Possessed rule and tactic questions

[Furnace Lord]

I fully intend to use the Daemonkin Ritualist detachment when the Vigilus book comes out, regardless of what issues Possessed might have. I wanted to bounce a few questions off more experienced members here related to that:

1. I was thinking of getting the Possessed box and mixing and matching parts with some of the melee marines in Shadowspear. Do you see any WYSIWYG issues if a Possessed is carrying a chainsword or axe if it's clearly a mutated freak of nature?

2. My basic idea is sticking a Master of Possession (as Daemonkin Ritualist warlord), Greater Possessed, and eight Possessed into a Rhino. Is 8 too many? Would you take two smaller units, and would you consider footslogging at all?

3. I'm thinking of taking an allied detachment of Daemons, maybe a Supreme Command detachment, and running a fast Herald along near the Rhino/formation. Ideally when the Possessed get stuck in they'll get buffs from both the Greater Possessed and Herald (assuming I read the synergy correctly), as well as whatever buffing spells and stratagems come from the MoP. What mark (and thus herald) do you think is best to benefit this plan?

4. If I mark them as Khorne, and use the Fury of Khorne stratagem, do I have to roll the number of attacks for the unit again or do they retain whatever the started the fight with?

5. What spells would you take on the Master of Possession, including ones he can get if he swaps one from a mark?

6. I'm new to 8th.....is this idea stark raving mad?

Thank you :)

[40kChrista]

1. Maybe add a little green stuff to sort of make them look a little mutated as well.

 

2. It kind of depends if you want to run a larger squad of Possessed or not.  A 5 man Possessed unit, MoP, Greater Possessed and a Herald would all fit in a Rhino.  Or 2 squads of 5 Possessed with MoK and an Icon of Wrath for the Charge reroll, and might as well make them World Eaters for the extra attack for a successful charge.  Make your Greater Possessed your warlord and give him the Talisman of Burning Blood to keep up with your Possessed.  Or run 2 Rhinos, one with the Possessed squad(s) and one with the HQs, or probably mixed.  I have a unit of 20, and slog because a Spartan is a little expensive at the moment in points and money.

 

3. It also depends on the demons you want to run... mini Bloodletter or Demonette bomb? If you're just wanting the one buffing Herald then maybe a Patrol Detachment might be a better choice.  Personally, I would use Slaanesh Heralds for the +1S and the ability to charge after advancing within 6" of the Herald. With Emperors Children Possessed, who will always strike first, it can get them where they want to be.  There's also giving the Herald Hysterical Frenzy to make the Possessed fight in the psychic phase.  Also, with the psychic phase I'd also take a regular Sorcerer with MoS to cast Delightful Agonies on my Possessed for the 5+ Feel No Pain.

 

4. I've always rerolled it.

 

5. Cursed Earth, Infernal Power and probably swap for Mutated Invigoration.  However, I do feel that regular Sorcerers are better with their spells, Death Hex in particular.

 

6. No, but a lot of people will ask you why aren't you taking Berserkers instead.  I'm basing a lot of lists on my 20 Possessed... because I like them, and now with rules coming out for the Flawless Host, I'm just going to keep playing them.  I'm also not coming from a super competitive angle, so your mileage may vary.

 

Basically, there's a lot of options now for more friendly games.

[SanguinaryGuardsman]

I fully intend to use the Daemonkin Ritualist detachment when the Vigilus book comes out, regardless of what issues Possessed might have. I wanted to bounce a few questions off more experienced members here related to that:

 

1. I was thinking of getting the Possessed box and mixing and matching parts with some of the melee marines in Shadowspear. Do you see any WYSIWYG issues if a Possessed is carrying a chainsword or axe if it's clearly a mutated freak of nature?

 

2. My basic idea is sticking a Master of Possession (as Daemonkin Ritualist warlord), Greater Possessed, and eight Possessed into a Rhino. Is 8 too many? Would you take two smaller units, and would you consider footslogging at all?

 

3. I'm thinking of taking an allied detachment of Daemons, maybe a Supreme Command detachment, and running a fast Herald along near the Rhino/formation. Ideally when the Possessed get stuck in they'll get buffs from both the Greater Possessed and Herald (assuming I read the synergy correctly), as well as whatever buffing spells and stratagems come from the MoP. What mark (and thus herald) do you think is best to benefit this plan?

 

4. If I mark them as Khorne, and use the Fury of Khorne stratagem, do I have to roll the number of attacks for the unit again or do they retain whatever the started the fight with?

 

5. What spells would you take on the Master of Possession, including ones he can get if he swaps one from a mark?

 

6. I'm new to 8th.....is this idea stark raving mad?

 

Thank you

1. No issues.  Why not green stuff some tentacles onto the chainsword?

2. Possessed have very good buff potential since you can take up to 20.  Red Corsairs with 2x10 or 1x20 possessed with mark of tzeentch are one option.  You can use your MoP to give them a 4++ invuln and take a sorcerer to give them 3++.  Toss in The Changeling for 6+ FNP and you have a fairly tanky blob.  Since you are red corsairs you can haul ass.  Dont forget warptime and the new dark apostle.  I'd wager he has fairly strong prayers that buff durability.  You wont win any tournaments with this type of stuff but you already made that decision by wanting to play this formation.

3. In terms of straight up ass busting, world eaters + khorne daemons can't be beat.  Having that extra attack on the charge and VoTLW is the best.  Emperors children has some really nice buffs also.  Excess of Violence is a really gross stratagem when facing down hordes in close combat.  Alpha Legion is also good.  If you make them nurgle you can have your possessed by -2 to hit and gain +1 str from a nurgle herald.  

4. The Writhing Tentacles rules reads

Roll a D3 when a unit of Possessed is selected to attack in the Fight phase

 

RAW: every time you select the unit to attack you gotta roll for hits.

 

5.  Master of Possession:  Cursed Earth all day everyday.  The other power doesnt matter much.  Sorcerer:  Wartime, 24/7.  The other power depends on what mark you gave your possessed. 

Khorne : Prescience

Slaanesh: Delightful Agonies

Tzeentch: Weaver of Fates

Nurgle:  Miasma of Pestilence

 

6.  If you have no overall list plan, then you are quite mad.  If you have a list concept with other supporting elements... not so much.

 

Here is a sample list im will be testing out.... keep in mind I probably would not do this if i had no or little of the models already.

 

Red Corsairs Battalion

 

Exalted Champ

Sorcerer with jump pack, warptime

 

CSM x 5, heavy bolter or rotor cannon (depends on how good these are)

CSM x 5, heavy bolter or rotor cannon

CSM x 5, heavy bolter or rotor cannon

 

Oblits x 2 

 

Red Corsairs Battalion

 

Master of Possession, Cursed Earth, Infernal Power( i dunno, the other powers didnt get me too excited)

Dark Apostle, the black mace

 

CSM x 5, heavy bolter or rotor cannon

CSM x 5, heavy bolter or rotor cannon

CSM x 5, heavy bolter or rotor cannon

 

Greater Possessed

Khorne zerkers x 8, chainaxe+chainsword, icon, powerfist on the champ

Khorne zerkers x 8, chainaxe+chainsword, icon, powerfist on the champ

Khorne zerkers x 8, chainaxe+chainsword, icon, powerfist on the champ

 

Possessed Marines x 10

Possessed Marines x 10

 

There we go.  The idea is just a blood mad blob of marines running up the middle going after objectives/juicy enemy targets.  The marines just sit back and plink away.  I think with 19 CPs this list will have a lot of toys and shenanigans available.   

[Scourged]

So, I use my Possessed a lot, because I love them (and because I refuse to buy Berzerkers until they get a kit update). I am by no means an expert. But, I have also spent a great deal of time theorycrafting to try and make them work. So I'll offer some input from my own experiences. 

 

1. Shouldn't be an issue, honestly. I've kitbashed with the old CSM kit for one batch, and I have chopped up the DV Chosen and kitbashed with them, too. No one who's ever played against them had any complaints. As long as they look mutated, people are generally cool with it. 

 

2. The Party Bus idea tends to work well. I have done the traditional 8 possessed with the EC and DA for all of the rerolls, and it always did... pretty good. It's an expensive little unit, and when people see it coming they know it needs to die. If you're going to rush that Rhino, make sure to have other fast targets to distract. Wave some Maulerfiends in their face so the Possessed can sneak in. Footslogging... eh. I've had slight success with this, but I play Alpha Legion. If you go Red Corsairs, that'll get you Advance and Charge, so maybe that could work.

 

3. Yes to this. Get a mounted Herald and shadow that squad. The buffs will stack, so they'll hit hard. Plus, that's an additional buff you can cast on the squad (unless they're Khorne) thanks to God-specific powers. As far as which God... flavor to taste, really. Each has benefits, thanks to both codeces. Keep in mind, too, that the Locus on the herald will affect the Possessed as well. I think Slaanesh has the best synergy with Possessed:

• The Locus is Advance and Charge (thus letting you run them as any Legion)
• The Herald can make an enemy unit -1 to hit, or chance rolling high and letting the Possessed fight in the Psychic phase if they're locked in combat
• A CSM sorcerer can give them the 5+ to ignore wounds spell
• And giving them the Banner for DttFE on 5+

4. Yup. Gotta roll for attacks again. 

 

5. The MoP can only take from the Malefic table, so based on that I'd say Cursed Earth for sure. Then Probably Infernal Power to get the rerolls of all 1s, thus not needing a Lord/Apostle/Champ to babysit. 

 

6. I mean, you're playing Chaos, so... yes. But in all reality, it's not that crazy of an idea. But there's a ton of points being thrown into this unit as a whole, so it's going to get a bunch of nasty attention.

[Gederas]

I fully intend to use the Daemonkin Ritualist detachment when the Vigilus book comes out, regardless of what issues Possessed might have. I wanted to bounce a few questions off more experienced members here related to that:

 

1. I was thinking of getting the Possessed box and mixing and matching parts with some of the melee marines in Shadowspear. Do you see any WYSIWYG issues if a Possessed is carrying a chainsword or axe if it's clearly a mutated freak of nature?

 

2. My basic idea is sticking a Master of Possession (as Daemonkin Ritualist warlord), Greater Possessed, and eight Possessed into a Rhino. Is 8 too many? Would you take two smaller units, and would you consider footslogging at all?

 

3. I'm thinking of taking an allied detachment of Daemons, maybe a Supreme Command detachment, and running a fast Herald along near the Rhino/formation. Ideally when the Possessed get stuck in they'll get buffs from both the Greater Possessed and Herald (assuming I read the synergy correctly), as well as whatever buffing spells and stratagems come from the MoP. What mark (and thus herald) do you think is best to benefit this plan?

 

4. If I mark them as Khorne, and use the Fury of Khorne stratagem, do I have to roll the number of attacks for the unit again or do they retain whatever the started the fight with?

 

5. What spells would you take on the Master of Possession, including ones he can get if he swaps one from a mark?

 

6. I'm new to 8th.....is this idea stark raving mad?

 

Thank you

1: Reminder, the Possessed kit COMES with arms that are clearly holding a Chainsword and Power Sword. So no, no one should have issues with that. The real issue would be if the Shadowspear Marines don't look 'Possessed' enough.

2: Imo, with Possessed it doesn't matter too much on the squad size.

3: Yes, Daemon Heralds buff Possessed. Slaanesh or Khorne work best for melee dudes.

4: The ability of Writhing Tentacles says "each time this unit fights", so yes, you roll for the number of attacks if you use Fury of Khorne.

5: Cursed Earth is probably the all-out best one. For his second, imo, Mutated Invigoration since this is a Possessed-based army.

6: We're all mad here

[Dr_Ruminahui]

 

2. It kind of depends if you want to run a larger squad of Possessed or not.  A 5 man Possessed unit, MoP, Greater Possessed and a Herald would all fit in a Rhino.  Or 2 squads of 5 Possessed with MoK and an Icon of Wrath for the Charge reroll, and might as well make them World Eaters for the extra attack for a successful charge.  Make your Greater Possessed your warlord and give him the Talisman of Burning Blood to keep up with your Possessed.  Or run 2 Rhinos, one with the Possessed squad(s) and one with the HQs, or probably mixed.  I have a unit of 20, and slog because a Spartan is a little expensive at the moment in points and money.

 

Just one small correction - you can't put a herald in a rhino, as a rhino can only carry <LEGION> infantry, which the herald cannot be.  So, if you take a herald, best to take one that can keep up with the rhino - which kind of rules out a Herald of Nurgle.

[Furnace Lord]

Thank you. I figured if I ran such a thing I'd need additional threats. I was also intending to run at least a couple of aggressive Maulerfiends/Venomcrawlers/some combo, marked, with my other Greater Possessed and Herald with matching marks running behind to buff them (hence the Supreme Command detachment, third HQ slot probably a psyker herald for more shenanigans). I just wanted to get some feedback on the idea.

I've only read through the Codex a few times because I'm waiting for the updated one, does the wording not allow a Marked Master of Possession to swap a power for a God-specific one?

[undivided_apostle]

The master of possession maybe able gain acess to the powers through the chaos familiar stratagem but it isn't a sure thing so I wouldn't count on it.

 

Daemon engines are a lot of fun. I like venom crawlers if you're foot slogging. I've noticed my maulerfiend gets too far ahead of the master of possession so it's harder to take advantage of the buffs.

[40kChrista]

 

 

2. It kind of depends if you want to run a larger squad of Possessed or not.  A 5 man Possessed unit, MoP, Greater Possessed and a Herald would all fit in a Rhino.  Or 2 squads of 5 Possessed with MoK and an Icon of Wrath for the Charge reroll, and might as well make them World Eaters for the extra attack for a successful charge.  Make your Greater Possessed your warlord and give him the Talisman of Burning Blood to keep up with your Possessed.  Or run 2 Rhinos, one with the Possessed squad(s) and one with the HQs, or probably mixed.  I have a unit of 20, and slog because a Spartan is a little expensive at the moment in points and money.

 

Just one small correction - you can't put a herald in a rhino, as a rhino can only carry <LEGION> infantry, which the herald cannot be.  So, if you take a herald, best to take one that can keep up with the rhino - which kind of rules out a Herald of Nurgle.

 

 

Thanks Doc... lol, it's been a LONG time since I've run Rhinos.  I forgot.  Sorry Furnace Lord!

[Doom Herald]

I thought the FAQ stated you could use the strategem to gain Dark Hereticus powers on models that normally couldn't learn Dark Hereticus, a Malignant Plaguecaster or DP of Nurgle for example.

 

Edit: I can't find it in the FAQ, but it pretty clearly says "HERETIC ASTARTES PSYKER" unless they're changing it, which I haven't heard, I'd say it's pretty clear you can.

[Dallas Drake]

I plan on using Possessed quite a bit. I normally play Death Guard so mine are all Nurgle converted in DG colours but I'm not bothered, plus I just converted 2 Nurgle Greater Possessed from Gellerpox and Nurgle bits too. Basically I'm looking at 20 Alpha Legion Possessed, MoP, 2xGP, DA, Nurgle Daemon allies to get a tree.

 

My line of thinking is...

 

Alpha Legion = -1 hit

Miasma of Pestilence from Poxbringer = -1 hit

Benediction of Darkness from DA = -1 hit (Feculent Besechment if he gets in melee for T6)

Locus of Nurgle = +1S

Greater Possesesd = +1S

Vessels for the Neverborn (1CP) = +1S +1A

MoP Warlord trait = 6s wound = mortal wound

Vets of Long War (1CP) = +1 wound

Locus of Virulence = 6s to hit do 2 damage instead of 1

MoP Cursed Earth = 4++

Mutated Invigoration = re-roll d3 attacks (so most likely 3-4 attacks per Possessed)

Nurgle tree = move, advance & charge or deep strike it and use it to fall back and charge.

[Furnace Lord]

That's an interesting idea, and you can deep strike Nurgle Obliterators near the tree to buff them if you like.

 

My initial idea is very similar but using the mark of Slaanesh, a mounted Herald to easily keep up with the Rhino, most of the associated spells you are casting, but also trying to get off the Slaanesh Daemon spell that lets a unit fight twice. I know the Khorne stratagem is there, but it's CP intensive. But then the spell is also hard to cast, and your idea seems pretty good, too.

[Lord Asvaldir]

I think I'll be trying a khorne possessed unit, along with a greater possessed and an exalted champion and a MoP so they are strength 6, 7 if I throw in vessels of the neverborn, and with reroll wound rolls better chance for mortal wounds from MoP warlord trait. I hear you on the khorne fight twice stratagem being expensive, but my plan is to run dual battalion red corsairs so CP won't be a major issue. 

[Dallas Drake]

They both sound like good ideas, I think we all accept that it's not going to be a competitive build but if you want to use Possessed it seems like the best bet and tbh this is 100% better than where Possessed were in the past... It'll be fun and that's the name of the game.

 

Also, if you need to take a turn of shooting the Nurgle tree gives them a 1+ save which is nice too. Could be useful until you get the psychic power and prayer off for the extra -1 to hit modifiers. I'm not even sure -3 is worth it, who would shoot at them with a -3!? Not me.

[angrom]

OK, hear me out.

20 possessed Nurgle alpha legion with poxbringer of nurgle and dark apostle and a greater possessed.

Give them miasma of pestilence and the apostle prayer and you have a blob of 20 with -3 to hit at 12"+

once you are less than 12" the enemy unit will be obliterated anyway.

20 D3 +1 attacks Str8 making flat 2 wounds on 4+ to wound with vet of long war and flat 4 damage on 5+

This will annihilate anything in one turn.