Any luck with the Deceptors Detachment?

[HeadlessCross]

I was randomly list building and finally decided to give Deceptors a tackle. In theory it has some great tricks in a standard 2000 point game. You could get 60 Cultists and 30 Legionaires anywhere you want, the Strats all have solid use, and the Lone Op Enhancement is super sweet on a Terminator Sorcerer for a nice hard to kill buffer. 

 

As I kept building though, I noticed I actually ran out of points quickly trying to play off these strengths. Legionaires have decent melee, but they're not survivable. Perhaps three Sorcerers for the squads to get a significant durability buff. The Cultists almost require the Dark Commune if you plan for them to do anything other than die. If you try to use Soul Link, you might get trapped like I did initially choosing enough Characters to make that dude like a toolbox LOL

 

Have you been successful using Deceptors? Do you build your lists with maxed out Infiltrators? Any matches you struggle with in particular?

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I've played exactly one game with them, and it was a mixed bag.  If you're trying to maximize your infiltrators then yeah, you burn through your points pretty quick.  I did kill a Terminator Captain and Helbrecht using a Hammer-Lord with Cursed Fang in a unit of Legionaries though.  Rerolling wounds to fish for Dev Wounds delivered with Precision is a neat trick.

 

From All Sides was also *really* helpful.  Terminators with a Terminator Sorcerer making rerolling 6" charges out of deep strike caught my opponent by surprise (and saved me from bad dice).

 

 

[HeadlessCross]

5 hours ago, Iron Father Ferrum said:

I've played exactly one game with them, and it was a mixed bag.  If you're trying to maximize your infiltrators then yeah, you burn through your points pretty quick.  I did kill a Terminator Captain and Helbrecht using a Hammer-Lord with Cursed Fang in a unit of Legionaries though.  Rerolling wounds to fish for Dev Wounds delivered with Precision is a neat trick.

 

From All Sides was also *really* helpful.  Terminators with a Terminator Sorcerer making rerolling 6" charges out of deep strike caught my opponent by surprise (and saved me from bad dice).

 

 

Would you say that maximizing on infiltrating is a bad idea then?

[Gree]

On 8/1/2024 at 3:25 AM, HeadlessCross said:

I was randomly list building and finally decided to give Deceptors a tackle. In theory it has some great tricks in a standard 2000 point game. You could get 60 Cultists and 30 Legionaires anywhere you want, the Strats all have solid use, and the Lone Op Enhancement is super sweet on a Terminator Sorcerer for a nice hard to kill buffer. 

 

As I kept building though, I noticed I actually ran out of points quickly trying to play off these strengths. Legionaires have decent melee, but they're not survivable. Perhaps three Sorcerers for the squads to get a significant durability buff. The Cultists almost require the Dark Commune if you plan for them to do anything other than die. If you try to use Soul Link, you might get trapped like I did initially choosing enough Characters to make that dude like a toolbox LOL

 

Have you been successful using Deceptors? Do you build your lists with maxed out Infiltrators? Any matches you struggle with in particular?

 

I have not played Deceptors at all, but I will make a few thoughts on the detachment.

 

It seems to be the detachment rule might be a bit of a trap. You can infiltrate 30 Legionaries and 60 Cultists. That does not necessarily mean one should. Ultimately Legionaries are MEQ being deployed close to the enemy. Even with Sorcerers, they will die quickly. It seems to me the strength of the detachment lies in board control. It may be better to deploy 5-man Legionary squads as speedbumps or a way to infiltrate a MoE close to an enemy target. Smaller units are easier to hide and deploy as well.

 

I would fully expect infiltrating units to die, but as long as they can score primary and act as a speedbump, then they have served their purpose. I think you will want a second wave of units that excel at killing things, Vindicators, Forgefiends, Warp Talons. I like the idea of a Chaos Lord with Cursed Fang attached to a 5-man squad in a Rhino. 

[Iron Father Ferrum]

22 hours ago, HeadlessCross said:

Would you say that maximizing on infiltrating is a bad idea then?

 

Not a bad idea, but as Gree states, you need to make sure the rest of the army behind them can follow up sufficiently.  There's no durability buffs in the detachment at all, so that infiltrating front line is going to be absorbing lots of punishment in the first turn or two; the opponent is forced to go after them because they're exerting board control over almost the entirety of the midfield.