Sold off House Raven, Considering 2 others...

[Prot]

Before CA2 came out I decided months ago my House Raven idea became too potent, and for better or worse I sold off the Paladin, Crusader, Warden, 2 Warglaives, and my Dominus Castellan.

 

Now I find I'm trying to build that support back up. I doubt I will get another Castellan however this is what I have right now in the works (Nothing is built or painted aside from two Warglaives):

 

- Warglaives (painted x2)

- Helverins Unpainted x2

- Helverins Unassembled x2

 

- Dominus Vanguard (in a box)

- Crusader (assembled)

- Paladin (partially assembled)

 

(Considering adding a Preceptor because -most- of my everyday games will probably one Knight, +Warglaives x2. Also definitely adding a single Gallant. )

 

So that's my inventory/plans.

 

What I'm trying to figure out is which Mechanicus Questoris House to go with?  So I'm asking for some advice on this and I am at a point where I need to add paint to some of these models!

 

What I'm looking for is something that will gel well with these Knights considering they will be pairing up with my AdMech 90% of the time. (Always Mars, nothing else).

 

- Krast is the front runner simply for the reroll to hits when charged or charging. However I'm going to need these guys for tank shooting too and don't always foresee running a Gallant.

 

- Taranis and Vulker are the two unknowns. Taranis is kind of mediocre on paper. I mean how often are you getting that 6++ feel no pain roll off in a game? I'm trying to recall but did their strat go up by 1 CP for a potential Knight revival? 

 

Vulker is rerolling 1's on closest target, however this could work in overwatch as well, and isn't so bad for Warglaives which are often advancing. Their Strategem seems solid with exploding 6's on my favourite Knight (Crusader). 

 

Any thoughts on what you think matches up with Mars AdMech best? 

[Vash113]

Well fluff wise House Taranis is the obvious choice. While a 6+ FNP doesn't sound fantastic, given that a Questoris Knight has 24 wounds you are likely adding an average of 4 more wounds to a Knight before it is destroyed. In a 2000 point list where you could realistically be fielding four fully kitted out Questoris Knights that's adding 16 more wounds, or more than half an additional Knight the enemy has to kill. Plus there's the Strategem to bring a Knight back and that can be quite nasty as well.

However my favorite house is Vulker. The re-rolling 1's to hit has proven very useful in my games. It can add some difficulty when working out which enemy unit is the closest and trying to make the one you want to kill the closest but with 12" moves Knights can do a good bit to maneuver and even if not always being in play it can be quite useful when it is. Plus for 1CP Vulker gets Saturation Bombardment and exploding 6's to hit is very nice. On a Crusader it makes for a punishing round of shooting, especially if you are also re-rolling 1's.

That said if your focus is as an ally to Mechanicus then the question is what does your force need? If your running a ton of shooty Castellan's than shooty Knights may not be what you need to balance your force, or maybe it is if you want to just load up on all the shooting you can. Taranis gives you durability, Vulker helps make your shooting more reliable, Krast as you noted helps boost your melee potential. So which of those sounds most useful for your list?

[Prot]

I like that thinking, and appreciate that you've tried it. 

 

I think originally a lot of people were against the House trait because of the 'closest' mechanism, but I always felt like it's one of those things that when you really, really need it to go off, it's super handy.

 

I see the new Knight transfer sheet is very tempting since it helps out with the house decals I'd need... I haven't bought a new Knight since the Dominus release..

[Vash113]

I like that thinking, and appreciate that you've tried it. 

 

I think originally a lot of people were against the House trait because of the 'closest' mechanism, but I always felt like it's one of those things that when you really, really need it to go off, it's super handy.

 

I see the new Knight transfer sheet is very tempting since it helps out with the house decals I'd need... I haven't bought a new Knight since the Dominus release..

 

I certainly think it's super handy. Plus it also incentivizes target focus and careful selection. As I understand it you determine the closest enemy unit when you select a unit to shoot with. Then if that target is destroyed when you choose the next unit you now determine which enemy unit is the new closest. This does not work gun by gun but it does unit by unit. If I have a Warden, an Errant and a Crusader and the three closest units are a Leman Russ, a squad of Guardsmen and then a squad of Custodes Jetbikes. Well the first closest is the Russ so maybe I choose the Errant and try to destroy the Leman Russ. If I succeed then the next closest are the Guardsmen so I choose the Warden and wipe them out. Then the Crusader can now select the Custodians as the closest unit and put it's full firepower on them. In this way you can use some units in your list to clear away the chaff units to expose the targets you really want that re-roll 1 against. If you are allying Knights to a larger Mechanicus army that means you could use your Mechanicus units to take out enemy screens before then selecting the Knights to target the now exposed enemy heavy-hitters. Careful target selection and determining which unit and which weapons to put against which target helps maximize the use of the re-roll 1 ability. It takes more thought and consideration but it also can be quite rewarding.

 

 

[hermanista]

Don't underestimate Headsmans Mark on a RFBC Crusader as well, Damage 4 avenger shouts and damage d3+2 RFBC shots can put out some hurt.

 

It's what I'm running for an event on Saturday, whilst my Lancer Warlord gets Ion Bulwark

[Prot]

Man this is turning out to be a hard decision. Today is my Boxing Day challenge and I’m painting 2 Helverins and the Crusader.

 

I can’t decide but need to put colour on. I am back to Krast I believe since that shooting Strat kind of makes up for not having a good shooty angle with Krast.

 

Vulker is super tempting, as is Taranis but both of those feel very situational. I could be wrong but I gotta get to work on some stuff!

[hermanista]

With that setup I'd personally go with Vulker.

 

Headsmans is great as said about, but I think you'll get more use from saturation bombardment on the crusader, meaning you don't have to get endless fury as a relic for it.

 

You could go for Adamantine Knight/Ion Bulwark to increase its survivability.

 

Or the Helm Dominatus to give +1 to hit for the Armigers if they stay together

[Charlo]

Why shoot tanks when you can punch them?

 

Glorious Krast knows not an acceptable answer!

 

Krast Preceptor and Armigers are ultra reliable on the charge.

[Prot]

Yea that’s what I kept thinking for fun games. A Krast Preceptor and Armigers for rerolls. Nevertheless I do love my Crusaders but the reality is I’ll rarely have a juicy ‘closest target’. Even though the 1 cp Vulker Strat is darn good for Crusaders.

[bigmic66]

I run a castellan with my guard brigade as it fills most of the holes in guard dex. I run it as krast. The extra mellee helps fill that whole if my guard are getting overrun and if I don't need ion bulwark the reroll 1s is nice. I found most experienced players will try kill other :cuss after they bait out the 3++