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Bjorn - not an auto include?


Loshkins

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So this came up on the FB forums, and more than a couple people mentioned this, that Bjorn isn't an auto include. He is good, but maybe not as great as people think or make it out to be. When you factor in that you generally need a shield dread or two as bodyguards, things actually start looking fairly pricey for this combo, that in theory can be done a little better by other units working in tandem. What are your thoughts on this, is he perhaps over hyped?  

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I feel like there really isn't a "auto-include" in our codex except maybe the smash jarl. Other codex scream "take this unit, it is a must!" like DG Daemon Prince, however ours I don't get that feeling with ours. I don't want to say poor us our codex sucks, I just feel as though we don't have the psynergy as other codex do, and some of our units are just awkward places.

ever since the took away dread drop pods he is no longer a add to ANY list

You’re nuts, he’s a BS2+ shooting platform and insanely tough warlord that murders everything if they get to close. Why you’d even want to toss him into an enemy line presumably alone in a Pod is beyond me.

Dread pods are still legit from forgeworld. Honestly Bjorn doesn't need one. He just needs a body guard of some sort which prevents him being auto include. Honestly though this means hes a well designed unit. Auto include is a sign of overpowering a unit.

Bjorn is very good and doesn't necessarily need shield Dreads to screen him (although that is certainly one good option). I tend to run Primaris Marines as Bjorn's bodyguard. They are tough enough to require some effort to remove and their shooting benefits from Bjorns aura (particularly Hellblasters). As long as you have other threatening targets in your army, I find my opponents are rarely willing to target the Primaris marines around Bjorn rather than the Grey Hunters who are lining up for a charge, the Cyberwolves who are blocking their Reserves from dropping in or the Long Fangs who are raining fire on them.

 

One unit I have taken to running near Bjorn is an Iron Priest in the Armour of Russ. This really helps if your opponent has a fast, killy unit (like a DP or GD) and tries to take Bjorn down before he can strike. The IP HIs into combat to allow Bjorn to strike first. He can also patch the old guy up if needed as well as contributing some tasty hammer attacks. This tag team has done very well for me.

Never thought about giving the Iron Priest Armour of Russ, might well try that.

 

I've had fun running Bjorn, Murderfang and a Shield Dread in a trio. Irritatingly hard to get rid of the 2 characters and the "bodyguard" unit is good in his own right

 

He's too expensive to be an Auto-include but I agree that we don't really have any of those. I'm fine with that.

Never thought about giving the Iron Priest Armour of Russ, might well try that.

It's a surprisingly nifty combo. The Iron Priest is (I think) the only SW character who cannot get an invulnerable save by any means so this kills 2 birds with one stone.

 

EDIT - Forgot Primaris Battle Leaders but that is largely because I don't see much point in them. :wink:

 

ever since the took away dread drop pods he is no longer a add to ANY list

You’re nuts, he’s a BS2+ shooting platform and insanely tough warlord that murders everything if they get to close. Why you’d even want to toss him into an enemy line presumably alone in a Pod is beyond me.

 

Fully agree with PeteySödes, Bjorn is great and absolutely does not need a Dread Pod to be worthwhile.

 

Simply, he's fast enough to reach combat/a threatening position in turn two or three (depending on how aggressive the opponent is) and, as PS points out, his BS2+ is great for providing some supporting fire as he moves up. A lot of people are allergic to moving Heavy Weapons on BS3+ models, which I can sort of understand, but BS2+ models should take advantage of their high accuracy even while moving: it's better to take an important shot at 3+ than shoot a crap target at 2+!

 

And TiguriusX mentions, Bjorn is good when your army mutually supports its pieces: having Bjorn as your only frontline melee unit is a mistake; having Bjorn, Wulfen, Rhinos with Grey Hunters in is good. In fact, even in a mostly gunline-type army Bjorn provides good utility: most armies will have some kind of forward-threatening unit (eg, Gallants, Wulfen, Genestealers, etc) so having something powerful and pretty tough to dive into melee with them is useful, even if he doesn't press forward himself - he's especially good when supporting a firebase of Venerable Dreadnoughts.

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