my first Div roll (1 or 5 I always swap out) I think there may be some utility in making your second roll on Telepathy in order to get Psycic Shriek if you are facing alot of 2+ stuff or high toughness, as a possible way to bring in some more Armour Ignoring hits that ignore Toughness

 

This is what I do. Melee support Libbys take Prescience on rolling a 5 or 6 (or a 1 if the opponent is a shooty-focused army) and then roll on Telepathy. Pretty much every WC1 power on Telepathy is either downright good or at least situationally useful in more circumstances than a mediocre roll on Div, and Psychic Shriek is a good power. Even Shooting support Libbys have good uses for 3/4 WC1 Telepathy powers.

[mmaarrkk]

Woops, you are correct! that I didnt know

[CitadelArmyGuy]

When running a melee support Libby If I get a crap roll with my first Div roll (1 or 5 I always swap out) I think there may be some utility in making your second roll on Telepathy in order to get Psycic Shriek if you are facing alot of 2+ stuff or high toughness, as a possible way to bring in some more Armour Ignoring hits that ignore Toughness

This is what I do. Melee support Libbys take Prescience on rolling a 5 or 6 (or a 1 if the opponent is a shooty-focused army) and then roll on Telepathy. Pretty much every WC1 power on Telepathy is either downright good or at least situationally useful in more circumstances than a mediocre roll on Div, and Psychic Shriek is a good power. Even Shooting support Libbys have good uses for 3/4 WC1 Telepathy powers.

I will agree with both you guys. Blood Angels access to Telepathy is pretty great. However, something I noticed when I took an allied Runepriest is that SW cannot take Telepathy. So I tried out rolling his second power under Biomancy. Didn't need it most of the time, but with Prescience usually you aren't casting anything else anyhow.

 

But looking at the Biomancy table a bit closer, we can see there are some nice things for a Psyker who will hope to see melee. Only 1 true stinker (Haemorrhage is just terrible). Warp Speed, Leech Life and Endurance probably won't be cast with priority over Prescience. Endurance would be rated higher except BA can achieve FnP through SangPriests.

 

However, Iron Arm is great. Will not be cast unless Librarian feels froggy for some challenges but still requires deliberate thought to cast over Prescience. With a Force Axe and Iron Arm, the Lib becomes Str7-9 (with Furious Charge, but would'nt apply to Runepriests) which is pretty decent.

 

And of course, Enfeeble is the very best melee power in the game, hands down-- even better than Invisibility for melee aspects.

 

For me, since the 2nd Dice is fairly "throw-away" anyhow..... then Telepathy is best in most situations. However, versus an opponent who is also melee heavy, then Biomancy may prove more beneficial in certain situations. 33% chance for something which might be useful over Prescience is still lower than Telepathy's guaranteed Shriek. Also, BA tends to have trouble with Heavy Infantry so Psychic Shriek is still usually the best choice. But if you take an allied Runepriest, or the opponent is Ld10 on everything important, then consider giving Biomancy a try. The 1/6 chance for Enfeeble makes it worth it IMO.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

A sad mark against Psychic Shriek is that it is a Witchfire, so it has a built-in 50% chance to Fail: 1/3 for Roll to-hit then a 1/6 chance to Deny the Witch. Also, looking at Psychic Shriek and actual damage output, we look at the rarely-seen 3D6 table of probabilities.

 

On 3D6, you have the following:

• 74.07% chance of rolling 9+
  
• 62.50% chance of rolling 10+
  
• 50.00% chance of rolling 11+
  
• 37.50% chance of rolling 12+
  
• 25.93% chance of rolling 13+
  
• 16.20% chance of rolling 14+
  

Considering GW has been implementing Vet Sergeants as 'standard' for the past few years, currently the most common Leadership value is 9. However, there are a handful of things which have Ld8, most importantly:

• Obliterators
  
• Trygons, Mawloc
  
• (Ld7): Venomthrope, Hive Guard, Carnifex
  
• SM Attack Bikes, Eldar Jetbikes
  
• Rangers/Pathfinders
  
• All Dark Eldar Fast Attack slots
  
• GK Henchmen units
  
• MegaNobz/NobBikerz/Deffcoptas (Ld7 without Warboss)
  
• Grey Hunters & Thunderwolf Cavalry
  
• Tau Battlesuits (Stealth, Crisis & Broadside)
  

[IK Viper]

ran my double libby hybrid list last night against 2 different Nurgle Armies (one was tally man, the other was Spawn rush) Thought this was pretty cool, a little BA vs. Death Guard mini campaign, Spawn rush army was painted by BTP, (super nice army) both were super close games and I had good dice, but BA ended up defeating Death Guard twice and blunting their assault on (insert fluffy planet name here) lol

 

I had a PA Libby that was my WL in the back throwing out Div. Powers and my Melee Libby was up front with Shield and Sword... Sword won me the first game for sure, being able to hack on Plague Marines and Spawn with S10 AP3 was HUGE in this game, I think if I had taken Shriek it might have worked out ok, but in long, protracted combats Shriek can't help you like Sword can.

 

I really like Sword and Shield as a base line and (if the TO allows it, then switching out for the BRB powers if need be) I think this is optimal in order to be ready to take on high toughness stuff, against T4 stuff Prescience pays off alot better though, so you can take that and something else, maybe using your second roll to get Shriek

 

so the real question is, what to do if you have to decide on you army list to take BRB or Codex powers... my thought would be to go with BRB powers and vs. high toughness use your second roll to shoot for Shriek or Iron Arm...

[Sokhar]

That would probably be the best bet, Viper. My assumption (and the way I've played it) is that you have to choose your codex powers in advance as before, but you still have the option before the game of switching them out for rulebook powers.

[Deschenus Maximus]

Would depend on the rest of the list. For example, with mass jumpers I for sure want shield.

[Jolemai]

Librarian in TDA.

 

With a "Tactical" Terminator Squad he would have Prescience and where would you put his second role?

With an Assault Terminator Squad he would have Prescience and where would he put his second role?

 

Without the need for Shield, is there any reason why a TDA Librarian would pick the Codex powers these days?

[mmaarrkk]

I have been trying biomancy as the second power for my libby with jump pack, have yet to use libby in termie armour but will be on sunday, again I think biomancy as the second power is a worth a go.

[BloodTzar]

It has been some time I played this game after 6th ed.

 

Therefore I have few questions regarding some lib issues.

 

First of all, I would like to know if meph can choose 3 or he has to choose 2 powers from BRB?

Moreover, what powers would u suggest for TDA SS lib, in front of 3TH-2LC termies with Corbulo?

 

TY

~BT

[Morollan]

Mephiston can roll (not choose) 2 powers from the rulebook, which is odd as he's Mastery 3 and has 3 codex powers.

 

Other than Mephiston, I think there's very little reason to choose codex powers over rulebook ones these days.

[Sokhar]

Other than Mephiston, I think there's very little reason to choose codex powers over rulebook ones these days.

 

Shield of Sanguinius is a good reason to keep codex powers, in my opinion. Its the only one of the cover save-granting "blessing' style powers that is used in your opponent's shooting phase, as opposed to during your turn.

[Jolemai]

A bit of a necropost, but I was wondering how people's views have changed over the past few months.

 

Reading around on the boards I see less and less people taking the codex powers even for a Librarian with jump troops as Divination is better than Unleash Rage and using cover correctly can eliminate the need for Shield of Sanguinius.

 

There is a thread about Mephiston switching out his powers with the experiences varying from those who have replied.

 

Have Fear of the Darkness, Blood Lance and Sanguine Sword become useful for niche lists only?

 

Those who are using Furioso Librarians, are you still rolling with Wings and Shield or Blood Lance, Shield and a Drop Pod?

 

Those who are using bike-borne Librarians and Librarians in TDA, what are you using these days?

 

Opinions are most welcome.

[tomjoad]

Since switching to a Razorback based list I have exclusively used codex powers (Shield & Blood Lance). In such small, and weak, squads, Prescience doesn't do enough to really help, and the Shield can protect any tanks not behind the ADL with careful positioning. If I included a jump libby in a 10 man ASM/DC/Stern squad, I'd 100% go back to Prescience, though. It is just too good when there are enough guns around to benefit from it.

[Demoulius]

Im also interested to know what people have been doing as of late.

What im most curious about is the Epistolary upgrade. Has any taken it? Or wished they had? Last game I had I rolled invisibility and couldnt use because my liby is only "mastery 1" Not having read the rules to closely I dident know I could reroll either but my opponent let me switch it for psychic shriek...

I generally always end up moving back to the precience power at the very least and hardly (if ever) touch the second power... Saying its a shame is pretty much an understatement... Thing is, whilst beeing able to use that 2nd power would be nice the 50 point price tag is so incredible steep compared to what it does and what other people (dark angles *glare* <_<) pay for it...

[Taranis]

I like Fear of the Darkness and shield. Shield might be less attractive depending on the potential love of tau markerlights. I generally prefer our codex powers. :)

 

Edit: I have 4 times used the Epistolary upgrade. None of those occasions were this year........

[CitadelArmyGuy]

Even when I'm using the DA librarian, I don't pay for Epistolary. For me and my lists, there are very few times I need to cast twice. The one instance I could see 2 WarpCharge being necessary is on a Terminator Librarian with Tactical Terminators, since the majority of Divination powers are shooting-buffs.

 

And since Tactical Termies are difficult to use in a BA list, and the fact a BA Lvl2 TermieLib is overboard expensive, I go back to the fact I don't use Epistolary Upgrade ever.

 

I did use a Lvl1 Libby w/TDA+SS to march in front of an Honor Guard on foot with 4x PG so that the Lib could tank damage. Being Lvl2 in that case might have had great results. The Unit itself worked ok, but just too slow. It was back in the first few months of 6ed where I was trying out a foot-heavy countercharge theory that didn't end up working too well.

[JamesI]

I used Episoltary for awhile, there are several good divination powers I wanted to cast twice. 

 

But I generally don't bother anymore.  One power a turn is generally enough.

[Demoulius]

Cast twice? You can cast powers twice?