IL XVI - The Drowned

[bluntblade]

Viz the Predators, it wouldn't be a bad idea to limit their outrider activities. The Lions have a bunch, as do the Eagle Warriors. For the XX, I'd suggest something like a loose collection of tribes, not acting for other fleets, but broadly as a collective force.

 

Would the Qarith War be the first time the Drowned effectively campaign as a single, cohesive whole?

[Kelborn]

ehm...didn't I clarified it that the Predators and Drowned don't conflict with each other?

 

Or am I misunderstanding something? ^^

[simison]

Kel, you did. Hesh hasn't read up to your explanation, so I was waiting for him to reach it, which is why I didn't say anything.

 

To everyone else, there is no conflict between the Drown and the early Predators.

[Kelborn]

I was refering to Blunts post.

That confused me a bit.

[bluntblade]

I assumed I'd missed soemthing which meant there was a conflict. Apologies

[Kelborn]

No need to apologize.

Had a rough day and my post was more harsh then I wanted, sorry.

 

@Hesh: I'm glad that you are back! Hope that you can catch up with all the recently done stuff, which is quite a lot. Would love to hear your thoughts about my Preds sooner or later. :)

[Nomus Sardauk]

Welcome back Hesh, it's good to hear from you again, we feared you lost to the Warp.

[Hesh Kadesh]

Just had a read through, I don't there's any overlap with the Drowned and the Predators. It's just the earlier crusade outlook of the Drowned, and is forced upon them by Crusade High Command on a political scale.

[Hesh Kadesh]

Legiones Astartes (The Drowned)

 

Legiones Astartes; Units with this special rule may always attempt to Regroup regardless of casualties.

Hazardous Environment Specialists; Models with this special rule have the Move Through Cover Special Rule.

Jaws of the Abyss; Units with at least one model with this special rule have the Stubborn special rule when outnumbered in an assault.

Martial Hubris; In any mission where secondary objectives are being used, and a Drowned army is your primary detachment, if the Drowned army has suffered more units destroyed than their enemy at the end of the game, then the enemy gains +1 Victory Point.

The Drowned Unique Rite of War; Darkest Before the Dawn

 

When the Drowned take to battle, they became renowned for taking to battle in a manner that allowed everything to strike at the same time, utilising heavy artillery barrages and orbital strikes to cut off enemy reinforcements along with Incendiary barrages, Line of Sight blocking smoke attacks, while grouping up to take out singular threats, while heavy infantry like Breacher designated squads or Tactical Dreadnought Armour equipped units would teleport in to distract others from assisting the chosen quarry. As the battle unfolded, enemy strongpoint after strongpoint would gradually fall as they were isolated and dismembered with a clinical brutality.

 

Effects;

- Kraken Unleashed; Any combined unit from this detachment held in reserve counts as having the Drop Pod Assault special rule when determining when they arrive from reserve, unless they are being transported by a model with that rule or already have that it. In addition, the following changes take place to the Force Organization Chart;

o   o Legion Drop Pods and Legion Rhinos, in addition to being taken as Dedicated Transports may be taken as Fast Attack options, with 1-3 vehicles available as a single Fast Attack choice for the army. All vehicles must be the same type, and the unit is not considered to be a squadron.

o   Any unit eligible to take a Rhino or Land Raider (any variant) as a Dedicated Transport may select an Anvillus Pattern Dread Drop Pod as their Dedicated Transport

o   Any unit eligible to take a Spartan Assault Tank as a Dedicated Transport and eligible to fit within the Transport Capacity of a Storm Eagle, Kharybdis Assault Claw or Caestus Assault Ram may elect to take one as a Dedicated Transport instead.

- Horrorstrike; 1-3 Deathstorm Drop Pods may be taken as a single Heavy Support option. Any Deathstorm Drop Pods must arrive from reserve in the First Turn, and do not count towards the maximum number of units for the purposes of Drop Pod Assault. In addition, at the start of the game, immediately before the game begins, resolve a Focused Bombardment (as if from a Damocles Command Rhino) against all Objective Markers on the battlefield that do not have a model from this detachment within 12” of the marker.

- Pull of the Abyss; Any weapon with the Graviton Pulse or Graviton Collapse special rules also have the Pinning special rule when fired by a model from this detachment. In addition, any wound suffered as a result of the Dangerous Terrain caused by these special rules also causes a Pinning test. Any weapon with the Lingering Death special rules also have the Pinning and Soul Blaze special rules when fired by a model from this detachment. Any wound suffered as a result of the Dangerous Terrain caused by the Lingering Death special rule also has the Pinning and Soul Blaze special rule. In addition, Legion Medusa and Legiones Astartes Quad Launcher Support Batteries get Phosphex Shells and Phosphex Canister Shot respectively in addition to their normal ammunition for free without the need for a Siege Breaker Consul needing to purchase the shells.

Limitations

- Armies with a Detachment using this Rite of War must elect to go second if they are able to choose and cannot roll to attempt to Seize the Initiative. Opponents may elect to go first or second however, and in the event that the mission or opponent’s army requires them to go second also, roll off to decide who goes first.

- Detachments running this Rite of War must include an additional Troops choice and may not include more than a single Consul.

- Fortification Detachments may not be taken with this Rite of War.

- There must be more models with the Flyer or Fast Skimmer type than there are models with the tank type.

- No model from this detachment may use any “off-field” bombardments like the Focused Bombardment or Bombardment special rules, or the Orbital Strike Wargear. The only exception is the pre-battle bombardment. 

 

The Drowned Unique Rite of War; The Nightmare Begins

 

One of the Drowned’s favoured styles of combat is a rapid strike, renowned even among the other Legiones, in order to capitalize on the sheer shock-and-awe effect of the Astartes. However, there were few who would countenance such operations, to the extent that the Drowned refined this action in private. Not only would the Drowned unleash their full horrific capabilities, as they strike from all angles, but also would have no hesitation in throwing their allied forces at enemy lines as a distraction to allow the Drowned to seek their objectives from a foe distracted and engaged. The Drowned themselves would have no hesitation in calling in danger close fire missions on engaged troops from the Imperial Militia. Such results, although effective, would often result in military assets being withdrawn from service alongside the Drowned – few of the superior Solar Auxilia pattern regiments or host Astartes Legions would consider working in conditions when the Drowned showed such little care or empathy.

 

Effects;

- Any non-super-heavy vehicle with the tank type from this detachment gains the Outflank special rule.

- All units from an Allied Detachment are considered to have the Disposable Special rule from the Inducted Levy Squad. Any units with the Disposable special rule failing a morale check may be removed from play, and the entire unit is placed in Ongoing Reserves as if brand new. This does not include vehicles, independent characters, or units entirely removed from play by other means.

- Chain Rout; Any enemy unit making a regroup test while within 24” and Line of Sight of model from this detachment must reroll and choose the lowest result. In addition, any fear, morale or regroup test an enemy unit has to take is at -1 for each unit friendly to them within 12” that is currently Falling Back.

- Any model with the Psyker special rule from this detachment may treat Terrify as the Primaris Psychic Power for the Telepathy discipline instead of Psychic Shriek.

Limitations

- With the exception of Librarians, only a single Consul may be taken by this detachment.

- Any vehicles with the tank unit type from this detachment must begin play in reserve.

- The army must include an Allied Detachment drawn from the Imperialis Militia and Warp Cult army list (and thus, this Rite may only be chosen by a Primary Detachment). These must follow the normal rules for Cult Horde Provenances, with the exception of Abhuman Helots are not considered to be Distrusted. Models from the Primary Detachment may never be attached to models from the Allied Detachment.

- Any allied unit automatically fails any morale check they have to make if it was caused by a model from this detachment.

- The allied detachment must take an additional compulsory Troop unit. 

Edited April 20, 2017 by Hesh Kadesh

[Hesh Kadesh]

So, here we go with the rules from which I'm basing my guys on.

 

I've had an idea about creating a relatively streamlined underwater combat system for Zone Mortalis that would allow for the Maritime Legions to shine, and that's based around the Difficult Terrain special rule; that both of the underwater legions have Move Through Cover fits perfectly, and would require specialist training from other legions in the form of Scout Squads. That way, it could operate in standard 30K (with only really the Alpha Legion outside of Recon Squads having MtC) without being overly clunky. Cold Void, Disaster Table, etc all is appropriate to fighting underwater rather than in space, as bolter rounds sever oxygen lines etc.

 

The Legion also has a pretty powerful rule in Stubborn, but I've reduced its power by making it only when outnumbered (and in an assault), and further penalised that by making it more dangerous for the Drowned to just spam small stubborn units; and because things like Bikers and Terminators aren't a huge focus of the legion, also tied it to the size of the models; that way 10 Terminators fighting against 9 Marines won't be outnumbered any longer. This works both ways however, as enemy Terminators also count as double. The blatant steal from the Alpha Legion means that the legion is all about the KDR, and would need to juggle being able to benefit from Stubborn with suffering too many casualties.

 

Now, the Rites of War are wordy. 

 

Essentially, part 1; Emphasise Graviton and Reserves Shenanigans; the costs are quite big; one consul only, and must take additional troops choice, and if you have an off-field bombardment, you lose the use of that ability, as well as giving your opponent the ability to choose whether to be proactive or reactive in your Deep Strike, as well as limiting access to Tanks.

 

One of my typical armies in general revolved around 2 units of Tactical Squads in Transports, 2 Medusa, and Typhon; that's 5 Tanks up front - I'd have to take 6 or more Dreadclaws, or 2 units of Land Speeders to use that style of play with this army, and that's nearly 700 points in tax (for the first one).

 

The lots of words essentially boils down to certain units being able to take Drop Pods, Dreadclaws, Caestus, or Storm Eagles based on what Transport options you have available for your unit, having Deathstorm Drop Pods act as form of directed Bombardment (essentially encouraging their use as they're fairly mediocre at best), and resolving an Earthshaker Blast on enemy held objectives at the start of the game.

 

Finally, they get some wordy benefits to Graviton that essentially boil down to its residual effects are more dangerous (Pinning), and the same for Phosphex, who get Soul Blaze. The goal wasn't to make the Grav or Phosphex more dangerous, but more to encourage their role in shutting down the battlefield for the Drowned to achieve the objective. It took lots of words, but I believe I achieved that goal.

 

This was meant to show the Drowned at their essence, how everything ties in together in a perfect strike, and the ideal of the Drowned.

 

The second one is how I see the Drowned's natural evolution in combat. Encouraging their Librarians who would typically use Telekinesis to instead to use Telepathy, they would gain rolling benefits to morale checks and causing units to break. Essentially how the Night Lords should have been handled. There are a few sources of getting Fear into the Drowned, and that's either by doubling up on Terrify Librarians, or by taking a Praevian/Forge Lord to get Battle-automata. There will also be the Fear causing Forlorn as an elites choice and Retinue for Librarians, so it really does fit a mid Insurrection army. The twist - it's not unique to the Traitors.

 

The idea would be to try and isolate weak units, resolve that combat first, and then have that affect more swingy combats. It's not going to affect the actual dice rolling of a combat, and a combat you're already losing won't change, but if you are going to win, they are going to have a bad time about trying to pass if you caused that chain rout - forcing units to reroll successful Regroups at a -3 if you can scatter a few small units is fantastic.

 

Meanwhile, you get constantly recycling hordes of militia; if going Traitor, you can get Cult Horde and Tainted Flesh; there's more Fear that way.  Hence, The Nightmare. With no Optional Troops units, there shouldn't be any cheap Fire Support Lascannons. The Cult Horde gets a bit broken with 50 Zealot autopass morale checks, so didn't want to encourage people trying to kill it, and then have it come back the next turn for free - which is why it's limited to failing a morale check. You can try and encourage this if you want by intentionally calling down Ordnance on the Militia, as they'll automatically fail one you cause.

 

I took ideas from an army of dark compliance - and tried to think how you could least abuse it. I need to come up with some names for the abilities.

 

Meanwhile, this allows the Drowned to sweep in - either by using Fast Attack Dreadclaws, or Outflanking Tanks which must start off the battle (while things like Typhons or Glaive start off the battlefield without Outflank).

 

The downsides - obviously the Consuls, and having to start the battle in reserve if you're in a tank, as well as the required "tax" of the Militia units (120pts for a Commander with Abuman Zealots and Tainted Flesh was the ideal; representing Rakarth's best efforts, and then 200pts for 100 Levies), and the additional troops unit means that there's around 800pts in Tax before you get to any of the proper fun stuff in the army.

 

I hope that helps give some insight and thoughts if you have any critiques. 

Legiones Astartes (The Drowned)

Legiones Astartes; Units with this special rule may always attempt to Regroup regardless of casualties.

Hazardous Environment Specialists; Models with this special rule have the Move Through Cover Special Rule.

Jaws of the Abyss; Units with at least one model with this special rule have the Stubborn special rule when outnumbered in an assault.

Martial Hubris; In any mission where secondary objectives are being used, and a Drowned army is your primary detachment, if the Drowned army has suffered more units destroyed than their enemy at the end of the game, then the enemy gains +1 Victory Point.

 

Legion Specific Wargear

                The Drowned Legion has access to the following items of special wargear;

 

Teleportation Transponder; Any Drowned Legion Terminator squad or Drowned Legion Command Squad equipped with Terminator Armour may be upgraded to have the Deep Strike rule for +15pts. Any Drowned Independent Character in Terminator Armour may be upgraded to have Deep Strike for +10pts per model

 

Hades Breaching Drill; The rules for the Hades Breaching Drill can be found on page 16 of Imperial Armour Apocalypse II. Any unit eligible to purchase and be transported by a Rhino, Land Raider (any variant), Spartan or Legion Drop Pod as a Dedicated Transport may instead select a Hades Breaching Drill. Any references to Engineers in the Hades Breaching are replaced with that of the unit for whom the Hades was purchased. The unit and the Hades Breaching Drill must begin play via the Deep Strike special rule. In addition, when fighting in Zone Mortalis battles, the Breaching Drill is an exception to the normal rules preventing Deep Strike, and as per the Follow-up Attack special rule, the unit attached to the drill is not considered to have arrived via Deep Strike.

 

Mole Mortar; Any model with the Legiones Astartes (The Drowned) special rule equipped with Missile Launcher at the start of battle may instead exchange the Missile Launcher, and any missiles they are equipped with (e.g. Frag, Krak, Rad etc.) for the Mole Mortar. Any unit with more than one model exchanging their Missile Launcher for a Mole Launcher must all do so. If the Missile Launcher was equipped with a Suspensor Web, then the Mole Launcher too has a Suspensor Web.

 

Name                    Range   Str          AP          Type

                Mole Mortar      6”/24”   5              5              Heavy 1, Blast, Barrage, Subterranean Strike

 

Subterranean Strike; Any shooting made with the Mole Mortar must be fired Indirectly. In addition, when fired against any building, Bulkhead Doors, or Airlocks, the roll an additional dice when rolling to Penetrate. As mentioned within the Zone Mortalis rules, the Mole Mortar is one of the exceptions to the No Barrage Weapons special rule.

 

Legion Specific Relic of the Dark Age of Technology

The following item is a relic (see Horus Heresy Book Four; Conquest) which is only available to Independent Character models with the Legiones Astartes (The Drowned) special rule.

 

Rimeshatter (50 points); Rimeshatter is a unique weapon loaded with powerful, almost lost technology, codified as Helfrost Weaponry. Although the Drowned do not declare its history, many believe it to be have been looted from the armouries of the Hrafnkel following its salvage, and indeed, to have had a part in the loss of the Sons of Russ and Magnus due to their lack of accounting for their actions during this time.

 

This weapon has two weapon profiles for both Strength and AP. The first is use only on a turn in which the model charges; the second is used at all other times. In addition, the bearer is considered to be equipped with Rad Grenades.

 

Name                    Range   Str          AP          Type

Rimeshatter       -              x2/+1    1/2         Melee, Helfrost, Lance, Two Handed

 

Helfrost; When an enemy model suffers one or more unsaved wounds from this weapon, it must pass a separate Strength Test for each wound suffered or treat that wound as if it had the Instant Death special rule.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Hesh Kadesh

[Hesh Kadesh]

So, here are the pieces of Wargear for the army.

 

I didn't want to wholescale reproduce the rules for a Hades Breaching Drill given that they are available already within a book already produced by FW; essentially the only difference is that it would be applicable to Astartes rather than the Engineers it was written for, and the exception for the Breaching Drill was that it makes sense that it just cuts through the hull/rock. It's a cute little model. My one insecurity about it is that at 50pts, it's very cheap, and am considering increasing it to 65-70pts. With the first Rite of War, it would allow a First Turn Charge from Reserve, which may be a bit broken, especially with Move Through Cover, but that's at the expense of having an AV12 immunity to small arms interceptor and being able to flat out to your target. My defense against that is that Augury Scanners are very widely available - a free upgrade for Tactical Support Squads, for Elite Choice Techmarines or Apothecaries, or Heavy Weapon Squads. Simply that they're not currently taken in the Meta already I do not believe is a good enough answer when it means that a Special/Heavy Weapon squad has to take such a weapon rather than an additional Plasma gun/Cannon. Plus, in ZM, there is Initiative-test based full Ballistic Skill Overwatch which lessons its threat.

 

Then there's the Mole Mortar. It's a fantastic weapon that can target pretty much anything, but as only a S5 AP5 weapon, it's hardly the equal of a standard missile launcher except in ZM. Of all the units, Hennasohn and Boraeo have a close association with the Destroyer units, and rather than using a Rad Missile Launcher, a unit equipped with a short ranged Mole Mortar could allow them to hit units from behind cover/intervening walls, and the Shred off-sets the lack of good AP. It was slightly improved from the rather clunky rules in its original release, but also required you to track its shots over 2 turns. Excuse the French, but :cuss that. It now has a minimum range to represent it tunneling down, and gets to target in one turn. 

 

I hope that this puts across the Drowned's ability to strike from below, to the extent that they don't hit others. If I may make a request, that while I don't have any problem with people using ideas that they've seen, that the Hades and the Mole Mortar stay unique to the Drowned?

 

Lastly, is Rimeshatter. We've seen it before, the stolen (LIBERATED!) Spear of Russ (or so the Iron Bears seem to think). Keep it simple stupid; it's a melee weapon which can be used as an at-initiative AP1 Power Fist on the charge that can also cause Strength Test or treat the wound as Instant Death, at the expense of not being used 2Handed. As a 2H Weapon, encourages the Boarding Shield as a different weapon, but the Lance special rule means that it can deal a bit of damage to something like a Leviathan or Contemptor on the charge as an all out charge. Not got a problem pricing it higher either.

[Hesh Kadesh]

Pelagic Monarchs (250pts); HQ

 

                                                                WS         BS           S              T              W           I               A             Ld           Sv

Pelagic Monarch                               5              4              4              4              2              5              2              9              2+

Ayatollah of the Abyss                   5              4              4              4              2              5              3              10           2+

 

Unit Composition; 4 Pelagic Monarchs, 1 Ayatollah of the Abyss

Unit Type; Infantry (Character)

Wargear; Bolt Pistol, Pelagic Spears, Jump Pack, Frag and Krak Grenades, Artificer Armour, Boarding Shield

Special Rules; Legiones Astartes (The Drowned), Fearless, Titan Slayers

 

Options;

-          Up to 5 Additional Pelagic Monarchs may be added for +45 points per model

-          The entire squad may swap their Boarding Shields for Vigil Pattern Storm Shields for +15 points per model.

 

Titan Slayers; All melee weapon attacks against Walkers and Super Heavy Walkers are made against Rear Armour by a model with this rule. When making a successful charge, any models with this rule gain the Tank Hunters and Monster Hunter special rule on any melee attacks until the start of their next movement phase. They always roll to hit models with the Towering Monstrosity special rule using their Weapon Skill, ignoring modifiers. In addition, any time a model with this special rule suffers an unsaved wound caused by a Stomp Attack (or is removed from play as the result of one), the model may take an immediate initiative check. On a success, the model has dodged the attack, and suffers no wound (nor removed from play).

 

Pelagic Spears; Granted to those of the Drowned whom Lord Commander Hennasohn chose to be his council representing the will of the XVI^th Legion to their tendril fleets’ hosts, these two-pronged Bidents were all once Tridents; the central tang broken off during the gifting, symbolically representing the end of superstition. That the weapon was now similar to the traditional weapon of a god of a mythological underworld was either an irony missed or paradoxically enjoyed by the Legion.

 

These are considered to be a Master Crafted Power Lance in all respects, with the exception that if the bearer wishes, before rolling their attacks, they may elect to use their spear in two hands, in which case, it instead uses the profile of a Master Crafted Lascutter instead of a Power Spear. This lasts until the end of the phase.

 

Vigil Pattern Storm Shields; Following the treatise formally welcoming the Abyssii within the Imperium, the trade agreements made saw the war reparations provide sufficiently powerful technologies to the Drowned. One of the later improvements to the Boarding Shield provided the Legion with the Vigil Storm Shield. Providing a greater defensive field which could protect the bearer against all but the heaviest weaponry.

 

The bearer of this weapon gains a 3+ Invulnerable Save, but may never gain the additional attack bonus for two melee weapons.

 

Thoughts in italic to save spamming posts. These are the elite of the legion who represented the legion, replacing it's typical command structure post the Sol System Campaign and the events taking on Neptune. In a bid to obfusticate a bit of the bureaucracy which he had to deal with, he issued the command to dissolve the traditional leadership into a council, with one nominated leader - this "leader" was merely the mouthpiece to the rest of the Imperium and to the host legion - while the host legion would initially believe they were speaking to the Drowned's Force Commander, instead they spoke with someone who would repeat the "orders" back to the Monarch council, who would then enact the plan as they best saw fit - their authority stemming from the Lord Commander to ignore the orders of the host fleet if it proved detrimental to the efforts of the Drowned Legion - essentially to prevent the Drowned from being used as bullet sponges from the host legion. Henno would have done the same, which is why he did that. Following the discovery of Morro, and as the Primarch attempted to bring the legion back into more typical Legion organisational structure, the Monarchs either melded back into typical command, or just continued to follow their own routine as appropriate. Morro eventually gave up, allowing the legion to operate on the way it had already done so for a great many years, so you may encounter tendrils still following the mandate of the Pelagic Monarchs as they were initially set up, and other tendrils under command of a Legion Praetor who considered the Monarchs a bodyguard for him.

 

Given their smaller size to their host legions, and often operating as pathfinders, the Monarchs developed tactics in order to counter the largest foes the enemy sent - which is why the Monarch's have the ability to Dodge Stomp Attacks, and hit on normal WS, which offsets the penalty from Cumbersome or Titans. Imagine Ghost In The Shell (a good film, tbh. Nowhere near the story of the original '95 anime, but it's an enjoyable film to watch. Plus Scarlett Johansson in lycra), but rather than trying to pull off the hatch, they simply use oversized arc welders to rip open the hull to take on enemy titan class. The Storm Shields are not a typical upgrade for the legoin, and come from the Abyssii forges, which you'll see more of in the next unit.

 

Charonic Seekers (275pts); Fast Attack

 

                                                                WS         BS           S              T              W           I               A             Ld           Sv

Charonic Seeker                               4              5              4              4              1              4              2              8              2+

Charonic Strike Leader                   4              5              4              4              1              4              2              9              2+

 

Unit Composition; 4 Charonic Seekers, 1 Charonic Strike Leader

Unit Type; Charonic Seeker; Infantry, Charonic Strike Leader; Infantry (Character)

Wargear; Tartaros Pattern Terminator Armour, Rotor Cannons, Havoc Launchers, Chainfists

Special Rules; Legiones Astartes (The Drowned), Implacable Advance, Precision Shot, Marked For Death, Deep Strike

 

Options;

-          The entire squad may swap their Tartaros Pattern Terminator Armour for Cataphractii Pattern Terminator Armour for free

-          The entire squad may purchase either Bio-Corrosive Rounds or Asphyx Shells for their Rotor Cannons; +15 points per squad

-          The entire squad may replace their Rotor Cannons for Iliastus Pattern Assault Cannons; +50 points per squad

-          The entire squad may replace their Havoc Launchers for Cyclone Missile Launchers; +50 points per squad

-          The entire squad may replace their Chainfists for Thunder Hammers for free

(Note that models may fire up to 2 different weapons in the same shooting phase. You may not fire the same weapon twice)

 

Very simple unit. It's a unit of Seekers in a Deep Striking Terminator Suit. They have BS5, Precision Shot and Marked For Death to make it a very brutal assault, and as Implacable units should be good for Zone Mortalis. The trick is that they have low level firepower unless you purchase upgrades, and as only 5 men in size (intentional), they could quickly result in deaths. They are 25pts more than a similarly equipped Siege Tyrant unit, which pays for Deep Strike BS5, Prec Shot, Marked for Death and Rotor Cannons (probably inferior to Bolters IMHO). While it seems like a lot for only 25pts, that you are so limited and don't have a Dedicated Transport AND take up a Fast Attack choice which can be rather integral for a Drowned Army helps offset some of the costs of the unit (not to mention the additional taxes as part of the Rites of War).

 

The Forlorn (225pts); Elite, Traitor unit only

 

                                                                WS         BS           S              T              W           I               A             Ld           Sv

Forlorn                                                 5              4              5              5              2              5              2              8              3+

 

Unit Composition; 5 Forlorn

Unit Type; Infantry

Wargear; Archaeotech Pistol, Daemonic Weaponry, Frag and Krak Grenades, Power Armour

Special Rules; Daemon, Stubborn, Bulky, Rage, Deep Strike, Wardens of the Damned

 

Options;

-          The Forlorn Squad may include up to five additional Forlorn; +30 points each

-          Any model may replace their Bolt Pistol with a Plasma Pistol or Inferno Pistol; +10 points each

-          For every five models in the squad, a single Forlorn may be upgraded to gain the effects of one of the following items or abilities taken from the Expeditionary Navigator (all references to Navigator refers to the individual with the item or power instead). This model should be marked as such.

o   Aetherlabe Staff

o   Navigator Powers; The Lidless Stare

o   Navigator Powers; Warp Prescience

o   Navigator Powers; Aetheric Disruption

 

Wardens of the Damned; A unit with this special rule never counts as a scoring unit, regardless of the provisions of the mission being played. In addition, any Chaplain or Librarian Consul may select the Forlorn as a Retinue Command Squad. For all intents and purposes, Forlorn Chosen as a Retinue Command Squad do not take up a slot on the Force Organization Chart, but are otherwise considered to be of the same type of slot as the Chaplain or Librarian they are a retinue of (normally a HQ choice). If the Consul is wearing Terminator Armour, a Jump Pack, Space Marine Bike or Legion Scimitar Jetbike, this option is unavailable.

 

Just realised that none of these units have access to Dedicated Transports, which was coincidental, but helps balance some of the potential abuse. The idea behind the Forlorn was that the legion (read, Rakarth), experimented with using Astropaths into turning them into quasi Astartes. These attempts were failures - too old, too weak of mind, and essentially, not bred for the job, lead to the GENIUS idea of trying to bind Daemons with them, hence the Astropath powers as special weapons. They're essentially the same as Gal Vorbak, with the exception of having Archaeotech Pistols. Given the units role, and already high cost, I priced these as only 5pts - after all, a Power Maul would be 10pts for a Gal Vorbak, which in comparison to one or 2 S6 AP3 shooting attacks a game is much less compared to 15+ Rending S7 AP4 attacks.

[Grifftofer]

And he's back with a vengeance :)

 

This was a good read to have during my lunch break and the explanations were very helpful to understand your reasoning. Unfortunately I have to get back to work so more constructive feedback will have to wait till later.

 

Its great to have you back Hesh.

Edited April 20, 2017 by Grifftofer

[Talonair]

Out of curiosity, what about the Charonic Seekers comes from the Abyssii? It's not clear to me, sorry

[simison]

Don't have time to pull out the calculator (I'm running all over the place today), but I will say that since no other Legion has even though of using the breaching drill, I have no issue with it being a Drowned-only unit.

[Hesh Kadesh]

Out of curiosity, what about the Charonic Seekers comes from the Abyssii? It's not clear to me, sorry

Sorry, wasn't clear at all, was I? 

 

I'll edit it in later, but essentially, it's the upgraded weaponry - initially the Rotor Cannon ammunition, and later on the Cyclone and Assault Cannons. 

[Talonair]

Ahhh got it

[bluntblade]

Does Morro deliberately hold his sons at arm's length? Trying to suss the dynamic between Primarch and Legion.

[simison]

Getting started on the rules. I double-checked, and I had indeed agreed about the Drowned LA rules being balanced. Question, what's KDR?

 

EDIT: I've read over the revised "Darkest Before Dawn" RoW. I think denying Seize and giving the opponent the choice to go first or second is a stronger limitation than what it was previously. I approve. 

 

And since the Drowned aren't immune to the Lingering Death and Pinning additions, I view that as a moderate benefit into a major one. 

 

Overall, I'm more comfortable with the revised RoW. 

Edited April 22, 2017 by simison

[simison]

Regarding the Nightmare RoW, I have two pertinent questions. One, when a squad with the Disposable rule returns to Reserves, does it re-deploy at full strength or at its current strength when they failed their Morale check?

 

Two, "Any allied unit automatically fails any morale check they have to make if it was caused by a model from this detachment." Does this mean that if a Drowned unit accidentally wounded an allied unit, the allied unit auto-fails? 

[Hesh Kadesh]

Yes to both mate. It can be brought back at full strength, and yes, if a Morale check was caused by a Drowned unit's scattering blast shot, then they'd automatically fail it. I think I can also increase the penalty so that the allied detachment consider the alignment shift to be "By The Emperor's Command" following such an event when they fall back.
 
Also just noticed I need to change "Chain Rout" into roll twice and choose the highest.
 
Anyway, here's Wonderwall Cataract Hennasohn, Lord Commander of the Drowned
 

WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
4 5 4 4 3 4 2 10 2+

 

Unit Composition; 1 (Unique)
Unit Type; Infantry (Character)

Wargear; Master-crafted Boltgun with Special Issue Bolter Munitions (Tempest, Kraken, and Scorpius Bolt Shells), Trophy Blades, Artificer Armour, Frag and Krak Grenades, Netheramber Torc

Special Rules; Legiones Astartes (The Drowned), Marked By Dark Fates, Master of the Legion, Independent Character, Psyker (Mastery 3), Poltergeist, Expert Shot

Poltergeist; Hennasohn may select up to 3 powers from the Telekinesis Discipline. He is not considered to have Psychic Focus, but may take the Primaris Power if he wishes to as one of his powers known. While Hennasohn is in melee, his Weapon Skill, Initiative, and Attack value is increased by his Psychic Mastery Level. If Hennasohn is involved in an assault involving one or more enemy models with a Mastery Level, his effective Mastery Level is reduced by the highest Mastery level he is facing to a minimum of 0. If there are models (friend or foe) with the Ex Oblivio special rule within 6" of Hennasohn, then he does not modify his effective Mastery Level based on enemy Psyker's present, and instead reduces it by D3. If the model also has the Primarch special rule as well as the Ex Oblivio special rule, this is instead reduced by D3+1.

Expert Shot; Hennasohn has the Sniper and Relentless special rule when firing his Master-crafted Boltgun.

Trophy Blades; Stolen blades from many Xeno races that Hennasohn has personally slain within melee combat, he would instead use his mind to manipulate these varied tools of murder and slaughter with his psychic control.

Name Range Str AP Notes
Trophy Blades - +1 2 Melee, Ghost Razor

Ghost Razor; Any successful Invulnerable Saves made against this weapon must be rerolled.

Netheramber Torc; The Torc provides a 5+ Invulnerable Save to the bearer, and is considered to be a Psychic Hood.

 

Warlord Trait; (Master of Strategy)

 

So, ML3 Praetor (175, using TS rules). Refractor Field (190), Master-crafted (205), Bolter (207).

Now, that's a lot of points - 17pts straight up for a Master-crafted Bolter is a joke, especially when you factor in Special Ammunition elsewhere turning that into a 27pts for a couple of Rapid Fire Shots/battle (217pts). Now, I'm going to bump that down straight to 205pts. The Trophy Blades are roughly equivalent to a Paragon Blade (Str +1, At Initiative AP2, Murderous Strike, vs Str +1, At Initiative AP2, Reroll Invulns), so that's 230pts. There's a Psychic Hood in there - which is unique in 30K, and comes from his magic necklace; +25, but that's 255, and doesn't account for his Poltergeist Boost - which despite being easily counterable, can potentially let him net 5 I7 WS7 attacks.

Now, this sounds ridiculous - but let me explain that it's not completely overpowering. Sure, it's +1 WS and +2 Initiative over any Praetor with a Paragon Blade. It's pretty powerful, I won't lie, but it's not hitting ID thresholds, and if he's going first, then considering he doesn't have ID, and can instead get pranged by a Power Fist, I think he should stay at 255pts - especially when he has 15 points tied into a Bolter that is arguably not particularly effective, and is more for flavour.

Obviously willing to take thoughts, but I think he's pretty much in his final form now - if points are an issue, do you think he'll be so much worse if you remove his Bolter and drop him to 240pts instead? Given his exhorbitant cost already, and with the way in which he can be shut down (and lacks ID and a high strength way to take on typical other counters, I'm going to suggest he markets at 230pts.

Edited April 24, 2017 by Hesh Kadesh

[Grifftofer]

Ok. Well I have found some unexpected free time so I thought I would come back and start to comment on these post (albeit somewhat later than I'd hoped).

Legiones Astartes (The Drowned)
 

Legiones Astartes; Units with this special rule may always attempt to Regroup regardless of casualties.

Hazardous Environment Specialists; Models with this special rule have the Move Through Cover Special Rule.

Jaws of the Abyss; Units with at least one model with this special rule have the Stubborn special rule when outnumbered in an assault.

Martial Hubris; In any mission where secondary objectives are being used, and a Drowned army is your primary detachment, if the Drowned army has suffered more units destroyed than their enemy at the end of the game, then the enemy gains +1 Victory Point.

This all looks good to me. I like the themes the rules evoke too.

 

The Drowned Unique Rite of War; Darkest Before the Dawn
 

When the Drowned take to battle, they became renowned for taking to battle in a manner that allowed everything to strike at the same time, utilising heavy artillery barrages and orbital strikes to cut off enemy reinforcements along with Incendiary barrages, Line of Sight blocking smoke attacks, while grouping up to take out singular threats, while heavy infantry like Breacher designated squads or Tactical Dreadnought Armour equipped units would teleport in to distract others from assisting the chosen quarry. As the battle unfolded, enemy strongpoint after strongpoint would gradually fall as they were isolated and dismembered with a clinical brutality.

 

Effects;

- Kraken Unleashed; Any combined unit from this detachment held in reserve counts as having the Drop Pod Assault special rule when determining when they arrive from reserve, unless they are being transported by a model with that rule or already have that it. In addition, the following changes take place to the Force Organization Chart;

o   Legion Drop Pods and Legion Rhinos, in addition to being taken as Dedicated Transports may be taken as Fast Attack options, with 1-3 vehicles available as a single Fast Attack choice for the army. All vehicles must be the same type, and the unit is not considered to be a squadron.

o   Any unit eligible to take a Rhino or Land Raider (any variant) as a Dedicated Transport may select an Anvillus Pattern Dread Drop Pod as their Dedicated Transport

o   Any unit eligible to take a Spartan Assault Tank as a Dedicated Transport and eligible to fit within the Transport Capacity of a Storm Eagle, Kharybdis Assault Claw or Caestus Assault Ram may elect to take one as a Dedicated Transport instead.

- Horrorstrike; 1-3 Deathstorm Drop Pods may be taken as a single Heavy Support option. Any Deathstorm Drop Pods must arrive from reserve in the First Turn, and do not count towards the maximum number of units for the purposes of Drop Pod Assault. In addition, at the start of the game, immediately before the game begins, resolve a Focused Bombardment (as if from a Damocles Command Rhino) against all Objective Markers on the battlefield that do not have a model from this detachment within 12” of the marker.

- Pull of the Abyss; Any weapon with the Graviton Pulse or Graviton Collapse special rules also have the Pinning special rule when fired by a model from this detachment. In addition, any wound suffered as a result of the Dangerous Terrain caused by these special rules also causes a Pinning test. Any weapon with the Lingering Death special rules also have the Pinning and Soul Blaze special rules when fired by a model from this detachment. Any wound suffered as a result of the Dangerous Terrain caused by the Lingering Death special rule also has the Pinning and Soul Blaze special rule. In addition, Legion Medusa and Legiones Astartes Quad Launcher Support Batteries get Phosphex Shells and Phosphex Canister Shot respectively in addition to their normal ammunition for free without the need for a Siege Breaker Consul needing to purchase the shells.

Limitations

- Armies with a Detachment using this Rite of War must elect to go second if they are able to choose and cannot roll to attempt to Seize the Initiative. Opponents may elect to go first or second however, and in the event that the mission or opponent’s army requires them to go second also, roll off to decide who goes first.

- Detachments running this Rite of War must include an additional Troops choice and may not include more than a single Consul.

- Fortification Detachments may not be taken with this Rite of War.

- There must be more models with the Flyer or Fast Skimmer type than there are models with the tank type.

- No model from this detachment may use any “off-field” bombardments like the Focused Bombardment or Bombardment special rules, or the Orbital Strike Wargear. The only exception is the pre-battle bombardment.

I am a little confused by the inclusion of the first bullet point of Kraken Unleashed. Is there any particular reason for the option to take Rhinos/Drop Pods as non-dedicated transports? It seems that you already have options for the Rhinos (your rules don't preclude the option of taking them, just add extra options) and with Dreadclaws being so available I don't see so much need for regular Drop Pods. Horrorstrike and Pull of the Abyss seem pretty good too, with one exception. I'm not a big fan of the Phosphex Canister Shot being a free upgrade for Quad Launchers. Making it so that they can be bought even without a Siege Breaker is fine imo, but they are just so much better than the base ammo option that it seems perhaps a little harsh to let them be taken for free. I think part of my reticence is due to that particular combination being one of the best available in the Legion list due to the combination of Poison, AP3 and volume of hits generated.

 

The Drowned Unique Rite of War; The Nightmare Begins
 

One of the Drowned’s favoured styles of combat is a rapid strike, renowned even among the other Legiones, in order to capitalize on the sheer shock-and-awe effect of the Astartes. However, there were few who would countenance such operations, to the extent that the Drowned refined this action in private. Not only would the Drowned unleash their full horrific capabilities, as they strike from all angles, but also would have no hesitation in throwing their allied forces at enemy lines as a distraction to allow the Drowned to seek their objectives from a foe distracted and engaged. The Drowned themselves would have no hesitation in calling in danger close fire missions on engaged troops from the Imperial Militia. Such results, although effective, would often result in military assets being withdrawn from service alongside the Drowned – few of the superior Solar Auxilia pattern regiments or host Astartes Legions would consider working in conditions when the Drowned showed such little care or empathy.

 

Effects;

- Any non-super-heavy vehicle with the tank type from this detachment gains the Outflank special rule.

- All units from an Allied Detachment are considered to have the Disposable Special rule from the Inducted Levy Squad. Any units with the Disposable special rule failing a morale check may be removed from play, and the entire unit is placed in Ongoing Reserves as if brand new. This does not include vehicles, independent characters, or units entirely removed from play by other means.

- Chain Rout; Any enemy unit making a regroup test while within 24” and Line of Sight of model from this detachment must reroll and choose the lowest result. In addition, any fear, morale or regroup test an enemy unit has to take is at -1 for each unit friendly to them within 12” that is currently Falling Back.

- Any model with the Psyker special rule from this detachment may treat Terrify as the Primaris Psychic Power for the Telepathy discipline instead of Psychic Shriek.

Limitations

- With the exception of Librarians, only a single Consul may be taken by this detachment.

- Any vehicles with the tank unit type from this detachment must begin play in reserve.

- The army must include an Allied Detachment drawn from the Imperialis Militia and Warp Cult army list (and thus, this Rite may only be chosen by a Primary Detachment). These must follow the normal rules for Cult Horde Provenances, with the exception of Abhuman Helots are not considered to be Distrusted. Models from the Primary Detachment may never be attached to models from the Allied Detachment.

- Any allied unit automatically fails any morale check they have to make if it was caused by a model from this detachment.

- The allied detachment must take an additional compulsory Troop unit.

I have no real concerns about this Rite. I would consider explicitly mentioning that the Allied detachment may only take one additional Provenance, on top of the Cult Horde one provided by the Rite, if they take a Force Commander. Mainly because I think that we should ascribe to the restriction of 2 per force limit that Forge World has provided.

Edited April 24, 2017 by Grifftofer

[simison]

With the shadow of 8th and the new work system, I'm going to let Grifft handle rules development here and defer to him. 

 

I will focus on the fluff side of things. Hesh, I know you liked Blunt's try at an Exemplary Battle, how does the rest of the fluff stand? 

[bluntblade]

Also, exactly what genhancements were they working on before the Vizenko fiasco?

[simison]

One Drowned detachment attached to the 44^th Expeditionary Fleet was able to provide a crucial 12-hour alert about an incoming Ork WAAAGH! during Compliance operations. This allowed the Apostles of War's Kelenteil to prepare his forces, shift formations, and establish enough of a defence effort that the Orks arrived only to be thrown back after two days of furious combat. Another Drowned force traveling with the 119^th Expeditionary Fleet acted as elite sappers during the Siege of Natoyia. The famed Five Fortresses that had defeated two initial assaults of Stygian Phantoms were crippled after the XVI^th launched a series of commando raids that saw the successful destruction of critical power generators.

 

It was in this way that the XVI^th Legion grew and made a name for itself for almost an entire century of the Great Crusade. Through their efforts, the Drowned Men earned an sobriquet, the Lanterns in the Darkness as they provided critical pathfinding services. For their part, the XVI^th cared little for the name, believing it to be more of a political ploy to make their word more palatable to others. Despite serving with distinction throughout this early half of the Great Crusade, the Lanterns gradually were outshone by their brother Legions.

 

This slow sink stemmed from the logistical and the political. Before the re-discovery of the Primarchs, the Selenar gene-cults and the Mechanicum were the primary source for gene-seed, outside of the Space Marines themselves. The process was resource-intensive and time-consuming. Once a Primarch was found, it was possible to use his genetic material to vastly accelerate geneseed creation. Thus, although the Lanterns did increase their numbers throughout the decades, the discoveries of Primarchs such as Niklaas and Kozja led to other Legions surging in numbers. With the creation of additional Expeditionary Fleets to open new fronts for these additional warriors, the XVI^th were still limited to serving only twenty Expeditionary Fleets at a time. Thus, as other Legions were able to rapidly accrue battle honours, the Lanterns fell behind.

 

The other half of the equation were the Primarchs themselves. Second only to the Emperor, the Primarchs almost had complete choice in which operations they pursued. Additionally, the Primarchs were able, through diplomacy or personal ability, to improve the equipment and wargear their Legions fielded. Thus, Primarch-led Legions enjoyed a dual benefit of better tools of war and more glorious assignments, compared to other Legions. Finally, as Primarchs took command of their own personal fleets, not all of them wanted Drowned Men attached to their personal commands. Although they had once led the original fleets from the Sol System, the XVI^th found itself relegated to less important fleets. In the worst cases, they were outright barred from serving with a Legion. One temporary example was the V Legion. When Alexandros first assumed command, he dismissed the XVI^th detachment, citing a desire to serve alone with his Legion to better understand them. The Lanterns took this as a slight against their honour and harboured a grudge against Alexandros. After a campaign with the newly renamed Halcyon Wardens, Alexandros invited the Lanterns to return to their former role. In the end, it was only after the Shield Lord made a restitution in the form of top-of-the-line gear did the Lanterns consent to return. However, the damage had been done and a point of contention would exist between the Legions for the rest of the Great Crusade.

 

Exceptions in the positive did exist. When Pionus Santor was discovered living on an Ocean World, Lord Hennasohn would approach the new Lord of the XIX^th after Pionus had integrated into the Imperium. Remembering their struggles in the oceans of Neptune, Hennasohn requested that the Lanterns be better trained to handle underwater combat. Pionus heartily agreed and shared all of his expertise to the XVI Legion. This event would become the foundation for the close relationship between the two Legions.

 

While the Drowned Men certainly benefited, in truth, this only increased the hidden bitterness within their hearts. For now an entire Legion excelled in the area of war that the XVI^th had devoted itself. After an initial surge of missions that took advantage of their competencies, the Drowned Men returned to falling by the wayside. 

 

It would be during this time of waning that word would reach them that their Primarch had been found. Until this time, the re-discovery of a Primarch had always been a joyous and prosperous event for a Legion. The discovery of Morro broke that happy trend with a mark of deep shame. 

 

[Do I capitalize 'expeditionary fleets' when it doesn't have a number? Would any Primarch want to get rid of their Drowned Men attachment? Which Primarchs would welcome their expertise?]

Edited May 11, 2017 by simison