Friday, March 25, 2011

Purgation Squads... Shooting Out of Land Raiders?


Thoughts on this? It's not something I would even try without seeing it FAQ'd, but it's one of those things that I 'feel' will be FAQ'd so that you can, indeed, shoot from inside of a Raider.

For reference, the rule says:

"the unit (and any accompanying character) can shoot at any enemy unit within range, even if they do not have line of sight to it or it is outside the distance they can see in a night fight. The target automatically has a 4+ cover save, (which cannot be modified by any means) against the attack. The squad cannot target an enemy unit that is embarked within a transport vehicle."

Now, the rule says the unit can shoot at any enemy unit within range. It goes on to clarify that this EVEN INCLUDES units that they don't have line of sight to, or are outside of nightfighting range. It doesn't limit the ability to ONLY those units that are outside of line of sight or outside night fight range. It says any unit within range. It goes on to make a single exception to this ability, which is if the ENEMY unit is embarked on a transport.

I'm not saying this is clear. I'm just saying I would lay 10 bucks on GW ruling that this can happen, along with some crappy little fluff statement of the 'bolts flying through the warp and materializing in front of the enemy" or some such. I'm not saying it's certain (and I certainly wouldn't try it without a FAQ)... but I think that's going to be the outcome.

So let's say that it does work? How do we feel about this?

2 Land Raider Crusaders with Psybolts, 1 Full Purgation Squad combat squadded with 2 Psycannons in each...? That's a lot of firepower that doesn't need to get TOO close to put a hurting on you.

Not sure how I feel about it yet, really. It sounds like "fun" but not necessarily "good."

The Crusaders with Psybolts themselves seem like a no-brainer for anyone wanting run a Rock Army. I would name one of the Raiders "Silver Rain," lol.

In the meantime, having the Purgation squad split into two Rhinos that sit behind the Land Raiders and shoot THROUGH them is also amusing, and certainly legal even without a FAQ. The advantage of having the Purgation squads actually aboard the Land Raider would be that, combined with a Grand Master, you could scout them both into midfield and pop smoke (if going second) and be in position to start unleashing the pain first turn.

That's 4 S7 rending shots at 4 targets on turn one, plus enough S5 to make some infantry nervous too (this is assuming you move 6" - of course if you are able to simply stay put and pivot the Purgation Squads put out more firepower than that).

That's in addition to whatever else your army can push downrange (which, at this point is admittedly looking to be "not much.")

Grand Master, no upgrades = 175
2 x Crusaders w/Psybolt = 520
Full Purgation Squad, combat squadded w/4 Psycannons = 180

So that's 875 points. Ouch. At that point you almost want to grab a Librarian for shrouding... leaving you with - maybe- -barely- enough for an army.

Even if it's not viable, the thought is amusing. Shooting out of a Land Raider... I would laugh.

I'm still getting my head around the codex, so please don't come to me with list questions or anything like that, lol. There are plenty of people out there who are dedicating the time to it that it takes to actually do a decent job.

But I am interested in the new Dex. Yes indeed.