The Guardsmen's Guide to Mind Bullets

[HenricusTyranicus]

I've been looking over Psychic powers a lot lately, and I thought I'd share some of my conclusions on them. I'm going to be including the Inquisition in this, as they're very easy to slip into the army, and their powers will affect our units thanks to the Imperium keyword being used in them. 

 

Powers

 

Smite

A great way of taking down elite infantry and tanks. Hampered by the targeting limitations, but luckily guard are amazing at anti infantry, and we can sweep away the chaff guarding the good stuff without too much difficulty. Ultimately not worth paying the points for by itself, it's a great utility tool for when your psykers have nothing better to do. 

 

Psykana

 

1. Terrifying Visions:
At first glance, this power seemed a trifle unimpressive to me. Smite is easier to cast, and does an average of 2 mortal wounds on a normal casting, with more on a 10+ one. Lowering the enemy's leadership mostly seems like it's accomplishing that same result, but you also have to pour firepower into the unit. However, this does get considerably better than smite when dealing with certain enemies. Battleshock works on a per model basis, not per wound. This power will work quite nicely against nonfearless, lowish leadership, multiwound models, that ideally come in large groups. If you get Nurglings to fail their test, this power can remove 8 wounds off the table, which is not bad.  Nurglings, Flesh Hounds, Ogryns, and probably a lot of other things I don't know that well are prime targets for this power. Look for those models when picking powers. If your opponent lacks any such model, then you're best off skipping this one. Like I said, Smite is easier to cast, more likely to have an effect if cast and can't be countered by spending a couple command points. (Although bleeding your opponent of command points is not a half bad effect of using this power, it does mean that enemy units will stay on the table, where your opponent wants them.

 

2. Gaze of the Emperor

First thing to note on this one. The power provides no exception for friendly units in the way, so you'll have to be careful with this one. Either create firing lanes in your units, or move units out of the line of fire, then Move Move Move them back so your psyker isn't the closest model and can't be targeted. Alternatively, just accept that your psyker is going to die. If you have a valk in your list already, cramming a cheap astropath in there to grav chute into the middle of enemy lines and cause destruction would be well worth the points. With quick mobility, this power could be a real horde killer if you're lucky on the dice and can line up good shots. Better still as a medium infantry killer. Blow away 3 or 4 skittarii or scions and you've paid the cost of your unit. Without a dedicated plan to move around, this power is best used as a cheap panic button for when the assaulty hordes are hitting your lines. The random range is sad, but could be worth a command point reroll at the critical moment.

 

3. Psychic barrier

The MVP of this list. The others are best chosen under specific circumstances, but you can never go wrong with this. Stick a Leman Russ in cover, cast this, and laugh as it has a 4+ vs lascannons. Combine with an Aegis defense line and 50 conscripts for a 3+ mob. Make the enemy sweat to remove that Scion squad. The possibilities are endless. 

 

Telethesia

 

1. Terrify

Pretty obvious in usage, I think. Do you have units great at Assault, and/or is the enemy overwatch terrifying? Take it. If not, don't. You can use this to pull off evil moves like preventing a Land Raider Redeemer or Crusader from overwatching, rush it with a lone guardsmen unit, and then laugh as it can't shoot next turn. All in all, a bit of niche power, but it's niche will come up often enough in this edition.

2. Mental Fortitude

Can be rather beautiful for us. Enemy snipers put that commissar down on his last wound? Those conscripts aren't going anywhere! It can really save us in a pinch, and if you don't have a specific plan for how to use the other powers, this is probably the one you should take. Incredibly easy to cast as well.

3. Dominate

Potentially good, but a bit hampered by it's somewhat high warp charge cost, and the fact that most of the time, one character will do limited damage. There are times, however, when this can be amazing. Knight Commander Pask with a punisher? Be a shame if he gunned down a full squad of his own guardsmen. A captain with a combi-melta? Excellent. If you really want to troll, you can overcharge their plasma weapons, and laugh as you remove their character from play with no saves allowed. However, unless you can identify some very efficient use for this in your specific game, it isn't that great. One character will hardly ever do more damage with one attack than a smite. So look very carefully at your opponent's army list for opportunities. 

 

Psykers

 

1. Primaris Psyker

Your bread and butter Psyker. Pretty cheap for what he brings, the Primaris Psyker has two great advantages over other psykers. One, he knows multiple powers. This gives the Niche powers in our lineup a bit more use, for example, he can take Psychic Barrier while babysitting conscripts, and then when the conscripts have been taken down to the last ten men, switch to Gaze of the Emperor to hit the enemy who was assaulting them. (And who are presumably bunched up from an assault phase or two.) His other great trait is his ability to get shot by a commissar instead of exploding everyone else's minds. An Astropath, for example, who is buffing a conscript unit, may kill not only himself, but also every support character you had around those conscripts. Primaris Psykers are also the half decent at close combat, so if your lines are charged and you need a desperate counter charge, this guy will probably knock a few heads in.

2. Wyrdvane Psykers

I swear this unit is the Pyrovore of this edition. As of right now, they are more expensive than astropaths, lack the character keyword, and have all the durability of a grot, with totally unreliable casting. Oh, and they cost almost as much as Scions. It is truly remarkable how bad they are. Their only redeeming trait is that it is impossible for them to peril. It's conceivable they were designed with some future codex or supplement in mind, in which case, I'll come back and update this entry. But for now, skip.

3. Astropath

A great little unit. Running as cheap as 15 points, this guy is a great vehicle for suicide gaze of the emperor, as well as a great unit to sit behind your Leman Russ and spam Psychic Barrier. You can load up three in a valk with a Platoon commander and 2 command squads. The Platoon Commander and the command squads can jump in with one Astropath, who can strip the enemy of their cover bonus, then Gaze of the Emperor them. The other Astropaths can jump out as the game continues, and keep hitting the enemy up with devastating lines.

4. Inquisitor

A great frontline unit, who can make commissars unnecessary in the areas of the battlefield they're around. They've got loads of gear that means they'll be a real pestilence to your opponent outside the psychic phase as well as in it. They're excellent for what they bring, but cost a fair amount too. I don't have a ton of experience with these guys, so I can't say much more than that they're versatile, can be kitted out in dozens of variations to preform almost any job, and look like a lot of fun.

 

 

 

Always try to keep a command point handy to reroll a perils of the warp. They have the potential to seriously injure our officers and tanks, and without those guard are nothing.

 

 

Hope you found this handy. Happy Mindbulleting! (And don't tell any of my Templar Brethren I said that. Or that I had anything to do with this guide whatsoever.) :P 

[WarriorFish]

Good write up Henricus, the +1 save power is what caught my eye when I saw it - I think psykers could have a useful part to play in the Imperial Guard's war machine in 8th :) I also think Terrifying Visions is good but needs the right target as you say.

[Truesight]

Dominate has some extra fun implications:  Character targeting restrictions only occur in the shooting phase.  A dominate happens in the psychic phase, so you can grab that enemy lascannon and shoot their general with it from across the board.  Extra fun when you use one of the enemies one use weapons, Trazyns Tachyon arrow getting you first blood and warlord, tasty!