Legio Solaria.. Obsolete?

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

So I finally got more then just two warhounds and also got the new Shadow and Iron book, and fell in love with the colour scheme of Legio Oberon, and whilst my two existing warhounds are painted as Solaria, looking at the fluff and rules, I just couldn't see a reason to run Solaria, as it seems almost every legion has better rules, either more powerful, bonus's built in rather then having to be paid for ect.

I'm switching to Legio Oberon, but still have a soft spot for Solaria but just wandering if anyone has found a way to use them that isn't outdone by any other Legio.

[Atia]

We still have the best colour scheme out there (well ok, Oberon also looks fabulous, but hey, why would you want only one Legion, right? RIGHT?)! Also, maybe if FW gets enough feedback they could FAQ us?

 

Anyways, best colour scheme!

 

 

I love my bebees!

[Rune Priest Ridcully]

Those are beautiful, mine sadly came out more forest green, which means I've received quite a few legio Christmas jokes about them. If I had the money I'd go for two legions I would :P.

[Mandragola]

Basically, no. The Legios in Titandeath aren’t really balanced against each other. Astorum and Fureans are pretty strong while Atarus, Solaria and Krytos are pretty weak. The arrival of the Lupercal maniple in Molech means that pretty much everyone can do all of Solaria’s tricks anyway, while getting all their own bonuses. Their upgrades are too expensive (cameleoline) and/or useless (that leg upgrade thing).

 

Well ok there are one or two things for Solaria. A squadron of four hounds lets you put them into two pairs running around together sharing shields and combining fire. That’s a lot of models going on a single activation. That can be a bad thing in movement but during the combat phase it’s pretty nasty.

 

There’s also the option of the Warhound Corsair maniple. To be honest I’m not that sold on this. Warhounds are already extremely agile so the option of moving outside of arc is less of an improvement than it would be for Reavers.

 

That said, I’m still tempted by Solaria. But I must admit it’s the challenge of running a seriously limited Legio that appeals – not their strength.

 

EDIT: The christmas tree issue is a definite risk! That has put me off some of the versions I've seen.

Edited February 19, 2020 by Mandragola

[Marshal Wolfhart]

My Solaria look far more christmas-y than any other i've seen, and i like it :P I just prefer the darker green...

That said, cameoline is a great upgrade on Reavers, and especially a Corsair maniple of Warhounds is super good (@ Mandragola, yes they have the moves as is, but you can seriously spin around thing if you can move sideways at full bore!)

And then there's always the possibility of using other rules. Either the WD ones or whatever legio you feel entitled stealing from. If in my headcanon my princeps seniores was on campaign alongside Astorum for years, she will have learned to keep up with the warmarch. And don't you dare mess with my head canon ;) Do what you like, this is about fun. Choice of color should never define the way you can play your army.

That said, Oberon DOES look pretty boss. I had a short hot-darn moment myself when i saw it in a preview vid. Seems we have similar taste ^^

[Mandragola]

You're brave to war march Warhounds. That never goes well for me!

 

Pretty sure Cameleoline is only available for titans of scale 6 or less, which unfortunately prevents the Reaver from taking it. On a Warhound it’s slightly less useful as you usually want to go in close to hurt things. Even with the -1 to be hit, long-ranged fights with Warlords will only end one way. And 35 points is an awful lot, especially for an upgrade that you can easily lose.

 

There are a couple of interesting new maniples in Shadow and Iron. 4 warhounds with either a Warlord or Warbringer is now possible, and that opens up interesting options for Solaria.

 

A fun option might be to take a Forrex maniple, replacing the Reaver with a hound and just taking four hounds – maybe even in a squadron (though probably not, as you need activations). Forrex Warhounds are extremely dangerous when they get inside a target’s shields and start firing.

[Armiger84]

Solaria still has a lot of options to make them interesting in a game, outside of a pure power level discussion.

 

In addition to what Mandragola mentioned, you could for instance, run a Ruptura maniple, replace one of the three Reavers, and Outflank a Warhound onto the board mid-game to sucker-punch someone with a plasma blastgun while their back is turned because of a CCW Reaver that's gotten up in their face.

 

While a Lupercal does give most other Legios similar ways to play Solaria, formations like an Axiom with a Warlord, Reaver, and three Warhounds can still be pretty powerful in a lower-points game.

 

I've been less excited about the Cameleoline shrouding, but the Fortis Motivators are a good way to recover from Dangerous Terrain or Thermal Mines, and short an aimed shot, roughly 1/3 of your incoming damage will be hitting legs anyhow.

 

"Wolf Packs" is a tough rule to use because of how much a four Warhound pack cuts down your activations... but it makes it easier to win the initiative on turn one, and it's also a heck of an alpha strike if you have the initative when you get in range turn 2.  Solaria does support doubled weapons loadouts for Titans #3 & 4 in a pack pretty well that way; nothing wrong with letting the first two blow down shields and then risk a self-immolating double maximal plasma blastgun salvo to see how badly you can tear down a Reaver!

 

Ursus Claws also benefit pretty strongly from potentially running a 4 Warhound Pack (at least on paper) - four successful hits starts you at Strength 8+D6 (3 for basic weapon strength, +1 for coordinated strike damage, +4 for 4 hits if you're lucky in landing those claw hits), when testing to see if you pull down a Reaver or a Warlord, making D3+1 Devastating hits pretty reliable.  Keep in mind all of this goes double if you decide to run a Ferrox or Lupercal maniple with four Warhounds (add another +1 Str to that total if you're within the target's height in inches for Ferrox, increase that coordinated strike to +2 for Lupercal, more for outflanking to the side or rear...).

 

So yeah, do they have the most obviously powerful / easier to use Legio abilities?  No, but there's plenty of room for a little creativity and a lot of effectiveness in running them as a support maniple for your Oberon forces :)

[Mandragola]

The major weakness of a large squadron is not having enough activations. It makes sense to balance that out with a way of having lots of activations. This can be done in two ways: with knights or with more warhounds.

 

I drew up a Solaria 1750 point list to show the sort of thing that could be done. This features a Lupercal maniple to get the option of four more activations, or instead if you want they can all combine to get shots off in a hurry.

                               

Ferrox light Maniple       

                               

Warhound (replacing compulsory Reaver)            220

                Plasma Blastgun              

                Plasma Blastgun              

                               

Warhound                          220

                Plasma Blastgun              

                Vulcan Mega Bolter        

                               

Warhound                          220

                Turbo Laser Destructor 

                Vulcan Mega Bolter        

                               

Warhound                          220

                Inferno Gun      

                Inferno Gun      

                               

Lupercal Light Maniple                 

                               

Warhound                          220

                Plasma Blastgun              

                Vulcan Mega Bolter        

                               

Warhound                          220

                Plasma Blastgun              

                Vulcan Mega Bolter        

                               

Warhound                          220

                Turbo Laser Destructor 

                Turbo Laser Destructor 

                               

Warhound                          220

                Vulcan Mega Bolter        

                Vulcan Mega Bolter        

 

If you wanted to do a knight list then I think I’d still go for a Ferrox maniple. Replace the compulsory Reaver with a Warhound but then take the optional one, to have four hounds and a Reaver. Then take 2-3 knight banners to fill out activations.

[1ncarnadine]

You're brave to war march Warhounds. That never goes well for me!

 

Pretty sure Cameleoline is only available for titans of scale 6 or less, which unfortunately prevents the Reaver from taking it. On a Warhound it’s slightly less useful as you usually want to go in close to hurt things. Even with the -1 to be hit, long-ranged fights with Warlords will only end one way. And 35 points is an awful lot, especially for an upgrade that you can easily lose.

 

There are a couple of interesting new maniples in Shadow and Iron. 4 warhounds with either a Warlord or Warbringer is now possible, and that opens up interesting options for Solaria.

 

A fun option might be to take a Forrex maniple, replacing the Reaver with a hound and just taking four hounds – maybe even in a squadron (though probably not, as you need activations). Forrex Warhounds are extremely dangerous when they get inside a target’s shields and start firing.

What’s especially frustrating is that Cameleoline isn’t just an upgrade that you can easily lose in combat, but it’s also an upgrade that other Titan Legions can negate for much cheaper than the cost of the Cameleoline. The Hunting Auspex is a really good example. The new Audax Reinforced Plating is much more cost-effective for its relative benefit as well (and can never be knocked off your titans by a sudden breeze), though it’s affecting Armour rolls instead of to-hit.

 

I think the simplest change to make Solaria more attractive would be if the cost of their upgrades was reduced by ~50% each. It’s really the hardest pill to swallow in their rules, and it’s almost half of your special rules. The motivator one should almost just be a Legio Trait. But their current Legio Trait, Stratagem and Princeps Traits are ok. There’s a workable core there.

 

It’s also unfortunate that they got passed up for a Titan of Legend, despite having a ton of examples to pull from in the BL fiction they’ve been featured in a lot recently.