Deploying Rubrics

[Tyriks]

Hey guys. My small TS warband is rapidly becoming my go-to army lately. They are a ton of fun to play. I'm looking to expand them soon, and I love using Rubrics so I think I'm gonna buy more. I currently have 3 squads of 10, and I usually field them as such.

 

My question is: if you bring a squad of 20, how do you deploy them? Dropping out of the webway has worked for me but I'm wondering if there are other options. Sometimes you just need a big threat like that turn one to take pressure off so waiting until turn two doesn't always work. But if I'm spending the points on 20 rubrics I'm not sure I want to have them walk.

 

FW has some super heavies that can take a legion sized squad, but that's obviously a significant investment. Do people like those? Some of them look pretty cool but I have enough paperweight models for my Necrons, I don't want to add more. Or do people typically just use the Dark Matter Crystal and the Webway? Or a turn one advance with Warptime?

[Vykes]

Hmmm, interesting question.  While I'm still mostly coming at this from a 'Black Legion' point of view, and thus one that doesn't use the same little bits like the webway, I do use large squads and a fair bit of FW heavies (shocking for a 30K skinned force, I know).  

 

Warptime is a perfectly good way to go about it, even if rubrics are a tad slow. 

 

But, If you want real speed, a Storm Eagle might be an option: It carries 20, it's got a Land Raider's worth of wounds, its fast enough to be 'hard to hit', its got a decent potential for weapons payloads if you want to up the cost to Land Raider level, but you still have the option to keep it as a 'cheap' pelican transport (in so far as a sub-300 point vehicle can be called 'cheap').  I personally love the blasted things to ferry in 'cult' troops like Rubrics, Plague Marines, and Berserkers.  

 

The other real option is a Spartan... it's mean.  Oddly, it's not as tough as you might expect - it's certainly no 30K flare shielded monstrosity- but it carries some serious anti-tank firepower and can carry 25 which means a full squad, and a hero or two in terminator armour or whatever you want.  It's still the deathstar-mobile, and you're going to pay for it.  I tend to use it as a terminator spearhead, so 10+1-2 characters can pile in, though it can do a very good job of carrying that big 20-strong squad and a small support squad.  

 

Of the two, I use Storm Eagles more because they are cheaper and high mobility is just how I like working with 8E.  Just be aware that Forgeworld transports eat wallets, space, and your own models.  

[Tyriks]

Thanks for the detailed response! I don't think I had considered Storm Eagles; only the tanks. I only recently made my first FW order (Thousand Sons legion praetor and 2 Leviathans) and I've been considering my next already. A Storm Eagle definitely looks awesome, could serve as a useful utility and a nice centerpiece model. I am right there with you on speed - maybe just because my other armies are Necrons and AdMech, but I always feel like I need more reliable and fast units. Hmmmm....

[The Yncarne]

I don’t have any transport options for a 20 man squad. I rely on either the Dark Matter Crystal and/or warp time to get the unit to where it needs to be.

 

In my limited experience the web way deployment is best as it tends to force my opponent to react to that. I suspect good players will have a response though.

 

While a spartan or storm eagle sound wonderful I fear that many points in a single place will prove catastrophic. They do look real cool though!

[Vykes]

No problem, mate.  Aye,  the aircraft tend to really get overlooked when it comes to FW because they have just soooo many tanks.  Good job on the FW order too (Levvies are mean and that Thousand Sons praetor is an awesome model).  I'll admit I do love Eagles (between my Blood Angels and Sons of Horus, I've got 3 and plan on 1-2 more), but like The Blood Raven said, they can be a points trap if you add the twin multi meltas and las cannons.  But they can be cheaper than a Land Raider with similar stats, so I do think they're worth it if you're already taking the 20 strong squad.  Yes, an Eagle isn't quite as points efficient as a loyalist Storm Raven, but they sure do look a whole lot better!.  I can see it being a pretty big draw for its movement alone, especially over something like Necrons and Ad-mech who don't have quite that mobility, and certainly not in a transport. 

 

The Spartan is 100% an all or nothing group as we're talking about hitting that 1K mark with the squad and a bit inside.  Yes, it can still shoot while in combat and can't be locked, making it more effective than something like a Raider.  But, the Eagle is decently points efficient and the premium of a bare 20 strong rubric squad and a slimmed down Eagle isn't much more than a slightly bulky 10 man squad in a Raider.  

 

Both are fantastic centerpieces.  :)

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

Warptime has been all I've ever needed. I don't even put them in the Webway. I just march them upfield with a Daemon Prince and Ahriman both in the center for buffs.

[Archaeinox]

Whether or not you use the Webway Infiltration to deploy a 20man Rubric Marines unit depends on the other threats in your army. 

 

So, when (not if..) the enemy has turn 1, you have enough threats on the battlefield to ensure that you don't get tabled and that when the Rubric Marine bomb arrives your army is still effective and the infiltrators aren't completely cut off and unsupported.

 

For example, 20 Rubric Marines is just over 400 with 2x Soulreaper Cannons. That gives you a solid 1500 for other threats you can provide to your opponent such as dual predators, some tzaangor spam to deploy, or anything else. Once the Rubric Marines arrive, the Big Deal about the whole thing is that it only costs 1 CP to do it. 

 

There are other considerations. You need to put a character next to them for re-rolls. If you have a firebase like predators or whatever, you will want an Exalted Sorcerer or Ahriman next to it for re-rolling those 1s to hit. Which means he should probably have Dark Matter Crystal to fling another Exalted Sorcerer up there with the Rubrics. That saves you 2CPs if you were to infiltrate a character with the Rubrics..... and we need those CPs for bad Perils of the Warp rolls or Veterans of the Long War strat.

 

All that said, deploying the 20 man unit is nice but remember that you will always need to save 2 CPs for a bad morale test that you know you will have to take. Average opponents will hammer that unit hard, forcing a check. 

 

I am not a fan of big 20 blocks of Rubrics. I think 10 is ideal. Two units of 10 in the Webway is a viable choice, and gives you the option to put them all in the same area or different areas. The bad thing about the 20 block is that once you plop it down, you better have Dark Crystal ready or else you are stuck on whichever side of the table you arrive on because of the slow movement. Using Dark Crystal to reposition is fantastic. 

 

Lots of options, lots are viable. It depends on your local players. Without seeing that, I'm not sure we can offer too much advice. If your area is like mine, Disintegrators are hell and life is pain.

[BitsHammer]

As an alternative to flinging an Exalted, you can drop the Rubrics next to a Daemon Prince turn 2 (since he's likely to be somewhere towards the middle to far side of the board from your lines anyways), or use the extra mobility of a disc to get Ahriman or an Exalted Sorceror up the table near where you need them (consider Warptiming them the turn you drop the Rubrics to get him in range (giving him a potential of up to 36" of range to get where you need him in a single turn) and save the crystal for throwing a block of goats forward, or using it later to pull your Rubrics out of the inevitable combat they'll end up in and redeploy them somewhere else to throw your opponent's lines out of order.

 

If you're running a Disc Exalted, consider a pair of power swords with one of them being swapped for the Seer's Bane if you need a beatstick to help defend your Rubrics as well. He'll do a fair amount of work and discourage your opponent from bringing anything too burly near him since most of the burlier options in armies have higher leadership values (letting him hit them even harder than he would normally).

[Archaeinox]

Dual swords exalted on foot is much better because he can use Veterans of the Long War trait if he needs it, and of course he can use that while wielding Seer's Bane. Disc exalted can't, which makes him less effective if you have to dive into combat with a Knight. Try it sometime with a guy on foot if you can eat the overwatch with a rhino or tzaangors

[BitsHammer]

Dual swords exalted on foot is much better because he can use Veterans of the Long War trait if he needs it, and of course he can use that while wielding Seer's Bane. Disc exalted can't, which makes him less effective if you have to dive into combat with a Knight. Try it sometime with a guy on foot if you can eat the overwatch with a rhino or tzaangors

I was looking at him being less a way to tackle a Knight (I'd rather use a Flickering Flame buffed Defiler with lascannons sitting next to someone that hands out rerolls to hit) and more a way to discourage opponents from throwing harder melee units into the Rubrics since it'll make your Exalted a meaner beat stick in melee (thus making them less likely to want to go near him since he can hand out multi-wounds like candy on Halloween and will do wounds more easily via his buffed strength) and fly will let you hop over intervening Rubric models to perform a Heroic Intervention more easily.

 

I'd likely pop VotLW on the Rubrics instead since they have a higher weight of attacks and S4 can use the buff to wounding to make the punch back after getting charged more effective. Plus people want to charge your Rubrics since overwatch for them is a lot less scary than our regular shooting phase (and their melee is even less scary than that), so giving them a little help will help drag some opposing models down via weight of dice.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

Whether or not you use the Webway Infiltration to deploy a 20man Rubric Marines unit depends on the other threats in your army. 

 

So, when (not if..) the enemy has turn 1, you have enough threats on the battlefield to ensure that you don't get tabled and that when the Rubric Marine bomb arrives your army is still effective and the infiltrators aren't completely cut off and unsupported.

 

For example, 20 Rubric Marines is just over 400 with 2x Soulreaper Cannons. That gives you a solid 1500 for other threats you can provide to your opponent such as dual predators, some tzaangor spam to deploy, or anything else. Once the Rubric Marines arrive, the Big Deal about the whole thing is that it only costs 1 CP to do it. 

 

There are other considerations. You need to put a character next to them for re-rolls. If you have a firebase like predators or whatever, you will want an Exalted Sorcerer or Ahriman next to it for re-rolling those 1s to hit. Which means he should probably have Dark Matter Crystal to fling another Exalted Sorcerer up there with the Rubrics. That saves you 2CPs if you were to infiltrate a character with the Rubrics..... and we need those CPs for bad Perils of the Warp rolls or Veterans of the Long War strat.

 

All that said, deploying the 20 man unit is nice but remember that you will always need to save 2 CPs for a bad morale test that you know you will have to take. Average opponents will hammer that unit hard, forcing a check. 

 

I am not a fan of big 20 blocks of Rubrics. I think 10 is ideal. Two units of 10 in the Webway is a viable choice, and gives you the option to put them all in the same area or different areas. The bad thing about the 20 block is that once you plop it down, you better have Dark Crystal ready or else you are stuck on whichever side of the table you arrive on because of the slow movement. Using Dark Crystal to reposition is fantastic. 

 

Lots of options, lots are viable. It depends on your local players. Without seeing that, I'm not sure we can offer too much advice. If your area is like mine, Disintegrators are hell and life is pain.

I agree that the 20 man brick does not work well without other threats, or (more importantly) without redundancy to continue pressing the issue while the Brick eats the majority of fire.

 

I personally also run  almost 40 Tzaangors in 2 units, multiple Daemon Princes and 3x5 SO Terminators. The Tzaangors can be launched forward via Dark Crystal or dropped in via Webway, depending on turn and circumstance. The opponent will have to prep to screen against Deepstrike, Dark Crystal, and/or a Warp Time'd Daemon Prince, which will often hurt their concentration of fire (deploying the Tzaangors last helps with this). As I've mentioned before, I even played this into a competitive Alaitoc Eldar list and had few problems. The new Deepstrike rules don't hurt this all that much, since we primarily want our Terminators to achieve local superiority through concentrated fire rather than attempting to charge anything anyway. Currently working on replacing one unit of SOT with a Mutalith Vortex Beast to spread the threats further at the start and add some more variables that my opponent has to think about, as well as using the difference to put in a Tzaangor Shaman to make an eventual Tzaangor strike even more of a concern for my opponent.

 

And oh yeah.....ALWAYS save 2CP for that morale test. Very much agreed. :)

[Kite Senet]

So, what would be optimal for these additional threats to pair with a 20-man Rubric squad? Are you mostly referring to other more affordable mob units like Tzaangors or Cultists? Otherwise, what other such threats would work well paired with Rubricae?

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

So, what would be optimal for these additional threats to pair with a 20-man Rubric squad? Are you mostly referring to other more affordable mob units like Tzaangors or Cultists? Otherwise, what other such threats would work well paired with Rubricae?

 

My own threat matrix was explained in the previous post, including the reasoning.... 

 

"I personally also run  almost 40 Tzaangors in 2 units, multiple Daemon Princes and 3x5 SO Terminators. The Tzaangors can be launched forward via Dark Crystal or dropped in via Webway, depending on turn and circumstance. The opponent will have to prep to screen against Deepstrike, Dark Crystal, and/or a Warp Time'd Daemon Prince, which will often hurt their concentration of fire (deploying the Tzaangors last helps with this). As I've mentioned before, I even played this into a competitive Alaitoc Eldar list and had few problems. The new Deepstrike rules don't hurt this all that much, since we primarily want our Terminators to achieve local superiority through concentrated fire rather than attempting to charge anything anyway. Currently working on replacing one unit of SOT with a Mutalith Vortex Beast to spread the threats further at the start and add some more variables that my opponent has to think about, as well as using the difference to put in a Tzaangor Shaman to make an eventual Tzaangor strike even more of a concern for my opponent."

 

Basically anything that is enough of a threat to draw fire WITHOUT pulling buffs away from the Rubricae. So this generally disqualifies Magnus. I personally like making sure EVERYTHING in the army has a 5++ or better and enough offensive power that it can cripple or kill a typical enemy troop unit in one turn of psychic casting +shooting +charging. Even my Terminator Sorcerer can manage a cripple on a 5 man squad of Scouts or 10 Guardsmen via Smite plus 4 Inferno shots plus charging.

[frightnight]

So, what would be optimal for these additional threats to pair with a 20-man Rubric squad? Are you mostly referring to other more affordable mob units like Tzaangors or Cultists? Otherwise, what other such threats would work well paired with Rubricae?

Since I don't own any Tzaangor troops or a MVB, my threats are Defilers, a Daemon Prince, and then a blob of cultists and Spawn rushing at them.

[Archaeinox]

I'd also like to mention that at my store we do NOT use the Tactical Reserves Beta. So I'm sure this has a lot to do with how I play. 

 

For example, I drop 10 Scarab Occult and two units of Rubrics in turn 1 frequently. If they make it official, my shop is definitely going to follow it.

[BitsHammer]

Considering they didn't drop any of the other beta rules they've rolled out before it's more likely they'll keep it in one form or another. 

 

Plus I feel like it's important to play with it for the sake of providing feedback to GW on how well it works since they're looking for said feedback but that's just my take.

[Kite Senet]

Okay, thanks! I was wondering a bit with the statement that it should not be "without redundancy" there. In particular, is it wise to run a "Plan B" unit, in case the Rubrics fall, that *can* capitalize on one's psychic/CP buffing economy but doesn't really need it to serve some role in the army? I'm wondering especially about your large Tzaangor units, and especially about why you select 40 in 2 units (presumably 20+20?) and if these are intended as Plan B units. (I assume that if they've targeted the Rubrics down then the Tzaangors will be relatively intact, after all.) If they are in units of 20, is this intentionally so in preference to 30 or 10 birdgoatman units? (A sweet spot between morale losses and buff-ability?)

 

Another big question: How many sorcerers would you recommend bringing to satisfy the psychic-hungry Rubricae squad? (And, for my own personal purposes, would this change, and by how much, in 1000 point games?)

 

And finally: is it safe to assume that a DISTRACTION MAGNUS is a bad strategy then? It seems deliciously hilarious to have a suicidal Primarch rushing the front lines to keep 433 points of Rubric Marines from dying, but he is more than a bit expensive to use him in that manner.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

Okay, thanks! I was wondering a bit with the statement that it should not be "without redundancy" there. In particular, is it wise to run a "Plan B" unit, in case the Rubrics fall, that *can* capitalize on one's psychic/CP buffing economy but doesn't really need it to serve some role in the army? I'm wondering especially about your large Tzaangor units, and especially about why you select 40 in 2 units (presumably 20+20?) and if these are intended as Plan B units. (I assume that if they've targeted the Rubrics down then the Tzaangors will be relatively intact, after all.) If they are in units of 20, is this intentionally so in preference to 30 or 10 birdgoatman units? (A sweet spot between morale losses and buff-ability?)

 

Another big question: How many sorcerers would you recommend bringing to satisfy the psychic-hungry Rubricae squad? (And, for my own personal purposes, would this change, and by how much, in 1000 point games?)

 

And finally: is it safe to assume that a DISTRACTION MAGNUS is a bad strategy then? It seems deliciously hilarious to have a suicidal Primarch rushing the front lines to keep 433 points of Rubric Marines from dying, but he is more than a bit expensive to use him in that manner.

My goats are 27/10. 27 as a shock unit with a brayhorn and the other no-frills as a screen/objective grabber or support for another assault.

 

By redundancy, I mean that you have other units that can do the job WHILE the enemy is pouring insane amounts of fire into your Rubrics. If they're going to die (and they eventually will), then take advantage of the distraction to cause lots of damage elsewhere.

 

I run Ahriman on foot and a foot Daemon Prince in the middle of the blob, bubble-wrapped 360 degrees. Between them, they take the following powers to help the Rubrics do what they do: Prescience, Glamour of Tzeentch, Weaver of Fates, and Warptime. Ahriman also takes Temporal Manipulation to heal himself or another character. The second Daemon Prince in my army (who's out there flying around) takes Gaze of Fate, which is ALWAYS cast first in the turn so that it can help mitigate Perils if necessary or otherwise enhance subsequent castings.

 

I also have the Terminator Sorcerer and the Tzaangor Shaman, as well as 1 Aspiring and 2 SOT Sorcerers. They all take backup copies of the buff powers for redundancy and then default to Smite until needed. Sometimes I work in Tzeentch's Firestorm and Infernal Gaze if I need a bit more firepower. Death Hex is a good choice, just not one I've had to use often.

 

TLDR: 5 Psyker Characters with at least some redundancy between them is a good amount. I don't think Distraction Magnus is a good idea. Spend the points on more untargetable, Smite-spamming characters instead. Seer's Bane "death blender" Exalted is a great idea for counter-charge or assassination duties.

[Raven1]

I would agree that Magnus makes a bad distraction unit because he is targetable from basically anywhere. Where as a non-targetable character(s) demon prince/sorcerer who is fast will be more effective than one Magnus. Or you know why not both?

[BitsHammer]

I would agree that Magnus makes a bad distraction unit because he is targetable from basically anywhere. Where as a non-targetable character(s) demon prince/sorcerer who is fast will be more effective than one Magnus. Or you know why not both?

I've also seen people lauding the Defiler as being a solid distraction carnifex as it's fast, can do reasonably well in combat, is decently tough and benefits from Daemon based buffs. Also if you go with getting stuck in it can use Warpflame Gargoyles for maximum hilarity.

 

That said, I've been interested in the firebase version (Lascannons, Havoc Launcher, Combi-bolter (which can be upgraded for -2 AP) and then tossing Flickering Flames on it to give it +1 to wound. Support with an Exalted Sorceror for rerolling 1s to hit and you have a reasonably solid option for wrecking things.

 

Of course if you want to go straight up distraction carnifex (by running a big scary looking monster that isn't too expensive), you could run a MVB right up into the enemy lines enjoy eating chaffe. Plus he can benefit from his vortex powers since you don't have to buff Infantry units with them.

[Kite Senet]

I see; thanks! I appreciate the help! I have a Ru-Brick unit in the works myself, now needing only a touch of white paint on the tabards and their varnish, and I'm trying to figure out how best to utilize them. For some reason I have problems motivating myself to get paint on HQs but now-50 Rubricae and 26 Tzaangors are no problem, hence my interest in determining how much psychic potential is necessary to fuel the machine.

 

I might have to convert myself a twinblade Exalted Sorcerer; I wish I had known it was going to be an option when I was building my Exalted Sorcerers box, since it would've been a bit of a no-brainer decision for me.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

 

I would agree that Magnus makes a bad distraction unit because he is targetable from basically anywhere. Where as a non-targetable character(s) demon prince/sorcerer who is fast will be more effective than one Magnus. Or you know why not both?

I've also seen people lauding the Defiler as being a solid distraction carnifex as it's fast, can do reasonably well in combat, is decently tough and benefits from Daemon based buffs. Also if you go with getting stuck in it can use Warpflame Gargoyles for maximum hilarity.

 

That said, I've been interested in the firebase version (Lascannons, Havoc Launcher, Combi-bolter (which can be upgraded for -2 AP) and then tossing Flickering Flames on it to give it +1 to wound. Support with an Exalted Sorceror for rerolling 1s to hit and you have a reasonably solid option for wrecking things.

 

Of course if you want to go straight up distraction carnifex (by running a big scary looking monster that isn't too expensive), you could run a MVB right up into the enemy lines enjoy eating chaffe. Plus he can benefit from his vortex powers since you don't have to buff Infantry units with them.

 

And if the MVB is walking just ahead of the Brick, they get the buffs too. Plus, you can burn a few CP to get 3 powers per turn if you really want to. For 150 points, the MVB might as well be named "Distraction Carnifex of Tzeentch."

 

A CC Defiler can be good too if you run a small Daemon detachment, so that a Herald can give it +1 strength and the weird buff from Locus of Trickery (even though the detachment has to be a Battleforged Daemon detachment to activate the special loci, their auras do work on other Daemons with the proper keywords).

[BitsHammer]

 

 

I would agree that Magnus makes a bad distraction unit because he is targetable from basically anywhere. Where as a non-targetable character(s) demon prince/sorcerer who is fast will be more effective than one Magnus. Or you know why not both?

I've also seen people lauding the Defiler as being a solid distraction carnifex as it's fast, can do reasonably well in combat, is decently tough and benefits from Daemon based buffs. Also if you go with getting stuck in it can use Warpflame Gargoyles for maximum hilarity.

 

That said, I've been interested in the firebase version (Lascannons, Havoc Launcher, Combi-bolter (which can be upgraded for -2 AP) and then tossing Flickering Flames on it to give it +1 to wound. Support with an Exalted Sorceror for rerolling 1s to hit and you have a reasonably solid option for wrecking things.

 

Of course if you want to go straight up distraction carnifex (by running a big scary looking monster that isn't too expensive), you could run a MVB right up into the enemy lines enjoy eating chaffe. Plus he can benefit from his vortex powers since you don't have to buff Infantry units with them.

 

And if the MVB is walking just ahead of the Brick, they get the buffs too. Plus, you can burn a few CP to get 3 powers per turn if you really want to. For 150 points, the MVB might as well be named "Distraction Carnifex of Tzeentch."

 

A CC Defiler can be good too if you run a small Daemon detachment, so that a Herald can give it +1 strength and the weird buff from Locus of Trickery (even though the detachment has to be a Battleforged Daemon detachment to activate the special loci, their auras do work on other Daemons with the proper keywords).

 

I hadn't thought about the Daemon buffs (I've been looking at just mono-TS for the moment) but that's a good point.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

 

 

 

I would agree that Magnus makes a bad distraction unit because he is targetable from basically anywhere. Where as a non-targetable character(s) demon prince/sorcerer who is fast will be more effective than one Magnus. Or you know why not both?

I've also seen people lauding the Defiler as being a solid distraction carnifex as it's fast, can do reasonably well in combat, is decently tough and benefits from Daemon based buffs. Also if you go with getting stuck in it can use Warpflame Gargoyles for maximum hilarity.

 

That said, I've been interested in the firebase version (Lascannons, Havoc Launcher, Combi-bolter (which can be upgraded for -2 AP) and then tossing Flickering Flames on it to give it +1 to wound. Support with an Exalted Sorceror for rerolling 1s to hit and you have a reasonably solid option for wrecking things.

 

Of course if you want to go straight up distraction carnifex (by running a big scary looking monster that isn't too expensive), you could run a MVB right up into the enemy lines enjoy eating chaffe. Plus he can benefit from his vortex powers since you don't have to buff Infantry units with them.

 

And if the MVB is walking just ahead of the Brick, they get the buffs too. Plus, you can burn a few CP to get 3 powers per turn if you really want to. For 150 points, the MVB might as well be named "Distraction Carnifex of Tzeentch."

 

A CC Defiler can be good too if you run a small Daemon detachment, so that a Herald can give it +1 strength and the weird buff from Locus of Trickery (even though the detachment has to be a Battleforged Daemon detachment to activate the special loci, their auras do work on other Daemons with the proper keywords).

 

I hadn't thought about the Daemon buffs (I've been looking at just mono-TS for the moment) but that's a good point.

 

Yep...and because of the gigantic amount of space it takes up, Warpflame Gargoyles do a lot more work than they would on other vehicles. I still have them modeled on mine from when I built it back in the 3.5 days.

[Tyriks]

Man, Scarab Occult Terminators are amazing. I hadn't given them much thought beyond their aesthetic value because terminators in general are so overpriced right now, but the comments people made here got me looking into them. If you compare them point for point to Rubric Marines, they look very good. One SOT is the same cost as two RM, and for that you get the same number of wounds, same ranged output, power swords in close combat, a built in deep strike, and slightly better survivability. And the ranged output is technically better on the SOT since the sorcerer has a normal gun also, instead of the Aspiring Sorcerer's pistol. So unless d2 weapons are common in your meta, SOT are better point for point if you keep them naked. And since you aren't spending CP on deep strike you have more flexibility; you could bring a couple small units or one big unit without worrying about cost to deploy.

 

Upgrades become less attractive on the SOT, though. Picking up a soulreaper effectively costs you two naked Rubric Marines worth of shooting instead of just one on a Rubric squad. Since the hellfyre missiles don't replace a weapon, they look good to me, though. I am gonna be picking up a couple boxes this week for sure!

 

EDIT: It is worth remembering that Rubric Marines are troops, though, and so have obsec and if you are using SOT you'll need to also have troops so that can make them harder to fit into lists.