How to use a Rune Priest

[Frater Cornelius]

Let me be honest with you: I do not think psychic powers are to be relied upon. Too much randomness is involved, especially when going for 2+ WC powers. However, I do think the spam of 1 WC powers has it's uses.

 

Enter the Rune Priest. Have you made any experiences with these boy since our new codex yet? Have you used Tempestas or something else?

 

I am considering 2-3 Rune Priests on Bikes in addition to TWC. They are fairly cheap and a decent melee character on top of wobbly majicks. I was thinking to either roll on Biomancy to get those 1 WC powers to either buff the Priest, give Endurance to TWC (which is DEADLY) or Enfeeblement on the enemy to get more wounds in or even ID them, or roll on Tempestas to get some horde control and light transport-busting capabilities with Lightning and Wolf Spirits.

 

So, bring on your ideas on whether these bad boys are worth the 105 point price tag (ML2, Bike, Runic Axe).

 

Edit: to keep with the theme of cav, does anyone have any ideas what sort of beast to put the RP on (in order to represent a Bike) to make it look a bit different from horses but still natural?

[MeatGrinder]

Take a white scars librarian on bike instead, better lores and Hit and Run. I really don't think Rune Priests are that good at the moment, poor lore choices.

[Donkalleone]

Well i play my RP with DIvination on my Plascannon Long Fangs when i get ignore cover even better . Sometimes im getting lucky and get 4++ and put that on my LandRaider Crusader.

Sadly and really Sadly he doesnt have Telepathy.

 

And i like to keep my Army "clean"

[Frater Cornelius]

Take a white scars librarian on bike instead, better lores and Hit and Run. I really don't think Rune Priests are that good at the moment, poor lore choices.

 

The only difference is that RP can not take Telepathy, which I wasn't planning on using anyway as the only power worth a damn costs 2 WC and you can not count on getting it (the other powers are not bad, but they do not help a melee army that much as say Biomancy does with Endurance, Life Leech or individual character buffs). They also do not come with a troops tax, they are 5 points cheaper with the same ML and gear and I can take more than 1 (multiple CAD are usually not allowed on tournaments, only allied detachment). Hit and Run is useless for TWC for the most part because the TWC wants to be in melee, not getting out of there. Eating overwatch is not worth the extra attack you get from repeated charges.

So no, I disagree. A RP would be superior to a WS Librarian for an SW army.

[the jeske]

Hit and Run is useless for TWC for the most part because the TWC wants to be in melee, not getting out of there.

 

 

yes but if you hit and run in your opponents turn you can charge in again with more attacks or charge a different target, while the weakened by the TWCstar unit is finished off by shoting units and your not wasting 30+attacks to kill 4-5 dudes.

[Spazmonkey]

With this in mind and wolves being rather assault orientated these days, have you found you are using Wolf priests more?

Or that wolf priests are now more viable than rune priests?

[Rune Priest Jbickb]

I am reaching the conclusion that wolf priests are more reliable than rune priests, which is sad cuz I love rune priests. But the static bonus tgat you don't have to worry about failing to get off is hard to pass up

[Frater Cornelius]

 

Hit and Run is useless for TWC for the most part because the TWC wants to be in melee, not getting out of there.

 

 

yes but if you hit and run in your opponents turn you can charge in again with more attacks or charge a different target, while the weakened by the TWCstar unit is finished off by shoting units and your not wasting 30+attacks to kill 4-5 dudes.

That is a solid observation. However, the point still stands that those extra few attacks I get are not worth the tax I have to pay for a Librarian.

As for finishing in the opponents turn, I know this is very convoluted, but I try to use the movement phase to setup the potential damage. If I do not want to use all of my attacks on a unit to stay in combat a while longer, I either do a multicharge or move away a model further away so that it won't be able to participate in combat for one turn.

 

I do not say it's bad. It is an intriguing idea. I just want to keep it specifically at RP bikes in a TWC army and whether Biomancy or Divination are worth giving up a few Fenrisian/Cyber Wolf and TWC models.

[Frater Cornelius]

As for Wolf Priests. A bike WP costs 130 as opposed to the 105 a ML2 RP on bike costs. 25-50 points is a lot.

Then you have to consider than I have 5 warp charges in the army with the GK detachment. Having another 4 gives both the RP and the Librarian enough to cast some shenanigans with a save amount of dice.

The RP also has a Runic Axe, hence he can ID models and, if nothing else, he brings some S5 AP2 to the game.

 

And finally, the biggest reason why I consider RP superior, he does not have to be attached to the TWC. Harald's bonuses only apply to units that are completely made up of Cavalry or Beasts. With a few good rolls on Biomancy, an RP can be a very effective solo fighter and most buffs can be targeted at the unit.

But this is also the reasons why I have reservations about taken the RP. He breaks synergy. He can not always be with the TWC and thus the TWC lose survivability because I had to give up 1 TWC and 1 Cyberwolf per unit to get the Priest. Endurance is not guaranteed to happen.

So here is the question, whether it is worth having a few potential rolls on Biomancy, Divination and Tempestas plus having extra Warp Charges is worth either having less survivable TWC units or have broken synergy due to the inclusion of a non-cav/beast.

[MustangTC]

Regarding synergy I run my biker rune priest in 5 biker wg, cheap retinue with lots of attacks, mobile, jink, good rapid fire shooting (complements tempestas), decent melee (biomancy) and buffs my twc and kraken lord.

 

Those games when you do get endurance it's game changing, the rest I find him a more that competent melee beast or shooty addition. I run a thunderwolf centric list too.

 

Don't forget psychic defence.

[Frater Cornelius]

I've been trying and trying WG Bikers and I simply can not get behind it. And my biggest issue is that they are BIKES. If I could find a conversion that makes them look like slender and fast beasts and use them as counts-as bikes. As it stand, I am reluctant to include WG Bikers right now due to performance and looks.

Adding WG bikes also means dropping the GK detachment. Are 10 bikes worth the loss of a Librarian and 5 TDA? Possibly. Are they worth the loss of a NDK? Not unless Russ comes down and makes bikes awesome.

[Z00Z]

105 pts is a high tax to pay to be a buff-monger. It also means you are placing an enormous amount of pts in a TWC unit running a wolf lord / harald + Iron priest + wolves + TWC + RP. Whilst positioning , cover, terrain etc.etc.etc. is useful, you cannot determine the type of game played (short / long-board) or whether you in fact have sufficient blocking terrain to ensure you get into CC. I've seen too many games where TWC get blown out the water before reaching into CC against shooting based armies. 

 

The other argument of using a Lib vs. RP is that you will utilise positioning and multi-charges vs. hit and run to stay in CC. But this dramatically lowers the effectiveness of TWC as you will lose your furious charge + other bonuses due to a disorganised charge. 

 

TWC work great if you can get them into CC safely. The best way of doing this is by limiting their perceived 'threat' by having equally or less-threatening units in the opponents faces making them choose. If you over-invest pts in a TWCStar, it will draw alot of attention and any mass mid-AP fire will wipe it. For the additional bonus that a RP or Lib bring to the party, you'd be better off attaching them to another unit (non-TWC) to increase their threat, and by inference, making the opponent focus less on your TWC units. 

 

My thoughts only :)

[Frater Cornelius]

Well, theres 2 TWC units, 10 Fenrisian Wolves with Harald, 3 Iron Priests with 4 Wolves each that either go solo or with the TWC/FW. Then there is also a NDK up front and TDA either DS or more than likely GoI to the front. There is a lot of threats but little to no shooting, which isn't really the point. But you can see why I am reluctant to give up TWC/IP survivability in order to get a buff character that may not even buff the unit.

[Z00Z]

Absolutely, I agree I wouldn't swop out your current unit builds for a RP on bike. The gains imo arent greater than the losses. I know this is completely different from the thread, but what are your thoughts on a cheap 5 skyclaw unit with flamers? A suicide squad to get to opponents quickly and distract for a turn. Not even sure you have the pts avail, but the pts value are quite low. I mean, there's no way his going to ignore  them in his face and focus on other units charging up the board. Another option I've been considering in 5+ termies with SS (free) and storm bolters. Cheap and durable unit. Provides a lot of resistance, and 10+ storm bolter shots is something your opponent will have to address fairly quickly. Especially against xenos low AP saves. 

[Frater Cornelius]

No FA slots left, the best slot of them all :/ I love 5man Skyclaws and 3man Swiftclaws. They need to make a TWC supplement that gives you 8 FA slots

As for TDA, I have 5 GK TDA with Psycannon with a TDA Librarian. I consider GK TDA superior in most ways except tanking shots, since they can only get a 4++ with Sanctuary. But when it comes to melee and heavy weapons, GK > SW TDA.

To get back to the RP for a bit, dropping the GK detachment is also an option. I could get me 2 RP (ML2, Bike, Runic Armour, Axe) with 2*5 WG Bikers (2 Axes, 2 Melta Bombs). This gives me some ranged pressure, but whether they are worth the loss of GK TDA and NDK is questionable.

[toonarmy]

I have liked the rune priests i have ran recently but I invariably break them off and run them as their own unit.  I play a fair bit of eldar in my area so the more RP's i get the more dice i get to nullify enemy powers going off.

 

I think the difficulty with them is that their role will change from game to game so you must be quick at working out how they will best serve you in each and every game with the powers that you get.

[Frater Cornelius]

I have liked the rune priests i have ran recently but I invariably break them off and run them as their own unit.  I play a fair bit of eldar in my area so the more RP's i get the more dice i get to nullify enemy powers going off.

 

I think the difficulty with them is that their role will change from game to game so you must be quick at working out how they will best serve you in each and every game with the powers that you get.

 

Exactly. And you will make mistakes. The more complicated a list the more likely you will mess up. And the other issue is that when you go down with points, you will need to drop an RP, leaving with 2+D6 charges and only 2 rolls on a discipline, which is not enough. I can not trim the TWC anymore because they already got trimmed due to the RP.

[Gengar]

If you are bringing in RP bikers and WG bikers though, then we could make twin army's : p

Could be just that i'm slowly creeping into your mind: p

What would be best but sadly aint a go though is an Ulrik on a bike:/

And I think that normal wolf priest are a bit to expensive immo , i would have considered em if they were 'the same' price of an RP

I've been wondering for a while now though...does logan's chariot thingy count as vehicle or beast or cavalry?
Cause otherwise Logan + harald = bffl's
u know...for a 'meager' 520 points : p

[Frater Cornelius]

It counts as a Chariot :D

[Gengar]

:cuss.: p I guess having Furious charging Logan was to much to ask: p
The no pinning rule might help the twcavs though but how much do they ever get pinned?: p

[Frater Cornelius]

Well, considering that all TWC are Ld9, even Ld10 when Harald is within 12", that pinning weapons are fairly sparse now and that most of those don't do jack against a regular TWC unit, I'd say no.

[Jochteas]

You know, a RP (or Wolf Priest for that matter) on a quad bike would actually be a lot less stupid looking imo. Use some of the left over TWC bionic wolf parts to add to the motif, really wolf it up, this is a base example but I see potential, https://h52knw.bn1.livefilestore.com/y1pNdpIwDWrvszGQcp4PPsjR8BhM-_QnPb62zFnpHlNeCE_pEDNGMTkx84jhsn4NxAEyrDAQpztM4Q96bkpu-Hu9Ik6Q0ssElhg/IMG_0148.JPG?psid=1 (sorry for the life of me it won't let me strait up post a pic on my home computer)

[FenrisWolf]

No FA slots left, the best slot of them all :/ I love 5man Skyclaws and 3man Swiftclaws. They need to make a TWC supplement that gives you 8 FA slots

I fully agree! I'd like to see force org chart supplements that enhance each of the different available ones (two left, I suppose): Fast Attack and one for Heavy Support. And so we don't get accused of cheese, let any Astartes have it.

[Guest Drunk Guardian]

Here is a combination I intend to try:

 

Wolves Unleashed Detachment:

 

Wolf Lord - Runic Armour, Fangsword, Black Death

Rune Priest - Mastery 2, Armour of Russ, Helm of Durfast, Runic Staff, Plasma Pistol

Grey Hunters x9 - Flamer x2, Power Fist, Wolf Standard

Wolf Guard Pack Leader - Storm Shield

Stormwolf - Twin-Linked Multi-Melta x2

 

Rest of list will be composed of ranged superiority to blast a hole in enemy forces before Stormwolfs guaranteed turn 2 arrival.

 

Wolf Lord is Warlord.

 

On to the meat for this topic: Biomancy Rune Priest.

 

In the above configuration, the only truly wasted power on the Biomancy table is Haemorrhage, and only because it costs too much to be used successfully consistently.

 

Every other power provides significant buffs to the unit. Smite combined with Durfast is a nice precharge shooting power, Iron Arm makes the Priest an MC dominator, Enfeeble buffs the entire assault AND makes the Fangsword slightly more interesting with the Helfrost rule, Life Leech is a form of IWND for both the Priest and the Wolf Lord (which helps cover the W loss from not using Thunderwolf), Warp Speed isn't great but if paired with Iron Arm would be insane, and Endurance makes the unit that much tougher.

 

I definitely realize the flaw with this build is how many points it costs, but I feel the synergy of this unit makes it an insane "killstar".

[Frater Cornelius]

The problem with that is that you will only have 2+D6 Warp Charges. Is will usually be enough to cast 1 Power, 2 if you are lucky but the chance the enemy has to stop it will also increase.