Unit of the Week: Captain in Phobos Armour

[Jolemai]

Welcome to part two of the Blood Angels Unit of the Week Series!

Following the release of the 8^th edition Codex, there is no better time to discuss all the units we have access to. Each week a different unit will appear, with the idea being that we discuss how best to use that model on the battlefield. Where part one will focus on the unique BA units and part two will focus on BA units that are new to this edition of the Codex, part three will discuss how to get the best use the generic units from the past that are still with us (and that many of us have in our armies still).

Note, this isn't to lament any nerfs, etc, from previous editions; the rules are as they are so try to unlock its potential for those who wish to use them all the same. Similarly, this thread is only for using the option being discussed; it matters not if you feel something is a better choice as such comments aren't constructive to the topic and shall be removed.

Without further ado, here's this week's entry:

Captain in Phobos Armour

Captain in Phobos Armour, Majkhel

What are you thoughts here folks? How best would you use a Phobos Captain?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around? Will the beta rules affect your list(s)?
• Will you be running multiple units?
• Footslog or transport? Retinue?
• How are you making use of Rites of Battle, Concealed Positions, and Omni-scrambler?
• Are you buffing this unit? If so, how?
• Stratagems of note?

Over to you.

Nb: Please note that Captain, TDA Captain, Cataphractii Captain, Primaris Captain, and Gravis Captain will be covered on a separate entry.

Edited September 2, 2019 by Jolemai

[Jolemai]

Should you want your model on display here (or on another thread from the series), then submit a photo here please.

[Xerxus]

I don't think the bloke is terrible, but his special rules don't make sense to me. I want a Captain to be buffing as many units as possible, unless you build your army with a significant amount of infiltrating units then it does not make sense to scout deploy him. He also lacks the ability to make use of the scout deploy in any meaningful way by himself. His deepstrike deny aura is only coming into play if he is placed on the fringe of the force, which again is at odds with his buffing ability. A regular Captain can do basically the same job in my opinion.

[Blindhamster]

I don't think the bloke is terrible, but his special rules don't make sense to me. I want a Captain to be buffing as many units as possible, unless you build your army with a significant amount of infiltrating units then it does not make sense to scout deploy him. He also lacks the ability to make use of the scout deploy in any meaningful way by himself. His deepstrike deny aura is only coming into play if he is placed on the fringe of the force, which again is at odds with his buffing ability. A regular Captain can do basically the same job in my opinion.

 

take infiltrators with comms units and his buff is better than regular captain ones, place him anywhere on the table and all the infiltrators still benefit. You can throw hellblasters in an impulsor or repulsor and drive them to him if needed.

[Xerxus]

I have actually been considering how to support Hellblasters flying up in an Impulsor and while a Phobos Captain is an option, it limits the flexibility of the package. The Hellblasters need to reroll 1s, and so they will have to go close to where the Phobos Captain is. This can be predicted and played around by a competent opponent. Instead, with a regular Captain inside the Impulsor they can go anywhere.

[Bonzi]

I plan on running Infiltraitors and Incursors as my line infantry and I want this Captain for midfield buffs. I like him weapon paired up in conjunction with backfield eliminators. It lets me threaten buff characters that are so popular in castle armies. This frees up Smash, my DC, and Sanguinary Guard to chase big targets rather than being diverted into chasing down buff characters. I like the idea of precision asassination paired with wanton melee destruction.

[FormelyKnownAsSmashyPants]

 

 

I don't think the bloke is terrible, but his special rules don't make sense to me. I want a Captain to be buffing as many units as possible, unless you build your army with a significant amount of infiltrating units then it does not make sense to scout deploy him. He also lacks the ability to make use of the scout deploy in any meaningful way by himself. His deepstrike deny aura is only coming into play if he is placed on the fringe of the force, which again is at odds with his buffing ability. A regular Captain can do basically the same job in my opinion.

take infiltrators with comms units and his buff is better than regular captain ones, place him anywhere on the table and all the infiltrators still benefit. You can throw hellblasters in an impulsor or repulsor and drive them to him if needed.

.

 

This^^. You could even have your phobos captain in the back line buffing las devastators, hellblasters or eliminators, or have your eliminators and phobos captain in the midfield and the infiltrators will benefit being anywhere on the table. I think its a real pitty incursors can't benefit as well as they're even better still IMHO. Having said that though I prefer CQC and an aggressive play style. But it is an option.

[BluejayJunior]

Or keep him with Incursors to buff them, while the Infiltrators with Comms get his buff across the table. If you're planning on running a Vanguard heavy list. 

[Charlo]

If you don't want to smash face, he's quite a fleixible captain option.

 

He can deploy almost anywhere and give those tasty re-rolls while also preventing 99% of deepstrikers from charging out of drop (bar maybe a 12" charge in some cases).

 

If you're using Eliminators the WLT to give a Phobos unit +1 to hit is rather nice. Or alternatively -1 to hit for himself makes him tough to shift while he Snipes out himself.

 

Obvious synergy with the other units that can benefit from his arua anywhere too.

 

However are you going to give up the 4D thunder hammer? Probably not.

[Bonzi]

If you don't want to smash face, he's quite a fleixible captain option.

 

He can deploy almost anywhere and give those tasty re-rolls while also preventing 99% of deepstrikers from charging out of drop (bar maybe a 12" charge in some cases).

 

If you're using Eliminators the WLT to give a Phobos unit +1 to hit is rather nice. Or alternatively -1 to hit for himself makes him tough to shift while he Snipes out himself.

 

Obvious synergy with the other units that can benefit from his arua anywhere too.

 

However are you going to give up the 4D thunder hammer? Probably not.

.

 

Well it isn't really a pick 1 situation, is it? You can have Smash and a Phobos captain at the same time. Smash is less of a buff character than a guided missile. I usually don't get much milage out of his buff. A phobos captain can stay in the midfield and snipe characters and buff squads while smash hops over him on his way to that fire raptor or knight.

[Kram000]

After reading Indefragable's comments in the other post, I've finally decided to make an account and join the ranks.

 

I've been using phobos captain specifically for the quake bolts for a while, and he is invaluable.

 

Quake bolts on this guy are a perfect fit, his gun is heavy 1, so shots are not wasted.  Range of 30" and up to 36" with a small accuracy penalty.  Standing still he has a 97% change to fell ANYTHING in the game.  He can even target characters.  Other HQs or possible quake bolt carriers either don't have that kind of range, accuracy, or the ability to hit a character if needed.

 

Combined with our melee he makes an incredible and re-usable asset.  He can open the game by felling a chaff unit for the first DC squad to hit on 2+, which reduces the necessity of a chaplain, then help the heavy hitters connect in later turns.  I've felled cultists to allow choppy scouts butcher them even more efficiently.  Hammers and power fists get turned up to incredibly lethal weapons with that +1 to hit, especially if stacked with another bonus (Astorath).

 

There are so many threats on the table my opponents have not been able to put resources into taking him down so he just keeps on felling units turn after turn, which is excellent synergy with almost all of our army.

 

On top of that, he helps my backline fire support get some re-rolls.

 

I'm a huge fan!

Edited February 10, 2020 by Kram000

[Indefragable]

 

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After reading Indefragable's comments in the other post, I've finally decided to make an account and join the ranks.

 

I've been using phobos captain specifically for the quake bolts for a while, and he is invaluable.

 

Quake bolts on this guy are a perfect fit, his gun is heavy 1, so shots are not wasted.  Range of 30" and up to 36" with a small accuracy penalty.  Standing still he has a 97% change to fell ANYTHING in the game.  He can even target characters.  Other HQs or possible quake bolt carriers either don't have that kind of range, accuracy, or the ability to hit a character if needed.

 

Combined with our melee he makes an incredible and re-usable asset.  He can open the game by felling a chaff unit for the first DC squad to hit on 2+, which reduces the necessity of a chaplain, then help the heavy hitters connect in later turns.  I've felled cultists to allow choppy scouts butcher them even more efficiently.  Hammers and power fists get turned up to incredibly lethal weapons with that +1 to hit, especially if stacked with another bonus (Astorath).

 

There are so many threats on the table my opponents have not been able to put resources into taking him down so he just keeps on felling units turn after turn, which is excellent synergy with almost all of our army.

 

On top of that, he helps my backline fire support get some re-rolls.

 

I'm a huge fan!

 

@Kram000 thanks for the shoutout and welcome to our little corner of Baal!

 

Bit confused on some of your comments, though:

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-Gun is Assault 1, not Heavy 1 (so benefits from T2 TacDoc and can also move and even advance and shoot)

-Range is 30".....at least for us (Dark Angels may get 36"?)

-Confused on your statistic about 97% of stuff being felled...his gun does D:3 up to D:4 if you take Master Crafted or Artisan of War.  ...don't get me wrong, doing 3-4W will auto-kill almost every Tier 2 (Lieutenants, Apothecaries, et al) character in the game, but that's a long way away from felling a Knight or Abaddon in single shot...even a Vindicare Assassin struggles with those targets

 

I absolutely agree with him surviving often simply because (if you "do BA right") there are so many more pressing threats he can easily escape even being targeted.

 

Hot take time: 

 

Captain in Phobos Armor ​is perhaps the best HQ choice in the Astartes arsenal. 

 

-Defense: He is 3+/4++ with 6W, an effective 1+ save in cover (camo cloak) and a potential -1 To Hit (Smoke Grenades). And that's before <Character> protection.

 

-Offense: as others have pointed out, including @Krom000 just above, he can do real hurt on any non-vehicle in the game. S4 AP-2 D:3 is nothing to sneeze at, especially when hitting on a re-rollable 2. Yes, it's only 1 shot, but with a partner LT nearby or well-worth-it command re-roll, that's a "free" Thunder hammer hit on a target of your choice.  Should you get stuck-in (deliberately or otherwise), 5A base + 2A (1 for combat knife, 1 for shock assault) is nothing to sneeze at.

 

-Utility: the ability to setup a captain re-roll aura anywhere you want on the board before the game begins is awesome-enough. Support Scouts, Incursors, Eliminators, etc? You go it. Have re-rolls in place for chaff-clearers like Scout bikes or Death Company? This dude's sittin' haven' a smoke waitin' for them. Want to setup an epic Buzz the Tower? You got. That alone would be sick, but on top of that you get the "free" 12" deep strike denial bubble. Correct me if I am wrong, but the 12" means that enemies cannot charge from DS, because they would need to roll 12.0000000001" and you cannot declare charges greater than 12" to begin with. 

-Special:  the full-board re-roll buffs work with Infilitrators packing comms units. This is a neat trick, but not the reason to take him, IMO, because it means you really need to commit to flooding the board with Infiltrators and bringing along a "tax" Phobos LT as well. Nothing wrong with that and a viable strategy, but not an optimal one in my opinion since I think you have to really commit to it. 

 

Note: all of the above is not taking any Chapter Tactics into consideration at all. This guy will obviously be more useful to some than others, but it almost doesn't matter what his CT are since he's that good. 

 

Now, for us Blood Angels, all of the above is especially useful, IMO, precisely because he does not scream "melee!" This guy is a support character, whose difference to our strengths is precisely what makes him so useful. He can snipe out buffing characters, weaken a blocking vehicle, "spot" a unit for better punching with Quake Bolts, or enhance an infiltrated firebase. Regardless of you use him, by his very nature he draws attention away from our punchy dudes running up the field. If you set-up a mini firebase with say 2x Eliminators and 2x Incursors backed by this guy, I can guarantee they will peel fire away from jump units that would otherwise be smoked down. And for that reason alone, I think this guy is one of the best tools in our arsenal...

 

...the ultimate question, of course, is what are we willing to sacrifice to fit him in? Captain Smash? Librarian? Chaplain? We benefit from so many HQ abilities that this guy can be overlooked with good reason, but I think he is such a sleeper hit that I would start finding ways to make him work right away.

 

From my post in BA Today:

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-Quake Bolts + Thunder hammers or Power fists has MASSIVE potential. On paper I knew they'd be a good combo, but I seriously think--while needing a bit of finesse--this could have a lot of applications, especially if paired with more competitive options like Sang Guard or DC w/ fists or DC/VV w/ TH. I am going to re-jig a list or two to come up with a way to really make this work, but I think there's not a Knight or other big scary thing in the game that can stand up to some of the combos we can pull with this stuff...especially since a Phobos Captain could give you a "free" D:3 before you even swing. 

 

-As the idea dawned on me, I fell in love with the concept of the Phobos Captain sniping enemy warlords and also giving +1 To Hit for Capt Smash to guarantee some tomato paste on the board. I've only used that build this one game so far, but I can not overstate how much I love the potential of this. Phobos Capt is such an unusual character for a Blood Angels army to take: a shooty, sneaky HQ? Heresy! ....yet that is precisely what makes him so incredibly nasty. 

[Majkhel]

I believe that Kram000 was speaking 'felled' in the rule description sense: "...if a hit is scored, the target is FELLED until the end of turn...". And for that the captain does indees have really big chances hitting on 2s, re-rolling 1s.

[Kram000]

Yep, my mistake on the range.  I knew something wasn't right as I was writing it.  Being assault 1 means we have a range of 36" at 97% success (1 failure every 36 shots) or slightly lower if assaulting for 38"-44" range.

 

As far as the weapon itself goes, it isn't being selected because of it's damage.  It was selected for the range, being assault 1, and the option to select characters.  The damage is a bonus!