The Renegade Legion

[simison]

The real irony Russ brother is that I can use that in a serious sense. The title "Guru" is originally from India, which is the other third of the II legion culture. Thus, I really am saying he's a 'master'. In this particular sense, "master of the gun line". 

 

Vigilance

A six-foot long power lance crafted by Alexandros upon rewarding the title of Equerry, were it not for Pyrrhicles' enhanced biology and bionics, the weapon would be far too cumbersome for actual combat. Instead, the extra reach allows for greater power and penetration during the opening moves in close combat. 

 

Weapon        Range        Str        AP        Type       

Vigilance            -           +2/+1*      2/3*      Melee, Rending, Master-Crafted, Unwieldy*

 

*Power lances have two profiles for both Strength and AP. The first is used only on a turn in which a model charges; the second is used at all other times. Unwieldy is ignored only for the first round of combat.

 

 

Veterans of the Maelstrom

See Myrmidon Terminator Squad entry

 

Guru of Logistics

While Pyrrhicles is no stranger to close combat, he prefers to end his enemy's resistance through accurate firepower behind the shield line. Before deployment, roll a D3. Pyrrhicles grants this number of units the special rule Preferred Enemy against one enemy unit type (eg. Infantry, Walkers, Monstrous Creatures, etc). 

 

 

HQ - Pyrrhicles was originally Alexandros' third in command over the Delian ground forces. When the Emperor arrived and revealed Alexandros' true destiny, Pyrrhicles refused to be left behind. Not satisfied with serving in the Imperial Army, where he suspected he might die from either war or old age before he could serve by the side of the Aegis, he volunteered to join the Legiones Astartes. Already too old, it was only with a special order from the Primarch that saw him join the ranks of the II Legion through the use of expensive gene-therapy and bionics. 

 

Ever since, Pyrrhicles has been loyal to Alexandros and his ideals with a passion bordering on obsession. Despite lacking the physical capabilities of a true space marine, he compensated with sheer determination and distinguished himself before his peers. In time, he was granted the rank of Centurion before Alexandros raised him to the post of Equerry and Master of the Myrmidon.

 

 

 

The wording on Guru makes me nervous. Guys, it is good or do I need to re-word it? Also, I haven't gotten any other nominations for the next duel, so I'm opening the nomination table to everyone again. If no one else is nominated, Dorn will be next. 

[Slips]

If you think its too good, just up his cost a bit or make it last for X number of rounds. As it stands, it might make him a bit more enticing than Irvin since he gives a permanent and rather far reaching benefit for 1 to 3 units. That means you could give a beefed up terminator squad PE:Infantry and just murderlate things or a recon/seeker squad PE: Characters and just assassinate things left and right.

[Black Cohort]

I would simply provide an example, so Pyrrhicles can provide preferred enemy (infantry) or preferred enemy (monstrous creatures) but not preferred enemy (tactical marines) or preferred enemy (orks).

[simison]

Fixed. Not worried about him comparing against Irvin, I just want to make sure the rule makes sense as its written. 

 

Well, I'll be donating plasma for the next hour, so no duel just yet. Time to get started on the last unique character, barring a fourth one. 

 

Mahtva supports the idealism like Pyrrhicles, but has his own style like Irvin. In this case, flashier is better. Pyromancy and TK are a must. Biomancy is a close third. 

 

He'll be a level 3 Psyker with a unique force stave and I'm thinking the Fear special rule.

[simison]

Was given a chance to field the Wardens with Alexandros and I took it. The results were...less than inspiring. In short, I suffered almost complete defeat. By the end of the battle, only a Primus Medicae and a single Myrmidon survived. 

 

Now, there were a couple of caveats. One, no Siren Grenade launchers. I forgot to add them to the original Myrmidon entry so on a die roll, I wasn't allowed to use them. Two, luck. Horrendous bad luck did a huge number on my forces. Three, inexperience. This was the first time I've fielded a Horus Heresy army, let alone the Wardens. Combine that with a two-month break from gaming, I wasn't the top pick of a general. 

 

Here were the lists:

2,000 points

 

Halcyon Wardens

 

Alexandros with Myrmidon Squad

Primus Medicae with other Myrmidon Squad, plus 4 more Myrmidons.

2 Heavy Support squads, all with missile launchers, one squad with Flakk missiles.

A standard Tactical squad

And a Spartan Assault tank with Prefect upgrade to provide long-range, anti-armor support.

 

Vs.

 

Chaos Space Marines (Nurgle)

 

Chaos Lord with Black Mace with 9-man biker squad, two bikes with meltas in reserve

4 Nurgle marine squads, 2 marines with plasma per squad

3 Obliterators

1 Predator, twin-linked laz & heavy bolters

2 Heldrakes

1 Daemon Prince with wings and Mark of Nurgle

 

The field

 

Only two pieces of terrain: two sets of ruin opposite of each other on the table.

 

Deployment:

 

Dawn of War, Purge the Alien

 

Our forces deployed centering on the ruins. He sets up 2 Nurgle squads in the ruins with the Oblits, and the other two behind the terrain with the predator and the Prince. Heldrakes and Chaos Lord in reserve.

 

My 'Devastors' are in the terrain with Alexandros & Myrmidon directly in front of them. On the left, the Medicae & Myrmidons deploy in front of the TAC squad with the Spartan taking cover behind the terrain piece. 

 

I initiate Night Fighting for the extra cover since he will be going first. Alex's Powers & Traits were Divide to Conquer/Conqeuror of Cities – Forewarning/Prescience/Hallucination!/Shrouding

 

 

Highlights:

 

Turn 1: not much. Ineffective fire goes back and forth. 1 Myrmidon dies, 1 Plague Marine, and 1 hull point of the Pred, Stunned. Prince advances and curses the Flak missile squad. -1 T,S. The Flakkers fire at the Prince with no real effect. 

 

Turn 2: Most of the bad luck here. Chaos Lord outflanks with bikes and target the Spartan. One melta misses, but the other shot penetrates and 1-hit kills the Spartan. First Heldrake arrives and burns an entire squad of Heavy support with one baleflame. Prince swoops around left flank and burns the TAC squad to 3 men. Flakkers force Heldrake to jink, but nothing else. Medicae & Myrmidon turn around and charge Chaos Lord, killing half of the bikers with no casualties. Alex advancing with surviving Myrmidon & TAC squad toward main enemy force. 

 

Turn 3: Chaos Lord and remaining bikers die with only 1 Myrmidon casualty. Flakkers only get 1 glance on Heldrake. Concentrated fire and vector strikes kills off TAC squad and the first Myrmidon squad. Three 1's means Alex is reduced to his last wound before reaching the enemy. That's the second huge thing of bad luck since it was bolter fire. Alex, alone, charges the nearest Plague Marine squad and kills them all without a sweat.

 

Turn 4: Entire Nurgle gunline open fire on Alex, the last Plasma gun from an Obliterator being the one to kill him. (For fun later, my opponent and I did a What If? scenario where Alex survives the guns and the Nurgle line charges. Results? Two more Nurgle squads die and 2/3 of the Obliterators, with the last Obliterator killing him with a Power fist.) Heldrake kills off the last of the 'Devastators'.

 

Turn 5: 1 Myrmidon & Medicae survive an entire round of the whole enemy army shooting them to get into close combat. Neither die, and 1 Nurgle marine does, and the game ends there. 

 

 

 

What I fail to mention in the Turns, is that Alex was able to successfully the rest of the Prince's psychic offense, minus that first power. 

 

 

Two lessons I've learned is that AA is invaluable and no Primarch is immune to bad luck. My opponent suggested I deep-strike Alex and there's merit in it. But it's not fluffy. Anyway, if work allows me, I'll get another chance to field the Wardens in an Apoc game on Saturday. Cheers.

[Black Cohort]

Don't Spartans come stock with armoured ceramite? that upgrade makes melta guns almost worthless against it.

 

Also with that many Myrmidons not having their weapons probably severely impacted your combat power.

 

Given that it is your first game with them it didn't sound like it went too bad.

[Slips]

Spartans dont, sadly. It costs 2 melta guns. Flare shields neither and cost half again as much of a melta gun over Armored Ceramite.

 

Edit: Simison, at 2k points, your list seems very small. Mind giving me the exact # of troops in each squad, etc. to give me a better idea? Such as the Tactical squad. For HS with ML, I think you mightve been better off with Contemptors in this matchup since they get Interceptor/skyfire.

[Black Cohort]

Armoured ceramite would be worth every point at 2 melta guns in price. It becomes extremely difficult for most armies to one shot.

[Slips]

Add in flare shields that do -2S to blasts/barrage and -1S to everything else in the front arc and well, good luck stopping the pain train.

[simison]

I would have loved Armored Ceramite. 

 

Certainly, Slipstreams.

10 TAC marines

14 Myrmidon

10 Heavy Support marines

1 Spartan

1 Medicae

1 Primarch

 

It was certainly on the smaller side when counting bodies. 

 

Also, how do the Contemptors get Skyfire/Interceptor?

[Slips]

Contemptor-Mortis get skyfire/interceptor if they forgo movement that turn. Sadly they're 1 per slot, but have 2 of the same weapon : 2 TLLC, 2 Kheres, 2 TL Autocannons. Pricey though, with a TLLC mortis coming in at ~185

 

I would honestly cut the 4 extra myrmidons and get more Tactical Marines. A full squad doing a Fury of the Legion move in rapid fire range can ruin things. 80 Bolter Shots are no joke.

[simison]

Indeed. I actually wanted to try out the Fury of the Legion rule, but the TAC squad was wrecked before they had a target. 

 

And I'll definitely consider the Contemptor-Mortis for future AA options. Do I need a different book other than the Horus Heresy rulebooks to use it?

[Slips]

Nope. Just get the 2 Red books and you're all set.

[simison]

Found it. I'll be sure to give it a try next time, since I'm trying to avoid using fortifications for now.

 

Also, Nate has offered some more suggestions about Alex. One, instead of being able to pick 2 Strategic traits, he recommended rolling 3 dice and pick 2 from that, on any table, so long as all three were on the same table for that game. It's a fair suggestion, but I prefer to my rule over his. Perhaps I should add a cost for it though. Like requiring 1 warp charge to be spent to use this, with the cost coming out of the first psychic phase?

 

Two, have the Aegis increase Alex's toughness instead of affecting enemy strength. He pointed out that most players get annoyed when your special rules affect their models. I'm perfectly fine with this tweak since the fluff and the essence of the rule would be pretty much the same.

 

Three, instead of converting one enemy model to the Wardens via Voice of Reason, he suggested the entire unit take a pinning test. He's example was "What would convince a Blood Angel to attack a fellow Blood Angel?" Originally, I agreed with him and considered the change, until I remembered the Blood Angels' civil war. So, it's not unheard of and there's always one weak link in any group. Especially in grimdark 40k, so I'm not sure if I should do anything with it. This first battle showed that it's a rule that might not even show up for an entire battle. 

 

And that's it. I'm going to go fix the Myrmidon entry now.

[simison]

Omegon waited as his drop pod screamed into the atmosphere. Everything had gone according to the plan, except for this. The Elpis was ruins above them, suffering a catastrophic explosion. But Alexandros' flagship had served him well, lasting long enough for him and over half of his marines to escape to the nearby planet of Thurmopily. Orbital bombardment wouldn't guarantee his death as he and the Wardens had landed in a mountainous region that offered too many opportunities to take shelter from such an attack. Unfortunately, none of their biological weapons would be powerful enough to end a space marines' enhanced biology, and they didn't have the firepower to destroy the planet. The Life Eater virus would've been much more efficient than this, Omegon thought privately.

 

But the Cabal had been insistent that to achieve the surprise they needed, a smaller battlefleet was necessary. They were also clear that Alexandros' death was requirement for their plans to stop Chaos. The Strategos and his abilities could end the Horus' rebellion before it began if given the chance. While they knew that it was likely the Wardens were soon to be discredited and suffer a cataclysm, they were playing a delicate game and preferred that no wild cards remain by the time of the Heresy. 

 

Thus, here they were, the Alpha Legion leading a planetary assault to personally end Alexandros and three hundred survivors. The drop pod's rockets fired off and landed. Omegon jumped out and saw his target, leading a grandiose last stand as his forces were attacked by ten thousand Alpha legionnaires. The drop pod had deposited Omegon in the middle of the formation, right next to Alexandros. The Strategos saw him and both of them raised their plasma blasters and took aim at each other.

 

Alex's Usable Powers - Perfect Timing/Shriek

 

Alex wins the roll. Shriek manifests but does nothing and he Perils (Warp Surge; Passes LD) on Duelist. The irony is, Omegon is immune to fleshbane. Ultimatum burns off two wounds before ending his turn.

 

Aegis saves Alex from returning plasma before the battle is joined. Hammer of Wrath wounds but is saved. Omegon suffers 2 more wounds before he retaliates. He strikes well and has good aim, but Aegis laughs him off. Omegon gets IWND. 

 

Warp Surge fades away, but Alex still gets Duelist and promptly ends Omegon.

 

[Luck. That is all]

 

With a final howl, the Pale Spear is broken in twain. Omegon, bleeding from half a dozen critical injuries, tries to backpedal but is too slow. The last thing he sees is Xiphos entering his right eye. 

[simison]

Unlike Pyrrhicles (who was an army buffer) and Irvin (who mixed buffs with personal attacks), Mahtva will be purely a 'beatstick', I think the term is. He'll have artificer armor and a combat shield, +1 WS/A/I, -1 BS, . My initial idea for his weapon is the fatiscebant ignis. It's a force stave that is constantly fire so long as Mahtva wields it, giving it the usual rules, plus Fleshbane, Soul Blaze, and Gets Hot! special rules. Additionally, he generates 1 extra warp charge than usual for his own psychic phase, and is reduced 1 warp charge for Deny the Witch rolls. The idea is that he's all offense as opposed to his sire. 

 

How does that sound for an initial idea? And does anyone have a suggestion for the next primarch after Alpharius, minus Fulgrim?

[Black Cohort]

I would be careful about increasing a melee character's initiative but as long as it isn't above 5 it should be fine. I am not sure how useful fleshbane is on a force staff or why it being on fire would grant fleshbane. The soulblaze and gets hot both make sense though. Perhaps instead of fleshbane it also counts as a flamer?

[Slips]

Or, on a 6 to wound with a cost of 1 warp charge, you can make a template flamer attack originating from the staff if you want?

[Black Cohort]

Or, on a 6 to wound with a cost of 1 warp charge, you can make a template flamer attack originating from the staff if you want?

In close combat? That would be terrifying with everyone bunched up for melee.

[Slips]

It fits his theme. Maybe make it a S4-5 AP5 template? Then again it takes a warp charge to use and is only available on a 6 to wound. Depending on his luck and # of attacks, it could 1) never be activated in a game ever 2) Do some damage from time to time 3) Devastate everything. I think that makes it decently fair since its only a 1in 6 chance per attack of actually happening. Its also limited by the amount of available warp charges after the Psychic Phase.

 

Edit: it also goes well with the mental image of a powerful Psyker swinging a flaming staff and have it shoot gouts of flame at those before him.

 The only rule I'd let it carry over from his CC Profile would be Soul Blaze since having a flamer template with force would be horrendously powerful even if its rarely activated.

[Black Cohort]

I agree it sounds really cool, would it be limited to once per round? What if it happens in his opponent's turn? If he does have it a flamer statline with soul blaze makes the most sense to me.

[Slips]

I'd say yeah, only in the controlling players turn. That way your not saving up all your deny dice to potentially template everything in CC to death in the subsequent assault phase he's in.

 

As for limitations, I would say give him a low # of base attacks. So no more than 3 that way at 4 attacks on the charge he has a maximum of 4 potential 6's and 4 templates that cost 4 warp charges. Something he may not even be able to activate due to lacking charges.

[simison]

I added Fleshbane with the image of this psychic fire eating any flesh it touches. Not critical, just an image I had and can easily let that go. 

 

I like the thoughts on the Flame attack so far, but with one question. How would it work with challenges?

[Black Cohort]

1d6 hits to the unit if he is in a challenge? Or perhaps just in general it should be something like that, still potentially powerful but not crazy.

[Slips]

I'd say 1D3 per 5/10 units engaged in combat.