On to the second and final part of the CM review folks. Enjoy.
The units:
Magos Dominus:
Now, as
mentioned above this is possibly my favourite GW model in a long time. But how
do the rules stack up? He weighs in at just over 100 points and is the only HQ
with a pretty good profile: 4/5/4/4/3/3/2/9/2+. Basic weaponry is a volkite
blaster, macrostubber, power axe, mechadendrite harness, scryerskull and
refractor field, as well as being relentless and having feel no pain. So a
pretty good all round character. Where he begins to shine even more is with the
Master of Machines rule, which allows him to forego shooting ONE weapon and
instead may either repair/restore a hull point to a vehicle he is in contact
with or inside, or restore a wound to a model in his unit (CM or Skitarii).
This is on a 2+! At a cost he can swap out his volkite for an eradication ray
and/or his macrostubber for a phosphor serpenta. Plus he gets access to the
relics and special issue wargear (digital weapons, infoslave, conversion and
stasis fields). Heck of a lot of options for the old chap, who is effectively
going to be best both bolstering a squad/vehicle loaded out with a relic or
two. In a squad of Katephrons plus the IWND relic he'd be a beast.
Kataphron
breachers:
At long last,
the oft mentioned battle servitors have some awesome models. Plus rules to
match. These chaps are troops and more suited to close combat. They're profile
is 3/3/5/5/2/3/1/8/3+ and they cost half a dreadnought each. As with all units
they have canticles and, as you would expect, are very bulky. The squad can be
bulked out to 12 total (!) which while expensive (on the wallet too) would be a
terrifying unit to face down. The heavy arc rifle and arc claw are the standard
equipment, meaning these chaps are loaded out for anti-vehicle duties primarily
with all that haywire. You can, however, swap out the arc for a torsion cannon
and/or a hydraulic claw, which makess them a bit less vehicle specific but
still most suited to anti-vehicle duties. These chaps can take a beating and,
thanks to canticles, can hand it out also.
Kataphron
Destroyers:
The ranged
equivalent to Breachers, destroyers are a bit pricier but have 2 ranged weapons
and a 4+ armour save - other than that they have the same rules/profile/squad
size. The plasma culverin comes as standard and can be swapped out for a heavy
grav cannon for free. Both these weapons are nasty! The secondary armament of a
phosphor blaster can be swapped out for a cognis flamer at a cost. A mixture of
the two secondary weapons is probably a good bet so you can both remove cover
from enemies and defend yourself from charges with wall of flame. Again,
beautiful models and deadly with canticles and its perks.
Fulgurite
electro-priests:
A blast from
the past, electro-priests are back, and this time they have two distinct
flavours in Elites. The more aggressive of the two, the fulgurites, focus more
on melee and sucking the energy out of others. At a fairly costly 18 points
each, you get a reasonable unit with a guardsman statline but with an extra
attack, WS4 and Ld9. As well as canticles you get feel no pain and zealot.
These guys can be taken in squads of 5-20. So far not sounding great right?
Well, there is more. The voltagheist field gives a 5++, hammer of wrath and
ignores the initiative penalty for terrain. The electroleech stave is +2S, AP4,
concussive and grants ID on a 6 to wound. One last perk is the siphoned vigour
rule, which means if you kill a unit with them their ++ save goes up to 3++. In
combination with canticles, careful use of these chaps could make them a
terribly destructive unit (S8 and a 3++) but careful play and timing will be
key. Great to see them making a comeback to the tabletop.
Corpuscarii
electro-priests:
The opposite of
the fulgurites, these chaps favour ranged combat and administer electric shocks
rather than sucking the life out of their enemies. Effectively the same cost
and statline, the only difference is they have BS4 instead and wield
electrostatic gauntlets, which while only providing them with +1S in melee
grant them a short ranged assault 2 TL attack. The shock rule means each roll
to hit of 6 (tesla effectively) grants 2 additional hits in the shooting phase.
So a decent ranged anti-infantry unit but TBH I think that range is too short
to make them a preferable option to their melee orientated cousins.
Kastelan Robot
maniple:
Robots also
make a welcome return to 40k. The Kastelan (Based on the old Castellan) comes
in a unit of 2-6 accompanied by 1-3 Datasmiths. While the smiths cost the same
as a Breacher, the Robots themselves are pretty pricey at about the cost of a
vindicator. The robots themselves are 3/3/6/7/3/2/2/7/3+ monstrous creatures,
while the Datasmith is 3/4/4/4/2/3/2/9/2+. The Kastelan comes armed with a
carapace incendine combustor and 2 power fists, while the Datasmith also packs
a power fist and in addition has a refractor field, dataspike and the deadly
gamma pistol. Not to be let out, the repulsor grid on the Kastelans also grants
them a 5++ against ranged attacks which, if they pass a saving throw against
a ranged attack on a 6, allows them to deflect that same shot (same S/AP at the unit
that fired. Nice!
Options wise,
the Datasmith can take special issue gear and relics, while the Kastelans can
upgrade both power fists to a TL heavy phosphor blaster and the incendine
combustor to a further heavy phosphor blaster. This gives you a decent amount
of ranged firepower which in addition to canticles and battle protocols can be
made even better. Battle protocols are chosen at the end of each of your turns
and become active the beginning of the following of your turns. If no Datasmith
remains alive, you're stuck with the last protocol you used for the rest of the
game. You start the game with aegis protocols, and may switch freely between
aegis, conqueror and protector protocols throughout the game:
Aegis - feel no
pain
Conqueror - Double
attacks but can't shoot
Protector -
can't move but can fire carapace weapons twice.
Now, while
usually I would advocate a unit of mixed wargear and abilities, the above
obviously favours single purpose units to make the maximum usage of the
protocols. So start your melee unit in aegis then switch to conqueror when you
think you're about in charge range, and your shooty unit in aegis until you're
in cover/melee range. Really nice little set of rules adding a further layer of
complexity to this new army and ruleset.
Formations:
Cohort
Cybernetica:
This formation
is a tech priest Dominus and 2 Kastelan units all bundled together into a
single unit. (counts as 3 for canticles and VPs) They get Adept of the
Cybernetica, which grants the Dominus the same ability as the Datasmith with
regard to protocols except that you may enact the protocol immediately at the
end of the turn. So in effect you can switch from destroyer to aegis and give
yourself more survivability in the opponents turn for example. They also get targetting
override, which means you sacrifice any number of Datasmiths/Dominus shooting
in order to grant a single Robot split fire in effect.
Elimination
Maniple:
This formation
is 2-3 units of Destroyers and 1-3 units of robots. The perk comes in the form
of elimination volley, which means that if a robot scores 1+
wounds/glances/pens on a unit/vehicle with a phosphor weapon, destroyers gain
+1BS and ignores cover that turn! Seems like overkill, but actually if you pair
up destroyers with robots you can effectively destroy units trying to seek
cover. After all, the destroyers weaponry is all AP2 so not much will be safe.
Numinous
Conclave:
2-3 unit of
each type of electro priest (equal numbers). They all gain crusader and a
couple of addition rules. The Corpuscarii giveth means that Corpuscarii fire an
extra shot against units if they are within 6" of Fulgurites and electrify
the enemy unit. The Fulgurites taketh away means they get to re-roll to wound
against electrified units in melee. Not sure it's worth buying all those
priests for but this is a beautifully synergistic little rule.
Holy
Requisitioner:
A Dominus
paired up with 2-3 units of Breachers, this formation boasts deep strike and a
couple of other rules too. Inhuman avarice gives the Breachers counter-attack
and zealot when within 6" of an objective, while apparition extremis means
you make a single deep strike roll for the entire formation (which must start
in deep strike reserve) The Dominus must be placed first but does not scatter
when within 6" of an objective. Likewise, the Breachers do not scatter
within 6" of the Dominus. Guaranteed to scare the hell out of your
opponent, this would be a great way to get a lot of haywire in your opponents
face very quickly and secure an objective into the bargain.
Adeptus
Mechanicus War Congregation:
This was the WD
exclusive Formation which I've included here for completions sake. It
effectively allows you to merge all the recent 3 codexes together and gain
extra perks. You need to take the Knight Oathsworn detachment (1-3 Knights), a
Skitarii Battle Maniple and a Cult Mechanicus battle congregation. While this
may sound like a lot it's really not - you could run it with a single Knight, 2
units of 3 Breachers, a Dominus and the larger maniple formation from Skitarii. That will account for at least 1300 points, but here are the perks you
get. The Dominus gets a Warlord trait reroll, ALL units gain Canticles and,
wait for it, ALL weapons, wargear and relic options taken in this formation are
free. Yes, completely free. Plus none of
your weapons get hot anymore. Wow, just wow. It's pretty insane. So your
Knight can max out on weapons, as can all you Skitarii and your Dominus and it
all costs nowt. When eventually I build up an Admech army, no doubt this will
be the way to run things.
That's the end
of this review. I'm gonna take a massive breather and gear myself up for the
behemoth of a review that will be Codex Space Marines, no doubt shortly
followed by Codex Dark Angels. Less than a week to go now chaps - check out my
other blog for those. Cheers.
