Post by yvain on Aug 23, 2014 5:57:11 GMT -5
So Assassin book has dropped and they are all available for use in an IG army. Here is a quick summary and my preliminary evaluations:
Universal: No Escape which is -2 to all lookout sir rolls, fearless, infiltrate, move through cover. +4 invul. If your assassin kills the warlord you get an extra victory point.
Vindicare - Long Range Sniper +5 more expensive from last book
Key abilities: 72 inch range weapon with 3 modes. Changes from GK book, shield pen no longer removes shield permanently
, turbo pen is weaker verse vehicles now str 10 ap 2, Turbo pen is D3 W verse infantry. All shots ignore cover. There is some ambiguous wording of the Deadshot rule, but it is clearly intended to be that same as last edition.
Evaluation: Vindicare got a bit of a nerf. The inability to ignore lookout sir is bad. It effectively makes him an average to poor choice to hunt a warlord. There are simply too many points of failure. You will near always score a hit so that is removed, however the single shot means 50% of the time the wound is delivered to a useless model this is before an invul or a failure to wound is taken into account. He does excel however at killing annoying characters or special weapon models. Targeting something with no invulnerable save like a painboy or apothecary is a good way to earn your points back quickly. He is also very effective against annoying vehicles like quantum shielded necrons or eldar.
With IG: For his price, he is still a decent choice because in the end it is like taking a ultra-long range always hitting cover ignoring lascannon. With 72 inches and stealth it is likely he will remain most of the game being annoying and nipping at your opponents heels. Targeting the warlord is still probably not the best idea with most armies, however could work especially if he is a weaker warlord like a farseer or IG commander. As guard you might get away with it though by massing your fire power of your firepower. I think he is the second best choice.
Callidus - Short range elite unit killer Same Price as last book
Key Abilities: +4 wound ap 2 flamer, show up anywhere infiltrate and can only be targeted by snap shots that turn. Close combat weapons are a 3+ Ap - rending weapon or an AP 2 on rolls of 6 ignored invul saves. Precision Strikes, Hit and Run, Reign of Confusions means reroll initiative steal and enemy first reserve roll is -3.
Evaluation: Callidus is a Marbo wannabe. Marbo is really better in every way because even with all her rules there is still a chance she will not make it into combat, which is where a lot of her killing power is generated. The demo charge is better than her neural shredder. The key here is that Marbo was most effective immediately whereas Callidus needs to wait a turn to be at his most effective. That said, she is still really awesome. The ability to show up anywhere and bring hurt where you want it is amazing and there is a good chance Callidus will survive not only her arrival, but also her combat thanks to hit and run. She specializes in killing small groups of elite infantry that usually surround warlords. She also has a good chance of killing a warlord because of this.
With IG: Callidus really excels in a challenge and this is the one downside for she as it is unlikely you will get someone else there to assist her especially as IG. (Marbo Callidus tag team would have been amazing) Still her abilities are pretty amazing and useful and it is likely that she will be able to cause mass havoc on an enemy force from turn one. Any non-vehicle unit that your opponent leaves unsupported is essentially doomed. Callidus is probably the best choice.
Eversor - Close Range Horde killer 5+ from last book
Key Abilities: Feel No Pain, Bio meltdown everything within 6 inches takes a str 5 hit when Eversor dies, Fast Shot, 3d6 charge range, 8 attacks on charge, Power sword, ap – shred fleshbane glove, and melta bombs. Sentinel Array, overwatch at full BS. Combo Bolt/Needle pistol.
Evaluation: Eversor is kind of a one hit wonder. He is only marginally more durable than the others yet will have to face down the toughest foot slog to get to his target. Since his infiltrate is only regular it is likely that he will have to face a turn of movement for him to do much damage at all. His pistol is weak so to do any real damage he will need to get into CC. His charge will help, but having to kill a horde of mooks before getting to the warlord means he will probably never get a warlord kill even with 8 attacks.
With IG: Eversor excels at killing hordes and that is something guard also does very well. He is a CC monster, but so he could bring something to the table to a guard army from this alone. However, he lacks the versatility of the Callidus. He is actually best when facing against an army like guard or Tyranids, but I think in most situations I would rather take a Callidus. He is probably the worst choice, still pretty decent though.
Culexus – Anti Psyker 5+ from last book
Key Abilities: Instant death CC attacks on a 6, always instant death on psykers. Attacks ignore armor. Preferred Enemy Psykers, Psy Abomination rule -3 LD for enemy psykers within 6 immune to powers and nullifies blessings and maledictions within 12. Removes warp charges from within 12. Str 5 ap 1 Assault X weapon that gains more attack the more psykers are nearby and up to +3 warp charges to further add. Silly head lets him only be hit on a 6.
Evaluation: Culexus is pretty awesome against most armies, but pretty useless against others. Without psykers he is basically gimped. Against Psykers he is a beast. The nullify blessings rules basically laughs in the face of cheese ball armies like screamer star or jetbike star. His weapon is pretty devastating against psykers and even if they do not have any, still pretty effective against non psykers with a good warp charge roll. He can also throw a psyk-out grenade as well since his main weapon is used during the psy phase. In close combat his instant death rule makes him pretty lethal against all monstrous creatures and since he can ignore armor he is likely to make short work of any squad he fights. His best ability is still the power nullifier, it is almost a shame he would have to get into combat simply to keep himself alive. He does really well against MC warlords, but any psyker with wings (most of the psy MC have wings) and sense will simply fly away from him as well and then cast their spells in the following phase. An IC warlord will probably survive by throwing his buddies bodies at the fight and kill the Culexus, especially if they are not a psyker.
With IG: All the comments above apply here, against a psyker army the Culexus is amazing. Against a non-psyker one he is just good. Against normal armies he does not have the killing power of Callidus and his best ability is useless. Still he is a very solid choice because is likely to last the longest and can still do some respectable damage. He is probably the third best. In some situations he would be the best choice. But you shouldn’t be list tailoring.
To summarize: The reasoning behind my assassin picks is the Callidus and the Vindicare will always be useful. The Culexus might be amazing verse one list and just okay verse another. The Eversor will probably be good against only a few armies and downright useless against others. The other good part to consider, is that all 4 assassins seem like fun choices that represent their fluff pretty well.
Universal: No Escape which is -2 to all lookout sir rolls, fearless, infiltrate, move through cover. +4 invul. If your assassin kills the warlord you get an extra victory point.
Vindicare - Long Range Sniper +5 more expensive from last book
Key abilities: 72 inch range weapon with 3 modes. Changes from GK book, shield pen no longer removes shield permanently
, turbo pen is weaker verse vehicles now str 10 ap 2, Turbo pen is D3 W verse infantry. All shots ignore cover. There is some ambiguous wording of the Deadshot rule, but it is clearly intended to be that same as last edition.Evaluation: Vindicare got a bit of a nerf. The inability to ignore lookout sir is bad. It effectively makes him an average to poor choice to hunt a warlord. There are simply too many points of failure. You will near always score a hit so that is removed, however the single shot means 50% of the time the wound is delivered to a useless model this is before an invul or a failure to wound is taken into account. He does excel however at killing annoying characters or special weapon models. Targeting something with no invulnerable save like a painboy or apothecary is a good way to earn your points back quickly. He is also very effective against annoying vehicles like quantum shielded necrons or eldar.
With IG: For his price, he is still a decent choice because in the end it is like taking a ultra-long range always hitting cover ignoring lascannon. With 72 inches and stealth it is likely he will remain most of the game being annoying and nipping at your opponents heels. Targeting the warlord is still probably not the best idea with most armies, however could work especially if he is a weaker warlord like a farseer or IG commander. As guard you might get away with it though by massing your fire power of your firepower. I think he is the second best choice.
Callidus - Short range elite unit killer Same Price as last book
Key Abilities: +4 wound ap 2 flamer, show up anywhere infiltrate and can only be targeted by snap shots that turn. Close combat weapons are a 3+ Ap - rending weapon or an AP 2 on rolls of 6 ignored invul saves. Precision Strikes, Hit and Run, Reign of Confusions means reroll initiative steal and enemy first reserve roll is -3.
Evaluation: Callidus is a Marbo wannabe. Marbo is really better in every way because even with all her rules there is still a chance she will not make it into combat, which is where a lot of her killing power is generated. The demo charge is better than her neural shredder. The key here is that Marbo was most effective immediately whereas Callidus needs to wait a turn to be at his most effective. That said, she is still really awesome. The ability to show up anywhere and bring hurt where you want it is amazing and there is a good chance Callidus will survive not only her arrival, but also her combat thanks to hit and run. She specializes in killing small groups of elite infantry that usually surround warlords. She also has a good chance of killing a warlord because of this.
With IG: Callidus really excels in a challenge and this is the one downside for she as it is unlikely you will get someone else there to assist her especially as IG. (Marbo Callidus tag team would have been amazing) Still her abilities are pretty amazing and useful and it is likely that she will be able to cause mass havoc on an enemy force from turn one. Any non-vehicle unit that your opponent leaves unsupported is essentially doomed. Callidus is probably the best choice.
Eversor - Close Range Horde killer 5+ from last book
Key Abilities: Feel No Pain, Bio meltdown everything within 6 inches takes a str 5 hit when Eversor dies, Fast Shot, 3d6 charge range, 8 attacks on charge, Power sword, ap – shred fleshbane glove, and melta bombs. Sentinel Array, overwatch at full BS. Combo Bolt/Needle pistol.
Evaluation: Eversor is kind of a one hit wonder. He is only marginally more durable than the others yet will have to face down the toughest foot slog to get to his target. Since his infiltrate is only regular it is likely that he will have to face a turn of movement for him to do much damage at all. His pistol is weak so to do any real damage he will need to get into CC. His charge will help, but having to kill a horde of mooks before getting to the warlord means he will probably never get a warlord kill even with 8 attacks.
With IG: Eversor excels at killing hordes and that is something guard also does very well. He is a CC monster, but so he could bring something to the table to a guard army from this alone. However, he lacks the versatility of the Callidus. He is actually best when facing against an army like guard or Tyranids, but I think in most situations I would rather take a Callidus. He is probably the worst choice, still pretty decent though.
Culexus – Anti Psyker 5+ from last book
Key Abilities: Instant death CC attacks on a 6, always instant death on psykers. Attacks ignore armor. Preferred Enemy Psykers, Psy Abomination rule -3 LD for enemy psykers within 6 immune to powers and nullifies blessings and maledictions within 12. Removes warp charges from within 12. Str 5 ap 1 Assault X weapon that gains more attack the more psykers are nearby and up to +3 warp charges to further add. Silly head lets him only be hit on a 6.
Evaluation: Culexus is pretty awesome against most armies, but pretty useless against others. Without psykers he is basically gimped. Against Psykers he is a beast. The nullify blessings rules basically laughs in the face of cheese ball armies like screamer star or jetbike star. His weapon is pretty devastating against psykers and even if they do not have any, still pretty effective against non psykers with a good warp charge roll. He can also throw a psyk-out grenade as well since his main weapon is used during the psy phase. In close combat his instant death rule makes him pretty lethal against all monstrous creatures and since he can ignore armor he is likely to make short work of any squad he fights. His best ability is still the power nullifier, it is almost a shame he would have to get into combat simply to keep himself alive. He does really well against MC warlords, but any psyker with wings (most of the psy MC have wings) and sense will simply fly away from him as well and then cast their spells in the following phase. An IC warlord will probably survive by throwing his buddies bodies at the fight and kill the Culexus, especially if they are not a psyker.
With IG: All the comments above apply here, against a psyker army the Culexus is amazing. Against a non-psyker one he is just good. Against normal armies he does not have the killing power of Callidus and his best ability is useless. Still he is a very solid choice because is likely to last the longest and can still do some respectable damage. He is probably the third best. In some situations he would be the best choice. But you shouldn’t be list tailoring.
To summarize: The reasoning behind my assassin picks is the Callidus and the Vindicare will always be useful. The Culexus might be amazing verse one list and just okay verse another. The Eversor will probably be good against only a few armies and downright useless against others. The other good part to consider, is that all 4 assassins seem like fun choices that represent their fluff pretty well.
