Small Psyker Squads

[ElectricPaladin]

A quick tactical question for my more experienced brothers and sisters.

 

Is it worth it to field several small henchmen bands, each one surrounding a single Psyker, as a way to 1) generate more Warp Charges on the cheap and 2) boost various nearby units and vehicles that have transport capacity (that you really want to use as gun platforms) with easy-to-manifest support powers. For example:

 

• Invisibility (Telepathy) is well known as an awesome power - a psyker making a Land Raider or Valkyrie invisible from the inside would be pretty cool (or Shrouding it if you're less lucky).
• Similarly, Forewarning (Divination) can help protect a Land Raider or Valkyrie, while Prescience (Divination) could make all of a Valkyrie's weapons effectively twin-linked.
• Telekine Dome (Telekinesis) can also protect vehicles the Psyker is riding in, as can Fire Shield (Pyromancy).

 

Divination is obviously the best bet, because Prescience is a Primaris power so you can be guaranteed to get it.

 

A bare-bones, minimum-sized unit of a Psyker and two chainsword and las pistol handlers is a mere 18 points. You could make the "handlers" effective storm troopers with carapace armor and hotshot lasguns and still have a psyker-on-a-stick for less than 30 points.

 

What do you think?

[Teetengee]

when 7th first came out I ran an unbound list with 18 psyker/2guard units and 5 tzeentch heralds, it was 500 points and had 20 odd psychic dice used for a summoning army.
It worked, I felt bad, and my opponent and I agreed never again.

[Sororita Katya]

when 7th first came out I ran an unbound list with 18 psyker/2guard units and 5 tzeentch heralds, it was 500 points and had 20 odd psychic dice used for a summoning army.

It worked, I felt bad, and my opponent and I agreed never again.

http://i58.tinypic.com/10oeglw.jpg

[CaptainHelion]

Combo those squads with Karamazov, and feel better by nuking the psykers one by one.

[Cap'm Heckus]

I've used the "MSU-psyker" set up. It's handy for generating extra dice for my IG army. 3x30 point units plus a psychic inquisitor or 2, an astropath and a lvl2 primaris gives you 7-8 bonus dice to throw around in addition to a variety of ways to use them.

[HenricusTyranicus]

If you're taking as support for an Imperial Guard army, why take 3 psykers in the unit? Just take 1 psyker and 2 acolytes. Saves 36 points over 3 units, which you could use to buy another inquisitor and almost another psyker squad. 

[ElectricPaladin]

Disaster! I just found out that this strategy has lost a lot of its utility. Apparently in 7th edition - this is old news to everyone else, I'm sure - psykers can no longer target their vehicles with blessings! This is... pretty dumb, actually. Anyway, now I have to figure out what to do with my inquisitor other than buff the dual psybolt ammo heavy bolter chimera I bought to drive him around in

[dusara217]

Disaster! I just found out that this strategy has lost a lot of its utility. Apparently in 7th edition - this is old news to everyone else, I'm sure - psykers can no longer target their vehicles with blessings! This is... pretty dumb, actually. Anyway, now I have to figure out what to do with my inquisitor other than buff the dual psybolt ammo heavy bolter chimera I bought to drive him around in

Stick him with a few Servitors and use Prescience and/or Scrier's Gaze, Forewarning, Misfortune, Precognition (Divination) to boost their shooty capabilities (or save their lives, if you have some Plasma Cannons on them).

[KiwiBen]

I know that "Plan A" was to use the psykers to give buffs to units/vehicles, but have you considered using them more offensively?

 

I had a bit of success against both Chaos Marines and Necrons using Psyker+Acolyte+Acolyte squads and throwing "Psychic Shrieks" all over the place.  For such a cheap little unit, you really only need the power to come off once, and they've more than paid for themselves.  They can also be handy little objective-grabbers if you put them in Chimeras or Rhinos.  Admittedly they don't have ObSec, but if they're left to their own devices they can often do something useful.  Especially when your opponent has bigger, nastier threats to worry about.  Just make sure that you have a fire point on whatever transport you give them, so you can "Shriek" out the top hatch!

[ElectricPaladin]

I know that "Plan A" was to use the psykers to give buffs to units/vehicles, but have you considered using them more offensively?

 

I had a bit of success against both Chaos Marines and Necrons using Psyker+Acolyte+Acolyte squads and throwing "Psychic Shrieks" all over the place.  For such a cheap little unit, you really only need the power to come off once, and they've more than paid for themselves.  They can also be handy little objective-grabbers if you put them in Chimeras or Rhinos.  Admittedly they don't have ObSec, but if they're left to their own devices they can often do something useful.  Especially when your opponent has bigger, nastier threats to worry about.  Just make sure that you have a fire point on whatever transport you give them, so you can "Shriek" out the top hatch!

 

I'm also thinking that a daemonhost, a psyker, and an acolyte might make for a fun unit to have hop out of a valkyrie. They jump out, they hit the ground, and my opponent has got to deal with them, otherwise they're going to be shrieking and assaulting and generally messing things up!

[CaptainHelion]

Put a Crusader in the unit too, for a neat 3++ to try and tank a bit of fire with. And a power weapon, because why not.

[Nicodemus Doloroso]

Put a Crusader in the unit too, for a neat 3++ to try and tank a bit of fire with. And a power weapon, because why not.

 

Well, I wouldn't add a power weapon to an acolyte because it's just too expensive.

 

Crusaders are cool though and can tank wounds very well.

[ElectricPaladin]

 

Put a Crusader in the unit too, for a neat 3++ to try and tank a bit of fire with. And a power weapon, because why not.

 

Well, I wouldn't add a power weapon to an acolyte because it's just too expensive.

 

Crusaders are cool though and can tank wounds very well.

 

My take on Helion's comment was that the crusader comes with a power weapon, which is added utility, rather than that there should be a random power weapon acolyte.

[CaptainHelion]

ElectricPaladin has the right of my intentions, but I definitely could have been clearer. My view on the unit is that you'd add the crusader for the 3++, and the power weapon is just a nice little garnish on top.

A small unit like this is probably going to die horribly if it gets into CC, but a powerweapon might worry enough players from committing without overwhelping odds. Which is good for you, because this unit is what? 40pts?

[Plasmablasts]

The fluff in the codex has psykers wielding force weapons but those are unavailable in the rules. Deliberate or accidental omission?

[CaptainHelion]

Deliberate omission, I'd say. Psykers would need to be another ten or so points, otherwise. It'd be a veeeeery cheap way to get a lot of low ap force wounds, if not.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I've toyed with this idea, however Guard just got a formation in the Mont'Ka book, the Psykana Division, which is 3 units of 5 Wyrdvane Psykers, a primaris psyker, and 1-3 commissars. Basically it adds a mastery level to the primaris (only for generating charges not powers) for every 5 Wyrdvanes, which can potentially boost the Primaris to ML8 (ML2 start, +6 for 30 Wyrdvanes). That's 11 warp charges that the whole formation can generate (8 for the primaris psyker, +3, that 's+1 for each unit of wyrdvanes). Not to mention that if you sink commissars into each wyrdavane squad, they harness on a 2+ rather than a 4+, and don't suffer perils of the warp (instead the commissar randomly BLAMS! one in the unit). Also, the primaris psyker knows all the powers of a wyrdvane squad within 12 inches of him. 

 

Now, that gets to be horrifyingly expensive, and you can probably just use grey knights to do it better, but still. The benefit of using inquisition psykers is that you spend less points, and henchmen bands comm in 3's. I'd take msu henchmen with 3 psykers, to get the ML1 psyker, but also if he perils, you don't completely lose the psychic support if he dies.

 

Inquisition can do it cheap, but guard and grey knights do it better now.