Red Hunters Chapter Tactics?

[Inquisitor Eisenhorn]

I'm trying to figure out a good home-brew chapter tactic for Red Hunters in Kill Team.  I really liked the flavor of the old Forge World chapter tactics they had, the "mnemonic redaction protocols" which is still a cool name, but what would a good skirmish take on that concept look like?  I'm not sure.

[Rogue]

How does MRP work in 40k?

[Tyberos the Red Wake]

All chapter units have Adamantium Will and each turn, you could pick one unit for the amount of turns that has passed (three squads in turn three, etc) to gain one special rule. There were a lot to pick from, like Hatred, Monster Hunters, Skyfire, Interceptor, etc. Basically they could all Deny the Witch and every turn more and more of them would gain a Swiss army knife rule that helped the most. Their other rule was that GK and SoB counted as Battle Brothers if they had an Inquisitor with them.

[Rogue]

Part of me says just shift the rule over wholesale, but for individuals rather than squads. But by the end of the game it could be applying to every model in your team, which is quite strong.

 

What if you allow one member of the team to take on a special rule for that turn? And maybe spend a CP for a second model? (Or go all out, and allow one free rule on a model each turn, and then CPs to buy additional rules to the turn total - in turn four, you'd get one free, and could spend up to three CP for three more models).

 

And like with specialists, no more than one model with any given rule at a time.

[Brother Tyler]

Mnemonic Redaction Protocols: All models with Chapter Tactics (Red Hunters) have the Adamantium Will special rule. In addition, once per game at the beginning of any one player turn, the controlling player may declare that a number of their units with Chapter Tactics (Red Hunters), including Dreadnoughts, equal to the number of the turn being played will have one of the following special rules, chosen by the controlling player, until the beginning of their next turn. For example, if the protocols are activated in Turn 3, then three units may choose a single special rule from the following to apply:

• Counter-attack
• Monster Hunter
• Tank Hunters
• Hatred
• Skyfire
• Interceptor

By this Seal: When using the Allies Matrix, all models in the Red Hunters detachment count units from Codex: Grey Knights and Codex: Adepta Sororitas as Battle Brothers so long as an Inquisitor is also present in the army.

 

Adamantium Will...A unit that contains at least one model with this special rule receives a +1 bonus to Deny the Witch tests.

This is of limited usefulness in Kill Team since psykers are so rare. It's more of just a cherry on top, with the main Chapter Tactic being the other powers.

 

Counter-attack...If a unit contains at least one model with this special rule, and that unit is charged, every model with the Counter-attack special rule in the unit gets +1 Attack until the end of the phase.

 

If, when charged, the unit was already locked in combat, the Counter-attack special rule has no effect.

This is useful.

 

Monster Hunter...A unit that contains at least one model with this special rule re-rolls all failed To Wound rolls against Monstrous Creatures.

This is pretty much useless in Kill Team (might change with expansions). The closest thing I can think of is the Ambull having the MONSTER keyword, and that would only make this useful in a very niche scenario.

 

Tank Hunters...A unit that contains at least one model with this special rule re-rolls failed armour penetration rolls against vehicles (both with shooting and in close combat) and can choose to re-roll glancing hits, in an attempt to instead get a penetrating hit – but the second result must be kept.

Another power that is largely useless unless it is adapted to structures, but that would only elevate it to the level of only being useful in scenarios in which destroying structures matters.

 

Hatred...This rule is often presented as Hatred (X) where X identifies a specific type of foe. If the special rule does not specify a type of foe, then the unit has Hatred against everyone. This can refer to a Faction, or a specific unit. For example, Hatred (Orks) means any model with the Ork Faction, whilst Hatred (Big Meks) means only Big Meks. A model striking a hated foe in close combat re-rolls all failed To Hit rolls during the first round of each close combat.

This is useful.

 

Skyfire...A model with this special rule, or that is firing a weapon with this special rule, fires using its normal Ballistic Skill when shooting at Flyers, Flying Monstrous Creatures and Skimmers, but it can only fire Snap Shots against other targets.

Another useless power in Kill Team.

 

Interceptor...At the end of the enemy Movement phase, a weapon with the Interceptor special rule can be fired at any one unit that has arrived from Reserve within its range and line of sight. If this rule is used, the weapon cannot be fired in the next turn, but the firing model can shoot a different weapon if it has one.

This is another power that is almost completely useless due to the lack of models that have an ability that resembles the Reserve/Deep Strike concept.

 

The By this Seal power has very little meaning in Kill Team. First, there aren't any rules for Inquisitors (yet). Second, players can already mix AADEPTUS ASTARTES with GREY KNIGHTS or ADEPTA SORORITAS. Even with this rule, the Red Hunters wouldn't benefit from the rules of either of the other factions.

 

So this leaves the useful elements of the 7th edition Red Hunters rules at:

• Adamantium Will
• Counter-attack
• Hatred

All three are limited. I would translate the rules into Kill Team as:

RED HUNTERS: MNEMONIC REDACTION PROTOCOLS

 

The Red Hunters Chapter has a particularly close relationship with the Inquisition, and it's battle-brothers are often called upon to face the servants of the Dark Powers and other enemies of Mankind in their service to the Inquisition. Battle-brothers are frequently subjected to mnemonic purgation to preserve their souls and physical abilities.

 

If this model is the target of a psychic power, it may attempt to deny the psychic power in the same manner as a PSYKER. When making this attempt, roll one D6 instead of 2D6; the psychic power is resisted if the roll is greater than the result of the Psychic test that manifested the power.

 

Once per game, at the start of the battle round, choose one of the powers below. A number of your ADEPTUS ASTARTES Red Hunters models equal to the turn number benefit from that rule until the end of the battle round.

• Counter-attack: If this model is charged, it gains +1 Attack until the end of the Fight phase.
• Hatred: If this model charges or was charged this turn, it may re-roll all failed To Hit rolls until the end of the Fight phase.

That's just a first draft. If GW adds Inquisitors to Kill Team, I would add the following:

 

 

If your kill team consists only of an INQUISITOR, ADEPTUS ASTARTES models from the Red Hunters Chapter, and either GREY KNIGHTS or ADEPTA SORORITAS models, the Red Hunters models may benefit from their Chapter Tactic.

Again, that's just a first draft.

[Brother Tyler]

It might even be worthwhile to replace the useless powers [from the 7th edition WH40K version] with some powers that work in Kill Team. For example, a power that enhances Overwatch (to replace Skyfire/Interceptor) and perhaps something that affects COMMANDER and/or LEADER models (to replace Monster Hunter).

[Dosjetka]

 

Interceptor...At the end of the enemy Movement phase, a weapon with the Interceptor special rule can be fired at any one unit that has arrived from Reserve within its range and line of sight. If this rule is used, the weapon cannot be fired in the next turn, but the firing model can shoot a different weapon if it has one.

This is another power that is almost completely useless due to the lack of models that have an ability that resembles the Reserve/Deep Strike concept.

Here I have to disagree. With Kill Team: Elites, there are plenty of units that can come in from Reserves/Deep Strike thanks to the universal "Outflank" Tactic and the various Deep Strike-like faction Tactics, so a rule allowing a first strike at these units could be very useful indeed.

[Brother Tyler]

That's a fair adaptation of the rule for Kill Team. In that case, I'd add it back in.

 

The limitation of using the overall rule only once per game still preserves a significant level of balance. It's the overall rule that is used once, not each variation. So the Red Hunters player can use Counter-Attack -or- Hatred -or- Interceptor (-or- the hypothetical Overwatch power) once per game, not each of them once per game. The various options simply give the Red Hunters player a bit of flexibility in terms of determining which benefit they get, but getting only one benefit once per game isn't terribly game breaking.