Legion Detachment rules and Warlord Traits

[Mr Smith]

Okay, I have no doubt that this topic has been done to death and there are probably a plethora of house rules floating around in this very Forum, but still, I have put together some ideas for special rules and Warlord traits for Chaos Legion detachments.

 

I put these rules together with the standard Combined-Arms Detachment unit selection in mind.  I've done Alpha Legion and Night Lords so far (because they're easy,) but will put down ideas for the other Legions once I come up with some.

 

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Alpha Legion

 

Special Rules:

 

Operatives – The Alpha Legion’s agents have infiltrated Imperial organisations all across the galaxy.  Whether they’re collaborators or brainwashed puppets, they quickly show their true colours once the battle is joined.

 

Alpha Legion detachments treat allies from the Armies of the Imperium as Battle Brothers.

 

 

Warlord Traits:

 

1. I am Alpharius – Anonymity is one of the greatest weapons in the Alpha Legions arsenal.  The Warlord is nothing more than a decoy while the real mastermind strikes elsewhere.

 

Killing the Alpha Legion Warlord does not award the enemy any battle points for Slay the Warlord. This also applies to any Tactical Objectives or Warlord Traits which award additional points for killing the Warlord.

 

2. Signal Jammers – Enemy scanners have been rendered useless, forcing them to fight blind.  Reserves cannot be guaranteed to arrive in position.

 

The Alpha Legion player may force the enemy player to re-roll any (or all) dice when using Deep Strike (including Mishaps) and Outflank.

 

3. Scrambled Communications – The enemy communications network has been hacked.  Orders have been lost, delayed, misdirected or even altered.

 

The Alpha Legion player may force the enemy player to re-roll any Reserves roll, whether successful or unsuccessful.In addition, any instance when reserves would turn up automatically, they instead arrive on 2+.

 

4. Infiltrators – Agents of the Alpha Legion hide amongst the enemy ranks, awaiting the perfect moment to strike.

 

Once per game, during the Alpha Legion assault phase, choose a single enemy unit on the table that includes more than one model and is not locked in close combat.This unit must immediately fight a single round of close combat against itself.It does not count as having charged for purposes of assault bonuses, nor does it benefit from Hatred.If the unit survives, it must take an immediate pinning test.Once this has been resolved, it is assumed the Infiltrators have been killed or have escaped, and the unit operates as normal.

 

5. Ambush – The Alpha Legion has drawn their enemy into a carefully laid trap and will be destroyed.

 

The Alpha Legion player may Seize the Initiative on a 4+ rather than a 6.If the enemy player is rolling to Seize the Initiative, they must re-roll any successful results.

 

6. Masters of Lies – The Alpha Legion has sewn lies and mistrust amongst their enemies, straining the enemy alliance to breaking point.

 

Detachments in the enemy army treat all allies as Desperate Allies, even if chosen from the same Codex.

 

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Night Lords

 

Special Rules:

 

We have come for you – All units in the Night Lords detachment have the Fear special rule.  If a unit already has this rule, or gains it through other means at any point, enemy units have a -1 modifier to their Leadership while in base contact with this unit.  This modifier stacks with other Leadership modifiers.

 

Preysight – All units in the Night Lords detachment have the Night Vision special rule.

 

 

Warlord Traits:

 

1. On the Hunt – The Night Lords move quickly to catch their prey before the enemy can co-ordinate a defence.

 

D3 units in the Night Lords detachment gain the Scout special rule.

 

2. Terror Raiders – Night Lords forces strike in the perfect place to sew maximum terror amongst the enemy forces.

 

Any units arriving from reserve may re-roll the scatter result when arriving by Deep Strike, or re-roll the die for determining the table edge for Outflank.

 

3. Headhunting – The enemy Warlord is seen as a beacon of hope by their people.  Seeing them brought low will shatter this illusion and cause their moral to dissolve.

 

The Night Lords player receives an additional Battle Point for Slay the Warlord (usually for a total of 2 Battle Points.)This is increased to an additional D3 if the enemy Warlord is killed in a Challenge by the Night Lords Warlord (usually for a total of 1+D3 Battle Points.)

 

4. Strike and Withdraw – The Night Lords are not looking to get bogged down in a protracted fight; their plan is to hit hard, take what they need and withdraw before the enemy can launch a counter offensive.

 

All Night Lords units within 12” of the Warlord have the Hit and Run special rule.

 

5. Cover of Darkness – The Night Lords often mount their attacks at night, playing to their natural advantages and predilections.

 

The Night Lords player may chose for the Night Fighting special rule to come into play for the first turn of the game, rather than rolling for it as normal.

 

6. Messages of Fear – The Night Lords have cut into the enemy’s communications network, transmitting the screams of their victims and scenes of bloody murder to demoralise the opposing forces before the battle is even joined.

 

At the start of the first turn, all enemy units must take a Pinning test.  Units with the Fearless or They Shall Know No Fear special rules are excluded.

[Xenith]

Some good ideas (#6 on the AL warlord trait is inspired) however many do not cut the mustard.

 

WL traits have to be relevant in every battle, how often do you hear someone complaining that the one they got is useless? Allowing AL to be allied with any IOM is also silly - What if you dont want to ally, or this allows allying with Grey Knights? Or puritan inquisitors?

 

Night fighting also benefits the enemy. I'd say NL would be better with the stealth rule as a whole, and then allow night fighting. Change the d3 units getting scout to a simple 3 - as in the 7th ed rulebook.

[Mr Smith]

*snip*

 

Thank you.

 

I wouldn't say that Warlord Traits are always relevant.  There are plenty that are situational, or are redundant on certain H.Q. choices (Lord of Terror on a Daemon Prince, for example.)  I agree that the balance is off on some of these, but they're just some initial ideas.

 

It doesn't seem too silly for Alpha Legion to ally with Armies of the Imperium.  They regularly subvert Guard regements and Marine forces to their cause through recruitment or brainwashing.  They even have Inquisitors working for them (read the awesome short story We Are One for an example of how they manage that.)  Grey Knights would be a bit far-fetched though, as well as Battle Sisters maybe.  Perhaps excluding those two, or limiting them Marines and Guard would make more sense.  Of course you don't have to use allies if you don't want to, but it'd be there if you do.

 

As for Night Lords, I've never really seen them as a stealth army.  I know they've been able to take the rule in the past, but it didn't really make that much sense to me.  They're more of a sneak-up-and-jump-on-you type of army than a sit-back-in-cover-and-pick-you-off-at-range type.  If anything, I think Scout suits them better than Stealth.  Giving the rule to three units instead of D3, I agree would be better.  Night fighting is kind of their thing, too.  I know it can work for the enemy sometimes, but giving them Night Vision I think would address that.

[Sception]

plenty of traits are situational, and CAD allows re-rolls.  For the most part these look fine.  Rather than all armies of the imperium, however, I would say they could ally with generic space marines and imperial guard so long as they do not include special characters.  And maybe call it... whatever tier is immediately under battle brothers.

 

Since you're giving these rules for free, I like that it looks like you're trying to keep them relatively minimal, at least going by the night lords bit.  Bit given the number and strength of imperial options, BB allies with all of those factions is anything but minimal.

 

You also might consider not giving the rules for free, but applying the Black Legion's vet tax.  These are, after all, meant to convey pure legion warbands/companies, no?  If not, why bother with legion rules to begin with?

 

Otherwise, explicit legion rules isn't really my thing, but a minimal rules layer + warlord trait table seems like a reasonable way to go about it.  And if you wanted to go further, it would be easy enough to throw the vet tax on, add one or two rules tweaks, some relics, some scenario rules, and a special character, and call them supplements.  The aligned legions might need a bit more, though.

[Mr Smith]

You also might consider not giving the rules for free, but applying the Black Legion's vet tax.  These are, after all, meant to convey pure legion warbands/companies, no?  If not, why bother with legion rules to begin with?

 

Otherwise, explicit legion rules isn't really my thing, but a minimal rules layer + warlord trait table seems like a reasonable way to go about it.  And if you wanted to go further, it would be easy enough to throw the vet tax on, add one or two rules tweaks, some relics, some scenario rules, and a special character, and call them supplements.  The aligned legions might need a bit more, though.

 

Absolutely.  They would have to have Veterans of the Long War to be proper legionnaires, so it makes sense that this upgrade is a requirement.  I think it's a bit harsh to call it a "tax" though; for me it's an auto-include whenever I write a Chaos Marine list.

[Sception]

You are paying for army special rules that really should have been there to begin with.  On the units where its one point per model you could argue it, but any of the units that pay more for that?  Definitely a tax.

 

But that's neither here nor there.  Fixing veterans of the long war is a very different thing from coming up with legion rule templates.  Unless you're working on a ground up re-write, I wouldn't worry about it.