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8th Edition Codex Astra Militarum Crusade Builds for 9th Edition

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jarms48

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Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum Crusade Character Builds
Thought I'd do something different and suggest some builds for narrative. This really depends on your local crusade group, personally I'd only take a couple of these, I don't suggest being That Guy and take as many as possible unless everyone else is really ramping up their own characters. The main reason I wrote this is as a guide to help if you're struggling or new to crusade, Astra Militarum can struggle with other 9th edition armies as we don't have as many unique crusade options.

 

Tank Commander (primary build):

Spoiler

We'll start with the obvious one. Punisher Tank Commanders, amazing in Crusade.

- Spend an RP for Decorated Officer to immediately get Blooded. Get the Artificer Relic Artificer Weapon. Now your 6's to Hit generate both an autowound and a mortal wound.

- Spend an RP for the Master Mechanic Tank Ace. Keep the Tank Commander alive as long as possible.

- Spend an RP for the Gifted Commander Warlord Trait. It's pre-game and won't be a waste if the TC dies. Gives a great way to move the TC out of danger before 1st turn or put them in range if you roll 1st turn. I consider this optional, but it definitely helps.

- When you get them to Battle-hardened go for Star of Terra. Now your TC has a 2+/4++. If you're starting a Crusade larger than Combat Patrol consider getting this first and then Artificer Weapon next. 

- If you get a free Battle Trait I'd suggest going for Blessed Hull for the 5+++ mortal wound defence, alternatively take Grizzled Crew it only gives you a 6+++ but it works on everything not just mortals. Grizzled Crew also has the secondary benefit of doubling wounds when bracketing the movement characteristic. So it really depends how many mortal wounds you'll be facing.

- When you hit Heroic either take Enhanced Engines or Elite Crew. Enhanced Engines stacks nicely with Grizzled Crew, Grinding Advance, and the Shock Troops stratagem. Elite Crew works great if you want to free up orders. Alternatively spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Take something like Blackstone Shard Amulet then go Weapon Augmentations, Physical Augmentations, and Action Augmentations.

- If you get another free Battle Trait I'd suggest taking whichever one you didn't take in your first free Battle Trait. 

- When they manage to reach Legendary either take one of the above you didn't choose or use a Rogue Trader for an Archeotech Curiosity. Take something like Vortex Grenade and immediately pay 2RP for Dealer in Exquisite Goods, then choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

 

Tank Commander (secondary build):

Spoiler

Any other Tank Commanders you add to your list won't be nearly as good as the above. As for variants I suggest either Punishers or Demolishers.

- Spend an RP for Decorated Officer to immediately get Blooded. Get the Weapon Enhancement Master-worked if you're taking a Punisher or get Auto-loader if you're taking a Demolisher. If your crusade group has a ton of -1 damage then consider Auto-loader for the Punisher as well.

- Spend an RP for the Master Mechanic Tank Ace. Keep the Tank Commander alive as long as possible.

- One thing you could consider is spending an RP on the Officio Prefectus Command Tank. Normally it's a pretty bad upgrade, and it still is, however, this is Narrative play and you could make a Tank Commissar for your campaign. This is completely optional.

- When you get them to Battle-hardened go for Blessed Hull for the 5+++ mortal wound defence, alternatively take Grizzled Crew for the same reasons as above.

- If you get a free Battle Trait I'd suggest going for Enhanced Engines or Elite Crew. If you're taking a Demolisher Armourbane can work as well. 

- When you hit Heroic either take one of the above you didn't choose or spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Take something like Blackstone Shard Amulet then go Weapon Augmentations, Physical Augmentations, and Action Augmentations.

- If you get another free Battle Trait, again, go for a trait you didn't choose earlier. 

- When they manage to reach Legendary either take one of the above you didn't choose or use a Rogue Trader for an Archeotech Curiosity. Take something like Vortex Grenade and immediately pay 2RP for Dealer in Exquisite Goods, then choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

 

Take Assassins - Eversor Assassin:

Spoiler

- First Battle Honour at Blooded get the Artificer Relic Frenzon Injector as it stacks with their datasheet Frenzon ability. Which means now the Eversor has a 3D6 rerollable charge range, basically giving you a 75% chance of an average 10.5 inch charge. They also get +3 attacks when charged, charging, or performing heroic intervention.

- When you get them to Battle-hardened go for the Weapon Enhancement Fleshbane. Making their 10 power sword attacks flat damage 2. Similar with the Punisher, if you're facing a ton of -1 damage opponents, take Heirloom instead for the autohits on 6's.

- If you get a free Battle Trait I'd suggest going for Deadly Charge which means that +3 attacks turns into +4 attacks.

- At this point you should be focusing on powering up other units, but once you hit Heroic take the Antiquity Relic Archeotech Nano-med. Which means when they die you come back on a 2+, why is this good? It means he can Bio-meltdown twice.

- If they manage to reach Legendary give them Null-field Disruptor. That way you can ignore invuls on all those power sword attacks. Now you have 10 damage 2 power sword attacks ignoring invul saves. 20 attacks if you use Stimm Overload. Which turn into more attacks with every model you kill. Alternatively if you have a ton of AoC, so invuls aren't as necessary, then consider using a Rogue Trader for an Archeotech Curiosity. Take something like Vortex Grenade and immediately pay 2RP for Dealer in Exquisite Goods, then choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

- For the 6th and last use a free Battle Trait Swift and Agile as the +1 charge means they have an average 11.5 inch charge with rerolls. Now you can almost always drop them from deepstrike and get a guaranteed charge.

 

Take Assassins - Callidus Assassin:

Spoiler

- First Battle Honour at Blooded get the Artificer Relic Artisan Bionics it pushes her phase sword to S5 and gives her a 5+++.

- When you get them to Battle-hardened go for the Weapon Enhancement Fleshbane. This makes her phase sword flat damage 3. Now she can even drop terminators.

- If you get a free Battle Trait I'd suggest going for Deadly Charge for the +1 attack.

- When they manage to reach Heroic either take Heroic Constitution, Swift and Agile, or Inspiring Hero. Otherwise spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Take something like Blackstone Shard Amulet then go Weapon Augmentations or Psychic Augmentations, Physical Augmentations, and Action Augmentations.

- If you get another free Battle Trait I'd suggest going for Swift and Agile for more reliable charges. If you already took it above, go for Heroic Constitution or Inspiring Hero. With her reduced deepstrike distances you have a good chance of charging her the same turn she drops. Worst case pay a CP and reroll the charge distance.

- When they manage to reach Legendary take one of the above Battle Traits you didn't take earlier. Otherwise use a Rogue Trader for an Archeotech Curiosity. Same as the TC take something like Vortex Grenade and immediately pay 2RP for Dealer in Exquisite Goods, then choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

 

Take a Rogue Trader:

Spoiler

They don't even need to be in your list, just your order of battle, you could literally use them to give other characters more abilities thanks to their unique requisition Dealer in Exquisite Goods. As for their loadout, I would only ever suggest this one - Heirloom pistol; court blade; monomolecular rapier; archeotech grenades; concealed archeotech weapon; disruption field generator; multi-spectral auspicator.

- Spend an RP for Duellist warlord trait.

- First Battle Honour at Blooded go for the Weapon Enhancement Fleshbane. Making their monomolecular rapier attacks flat damage 3. If you're not taking a Callidus Assassin take the Artificer Relic Artisan Bionics instead and move the Weapon Enhancement to Battle-hardened.

- When you get them to Battle-hardened I'd suggest going for Deadly Charge for the +1 attack. If you're not taking a Callidus Assassin save this for the first free Battle Trait.

- If you do take a Callidus Assassin get a free Battle Trait go for Swift and Agile for the more reliable charges. Otherwise add Swift and Agile to the next free Battle Trait list.

- At Heroic spend 2RP on the Master of Negotiation Requisition. Choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables.

- If you get another free Battle Trait I'd suggest going for Heroic Constitution to make them more tanky and it can stack nicely with all the Archeotech Curiosity's from the above and below.

- At Legendary spend another 2RP on the Master of Negotiation Requisition. Choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables.

 

Primaris Psyker:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take the Psychic Fortitude Psychic Might for the additional cast. He already knows 2 powers and smite, an additional cast makes them instantly better.

- At Battle-hardened this really depends on your meta. Typically though, I'd suggest Heroic Constitution as making them melee focused characters isn't a great idea with no invul.

- At Heroic spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Same as the TC take something like Blackstone Shard Amulet then go Psychic Augmentations, Physical Augmentations, and Action Augmentations.

- At Legendary spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Same as the TC take something like Vortex Grenade and immediately pay 2RP for Dealer in Exquisite Goods, then choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

- If you get a free Battle Trait at this point it highly depends on what you rolled. If you didn't get Warp Aegis take Resilient for a 6+++. If you did get Warp Aegis take Deadly Charge if you got a melee buffs, take Adamantium Will if you didn't get Warp Dampener and you're facing a ton of enemy psykers, or take Inspiring Hero if you just want them to sit back and cast powers.

- If you get another free Battle Trait take one of the above you didn't choose earlier.

 

Astropath:

Spoiler

Similar build path as above, except I'd probably swap Heroic Constitution at Battle-hardened for Master of Lore. Then with any of the free Battle Traits add Heroic Constitution to that list.

 

Ogryn Bodyguard (build 1):

Spoiler

Take the Slabshield, Bullgryn Plate, and Bullgryn Maul.

- First Battle Honour at Blooded get the Artificer Relic Conversion Field. For the 4++ and mortal wound on enemies on a 6.

- At Battle-hardened take Razor-edged on the Bullgryn Maul to make it AP-2. To get around AoC. If you have no AoC armies in your meta take Fleshbane.

- If you get a free Battle Trait take Deadly Charge for the additional attack.

- At Heroic if you're not taking a Callidus Assassin or a Rogue Trader take the Artificer Relic Artisan Bionics. It pushes the Bullgryn Maul to S8 and gives them a 5+++. Otherwise spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Take Blackstone Shard Amulet then choose to roll a D6 on the Archeotech Curiosity tables Psychic Augmentations, Physical Augmentations, and Action Augmentations. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

- At Legendary spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Same as the TC take something like Vortex Grenade and immediately pay 2RP for Dealer in Exquisite Goods, then choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

- If you get a second free Battle Trait take Heroic Constitution or Swift and Agile.

 

Ogryn Bodyguard (build 2):

Spoiler

Take the Slabshield, Bullgryn Plate, and Bullgryn Maul.

- Spend 1RP and take The Deathmask Of Ollanius. For the 4++ and heal D3 wounds.

- At Blooded take Razor-edged on the Bullgryn Maul to make it AP-2. To get around AoC. If you have no AoC armies in your meta take Fleshbane.

- At Battle-hardened take if you're not taking an Eversor Assassin take the Artificer Relic Frenzon Injector. Otherwise take Deadly Charge for the additional attack.

- If you get a free Battle Trait take Deadly Charge or Heroic Constitution to make them more tanky.

- At Heroic spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Take Blackstone Shard Amulet then choose to roll a D6 on the Archeotech Curiosity tables Psychic Augmentations, Physical Augmentations, and Action Augmentations. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

- At Legendary spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Same as the TC take something like Vortex Grenade and immediately pay 2RP for Dealer in Exquisite Goods, then choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

- If you get a second free Battle Trait take Swift and Agile, or Resilient of you didn't roll Warp Aegis.

 

Death Rider Squadron Commander:

Spoiler

- First Battle Honour at Blooded get Fleshbane on their power sword for flat damage 2.

- At Battle-hardened take Frenzon Injector if you're not taking an Eversor Assassin. For more reliable charges and +1 attack. You want to ideally charge on your terms with the hunting lance and use the power sword in following turns. Otherwise take Heirloom on the Hunting Lance, you sadly can't buff the stats of the Hunting Lance as it comes fixed from its weapon ability so autohits on 6's is the better option.

- If you get a free Battle Trait take Deadly Charge for the additional attack.

- At Heroic spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Same as the TC take something like Blackstone Shard Amulet then go Psychic Augmentations, Physical Augmentations, and Action Augmentations.

- At Legendary spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Same as the TC take something like Vortex Grenade and immediately pay 2RP for Dealer in Exquisite Goods, then choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

- If you get a second free Battle Trait take Heroic Constitution, or Swift and Agile if you took an Eversor Assassin and didn't roll Speed Amplifier/Gravitic Dampener.

 

Inquisitors:

Spoiler

Personally, I wouldn't suggest taking any generic Inquisitors. Just take Inquisitor Coteaz instead. He's the same PL cost, has a better statline, a better daemon hammer, and his Spy Network ability. If you're still wanting a generic Inquisitor this is what I'd suggest - Nemesis daemon hammer, Meltagun, Ordo Malleus.

- Spend an RP for Alpha-class Psyker, take Castigation and Warding Incantation as your 2 powers.

- Spend an RP for Arbiter of the Emperor's Will. Take Radical for the reroll, great for casts. Blackshroud for the -1 to wound.

- At Blooded if you're not taking a Callidus Assassin, a Rogue Trader, Ogryn Bodyguard take the Artificer Relic Artisan Bionics. Otherwise take Heirloom or Razor-edged on their nemesis daemon hammer.

- At Battle-hardened take Deadly Charge for the additional attack.

- If you get a free Battle Trait take Heroic Constitution to make them more tanky.

- At Heroic spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Take Blackstone Shard Amulet then choose to roll a D6 on the Archeotech Curiosity tables Psychic Augmentations, Physical Augmentations, and Action Augmentations. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

- At Legendary spend 2RP on the Dealer in Exquisite Goods Requisition. Same as the TC take something like Vortex Grenade and immediately pay 2RP for Dealer in Exquisite Goods, then choose to roll a D6 on all of the Archeotech Curiosity tables. Since you swapped the Crusade Relic for an Archeotech Curiosity you can now choose it from the list again.

- If you get a second free Battle Trait take Swift and Agile, or Resilient of you didn't roll Warp Aegis and didn't take Artisan Bionics.

 

 Company Commander/Platoon Commander/Tempestor Prime (primary build):

Spoiler

This should be your CP generation character, obvious out of the above 3 mentioned characters it does depend on what you're taking. Taking a lot of Tank Commanders give this to a Platoon Commander, taking Scions then Tempestor Prime. The great thing about a CP generation character if you get onto the backfoot and start getting Crusade Blessings they'll be even more reliable. I wouldn't waste free Battle Traits on them.

- Spend an RP for Grant Strategist. 

- Spend an RP for Kurov's Aquila.

- At Blooded take Swift and Agile. If you decide to MMM them across the table you'll get an extra 4 inches of movement. 

- At Battle-hardened take Heroic Constitution to make them a bit more tanky.

- At Heroic take Resilient for some mortal wound defence and to stack with Heroic Constitution. 

- At Legendary if you're not taking Commissars you could consider Inspiring Hero for the additional leadership bubble. Maybe Hardened Fighters for 2+ to hit on their Power Sword or 3+ to hit on their Power Fist. Alternatively if you want more chances to score that extra 1CP per battle round take Tactical Experience. Obviously it doesn't stack and you're still limited to a maximum of 1CP refunded, but it gives you another 16.7% chance per stratagem to score it. 

 

Company Commander/Platoon Commander/Tempestor Prime (secondary build 1):

Spoiler

This is your buffing character there's many ways to do this. I wouldn't waste free Battle Traits on them.

- Spend an RP for Bellowing Voice. 

- Spend an RP for The Laurels Of Command. The idea here is to stack orders, by expanding their aura range you've increased the amount of units that can benefit from Laurels. If you get your infantry to Veteran Warriors, in that they can naturally reroll ones to hit, then you could issue something like FRFSRF, and then attempt to give anyone inside aura range Bring It Down. Which make all their weapons much more devastating for the points. If you're taking a Tempestor Prime, this allows you to stack EPS which makes your hotshot lasguns able to kill vehicles with ease. 

- At Blooded take Swift and Agile. If you decide to MMM them across the table you'll get an extra 4 inches of movement. 

- At Battle-hardened take Heroic Constitution to make them a bit more tanky.

- At Heroic take Resilient for some mortal wound defence and to stack with Heroic Constitution. 

- At Legendary if you're not taking Commissars you could consider Inspiring Hero for the additional leadership bubble. Maybe Hardened Fighters for 2+ to hit on their Power Sword or 3+ to hit on their Power Fist.

 

Company Commander/Platoon Commander/Tempestor Prime (secondary build 2):

Spoiler

This is your buffing character there's many ways to do this. I wouldn't waste free Battle Traits on them.

- Spend an RP for Old Grudges.

- Spend an RP for Relic Of Lost Cadia. The idea here is to put this model as close to your heavy hitters as possible, personally I'd choose a Platoon Commander for this as Company Commanders should be sticking with the infantry to maximise their orders. Pop Old Grudges and kill the biggest visible threat possible. Then in the following turn pop Relic of Lost Cadia to maximise your heavy hitters shooting again. Do bear-in-mind that the Relic of Lost Cadia is less viable if you're planning on giving vehicles Elite Crew or Veteran Warriors. 

- At Blooded take Swift and Agile. If you decide to MMM them across the table you'll get an extra 4 inches of movement. 

- At Battle-hardened take Heroic Constitution to make them a bit more tanky.

- At Heroic take Resilient for some mortal wound defence and to stack with Heroic Constitution. 

- At Legendary if you're not taking Commissars you could consider Inspiring Hero for the additional leadership bubble. Maybe Hardened Fighters for 2+ to hit on their Power Sword or 3+ to hit on their Power Fist.

 

Tempestor Prime (alternate build Lambdan Lions):

Spoiler

This is your buffing character there's many ways to do this. I wouldn't waste free Battle Traits on them.

- Spend an RP for Bellowing Voice.

- Spend an RP for Refractor Field Generator. The idea here is to have a 9 inch aura of a 5++ invulnerable. If you give your Scions Grizzled then they have a 4+/5++/6+++ save.

- At Blooded take Swift and Agile. If you decide to MMM them across the table you'll get an extra 4 inches of movement. 

- At Battle-hardened take Heroic Constitution to make them a bit more tanky.

- At Heroic take Resilient for some mortal wound defence and to stack with Heroic Constitution. 

- At Legendary if you're not taking Commissars you could consider Inspiring Hero for the additional leadership bubble. Maybe Hardened Fighters for 2+ to hit on their Power Sword or 3+ to hit on their Power Fist.

 

Master of Ordinance:

Spoiler

More of a meme character, but can do a surprising amount of damage with a buffed Artillery Barrage. Can also double as a cheap buffing character.

- Spend an RP for Old Grudges. Alternatively take Master of Command to give them an order. 

- Spend an RP for Relic Of Lost Cadia. The idea here is to put this model as close to your heavy hitters as possible, personally I'd choose a Platoon Commander for this as Company Commanders should be sticking with the infantry to maximise their orders. Pop Old Grudges and kill the biggest visible threat possible. Then in the following turn pop Relic of Lost Cadia to maximise your heavy hitters shooting again. Do bear-in-mind that the Relic of Lost Cadia is less viable if you're planning on giving vehicles Elite Crew or Veteran Warriors. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on their Artillery Barrage. 

- At Battle-hardened take Slick Crew. With this and the above now you have double exploding 6's.

- At Heroic take Heroic Constitution. 

- At Legendary take Resilient.

 

Lord Commissar/Commissar:

Spoiler

I wouldn't waste free Battle Traits on them. Never take regular Commissars. Even Lord Commissars are bad, if you want to roleplay a Commissar make a TC a "Commissar" with the stratagem, but this is how I'd do them.

- At Blooded take Inspiring Hero. It should affect the Commissars Leadership characteristic as well, giving them an Ld10 aura. 

- When they hit Blooded you can spend an RP for Uplifting Primer. This will make their aura Ld11. Though I consider this optional.

- At Battle-hardened take Heroic Constitution to make them a bit more tanky.

- At Heroic take Resilient for some mortal wound defence and to stack with Heroic Constitution. 

- At Legendary take Hardened Fighters for 2+ to hit on their Power Fist. Alternatively Deadly Charge, or Swift and Agile so they can keep up with the infantry.

 

All Other Astra Militarum Characters:

Spoiler

This is characters like Tech-Priest Engineseers, Officers of the Fleet, Ministorum Priests, etc. I wouldn't waste free Battle Traits on them.

- At Blooded take Swift and Agile. 

- At Battle-hardened take Heroic Constitution to make them a bit more tanky.

- At Heroic take Resilient for some mortal wound defence and to stack with Heroic Constitution. 

- At Legendary if you're not taking Commissars you could consider Inspiring Hero for the additional leadership bubble, Deadly Charge, or Tactical Experience. 

 

I highly suggest adding a Rogue Trader to every Order of Battle, even if you don't use them on the battlefield. Their Archeotech Curiosity's really help keep the balance between Imperial Guard and other 9th edition armies.

Edited by jarms48
jarms48 Veteran

jarms48

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I'll have to add other generic Astra Militarum characters into there too. Such as:

- Company Commanders/Platoon Commanders/Tempestor Primes: These are basically all buffing and CP generation characters. They serve no place fighting. 

- Lord Commissars with Inspiring Hero can be nice, as their aura should apply to themselves as well. Meaning their Aura of Discipline becomes Ld10. 

- Officers of the Fleet, Tech-priests, and Ministorum Priests don't have much of a build path. You basically just want to buff their durability. 

- Master of Ordnance can have some fun interactions by buffing the hell out of their Artillery Barrage. Improved Sights for +1 to Hit or Auto-loader for exploding 6's. Slick Crew for more exploding 6's. Pop their stratagem for max shots and give them Cadian Take Aim it's oddly pretty deadly for a one-shot weapon. 

 

Other than that I suppose my next post should be on units themselves.

 

jarms48 Veteran

jarms48

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Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum Crusade Unit Builds

Don't waste any free Battle Traits on them, unless specified, and often only after you run out of Characters to buff.

 

Troops:

Conscripts:

Spoiler

Never waste a free Battle Trait on them, the below is always the best build. Even if you're not Cadians, still take the below and just remove Whiteshields.

- Spend an RP for Whiteshields.

- At Blooded take Fleet of Foot. If you decide to MMM them across the table you'll get an extra 4 inches of movement. Which will be massive for objective games.

- At Battle-hardened take Battle-tested they're now immune to combat attrition while on an objective, which stacks nicely with the above. You can also make them do actions and still shoot without failing, so once they get there just keep ordering FRFSRF.

- At Heroic take Veteran Warriors or Grizzled. Veteran Warriors stacks great with FRFSRF and Hammer Of The Emperor. Grizzled is nice to give them some mortal wound defence, as well as always giving them some type of save. 

- At Legendary take whichever one you didn't take above.

 

Infantry Squad:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Fleet of Foot. If you decide to MMM them across the table you'll get an extra 4 inches of movement. Which will be massive for objective games.

- At Battle-hardened take Crazed or Battle-tested. Crazed is good if you have Commissars, and even if you don't you'll still autopass the first failed morale check. On such a small unit, you'll likely only ever take one anyway. Battle-tested is still good, but isn't as useful for Infantry Squads as it is for Conscripts. If you're taking a ton of Infantry Squads giving up shooting to do an action isn't as restrictive and you won't always be on an objective to get the benefit of ignoring combat attrition.

- At Heroic take Veteran Warriors or Grizzled. Veteran Warriors stacks great with FRFSRF, overcharged Plasma, and Hammer Of The Emperor. Grizzled is nice to give them some mortal wound defence, as well as always giving them some type of save. 

- At Legendary take whichever one you didn't take above.

 

Militarum Tempestus Scions:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Fleet of Foot. If you decide to MMM them across the table you'll get an extra 4 inches of movement. Which will be massive for objective games.

- At Battle-hardened take Crazed or Battle-tested. For similar reasons to the Infantry Squad.

- At Heroic take Veteran Warriors or Grizzled. Veteran Warriors stacks great with FRFSRF, overcharged Plasma, and Hammer Of The Emperor. Grizzled is nice to give them some mortal wound defence, as well as always giving them some type of save. 

- At Legendary take whichever one you didn't take above.

- Optionally if you get a free Battle Trait take Slick Crew if you're spamming Hotshot Volley Guns. If you’re Lambdan Lions and don’t have any AoC factions Hardened Fighters can be fun too, stack them with a Priest as they naturally get AP-1 in melee.

 

Dedicated Transports:

Chimera:

Spoiler

Turret and Hull Heavy Flamers:

- At Blooded take Master-worked on one of the Heavy Flamers, if you have a ton of -1 damage opponents take Armour Piercing instead. 

- At Battle-hardened take Master-worked or Armour Piercing on the other Heavy Flamer.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew or Blessed Hull. For similar reasons to the TC. 

- At Legendary take Enhanced Engines to get those flamers in range more reliably.

 

Turret and Hull Heavy Bolters: 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader, Master-worked, or Armour Piercing on one of the Heavy Bolters. 

- At Battle-hardened take Auto-loader, Master-worked, or Armour Piercing on the other Heavy Bolter.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew or Blessed Hull. For similar reasons to the TC. 

- At Legendary take Enhanced Engines or Elite Crew.

 

Taurox:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Master-worked on one of the Autocannons, if you have a ton of -1 damage opponents take Armour Piercing instead. 

- At Battle-hardened take Master-worked or Armour Piercing on the other Autocannon.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew or Blessed Hull. For similar reasons to the TC. 

- At Legendary take Enhanced Engines or Elite Crew.

 

Taurox Prime:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Auto-loader or Master-worked on the Taurox Gatling Cannon. If you're taking the Taurox Missile Launcher take Auto-loader. If you're Lambdan Lions consider taking Armour Piercing, this works on either of the listed weapons AP-2 Frag Missiles is pretty nice. 

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled Crew or Blessed Hull. For similar reasons to the TC. 

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew or Blessed Hull. For similar reasons to the TC. 

- At Legendary take Elite Crew.

 

Elites:

Bullgryns:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Battle-tested. Getting Objective Secured itself is a massive boost for them, the rest is a bonus. 

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled for the 6+++ to give them additional durability and stack their defence. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot, Veteran Warriors, Headhunters, or Weapon Enhancement on the Bone ’ead. If you go Weapon Enhancement take Razor-edged and Fleshbane.

- At Legendary take one of the above you didn't earlier.

 

Command Squad:

Spoiler

Weapon Enhancement Build:

- At Blooded take Weapon Enhancement on one of the Veterans. If they have Plasma Guns get Auto-loader and Master-worked. If they have Melta Guns get Auto-loader and Improved Sights.

- At Battle-hardened take another Weapon Enhancement. 

- At Heroic take another Weapon Enhancement. 

- At Legendary take another Weapon Enhancement. 

- Optionally use a free Battle Trait to get Veteran Warriors. This frees up an otherwise Take Aim! order for Bring It Down!.

- Optionally give them a second free Battle Trait for Headhunters.

 

Battle Trait Build: 

- At Blooded take Veteran Warriors.

- At Battle-hardened take Headhunters. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot. 

- At Legendary take Grizzled. 

 

Crusaders:

Spoiler

Battle Trait Build: 

- At Blooded take Battle-tested. Getting Objective Secured itself is a massive boost for them, the rest is a bonus. 

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled for the 6+++ to give them additional durability and stack their defence. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot, Veteran Warriors, or Headhunters.

- At Legendary take one of the above you didn't earlier.

 

10 Model Weapon Enhancement Build:

If you're committing this much into them, I highly recommend a Ministorum Priest.

- At Blooded take a Weapon Enhancement on a Crusader. Get Fleshbane and Brutal/Heirloom.

- At Battle-hardened take another Weapon Enhancement on a Crusader. 

- At Heroic take a third Weapon Enhancement on a Crusader.

- At Legendary take a fourth Weapon Enhancement on the a Crusader.

- Optionally give them a free Battle Trait for Battle-tested.

- Optionally give them a second free Battle Trait for Grizzled, Fleet of Foot, or Veteran Warriors.

 

Militarum Tempestus Command Squad:

Spoiler

Weapon Enhancement Build:

- At Blooded take Weapon Enhancement on one of the Veterans. If they have Plasma Guns get Auto-loader and Master-worked. If they have Melta Guns get Auto-loader and Improved Sights.

- At Battle-hardened take another Weapon Enhancement. 

- At Heroic take another Weapon Enhancement. 

- At Legendary take another Weapon Enhancement. 

- Optionally use a free Battle Trait to get Veteran Warriors. This frees up an otherwise Take Aim! order for Bring It Down! or EPS. Otherwise Headhunters, deepstrike them in behind characters and blast them with buffed special weapons. 

 

Battle Trait Build: 

- At Blooded take Veteran Warriors.

- At Battle-hardened take Headhunters. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot. 

- At Legendary take Grizzled. 

 

Ogryns:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Battle-tested. Getting Objective Secured itself is a massive boost for them, the rest is a bonus. 

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled for the 6+++ to give them additional durability and stack their defence. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot or Veteran Warriors.

- At Legendary take one of the above you didn't earlier.

 

Ratlings:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Headhunters. 

- At Battle-hardened take Veteran Warriors.

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot, Grizzled, or Battle-tested.

- At Legendary take one of the above you didn't earlier.

 

Servitors:

Spoiler

Weapon Enhancement Build:

- At Blooded take Weapon Enhancement on one of the Servitors. If they have Plasma Cannons get Auto-loader and Master-worked. If they have Multi-meltas get Auto-loader and Improved Sights.

- At Battle-hardened take another Weapon Enhancement. 

- At Heroic take Veteran Warriors. 

- At Legendary take Headhunters. If you get the opportunity to dump your heavy weapons into a character do it. Use your other units to clear Look Out Sir first.

 

Battle Trait Build: 

- At Blooded take Veteran Warriors.

- At Battle-hardened take Headhunters. 

- At Heroic take Grizzled. 

- At Legendary take Battle-tested. 

 

Special Weapons Squad:

Spoiler

Weapon Enhancement Build:

- At Blooded take Weapon Enhancement on one of the Special Weapon models. If they have Plasma Guns get Auto-loader and Master-worked. If they have Melta Guns get Auto-loader and Improved Sights.

- At Battle-hardened take another Weapon Enhancement. 

- At Heroic take another Weapon Enhancement. 

- At Legendary take Veteran Warriors or Headhunters. 

- Optionally use a free Battle Trait to get the one you missed above.

 

Battle Trait Build: 

- At Blooded take Veteran Warriors.

- At Battle-hardened take Headhunters. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot. 

- At Legendary take Grizzled. 

 

Veterans:

Spoiler

Battle Trait Build 1: 

- At Blooded take Veteran Warriors.

- At Battle-hardened take Headhunters. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot. 

- At Legendary take Grizzled. 

 

Battle Trait Build 2: 

- At Blooded take Fleet of Foot. 

- At Battle-hardened take Battle-tested. Gives them Objective Secured so they can literally be used like additional Infantry Squads.

- At Heroic take Veteran Warriors or Grizzled.

- At Legendary take whichever one you didn't take above.

 

Wyrdvane Psykers:

Don't take them. Simple as that, take any of the other Psykers instead. 

 

Combat Engineer Squad:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Battle-tested. Getting Objective Secured itself is a massive boost for them, the rest is a bonus. 

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled for the 6+++ to give them additional durability and stack their defence. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot or Veteran Warriors.

- At Legendary take one of the above you didn't earlier.

 

Death Rider Command Squadron:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Battle-tested. Getting Objective Secured itself is a massive boost for them, the rest is a bonus. 

- At Battle-hardened take Headhunters. Use them to charge characters. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot or Veteran Warriors. Fleet of Foot helps you charge on your terms.

- At Legendary take one of the above you didn't earlier.

 

Fast Attack:

Armoured Sentinels:

Spoiler

Only give them free Battle Traits if you're taking them in units of 3. 

Heavy Flamers:

- At Blooded take Enhanced Engines to get them in range quicker.

- At Battle-hardened take Master-worked or Armour Piercing on the Heavy Flamer.

- At Heroic Grizzled Crew for durability. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- At Legendary take Repair Systems if you're only taking a single Sentinel. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- If you're taking 3 Sentinels give them Grizzled Crew with a free Battle Trait.

 

Missile Launcher or Lascannon:

- At Blooded take Master-worked, Armour Piercing, or Auto-loader on the Missile Launcher. On the Lascannon take Master-worked or Auto-loader.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- At Heroic Grizzled Crew or Armourbane. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- At Legendary take whichever one you didn't take above. 

- If you're taking 3 Sentinels give them Elite Crew, Grizzled Crew, or Armourbane with a free Battle Trait.

 

Plasma Cannons:

- At Blooded take Master-worked. Now you almost never need to overcharge and risk losing your Sentinels.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- At Heroic Grizzled Crew or Armourbane. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- At Legendary take whichever one you didn't take above.

- If you're taking 3 Sentinels give them Elite Crew, Grizzled Crew, or Armourbane with a free Battle Trait. Always try to get Elite Crew as soon as possible, if you do need to overcharge only ever do it when you have rerolls of 1.

 

Hellhounds:

Spoiler

Banewolf:

- At Blooded take Master-worked or Accelerator on the Chem Cannon.

- At Battle-hardened take Enhanced Engines to get in range faster.

- At Heroic Grizzled Crew for durability. 

- At Legendary take Auto-loader on the Multi-melta.

 

Devil Dog:

- At Blooded take take Auto-loader on the Melta Cannon.

- At Battle-hardened take Auto-loader on the Multi-melta.

- At Heroic take Elite Crew.

- At Legendary take Grizzled Crew.

 

Hellhound:

- At Blooded take Master-worked or Armour Piercing on the Inferno Cannon.

- At Battle-hardened take Enhanced Engines to get in range faster.

- At Heroic Grizzled Crew for durability. 

- At Legendary take Auto-loader on the Multi-melta.

 

Scout Sentinels:

Spoiler

Only give them free Battle Traits if you're taking them in units of 3. 

Heavy Flamers:

- At Blooded take Enhanced Engines to get them in range quicker.

- At Battle-hardened take Master-worked or Armour Piercing on the Heavy Flamer.

- At Heroic Grizzled Crew for durability. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- At Legendary take Repair Systems if you're only taking a single Sentinel. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- If you're taking 3 Sentinels give them Grizzled Crew with a free Battle Trait.

 

Missile Launcher or Lascannon:

- At Blooded take Master-worked, Armour Piercing, or Auto-loader on the Missile Launcher. On the Lascannon take Master-worked or Auto-loader.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- At Heroic Grizzled Crew or Armourbane. If you're taking 3 Sentinels take another Weapon Enhancement.

- At Legendary take whichever one you didn't take above if you're only taking a single Sentinel. 

- If you're taking 3 Sentinels give them Elite Crew, Grizzled Crew, or Armourbane with a free Battle Trait.

 

Death Rider Squadron:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Battle-tested. Getting Objective Secured itself is a massive boost for them, the rest is a bonus. 

- At Battle-hardened take Headhunters. Use them to charge characters. 

- At Heroic take Fleet of Foot or Veteran Warriors. Fleet of Foot helps you charge on your terms.

- At Legendary take one of the above you didn't earlier.

 

Flyers:

Valkyries:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Elite Crew. 

- At Battle-hardened take Blessed Hull. For mortal wound defence. If you don't need this take Auto-loader on the Lascannon.

- At Heroic take Master-worked, Armour Piercing, or Auto-loader on the Multiple Rocket Pod or Heavy Bolter. Master-worked is great on the Rocket Pod, it means any unsaved wounds will kill a marine. Armour Piercing helps either the Rocket Pod or Heavy Bolter get around AoC. Auto-loader is just a nice damage buff. So choose whichever suits your local meta best.

- At Legendary take Master-worked, Armour Piercing, or Auto-loader on the other Multiple Rocket Pod or Heavy Bolter.


Arvus Lighter:

Don't take them. Simple as that, take any of the other Flyer instead. 


Avenger Strike Fighter:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Master-worked, Armour Piercing, or Auto-loader on the Avenger Bolt Cannon.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Armourbane. Otherwise Auto-loader on the Lascannon.

- At Legendary take Blessed Hull. Otherwise Auto-loader on the other Lascannon.

 

Thunderbolt:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Armour Piercing, Auto-loader, or Master-worked on the Thunderbolt Nose Autocannons.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew. Otherwise Auto-loader or Armour Piercing on the Thunderbolt Hellstrike Rack.

- At Heroic take Armourbane. Otherwise Auto-loader on the Lascannon.

- At Legendary take Blessed Hull. Otherwise Auto-loader on the other Lascannon.

- I would consider using a single free Battle Trait on this to take Elite Crew, but only if you Weapon Enhance everything.


Vendetta Gunship:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Vendetta Twin Lascannon.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew. Otherwise Auto-loader on the other Vendetta Twin Lascannon.

- At Heroic take Armourbane. Otherwise Auto-loader on the last Vendetta Twin Lascannon.

- At Legendary take Blessed Hull. If you took all Weapon Enhancements get Elite Crew.

- I would consider using a single free Battle Trait on this to take Armourbane, but only if you Weapon Enhance everything.


Voss-pattern Lightning:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Armour Piercing or Auto-loader on the Lightning Hellstrike Rack.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Armourbane. Otherwise Auto-loader on the Lascannon.

- At Legendary take Blessed Hull. Otherwise Auto-loader on the other Lascannon.

 

Vulture Gunship:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Elite Crew.

- At Battle-hardened take Master-worked or Auto-loader on the Vulture Gatling Cannon.

- At Heroic take Armourbane. Otherwise Auto-loader on the other Vulture Gatling Cannon.

- At Legendary take Blessed Hull or Armourbane if you went all Weapon Enhancements. 

 

Heavy Support:

Basilisks:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Full Payload Support Ace. Optional, focus your RP on the key characters first.

- At Blooded take Auto-loader, if you're not using a Tank Ace then you could consider Master-worked as well.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Armourbane if you are Cadians.

- At Heroic take Armourbane if you didn't already, otherwise Grizzled Crew.

- At Legendary take Grizzled Crew if you didn't already, otherwise Enhanced Engines or Repair Systems. 


Deathstrike:

Don't take them. Simple as that, take any of the other Artillery instead. 


Heavy Weapons Squad:

Spoiler

Mortars:

- At Blooded take Slick Crew.

- At Battle-hardened take Auto-loader and Master-worked/Improved Sights. Latter depends on local meta.

- At Heroic take Auto-loader and Master-worked/Improved Sights on another model.

- At Legendary take Auto-loader and Master-worked/Improved Sights on the last model.

- You can give them a free Battle Trait, I suggest Veteran Warriors if you're not Cadians then you can order them with Bring It Down! instead of Take Aim!. If you are Cadians don't bother.

 

Heavy Bolters or Autocannons:

Personally I suggest against these as Heavy Weapon Squads die to a stiff breeze if exposed.

- At Blooded take Slick Crew.

- At Battle-hardened take Auto-loader/Armour Piercing and Master-worked/Improved Sights. Either depends on local meta. 

- At Heroic take the same Weapon Enhancements on another model.

- At Heroic take the same Weapon Enhancements on the last model.

- You can give them a free Battle Trait, I suggest Veteran Warriors if you're not Cadians then you can order them with Bring It Down! instead of Take Aim!. If you are Cadians don't bother.

 

Missile Launchers or Lascannons:

Personally I suggest against these as Heavy Weapon Squads die to a stiff breeze if exposed.

- At Blooded take Slick Crew.

- At Battle-hardened take Auto-loader/Armour Piercing and Master-worked/Improved Sights. For the Lascannon only take Auto-loader and Improved Sights.

- At Heroic take the same Weapon Enhancements on another model.

- At Heroic take the same Weapon Enhancements on the last model.

- You can give them a free Battle Trait, I suggest Veteran Warriors if you're not Cadians then you can order them with Bring It Down! instead of Take Aim!. If you are Cadians don't bother.

 

Hydras:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Shatterer of Will Support Ace. Optional, focus your RP on the key characters first. This Support Ace often isn't worth it. just take the builds for Conscripts or Infantry Squads shown here for example. It's very easy to make units ignore morale entirely. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader, Armour Piercing, or Master-worked on the Hydra Quad Autocannon. Personally I always prefer Auto-loader, but the other 2 are local meta dependant. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew.

- At Legendary take Armourbane. 

 

Leman Russ Battle Tanks:

Spoiler

Demolisher:

- Spend an RP for the Master Mechanic Tank Ace. Optional, focus your RP on the key characters first.

- At Blooded take Auto-loader or Accelerator on the Demolisher Cannon. 

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled Crew.

- At Heroic take Elite Crew. You're never going to order them, so this gives them the reroll 1 order by default.

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Enhanced Engines. 

 

Punisher: 

- Spend an RP for the Master Mechanic Tank Ace. Optional, focus your RP on the key characters first.

- At Blooded take Master-worked or Auto-loader on the Punisher Cannon. I prefer the former, but as always if you have a ton of -1 Damage then go for the latter.

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled Crew.

- At Heroic take Elite Crew. 

- At Legendary take Enhanced Engines.

 

Executioner: 

- Spend an RP for the Master Mechanic Tank Ace. Optional, focus your RP on the key characters first.

- At Blooded take Master-worked or Auto-loader on the Executioner Plasma Cannon. Former is great as it reduces your need to overcharge, if you do overcharge you have flat damage 3. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Enhanced Engines.

 

Battle Tank:

- Spend an RP for the Master Mechanic Tank Ace. Optional, focus your RP on the key characters first.

- At Blooded take Master-worked, Armour Piercing, or Auto-loader on the Battle Cannon. Master-worked makes it more reliable against whiffing, Armour Piercing makes it better against AoC, Auto-loader is that typical damage buff.

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled Crew.

- At Heroic take Elite Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Enhanced Engines.

 

Notes on sponsons, you could opt to swap some of the Battle Honour Battle Traits in here for more Weapon Enhancements on the sponson weapons. Such as Master-worked on each of the Plasma Cannons, or Auto-loader on Multi-meltas. If you do this, I'd consider giving the tank a free Battle Trait to ensure you get Elite Crew, Armourbane, or Grizzled Crew if you would otherwise miss it. Enhanced Engines isn't a huge loss. 

 

Manticore:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Full Payload Support Ace. Optional, focus your RP on the key characters first.

- At Blooded take Auto-loader, Armour Piercing, or if you're not using a Tank Ace then you could consider Master-worked as well.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Armourbane if you are Cadians.

- At Heroic take Armourbane if you didn't already, otherwise Grizzled Crew.

- At Legendary take Grizzled Crew if you didn't already, otherwise Enhanced Engines or Repair Systems. 

 

Wyverns:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Well-stocked Magazines Support Ace, unless you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts then consider Shatterer of Will. Optional, focus your RP on the key characters first. If you're considering Shatterer of Will just make sure your enemy aren't buffing their units leadership and morale, otherwise it's useless and don't take a Support Ace at all. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader, Armour Piercing, or Master-worked on the Wyvern Quad Stormshard Mortar. Personally I always prefer Auto-loader, but the other 2 are local meta dependant. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Grizzled Crew if you are Cadians.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew if you didn't already, otherwise Enhanced Engines or Repair Systems.

- At Legendary take whichever one you didn't take above. 

 

Armageddon-pattern Basilisks:

If you're going to take a Basilisk take this instead, same PL better toughness. Use the exact same build guide as the Basilisk.

 

Armageddon-pattern Medusas:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Auto-loader.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Armourbane if you are Cadians.

- At Heroic take Armourbane if you didn't already, otherwise Grizzled Crew.

- At Legendary take Grizzled Crew if you didn't already, otherwise Enhanced Engines or Repair Systems. 

 

Carnodon:

Spoiler

All Lascannons:

- At Blooded take Elite Crew. 

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled Crew or Blessed Hull. If you don't need this take Auto-loader on the Carnodon Twin Lascannon instead.

- At Heroic take Armourbane. If you don't need this take Auto-loader on the Lascannon instead.

- At Legendary take Repair Systems. If you don't need this take Auto-loader on the other Lascannon instead.

 

All Volkites:

- At Blooded take Elite Crew to try and get more 6's.

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled Crew or Blessed Hull. If you don't need this take Auto-loader or Master-worked on the Volkite Culverin instead.

- At Heroic take Repair Systems. If you don't need this take Auto-loader or Master-worked on the Volkite Caliver instead.

- At Legendary take Enhanced Engines or Armourbane. If you don't need this take Auto-loader or Master-worked on the other Volkite Caliver instead.

 

Colossus Bombards:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Auto-loader, Armour Piercing, or Master-worked on the Colossus Siege Mortar. Personally I always prefer Auto-loader, but the other 2 are local meta dependant. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Grizzled Crew if you are Cadians.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew if you didn't already, otherwise Enhanced Engines or Repair Systems.

- At Legendary take whichever one you didn't take above. 

 

Cyclops Demolition Vehicle:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Accelerator. This doubles your Cyclops Demolition Charge range, which is amazing. Just be careful as you could kill a lot of your own units. 

- At Battle-hardened take Enhanced Engines. To get in range faster. 

- At Heroic take Elite Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane. 

 

Earthshaker Carriage Battery:

Spoiler
Only give them free Battle Traits if you're taking them in units of 3. If you're only taking a unit of 1 just remove the additional Weapon Enhancements and use the below traits instead.
 
- At Blooded take Auto-loader or Master-worked on the first Battery.
- At Battle-hardened take whatever Weapon Enhancement you took above on the second Battery.
- At Heroic take whatever Weapon Enhancement you took above on the third Battery.
- At Legendary take Grizzled Crew or Street Fighters if you didn't already. Ironically each Carriage Battery has 5 attacks, if you have a unit of 3 in base-to-base that's 15 attacks hitting on 3's. Not amazing but surprisingly could fight off a charge of chaff units.
- You can give them a free Battle Trait take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Armourbane if you are Cadians.
- You can give them a second free Battle Trait take Armourbane if you didn't already, otherwise Grizzled Crew.


Heavy Mortar Battery:

Spoiler
Only give them free Battle Traits if you're taking them in units of 3. If you're only taking a unit of 1 just remove the additional Weapon Enhancements and use the below traits instead.
 
- At Blooded take Auto-loader, Armour Piercing, or Master-worked on the first Battery.
- At Battle-hardened take whatever Weapon Enhancement you took above on the second Battery.
- At Heroic take whatever Weapon Enhancement you took above on the third Battery.
- At Legendary take Grizzled Crew or Street Fighters if you didn't already. Ironically each Carriage Battery has 3 attacks, if you have a unit of 3 in base-to-base that's 9 attacks hitting on 3's. Not amazing but surprisingly could fight off a charge of chaff units.
- You can give them a free Battle Trait take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Armourbane if you are Cadians.
- You can give them a second free Battle Trait take Armourbane if you didn't already, otherwise Grizzled Crew.

 

Heavy Quad Launcher Battery:

Spoiler
Only give them free Battle Traits if you're taking them in units of 3. If you're only taking a unit of 1 just remove the additional Weapon Enhancements and use the below traits instead.
 
- At Blooded take Auto-loader or Master-worked on the first Battery.
- At Battle-hardened take whatever Weapon Enhancement you took above on the second Battery.
- At Heroic take whatever Weapon Enhancement you took above on the third Battery.
- At Legendary take Grizzled Crew or Street Fighters if you didn't already. Ironically each Carriage Battery has 3 attacks, if you have a unit of 3 in base-to-base that's 9 attacks hitting on 3's. Not amazing but surprisingly could fight off a charge of chaff units.
- You can give them a free Battle Trait take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Armourbane if you are Cadians.
- You can give them a second free Battle Trait take Armourbane if you didn't already, otherwise Grizzled Crew.

 

Malcador:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Master-worked, Armour Piercing, or Auto-loader on the Battle Cannon. Master-worked makes it more reliable against whiffing, Armour Piercing makes it better against AoC, Auto-loader is that typical damage buff.

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled Crew. Stacks better here than most other vehicles due to simply having more wounds.

- At Heroic take Elite Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Enhanced Engines.

 

Notes on sponsons, you could opt to swap some of the Battle Honour Battle Traits in here for more Weapon Enhancements on the sponson weapons. Such as Auto-loader on Lascannons. If you do this, I'd consider giving the tank a free Battle Trait to ensure you get Elite Crew, Armourbane, or Grizzled Crew if you would otherwise miss it. Enhanced Engines isn't a huge loss. 

 

Malcador Annihilator:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Auto-loader or Accelerator on the Demolisher Cannon. 

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled Crew. Stacks better here than most other vehicles due to simply having more wounds. Alternatively you can take Auto-loader on the Malcador Twin Lascannon.

- At Heroic take Elite Crew or Grizzled Crew if you didn't take it above. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Enhanced Engines.

 

Notes on sponsons, you could opt to swap some of the Battle Honour Battle Traits in here for more Weapon Enhancements on the sponson weapons. Such as Auto-loader on Lascannons. If you do this, I'd consider giving the tank a free Battle Trait to ensure you get Elite Crew, Armourbane, or Grizzled Crew if you would otherwise miss it. Enhanced Engines isn't a huge loss. 

 

Malcador Defender:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Auto-loader or Accelerator on the Demolisher Cannon. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew. 

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Enhanced Engines.

 

Notes on sponsons, you could opt to swap some of the Battle Honour Battle Traits in here for more Weapon Enhancements on the sponson weapons. Such as Auto-loader on Lascannons. If you do this, I'd consider giving the tank a free Battle Trait to ensure you get Elite Crew, Armourbane, or Grizzled Crew if you would otherwise miss it. Enhanced Engines isn't a huge loss. 

 

Malcador Infernus:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take High Calibre on the Inferno Gun to push it to S8, Armour Piercing if you have a ton of AoC, or Master-worked. 

- At Battle-hardened take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Heroic take Enhanced Engines. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Repair Systems.

 

Notes on sponsons, you could opt to swap some of the Battle Honour Battle Traits in here for more Weapon Enhancements on the sponson weapons. Such as Auto-loader on Lascannons. If you do this, I'd consider giving the tank a free Battle Trait to ensure you get Elite Crew, Armourbane, or Grizzled Crew if you would otherwise miss it. Enhanced Engines isn't a huge loss. 

 

Medusa Carriage Battery:

Spoiler
Only give them free Battle Traits if you're taking them in units of 3. If you're only taking a unit of 1 just remove the additional Weapon Enhancements and use the below traits instead.
 
- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the first Battery.
- At Battle-hardened take the same Weapon Enhancement on the second Battery.
- At Heroic take the same Weapon Enhancement on the third Battery.
- At Legendary take Grizzled Crew or Street Fighters if you didn't already. Ironically each Carriage Battery has 3 attacks, if you have a unit of 5 in base-to-base that's 15 attacks hitting on 3's. Not amazing but surprisingly could fight off a charge of chaff units.
- You can give them a free Battle Trait take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Armourbane if you are Cadians.
- You can give them a second free Battle Trait take Armourbane if you didn't already, otherwise Grizzled Crew.

 

Rapier Laser Destroyer Battery:

Spoiler
Only give them free Battle Traits if you're taking them in units of 3. If you're only taking a unit of 1 just remove the additional Weapon Enhancements and use the below traits instead.
 
- At Blooded take Enhanced Engines. This is a 50% buff to its movement characteristic. Makes it easier to get around.
- At Battle-hardened take Auto-loader on the first Battery.
- At Heroic take the same Weapon Enhancement on the second Battery.
- At Legendary take the same Weapon Enhancement on the third Battery.
- You can give them a free Battle Trait take Elite Crew if you're not Cadians, Armourbane if you are Cadians.
- You can give them a second free Battle Trait take Armourbane if you didn't already, otherwise Grizzled Crew.


Thunderers:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Auto-loader or Accelerator on the Demolisher Cannon. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Enhanced Engines. 

 

Valdor Tank Hunter:

Don't take them. Far too much PL cost for what they do.


Lords of War:

Baneblade:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Baneblade Cannon, if you have a ton of T5 opponents consider High Calibre to push it to S10. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 

 

Banehammer:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Tremor Cannon, if you have a ton of AoC consider Armour Piercing. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 

 

Banesword:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Quake Cannon. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 


Doomhammer:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Magma Cannon. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 


Hellhammer:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Hellhammer Cannon. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 


Shadowsword:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Volcano Cannon. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 

 

Stormlord:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Cadian Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Vulcan Mega-bolter, you can also consider Armour Piercing if you have a ton of AoC or Master-worked. 

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 

 

Stormsword:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Stormsword Siege Cannon.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 


Crassus:

Spoiler

I love the look of this vehicle, but it's bad.

 

- At Blooded take Grizzled Crew.

- At Battle-hardened take Enhanced Engines.

- At Heroic take Elite Crew. 

- At Legendary take Repair Systems. 


Macharius:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader or Armour Piercing on the Macharius Twin Battle Cannon.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 


Macharius Vanquisher:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Cadian Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader on the Macharius Twin Vanquisher Cannon.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 


Macharius Vulcan:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Cadian Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Auto-loader, Armour Piercing, or Master-worked on the Macharius Vulcan Mega-bolter.

- At Battle-hardened take Elite Crew.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 


Marauder Bomber:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Elite Crew.

- At Battle-hardened take Auto-loader on the Marauder Twin Lascannons.

- At Heroic take Auto-loader, Armour Piercing, or Master-worked on the Marauder Twin Heavy Bolters.

- At Legendary take Auto-loader, Armour Piercing, or Master-worked on the other Marauder Twin Heavy Bolters.

 

Marauder Destroyer:

Spoiler

- At Blooded take Elite Crew.

- At Battle-hardened take Auto-loader on the Marauder Twin Lascannons.

- At Heroic take Auto-loader or Armour Piercing on the Hellstrike Missile Rack.

- At Legendary take Auto-loader, Armour Piercing, or Master-worked on the other Marauder Twin Assault Cannons.


Minotaur:

Just take Basilisks instead.


Praetor:

Take any kind of artillery instead.


Stormblade:

Spoiler

- Spend an RP for the Hull-down Deployment Super-heavy Ace. Alternatively, if you're Catachan or have Gunnery Experts Steadfast Leviathan can be a decent pick too. Personally I prefer the bonus save, especially if I roll 2nd turn. 

- At Blooded take Elite Crew. This will help it from blowing itself up.

- At Battle-hardened take Auto-loader on the Stormblade Plasma Blastgun.

- At Heroic take Grizzled Crew. 

- At Legendary take Armourbane or Street Fighters. 

 

Edited by jarms48
jarms48 Veteran

jarms48

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It's finally done, I'll do another pass with alternate builds and fix any mistakes but every datasheet has something. 

 

Generic Crusade Advice:

Always take a Cartographica Rogue Trader in your Order of Battle as Astra Militarum.

As I've highlighted in my first post, purely unlocking their requisitions can be a massive boost for Guard characters. We only have very limited unique requisitions and unique crusade relics ourselves and this helps level the playing field.

 

Weapon Enhancements:

- When to take Auto-loader or Heirloom? You can never really go wrong with this one. Though if any of the other Weapon Enhancements would give you a better bonus proportionately take them instead.

- When to take Armour Piercing or Razor-edged? This is highly dependant on your meta and if you're likely to face Armour of Contempt. 

  • AP0: If you have no AoC then buffing this to AP-1 is massive. 
  • AP-1: If you do have AoC I highly recommend it, otherwise it's less important and considered optional. Still nice to have.
  • AP-2: If you do have AoC I still recommend it, but I consider it optional.
  • AP-3 and higher, don't worry about this Weapon Enhancement at all.

- When to take Heirloom or Brutal? The below are the best situations to increase your strength characteristic. S9 to S10 is very situational, I would only consider this if you have a lot of T5 opponents.

  • Pushing S3 to S4.
  • Pushing S4 to S5.
  • Pushing S7 to S8 

- When to take Improved Sights or Finely Balanced? Personally I would always suggest Auto-loader or Heirloom over these, unless you can take both. The main reason is because something like Auto-loader is more resistant to negative modifiers, while a +1 to Hit can be cancelled out by -1 to Hit or worse drops you back with -2 to Hit. 

- When to take Accelerator? While most weapons with 24 inch range or less will certainly benefit from this, you have to compare it to the damage increases that can also be gained. The Punisher Cannon for example can be massively boosted with Master-worked, but something like a Demolisher Cannon could really benefit from an Accelerator. 

- When to take Shredder? I would never take this.

- When to take Master-worked or Fleshbane? 

  • Pushing D1 to D2. 
  • Pushing D2 to D3. This one is more situational, if you have a ton of -1 damage opponents or if you have a ton of 3 wound opponents then it's great.

- When to take Psychic Might? As I suggested above, Primaris Psyker already knows 2 powers so this is an autotake for them. Astropaths and Inquisitors can also benefit from it, but need Master of Lore as well, wouldn't go higher than 2 casts. 

- When to take Adamantium Will? Very situational, really depends if you're versing a lot of psykers. If you are, always helpful to have more chances to stop powers.  

- When to take Master of Lore? For the Psykana Discipline I would cap out at 2 - 3 powers. For the Telethesia Discipline I would cap out at 1 - 2 powers.

  • Psychic Barrier and Gaze of the Emperor. 
  • Nightshroud and Gaze of the Emperor. 
  • Psychic Barrier, Nightshroud, and Gaze of the Emperor. 
  • Castigation
  • Castigation and Dominate.
  • Castigation and Mental Interrogation.

 

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