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

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Not even within, but close to.

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I used it once  in two games to protect a squad of Havocs from Volkite Contemptors, so that was handy.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

Here's another AL character build idea....I call it "The Black Rider...."

Lord Discordant, Mark of Slaanesh, Autocannon and Technovirus Injector

Warlord Trait: Headhunter

Relics (2): Warp's Malice (Replaces Bolt Pistol), Intoxicating Elixir

Elixir is there for the temporary damage cap and some emergency combat overdrive. It could be removed if necessary.

Warp's Malice is what really shines here:
Thanks to Headhunter, the Disco Lord will ignore Look Out Sir with Warp's Malice, will reroll wounds with it, and can do mortals in addition to normal damage on a wound roll of 6.

On Turn 2 or with other shenanigans, Warp's Malice will have 4 shots at 18 in range (24 with Daemon Shells if you just HAVE to), with 6's to hit causing both an extra hit and 2 auto mortals (ending the attack sequence for the initial attack).  These will ignore Look Out Sir, and the one miss you're likely to get (or even just your lowest roll if everything hits) can be turned into a 6 with Murderous Perfection, doing 2 mortals and spawning another hit.  Then you'll usually get to make at least 4 wound rolls, with the ability to reroll to fish for 6's, doing mortals in addition to other damage. Any failed saves from the str 5, AP-2 pistol will do 2 more damage..

This will hurt....a lot, and has the potential to just gun down a character or really mess up a small unit or vehicle for the Lord Discordant to charge. Later, he can use the gun while in Engagement Range and if someone falls back, he could theoretically use Excessive Cruelty to gun them down with Warp's Malice as they run (at 2CP that might be a bit steep, though).

The autocannon is retained to give him some reach, but it might be prudent to use the Baleflamer instead for horde clearance and charge deterrence.

I imagine that there are folks out there who could improve this, but it's what I have right now. Enjoy.
 

Edited July 19, 2022 by GreaterChickenofTzeentch

[MasterDeath]

Why not specialize your Disco Lord for CC and have another Lord or Exalted do the sniping work? Seems like a lots of eggs in one basketto me.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

23 minutes ago, MasterDeath said:

Why not specialize your Disco Lord for CC and have another Lord or Exalted do the sniping work? Seems like a lots of eggs in one basketto me.

It's basically the simple fact that the Disco Lord has the most maneuverability to make use of the pistol. If a Jump Lord existed, I would have suggested that instead. An Exalted or regular Chaos Lord has issues with delivery that require more moving parts to get them into position to use a weapon with 18" range and Terminator models can't carry the pistol. It seemed the simplest way to combo The Warp's Malice and Headhunter. 

Cost/high target profile IS a concern, though. You're not wrong.

Edited July 19, 2022 by GreaterChickenofTzeentch

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I understand the thought process for getting Malice on a fast character, but I think the pistol relics are better for squad Champions that plan on being up close rather than sniper characters.  The Disco, specifically, can be made so much more of a CC monster that I feel Malice is wasted on him compared to, say, Zaal the Wrathful.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

2 hours ago, Iron Father Ferrum said:

I understand the thought process for getting Malice on a fast character, but I think the pistol relics are better for squad Champions that plan on being up close rather than sniper characters.  The Disco, specifically, can be made so much more of a CC monster that I feel Malice is wasted on him compared to, say, Zaal the Wrathful.

So the shooting ability added to the good CC he has now would be less efficient than further specializing him for CC. OK.

Squad champions would have to change the emphasis, then, and use the pistol for brute force damage without sniping, which isn't the end of the world. I guess a Raptor Champion would be the best match, given that they can use Forward Operatives and/or maximize flexibility by going back into reserves with the redeploy Warlord Trait.

[Enrik]

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

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.

 

 

 

Turn One Secondary: do you see a play instead of Raptors for Nurgle Infantry in a DreadClaw?

[Iron Father Ferrum]

21 hours ago, Enrik said:

Turn One Secondary: do you see a play instead of Raptors for Nurgle Infantry in a DreadClaw?

Depends on the unit.  Chosen are probably the best overall choice for the third wound and the fact that they want to be close to the enemy, but I can see delivering quad-chaincannon Havocs too (fewer wounds per model, but T5 helps a little).  My concern for this idea is that (being unfamiliar with the Dreadclaw rules) that it still must abide by the standard 9"+ distance requirement for deep striking.  Assuming that's true, it's going to be difficult to get the Dreadclaw or its cargo delivered simultaneously outside 9" of an enemy while wholly within 6" of the enemy DZ.  For the baseline condition of the objective, it's possible -- but the real benefit to an early I&S action is turning off objectives, and that's going where the T1 action -- where it would be worth the most -- is where it is the most difficult.

[Thaelion Hexis]

I saw mention of Headhunter allowing ignoring look out sir with both parts of a combi weapon. From reading the book I am not seeing that at all. It starts by stating, "If that weapon is a Rapid Fire or Pistol weapon" then lists the extra rules. 

To my knowledge the two parts of a combi weapon are different weapons with different types. 

[Saadjor]

Evening all,

Just wanted to share two new pieces  of intell with you all:

On the gaming side, the Warphammer blog has an interesting article about running AL, which you can find here

Besides that GW just posted announcements about 3 new BL books.... one of which is an 40k AL story by Mike Brooks! I personally can't wait to read this one after Head of the Hydra. Link to the announcement is here.

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

Anyone got any ideas for Traitor Guardsmen yet? Since they're CULTISTS, they could benefit from the Cult Leader WLT.....then you could have a Plasma Gun, Meltagun, and Grenade Launcher hitting on 3's with +1AP each turn from one squad, while others do actions, etc. Then you switch squads as they die. Also more durable than Cultists and a good way to represent AL Operators. Nice synergy with the Apostle, too.

Edited September 29, 2022 by GreaterChickenofTzeentch

[MasterDeath]

I would go with: nice to have those Interactions and certainly an interesting theme, but are 3 Special weapons worth it to use a warlord trait and possibly an apostle on?

I see the traitor guardsmen as an upgrade if i have some (power) Points leftover, not something to base a strategy on

[GreaterChickenofTzeentch]

2 hours ago, MasterDeath said:

I would go with: nice to have those Interactions and certainly an interesting theme, but are 3 Special weapons worth it to use a warlord trait and possibly an apostle on?

I see the traitor guardsmen as an upgrade if i have some (power) Points leftover, not something to base a strategy on

The Apostle could have other uses in the list, and I'm basing this on more than one squad. "Lots of free Special Weapons" might actually lead to something interesting, and the WLT could be adding value every turn in that case. A horde list based on covering the table in Guardsmen, Legionaries, and Chosen might work.

Benediction of Darkness is an Aura, and that could help add a little durability to multiple Guardsmen units at once. Alternately, you could use a Dark Commune so that Traitor Guardsmen around it reroll 1's to hit, give it the Icon of the Hydra Cult, and use Benediction of Darkness as an aura buff, followed by Prescience from the Mindwitch on a squad that doesn't get Cult Leader. Then run one Marine character with whatever WLT you want and another with Cult Leader. Then spam infantry.....half Guardsmen and half Chosen/Legionaries. You get a lot of board coverage, plus lots of mobile Special Weapons. Will it work? Dunno, but worth at least trying.

Edited September 30, 2022 by GreaterChickenofTzeentch

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I've mostly been playing Crusade lately which obviously skews performances due to all the Battle Traits and such you can get that don't apply in non-Crusade games., so I've been holding off on getting too verbose hereabouts -- most of that wouldn't apply to most games of 40K.  I did however have a Tempest of War game last night against Ultramarines.  We only made it through the end of T3 before the store closed and we had to clean up, but I was solidly in the lead and the Ultras were getting short on models anyway.

 

Thoughts:

 

1. Autocannon Havocs are okay for picking up not-Gravis, poor against Dreadnoughts, and fantastic against Impulsors.  Lascannon Havocs continue to be swing-y to the extreme even with reroll support.

 

2. CPs.  Oh boy, CPs.  Even in a not-Nephilim game I blew through these ridiculously fast so I can only imagine how Nephilim players feel.  Of the 12 I started with, I used two on Trophies, two on a second WLT/relic combo, and two more on Forward Ops.  One of the Mission Rules for the game was that Command Reroll costs 2 CP per use, so one use of that killed two more.  Even with two turns of using my Crown for an extra CP, turn 2 & 3 left me with very little CP to use.  Our stratagems all seem ridiculously overpriced for their CP cost.

 

3. The "Sniper Champion" is, unfortunately, a waste of CP.  The Headhunter/Hydra's Teeth combination against anything with Armor of Contempt is just...meh.  The wound reroll is handy especially for the lascannon Havocs, but I really feel like I need to try the sniping against some Xenos -- Eldar in particular -- to really get a feel for whether its worth it against some other armies.

 

4. The Noctilith Crown's 4++ aura provides amazing protection for your base of fire, but T8/W14/3+/4++ just isn't really tough enough in a 2000 point matchup.  Once my opponent realized just how much of a pain that aura was causing him, he focused the thing down in one turn with two just Redemptors.

 

5. So what *really* worked well last night?  A 10-man squad of Warp Talons with Forward Operatives and the Black Rune.  I didn't get first turn, but the Black Rune and their saves kept half the squad alive and that was enough for them to get across the table and either locking up or killing multiple enemy units.  They don't have great AP going into an AoC opponent, but the sheer volume of attacks combined with the rerolls to wound meant that they could punch a lot of damage through most targets -- and the combination of denying Fall Backs with the Legion Trait to Fall Back & Charge meant that they spent most of the game in the enemy backfield not getting shot and playing fun games with objective holders and base of fire units.