User mail;
Hi there,
Saw your posting on the FTW group, and thought I would submit a unit I’ve been toying around with and trying to fit into a list. Space Marine Legion of the Damned. There’s a whole lot of very awesome new models for these guys recently released, and frankly I think the background fluff is interesting. It would be very interesting to see your take on how best to make use of them.
Thanks,
Gareth H.Thanks for the email Gareth, I will do my best to break down the pros and cons of the Legion Of the Damned and see how they stack up in a competitive environment.
First off, lets take a look at the special rules;
Aid Unlooked for: Basically this says that the unit must always start in reserve, but can re-roll their deep strike scatter.
Unyielding Spectres: Makes their saving throw invulnerable.
Fearless, Slow and purposeful: See the USR's in the Main rule book.
What these special rules give you is the ability to deepstrike very close to where you need them and also the ability to take a lot of low AP wounds. Unfortunately with each model only having 1 wound and always having the same armor save, a bolter shot can kill just as easily as a lascanon shot. Being able to re-roll their deep strike scatter can either be a blessing or a death knell, as you are just as likely to roll a bad scatter the second time.
The unit has the option to take 1 special weapon and 1 heavy weapon no matter the unit size. To me this means that I would keep the unit size near the minimum to save on points, as each member is very costly! On the down side doing this means that the unit has less survivability, and that's not such a good thing either. With having the Slow and Purposeful USR this unit can stay on the move (though slowly) and still fire and assault after shooting Rapid Fire and Heavy Weapons.
The Sergeant has the basic upgrade options at about the same points as other Sergeants. He has an increased WS, so giving him a power weapon of some type means it will most likely hit home and do some damage.
If, and that's a big IF, I were to play these guys in a competitive game I would run them with a Plasma gun Plasma cannon and give the Sgt a Power weapon with only a 5 man unit(mind you that would cost 210 pts!). I would also run them in pairs, that way I would have a better chance of getting a unit of them when I need them. With the ability to re-roll their scatter I wouldn't worry about having any locator beacons in the rest of my force, though if I had left over points it wouldn't hurt.
Now the reasons I wouldn't use them;
First off, the army doesn't have any way to control the reserve game so you will be left to the will of your dice as to when this unit enters play. Next we have the cost, for about the same points you can have a 5 man unit of terminators that all have power weapons and the ability to have a 2+/3+i armor save. Last we have the slow movement, which means they may not get them where you need them or they could be left out in the open after an assault phase.
While the fluff of this unit is very cool, I just wish they would have been better on the table; which is the reason I suggest leaving them at home when you are playing competitively. If you are a beer and pretzels player and this unit peaks your interest, by all means play them but don't be surprised if they let you down from time to time.
What are your thoughts on the Legion of the Damned? Have you had some luck and think there is a way to use them in competitive play? Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions.
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