Ritual of the Damned - Psychic Awakening

[Angel of Solitude]

So my next game, I think I'm going to try the following:

 

• RW Apothecary with Outrider warlord trait
• Squad of Black Knights
• Suppressors

Before first turn, move the BK and Apoth 12" towards target unit. First turn, move BK and Apoth so that they are within a comfortable charge range of target unit. Light up the target with the Suppressors, hopefully killing one model. Then charge away with with the Black Knights with no overwatch...

 

An alternative might be to take an Ancient instead of Apothecary, and give the +1 Advance / +1 Charge relic. Or for even more fun, take both, and give them the Tactically Flexible warlord trait so that you can activate the Assault Doctrine for that turn.

 

I'm then trying to work out if deep striking a squad of terminators is just overkill at this stage...

[G8Keeper]

I think Deepstriking on turn 2 would be an excellent move to give the One, Two punch we sorely lacked before.

[Phaeton]

So my next game, I think I'm going to try the following:

 

• RW Apothecary with Outrider warlord trait
• Squad of Black Knights
• Suppressors

 

With this combination you can try relic for -1 invulnerable saves on RW apothecary ;)

[Berzul]

So far, although the abilities brought in by PA4 have not been many in number, I feel like they have made all the difference in gameplay.

 

I've played a total of 3 games so far under the new rules. What I have seen includes:

 

- Grim Resolve on vehicles makes it worth it to bring my whirlwind again. One of the few out of LoS units we have, hitting now on 3+ with rerolls on its own? Great. I am even considering getting another one around for a spearhead.

 

- Being able to Jink in a reactionary fashion has allowed me (i) to save CP in turns in which my bikes were not targetted, (ii) to better use my bike squad and dark shroud, so as to sometimes move the shroud instead of advancing it and getting late game use of its heavy bolter for killing remaining models on objectives, and (iii) use my bikes to greater damage effects, while still retaining the 4++ save.

 

- Hero of the Chapter has become an autotake for me. Now I can give one character the Brilliant Strategist trait, which has always felt obligatory to me, but without depriving myself from giving another HQ the Master of Maneuver trait, which is still a must-have for my terminators and melee characters. In fact, last night this combination gave me the equivalent to 13 CP total by the end + not a single failed charge all game.

 

- Increasing stats temporarily in so many ways, has changed my approach to some units. Specially being able to hit at 3+ with my powerfist terminators, and being able to drop plasma veterans with rerolls without having to waste points in a Company Master to babysit them.

 

The issue I am having now is CP generation. It's tough getting two battalions in, which makes it only more necessary to take Brilliant Strategist.

[Hantheman]

Played with a doubt TM and Sammy list yesterday. They’re obnoxious. The effective +1 to hit with rerolls and the extra -1 AP make them a threat to anything.

[G8Keeper]

So far, although the abilities brought in by PA4 have not been many in number, I feel like they have made all the difference in gameplay.

 

I've played a total of 3 games so far under the new rules. What I have seen includes:

 

- Grim Resolve on vehicles makes it worth it to bring my whirlwind again. One of the few out of LoS units we have, hitting now on 3+ with rerolls on its own? Great. I am even considering getting another one around for a spearhead.

 

- Being able to Jink in a reactionary fashion has allowed me (i) to save CP in turns in which my bikes were not targetted, (ii) to better use my bike squad and dark shroud, so as to sometimes move the shroud instead of advancing it and getting late game use of its heavy bolter for killing remaining models on objectives, and (iii) use my bikes to greater damage effects, while still retaining the 4++ save.

 

- Hero of the Chapter has become an autotake for me. Now I can give one character the Brilliant Strategist trait, which has always felt obligatory to me, but without depriving myself from giving another HQ the Master of Maneuver trait, which is still a must-have for my terminators and melee characters. In fact, last night this combination gave me the equivalent to 13 CP total by the end + not a single failed charge all game.

 

- Increasing stats temporarily in so many ways, has changed my approach to some units. Specially being able to hit at 3+ with my powerfist terminators, and being able to drop plasma veterans with rerolls without having to waste points in a Company Master to babysit them.

 

The issue I am having now is CP generation. It's tough getting two battalions in, which makes it only more necessary to take Brilliant Strategist.

 

Time for a CP generation discussion, gather round children!

 

We do have a couple of options one you've already suggested in Brilliant Strategist but also consider Azrael  gives the army +1CP, yet another reason to include him if you can.  As for making your battalion, it just comes down to MSU of scouts in at least one of them, otherwise you'll be priced out of other units if taking pure Intercessors for example.

 

It's also worth considering a brigade. You need 3 of everything and 6 troops, but you've already shoehorned 6 troops in trying to grab 2 battalions, probably already have 3 HQ's and 3 of at least one out of Elites, HS and FA, the rest is squeezing those cheap units such as company vets et al. in without compromising your lists bite.

 

Lastly consider CP usage.  I try to make a conscious effort before the game to plan my first 2 turns and the stratagems required, if you find you're eating up more than you have available then it might be time to change your list, costing in not only a unit points cost, but their CP cost to use effectively.

[Berzul]

The basic way I plan out my CP usage goes like this:

 

I start at 9.

I take 1 CP out for Hero of the Chapter (down to 8)

Turn one I spend 2 on my Veterans in Drop Pod, for shooting as if standing still, and +1D on their plasmas (down to 6). My bikes usually spend the first turn positioning, so I will save 1 CP for jinking when attacked (down to 5)

Turn two I will most likely make the bikes jink again for 1 CP (down to 4), and I'll drop my terminators for Deathwing Assault for 2 CP (down to 2). I don't use Combined Assault on regular terminators, but rather use Master of Maneuver for the charges.

 

Those last two points I'll usually save for either giving a key unit extra resilience (through Transhuman Physiology), to boost my attacks with the terminators, or to give my bikes one last jink, if the squad is in a key position I need to hold at all costs.

 

Anything I can ger back, usually got saved for either extra Toughness or extra +1 to hit on the Terminators.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Berzul

[G8Keeper]

You must be very disciplined re-roll wise.  I tend to get caught in the moment a lot :D

[Angel of Solitude]

The other night I took two Battalions, running 3xScouts, 2xTactical and 1x10 man Intercessors. Gave me plenty of CP to play with, and I didn't feel like I compromised my list elsewhere.

 

My scouts grabbed advance objectives, my tactical sat on the back line, and the Intercessors were just an obnoxious, immovable threat. Playing with 6 troop squads makes you appreciate how strong Grim Resolve is. First, natural re-roll 1's to hit means that you don't have to pay an HQ tax to make them effective - you can spend your HQ points elsewhere. Secondly, during the game I must have failed 3 morale tests across the squads, which would have wiped out the squad and given my opponent either the objective, or a "kill more" victory point. In each of those 3 cases, I only took one model off the board from morale, crucially leaving one still in play...

 

I seem to recall my 13 command points were spent was as follows:

 

Pre-game

• Hero of the Chapter (1CP)

 

Turn 1

• WftDA (1CP)
• High-Speed Focus (1CP)
• Saving throw re-roll (1CP)

Turn 2

• WftDA (1CP)
• Combined Assault (2CP)
• Re-roll Land Speeder exploding...I rolled another 6 (1CP)

Turn 3

• WftDA (1CP)
• Transhuman Physiology (2CP)
• Stand Firm (1CP)
• Saving throw re-roll (1CP)

[jaxom]

Do you remember what you were WftDA against? Since recently doing comparisons of Hellblasters, Plasma Devastators, and Lascannon Devastators I've a growing curiosity about CP usage/reliance (when combined with plasma) to increase the versatility of plasma versus using other weapons and saving the CP use for other things (now that there's more stratagems worth using).

[Angel of Solitude]

Sure. First turn I think I used it on my Black Knights squad, firing into a squad of Deathwatch Primaris. I needed 2D to one shot the Primaris, which I could have done through either (a) supercharging, or (b) WftDA. Supercharging would have had me wounding on 2's, but I had a Talonmaster in support and didn't want to risk rolling any 1's.

 

Turn two I used it on my Ravenwing combi-plasma/plasma/plasma to try and make a dent in some tarantula sentry guns. Again no overcharge as I didn't have re-roll support, and also with T5 I'd still be wounding on 3+.

 

Turn three would have been on the same bike squad, and I think it was against a Corvus Blackstar flyer. I needed to kill it, and needed the S8 vs T7, so supercharged AND WotDA on it. Think I got three hits out of 6 shots, with one killing himself. I was in tactical doctrine too, so the two wounds that I rolled went straight through.

 

For what it's worth, the thing that puts me against Devastators is that any time you need to reposition, then you're at -1 to hit and losing re-roll 1's. A chaplain can help, but you can't rely on getting a 3+ at the start of each battle round.

[Berzul]

You must be very disciplined re-roll wise.  I tend to get caught in the moment a lot

Takes a LOT of discipline! Hahahahaha!

 

I tend to try and save my regained CP for the rerrolls, and that is also where the extra roll granted by the Brilliant Strategist Warlord Trait comes in handy.

[G8Keeper]

With the extra range I don't think I'll find myself moving my devastator squad much at all in your average game. I'm tempted to run 2 x 5 man with 4 plasma cannons and fully castle up with Azrael et al.

[Neuralshock]

Berzul I think steady advance is only for the purposes of bolter drill. Outside of the chaplain bubble, I don't think there's a way to deepstrike and get grim resolve.

[Berzul]

Berzul I think steady advance is only for the purposes of bolter drill. Outside of the chaplain bubble, I don't think there's a way to deepstrike and get grim resolve.

It says they count as not having moved in the movement phase.

Grim resolve says that if they didn't move, they fire with reroll 1s.

I would think it applies.

The stratagem makes no distinction at all, making it only applicable for the purposes of bolter drill, that I can see in the text.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Berzul

[Neuralshock]

 

Berzul I think steady advance is only for the purposes of bolter drill. Outside of the chaplain bubble, I don't think there's a way to deepstrike and get grim resolve.

It says they count as not having moved in the movement phase.

Grim resolve says that if they didn't move, they fire with reroll 1s.

I would think it applies.

The stratagem makes no distinction at all, making it only applicable for the purposes of bolter drill, that I can see in the text.

 

err I think you're mistaken friend, here's the strat almost word for word

 

(1cp) Steady advance

 

...Until the end of the phase, for the purposes of the bolter discipline ability, that unit is treated as if it had remained stationary.

 

This strat is purely so that you can move and still rapid fire bolter weapons, it mentions no other weaponry besides. I hope you didn't get a misprint!

 

Our dedicated chaplain power, however, states that models can shoot with any weapons as if they had remained stationary, being able to benefit from grim resolve and/or bolter discipline.

Edited January 31, 2020 by Neuralshock

[Berzul]

Then indeed I have played it wrong.

 

Serves me right for not having the book and playing off of the rules as commented on forums.

 

Thank you for clarifying.

[FormelyKnownAsSmashyPants]

Still pretty damn good for one CP.

[Chaplain Elijah]

Been very busy with work lately but i finally got my PA4 book, i'll test it next week :)