Alpha Legion Unique Rite of War

[TemujinZero]

Am I right in thinking that The Coils of the Hydra more or less forces you to take three ten man Tactical Squads mounted in Rhinos?  You have to take three compulsory troops choices and all units have to be either infiltrators, mounted in a dedicated transport, or able to deep strike.  With no way to unlock additional troops choices, this leaves only Tactical Squads, Breachers and Assault Squads.  Breachers can only be mounted in Land Raiders, and taking three of those would take up the majority of even a large list.  Assault Squads can deep strike but three of them is also a huge expense.  Tactical Squads can be given infiltrate at the beginning of the game, but not while you are building your list, so I think you have to give them a Rhino.  These can then infiltrate or outflank if you choose that rule, so it's not the end of the world, but being forced to fill out your list with your most vanilla unit is a bit disappointing for a unique rite of war.  Even worse, you're forced to take a transport for Terminators, which you would otherwise be able to just infiltrate forward.

 

Stealing unique units is definitely interesting, but I don't know that it's worth the costs.  I think an Infiltrating Pride of the Legion list with Banestrike Veterans, Headhunters and Terminators sitting right on your opponents doorstop might be more characterful.  I do like how the bonuses work alongside Alpharius' rules though.

[Noserenda]

Thats game balance for you :D Besides, 3 Tactical Squads in Rhinos is a good idea in objective games and pretty cheap overall. Keeping the coils of the Hydra mobile is plenty characterful and being able to take ANY legions elite unit is crazy powerful!

[Kais Klip]

You don't have to take the transports; specifying the units must be able to take the transport just differentiates them from the less mobile elements of the legion list which you are not allowed to take.

 

Secondly, keep in mind the Legion's trait bonuses of various USRs make even our tac squads the equivalent of veterans in many aspects, and that's without Alpharius on the field.

 

Thirdly, make sure to explore the slap-worthy combinations open to us by mixing units from other legions with our USRs.

 

HD, brother ;)

 

Edit: oops, looks like it wasn't exactly my mouth that was talking that time. You are right about having to take Rhinos and such. Damn, so much for that VP.

[TemujinZero]

The wording suggests that they have to take the transports.

 

"Infantry squads that do not have either a dedicated transport or the ability to Infiltrate or Deep Strike may not be chosen as part of this force."

 

It's clear that having the ability to infiltrate or deep strike is enough - you don't need to actually use the rules to deploy.  The part on transports however says that they need to have the transports, not just the ability to take them.  If this were not the case then I can't think of any infantry unit that this restriction would apply to.

 

I can live with the three tactical squads, but I hate how it messes up my plans to exploit the power of mass infiltration granted by the Alpha Legion trait.  I'm already wasting the infiltrate USR on Headhunters, and now I have to stick to 5 man Terminator Squads with unwanted Land Raiders.  The transport restriction also presumably applies to your borrowed unique unit, which in many cases means another Land Raider.

 

Of course you could take a different USR, stick to units that can take Rhinos, deep strike one unit of Terminators with Armillus Dynat and somehow put together a workable list, but this Rite of War seems designed to frustrate.

[Daemon2027]

I am not to keen on the coils of the hydra. I was thinking Pride of the Legion for some über veteran squads.

[Excessus]

I am not to keen on the coils of the hydra. I was thinking Pride of the Legion for some über veteran squads.

So your troops will be 2x10 Lernaean terminators in spartans...infiltrating or outflanking? :)

[Daemon2027]

 

I am not to keen on the coils of the hydra. I was thinking Pride of the Legion for some über veteran squads.

So your troops will be 2x10 Lernaean terminators in spartans...infiltrating or outflanking? :)

I checked with Forge World. Legion specific terminators do not become troops in the PotL rite of war. So was thinking Vet Squads fit for different roles (they get 2 special rules, one they choose from being vets, one from the Alpha Legion rules). Lernaean can take objectives despite being elite anyway (or so I thought).

[TemujinZero]

Two ten man banestrike veteran units, two five man banestrike terminator units, ten headhunters, five Lernaean terminators, a ten man volkite culverin squad, two masters of signals and Alpharius himself.  All infiltrated up in your face on turn one, all preferred enemy everything, no points wasted on transportation.  2500 points.

[DuskRaider]

Alpha Legion Veterans: Infiltrate Legion USR + 2 x Heavy Bolters w/ Banestrike + Sniper USR = Nightmares.

[TemujinZero]

Sniper always seems like a waste to me.  Wound on a 4+ and precision shot?  I'd rather have fearless.

[Excessus]

Sniper always seems like a waste to me.  Wound on a 4+ and precision shot?  I'd rather have fearless.

Also, doesn't snipers get rending anyway making the banestrike ammo redundant?

[TemujinZero]

You don't get rending anyway.  Only weapons with the sniper rule get rending and pinning.

[Molokai]

Hey guys just saw over on heresy 30k that forgeworld responded to the question of infiltrating tac squads. They say it's perfectly fine to have tac squads out of rhinos as long as you assign infiltrate to them when using coils.

 

Sorry cant provide a link as on my phone, but it's there on a couple of threads.

[Excessus]

You don't get rending anyway.  Only weapons with the sniper rule get rending and pinning.

Oh, all right. Then fearless would be a lot better, especially if you take vets as troops.

[DuskRaider]

Wounding anything on a 4+ is nice too (looking at Ad Mech. monsters & Primarchs with this one).

[Noserenda]

Sniper is amazing, especially if you play against Am and other forces with monstrous creatures. You can also precision shot the Sergeants or special weapons out of squads to reduce their Ld or punch, both of which can turn battles around, especially with banestrike rounds! Ive double veterans (Often with Divination Librarians) a lot and cant recommend them enough.

[Daemon2027]

Doesnt Banestrike give rendering if you roll a 6 to hit?

[Kais Klip]

Turns the shot into ap3 on a roll of 6 to wound.

[DuskRaider]

Infiltrating Sniper Heavy Bolter Veterans with a Master of the Signal. BS5. That's better.

[Daemon2027]

Turns the shot into ap3 on a roll of 6 to wound.

Ahhh cool, miss remembering stuff!

[ImpiousSmart]

Forgive my lack of knowledge - I haven't really played since 5th ed, but:

 

Alpha Legio vet squad, with banestrike, sniper usr, and preferred enemy (everything) once Alpharius is revealed would fire bolters that:

 

Re-roll 1's to hit;

Get to allocate wounds AND become Ap3 on a 6?

 

Combined with infiltrate also.... mmmm

[Kol Saresk]

Am I right in thinking that The Coils of the Hydra more or less forces you to take three ten man Tactical Squads mounted in Rhinos?  You have to take three compulsory troops choices and all units have to be either infiltrators, mounted in a dedicated transport, or able to deep strike.  With no way to unlock additional troops choices, this leaves only Tactical Squads, Breachers and Assault Squads.  Breachers can only be mounted in Land Raiders, and taking three of those would take up the majority of even a large list.  Assault Squads can deep strike but three of them is also a huge expense.  Tactical Squads can be given infiltrate at the beginning of the game, but not while you are building your list, so I think you have to give them a Rhino.  These can then infiltrate or outflank if you choose that rule, so it's not the end of the world, but being forced to fill out your list with your most vanilla unit is a bit disappointing for a unique rite of war.  Even worse, you're forced to take a transport for Terminators, which you would otherwise be able to just infiltrate forward.

 

Stealing unique units is definitely interesting, but I don't know that it's worth the costs.  I think an Infiltrating Pride of the Legion list with Banestrike Veterans, Headhunters and Terminators sitting right on your opponents doorstop might be more characterful.  I do like how the bonuses work alongside Alpharius' rules though.

It's like the Night Lords' Terror Assault RoW: It is meant for larger games. Sure, you can probably find a way to manage the points cost at the 1500 point level but it will be unwieldy and it will fall apart.

[Noserenda]

Age of Darkness in general is designed to start at 2000pts really :)

[Plague Angel]

Hey guys just saw over on heresy 30k that forgeworld responded to the question of infiltrating tac squads. They say it's perfectly fine to have tac squads out of rhinos as long as you assign infiltrate to them when using coils.

 

Sorry cant provide a link as on my phone, but it's there on a couple of threads.

 

Which likely applies to everyone else such as Terminators.

[Pavement Artist]

Can confirm this. i emailed forge world about it yesterday and their reply stated that tac squads without transports are fine as long as they are given infiltrate via Mutable tactics.