Unit of the week Unit of the week: Dark Apostle

[Cpt.Danjou]

+++Unit of the week+++

 

Dark Apostle

This thread is only for tactics for Dark Apostle, not for pictures, there are other places for that.

How to best use the Dark Apostle?

• Warlord trait?
• Prayers?
• Relics?
• Legion?
• Marks?
• Which stratagems are worth throwing out?
• Any solid unit combos?

[Verbal Underbelly]

I'm interested in this HQ. 

 

I'm currently building Emperor's Children and would love to hear any specific legion advice, loadouts and strat combos that people have had success with. FYI I run a CORE heavy list. 

[Cpt.Danjou]

Blissful devotion is an amazing prayer for EC, being able to charge the same turn after an advance. May I say more? I have been known to give my Core units and DA MoS, just because of that little prayer, eve if it makes me feel a little dirty as an Iron Warriors player.  ;) I really like the DA even without a mark Illusory Supplication is my go to prayer, even though it is Dark Zealotry I use the most. I try to have him close to a Chosen or a Terminator squad at all times, but a never underestimate a Legioner unit.  

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I've run one before in support of the gunline portion of my Alpha Legion armies.  I usually use Warp-Sight Plea for increased accuracy on Havocs or Legionaires -- and since both units take the Mark of Tzeentch fairly well, giving the Apostle the same Mark and getting free access to a FNP prayer is a pretty nifty bonus.

[WrathOfTheLion]

I play Word Bearers, so the Dark Apostle has a lot of nice synergies with that subfaction.

[Gree]

Second best support HQ in the book after the MoP. That's only because the Dark Apostle can't buff Daemonkin as well.  The Dark Apostle is amazing in every Legion. They have some pretty great smash builds, but I'd say the character is better at support. CSM has other options for beatsticks. I'd generally prefer Mantle of Traitors over Inferno Tome as a relic. Normal Apostles can only cast a single power anyway, so you'll either be chanting the Supplication power or the Slaanesh power as needed. Having a free use of Fell Prayers is great if the Dark Disciples get taken out.

[Relic]

Not much to add, the Dark Apostle is an all star and up there with the MoP (he can't be denied and does not lock out abhor the witch in comparison). Dark Zealotry and Illusory Supplication are a great toolkit of offensive/defensive buffs. 

 

I like Mantle of Traitors on him and if I can stretch, that pairs nicely with the Black Mace. As ever though, CP can be thing on the ground!

[Snazzy]

On 12/5/2022 at 9:33 AM, Cpt.Danjou said:

Blissful devotion is an amazing prayer for EC, being able to charge the same turn after an advance. May I say more? I have been known to give my Core units and DA MoS, just because of that little prayer, eve if it makes me feel a little dirty as an Iron Warriors player.  ;) I really like the DA even without a mark Illusory Supplication is my go to prayer, even though it is Dark Zealotry I use the most. I try to have him close to a Chosen or a Terminator squad at all times, but a never underestimate a Legioner unit.  

 

Fell Prayers is best used to get around the restrictions of the Command Phase.  It is specifically nice in the Movement Phase, allowing for maximized exploitation of prayers.  

 

Dark Apostles are pretty much fool proof choices.  You can make a decent argument for Black Mace, Inferno Tome, Traitor's Mantle or even something outside the box, like Talisman of Burning Blood.  Speaking of which, Wrathful Entreaty on an Icon unit is a miserable experience.  Litany of Despair is right on the cusp of being good.  Maybe if you had Raptors, play Night Lords, or have other Ld debuffs it could be really good.

[ChazSexington]

The obvious one is backing up 10 Terminators with the Black Rune of Damnation with a DA (Illusory Supplication) and a MoP with Delightful Agonies, Mutated Invigoration, and Pact of Flesh. 

 

The DA is key here, in getting 10 Termies with T5 whom are wounded on -1 (so S11 to wound on 2s), have 5+ FnP, can only be hit on 4+ (which can't be re-rolled)... and you can heal and resurrect them. 

[WrathOfTheLion]

Going to give mine a spin in my Black Legion force tomorrow, will see how it goes there.

[Pirate Empress]

I think a Night Lords Dark Apostle with the Mark of Slaanesh taking the Litany of Despair and the Vox Daemonicus could be a very nasty buff/debuff lynchpin unit.

[Tallarn Commander]

I've been tempted to do this with Nightgaunt, my Night Lords Dark Apostle. But it means I would have to give up my Inferno Tome ( CP are a limited resource), my Illusory Supplication, and my Soultearer Portent.

 

Nightgaunt would probably defect to my World Eaters army if I gave those up. 

[Verbal Underbelly]

So I'm increasingly likely to create a Dark Apostle from a havoc champion. I expect my second and third HQs to contribute to the fight and lead from the front and was wondering what relics and wargear would be good for Emperor's Children.

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

Without knowing enough about EC relics and warlord traits, you probably couldn’t go wrong with the Black Mace and the prayer Omen of Potency, if you want a second-line fighter. 
 

I’m running a Word Bearers Dark Apostle with the Eightfold-Cursed Crozius (a WB specific relic) and the omen of potency prayer in a crusade campaign and he’s absolutely demolished everything he touches. Auto-wounding with 8 attacks at damage 3 each when you reroll all your hits is obscene. I probably wouldn’t run him this way in a matched game, because you’re losing out in some of the better buffing abilities, but boy is it fun in crusade, when my opponents try to kill my Chaos Lord and then have a very angry Dark Apostle bonking them back. 

[Gree]

3 hours ago, Verbal Underbelly said:

So I'm increasingly likely to create a Dark Apostle from a havoc champion. I expect my second and third HQs to contribute to the fight and lead from the front and was wondering what relics and wargear would be good for Emperor's Children.

 

Dark Apostles can only cast one prayer, so unless you plan on running multiple Dark Apostles I would focus on a support role. For Emperor's Children, you are going to want your Dark Apostle casting either Advance and charge or Illusory Supplication every turn. You could give him Inferno Tome for access to Omen of Potency to make him into a combat monster, but as I said a Dark Apostle can only cast one per turn.

 

For Emperor's Children, I would take a Dark Apostle with Mantle of Traitors. That gives him a free use of the Epic Deed Strategem once per game, so you can use Fell Prayers or Soporific Gaze for free when you need it. The Mantle also re-rolls all of the Dark Apostle's melee attacks, but he'll still be restricted to his crozius's base stats.

 

If you want a dedicated CC beatstick, then I would take a Master of Executions. They only take up an Elite slot and are dirt-cheap even with the Mark of Slaanesh.

[Zeruel]

I like the idea of the Apostle being a melee threat midfield as well. If playing Word Bearers what do people think about Gift of Chaos on him for the Epistle of Lorgar and his normal relic as something like the Cursed Crozius or Black Mace? That way you can get both Supplication and Blissful Devotion but have Omen of Potency in your back pocket. I play mostly Open War or more casual Eternal War games so for me that's generally only going to cost me one extra CP, probably not worth it for the novelty in a Nephilim game if that's costing you two CP, or even three if you go in on a warlord trait too.

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

That’s how I play mine in crusade (using cursed crozius). He’s mauled everything he’s touched. You need the Epistle so he has some value outside of fighting, because the basic prayer doesn’t do much for Word Bearers. 
 

I would definitely not run an Apostle this way in a competitive game but in my crusade games he’s been a lot of fun and caught opponents by surprise multiple times.