Right, were getting back on track and closing on the end of our little series of reviews on the new Guard codex, this time we are looking at the Heirlooms of Conquest, or to us old school gamers, Relics. The first lot relics are general relics and are open to all types of guard armies.
The Emperors Benediction
This is for commissars and lord commissars only and they must be armed with a bolt pistol. This relic replaces the bolt pistol and turns it in to a serious weapon. It is still a pistol but gets 3 shots at S4, ap-1 and does 2 damage. On top of all that, you can also target a character even if it's not the closest model. This is a great little relic and really ups the power of the bolt pistol. It would not be my first choice for a relic but i think it would be worth spending a cp and sticking it on a lord commissar, along with a power sword and fist.
The Laurels of Command
This is possibly my favourite relic in the new book. This relic enables you to issue a second order to a squad, on the roll of a 4+. This means that you have a 50\50 chance of giving a unit a second order. While it's far from guaranteed, a second free order is nothing to be sniffed at. Now it's been FAQ'd to say that you have to resolve the first order before you can issue the second order and that it has to be a different order used the second time. This makes sense, but doesn't take anything away from the relic. Definitely one of the best, after all who doesn't like free orders!
The Deathmask of Ollanius
This is for infantry models only and grants a 4+ invun save. In addition, once per game they can heal D3 wounds. This is great for keeping a significant character alive or for creating a very strong tanking unit, like an ogryns body guard. Definitely a good relic but probably one to buy with that extra cost than to take as your free one.
The Dagger of Tu'sakh
This is a good relic, especially if your not playing Tallarns, as this gives you a mini version of there stratagem. It is a one shot relic, in terms that it enables you to do something during deployment and then is useless afterwards. However, what it does is pretty good, enabling you to select an infantry character and an infantry squad of the same regiment to outflank the enemy, appearing at the end of the movement phase on any board edge. It was FAQ'd to clarify that the bearer has to be an infantry character and that you can't give it to a tank commander. It's a good relic that can be used to apply pressure early to the enemies rear lines or to wait and jump on an objective at the end of the game. This wouldn't be a relic o would take often, but with the right build it could be very good. I'd like to add that by right build I mean, I would love to stick it on a rough rider officer and send him off with a squad of rough riders, classic Attilan style.
Kurov's Aquilla
This relic is probably on the lower end of my list as it relies on someone else doing things, namely your opponent. It allows you to roll a dice every time your opponent uses a stratagem and on a 5+ you gain a cp. Now this has the potential to be huge, if your opponent is using lots of 1cp stratagems and your rolling well, if however he uses lots of big 3cp stratagems and your rolling ice cubes, then it's a waste. Not one i would take as my first choice and I'm not sure it would make it's money back if you bought it.
The Blade of Conquest
This relic is open to all characters who can take a power sword, which is most of them. This is because the relic is a sword that replaces there own. This sword grants +2S, an extra point of ap and D3 damage. This is a good weapon to put on to a character, although it always strikes me as odd to put a combat weapon on to a guard character, which is not one of the toughest characters in the game. Personally I would skip this one and go for a different relic, one that would be more useful.
The next lot of relics are regiment specific.
Relic of lost Cadia
Not surprisingly this relic is restricted to Cadian doctrine models only. This relic can be unveiled at the start of a turn and during that turn any Cadian units within 12 inches can re-roll to hit and to wound of 1. If the enemy is any form of Chaos then the Cadians get to re-roll all hits and misses. The thing is that there is a small loop hole in the relic at the moment, as it doesn't state that it is a one use only item and could therefore be used every turn. I don't think that this is the intent, as I believe that it is supposed to be a one use only relic but, unless I've missed something, then its open to a bit of abuse at the moment. Either way its a good relic if you are running Cadians.
Mamorph Tuskblade
This is the Catachan relic and takes the form of a power sword. As with the other relics, it replaces the models own power sword. It is similar to the other power sword, the Blade of Conquest. This sword has the same strength bonus, but only the standard ap values and does a flat 2 damage. This takes some of the randomness out of the equation, but in many respects the Blade of Conquest is a better relic to take, unless you want two power swords in your army. However, i'm still of the opinion that arming a guard character with a fancy power sword is the wrong thing to do.
Pietrov's Mk45
This is the Valhallan relic and takes the form of a bolt pistol. Again, it replaces the characters own bolt pistol and while the pistol is not an amazing, only getting an extra point of ap and damage. The big thing about this pistol is not the damage it can do but the fact that it means that Valhallan units within 6 inches cannot loose more that 1 model to a moral test. This is a huge bonus for many units and with the changes to commissars it means that sticking this on a platoon commander and sending him off with a unit of conscripts is a viable build. If I ran Valhallans, I would definitely take this.
The Armour of Graf Tuschenko
This is the Vostroyan army relic and is very basic in its form. This is probably one of the best relics and its a shame its restricted to just Vostroyans, an army that I probably wont ever use. The relic itself increase the toughness of the bearer to 4 and boosts the save value to 2+. This is great for sticking on your warlord, making it that much harder to them to be taken out. A 2+ save in itself is a huge boost to a commanders standard 5+, The increase in toughness isn't quite so good, although it does make a difference to all the S4 weapons out there, namely bolt weapons, and will make a difference to all the S6 and S7 weapons, which I think DE and Craftworld have? To me this is a must have for your Vostroyan Warlord.
Skull mask of Acheron
This is the Armageddon relic and is the only relic that effects enemy models rather than the bearer or friendly models. The relic causes any enemy units with 3 inches to suffer a -1 to their leadership value. In the case of Orks its a -2, which is good, as the Armageddon's have a special hatred for Orks. The fact that this has such a short range means that it will only be useful when your in combat, as there are not many times you'll be 3 inches away from an enemy and not be in combat. This is a good thing in many ways, as it means that even if you don't cause a casualty, many armies will be at risk of suffering during their moral tests and seeing as your guardsmen are not going to be combat monsters, its not guaranteed that you will cause a casualty in combat. A useful relic for countering enemy charges, and probably better than one of the power swords.
Claw of the Desert Tiger
This Tallarn relic and the last of the power swords. This sword goes a different way to the other relic swords, as it does not grant any addition points of strength or addition ap value, instead it gives you extra attacks, 2 in total. This means that you could potentially have 5 attacks, with the potential to do 10 damage. Again, you actually have to be in a position to use them and as I've said before, I don't think combat is a place for a guard officer. If you want a sword, I'd go with the Blade of Conquest, for a better chance of actually wounding, but I still think fancy swords are a waste of a relic.
The tactical auto-reliquary of Tyberius
This is the Militarum Tempestus relic and grants the bearer an additional order per turn. The only downside is that you must roll a dice and on the roll of a 1 the order effectively fails. now this is not really a problem, as chances are you'll only roll a 1 once per game, although you could end up rolling one every turn! Even so, this relic means that you can keep hold of your pistol and you offensive capabilities and still give out two orders per turn. For me, if your takin a pure MT list, then this is a good option, one that I would definatly consider taking. The only other relic that might be as good is the Laurels of Command and if your only running a command squad and prime, I would take the Laurels. If your running more than one, such as a small patrol detachment in addition to the main detachement, then I think its worth paying a cp for this.
Order of the Iron Star of Mordian
This is a great relic for your Mordian Warlord, adding a much needed boost to survivability. It is in may respects better that the Armour of Graf Toschenko, as it gives you a 4+ "feel no pain" roll, or whatever that type of roll is called these days. Anyway, for every wound, mortal or otherwise, you roll a dice and on a 4+ it has no effect, which basically means half of every wound you receive will be ignored. This should help your warlord stay alive a lot longer and be able to take a lot more damage. If your running a Mrdian army, then this should be you first choice of relic.
OK, so there are probably two things that you have guessed form my views on relics. One, I don't see the point of fancy power weapons on models. Yes, I arm up many of my officers with swords, although my first choice has always been the power maul but that's more of a case of giving them something to fight with just in case they do get caught up in combat and not because I want them in combat and two, I think that anything that can boost the survivability of your warlord is a good idea. My choice of relics from this book are the Laurels of Command, for its extra orders and the Deathmask, for its invun and healing abilities. With the various regimental specific relics my choices are the Armour of Toschenko which is good for Vostroyans and the Iron Star which is good for Mordians, but I also like the Valhallans Mk45. The rest of the relics are ok, they will be useful to some but for me and the way that I play, they are not going to be used very often, if at all.
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