Sons of Horus tactics

[Pavel Araghast]

No topic of Warmaster's finest? I'll fix it.

 

So what do you comrades think about sons and their tactics?

 

As far as I can see we should utilise weapon with no unwieldy special rule to get merciless figters bonus, So no power fists, thunder hammers and power axes? How can we get AP2? A lot of Plasma?

To my mind in game where every vechicle eihter have armoured ceramite or rhino only melta weapon, that you should take, is meltabomb, ceramite should be cracked with destroyer weapon, rhinos should be annihilated with autocannons.

 

So lets discuss.

[Russ Brother 92]

I'd view it as the original shock assault army - in their description they're marked as always going for the throat, so drop pods, caestus and terminators are the order of the day imo.

[Kais Klip]

I think SoH really depend wherever you are using the Massacre Rite or going vanilla/Betrayal Rite. If you are doing the latter, lots of big squads (as big as you can get while still fitting into your desired transports) with CC upgrades to maximise Merciless, however I've found using the Massacre Rite along with 9 squads of 8 man bane strike reavers, split into tag teams of two, simply shreds the opposing infantry in staccato charges while not actually outnumbering them model wise.

 

Apart from that It's as Brother #92 lays it down; maximise your alpha strike and if needs be cut them down in C&C desperately quickly, because you will get hurt on the charge by salamanders, out-shredded in C&C by world eaters and attritionaly held-out by Word Bearers.

 

With the SoH it really is "kill or be killed".

[Sanct]

The justaerin terminators got some fluffy assault buffs with the new rite of war for the sons - if you can coordinate them with jump packed reavers.

One of them charges and the other follows up.  The bulky rule helps them outnumber the enemy for the bonus I1 attack, the RoW gets them rage when helping mates out while they all count as scoring.  

Not amazing but I got a soft spot for the we're-almost-night-raptor/terror-squads nature of the reavers.

[Pavel Araghast]

How do you load up you justaerins, reaver, other squads?

[Kais Klip]

Axes for reavers are pretty much a must to make the Night Lords look like wannabe SoH :D

[Russ Brother 92]

Once I've got my IHs sorted I'll be running a speartip of Horus, Abaddon, the Hunchback + Justaerin and Reavers, multi-melta for the Justaerin (cmon Termies with a multi-melta is too badass to pass up) and axes for the reavers - I don't have massacre yet so idk about the new options :(

[Durfast Spiritwolf]

Once I've got my IHs sorted I'll be running a speartip of Horus, Abaddon, the Hunchback + Justaerin and Reavers, multi-melta for the Justaerin (cmon Termies with a multi-melta is too badass to pass up) and axes for the reavers - I don't have massacre yet so idk about the new options

Sounds like my new project. The big box arrived (eventually - no thanks to UPS) last week.

Besides the small matter of a Warhound, the initial buy brought me Abaddon + a couple of 5-man Justaerin squads, backed by two squads of ten Reavers, one lot with JPs, the others with bane bolters, a squad of ten seekers (also with bane bolters) and two squads of three Jetbikes.

I haven't done the points yet as I'm just following the froth

[Russ Brother 92]

Are the Bane Bolters the AP3 AL sexiness? you haz warhound?!? I wish haha

[Noctus Cornix]

Are the Bane Bolters the AP3 AL sexiness? you haz warhound?!? I wish haha

 

Ya, Banestrike bolts are essentially mini rending. Any roll of 6 to wound are considered AP3.

 

Its pretty sick when put in conjunction with the Reaver's Assassin's eye ability that gives them all Precision Shot and Precision Strike.

[Kais Klip]

Which is why I'm playing AL-infiltrated SoH :D

[SillyDreadnought]

If you field Maloghurst the Twisted, you don't even need to take the Massacre rite to get troop Reaver units. It's what I plan to do, mix in Reaver squads with my main Tactical battleline, most likely equipped with banestrike bolters / combi weapons in Rhinos, or Volkite Chargers in Rhinos. I don't see myself using 15 strong Reaver squads since the cost will start to add up quickly when, ideally, for a Legion list, you want your troops cheap so you can pull in some big guns to do the real killing.

[Noctus Cornix]

I forget, what is Malgohurst's special rules? I'm not at home so I can't access my copy. :c

 

Also, remind me, what weapons did he have?

[Kol Saresk]

He can make Reavers Troop choices(irony in full swing). That's all I can remember.

[Noctus Cornix]

I'm failing to see the Irony, to be honest... I dun geddit.

[GhostMalone]

Reavers fast assassin compared to maloghurst cripple turtle man

[Kol Saresk]

I'm failing to see the Irony, to be honest... I dun geddit.

The Slowest Astartes alive(I believe he even has rules representing this) unlocks a Fast Attack Choice as Troops.

[Russ Brother 92]

Maybe they carry him palanquin style? the mighty turtle lord :p

 

Either way Reavers so damn good - I'll likely aim for 2-3 15 man squads (I'm not running any transports outside pods, spartans and caestus/eagles), they'll be backed up by justaerin, horus, abaddon and support squads :p

 

What's maloghurst like stats wise? Obvs no exacts but Abby range or more Crysos Morturg? I figure he's not much of a fighter (being the ultimate cripple an' all) but is he an army-wide buff guy or just a cool consul?

[SillyDreadnought]

Maloghurst is Centurion stats and a bit disappointing as a combat character. But you take him for the Legion banner he carries, the ability to unlock Veteran Tacs and Reavers as troops and that he himself is a scoring unit. He can't take a command squad ( I think ), but other than that he does possess the Legion Master rule, letting you take Rites. He also cannot run or sweep because he's so buggered up.

 

for his points, he's not half bad as a cheap utility HQ that unlocks everything you'd need to make a nice army, without being too hefty in his cost like more combat orientated Praetors. I plan on taking him, since he's such a bargain for what he brings. And I plan on keeping him out of combat, since there's better options for it than a cripple!

[Russ Brother 92]

Aye he seems like one of the best characters in the game due to those buffs, I mean the closest others get are Primarchs and even they sort of pale in comparison, they are ofcs combat monsters whereas dear ole Mal isn't by any stretch of the imagination - I'll certainly use him if I'm doing a 1st Company, have normal Reavers as Catulans and whatnot :)

[AekoldHelbrass]

I really like Reavers, but I cannot see how to field them effectively.

I'm mostly playing against SW and BA, so that's my baseline for comparison.
10 GH + 2 Plasma + power weapon + Wulfen + 1 wolfguard in TDA with shield costs 238 points.

Naked 10 man unit of reavers costs 210. What's next? Giving them banestrikes will make them mindbogglingly expensive while damage output is relatively small. Giving them 2 plasma guns will not make them better. The only option that will make them more effective - power axe for the champion and 2 power sword in the squad.

Another option is taking 15 with jump packs, couple of power swords and hope to maim at least 2 units of GH.

What do you think?

[Noctus Cornix]

As Reavers are the complete basis of my army, (literally they are pretty much going to be my entire army) I've sort of come up with a plan to work rather effectively.

 

So firstly, we have 6 squads of Reavers, ten men a piece.

 

Every unit has Jump Packs. Every marine carries a banestrike bolter. (might give a few combi-meltas) Sergeant will likely have a Power Sword and Melta Bombs and two standard marines will be hiding a power axe.

 

The way I'll be running them in game terms in specifically to move in teams, 3 groups of 2 squads. Each team has an objective, a target that the two units will move in unison to obliterate. Because Reavers cannot have large squads of 20 like others, we see a possible issue with standing up against mass squads. To compensate for this, I have the teams work together like a 1. 2. punch. The first squad moves in and softens up the foe with a rapid fire volley of bolter rounds, picking off any sergeants or particularly nasty weapons if they can. The second squad will promptly move in right after and tear the stragglers apart. Likewise then can work as both simply unloading or both charging dependent on the circumstances.

 

The nice part about this strategy is I can run it two different ways, depending on the Rite of War I choose. Against armies that have more close combat oriented foes, (like World Eaters), I can take the Angel's Wrath rite, giving my Reavers the Hit and Run rule. Allowing them to get into a round of combat then bail out so they can throw some more bullets into their foe and let the second squad take a shot if need be. However if your foe is a particularly tough one (Iron Hands, Breachers, etc) You can take the Black Reaving rite, granting your second squad the rage rule once they charge into a preexisting combat. The 2 squad teams tactic works perfectly for this since you ALWAYS have a second squad sitting around to take advantage of that.

 

When it comes to weapons, I think it would be best to give around two power axes to standard marines and give your sergeant something that strikes at initiative (or a fist/axe if you want to give him artificer armour). That way you can have atleast 6 AP 2 attacks hidden in the squad that cannot be stolen from you by a challenge or a sniper round.

 

This and the combination of a melta bomb along with a couple combi-meltas should allow your Reavers to tackle just about anything that's thrown at them, so long as you play smart and use the pack tactics. Remember that they're main role is to kill infantry, characters, take objectives, and the occassional minor vehicle. Leave the tank killing to your artillery or Justerians. Seriously man, Justerian deep strike squads with a multi-melta and combi-meltas on everyone else. What's not to love?

[spu00sed]

I love your reaver list.

 

Have you thought about adding in some seekers for more banestrike bolter Adrian and a bucket load of combi weapons?

[Kais Klip]

Why would we want seekers over reavers?

[spu00sed]

Why would we want seekers over reavers?

Noctus is running six squads, so has unlocked them in his troop section (I think). This frees up fast attack options that can then be filled with the seeker squads.

 

Okay they lose out on assassins eye, an excess of power weapons, "cheap" combi weapons and support weapons.

 

However they do have BS5 and marked for death, so you could use them as an anti terminator unit. Also with imperial army on its way the tempest bolt could be useful. You could even keep them with scorpius bolts for the chance to rend terminators.

 

 

I just thought they added to the assassin pack image of the army.