Unit Expansion Musings for the Lost and the Damned?

[Maatith]

So I know there have been a number of rumblings and hints - from new units and models in the side games, to artwork displaying FW Vraks heretics quite prominently - and it has been getting me thinking about how "easy" it would be for GW to put together a Lost and the Damned army list from the models and ideas they have already shown us.

 

As such, I thought it might be worth asking the community what they thought we might see units and unit upgrade wise if and when we get a LatD list?

 

 

I think the general list of units might be quite easy to draw up so I'll put my ideas alongside each unit:

 

As currently envisioned by GW, there are roughly three sub-factions or themes within the LatD; the Traitor Guard, the Chaos Cults and the Gellerpox Infected. There are a few other, smaller units that show off distinct and separate factions of the Dark Powers, I don't think this is a bad thing to lose as it shows the three 'strands' of worship and worshiper typically found within the LatD - namely those betrayed by the Imperium, or else seeking personal power; those who feel genuine devotion, or at the very least hold the mysterious new gods they worship higher than they hold the Emperor; and the mutants and those damned by the affliction of their birth or by some dark event.

 

 

HQ

Traitor Commissar - the commander representative of the Traitor Guard elements of the Lost and the Damned. He is the best equipped of our HQ options, tech wise, and is a kind of aggressive force multiplier for our Traitor Guard units.

 

Twisted Lord - our beatstick HQ. Given the way GW is going with options these days I think that's all he is likely to be - a heavy hitter with a few minor boosts to the other Gellerpox units rushing into battle with him.

 

Firebrand Cultist - The generic Cult/Devotee HQ representative. Given that the Traitor Commissar is already an aura hero, perhaps the Firebrand Cultist could provide a CP boost or offer up prayers like a Dark Apostle - something to suggest this is the 'hero' with the truest devotion to the Dark Powers, rather than being a victim of desertion or circumstance or mutation.

 

 

TROOPS

Traitor Guardsmen - the corrupted Cadian models we have seen in Blackstone Fortress are the 'professional' core of the LatD. This is in part shown already, what with their marginally better saves, and would also traditionally have been better equipped. However, in the next Blackstone expansion, we are getting Cultists with Grenade Launchers, which does rather dent this a little bit. Perhaps Traitor Guardsmen get access to Heavy Weapons, and possibly Traitor Chimera can only transport Guardsmen? Similar to how Cult Chimera can only transport Brood Brothers. The obvious change is making them units of 10, rather than 7.

 

Chaos Cultists - these guys are the unwashed masses of the LatD and so they should feel like it. They already do the job well enough - they can come in large units and don't get the boosts from the Commissar. Cultists can pretty much stay as-is.

 

Gellerpox Mutants - one of the most prominent example of unstable mutation and 'fallen' humanity we currently have access to in the various LatD factions, the Gellerpox actually do a fairly good job of being our 'elite' troop choice: their disgusting resilience and masks combine to make them a tough unit to crack, however their lack of ranged weapons (beyond grenades) also means that they don't compete too much with Traitor Guardsmen as objective holders. The main change needed here is unit size: 5-20 seems about right for mobs of mutated civilians

 

Glitchlings - I suppose they are here too? Unit size 5-10, and call it a day? They don't add much that the Mutoid Vermin don't already add.

 

Chaos Beastmen - our combat troops from Blackstone Fortress, these guys can be really quite mean on the charge, and beyond making them into an actual unit with a unit size (5-20 again? Maybe only 5-10) the only thing I might want to do is to give them some way to lean into their primal savage imagery - maybe 1 in 5 can replace their sword & pistol with a special assault weapon (-1 AP, D2?)? These guys are pretty cool design-wise as unlike our other three Troops choices, the Beastmen aren't part of the 'big 3' faction themes and show the other varied faces of a LatD horde.

 

 

ELITES

Rogue Psykers - I actually quite like these guys as are: 2 in one slot, and only having Smite, makes them both a flavourful spot of magical artillery whilst also playing into the coven of lesser witches imagery that Chaos rarely gets to demonstrate on the tabletop. So I personally don't think these guys need any changes.

 

Renegade Ogryn - a bodyguard character with decent melee attacks, the only thing that I might tweak is that he can guard any LatD character and not just the commissar. Otherwise, I think that this guy does a good job at being what he needs to be.

 

Nightmare Hulks - where the Renegade Ogryn is a bodyguard, these Gellerpox are our big melee unit. And whilst they are a little generic rules-wise I don't think they are terrible at it. Change the unit size from 3 to 1-6 or something, and maybe make 1 in 3 able to take either the great cleaver thing or some kind of engineering flamer? 

 

Negavolt Cultists - Like the Beastmen, the Negavolt Cultists show off another minor facet of the LatD, this time the Dark Mechanicum. These guys I think are the ones that could most benefit from an expanded kit to show off just how bonkers even the lowest tiers of the Dark Mechanicum can be. As such I would change the unit size to 5-20, and let one in five either replace their goads with a similarly arcane weapon powered by their debased generators, or instead have a larger generator that gives the unit an aura or similar as that individual bears a greater or more twisted technology.

 

 

FAST ATTACK

Cursemites/Eyestinger Swarms/Sludge-Grubs - There is an argument that could be made for folding all of these into a single unit of Mutoid Vermin, but honestly they only take up a page between them and I quite like them all having their own little bit of flavour. Make them unit size 3-10 and give them a special rule that they can never hold objectives and leave it at that.

 

Chaos Spawn - Again, these guys can be left unchanged and as-is. They show the terrible risk and mindless mutation of the LatD and the Dark Gods, and let us thrown some big bodies up the flanks.

 

Chaos Warhounds - Back in the Eye of Terror Codex, the LatD could take packs of baying hounds, and in Vraks we got a more mutated version in the Hounds of Xaphan, so I think given GW already makes this kit this is a simple addition, and it also ties into the monstrous throngs vibe the Beastmen, Spawn and Gellerpox already bring to the LatD. For these guys I envision a unit not dissimilar to the SW Fenrisian Wolves, albeit maybe a touch more fragile and with the Beastmen's charge bonus special rule to make them feel a bit more unique and to play into the risk/reward vibe of Chaos.

 

 

HEAVY SUPPORT

Traitor Leman Russ - Effectively the same Leman Russ found in Codex: Genestealer Cults. A heavy and powerful battle tank, albeit not fielded in the large numbers the more cumbersome armies of the Imperium field them in. It is mostly here because, unless GW actually make a dedicated LatD army with new Heavy Support units, the army is otherwise completely lacking, based as it is currently on small cults and uprisings rather than full Traitor armies.

 

Defiler - As Tallarn Commander pointed out, this was a Dark Mechanicus option back in IA:13 and helps to add a more Chaos-themed unit to the Heavy Support section. A bit of a mixed bag unit, with a heavy cannon on a melee frame, the Defiler hopefully has more of a tactical niche in the LatD, who generally want to be mobbing up around the enemy, than in Chaos Marine armies, where they have more tools for playing the range game.

 

 

DEDICATED TRANSPORTS

Traitor Chimera - Can only transport TRAITOR GUARD (Traitor Commissar, Traitor Guardsmen, Renegade Ogryn (counts as 2)) models? But otherwise unchanged? With a few exceptions, like the Blood Pact's rare Brigade formations seem to specialise in armoured assaults in the lore so I feel pretty content to leave this as is.

 

 

(I also think that there is, thematically, a place for Tzaangors, Tzaangor Enlightened and Tzaangor Shamans, and for Poxwalkers, in the LatD, however I am on the fence about whether they should actually be present in the army itself as this might take away too much from the identity of Death Guard and Thousand Sons armies).

 

 

I could wax lyrical about the new units I would like to see in a full Codex, but I will leave it at just the one wall of text for today!

 

Please let me know what you think: do you agree with this as a basis for a LatD army? What units would you add? What options or rules would you add?

Edited July 29, 2019 by Maatith

[Tallarn Commander]

A very thoughtful post with lots of great ideas!

 

It would be nice if a Lost and the Damned list could take Daemon Engines. They used to be able to take Blood Slaughterers if they had the Covenant of Khorne and Defilers if they had the Dark Omnissiah HQ.

[Maatith]

I had completely forgotten about existing Daemon Engines (although I do think if GW want to create new units/kits for the LatD a Stalk Tank style thing is an obvious and fantastic choice). Having the Defiler as an existing plastic core-GW kit in the army is a pretty good idea, particularly as I don't remember the last time I saw one on the table.