Getting the Legion up the board

[Kaldoth]

So, I found myself tweaking my list for the billionth time today :lol: I play a mostly Nephrekh list as I like the mobility and the synergy with Tesla weapons. However, with lots of Tesla comes very little AP. A lot of the players in my FLGS play primaris, so having almost purely Tesla made me rethink loading up on Tesla Immortals and taking a couple squads of Gauss. However, getting them into that juicy rapid fire range seems a bit problematic. While the Nephrekh stratagem is great, I'd rather not spend my precious CP on deep striking. Advancing them the auto 6 also means no shooting. So, after looking at the book I narrowed my choices down between taking a couple Night Scythes or the Deceiver.

 

Has anyone played with either of these? And if you have, how did they fare on the board? On one hand, the Deceiver offers some great offensive power. Those powers of the C'tan are nothing to sniff at and mortal wounds are always nice. He's also cheaper than two Night Scythes and an elite choice, so in my list in particular Id be able to take two res orbs and gain a CP filling out a vanguard detachment. However, having to roll for the amount of units I can move is a little concerning. On the other hand, the Night Scythes saw a nice points drop, give you an extra 24 wounds on the board, but don't quite match the offensive power of a C'tan literally ripping people out of time and space.

 

If it were you trying to get some Gauss up the board, which would you choose and why?

 

Cheers,

 

-Kal

Edited January 13, 2020 by Kaldoth

[Tyriks]

I like both, for some purposes.  The Deceiver is a guaranteed delivery that I find not as useful during the game, whereas Night Scythes are a riskier delivery that I find more useful once they deliver.  The Deceiver looks good on paper but it's not that hard to kill or avoid, in my experience.  Night Scythes are not as potent but are very annoying to my opponents because they can often maneuver into a position where they can unload on a character or hidden unit or something.  But they can be shot down before delivering the Immortals.  

 

Both have a problem with struggling to deliver multiple units at once.  The Deceiver has to roll for how many he can move, but this can work out for you.  If you roll a one, leave the support characters behind and have them buff something else, so it's safe.  With a Night Scythe, you can unload max of two units but that costs a stratagem, and if the Scythes all get shot down before you unload you can only save one unit, and it still costs CP.  So both have upsides and downsides.  So I say pick whichever you think is cooler.

[dreadmad]

So I came across this strategy at Blood and Glory, and this game was one of the main motivating factors that made me decide to spin up the Tesla myself.

 

So, admittedly this is gimmicky - but if you use both the Deceiver and the Nightscythe you can overcome the downside of the flyer (you have to disembark BEFORE it moves). It definitely works best if you go 1st, and I'd recommend a second Nightscythe so you don't lose the units if you go second and the flyer is shot down pre-disembark.

 

Set aside 2 units of Immortals on the Tomb World and deploy 1 unit on the board. Let's assume you roll the average of 2 on the Deceivers redeploy. Pre-turn 1 redeploy 1 Nightscythe & a Lord or Cryptek aaaaaall the way up the board (12" away from the juicy stuff). Start T1, MWBD the Immortal unit on the board. Then disembark both units from the Nightscythe using the stratagem. Move both units & support character forward & leave a gap in the centre to Veil of Darkness the Overlord & 3rd Immortal unit.

 

Suddenly you have 30 Immortals in Rapid Fire range, buffed by whatever support character you like. Shaun used 3 Warrior blobs against me, but it works with any troop blob that wants to shoot. On the face of it it's super obvious, but I'd never have considered redeploying a Transport to cheese an extra unit up the board!

[BaconCouch]

Best use of the Deceiver would be to get veil of darkness as well, and run in Mephrit believe it or not, since you'll be starting turn 1 in rapid fire range, or half range with your tesla, which gets deadly at AP-1

 

However. Deceiver shenanigans are MUCH less effective if you aren't going first. YMMV

[NTaW]

My vote goes with a Deceiver and a character with the Veil as a second. I've been playing my Nightbringer most every game and I gotta say it's surprisingly squishy with a 4++ save, most notably in combat where weight of attacks and multiple damage weapons can single out characters with ease.

 

I can say I've played a solo Night Scythe a few times with luck so bad I couldn't reasonably keep playing it.

 

Is it worth considering Warriors in a Ghost Ark (or two) for the Deceiver to redeploy pre-game and the Veil to bring along a unit of Immortals? You could relocate a Monolith with the Deceiver then bring a squad of 20 Warriors over with Dimensional Corridor too.

 

Ha! Go full on. Night Scythes, Deceiver, Veil. Someone'll get in range

Edited January 14, 2020 by NTaW

[Kaldoth]

Best use of the Deceiver would be to get veil of darkness as well, and run in Mephrit believe it or not, since you'll be starting turn 1 in rapid fire range, or half range with your tesla, which gets deadly at AP-1

 

However. Deceiver shenanigans are MUCH less effective if you aren't going first. YMMV

The Mephrit thing is actually quite interesting... I hadn't considered running my immortals as Mephrit at all. I guess a further question would be how does their stratagem interact with Tesla? This looks a little ridiculous and can't possibly be a thing:

 

Talent for Annihilation declared for a unit of tesla immortals -> player rolls 2 6's on hit rolls -> total of 6 hits generated for that model -> TfA allows 2 additional hit rolls to be rolled -> player again rolls 2 6's -> 6 more hits are generated because of Tesla rule.

 

A possible 12 shots from a single model? Am I reading that right, or did I miss a FAQ somewhere? RAW it says the TfA hits can't generate further hit -rolls-. Tesla doesn't generate hit rolls, just flat out hits.

[Tyriks]

That is the correct interpretation.

[NTaW]

I'll second that as the correct interpretation.

 

It is an aptly named stratagem but can be really swingy of course; I use it on my Destroyers almost every game and am frequently pleased.