Tactica - Using Ultramarines Librarians Effectively

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

 

I come to you with solutions this morning providing you with some hot Psychic Tactics for Ultramarines. Currently I use Tigurius and a standard Librarian. While they are not Ahriman and company they can still be quite potent forming up to create an extremely effective Smitebomb.

 

I run Tigurius with the old school Librarius psychic powers typically - Might of Heroes, Null Zone and Psychic Scourge. The other Librarian typically has Empiric Channeling (EC) and Scryer’s Gaze. First cast EC on Tiggy for the psychic buffs... Tigurius now has +3 to cast and deny plus with his ability to reroll them he should be able to pull off super smites quite often. You can then follow up with a smite from the Librarian and then Psychic Scourge from Tigurius taking advantage of our native +1 leadership. Scryer’s Gaze (warp Charge 7) gets you that sweet sweet CP and is not all that difficult to cast. Seven being the average on 2d6. Your opponents won’t be denying them when you're slinging tonnes of filthy smites, melting them alive.

 

Pro Tip #1 - Null Zone is very reliable and quite scary for opponents... Never charge Tigurius into combat if he successfully manifests this psychic power - your opponent can interrupt combat and then destroy him since he doesn’t have an invulnerable save.

 

Pro Tip #2 - Psychic Fortress is a go to psychic power versus smitey factions such as Thousand Sons, granting you the ability to shrug off mortal wounds on a 4+. While we don’t have nice things like Doom or Guide I have found our psychic staples like Might of Heroes coupled with Tiggy’s Prescience ability can go a long way when you really that hard resilience for a critical unit such as Centurions.

 

 

So there you have it, Ultramarines have access to some excellent psychic prowess if you follow my advice given above. It will definitely catch some opponents off guard.

Edited January 22, 2020 by Black Blow Fly

[emperorpants]

Cool thread.    I have a question, I don't have the supplement with me at the moment (it's in my car) but what is the wording on our +1 to leadership ability?  Is it only for taking leadership tests?  Or could it potentially be used to further buff psychic scourge?  I haven't looked at that Strat since first going over our supplement.   It's probably not worth a cp to buff it that little extra bit, but it's good to know all our options, and who knows, maybe it could make a difference in a clutch situation and you've got cps to burn.  If it's legal of course.  lol.

 

Tiggy with null zone and might of heroes is likely the best use of Tiggy.  Buffing a levi dread to toughness 9 and then giving a executioner the -1 to hit buff can really boost our durability.  Of course you can always put both those buffs on a single unit, but I find in the beginning it's best to spread the love to help more units survive.  Unless your game plan hinges on a single unit, which is asking for trouble.  Redundancy is key.

 

Also, scryers gaze can act as a replacement almost for adept of the codex.  You can only ever gain back 1 cp per batte round so taking both can sometimes be a waste, but what it does is make sure you get that cp back.  Also, scryer's gaze can be used to get an extra command re roll essentially.  So if you get a cp from adept, you can then use scryer's gaze to for it's re roll properties, which shouldn't be underestimated.  Especially turning those 1's on damage rolls from las cannons into something better.  You can also re roll two things in a turn if you use scryers gaze for a re roll.  Get 4 hits with your las cannons but then roll two 2's for wound rolls?  Well scryer's gaze one of them and command re roll the other!

Edited January 17, 2020 by emperorpants

[Subtleknife]

In testing thread. I run tight and I am rather boring with him, might of heroes onto the executioner with the minus 1 and null zone. Still found him worth his weight in gold.

[NKirkham24]

I’ve been trying our own psychic powers on Tigurius.

 

I’ve been going with Telepathic assault, Scryers Gaze and Precognition. I’d swap precognition for Empyric Channelling if I take another Librarian.

 

I’ve found Telepathic Assault to be useful as another MW dealer. Consistently getting around 3-4 MW onto Wave Serpents and the like is quite useful and Tigurius is so reliablewith his +1 and re-roll.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

Precognition is a good one for sure.

[NKirkham24]

Precognition is a good one for sure.

I used that in my last game to good effect, he was pushing up behind Guilliman and MotF, so he was the squishiest target, but gaining an inv save really helped him.

[Captain Idaho]

My issue seems to be the Discipline is designed for Tigurius and if you don't make use of him, you'll struggle to get the most out of it.

 

Maybe a 2nd Librarian would make it worthwhile just for the Empyric Channelling but then that's a points and HQ investment I find hard to justify.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I play versus lots of psy heavy armies... just having an extra deny is worth it for me.

[NKirkham24]

My issue seems to be the Discipline is designed for Tigurius and if you don't make use of him, you'll struggle to get the most out of it.

 

Maybe a 2nd Librarian would make it worthwhile just for the Empyric Channelling but then that's a points and HQ investment I find hard to justify.

 

I agree, Tigurius is the key with it. Which is a shame as you feel obliged to take him. Tbf, he is great value, but if you don't want to take him or try something different it's difficult. I play mainly Death Guard and Aeldari, so Tigurius is almost mandatory for me.

 

I've recently been trying the Phobos Librarian alongside Tigurius, mainly because the model is cool, and I've been taking the Phobos powers on him. I've found him a little hit and miss, one game he was an absolute boss, tanking some fire and denying for fun, but then last time he failed to deny a single power before getting out-maneuvered by a Hemlock and blow away.

[Captain Idaho]

I'm toying with the idea of 2 Librarians, one with the Chief Librarian upgrade and the other with Empyric Channelling. The 3rd power of the Chief Librarian means I can either get a redundant power shared on the battery Librarian, or a less used power "just in case".

 

Although it's a large number of Command Points, we could also give the Chief Librarian a Neural Shroud for increased Psychic defence. Alternatively, we could give him the Tome of Malcador for 4 powers to choose from, as High Scholar of the Librarius for 2 different disciplines.

 

That becomes quite an investment however and I think I'd rather spend the CP on other things.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

With a brigade you have a few cp to play around with for character buffs. The Tome of Malcador is an inherent advantage over Tigurius.