Codex: Order of the Faithful Blade

[Chengar Qordath]

Rocket Hammers. :tu: With antimatter orbs held in the drill tips!

 

The striking end of the hammer is a drill, the back end of the hammer has a rocked on it, and when penetration has been achieved, the drill bit opens up like a flower to annihilate everything inside the vehicle with the antimatter charge!

 

_{Don't believe in yourself, believe in me who believes in you!}

Only if these drills are powered sheer hot-bloodedness, and every model equipped with one is wearing huge sunglasses. I suppose we'll need to change the official battlecry of the OotFB to "Who the warp do you think we are?"

 

_{Huzzah for proving my anime nerd credentials.}

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Fantastic, Miko, after your comment in the Seraphim thread I'm now picturing a Red Alert/Guerren hybrid order of Sisters. Any ideas I have for the rest of today are probably going to be pretty... questionable.

 

Yayyyyy, less D6-based special rules choices! I would recommend keeping the upgrades grouped into characterful sets of special rules that you currently have, though, not just "purchase Stealth +x points, purchase Infiltrate +x points."

 

Point on the IA points-costs, I'd assumed that when they modernized the rules they would have rejiggered the points costs.

 

Welllll, as a plan B to anti-matter, use of meltabombs, or the acts of faith Divine Guidance and/or Hand of the Emperor in concert with thunderhammers would be a last resort attempt to break a walker in assault, but there would be a lot more pressure on the player to avoid combat with the walker (which isn't especially difficult to do, I don't thiinnnnkkkkk it would be too much of a weakness).

 

Admittedly, Miko's reference has made me think of a one-use meltabomb hammer (perhaps similar to the ork tankas rokkit hammas) buttttt that miiiight be a bit too crazy.

 

Edit: Two things. A.) Realized that the hot-blooded power of Team Gurren is an eery parallel to the faith system, and B.) Melta-charge hammers might be non-crazy. I'm sort've picture a thunder hammer (albeit a slightly more graceful one than the typical assault terminator model) with a cylindrical head, with a circular hollow in the center of the smushing surface, which is packed with a melta-charge. Thunderhammer which once per battle may hit at Strength 8, 2d6 armour penetration? (Sounds like something that may be exclusive to Martyrs, and could possibly do with a failure/backfire drawback).

[Chengar Qordath]

Rapier Battery

Battle Sister

3

4

3

3

1

3

1

8

3+

Rapier Battery{Heavy Support} 30 points

Artillery

1-3 Rapiers (Including two Battlesister crew members per weapon)

Power Armor Bolter Frag and Krak Grenades Combat Shield

Mobile Artillery (Rapiers Only) Auto-Targeting System (Rapiers Only) Adepta Sororitas (Battlesisters Only) Stubborn Faithful (Battlesisters Only)

• Each Rapier self-propelled gun may be equipped with:
  • A twin-linked Multilaser: free
  • A twin-linked Multi-melta: free
  • A twin-linked Lascannon: 15 points
    

  
  

Mobile Artillery: Rapiers come mounted on tracked carriers that allow them to maneuver far more easily than traditional artillery pieces, as well as sophisticated machine spirits that can compensate for firing on the move. Rapiers have the Relentless Universal Special rule.

Auto-Targeting System: The machine spirits responsible for directing a Rapier's gun are impressively sophisticated, despite the Rapier's reputation for being an outdated piece of wargear. Cover saves gained by vehicles that have moved flat-out or bikes that have turbo-boosted may not be taken against shots fired by a Rapier's guns.

Rapier Battery: A tracked gun carrier with a venerable history, the Rapier has largely fallen out of favor with the wider Imperium due to its fragility, the fact that its design limits it to using a narrow selection of weaponry, and the popularity of larger, mobile, and more heavily armed and armored self-propelled guns. Despite their technical obsolescence, Rapiers continues to serve as valuable tools in many Imperial armies, capable of delivering considerable firepower from long range on a light, easy-to-manufacture carrier, and their reliance on energy weapons results in low logistical overhead. While these outdated guns were initially dispatched to the Order as a backhanded response to a request for additional firepower support, the Order has since put them to good use against the enemies of the Emperor.

Fallon..........100 Points

Fallon

6

4

5

4

3

5

3

10

3+/5+

Fallon {Elites}

Infantry

1 Fallon

Power armour Bolt Pistol Chainsword Frag and Krak Grenades

Fearless Death Would be Merciful Forever Alone Unnaturally Gifted Holy Hatred Aerial Insertion

Options:

• The Fallon may replace her Bolt Pistol and/or Close Combat Weapon with:
  • A Storm Bolter for 5 points
  • A Hand Flamer: 10 points
  • A Plasma Pistol or Inferno Pistol: 15 points
  • A Power Weapon or Burning Blade: 20 points
  • An Eviscerator: 30 points
    

  [*]The Fallon may take any of the following traits:

  • Ghost in the Wind: 20 points
  • Unnatural Speed: 25 points
  • Berserker: 25 points
  • Unnatural Aura: 25 points
  • Regeneration: 30 points
  • Unnatural Resilience: 30 points
    

  [*]She may also purchase:

  • Melta Bombs: 5 points
  • A Jump Pack: 10 points
    

  
  

Fluff:
Battle against the forces of Chaos carries risks far beyond those of simple death on the battlefield, especially for groups like the Order of the Faithful Blade that find themselves constantly engaged against the Ruinous Powers. While it is all but unheard of for any Sister of Battle to go willingly into the service of Chaos, the risk of unwilling corruption is a very real threat. While contamination through warp shock or exposure to the blasphemous and profane has little effect on warriors who are truly devoted to the service of the God-Emperor, there are times when even the faithful cannot repulse Daemonic Possession. While most loyal servants of the Emperor either die along with their Daemonic controller or achieve salvation through the rites of exorcism and go on to lead relatively normal lives (aside from the inevitable trauma of the event itself), in a few cases where the possession was particularly severe the Inquisition observed that even after a successful exorcism the exorcised retained unusual abilities. Opinion within the Inquisition is sharply divided over whether those few who gain unusual abilities in the aftermath of possession and exorcism are valuable tools in the Emperor's service or ticking time bombs who will inevitably succumb to Daemonic control once more.

The Ordo Malleus sponsors of the Order of the Faithful Blade lean towards the former opinion. Since the Order of the Faithful Blade devotes a large proportion of of it's overall strength to it's sponsors, many of the Order's sisters are frontlines in the battle against the Daemonic, and naturally suffer a significant number of possessions. Some within the the Order of the Faithful Blade have noted that warriors seconded to their Ordo Malleus sponsors have an unusually high tendency to manifest such abilities in the aftermath of Daemonic possession and exorcism. The exact reasons behind this anomaly are currently unknown; some have posited that it is an effect of their devotion to the God-Emperor, while others have suggested far more ominous explanations. Persistent rumors that some forces aligned with the Ordo Malleus undergo deliberate daemonic possession and exorcism in order to gain knowledge and power against the daemonic have only enhanced suspicions that some of the Fallon are deliberately manufactured, rather than simply being the unfortunate victims of Daemonic attacks.

These individuals are collectively known as the Fallon in reference to the first known occurrence (Sister Shea Fallon, Order of the Faithful Blade, M41.921; see files on the Rudius Incident for further details). While the Fallon are indisputably deadly in battle, and have an impressive ability to survive wounds that would fell any ordinary human, the ominous origins of their abilities ensure that their fellow sisters view them with, at best, wary distrust. Outside of the Order itself, the only individuals aware of the details of the Fallon's existence are the Order's Inquisitorial sponsors, and any whom they have chosen to inform. Curiously, Fallon have been deployed on several occasions alongside the Adeptus Astartes of the Exorcists chapter. The Fallon's experiences leave them cold and unfeeling, inevitably divorced from both the world around them and the rest of their fellow sisters of battle; most lead short, violent lives ending in a glorious death surrounded by slain enemies of the Emperor.

Death Would be Merciful:
Fallon have the Eternal Warrior, Feel No Pain, and Furious Charge USRs. Fallon may contest objectives, but may never occupy them, even if the normal scenario special rules would permit them to do so. In addition, in any mission that uses Kill Points the Fallon does not concede a Kill Point if it is killed, but instead surrenders a Kill Point if it is still alive at the end of the battle; the general consensus within the Order is that killing a Fallon in battle is doing her a favor.

Forever Alone:
Each Fallon is a one-model unit, that may never join or be joined by any other models, and may never benefit from any Acts of Faith.

Unnaturally Gifted:
The Fallon has a 5+ Invulnerable save.

Aerial Insertion:
Because of their disturbing nature, it is extremely rare for a Fallon to go into battle on the frontlines alongside her fellow sisters. The traditional method for deploying a Fallon to the battlefiled is to drop her via grav chute or jump pack directly into the heart of the enemy camp, allowing the Fallon to immediately inflict maximum damage upon the enemy. Fallon may always enter the battlefield via deep strike. In addition, while the Fallon may not shoot or run after entering play via deep strike, she may assault any unit within her normal assault range.

Traits

• Unnatural Speed: Gain the Fleet USR, and may charge up to 12" during the assault phase.
• Ghost in the Wind: The model gains the Stealth and Infiltrate USRs.
• Unnatural Resilience: The Fallon increases her toughness to 5 and gains an additional wound.
• Berserker: Increases her number of base attacks by 1. In addition, when charging the Fallon gains +d3 attacks, instead of the usual +1.
• Unnatural Aura: The Fallon's Invulnerable save improves to 3+
• Regeneration: At the start of every player turn, roll 1d6 for every wound the model has suffered; for every roll of 5+, remove one wound.
  

[*Furyou Miko]

Fallon

It wasn't such a big deal when they were exclusive of each other, but Ghost in the Wind + Unnatural Speed + Jump Pack = 30" charge range + Infiltrate.

 

On the other hand, you are paying 155 points for a single model with no power weapon and a poor save.

 

So - Neural whips?

 

At the current point, load her down with a jump pack, all traits, and a power sword... you have an insanely powerful unit that can go toe-to-toe with pretty much any single target (except gaunt mobs in synapse range and combined Guard squads with commissars) and shred it. She'll cost a mint (285 points) - well, actually, only slightly more than the Sanguinor, or the BA Honour Guard squad she just obliterated in turn one. But with T5, 4 wounds and a 3+ invulnerable save, and normally a 3+ cover save, she can probably survive to regenerate and shred another unit.

 

I'm not a mathemagician, but fielding this Fallon grants the opponent 1 kill point, and probably gives you 2-3 by the end of the game (That's 2 turns to slaughter things, then the rest of the game bogged down by cannon fodder)

 

My suggestion;

Limit her to "any two from the following list", or maybe even "may take one from the following list".

[Chengar Qordath]

I should probably make a note that Unnatural Speed and Jump Packs don't stack, or perhaps just drop jump packs as an option. A possible 30" charge range is a bit more than I intended to give. I toned down regeneration a bit too; it gets a lot stronger when you can combine it with other abilities. I was going for a quick conversion from the previous rules that left some nice room to customize, but didn't consider all the consequences of certain rule/wargear combinations. I suppose neural whips could go in, but they aren't really present in other parts of the codex, since the mistresses are non-existent.

 

The Fallon can get a little ridiculous if you're willing to shell out huge amounts of points for them. 285 points is a lot to pay for a single model that can't really do anything beyond kill enemy models in close combat, but she's really, really good at killing enemy models in close combat. For as much as a completely upgraded Fallon costs, one would expect a model capable of standing up to opponents of a similar point cost, especially when a Fallon doesn't bring the army-wide benefits a lot of 200+ point models include. Personally, I think the Fallon at its current point cost is really strong, but semi-balanced.

 

However, I'm not sure I want them being quite as powerful as their rules currently allow; Fallon should be nicely strong models, but being able to go toe-to-toe with Bloodthirsters and the like might be going a bit too far. I'll probably put some sort of limit on how many traits they can have, and maybe add in one or two more since they're no longer limited to 6 traits for a nice dice roll to give random abilities. Any suggestions for new traits would be welcome.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

You might want to rethink the 12" charge - either make it more expensive, change it or make it standard, since at its current price, on a pricey assault unit that can assault after deepstriking, its an absolute no-brainer choice to help accommodate for the 2D6 scatter. While having her be able to select all traits wouldn't necessarily be unbalanced (certainly, she could wipe one unit into non-existance in assault before all of the enemy's shooting turns on her afterwards), but she's going to be a lot more expensive than anything she could really target.

 

Random trait idea: Nightblink: Any unit wishing to shoot at the Fallon must use the Night Fighting rules as described in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. (If Night Fighting rules are already in play, then the Fallon may only be targeted if she's within half the normal range of the unit's vision). At the beginning of the owning player's movement phase in which the Fallon is locked in close combat, she may elect to deepstrike to any point on the board not within line of sight of an enemy unit (this only effects the spot targeted for deepstrike - there is no negative effect if the Fallon scatters to a point within line of sight of an enemy unit). The Fallon may assault after deepstriking using this rule.

 

The new rules for the Rapier batteries are excellent, they work out well, the pricing seems good.

 

Looking at the size of the original Rapier model, it might not be unthinkable to a let a squad of one rapier and two crew be transported in a rhino - this would allow the Multi-melta rapier to be used slightly more aggressively (although you'd probably want to note that it could not fire out of the Rhino's firepoint, that would be a bit crazy ruleswise and logicwise). There's some precedent for loading up an automated tracked vehicle into a troop transport in the Death Korps transportation of the Cyclops and its controller in Chimeras.

 

Also, maybe knock down the crew's weaponry to only a bolt pistol? It's not really a huge thing balancewise, but keeping the value of the included-in-cost crewsisters down would probably be a good thing.

[*Furyou Miko]

*grin* You just gave me this crazy idea of a Rhino modified to accept a Rapier, GaoGaiGar style. The back of the Rhino opens up and the top hatches retract, the Rapier drives in the back, then the rhino closes up around it and they effectively become one vehicle. The Rhinopier becomes a Tank with an improved Multi-Melta and Rhino armour, but no transport capacity!

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Huh, that could actually make a whole lot of sense for marines. Instead of supporting Rhinos, Razorbacks and Tarantula sentry guns, they could just use a supply of Rapiers and modified Rhinos... I think I just might convert that at some point, the forgeworld cyclops + the aircraft multilasers would easily make a good Rapier, is relatively cheap for Forgeworld... too many projects/plans!

[Chengar Qordath]

All these random anime references have made me wonder if I should add something to unit's fluff about how all of the Fallon are blond, have silver eyes, and carry really big swords.

 

So, how about bumping the base price for a Fallon up 20 points, including the 12" charge range as part of the base stats (but not fleet), and taking jump packs out as an option? The jump pack doesn't really fit to well in my conception of the unit, and between the 12" charge and access to Deep Striking I think the unit shouldn't have any serious mobility problems.

 

Like the idea behind the Nightblink trait; it adds some unique things that sound entirely fitting for the unit, and it fits in nicely with some of the other traits, and it's nicely balanced.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

12" charge standard should work out, the price v. effectiveness is a reasonable estimate, but playtesting refinement would be important for this one. Judging from the example of standard space marine vanguard compared to their blood angel compatriots - having a reasonable chance of pulling a deepstrike charge seems to be important for the unit's "balance" in the 'dex/game, and judging from the potentially 6" scattering blood angels vanguard with 6" charge, I doubt a potentially 12" scattering fallon with 12" charge would be unbalanced.

 

I've always been fond of using the Nightfight targeting more frequently (shame vindicares are losing it), it prevents the entire enemy army from focusing on a unit/model regardless of location. Limits enemy shooting directed against it to units which would reasonably be able to track one individual with their weaponry (if I were to ever rewrite the core rules, I'd probably institute something like this as a universal rule for targeting units of five models or lower).

 

It has been interesting watching this 'dex develop alongside the Inq. project sisters, it feels a lot more like a codex diverging from that project 'dex rather than the official one (apart from a couple of stylistic choices, such as seraphim). Makes sense, trying to make a reasonable divergent codex based on the low options, outdated, older codex would be kinda shooting ourselves in the feet, designwise.

[*Furyou Miko]

As a part-time Necron player, I like the Nightblink too. ^^ Although the number of times I've lost a Lord and a whole squad due to Shroud of Darkness mishaps is unbelievable.

 

Folding Fleet and 12" Charge into their base statline would effectively make their Unit Type Beast/Cavalry instead of Infantry. It might be best to just change the Unit Type - the only upshot would be that she couldn't then ride in a transport.

 

Not folding Fleet in, just using the 12" Charge would make them Leaping, which has hitherto being solely the realm of Hormagaunts and Tyranid Warriors.

 

Regarding the Fallons' appearance - possession/channelling massive powers turning your hair white is as old as the Bible. :( For some other Literary References: Gandalf the Grey becoming Gandalf the White, and the Tayledras of Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar books.

 

Unless that was a Claymore reference, in which case, rock on. ;)

[Chengar Qordath]

Yeah, it was a Claymore reference; not hard to draw a parallel between two sets of warrior women with demon-derived powers who fight demons. Then again, the theme of a Human/Evil Species hybrid who uses the powers and abilities of said Evil Species to fight against them has been around for a long time. It is canon that possession-exorcism tends to leave the people who go through it with a very detached personality, which makes plenty of sense considering how thoroughly unpleasant the process is supposed to be.

 

The OotFB definitely has a lot of interaction with the Inquisition Project Sisters; after all, I was working on the Inquisition Project Sisters before I came up with the concept of the Order being a unique and seriously divergent force, and quite a few things that wound up in the OotFB codex got their start from the Inquisition Project. It's definitely diverging more from the Project then the current codex, mainly because the current codex suffers from a lot of old-codex disease.

 

Also, when it comes to 12" charge ranges, there are other precedents for that on infantry; Eversor Assassins currently have it, and Dark Eldar Wyches used to have it as an option for their combat drugs. It's rare, but not unprecedented.

[Chengar Qordath]

So, newest version of the Fallon: Added in a few new traits, and made the changes discussed in-thread.

 

Fallon..........120 Points

Fallon

6

4

5

4

3

5

3

10

3+/5+

Fallon {Elites}

Infantry

1 Fallon

Power armour Bolt Pistol Chainsword Frag and Krak Grenades

Fearless Death Would be Merciful Forever Alone Unnaturally Gifted Holy Hatred Aerial Insertion

 

Options:

• The Fallon may replace her Bolt Pistol and/or Close Combat Weapon with:
  • A Storm Bolter for 5 points
    
  • A Hand Flamer: 10 points
    
  • A Plasma Pistol or Inferno Pistol: 15 points
    
  • A Power Weapon or Burning Blade: 20 points
    
  • An Eviscerator: 30 points
    

  [*]The Fallon may take up to two of the following traits:

  • Ghost in the Wind: 20 points
    
  • Terrifying Presence: 20 points
    
  • Berserker: 25 points
    
  • Unnatural Aura: 25 points
    
  • Regeneration: 30 points
    
  • Unnatural Resilience: 30 points
    
  • Warp-Hardened: 30 points
    
  • Nightblink: 30 points
    

  [*]She may also purchase:

  • Melta Bombs: 5 points
    

 

Fluff:

Battle against the forces of Chaos carries risks far beyond those of simple death on the battlefield, especially for groups like the Order of the Faithful Blade that find themselves constantly engaged against the Ruinous Powers. While it is all but unheard of for any Sister of Battle to go willingly into the service of Chaos, the risk of unwilling corruption is a very real threat. While contamination through warp shock or exposure to the blasphemous and profane has little effect on warriors who are truly devoted to the service of the God-Emperor, there are times when even the faithful cannot repulse Daemonic Possession. While most loyal servants of the Emperor either die along with their Daemonic controller or achieve salvation through the rites of exorcism and go on to lead relatively normal lives (aside from the inevitable trauma of the event itself), in a few cases where the possession was particularly severe the Inquisition observed that even after a successful exorcism the exorcised retained unusual abilities. Opinion within the Inquisition is sharply divided over whether those few who gain unusual abilities in the aftermath of possession and exorcism are valuable tools in the Emperor's service or ticking time bombs who will inevitably succumb to Daemonic control once more.

 

The Ordo Malleus sponsors of the Order of the Faithful Blade lean towards the former opinion. Since the Order of the Faithful Blade devotes a large proportion of of it's overall strength to it's sponsors, many of the Order's sisters are frontlines in the battle against the Daemonic, and naturally suffer a significant number of possessions. Some within the the Order of the Faithful Blade have noted that warriors seconded to their Ordo Malleus sponsors have an unusually high tendency to manifest such abilities in the aftermath of Daemonic possession and exorcism. The exact reasons behind this anomaly are currently unknown; some have posited that it is an effect of their devotion to the God-Emperor, while others have suggested far more ominous explanations. Persistent rumors that some forces aligned with the Ordo Malleus undergo deliberate daemonic possession and exorcism in order to gain knowledge and power against the daemonic have only enhanced suspicions that some of the Fallon are deliberately manufactured, rather than simply being the unfortunate victims of Daemonic attacks.

 

These individuals are collectively known as the Fallon in reference to the first known occurrence (Sister Shea Fallon, Order of the Faithful Blade, M41.921; see files on the Rudius Incident for further details). While the Fallon are indisputably deadly in battle, and have an impressive ability to survive wounds that would fell any ordinary human, the ominous origins of their abilities ensure that their fellow sisters view them with, at best, wary distrust. Outside of the Order itself, the only individuals aware of the details of the Fallon's existence are the Order's Inquisitorial sponsors, and any whom they have chosen to inform. Curiously, while it usually rare for them to work alongside non-Order or Inquisitorial personnel, Fallon have been deployed alongside the Adeptus Astartes of the Exorcists chapter on several occasions. The Fallon's experiences leave them cold and unfeeling, inevitably divorced from both the world around them and the rest of their fellow sisters of battle; most lead short, violent lives ending in a glorious death surrounded by slain enemies of the Emperor.

 

Death Would be Merciful:

Fallon may contest objectives, but may never occupy them, even if the normal scenario special rules would permit them to do so. In addition, in any mission that uses Kill Points the Fallon does not concede a Kill Point if it is killed, but instead surrenders a Kill Point if it is still alive at the end of the battle; the general consensus within the Order is that killing a Fallon in battle is doing her a favor.

 

Forever Alone:

Each Fallon is a one-model unit, that may never join or be joined by any other models, and may never benefit from any Acts of Faith.

 

Unnaturally Gifted:

Fallon have the Eternal Warrior, Feel No Pain, and Furious Charge USRs. The Fallon also has a 5+ Invulnerable save, and may charge up to 12" during the assault phase.

 

Aerial Insertion:

Because of their disturbing nature, it is extremely rare for a Fallon to go into battle on the frontlines alongside her fellow sisters. The traditional method for deploying a Fallon to the battlefiled is to drop her via grav chute directly into the heart of the enemy camp, allowing the Fallon to immediately inflict maximum damage upon the enemy. Fallon may always enter the battlefield via deep strike. In addition, while the Fallon may not shoot or run after entering play via deep strike, she may assault any unit within her normal assault range.

 

Traits

• Ghost in the Wind: The model gains the Stealth and Infiltrate USRs.
  
• Terrifying Presence: Something about this Fallon is deeply unsettling, and those who encounter her quickly seek to remove themselves elsewhere. For purposes of combat resolution, the Fallon counts as having inflicted two wounds for every unsaved wound she causes. Further, any beast or cavalry unit (whether friendly or hostile) must pass a leadership test to move within 6" of the Fallon, as the animals balk at the unnatural aura the woman generates.
  
• Unnatural Resilience: The Fallon increases her toughness to 5 and gains an additional wound.
  
• Berserker: Increases her number of base attacks by 1. In addition, when charging the Fallon gains d3 attacks, instead of the usual 1.
  
• Unnatural Aura: The Fallon's Invulnerable save improves to 3+
  
• Regeneration: At the start of every player turn, roll 1d6 for every wound the model has suffered; for every roll of 5+, remove one wound.
  
• Warp-Hardened: The experience of possession and exorcism can often leave those who survive it highly resistant to the touch of the Warp: the character gains a 2+ save to nullify any psychic power directed at them, (in addition to any other save the character would normally be entitle to) and treats force weapons as ordinary power weapons. In addition, any psychic power that enhances an opposing model's close combat abilities has no effect on this Fallon.
  
• Nightblink: Any unit wishing to shoot at the Fallon must use the Night Fighting rules as described in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. (If Night Fighting rules are already in play, then the Fallon may only be targeted if she's within half the normal range of the unit's vision). At the beginning of the owning player's movement phase in which the Fallon is locked in close combat, she may elect to deepstrike to any point on the board not within line of sight of an enemy unit (this only effects the spot targeted for deepstrike - there is no negative effect if the Fallon scatters to a point within line of sight of an enemy unit). The Fallon may assault after deepstriking using this rule.
  

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Looking pretty good (Like the trait affecting the Beasts/Cavalry, works out well thematically and is easy to use), just a couple of refinement suggestions. For Warp-hardened, wouldn't it be a bit better to have the force weapon treated as solely a power weapon? I'm pretty sure I've seen that before, but can't recall where. Also, maaaaaaybe switch "Furious Charge" into a Trait (poss. bezerker), lessen special rule load on each model.

 

Just had an idea based off your interpretation of their relationship with the Exorcists - maybe when they're deployed alongside that chapter, it's for their first mission or two with their new powers? Basically training them, making sure they're stable and not liable for repossession soon.

 

I'm really liking how the Traits system worked out for the Fallon, mind if I lift elements for a possessed profile I'm writing? :P

[Chengar Qordath]

Switched force weapons to only counting as power weapons against Warp-hardened Fallon, since that is more consistent with how other very psychic-resistant characters react to them. Your ideas on fluff-ties to the Exorcists should work; I'm pretty sure its a given that any Fallon would have someone watching them very carefully for the first few battles after their exorcism, just to make sure there are no problems.

 

Feel free to lift elements of the trait system for a new version of Possessed Marines (Reading The First Heretic really makes me wish GW gave them better rules), though if you could mention where you got them that would be nice.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Well, naturally I'll ref the project if I use it :P

 

Working on this unit has helped me pin down what really bugs me about the "D6 options" approach to possessed/chaos things - it makes listbuilding chaotic (since what role the unit can play re: synergy is slightly randomized), but the unit doesn't feel chaotic while in play. Rolled a 6 and got power weapons? Basically a wolfguard unit with frost swords etc. But a unit with Terrifying Presence and Nightblink unit is popping out of the shadows, terrifying animals etc. While adding it to the list isn't chaotic cost/strategywise, it feels chaotic to actually play.

 

Also, small proofreading thing, still got a ref. to jump packs in the Aerial Insertion rule.

[Chengar Qordath]

I'm probably going to be making some revisions to this codex once the GK codex comes out; some of the new wargear the codex is adding will probably be incorporated, and a few point costs might be tweaked to reflect new weapon profiles/wargear functions. Depending on how accurate the leaked codex is, the current assassin profiles are also likely to be replaced with a note to just use the profile from the GK Codex; I'm not completely happy with how they are in the leaked codex, but they seem good enough that I see no desperate need to change them.

 

In the meantime, I've decided to add one more little thing and gave the Venenum Temple a chance to put an assassin out in the field. The Vanus temple will still be unrepresented, since given what is known about how they operate a Vanus Temple operative would be pretty useless on the battlefield, and really shouldn't be there in the first place.

 

(Note: The point cost will vary depending on whether we use the baseline profile I provided earlier in this thread, or the one in the GK Codex)

 

Venenum Temple Assassin {Elite} .......... (XX points)

Unit Type

1 Venenum Assassin

Frag Grenades Bact-gun Pair of Toxin Cordes Synskin

Move Through Cover Fearless Fleet Uncanny Reflexes Master of Poisons

 

Bact-Gun: The weapon of choice for the Venenum temple, the bact-gun is a versatile weapon designed to allow its user several different ways of delivering toxins to the enemies of the Emperor. The bact-gun can be loaded with any liquid substance, and most Venenum assassins will customize their poisons before every deployment to ensure maximum effectiveness against their target. The bact-gun has two firing modes:

Gel Rounds:

Range: 24" Strength 1 AP 2 Rapid Fire (Poisoned 2+)

Mist:

Range: Template Strength 1 AP 2 Assault 1 (Poisoned 2+)

 

Toxin Cordes: The preferred close combat weapon of the Venenum temple, the Venenum cordes is a relatively simple stiletto like weapon that, while very capable of piercing armor, is not designed to inflict grievous wounds upon it's target. Of course, inflicting bodily harm would be entirely unnecessary, as the fast-acting poisons contained within the blades can easily disable or kill with but the tiniest of scratches. Toxin Cordes are close combat weapons that ignore armor saves and have the Poisoned (2+) Rule.

 

Master of Poisons: Few things are more futile than attempting to poison a master poisoner. Assassins of the Venenum temple go to considerable effort to build up an immunity to every poison the Imperium has ever encountered, and assassins of the Venenum Temple also carry a wide variety of antidotes on their persons at all times. Weapons with the Poisoned rule do not gain the benefits of that rule when rolling to wound against a Venenum temple assassin, and instead roll to wound with only their base strength. Any poisoned weapon that lacks a listed strength value is Strength 1 for the purposes of wounding a Venenum Temple assassin.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Hmmmm, profile works overall, but I have some suggested tweaks, mainly taken from the The Great Scouring Imperial Edition campaign pack from Tempus Fugitives, which had its own spin on Venenum/Vanus temples - it represents these two Temples' primarily non-battlefield roles by giving them rules to represent them poisoning enemy officers/sabotage. Venenum had a "Soften Up" rule, which inflicted d6 AP1 wounds on an enemy unit after deployment, representing them running into some form of poison-based trap (if I were to re-write that rule, I'd probably set it as d6 hits with a 2+ Poisoned roll, to further tie it in with the poison theme). Something like this would be nice, setting it apart from the other, purely combat-oriented Assassins. Vanus functioned similarly to a Deathleaper, and also affected enemy reserve rolls, but was relatively poor in combat (well, when compared to all the other Temples).

 

I prefer your Poison Resistance rule to their's though (it just states "all Poisoned wounds only wound on a 6+"), it makes a bit more logical sense, since if a Carnifex with Toxin Sacs goes at a guy with Poison Resistance... well, the resistance isn't going to do much about the gigantic talons.

 

Maaaaaybe bump the shooting AP to 3 to stop this guy from being too brutal - after all, if the only good targets all have 2+ saves, then you're probably facing a termie army, and those tend to be at a slight disadvantage anyways. Besides, he has a power weapon for such situations. Plus, the AP3 matches the poisoned imperial template weaponry we've seen before on the Banewolf. Like the choice of firing it as a template, good imagery, matches other Imperium poisoned shooting weapons well.

 

On the note of inducting other pieces of GK wargear, perhaps allow one tank in a Dragon squad (presumably a vet. tank commander and squadron leader) to upgrade its weapon to either the extra-killy versions of the Psycannon or Incinerator seen on the Dreadknight? (Perhaps introduce an upsized Purifier to the Tiamat as well.)

[Chengar Qordath]

Only problem I could see with giving the Venenum Temple assassin a wound-on-deployment rule is that it would end up being similar to an ability the Callidus Assassin gets in the new GK Codex. Then again, we've already got the Executioner Pistol stealing the poison weapons aspect from the Venenum Temple, so a bit of overlap isn't the end of the world. As long as the Venenum's rule is appropriately unique, it should be fine.

 

I'm still personally inclined to leave the Vanus Temple off the map; a Vanus Temple assassin would never go anywhere near an active battlefield unless something had gone very, very wrong; it would not be unusual for them to not even be on the same planet as the battle. However, there might be ways of representing them as off-map assets, although that kind of thing is usually limited to Apocalypse. Perhaps something like Eldrad's rule allowing you to change your deployment + messing with enemy reserve rolls could work...

 

As far as wargear additions are concerned, a lot is going to depend on what exactly the final statlines and effects of said wargear wind up being. Allowing one Dragon tank to take a Psycannon/Incinerator/Purifier would be an interesting idea, but I don't want to commit to adding a piece of gear until I know what it's statline is.

[*Furyou Miko]

That looks good as long as he's toughness 3 and is therefore wounded by Str 1 on a roll of a 6. Otherwise... well, basically, I just think that poisoned weapons should wound on a minimum of 6+, since even a Str 1 4+ poisoned Splinter Rifle can wound a Tomb Stalker on a 6+, and those things are made out of living metal.

[Chengar Qordath]

At least according to my BRB, strength 1 can still wound a toughness 4 model on a 6+ so that shouldn't be an issue.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Whoops, didn't know the Callidus had that style of ability in the new 'dex. Hmmmmm. Maybe the ability to "booby-trap" a piece of terrain unknown to your opponent, a la Scout Bikers? It would mesh well with that one fluff piece of the Venenum Assassin killing several hundred politicians by poisoning all of their seats in the primary hearing-hall.

 

To be fair, most of the assassins (except mayyyybe Eversor/Culexus) would probably never show up on the battlefield - they would've killed the enemy targets weeks beforehand. It's just one of those little conceits of a model-based wargame, we'll bend logic back and forth to let us put pretty models on the field. (I remember seeing one fun handling of Assassins in an Imp. Armour books - two battles going on simultaneously, one a huge battle between Guard and Tau, another was an Eversor Assassin traveling down a Space Hulk-esque series of corridors, hunting down the Ethereal and his bodyguard.)

[Chengar Qordath]

Whoops, didn't know the Callidus had that style of ability in the new 'dex. Hmmmmm. Maybe the ability to "booby-trap" a piece of terrain unknown to your opponent, a la Scout Bikers? It would mesh well with that one fluff piece of the Venenum Assassin killing several hundred politicians by poisoning all of their seats in the primary hearing-hall.

 

To be fair, most of the assassins (except mayyyybe Eversor/Culexus) would probably never show up on the battlefield - they would've killed the enemy targets weeks beforehand. It's just one of those little conceits of a model-based wargame, we'll bend logic back and forth to let us put pretty models on the field. (I remember seeing one fun handling of Assassins in an Imp. Armour books - two battles going on simultaneously, one a huge battle between Guard and Tau, another was an Eversor Assassin traveling down a Space Hulk-esque series of corridors, hunting down the Ethereal and his bodyguard.)

Trapping a terrain piece could work. 2d6 Strength 1 AP - hits with no cover saves and Poisoned (2+) to the first unit that enters the terrain piece sound good?

 

Here's what I have in mind for the Vanus:

Off-map Asset: Vanus Temple Assassin

 

The Vanus temple is in its own way the deadliest of all the Assassin Temples, simply because of the Vanus Assassin's ability to kill a target from across the galaxy without the target or anyone involved in the target's death ever even being aware that an assassin was present. By carefully controlling the flow of information and revealing or concealing a few key facts, the Vanus Temple can topple entire governments, plunge an army into disarray, and alter the fate of entire sectors of Imperial space. Unlike the other Temple Assassins, the Vanus can also engage their targets from the safety of an Imperial Battlecruiser in high orbit or a hidden safehouse half a planet away from the battlefield.

 

Purchasing a Vanus Temple Assassin grants the following effects:

 

Reactive Deployment: The Vanus Assassin uses their information gathering abilities to determine the exact disposition of enemy forces, and feeds this information directly to the Imperial commander, allowing him to alter his own deployment in order to counteract the enemy. After both sides have deployed at the start of the game, the side possessing a Vanus assassin may reposition 1+d3 unit; no unit may be deployed outside its normal deployment zone.

 

Comm Disruption: The Vanus Assassins are supremely skilled at the disruption of enemy communications, and seriously delay the arrival of any enemy reinforcements by jamming communications, relaying false orders, and arranging for sudden obstacles to appear in the path of the enemy reserves. The owning player may force their opponent to reroll any reserve roll.

 

Perfect Intelligence: By possessing complete knowledge of the enemy's deployment, the Vanus Assassin makes outmaneuvering the enemy force and striking from its flank far simpler than it would otherwise be. The entire army gains the ability to outflank; any unit which already possesses the ability to outflank may now re-roll to determine which table edge they enter from.

 

Look good, or is it too much/not enough? Any idea what a good point cost would be? I would like something that fits into the 130-150 range that assassins have in the new GK Codex. For that matter, what's a good price for the Venenum assassin?

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

The Venenum idea works. It would probably wind up being one of the most expensive Assassins, though, as its weaponry currently is - it wounds more often than an Eversor with its 2+ Blade compared to the former's lightning claw equivalent, and its template is killier than the Callidus' etc., hence my thoughts on setting the shooting weapons to AP3. The Eversor has a slight advantage in its "D6 extra attacks" angle, but maybe adding a small nerf to the Poison Cordes wouldn't hurt (perhaps making it Rending on a 4+ or 5+ roll? There's some precedent for that type of roll in the daemons dex).

 

Mmmmm, some of the Vanus rules are probably a bit much. Making the opponent have to re-roll any and all reserve rolls is a very brutal ability, particularly with the presence of entirely deepstrike armies (Daemons, DoA etc.). Lowering this to allowing the re-roll of one (or D3 per turn) reserve roll might be better. Same goes for Perfect intelligence, it causes such a huge change in how the army is played, it's more like a mission type than character rules. Once again, downgrading all to a set number, perhaps a set 2 or 3, would do the trick. Reactive looks pretty good, though. Also, perhaps tie these abilities to an actual model? I'm not overly fond of purchases with no models, personally, particularly because it prevents the opponent from being able to counter the Vanus Assassin's effects on the battle. Perhaps have him present as an Independent character (not a solo like all the others), so he can attach himself to a unit and relay to them the tactical info? That way the opponent actually has a way to counter it, and we get to tie the rules to a pretty model!

[Chengar Qordath]

No objections to toning the Venenum down a bit (AP 3 on the bact-gun, and Rending on 4+ for the Cortes). Rending on a 4+ gained another precedent in the GK Codex, so I'm reasonably comfortable with using that rule.

 

Likewise, no issues with toning down the Vanus; I thought he was a bit overpowered when I wrote him up. Turning Comm Disruption and Perfect Intelligence into limited-use abilities should offset the power issues. While I would really prefer to have the Vanus as an off-map asset since it makes very little sense from a fluff standpoint for a Vanus to actually be on a battlefield given what we know about how they operate, I can understand why we might need to put gameplay over fluff in this case. That would end up making me feel kind of sorry for the Vanus though; compared to the other Temple Assassins, his statline is likely to be downright pathetic, since his combat abilities should really be more-or-less baseline human and he won't have any fancy weapons. The Independent Character rule is a must for such a squishy character who the enemy would almost certainly be gunning for.

 

Here's the revised rules:

 

Vanus Temple Assassin..........XX Points

Vanus Temple Assassin

3

4

3

3

2

3

2

10

4+

Vanus Temple Assassin {Elite}

Infantry

1 Vanus Temple Assassin

Synskin Carapace Armor Hellgun Frag and Krak Grenades

Reactive Deployment Comm Disruption Perfect Intelligence Independent Character

 

Reactive Deployment: The Vanus Assassin uses their information gathering abilities to determine the exact disposition of enemy forces, and feeds this information directly to the Imperial commander, allowing him to alter his own deployment in order to counteract the enemy. After both sides have deployed at the start of the game, the side possessing a Vanus assassin may reposition 1+d3 unit; no unit may be deployed outside its normal deployment zon

 

Comm Disruption: The Vanus Assassins are supremely skilled at the disruption of enemy communications, and seriously delay the arrival of any enemy reinforcements by jamming communications, relaying false orders, and arranging for sudden obstacles to appear in the path of the enemy reserves. All of the opponent's reserve rolls are at a -1 (does not stack with any other penalty to reserve rolls) and owning player may force their opponent to reroll one reserve roll per turn.

 

Perfect Intelligence: By possessing complete knowledge of the enemy's deployment, the Vanus Assassin makes outmaneuvering the enemy force and striking from its flank far simpler than it would otherwise be. At the start of the game, designate d3 units; these units the ability to outflank. If any of the selected units already possessed the ability to outflank, they may now re-roll to determine which table edge they enter from.