Psykers; are they worth our time in IG?

[Azzagorn]

Psykers. These guys are the bane of my life or rather were when I played a while back. The question I have is are they worth it in an IG list? My understanding is most of the individual psykers are restricted to just one or two disciplines from the list.

 

The only ones I would consider taking would be the Wyrdvane Psykers at 60pts which are then 12 pts per model after that.

 

Great for the warp pool I would say and maybe denying the witch against Psyker heavy armies. I don't know I am torn.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Given that Wyrdvanes are Brotherhood Psykers, they don't generate much charge. I personally use my two ML2 Primaris Psykers as Psychic support pretty well. My current setup is to put each one in a blob of 50 Conscripts with a Priest. They roll on Biomancy and with powers like Endurance, Enfeeble, Warp Speed or Iron Arm, they can really help out.

Enfeeble is handy for shooting. Squad of marines up in your grill? Combo it with First Rank Fire so you're pouring shots into them and Wounding on 4s with Lasguns! Knock a Carnifex brood down to T5 and hit them with a Demolisher Cannon! The protection they give is handy against Psychic opponents as well, and a couple of extra Deny dice can make all the difference in the world when you need it.

Not to mention they come with a Force Weapon. Give them a Force Axe, activate it and maybe pop Iron Arm or Warp Speed for good measure. Charge them in with the Conscripts and Priest, now they'll be re-rolling to Hit, re-rolling to Wound with War Hymns, and swinging at S4 AP2 Instant Death. Took out two Carnifexes with one that way, two lucky 6s to Wound and they were dead.

[WarriorFish]

The former Psyker Battle Squad was great, their replacement in the Wyrdvane is sadly lacking :( Best to use Primaris psykers or get your warp fix elsewhere. They can do well supporting your other units with their powers but its not something I've really used. I prefer to trust in the men at my command and not the fickle warp but its something I should experiment with more.

 

If you want a beat stick then ally something in, but our options are capable enough for support. Or as warp charge generators!

[wulfgar hammerfist]

The primaris psyker can be a game changer for sure. I played against IF a couple of weeks ago and my opponent dropped his warlord and honor guard squad into my lines to try and destroy my base of fire element. I survived the alpha strike and used my primaris to cast misfortune on the squad and then hit him with 40 lasguns, a punisher cannon and some heavy bolters and I wiped the squad. Very satisfying!

 

Through experimentation I've found that a primaris or two along with an astropath to provide adequate psychic support except when playing against Eldar, GK and Daemons. Those two armies simply generate way too many dice to compete with in the psychic arena.

[Jolemai]

I know this will make the fluff-lovers scream, but I'm convinced some Wyrdvane in an allied Drop Pod with the right powers could be exceptional.

[Galron]

They are support models pure and simple. Enfeeble is the best use I have seen in practice for them. It hurts even marines when you put enough fire into them. Now would I use one in my army? No, but then I am not a psyker fan in the first place and would rather have more guns.  

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

What model do you use for primaris Psykers? I've been thinking of adding some, but I don't want them to look too out of place.

[CoffeeGrunt]

I use Tarja from the Raging Heroes line, and the one Kromlech sell, so they're both unique individual models for the sake of tracking how rolls what up. Plus, they're not explicitly Imperial and IMO look very cool.

[Bionicman]

I think it heavily depends on your playstyle and list. For armored company and aircav I do see less uses of psykers than for my beloved mass infantry. And its all or nothing imo, except for playing against maybe tau.

 

Wyrdvane...more like Suckvane

Primaris ML2 - a staple in blobs. Divination is supergood. And he can hit in close combat.

Inquisition psykers - psychic scream is useful and 1/6 chance to get invisibility. Otherwise more divination to TL manticores and stuff.

[Pudelhund]

Can a Primaris Psyker take a Chimera or attach itself to a Techpriest squad? I'm kind of confused as to how IC's work.

[SW1]

Hmmm ... I care not how they play ... I see some quick points for the ETL. ;)

[WarriorFish]

There is a Primaris Psyker model that's quite nice, but any vaguely similar model with a stick can do especially if you want variety :) Inquisitors are also a great way to add some psychic power and fluff to a list but sadly capped at ML1 for no reason.

[SW1]

Actually is there a fluff way of showing a lvl 2? SM Librarians have certain markings for the different levels. Do the guard have something similar?

[Vel'Cona]

Ya'll seem to be forgetting about the Company HQ's Astropath, as well! He's a bit limited, but a very cheap source of an extra Warp Charge and his discipline is unique to the IG codex (not to all options, but again, he's cheap). He also gives your HQ a bit of extra psychic protection, for what that's worth.

@Pudelhund, the Primaris Psyker's Independent Character status means he can join any Infantry unit in the army, and several psychic powers can effect allied units within a certain range, so joining units isn't always necessary. He can also ride in transports with attached squads, or even hang around in the transport after its unit deploys (if you want to take advantage of the top hatch for psychic shooting attacks, for instance).

@Ulrik, I converted my Primaris Psyker entirely out of Cadian plastic bits and a single battle standard from an old Space Marine model. The results are decent enough, but it's the price I like the most (ie. free since I already had the spare bits).

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I'm thinking I might get a box of cadians just for filling out my heavy weapons squads, making psykers, and advisors.

[WarriorFish]

The Astropath is... well, mostly a walking warp charge :P I don't think I recall any particular markings to denote rankings for non-Marine psykers, I'm not aware of anyone having ever bothered with any type of distinction either. So no need to worry about it I think.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

So for primaris psykers, what discipline do you use?

[SW1]

The Astropath is... well, mostly a walking warp charge :P I don't think I recall any particular markings to denote rankings for non-Marine psykers, I'm not aware of anyone having ever bothered with any type of distinction either. So no need to worry about it I think.

Except for the ETL where it's more points for the extra level an you need to be able to model the upgrade to have the points. ;)

[hendrik]

what difference is there with librarians? none as far as i'm aware? if not, just adda scroll or purity seal!

[SW1]

Librarians have different icons to depict rank. Paint the right icon get the extra level.

[march10k]

If I want psycher support for my guard, I'll take a pimped GKL and five strikes...great daemon insurance, and great counter-assault.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I just picked up a couple of old metal grey knights with Psycannons to use as inquisitors/Relic armored Runic Guard (for when I run my shooty termies as grey knights).

[hendrik]

If I want psycher support for my guard, I'll take a pimped GKL and five strikes...great daemon insurance, and great counter-assault.

how does that work out for you?what tactics do you employ? at 220-225 pts for only 3-4 warp charges, wouldn't a decked out inquisitor and multiple psycher squads give more use (eg much more warp charges)? sure, the grey knights will offer some counter assault ability, but no dedicated assault unit should have much trouble with only 5 strikes. i'dd love you to prove me wrong, as all my efforts to use GK allies so far have made me decide i'm actually usually better off spending those points on more guardsmen or inquisitors

[march10k]

It works out for me...I think the problem with GK allies is that it's a slippery slope towards spending way too many points on inefficient stuff.  As long as you have in mind that you're buying daemon insurance, and you limit yourself to the five strikes and the GKL, it's no different than buying dedicated anti-air units.  A GKL is a bit OTT if you face anything else, but it's not about "how can I get the most efficient warp charges," it's about "what do I need to have a fighting chance against the one army that routinely tables me?" I win comfortably enough against a wide variety of opponents that I can afford those six relatively inefficient models, what I can't afford is not having a prayer against a fairly popular codex!

As for tactics, it really depends on the opponent.  I usually have the GKL hang out with my long range tanks (if not facing daemons, he takes divination powers...cover-ignoring battle cannons, yum!), sometimes even cowering behind them (depends on the threat), but ready to charge anything that deepstrikes nearby.  The strikes are really a tax, if I'm not facing daemons, I'll often deepstrike them as a distraction.  They do force the enemy to deal with them in a location not of his choosing, which helps the rest of my force, but they rarely do anything amazing.  I guess one time they landed in a great LOS-less spot and charged some fire warriors the next turn to flip an objective.  Whoopee.

 

You're right that five strikes aren't going to gut a thundernator squad, but they do represent a threat to shooty/balanced stuff that would ordinarily charge guardsmen without hesitation, like tactical squads and such. Hell, for that matter, I've been known to charge guardsmen with my own, more numerous guardsmen...counter-assault doesn't have to check the most incredible threat imaginable, it just has to reduce the threat of being assaulted, and strikes do that.  I would never get into an arms race in terms of trying to make sure I have assault threats that trump any imaginable enemy assault unit.  The idea is to shoot the hitty ones and hit the shooty ones.  What strikes do for me when I use them for counter-assault is keep the enemy shooty ones that out-hit my shooty ones at bay.

 

Right now, I give the libby LM3 and nothing else, while the strikes get two halberds and a psycannon...the psycannon is pretty decent for deepstriking behind AV10...264 points...but when I finish my conscripts, the libby will get the domina liber daemonica and always take santic powers...hammerhand, sanctuary, gate of inifinty, all of these are excellent for a blob of conscripts, and synergize well with the priestly powers!  A horde of S5 guardsmen rerolling to hit and wound?  Beastly!  Or...rerollable 5+/6++ as they approach?  That's scary, too, since more of them will live to execute that reroll-everything S5 charge!

 

/edit/  Oh,  I just had a nasty nasty thought...50 conscripts with a priest, a GKL, and Azrael...sanctuary on top of the lion helm=50 S5 3 point models with a 3+ invulnerable save...rerollable!!!!

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I tried using an allied Librarian from Dark angels, and I just wasn't impressed. I may have selected from the wrong powers but at the same time, I think psykers are better en masse. A primaris psyker or 3 would be fine for adding to the warp charge pool with a couple of Inquisitors and minimum psyker henchmen for more warp charges might be the key. Just pool as much warp charge as you can to get those couple of good powers off and use left overs to boost your units with blessings, all while making sure your psychic powers are complimenting your orders.