Alpha Legion ++ Tactica Serpentis: Alpha Legion in 9th Edition 40K++

[Iron Father Ferrum]

This thread is intended as a one-stop resource for those interested in playing the Alpha Legion from the 9th Edition era Codex: Chaos Space Marines.  My intention for this thread is that Fraters can suggest tactics and combinations for use in games; the community can then discuss and cooperatively refine these concepts.  Summaries of the combos in their final form will be edited into the initial post.  These concepts can be either specific to the Alpha Legion or involve generic Heretic Astartes rules, though please do not bring Legion-specific, non-Alpha Legion combinations into the discussion.

 

I'll divide the concepts into the following categories (but if you have suggestions for more please let me know!):

1. Character Combinations: give us your best character builds!

2. Unit Buffs & Debuffs: let's talk about combos you can pull on your units and your enemies'!

3. Battlefield Strategies: maneuver tricks, objective play, etc -- anything that you can do to affect the state of play rather an specific units on the tabletop

 

If there's any questions or issues we can cleared those up as they crop up.  On with the show!

 

 

++CHARACTER COMBINATIONS++

Immortal HQ: Chaos Lord, Terminator Lord, or Dark Apostle with Clandestine WLT, the Drakescale Plate relic.  Add Mark of Tzeentch or Nurgle for extra laughs.  You could even add the Black Rune of Damnation via Gift of Chaos, but that is usually better served elsewhere.  Assuming MoT, the Immortal HQ's defensive statline is 2+/4++, can't be hit on 1-3, can't be wounded on 1-3, and you can ignore the damage from the first failed save.  "Immortal" may be hyperbolic, but that's a pretty hard to kill HQ.  Given the HQ's durability, it might be a good pick for Gifts of Chaos and taking a relic weapon.  Blade of the Relentless and the Black Mace are the obvious choices, though I suppose you could take a thunder hammer and one of the bolt pistol relics if you'd rather get a little extra shooting oomph.

 

 

Sniper Lord (Pistol): Any HQ with a bolt pistol with the Headhunter WLT and either the Viper's Spite or The Warp's Malice.  Utilize Daemon Shells for extra laughs.  Both pistols work for this combo in different ways -- the Viper's Spite has a higher rate of fire, but Warp's Malice does more damage per shot.  These will do best in the hand of a Chaos Lord because of BS2+, but the re-roll to hit from Headhunter helps the BS3+ models.  In either case, they're both 18" range which isn't terrible if rather short for a model called a "sniper," but with Daemon Shells included the range gets pushed out to 24" which is much more manageable for trying to headshot an HQ.  Of the two pistols, I think Viper's Spite is actually the better bet for the better AP and higher rate of fire but Warp's Malice has the benefit of letting you double-dip on your fishing for mortal wounds.  Now, I did not mention the Hydra's Teeth in this bit despite it being usable with bolt pistols but that's largely because of the range issue -- 12" isn't much for a sniper....which leads me to the next combo.

 

 

Sniper Lord (Bolter): The only three HQs that can do this are Terminator Lords, Terminator Sorcerers, and Exalted Champions because they're the only HQs available who have a gun bigger than a pistol.  Again, we pull the Headhunter WLT and the Hydra's Teeth relic.  This turns your twin-bolter or the bolter half of the Exalted Champion's combimelta into a one-shot, auto-hitting, S6 AP2 D3 gun that ignores invulnerable saves, allows you to reroll shooting wound rolls, can proc a mortal wound on a 6 to wound, and ignores Look Out Sir.  Reach for Daemon Shells again to hit 30" range and AP3.  If you're planning on using an Exalted Champion to provide his reroll aura for a gunline, this isn't a terrible kit to reach for as it allows him to contribute in the midfield.  Even better is that if you're getting in close with him, the "ignore Look Out Sir" bit applies to both halves of his combimelta -- getting a D6+2 damage hit on an enemy HQ is by no means a bad thing.  The advantage of the Terminators in this case is that with Malicious Volleys they will always get the full 24" range on their shots; the Exalted Champion still has to manage his range brackets.  If you're working in the midfield, the Terminators are also more survivable due to their better saves and higher wound counts.

 

 

Infantry Blender: This one comes via Matthew Y. in the Alpha Legion 40K Facebook group, with a little adjustment on my part.  Chaos Lord with a chainsword and the Blade of the Hydra relic, plus the Flames of Spite WLT.  Apply Diabolic Strength from a Sorcerer or Balefire Legionary and you're throwing 12-14 (6A base +2 Diabolic Strenth +3+d3 relic) attacks at S7 AP2, re-rolling wound rolls, and wound rolls of 6 cause a mortal wound.  For further buffs, add Mark of Khorne for S8 and start chopping up vehicles and monsters; via Gits of Chaos you could add the Talisman of Burning Blood for +1A (and more if you kill stuff!).  MoS and Intoxicating Elixir is another option, but the +d3A from that relic only lasts one phase while the Talisman bonus is permanent.  I mean, either way you're throwing a bucket of dice that hit on 2+and you can fish for mortal wounds with the re-roll -- it's not failed wounds, so you can re-roll as many of those wound dice as you want to pull extra 6s.

 

++UNIT BUFFS/DEBUFFS++

More Dakka Legionaries: Have you ever read a Black Library novel and come across a passage where the author describes incessant volleys of bolter fire just scything down waves of enemies?  Here's how you do it.  Take a 10-man squad of Legionaries with bolters, the Champion with a bolt pistol and your choice of CCW, and one heavy bolter.  If you'd like to add another weapon, I'm partial to the Reaper Chaincannon in this instance for the rate of fire but that's a personal choice; the Havoc autocannon isn't a bad choice either since it really likes the extra AP.  Use Trophies of the Long War to give the Champion the Viper's Spite.  Add Mark of Tzeentch, an icon, and (yes I know, I'm hitting this one a lot) Daemon Shells.  All your bolters are now hitting at AP2, your heavy bolter at AP3, and your RCC at AP2, and the Champion is putting out six shots at AP5!  I'd keep an Exalted Champion nearby for the wound rolls though as the shooting is admittedly all S4-5.  Since Rapid Fire weapons benefit from Wanton Destruction, the two heavy weapons and the boltguns will all explode on 6s.  I used this minus the pistol bit in my first game with the new codex and cleared Phobos Primaris screens with ease.

 

 

++BATTLEFIELD STRATEGIES++

Turn One Secondary: Our subfaction secondary, Subvert & Infiltrate, has a little wonky wording.  On first read, it appears that you need to not only be within or near the enemy DZ, but you need to be within range of an objective as well.  On a closer read, that's not true at all.  To complete the secondary, you just need to be wholly within 6" (or actually inside) the enemy DZ to score the secondary; if you can shut off an objective, that's just gravy.  However, it takes a full turn for the action to complete, so your opponent has the chance to kill that unit first.  We really have two options here: Raptors and Warp Talons, but Warp Talons are too useful in assaulting enemies to waste on this objective.  Raptors have a 12" Normal Move, so their Forward Operative+Normal Move distance should be enough to get right across the midfield and in position to take the Subvert Action.  I highly recommend taking the Black Rune of Damnation via Trophies of the Long War, or perhaps the Mark of Nurgle, to increase their durability.  EDIT: I had to remove the Possessed as an option here because 18" isn't enough to cross a 24" gap between deployment zones and be wholly within 6" of the enemy DZ; you can't Advance and take an Action, and the Action has to start at the end of the Movement Phase so you can't Warptime further up the board, either, unfortunately.

 

Critique my work and provide your own!  Let's get some brainstorming going.

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Iron Father Ferrum

[Frogstar168]

I haven't played since 4th ed, and and just starting back up from scratch with Alpha Legion. I really appreciate this!

[Gilbertus1]

The Warpsmith can benefit from the Headhunter trait too as apparently his melta and flamer are pistols now.

Give him the Viper's Spite and let loose.

 

Also I think Alpha Legion lends itself to Tzeench a fair bit.

-1 to hit from shooting means less shooting getting through and then add the mark of Tzeench to make the first hit to get through mean nothing. Great for Havocs and shooty Helbrutes who want to stay away.

They have a strat for falling back and shooting, really handy for flamer Rubrics (buffed with a mark of Tzeench and Let the Galaxy Burn).

Warpstrike in with some units, charge in, then fall back in your own turn and do the subvert action on the opponents objective (there is no restriction for enemy units nearby or getting charged, isn't there?)

Edited July 3, 2022 by Gilbertus1

[Iron Father Ferrum]

7 hours ago, Gilbertus1 said:

The Warpsmith can benefit from the Headhunter trait too as apparently his melta and flamer are pistols now.

Give him the Viper's Spite and let loose.

 

The Warpsmith can't take Viper's Spite because he doesn't have an option for a bolt pistol. 

[Gilbertus1]

28 minutes ago, Iron Father Ferrum said:

The Warpsmith can't take Viper's Spite because he doesn't have an option for a bolt pistol. 

Oh.

I haven't seen the new codex yet. But going off the old warpsmith profile it has a bolt pistol (I assume in its hand)

[Gilbertus1]

Also can use the conceal strat with chain cannon havocs (behind something else) to ensure multiple turns of shooting the chain cannons.

Add in the -1 to hit from shooting (if you opt out of conceal), Tzeench Mark and the strat to force reinforcements to be over 12" away from them (or using the Tzeench strat to shoot said reinforcements instead) means those havocs are going to be a pain to get rid of while they blast away the enemy army.

Edited July 4, 2022 by Gilbertus1

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I really feel like Tzeentch is kind of "our" mark just for the shenanigans we can play with it.

[Gilbertus1]

7 hours ago, Iron Father Ferrum said:

I really feel like Tzeentch is kind of "our" mark just for the shenanigans we can play with it.

Agreed.

It adds stacking durability with our -1 to hit for shooting.

Also we can use the 12" no reserves strat to try force an opponent to place their unit near a shooty tzeench unit, which can then shoot them with the Tzeench strat. (Easier to do with having more Tzeench units)

Also the Tzeench shooting reserves strat stacks with the AL +1 to hit reserves strat since it starts right away and ends on our next turn.

Seems like AL can be CP intensive, but when used at the right time can mess with any army that relies on units coming from reserves.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Yeah, my mindset so far is to use max 2-3 CP pre-game so there's enough in reserve for stratagems, because ours a touch expensive and that's where the power of our subfaction really seems to lie.

[Gilbertus1]

What relics and traits will you use? And which HQs, thanks.

I am still "up in the air" regarding which to use.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

My first draft list I'm testing is here.  I'm building out other characters and squads because I hate proxying, so as it changes I'll sure those changes will come up eventually.

[Gilbertus1]

Cool, thanks for that.

[Xenith]

I haven't got the book yet - do AL still have the ability to infiltrate/forward deploy a unit? 

[Gilbertus1]

I am working off the Auspex Tactics video.

Apparently there is no infiltrate strat, but there is one to move before the game starts, can be used twice for a 2000 pt game.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

2 hours ago, Xenith said:

I haven't got the book yet - do AL still have the ability to infiltrate/forward deploy a unit? 

Forward Operatives is still there as a pregame mo e but now it's a Normal Move instead of a flat 9", so it's much more useful on faster units.

[Xenith]

Definitely some value in raptors or similar then for the AL secondary. It's obviously very powerful, but needs a lot of components to come together to make it work. 

[Prot]

8 hours ago, Iron Father Ferrum said:

Forward Operatives is still there as a pregame mo e but now it's a Normal Move instead of a flat 9", so it's much more useful on faster units.

Does it happen before or after you know who’s going first?

[Gilbertus1]

I think after, same as TS duplicity redeploy.

The cool thing is AL has a redeploy trait too, so you can redeploy AND forward move what you redeployed.

Edited July 5, 2022 by Gilbertus1
Spelling and punctuation

[Iron Father Ferrum]

It is after the roll to see who goes first.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

So I just got finished with my second game with this book.  I ran the following:

 

Alpha Legion, 2K points.  Battalion + Fortification.

 

- Chaos Lord with plasma pistol, power sword, Blade of the Relentless (-1CP), Mark of Tzeentch

- Exalted Champion, Mark of Khorne

- Dark Apostle, Warp-sight Plea, Mark of Tzeentch

- 20x Cultists (18x firearms, 2x heavy stubbers)

- 10x Cultists (10x pistols & CCWs)

- 10x Legionaries, 7x bolters, RCC, heavy bolter, Champion with bolt pistol & power sword, Mark of Tzeentch, Chaos Icon, Viper's Spite (-1CP)

- 5x Terminators, Mark of Tzeentch, Black Rune of Damnation (-1CP)

- 8x Khorne Berzerkers, Mark of Khorne, Chaos Icon

- Helbrute, twin lascannons, power scourge, Mark of Tzeentch

- 5x Raptors, 2x flamers, power sword

- Chaos Land Raider, Havoc Launcher, combi-melta

- Havocs with lascannons, Mark of Slaanesh

- Havocs with autocannons

- Noctilith Crown

 

Against White Scars -- Outrider Chaplain, Bladeguard Captain, Apothecary, Kratos, 3x 5 Assault Ints, 2x 3 Suppressors, 2x10 assault-plasma Hellblasters, 4x Bladeguard Vets.

 

We played Secure Missing Artifacts from War Zone Nephilim, with Assassination, The Long War, and Infiltrate & Subvert for my secondaries.  I won quite convincingly, 84-35.  In fact, it was a T4 total wipe of the White Scars.  Lessons learned:

 

1. Turn 1 Subvert Action is. . . not a trap necessarily, but probably harder to pull off than is really worth the effort.  If the terrain is right, you can certainly get within range of the enemy DZ for the Action, but turning off objectives should probably be saved for Turn 2.  Because it takes a full turn to accomplish, the Subverting unit will attract a LOT of attention.  I'll probably swap over to For the Dark Gods for most missions and try that one instead, especially since Terminators can get in position Turn One fairly easily and without getting out of range for Covert Control.

2. Soulshatter Lascannons are amazing.  I got first turn and almost killed the Kratos with my Land Raider right off the bat -- it survived to Turn 3 due to bad dice Turn 2, but its BS was so neutered between being bracketed and the Legion Trait that he was having trouble hitting anything.  The +2 damage is also fantastic for popping characters and Primaris Marines.

3. I cannot stress how useful the Crown was.  Between the 4++ aura and the Apostle actioning a CP every turn, it definitely made its points.  I feel it's a bit of a trap with a psyker unless you're dedicaing MSU Legionaries with a Balefire Tome to it (dual purpose with objective holding!) but the Apostle can pray and action for the CP.  I used Warp Sight Plea the first two turns (Legionaries and Havocs) and Dark Zealotry on the third and fourth (Terminators), and all four turns even as I moved into the midfield I was positioned close enough to keep the CP flowing.  Since that CP comes at the end of the turn, and then you get another in the enemy Command Phase, you essentially pick up two for use during the enemy turn.  This saved my Berzerkers when the middle objective attracted a big scrum, as I was able to interrupt and chop up a bunch of Assault Intercessors.

4. The Exalted Champion is just too squishy to accompany a CC unit into the midfield scrums, especially with the plethora of "fall back & shoot" abilities that exist out there.  Mine killed a Scars, leant his aura to the Zerks, then got crisped by plasma.  I'll be trying my sniper build instead, as his RR1 wound aura will come in handy for my Dakka Legionaries and las-Havocs.

5. Terminators are dice-generating monsters. Whether they're laying down a hail of bolter fire or stabbing enemies with those AWs, they were punching damage into everything -- even shot the Biker Chaplain off the board.  Between MoT and the Black Rune, I also didn't lose a single wound off of them.  I'm going to pull the Raptors and instead use these guys for secondary work, probably with Covert Control to keep their guns firing.

6. As soon as my Chosen are ready, I'm going to swap the Berzerkers out for them instead.  Don't get me wrong, the Zerks give sterling service, but I've found that the midfield sword fights are starting on Turn 2 before we can move into Wanton Slaughter.  Chosen with the appropriate shooting loadout can finish off a weakened enemy unit and then get Wanton Soup, so when they do get into a Turn 1 or 2 fight they'll benefit from the exploding 6s.  The extra wound also makes them more durable, so there's that.

7. The Blade of the Relentless on a Lord is great for shanking Primaris Marines, but even with MoT the Bladeguard Captain cut him down in a single fight phase.  The durability isn't really there.  I'm not sure if I'll start using the Immortal set up, but for now I think I'll go easy on kitting him too much especially if I'm going to be layering extra goodies on my ExChamp to make him a sniper.  If I'd had an Exalted Sniper, I could have popped his Apothecary and killed the Hellblasters much sooner. 

8. I didn't get a chance to use a lot of our particular subfaction goodies.  The Dakka Legionaries with the Viper's Spite and all the fun layered on them was pretty good for scything down Hellblasters, but I deployed conservatively so I had to dump extra CP on Relentless Devastation to maximize their output.  I did use Forward Operatives on the big Cultist Mob to set up for Conceal in T1 or Contempt Over Caution in T2, but my opponent loopholed Conceal and I had the space to just fall back out combat with the Cultists rather than waste the CP on Contempt.  I really hope the CP costs of our subfaction strats get adjusted down because they're a tad too expensive to be used easily, and/or have loopholes that can be exploited.

 

[Gilbertus1]

On 7/5/2022 at 10:10 PM, Xenith said:

Definitely some value in raptors or similar then for the AL secondary. It's obviously very powerful, but needs a lot of components to come together to make it work. 

Could just Warpstrike some behind terrain in your opponents deployment and spam actions all game for an easy 15, or if you have the opportunity you can use a different unit to do the action and subvert an objective, (while keeping the raptors in a safe spot for future turns).

Can multiple units do it a turn or is it a one per turn action?

 

EDIT:

Just realised we can use the redeploy trait to put raptors we deployed back into reserves. So as to "trick" an opponent that we aren't warpstriking (and therefore not deploy screens to block it) but in fact we are.

Would only work with someone who doesn't know the trait, or if they do it becomes a game of cat and mouse, mind games for the opponent about how to deploy.

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by Gilbertus1

[Scourged]

16 hours ago, Gilbertus1 said:

Just realised we can use the redeploy trait to put raptors we deployed back into reserves. So as to "trick" an opponent that we aren't warpstriking (and therefore not deploy screens to block it) but in fact we are.

Would only work with someone who doesn't know the trait, or if they do it becomes a game of cat and mouse, mind games for the opponent about how to deploy.

 

I'm not convinced that this would be an effective feint for a Raptors unit, but that's just because I'm applying a strict interpretation of the rules.

Warp Strike specifically states that the rule is only applicable "during deployment." So yes, you could deploy the Raptors on the board, then immediately use Renascent Infiltration on them and put them into Strategic Reserves... but because the unit was not put into reserves during deployment, it would not have the ability to be placed anywhere on the board - it would be restricted to the Strategic Reserves board edges. So yes, you could, but giving up deep strike on Raptors (or other "deep strike" units) doesn't seem worth it. 

But I've never been the best rules lawyer, so if I'm wrong someone please correct me. 

Renascent Infiltration is still a great stratagem - and one of my favorites - but its power has been greatly reduced with the new book/rules: 6" instead of 3" away from enemies, it's used when a unit "is selected to move" instead of at the end of the Movement phase (so you can no longer Fall Back and use it), and is using Strategic Reserves instead of a baked-in deep strike for the unit. Small, subtle changes, but they add up to a very different application of the stratagem. More situational, but still useful in most any game: find the enemy's weaker board edge and then exploit it and punish them for it. 

There's still plenty of fun ways it can be used offensively, though:

• Using it to slingshot Troops up the board to try for sneaky Secondary scoring early in the game
• Getting chaincannon Havocs up the board faster to get in range for maximum shredding
• Being cheeky with melee Legionaries, Chosen, or Possessed
• Or, for a fun-but-dumb idea, sneaking a Master of Executions up the board for some backfield character hunting, lol

[Gilbertus1]

4 hours ago, Scourged said:

I'm not convinced that this would be an effective feint

 So yes, you could deploy the Raptors on the board, then immediately use Renascent Infiltration on them and put them into Strategic Reserves...

I was talking about using the Master of Diversion (MoD) warlord trait. It happens before the game starts.

If your opponent knows your list and sees you deploy your raptors then he/she may not field a unit to block deep strikers. You can then use MoD to put the raptors back into reserves before the game starts.

Now if your opponent knows you can do this he/she may put a unit to block deep strikers, then you have the option to redeploy to how you like, you can even not use deep strikers to make the blocking unit be in a useless position.

[Ordaldm]

On 7/1/2022 at 5:06 AM, Iron Father Ferrum said:

Sniper Lord (Bolter): The only three HQs that can do this are Terminator Lords, Terminator Sorcerers, and Exalted Champions because they're the only HQs available who have a gun bigger than a pistol.  Again, we pull the Headhunter WLT and the Hydra's Teeth relic.  This turns your twin-bolter or the bolter half of the Exalted Champion's combimelta into a one-shot, auto-hitting, S6 AP2 D3 gun that ignores invulnerable saves, allows you to reroll shooting wound rolls, can proc a mortal wound on a 6 to wound, and ignores Look Out Sir.  Reach for Daemon Shells again to hit 30" range and AP3.  If you're planning on using an Exalted Champion to provide his reroll aura for a gunline, this isn't a terrible kit to reach for as it allows him to contribute in the midfield.  Even better is that if you're getting in close with him, the "ignore Look Out Sir" bit applies to both halves of his combimelta -- getting a D6+2 damage hit on an enemy HQ is by no means a bad thing.  The advantage of the Terminators in this case is that with Malicious Volleys they will always get the full 24" range on their shots; the Exalted Champion still has to manage his range brackets.  If you're working in the midfield, the Terminators are also more survivable due to their better saves and higher wound counts.

On this build you can add a mark of Slaanesh to enable the Murderous Perfection stratagem : this will let you change the wound roll to a 6, resulting in an automatic hit AND a mortal wound from the Headhunter WLT. With this you have: auto hit from the Hydra Teeth, auto wound from the stratagem, no invuls from Hydra Teeth, mortal wound proc from the hit roll of 6 from the stratagem, all it's left for the targets to survive is their armor save at -2 (-3 with Demon Shells), for a total of 3 damage +1mortal wound.

Now, 4 wounds are enough to kill many support characters from many factions, and many of them will not be able to save at -2 or -3: things like Astra Militarum, Genestealer Cults, Daemons, all have many heroes with 4 wounds and armor saves of 5+, while others like necrons  or firstborn marines still have 4 wounds but can make a saving throw.
On tougher targets maybe you don't want to waste a CP (unless it's the last 4 wounds) , but i think it's still a good attack to add in a shooty list. 

Of the 3 characters options I think the better one is the Terminator Sorcerer, since it can still go around doing it's psychic stuff while sniping, the auto hit compensate the BS 3+ and if he's in danger, he can cast Delightful Agonies on himself to take more punishment (which is a considerable amout since it starts at 2+/5++) . The other two feels like a little wasted being held back shooting, given how many points of melee stuff they have.

[Gilbertus1]

33 minutes ago, EnsignJoker said:

Am I missing something with the legion secondary? To me it seems impossible to complete unless you’ve already crippled your opponent’s army. I’m hopefully misreading it because I’d like to be able to use the legions dedicated secondary sometimes. 

All you need, is to be in the opponents deployment zone. So warpstriking raptors behind terrain in their zone, fast troops that warptime over where their line is thin.

The subverting of objectives is an additional feature