Sorcerers as Leaders of Warbands

[Julgolax]

Now looking at the stats of the average Sorcerer, having 1 less WS, BS, W, and Attack than the CSM Lord, I can only assume that he's supposed to be weaker to compensate for access to psychic powers. That said, with those psychic powers at his disposal, is a Sorcerer a match for a Chaos Lord in Close Combat, at Range, and/or benefiting his strikeforce?

 

In the lore section, Sorcerers are reduced to being advisers to the Lords or lone wanderers and manipulators. This is rather disheartening because it seems rare for librarians/sorcerers to be leaders of anything beyond a host of marines in lieu of the big cheese.

 

Maybe I mistook the power of the sorcerer and am better off creating a lord instead...

[minigun762]

Sorcerers have the advantage of having choices with utility or combat. Lords are just a straight combat machine whereas the Sorcerer can function as a combat monster or support.

 

I could see Biomancy as a good tool for compensating for the inherent stat bonuses of the lord, and in some case you'll be superior.

[Deus de Mortalis]

The sorcerer does have a force weapon, so it usually only takes one wound to kill the lord. Also a sorcerer in terminator armor and an extra power weapon is pretty resilient. They use their magic for shooting, some of which can be really good, and they get base three attacks with a force weapon in close combat. You could put a malediction on the opposing character or boost the sorcerer's own combat prowess as well. The thing I like about the sorcerer is that he is a jack of all trades, doing a lot more than just combat. He can shoot, he can fight in close combat, he can boost himself and his unit, and/or he can weaken an enemy unit.

 

The sorcerer is more random than running a lord, can easily be more expensive for a weaker statline, and he can kill himself in a single turn without doing anything if the dice are bad. But he can also be a lot stronger than any chaos lord you could kit out.

 

As far as leading a warband, fluffwise I think a sorcerer can be more capable than a lord. GW fluff can kiss my butt.

[RolandTHTG]

Several of the powers can turn a sorceror into a combat beast, either y buffing himself, or by debuffing the enemy. I had one game where the sorceror wiped out 2 entire squads. Rolled the Hallucination "Erhm..." power on a squad, jump packed over, killed 2-3 models, ran the squad down. other stuff like warp speed or Iron arm can allow him to out swing regular lords.

 

i've always considered him on equal standing with my lord on the battle field.

[Kol Saresk]

I can only comment fluffwise, I'm afraid.

 

But speaking from that point of view, I haven't really seen that since 3.5. Granted, most of the sorcerers we see are lieutenants, but that's usually because that's the position they started in, or it is beneficial to them as it can serve as a smokescreen while they do whatever it is they do behind the scenes. True, many of them have led entire warbands or war parties so they have been in command positions. As far as I know, 6th Edition still carries that view that was introduced in 4th Edition. Fluffwise, there are a ton of Sorcerers in positions other than "lieutenant". Prime examples would be the sorcerer-lords of the Thousand Sons, Nihilan of the Dragon Warriors and Amadeus Volkstein of the Oracles of Change.

 

Quoting 6th Edition C: CSM, page 32, paragraph 3.

 

"Sorcerers are forever driven to expand their influence and knowledge. They see themselves as having asscended: no longer hindered by blind loyalty to the corpse-lord of the Imperium, they become even more callous and inhuman than those who follow them.msome are cold-hearted strategists who vent their hatred upon as much of the universe as possible; Ygethmor the Deciever once orchestrated a doomsday cult that resulted in the depopulation of every inhabited world in the Corriallis System. Others act as advisors for the lords of Chaos, subtly redirecting them to their own ends under the illusion of servitude. A rare few roam in the hidden paths of the universe, unlocking the secrets of the ancients to better plunge the galaxy into the embrace of Chaos."

So I mean, going by that, it looks like it is a reiteration of what was in 4th Edition C:CSM, just with different words and it makes a point ot emphasize that they can be leaders and lieutenants. So if you want a Sorcerer Lord, the current background still supports you and it seems like everyone has given good ideas on how to go about it.

[Deadman Wade]

My sorcerer struggles against terminators, and his poor initiative is quite a problem with forced challenges with marine commanders. When compared to Axe Lord he isn't such great fighter. I love my TDA sorcerer against greenskins, however - force staff and Tzeentch powers can tear their hordes and non-mega armor HQs to pieces.

As for leading a warband, Nemeroth in Space Marine was a sorcerer, and looked quite good. It's just easier to represent warband leader as a hulking brute with some daemon weapon, I guess.

[Brother Ambroz]

There are quite a few examples in the novels by Black Library of Sorceror-Lords leading warbands as well.

 

In game, it really depends how you gear your sorceror and how well you roll on whatever table you wind up using.