To Cawl or not to Cawl?

[Toomanyprojects]

Soooo.

 

I’ve recently found myself in the posession of a large amount of Ad Mech stuff (my credit card just slipped, honest) and I’m building up my army.

 

Now the question is this: is Cawl a worthy inclusion in the army? I know he’s a damn fine model and can be fun to play with but is it worth it? I can field an onager, another enginseer and upgrade an attached night to a crusader for the points he costs, and I’m also not wild about being chained to mars only detachment rules.

 

So what do you guys think?

[Charlo]

As you might have noticed from the numerous discussions, Cawl is a hot topic...!

 

Without his massed re-rolls, I find Ad Mech to be a bit stinted in their shooting ability and it's not quite what it should be - however, this then locks you into a somewhat static build with a gunline that, to gain any mobility just means less things are benefiting from Cawl.

 

In reality, if you are playing Mars - take him.

 

If you are tempted to try some of the other FW Dogmas or would like a more mobile and independant non-castle list though, then obviously he isn't as necessary.

[Midlight]

I quite like to run him up the field surrounded by a few squads of vanguard. It's not the most efficient thing to do, but it is fun to see the look on your opponents face when they don't get the static gunline they were expecting.

[Charlo]

I think there is certainly something to be said about him being escorted by a large chunk of Kataphron squads (of both kinds). They are a lot to chew through and can move + fire with impunity.

[Xisor]

For me, the question is one of doctrinal purity, not one of rules or fun. (Though I derive fun from all the lore-based speculation, so...!)

 

That is: "Archmagos Dominus" Carl is surely heretic prime in the eyes of the Omnissiah. Innovation, Xenos liaisons, warp shenanigans, usurpation of forge worlds, cahoots with rival powers, tampering with the Omnissiah's design specifications...

 

No. Carl is not being seen in my force. I might consider proxying him, if I can devise a suitable kitbash/conversion and some lore to substantiate it (another, less active Dominus Dominatum?), but I just can't seriously bring myself to the point of using ADBC as currently presented.

 

He's a Heretek and almost certainlu in cahoots with abominable intelligences.

 

Purging is what is needed, not fielding.

[Ishagu]

Lol Cawl is many things, but a full on heretic?

He learned from the Emperor himself.

 

Back to TC - I think he's totally worth it. He's a really fun character, not a massive point investment, and truly bolsters the units around him.

[Prot]

If you're playing a fire base, he's almost mandatory in my games. It's a very hard army to play with in scenario type play.

 

In non-fire base type lists, he will feel overpointed. Although he went down a smidge in the last Codex Approved, he's largely there to empower your firebase. In competitive play he is not very survivable in CC, but in fun games you'll find he's okay on his own but will need big time support.

 

That said, if you play Mars, he's hard to replace.

[Xisor]

Lol Cawl is many things, but a full on heretic?

Yes, I suppose you're right. Historically, that's a very reasonable outlook. Especially considering

 

Warmaster Horus Lupercal,

Commander of the Luna Wolves Legion Astartes, Warmaster of the Great Crusade.

 

An all round good egg.

[Vel'Cona]

Background tomfoolery notwithstanding, Cawl is a strong model for AdMech on the table.  As Prot said, he brings immense utility with full re-rolls to hit and is reasonably durable.  He also makes Canticles far more predictable and useful (especially combined with Mars Dogma), and provides all this at a surprisingly reasonable cost.  He's leagues better than a basic Dominus for what you pay, so I'd agree he's a "requirement" unless you're planning for a different FW Dogma (such as Lucius or Stygies VIII); in fact, he's good enough that even the significant buffs from other Dogmas still can't compete with having Cawl as an option by picking Mars.

 

In either case, AdMech can be tough to play in the current meta since our stuff is pricer than most and questionably durable at best.  I would never discourage another Techpriest from joining the fold, however, so welcome to the Omnissiah's faithful!  I hope to see some WIP for your forces in the future :)

[Toomanyprojects]

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

I was thinking about dropping him in order to upgrade an attached knight errant to a crusader and fit in a dunecrawler.

 

After much codex reading I’ve dumped two kastellan robots from the list and kept Cawl. Mars was the only forge world doctrine that I was really caught by so Cawl limiting his detachment to that wasn’t a big problem for me, and I tend to play with fire bases anyway - that’s my style

[Charlo]

Thanks for the input everyone.

 

I was thinking about dropping him in order to upgrade an attached knight errant to a crusader and fit in a dunecrawler.

 

After much codex reading I’ve dumped two kastellan robots from the list and kept Cawl. Mars was the only forge world doctrine that I was really caught by so Cawl limiting his detachment to that wasn’t a big problem for me, and I tend to play with fire bases anyway - that’s my style

 

What's the list?

 

If you can post it we can help out :)

 

I'd certainly advise against losing bots, as they are really buffed by Cawl.