Alpha Legion Marksman Build

[Iron Father Ferrum]

So this is a little roundabout, but I'll get there.  Bear in mind this has had zero thought put into it in terms of competitive army building.

 

I'm an Alpha Legion player, and I've always enjoyed the "targeted elimination of important officers" bit.  So much so in fact, that in previous editions of the game, I built out characters (both rules & model wise) to make sniper-ish characters.  I still have my last entry, which used the Exalted Champion datasheet for its rules basis since that model came equipped with a combi-weapon: it did not have Precision, but at least it could punch mortal wounds into something.  Alas, the Champion datasheet has fallen by the wayside, and my sniper model now has no basis for inclusion in an army.

 

Well.  I've been doing some army building in the app, and since I enjoy the shenanigans that our psykers bring to the army, I decided to brainstorm doing a Deceptors/Cabal detachment mix.  Sorcerers + Legionaries with -1 to hit (Prescience) plus +1S on their bolters and heavy weapons?  I'll take it!  Then I realized I could put Touched by the Warp on a Warpsmith and stick him with a Havoc squads to get +1S on their guns too, which got me even more excited.  So I started poking around to consider what other shenanigans I could get into.  And I realized something.  Something I've been missing all of 10th Edition, though in fairness I haven't played in like six months.

 

The Master of Possession.

 

His shooting attack is Precision.  It's AP-3, multiple damage.  He's a marksman.  I can put the Shroud of Obfuscation on him for stealth & LO, run him around by himself trying to snipe out characters or doing objectives, and since he's a psyker, if I'm running Cabal, he also benefits from the +1S to his gun.  So with all possible bonuses attached, including his dagger ability, he can fire twice at 2+ to hit, S7 with +1 to wound, AP-3, D3, Precision, at a maximum range of 26" (8" move plus 18" gun range), with Sustained Hits 1.  And that's before you start spending CP on something like Wreathed in Warpflame (Ignores Cover) or Pick Them Off (rerolling hits and wounds).

 

It's not game breaking by any means, but it's a cute little combo that warms my heart since it fits into how I want to play my army.  I'll probably give it a try, and if so I'll post here how it goes.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I like your out of the box thinking - and he's pretty cheap, as characters go.  Plus, in 11th being psychic attacks they ignore penalties to hit and ballistic skill.

 

Not sure if lone op is worth it on him, however, given he can only shoot 18".  I think his main role would be a cheap action monkey and objective holder - he is slightly more expensive than cultists for that, but is a lot easier to hide (so, worse at screening, better at hiding).  Combat wise, I think he has a bunch of drawbacks (low range, low attacks, low AP, variable damage), but I can see a place to use him just as a fun model.

Edited June 30 by Dr_Ruminahui

[HeadlessCross]

Unfortunately there's not a lot of shooting in the codex. 

1. The shootiest non-epic you can really do is the Warpstrike detachment with the Tzagulla relic. You give that to a Terminator Sorcerer and you're gold. Even though it won't have Precision, it'll do a lot of damage. 

2. You're best off going for Cypher to be frank. Model a dude with an auto-sniper rifle or something. It's not super long range, but you can pretend the plasma shots are "critical hits" or something. I have a dude I use that looks like a marksman for that representation.