Is Mortarion a "must take"?

[Wayniac]

So I do not have the big guy just yet, seriously tempted to buy him, but he's quite expensive.  Is he really a must take for Death Guard if we hope to have any real competitive punch?  I have heard either he is, or that he isn't and I should get a Leviathan (or two if I want to be "that guy") from Forgeworld instead which is a about the same amount with shipping costs.

 

Other than him being our Primarch and an awesome centerpiece model, he is really that good in the game?

[Arkhanist]

Depends upon your local meta really. If people already bring a fair amount of anti-tank and/or mortal wounds and you don't have lots of LoS blocking terrain, Mortarion can go down like a sack of spuds on turn 1. He's tough and can eat a lot of fire, but not usually an entire army's worth - it's a lot of points to spend on a fire magnet. Against anti-horde or casual lists, or if you bring multiple tough targets to force hard decisions on a gunline he can be a monster. FWIW though, primarchs are rarely seen in tournament lists because there are more point efficient choices.

 

He is however an awesome centrepiece, if you fancy the challenge to paint him! Recently voted best mini of 2017...

 

Loyalist Leviathan grav bombards got bumped to the same price as hellforged ones in chapter approved - they were too cheap, and I think partly the reason for the repuation. They're very good, don't get me wrong, but they're hardly dark reaper levels of broken. Top tier lists right now seem to be based around soup hordes with a ton of CP, or alaitoc/ynnari.

[McElMcNinja]

He is worth having if you can afford him. I used him against Adeptus Custodes 1,500 points last week accompanied with 3 Death Shroud. Mortarion took out 2 characters and a Land Raider by the end of turn 3 (I did lose my DS), but he called it after that.

 

Side note: it was a friendly game that my opponent asked me to bring him, but his Adeptus Custodes really weren't a match for my list.

 

I have used him in a handful of games losing him in almost half of those, but when the attention is focused on him everything else just moved around unscathed.

[Panzer]

He's far from being a "must take". In really competetive matches he's more of a liability I fear but in more casual / semi-competetive matches he can wreck faces.

So in terms of power...not really. But in terms of awesomeness...hell yes! It's one heck of a centerpiece!

[happyslugger]

I've used him a couple of times and had mixed results.

 

I tend to use him knowing full well he is going to get shot to death from the start, but that is OK as it means my drones and DP are advancing without much attention and my other threats can carry on.  I have not lost him turn 1 yet, but I have had him down to like 4/5 wounds...

[Wayniac]

Yeah that is my concern.  Was thinking of buying him, but he does require a package to work (typically a CSM detachment to get Warptime) which feels dirty to me.  I might hold off on him for now and focus on rounding out my army with some other things first.  I have a friend who has him so maybe I can ask to borrow him for a game one day when we are both at the store, and see how he plays.

[Commissar K.]

Mortarion and new Magnus are both far from must takes and actually a great centerpiece that costs a lot but balanced well because of that.
If they arrive your opponent is in a world of pain. But the sometimes shouted "Primarch edition!" stuff is pretty far from the truth. Maby could have been the case if they both could have been deep striked with the Chaos Daemon Strat but we now know that this isn't possible and because of that we can't really "cheat them in". 

I think that if people love the model you should get it. I've got a BT for the same reason while double Daemon Princes from the Chaos Daemon codex are almost always easier to work with and can archieve the same harrasment. 

[Prot]

I thin’ if we look to the recent LVO there is not near the same level of success with Primarchs. I think a shift is on to more spam covering elite units over the ‘quality’ small model count army.

 

This doesn’t mean it can’t or won’t work. I just think that sinking 460+ points that can be wiped off the board by 220 points in T1 is almost game ending. It’s just too risky.

 

I always say it’s mets dependent too. There’s always a chance I could walk into the store and some guy doesn’t have a list that is aware of even... Knights which will make them appear amazing.

[crimsonhand]

He's certainly not a must have. 
 

[DuskRaider]

Definitely not a must-take. He can be a lot of fun to field, but make sure you're not going to steamroll an unaware opponent as well as making sure your opponent isn't going to tailor their list just for taking him down (max Lascannons). Neither is very much fun. I often feel like I could put those points to better use elsewhere when I field him, though... like more bodies. 

[Wayniac]

Yeah the more I think about it, the less he seems like something to spend money on.  I'm just trying to avoid going poxwalker/daemon horde since that doesn't feel to me like playing Death Guard.  My lists thus far have been vehicle heavy (drones, crawlers, haulers) but I keep thinking I'm missing bodies, just that keeps bringing me back to the "meta cheese" of Poxwalkers with Cultists.

[Panzer]

Actually I think especially since he is not a must-have it's worth spending money on since it's an awesome centerpiece you can take every once in a while without feeling bad about it. Unless of course you're a hardcore tournament player then he obviously is a waste of money lol

[Shockmaster]

Actually I think especially since he is not a must-have it's worth spending money on since it's an awesome centerpiece you can take every once in a while without feeling bad about it. Unless of course you're a hardcore tournament player then he obviously is a waste of money lol

 

This is a great point, as I had avoided buying him up until now, as my scene is extremely casual minded and I did not want to be the guy who starts an arms race.

 

Now I know he is better balanced I may treat myself sometime, bring him for an occasional game. 

[SkimaskMohawk]

Well if it's an extremely casual meta, he will start an arms race. Mortarion can be killed early by a lot of armies, but those are very strong lists on the whole. Against armies with insufficient shooting he can absolutely be a pain to deal with

[Shockmaster]

Well if it's an extremely casual meta, he will start an arms race. Mortarion can be killed early by a lot of armies, but those are very strong lists on the whole. Against armies with insufficient shooting he can absolutely be a pain to deal with

 

Only if I use him in every game, which I would never do, as I enjoy list variety too much, my point was that I feared he would be so over powered that even with my opponents knowing about me using him in advance of the battle they would not be able to bring anything to deal with him at all.

 

It is good to know that will not be a problem, as it is such an awesome model. 

[Panzer]

Well yeah he's still a LoW after all. Best treat him like a slightly stronger Knight. Would you introduce Imperial Knights to your group? If yes then Mortarion is probably not a problem either. If no, then Mortarion will wreck games until they caught up and got something equally strong (most likely stronger). ^^

[Shockmaster]

Yeah no worries, I understand he is still a strong LoW, I just feared that even when my group does high point games, he would be so much better then other players big toys that I would feel bad for using him, as I get no enjoyment from playing in that way.

 

Even when I get him I doubt he will see the tabletop more then half a dozen times a year.

[Prot]

I think he can actually bring balance in a meta. I know we swing from spam... lots of junk on the table, then the other guys wise up, and there's stuff like Wyyverns, lots of bolters, etc. Then someone brings a LoW out, and then the Lacannons start coming out again, and people start bringing spam... thus is the circle of life in the 41st millennium. ;)

[happyslugger]

Whenever I use him I do run a decent amount if poxwalkers and typhus.

[Panzer]

Btw. Mortarion is being played in the 4th match of the Grand Tournament Heat 3 currently. In an Alpha Legion list consisting of a shooty slaanesh AL Detachment and a Berzerker+Rhino WE Detachment tho. ^^

 

https://www.twitch.tv/warhammer

 

The 1st table is being streamed.

Edited February 18, 2018 by sfPanzer

[Amon777]

Btw. Mortarion is being played in the 4th match of the Grand Tournament Heat 3 currently. In an Alpha Legion list consisting of a shooty slaanesh AL Detachment and a Berzerker+Rhino WE Detachment tho. ^^

 

https://www.twitch.tv/warhammer

 

The 1st table is being streamed.

Before anyone makes any crazy leaps with Morty realize they are using modified chapter approved approve missions so was able to accel more. Morty (and magnus for that matter) have a very hard time being justified in the ITC tournament format which LVO, BAO, and NOVA use. Glad to see him doing well though as my beautifully painted Morty seems to just collect dust at the moment.

[Vilicate]

To me, he's not really worth it.  Too much of a points sink in one place - Death Guard models are already really expensive.

 

I understand the attraction though, to a model that's really bad ass.

[Fhanados]

As an Australian who is looking at $230 for Morty I'm very glad he's not an auto include! I love the model and he has some nice rules but I just spent a ton of money already on my Death Guard army. Besides, having the Primarch of the Death Guard Legion in my shabby little warband of plague-riddled traitors doesn't make sense thematically. I'd rather get a Great Unclean One that could be used by all my Chaos armies (well except the Khorne guys...).

[Panzer]

As I understood, he took Mortarion mostly as Distraction Carnifex. "Hey look! Here is big bad Mortarion and he will hurt when he comes to you! Go and shoot him!". He didn't expect him to survive or do much work on his own (tho he sometimes did against less shooty lists lol). His lists main focus was the shooty slaanesh AL part and the two Rhinos full of WE Berzerkers. ;)

[bozo69pd]

As I understood, he took Mortarion mostly as Distraction Carnifex. "Hey look! Here is big bad Mortarion and he will hurt when he comes to you! Go and shoot him!". He didn't expect him to survive or do much work on his own (tho he sometimes did against less shooty lists lol). His lists main focus was the shooty slaanesh AL part and the two Rhinos full of WE Berzerkers.

He is too expensive to be a distraction carnifex. He is more of a distration "Oh I just lost 25% of my points on the first turn".