Are Librarians worth it?

[Maggotlord]

Hi all, 

 

I like BA and I like Librarians, though I'm not sure the Librarians fit into BA lists. 

So what are your experiences with Librarians? 

What are good synergies you found? 

[Karhedron]

I am not really sure. I have tinkered a but with Librarians but the Sanguinary Discipline is a bit weak compared to the standard or Phobos disciplines. Shield of Sanguinius was marginal already and AoC has made it even moreso. Wings of Sanguinius are really only needed for Mephiston and the Libby Dread as a regular Librarian can either buy a Jump Pack or teleport in with TDA. Unleash Rage is a decent option.

The Phobos Librarian is a solid option and I normally find room for Infiltrators or Eliminators in my lists so he has someone to hang with.

The Psychic Interrogation Secondary from Nephilim is pretty good as it can net you both 3 VPs and 1 CP but you might want to get 2 psykers for redundancy if going this route as you don't want snipers or an unlucky save roll scotching your only means of scoring a particular secondary.

My feeling is that Librarians need to be taken with a specific role in mind. They do specific jobs well but you need to plan around those jobs being done. They are not utility Characters like some of our other HQs. Also they are a bit squishy compared to some other HQ options so I would look at investing in Armour Indomitus or Terminator Armour. Mephiston and the Libby Dread are decent beatsticks and make a good choice if you want to combine smashing the enemy with some psychic secondaries.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

2 hours ago, Karhedron said:

I am not really sure. I have tinkered a but with Librarians but the Sanguinary Discipline is a bit weak compared to the standard or Phobos disciplines. Shield of Sanguinius was marginal already and AoC has made it even moreso. Wings of Sanguinius are really only needed for Mephiston and the Libby Dread as a regular Librarian can either buy a Jump Pack or teleport in with TDA. Unleash Rage is a decent option.

The Phobos Librarian is a solid option and I normally find room for Infiltrators or Eliminators in my lists so he has someone to hang with.

The Psychic Interrogation Secondary from Nephilim is pretty good as it can net you both 3 VPs and 1 CP but you might want to get 2 psykers for redundancy if going this route as you don't want snipers or an unlucky save roll scotching your only means of scoring a particular secondary.

My feeling is that Librarians need to be taken with a specific role in mind. They do specific jobs well but you need to plan around those jobs being done. They are not utility Characters like some of our other HQs. Also they are a bit squishy compared to some other HQ options so I would look at investing in Armour Indomitus or Terminator Armour. Mephiston and the Libby Dread are decent beatsticks and make a good choice if you want to combine smashing the enemy with some psychic secondaries.

I’ve used I’ve used the librarian that came in the BA CP box twice, and he did poorly both times.

i think I made him a Chief Librarian both times taking blood boil(?) and another damage dealing power spear of sanguinius (?), and I don’t really ever want to use him ever again, at least not this edition.

[Karhedron]

The damage dealing powers are not great but some of the utility powers from the Librarius and Phobos disciplines have mileage.

[CCE1981]

I don’t find the damage dealing powers to be worth much at all, even smite.  The biggest problem is that you can’t use a lot of them.  This makes their swingy nature even worse.

 

For Blood Angels I just can’t see their powers as strong, Unleash Rage is the only one I would consider.  The Librarian Dreadnought being the only exception who can use Wings of Sanguinius and Quickening to big effect.

 

This leaves the Librarius and Obscuration Disciplines from the basic rulebook.  With a minimum Warp Charge of 6 this almost makes upgrading your Librarian to a Chief Librarian a necessity to be reasonably sure the power will go off.  Of these I would say that Null Zone stands out, especially with Sanguinary Guard.  Turning off your opponents invulnerable saves while your unit didn’t have them to begin with is incredible.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

In my limited experience with 9th. Libbies are only good for Might of Heroes on redemptor dreads. Combine this with a Primaris Techmarine to heal and keep up. It's the only way to roll.

[Tokugawa]

If secondaries of your chapter sux, then you may need a psyker to active "Interrogation" for better options, since marine codex secondaries are just so-so("oath" nerfed but still ok, "shock" is difficult in uphill games, "warfare"...have you ever see a single player use it in this version?).

 

But BA secondaries are pretty GOOD now.