Kill team elites - unit review part 2

So on to part 2 of this little review, part 1 was a lot longer than expected! In  this I will cover the AdMech Dogma's and the Chaos Legion Traits. In theory this should be a shorter post, as I won't be going in to the finer details of each, just a basic run down, especially the Legion Traits but we shall see.

So AdMech Forge World Dogmas' and straight off the bat one of them is out. Graia's dogma, whilst sounding good, relies on a commanders to make the whole thing work and as I don't use commanders, it's out of the running. Next that is off the list is Ryza, as it purely affects combat, which I'm not set up for apart from 2 models. If your running lots of the elite options then this is a very good dogma but not for me. Similarly, Metallica's dogma could be good but the way I plan on running my forces it wouldn't work. Vanguard have assault weapons and I plan on using these as my forwards units, supported by the Rangers, so being able to turn the Rangers weapons from rapid to assault isn't much good. Yes the removal of the negative to assault weapons could be useful but your still only using half the dogma. Stygies VIII could also be good, especially for a Rangers heavy team, but Vanguard's need to get withing 9 inches to get within half range, negating the obscured bonus. A possible dogma but not the best. Agripinaa is up next, and again, it could be a good one, if your running a combat heavy army and want to get in to a fight. Being able to double your chances of hitting on overwatch are always welcome but for an army that doesn't want to be in combat, it's a bit useless

That just leaves Lucius and Mars. I like Lucius as there are a lot of -1 AP weapons out there and with only a 4+ save, that extra minus can really hurt. The question becomes whether this is better than being able to gain 2 canticles? Mars dogma enable you to roll two dice for canticles and keep both results rather than just 1, giving you a chance to get the result that you want. However, there are only a few that I think can be useful. A couple are based around combat which isn't very useful to me, although one, which dishes out mortal wounds can be useful but the other isn't. That accounts for half of the canticles, of the other half, only 1 directly effects shooting, the other two effect nerve tests and being shot at. Personally, I think that being able to get 2 canticles isn't a great benefit, I would prefer the modifier to AP and choosing a canticle.

So for my AdMech I will be disciples of the Lucius Forge World dogma.

Next up are the Chaos Legion Traits. Now, there are two traits that are straight out, namely World Eaters and Emperor's Children ass they are limited to Khorne and Slaanesh keyworded units only and my units are Chaos Undivided. The main consideration I have with my chaos team is that traits don't apply to cultists, of which form the bulk of my team, with just half a dozen actual Marines, most of which are armed with bolters. So, the Renegade chapters trait is useless as only one Marine would be able to benefit from it. Similarly the  Night Lord's trait won't be much use, at it relies on being close to the enemy, which is the cultists job, not the Marines. The Black Legion trait could be useful, however I will usually be running the Icon of Vengeance, which gives a +1Ld bonus and the Marines on the whole will be standing still to give out fire support, so being able to advance and fire won't be that useful.

Of the three remaining traits, it is a little more complicated to eliminate them. The Iron Warriors trait could be useful, as the Marines will be sitting back firing bolters, targeting the high priority targets, so being able to remove them quicker and easier could be useful. With the Alpha Legion the same can be said in reverse, they will be sitting back, so being harder to shoot at would also be a benefit. This may keep them out of rapid fire range but careful positioning should mean I can move in on a selected target but remain obscured from other enemy units. The last is the Word Bearers, which dispute a very similar trait being dismissed previously, for a team which will include a number of easy to remove cultists, keeping the Marines fighting is essential and being able to re-roll nerve tests could be useful in doing that. It's quite hard to decide between these three but I think that I can remove the Word Bearers, as I can use tactics and also the boost to leadership with the Icon should be enough to keep things moving. That leaves Iron Warriors and Alpha Legion and my gut reaction is Alpha Legion. This is because it should enable me to start my guys off in the best position to shoot the enemy and not have to worry about them being in cover. That means turn 1 and maybe even turn 2, I can sit out and get shots off before retreating the guys in to cover and limiting my shooting angles. Being able to remove enemy models easier is useful but if you can't get the shot you need in the first place because your to busy hiding, then it's not much use. So, the Followers of Chaos will be Alpha Legionaries.