So I was skimming through the Imperial Guard Codex and
realized there were a couple of interesting tidbits in there that I hadn't seen
used, but that could be very useful.
The codex allows you to take Regimental Advisors and they
don't take up any Force organization slots (though their battlefield role is
that of an HQ). Engenseers are kind of
an interesting unit. People rarely take
them, but they have an ability called Awaken the Machine. Any one vehicle within 12" can gain Power
of the Machine Spirit!
Imagine that you take three Regimental Advisors and they are
Enginseers. What could be the benefits?
Hail Hydra!
Three Hydras or
Wyverns in a unit could fire at six different targets! Imagine being able to split up their fire and
forcing 3-6 Jinks on three different Flying Monstrous Creatures or the
like. Or perhaps landing barrages on a
large number of units. This not only
saves the other two Heavy Support Slots for things, but doesn't make you regret
not taking more of them in some games where the board gets flooded with such
things. Daemon Flying Circus type lists
could learn to dislike what the Enginseer is doing for this unit! Better still, if you move at Combat speed,
since Hydras and Wyverns aren't fast, their firepower reduce considerably. The Enginseers make the unit more mobile and
able to move away from danger without losing as many shots! This is an important point!
Cornered Like a Rat
When the Manticore
gets cornered by drop units, what better way to say I love you than keeping your
eyes downfield and pummeling what must be pummeled while still being able to
bring the Heavy flamer to bear on the drop unit right next to it?
All Guns...FIRE!
Leman Russ's are often fielded with just their cannon because the ordinance rule stops the tanks from actually firing a second weapon anyways. The Enginseer lets you fire down on the hordes while lancing something with your LasCannon, which makes the tank a dual threat again
The Taurox Prime
(specifically) is an excellent vehicle and there are tims when you do wish you
could afford to mix the weapons on it but its impractical. The Taurox Prime Battle Cannon and the
Autocannon it can wield form a pretty good tandem for killing vehicles but there's
times when you'd love to unleash TL STR 4 AP 3 on a unit that's threatening to
charge while still able to take your shot at a downfield vehicle. The Enginseers would allow you to mix in the
Volley Gun with the Battle Cannon so you'd have a "close support gun"
type of a situation on the Taurox Prime and not have to waste the Battle Cannon
on the nearby Marines. In fact this
really goes for any IG vehicle where you have a Long range weapon and a closer
range one. Once someone gets close to
you, you kind of get forced to choose rather than being able to use both weapon
to their respective strengths.
Waste Not, Want not
The Vendetta rarely takes the Heavy Bolter Sponsons because it always ends up snap firing one as flyers can fire only four weapon in a round. Typically those would be the three Lascannons and so two Heavy Bolters that you pay for ends up being one, plus a snap shot on another. Is that terrible? A discussion for a different time but with the Enginseer anywhere within 12", you'll get the full use of that expenditure.
At the end of the day this ignores the ability the Enginseer
has to repair your actual Hull
points and/or Immobilized/Weapon destroyed results which is what most people
think about in regards to the Enginseer.
From Hell's Heart, I Stab at Thee!
The Enginseer has other virtues. His is not typically going to be in a frontline
combat role. However he can take
objectives for you like any unit and he's tougher than most guardsman with a 3+
save. His Servitors have a 4+ save which
is pretty good. This little unit can
pump out a little pain on the charge.
The Enginseer has an odd combination of weapons. He comes with a Specialist Servo Arm and a
non-specialist Power Axe +Pistol. So you
can use either one but he's going last regardless. So on the charge you probably want to make
use of the Servo arm and perhaps not in subsequent rounds just to keep your
number of attacks as high as they can be.
He and a unit of servitors will always swing last but they have the
potential to throw out 12 STR 6 AP 1 attacks on the charge. That's pretty far from terrible if you're
forced to defend the Machines from assaulty interlopers. They can sport a pair of Plasma Cannons in
the unit which also is far from terrible.
A full on unit of these is 120 points and bring two Plasma
Cannon to the party plsu all their assault ability. That's really economical firepower and with a
lot of support for the armor that goes beyond just hoping there's enough left
of a vehicle to even fix. The added
mobility it gives the list and the extra firepower it allows seem pretty great
outcomes for a unit that contributes in both the melee phase and the shooting
phase as well.
If you are one who really likes armored corps, I'd rather
have a unit of these around my vehicles to protect them than 100 point vet
squad with Meltaguns. The Enginseers
unit will have superior range and deadly firepower just like the Vets and they
wont die as quickly. They are a serious
threat in melee and even though stronger units will wipe them out, that would
have been true of the vets too, so you're not LOSING anything against
those. But you're gaining a lot against
midline assault units or worse.
Militarum Tempestus stuff to read, click here!
Militarum Tempestus stuff to read, click here!
Also because Enginseer is an IC you only have to take 3 repair servitors with 1 Enginseer and then have the other 2 enginseers join the unit they will be repairing up to 3 hull points a turn on a 2+. I'm not sure if taking a 4th servitor makes it a auto repair or not because the rules say add 1 to your roll for each servitor?
ReplyDeleteCorrect by the way as far as that goes. The enginseers could indeed fix three hull points in a round, much like Meks do for Orks. Though obviously if the situation is that dire that you need three hull points, there won't be much to alvage or fix but maybe whats in the crater. Now with an Imprial Knight unit attached, you could make that Knight last a very long time. One important thing to keep in mind is that fixing things happens in the shooting phase. So that still means the thing you're fixing won't be moving until the following turn if it was immobilized.
DeleteSide note on that: you could use them to fix two hull points and the third guy could fix the immobilized result though!
DeleteEach servitor Servo-Arm adds +1 to the roll. So 3 Servo-arm Servitors would make the roll a 2+. Nothing in 40K works on a 1. Except mising and heroic intervention. hehehe.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same; a 1 always fails. Yet for example you shoot a lascannon (s9) at a armour 10 vehicle, then even rolling a 1 will auto-glance, of course 2+ will penetrate. Or shoot a s10 weapon at armour 10 its auto-pen - even rolling a 1 will be total of 11 for a penetrating shot.
DeleteI hear ya'. But no. that wouldn't be the case here.
DeleteYou are incorrect. Adding to the result of a dice roll makes it impossible to roll less than the modifier plus one. This is how repair rolls and feel no pain can be auto passed. Honestly I've no idea how people run knights,shadow swords etc.without tech support!
DeleteHi Unorthadoxy I just recently started work on a Militarum Tempestus force, using only the old metal Kasrkin models, and while searching for tactics for them I came across your blog and I really think you are doing a good thing with it, I have found some very interesting posts and given me some ideas of my own. Currently I have a bunch of the Kasrkin Sgt models which I'm going to convert to have bolt pistols and some plasma pistols, but I'm undecided about whether to bother with power weapons. Have you had a chance to play games with them all, like power swords, maces, axes, and lances? Which do you find best? I was thinking of using axes on most except giving tempestor primes maces to make use of his higher initiative. Although lances AP3 on the charge could be good maybe too situational? I saw on your lists you use power fists, but isn't the points cost a bit much for those?
ReplyDeleteCool, I use all the old models and then for Volley guns, I use the Inquisitorial Storm Troopers with hoods (the really old models). My current list doesn't have the power fists. But that was because I added the allies and needed the points. A PURE Militarum Tempestus force might need the Fists though. Here's the reality: most of the things you fight will go before you anyways, so it hardly matters that you took a Sword instead of a fist. But if you DO get a chance to swing at that enemy, you need it to COUNT. Also, STR 6 AP 2 is nice on vehicles because its better than your grenade. And there are things like WraithKnights that will stomp you to death and you don't want to go quietly into that good night without having a say before you die. So I suppose it matters a lot in how you look at things but in a PURE Militarum Tempestus army, that's my opinion. Fists also DO scare less potent enemies and movement is so key to the Militarum Tempestus that there WILL be times when you are going to be more advised to charge (and get stuck in combat) than getting caught in the open or moving less. So the fist kinda helps you even the combat resolution a bit when forced to do it. Not every enemy character has cool stuff on him. they, like you, are playing a balancing act and people have moved away from melee in 6th and 7th Edition more and more (a mistake in my opinion but inevitable given the rules changes). So you might actually get cool mileage out of those fists.
ReplyDeleteOne last thought: In my Militarum Tempestus army with less allied stuff in it, I used the same Psykers and Priests to buff the units and they really dont perform badly when they have ZEALOT! It's a lot more impactful than you might think. Even a charging Tempestus soldier can be somebody with a Priest on board to help him be cool. I think if you ultimately say "no" to the fist, then I would say "yes" to the Power Maul. The STR boost is much needed, and because it causes Concussion, it actually can be quite useful in a second or subsequent round of combat if it gets a lucky strike on a Monster. I do like me some Power Mauls.
What's your opinion on power axe and lance? Axe +1S AP2 and same as fist your going last anyway and 10 pts less than a fist so I guess you pay 10 extra pts for S6 instead of S4. or lance +2S on charge and AP3, or user S and AP4 rest of the time. Trying to think of times lances would be useful but I can think they'd look cool. Maybe use some Grey Knight weapons for conversions!
ReplyDeleteLances are a no go because they are just terrible when charged and in all these scenarioes, the weapons doesnt matter if you're dead so i am assuming here a scneario in which you get to swing at all. You WILL be charged FAR more often than you do the charging. Its just playing the percentages there as far as the lance goes. Between either Deep Striking or disembarking, unfortunately you will be using lances infrequently. Power Lances are +1 STR, not +2 by the way. You are no doubt thinking of the HUNTING lance the Rough riders get? which is different. As for WHEN I think Lances are cool? Well, they are cool when Rough riders use them! making it a Specialist weapon was a dumb move even though it kinda makes sense (but so what! they should dump that in any new codex because three on the charge? hell yes). I actually have played with Rough riders and they do work. It's a shame they didn't give Colour Sergeant Kell a "power Weapon" but instead were specific in giving him a "Power Sword". would be cool to give him a lance since he gets Init 4. Him and Ratlings are the only ones in the codex that get that initiative! Power Axe's are not terrible at all. I want the higher STR given the low number of attacks but honestly, I'm only ever arming the Scions with these weapons in a pure MT army anyways. For the most part I'd rather put these duties on the blob squad and relinquish them from the Scions altogether. I know you're itching to use a lance and i am too. But this may be the wrong codex for it. Also: Enginseers start with a Power Axe so if ya want one and you want it cheap, the Enginseer for its price does a heck of a lot including chopping things up with one (or its servo arm). Aaaaaand...full circle!
DeleteSad this interesting post was derailed. Imperial players have an apparent blindness to the merits of reinstating hull points on 380-600*pt units... Also an invaluable use of potms to keep things like pasks punisher firing at full bs. Recently saved his squadron from a unit of 5 terminators and more than paid for the preist. Bonus Multimelter snap shots with PE and crack shot wrecked their landraider!
ReplyDeleteYeah the Enginseer really is a little more valuable than its given credit for and so i wanted to hi-lite its merits here.
Delete