Warlord Trait

[Schlitzaf]

So prompted by a post in the News and Rumors. Warlord Traits, in 8th Edition while weaker than the 6th-7th Equivalent, being able to choose, has made the generic characters less generic.

 

In Codex Space Marines; the 6 Generic Traits, you have three auras; -1 LD, Immune to Shock, and conditional rend. And then three ‘personal’ buffs, a duelist buff, a tank buff and a cruise missile trait. You also have the chapter traits, but for now I am ‘ignoring’ those.

 

Some Traits (notably sub faction; looking at you Ultras and Fists), are just better than the other. But then 6 generic ones, while I think the auras > personal. All six have their advantages. Imperium Sword turns any SM Captain into a budget Hammerpants from BA (still have -1 to hit. Through Crimson Fist have FistPants instead, which is a very similar unit).

 

What I am asking, is do Warlord Traits and how they work now, better than in past and actually promote more genuine character customization? And are Six Warlord Traits actually ‘balanced’ among themselves or they just bad?

 

Another topic that could be discussed should (chapter) Warlord Traits exist? And should being limited to (chapter) be considered a ‘downside’ (if regular Warlord Trait has a Value of 5. Being limited to a Chapters reduces Trait innate Value. Meaning that a (chapter) Warlord Trait should be better than generic trait.)

 

Corrollary question, is the same but applied to relics. Or is 8th Character Customization despite adding another’s level of customization (non randomly compared to 6th-7th), and having relics be ‘free’ vs costing an arm and leg, not functionally change anything?

[Dracos]

As usual the Vanilla Codex is lazuh focused on Ultramarines and the Warlord trait for Raven Guard does nothing for my Primaris Marines so ... “counts as” is the way I go until GW ever decides to truly support DIY Primaris.

[Claws and Effect]

Worth noting: only special characters are locked into a Chapter Warlord Trait.

 

Any non named characters can still take any trait they like, with the chapter's trait as an additional option.

 

In Shrike's case, being locked into the trait that disallows Overwatch is a boon, because he can only deal any damage in melee.

 

I'm not as familiar with other traits, so I can't speak for them.

Edited March 5, 2018 by Claws and Effect

[Dracos]

Race isn’t the only special little snowflake in our Raven Guard family ;). I am converting one of my Inceptor models into a “count as” Shrike. Some of us just have to have our cake and eat it too Edited March 5, 2018 by Inquisitor Dracos

[Captain Idaho]

It's an interesting question. I know I'm struggling to move away from Adept of the Codex for my Ultramarines.

 

Storm of Fire could be useful for a Captain with Terminators on the drop or jumping out of a Rhino with Sternguard.

 

Any anecdotes?

[Acebaur]

Well as a Templar player I feel like some of them are pretty useless.  

 

Angel of Death - Seems situational at best, regardless of faction mostly because I haven't encountered situations where failed Ld tests are really a problem. 

 

The Imperium's Sword - Half of it's benefit is lost because I already get re-rolls and +1 attack doesn't seem worth it on one guy

 

Iron Resolve - So far has been my go to trait. An extra wound is boss and saving an odd wound or two on a 6 is icing on the cake

 

Storm of Fire - My warlords generally run with combat units so this doesn't seem as useful but still good in the right list

 

Rites of War - ATSKNF basically makes this completely useless

 

Champion of Humanity - Again not super useful when I'm usually hitting on 2's or 3's anyway and wounding on 2's or 3's with a Relic blade or a Hammer. Plus I already have a dirt cheap character who does this anyway(Emperor's Champion)

 

Oathkeeper(BT one) - This is actually quite a good trait, especially if you put your warlord in some kind of TDA as you will have a harder time getting into combat so you can more easily just waltz right in and kill stuff. 

[Schlitzaf]

Ace Angel of Death pretty awesome, if you can get in range with it. And couple stats of -1 modifiers (Reivars for example). It’s basically a equivalent to have killed another model. If you can get 2-3 Squads in the range it’s even better. Also Rites of War provides another bubble for our Shock Immune. I always choose it for more competitive games alongside the Cenos.

[Captain Idaho]

Yeah Angel of Death just seems situational.

 

Though trying to get it to work I reckon we can use it for clearing up stragglers in units after a heavy assault.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I use Iron Resolve on my Iron Hands Captain, combined with his Chapter Tactic, TDA, and the Shield Eternal to mske him as tough as possible. 2+, 3++, 2×6+++, half damage from multiwound hits. He's not invincible, but he's tough.

 

The Chapter trait, by comparison, seems really meh.

[Firepower]

While it makes perfect sense that special characters are locked into their Chapter's unique trait, it can certainly be annoying.  Lysander isn't exactly a match to the Fist trait (my local GW manager was rather sad when I reminded him of this rule mid-game, when he was running Lyssie with a generic trait), and the Templar trait is good for some and not so good for others (i.e. great for the Champ, but Helbrecht doesn't get +d3 attacks for charging).  Still, just because you take special characters doesn't mean they have to be your warlord, so far as I know.  That little rule no longer seems to exist in character profiles, and I'm glad of it.

 

Overall, some are better than others, but that's always going to be the case.  If they were all good, there would still be a couple of go-to choices that were better than the rest, although that's a good problem to have. :teehee:

[Dracos]

 ...  Still, just because you take special characters doesn't mean they have to be your warlord, so far as I know.  That little rule no longer seems to exist in character profiles, and I'm glad of it.

 

I hadn't planned my build around it, but this would make my build using Kestrel <Shrike> "counts as" for my Primaris <Raven Guard> Successors much better. I'd rather my generic Primaris Captain buffing the gunline (Read heavy plasma Hellblasters) serve as Warlord.

 

I've seen too many battle reports where Shrike bites the dust with enemy counter assault/shooting.

[Brother Crimson]

Angel of death and rites of war are good only in certain list but can be used to great benefit. In the other 90% of lists it does nothing.

 

Storm of fire is pretty good with high volume of fire like assault cannons and aggressors. Extra ap is almost always good especially when we are talking about ap-1/-2

 

Iron resolve and imperium sword are the easy you know what you get ones.

 

Champion of humanity is great, especially against bigger characters (demon prince, swarmlord,etc) or with a Thunder hammer to mitigate the -1 to hit.

 

We started to play that you can determine warlord traits after revealing the list and the marine codex gives good adaptability with their choices.(as with relics).

[Schlitzaf]

Fair and tbh I like the fact that the as you said “good only in 10%” of lists. Because I honestly see Warlord Traits as a make your own special character rules. Espacially given actual SC are trait locked. It makes it so the various traits are stronger and could be built around in certain lists. Through frankly my least favorite traits are traits that are “tactic redundant” see Reroll Charge and Attack Trait for Templars. While Templars only 1 Chapter of around 8-9. It is still annoying, I’d prefer it be 3d6 Drop the lowest or something