Unit of the week I - Exorcist

[Aqui]

Whilst I'm finally getting to grips with gathering a Sisters army, I still struggle with how units should be used and why. To that end, I thought a series of topics similar to those featured elsewhere in the forum will help those of us who could do with a collective heads up

So, I thought I'd start with what, in my opinion, is one of the most iconic units in their Codex: The Exorcist

I've spoken with a few players near me and everytime the "Strength 8, D6 hits" thing is brought up, they visible blanche! Has anyone else had this?

I always thought the best way to use them is to put them further out of the way and use the 48" range to act as support for close combat units towards the front.

So, what are everyones opinions on the Exorcist? How do you use them? If you don't use one, why not?

[Naminé]

Exorcists are a weird beast: lately, I have dropped them entirely from my tournament lists due to their random nature... maybe it's just me, but S8 AP1 doesn't do a whole bunch these days. I haven't missed them in honesty.

 

That said, they're a long way from terrible! They give us range that we don't have from any other source and they are hard to kill (especially if you only have one, meaning it's usually less of a perceived threat). Holding a targeting relay objective really helps it out, and it can sit comfortably in terrain and shoot out thanks to the tall organ gun!

 

Support fire is the name of the game: you cannot rely on an Exorcist to kill units consistently, but you can rely on them to help. They do best against high value targets, monstrous creatures, and light transports when you really want them to die! The threat they cast is actually their greatest asset for you... They SOUND scary on paper. Use that to the fullest!

[ValourousHeart]

There is nothing in the sister's codex that is over the top as far a tiered power levels are concerned.

And despite the similarities between sister units and SM units, to be effective we have to use our units in a very different way to their SM counterpart.

What this means directly for us is that it is difficult to build a deathstar, that is actually effective.

 

My idea is to embrace the mediocrity.

Essentially I field units that are able to threaten the entire board from early on in the game.

But everything has a back up, and nothing sends up to many red flags.

 

Now while nothing in your army is more important or powerful than anything else in your army... your opponent might perceive some units to be more threatening than others.

This means that you are potentially able to use game theory and social engineering to amplify the perceived threat.

 

2 Exorcist work very well in this capacity.

You want them both to have access to good fields of fire, but you don't want them to start off with a good field of fire.

The reason for this is you want them to deal with 1 threat at a time, without having to take fire from 2-3 more.

Use terrain to block line of sight back to them from the majority of targets, but be close enough that you can move a little bit and bring in another target.

 

If possible keep them separated enough so that your opponent has to send more than 1 unit across the board or via DS to deal with both of them.

But not so far apart that an outflanking attack bike can be in double tap range the turn it arrives.

 

The way this works with the perceived threat is that you want you opponent to see that every time your exorcist fires, it destroys everything that could shoot back at it.

When in reality it simply destroyed the only thing that could shoot back at it.

 

It is a very good idea to take the storm bolter upgrade on the Exorcist.  This gives you a 4+ save vs weapon destroyed.

Once the Exorcist loses the main gun, you will do more damage ramming something than you will with the storm bolter.

Again this works with doubling down on the perceived threat idea.

 

My exorcist stay in my back field, but I don't use them to hold the back field, I use them to threaten the units that will make short work of the sisters.

This is generally Walkers and Death Stars, but it is also tanks or anything that really requires the S8 AP1.

 

I know that this topic is specifically for the Exorcist, but our army doesn't work without layers and inter-connectivity.

To that end, the unit I find most effective for holding our back field and defending the weaknesses of the Exorcists to be the Sisters Command Squad armed with 5 HB.

 

 

I'll leave analysis of the command squad till the appropriate topic.

[GogglesDown]

They absolutely ruin foot slogging terminators and fit nicely behind rhinos that have popped smoke. They are also good for taking out hell brutes and probably dreadnoughts.

[Aqui]

That was a good read and something that I've slowly noticed amongst a number of Sisters players. I have two Exorcists, so I'll have to get a full game in soon and see for myself

[Noeh]

In my army comp, I can technically ignore having exorcists, but I still would like to get 1-2 to field. Long Fangs are nice, but they get picked off way easier than an exorcist would. The RNG seems annoying at times but with such a tall...."gun" on the exorcist it can peer over buildings and fire without fear of retaliation. I could always just be super annoying and field both the exorcist and long fangs at the same time.

[ValourousHeart]

@ Noeh,

 

Yes the organ pipes are the launcher, but you'll find that more people are willing to accept that either of the 2 figures on the top of the tank (girl at the keyboard, or loading servitor) is the proper measuring point for the gun.

 

This lines up as the same level of the gun mount for the whirlwind, immolator, razorback, and predator. 

 

If you claim the tip of the tallest organ pipe is where LOS is drawn from than you are telling your opponent that they only to block your LOS is to surround you with landraiders and park rhinos on top of them.

[Noeh]

I'm pretty sure you're supposed to draw LOS from the end of the weapon. Which in this case would be the top of the organ. It seems silly to suddenly change that rule for one unit.

[CaptainHelion]

If the organ pipes are the barrel, then you ignore them when drawing line of sight to the Exorcist, as you ignore all vehicle weapon barrels, banners and antennas.

[Noeh]

I meant from. When shooting with infantry or vehicles, you draw los from their gun barrel. Meaning the exorcist draws low from the top of the pipe organ.

On the other side of that, enemies have to have los of the rhino portion to hit accurately. It makes it a fairly scary unit to face at long range behind cover.

[CaptainHelion]

Sorry, that was meant to be in response to ValourousHeart, not you.

[Naminé]

For the record, the 6th edition FAQ for the 5th ed. Codex specifically stated that 'any part of the organ' counts as the barrel.

 

We might have lost the FAQ when the edex came out but without any other wording and no changes to the unit, I don't see any reason to believe this is no longer the case.

 

This is a big plus for the Exo, having a 360, tall LoS that can hide in terrain without fear of counter attack.

[Noeh]

It can peek over a lot of terrain/ruins that would also hide its entire main body. So wonderful

[grendal1989]

For the record, the 6th edition FAQ for the 5th ed. Codex specifically stated that 'any part of the organ' counts as the barrel.

 

We might have lost the FAQ when the edex came out but without any other wording and no changes to the unit, I don't see any reason to believe this is no longer the case.

 

This is a big plus for the Exo, having a 360, tall LoS that can hide in terrain without fear of counter attack.

Also, since the organ portion is so wide it is easy to keep more than 25% obscured since you only need part of it to peek out. 

 

Valorous heart pretty much covered everything. I personally don't purchase the stormbolter, as the odds of it being helpful are silm. Although, when it does you will sing its praises, so I have my exorcists magnetized for it but it usually is cut before anything else. Given the random nature of the exorcist you will see them do better if you take multiples, since the more you take the more likely you are to get average rolls overall. 

 

Always split them up. They are tempting assault/drop pod targets (anything on predator chassis is) and the more foot slogging your opponent has to do the more time you have to burninate them. I usually keep 2 immolators with F/HF sisters squads in the back field to babysit but retributors can do the job if they aren't being pushed up the field in Repressors.

 

Ramming is always surprising and I have used an exorcist that lost its organ gun to hurt war walkers that came too close. Even immobilized a dark shroud once (man the look on his face was priceless).

 

Also, don't forget they can move. 6 inches may not seem like much but it can get you from one side of LOS blocking terrain to the other sometimes, or back up just enough to make an enemy charge more risky.

 

So in short, they are pretty versatile, but like much else in sisters army, require a careful hand to get the most out of them. 

[Arkaniss]

Lots of good info here! My addition would be that while its range and Strength/AP are favourable don't put too much trust in it's reliability. Rolling a D6 for shots can be a disaster if you're rolling poorly. So the Exorcist is a nice support tank for the rest of your army - your Sisters/Dominions/Seraphim etc... will do the grunt work as always and you should build your list around them.

As Namine said they are potent on paper, don't put them in your list and expect them to be destroying vehicles, wiping out TEQ squads and popping Monstrous Creatures each turn. Sometimes yes, they can do such a thing with the Dice Gods favour but I guess the point I'm trying to get across is don't expect it to do it every game

[Aqui]

Lots of good info here! My addition would be that while its range and Strength/AP are favourable don't put too much trust in it's reliability. Rolling a D6 for shots can be a disaster if you're rolling poorly. So the Exorcist is a nice support tank for the rest of your army - your Sisters/Dominions/Seraphim etc... will do the grunt work as always and you should build your list around them.

As Namine said they are potent on paper, don't put them in your list and expect them to be destroying vehicles, wiping out TEQ squads and popping Monstrous Creatures each turn. Sometimes yes, they can do such a thing with the Dice Gods favour but I guess the point I'm trying to get across is don't expect it to do it every game

In the only game I've played with Sisters (which wasn't finished as there wasn't enough time), I made the mistake of relying on both Exorcists to hammer the other side from a distance. I managed to get a few decent shots in, but yeah, the dice Gods are capricious indeed!

[Arkaniss]

All the times an Exorcist has pootled out a paltry 1 or 2 shots and failed to hit anything when I was desperate for some long range High S/Low AP fire support... it long ago forged a cold, pragmatic eye when surveying the Exorcist on the unit roster

My favourite SoB vehicle model though - don't get me wrong it's up there with the Penitent Engine in terms of hassle for assembling but when you've finished? Majestic. There is no other vehicle that says Sisters of Battle as much. I mean the Servitor does all the loading and firing, there is a driver doing the driving and then there's an organist just playing music because that's how we roll.

[Noeh]

My favourite SoB vehicle model though - don't get me wrong it's up there with the Penitent Engine in terms of hassle for assembling but when you've finished? Majestic. There is no other vehicle that says Sisters of Battle as much. I mean the Servitor does all the loading and firing, there is a driver doing the driving and then there's an organist just playing music because that's how we roll.

I adore penitent engines. That's why my 1850 includes them even though I could be taking things arguably more useful. I posted the list on reddit and almost every response was about dropping them for other things. So much hate on the giant, fiery, death machines.

[Naminé]

Lots of good info here! My addition would be that while its range and Strength/AP are favourable don't put too much trust in it's reliability. Rolling a D6 for shots can be a disaster if you're rolling poorly. So the Exorcist is a nice support tank for the rest of your army - your Sisters/Dominions/Seraphim etc... will do the grunt work as always and you should build your list around them.

As Namine said they are potent on paper, don't put them in your list and expect them to be destroying vehicles, wiping out TEQ squads and popping Monstrous Creatures each turn. Sometimes yes, they can do such a thing with the Dice Gods favour but I guess the point I'm trying to get across is don't expect it to do it every game

In the only game I've played with Sisters (which wasn't finished as there wasn't enough time), I made the mistake of relying on both Exorcists to hammer the other side from a distance. I managed to get a few decent shots in, but yeah, the dice Gods are capricious indeed!

My usual showing with Exo's is to roll a 6 for the number of shots, but only score a hit with 1 or 2 of them :p Then of course it's a 1 to wound or they make a cover save :p

My favourite SoB vehicle model though - don't get me wrong it's up there with the Penitent Engine in terms of hassle for assembling but when you've finished? Majestic. There is no other vehicle that says Sisters of Battle as much. I mean the Servitor does all the loading and firing, there is a driver doing the driving and then there's an organist just playing music because that's how we roll.

I adore penitent engines. That's why my 1850 includes them even though I could be taking things arguably more useful. I posted the list on reddit and almost every response was about dropping them for other things. So much hate on the giant, fiery, death machines.

Indeed, Pen Engines are the best thing we have, but this is going off-topic so we should save such discussions for a future thread ;)

[*Furyou Miko]

I know I'm in the minority, but maybe it's starting in 2nd... I am not a huge fan of the Exorcist, especially the organ version.

 

For me, the iconic Battle Sister vehicle is and will always be the Immolator.

 

It's not just because every time I use one, either I roll 1 shot against a hard target, or 6 against a soft one.

[GogglesDown]

I am not a fan of the organ version either. My first three exorcists were immolators with whirlwind missile launchers. If you build them like this you can basically make any sisters tank from one kit. I then used the spare rhinos, sold them, or gave them to other armies over the years.

[ValourousHeart]

I meant from. When shooting with infantry or vehicles, you draw los from their gun barrel. Meaning the exorcist draws low from the top of the pipe organ.

On the other side of that, enemies have to have los of the rhino portion to hit accurately. It makes it a fairly scary unit to face at long range behind cover.

  

If the organ pipes are the barrel, then you ignore them when drawing line of sight to the Exorcist, as you ignore all vehicle weapon barrels, banners and antennas.

  

It can peek over a lot of terrain/ruins that would also hide its entire main body. So wonderful

  

Also, since the organ portion is so wide it is easy to keep more than 25% obscured since you only need part of it to peek out.

There are just some rules interpretations that I just can't get behind... This is one of them.

 

The extreme of this is that I can build a piece of terrain that blocks LOS the entire rhino chase but allows the organ pipes to poke out the top. Since you can't see 25% of the vehicle you can't shoot at it or charge it, and since terrain is a ruin you can't destroy it. So it can fire with impunity and your opponent can do nothing to stop you.

 

Gee isn't that a fun game to play... It is kinda like seeing a new kid in the shop and noticing he built all of his heavy weapon teams with autocannons... Then you agree to play him and take all your squads in landraiders.

 

That reminds me of a Tau player I faced once. He had a unit of pathfinders that wanted to shoot marker lights at my sisters. The problem in my eyes was that there was a devilfish sitting on the table between the units, blocking LOS. On his turn he claimed that the devilfish was hovering just high enough for the pathfinders to shoot because the model comes with a flying stand, he just didn't bring it, and one of the pathfinders was kneeling down... So they all could kneel to shoot. Then on my turn when I pointed out that if he can draw a laser line between the 2 units then that same laser line could be drawn back the other way. He disagreed because there was a devilfish in the way and it wasn't on a flying stand, and besides all of my sisters are standing up.

 

I don't know if you have a name for that behavior in your club, but I do.

 

So I'll just leave you with these words... Play nice, don't act like a Tau player.

 

And for the record I'm not saying all Tau players are like that, but one of the ones I played sure was.

[Aqui]

So I'll just leave you with these words... Play nice, don't act like a Tau player git.

I think we can all agree with that (I know you said that not all Tau players are like that, but I thought I'd reinforce what you said )

[bkde]

I typically run two exorcists in my list. The AV 13 and percieved threat is great for soaking fire from the more fragile transports.

 

For positioning I almost think of them as a squadron, i.e. I try to position so both vehicles have LOS to the same target. I generally count on six shots (slightly below avg. for two Exo's) being fired for mathhammering success probabilities.

 

Fire the first at target priority #1, if it whiffs then the second Exorcist can shoot target #1. If the first Exorcist succeeds then the second Exo can shoot Target #1 (if required) or shoot a second target.

[Blackarmor_redtruth]

I take two with storm bolters, always. Keep in cover and soften things up, that's what they do. Sometimes they will obliterate things, others times of course not. One time mine shot down a dakkajet. That happens too. Don't count for high's or lows, go for the middle ground. They have great range and strength, so use that as your multiplier.

 

Clumped up or spread out depends on your opponent, but in general I keep mine at the cusp of their 48" range. Again, that is where they shine. Many armies have either high strength or long range and our combination is balanced by the D6 shots.