HQ's - and their impact on the game.

Hey all. After coming off a successful doubles tourney and taking alot of positive feed back from games I thought I would open up a discussion on hq's and their impact of the game.

My aim for this thread is to be helpful, fun and interesting to all who read it. So with that being said, heres my questions.

Do you think hq choices impact the game significantly?

If so do you write an army list based around the hq and supporting him?

Or if not, do you write your army list and chose a hq to compliment the army?

With 6 edition released, do you think warlord traits impact the game and over power hq's or do they compliment the game(army & tactics) nicely?

EDIT: I forgot castelen Crowe in the poll. Feel free to post you poll choices and why.

I looking forward to some insightful answers

I always use one of four characters: Either Draigo/Crowe/Cortaez to access their troops options or a Grandmaster because I find grand strategy invaluable in an army without sufficient bodies to clain objectives.

i voted GM first and Draigo second.
Depending if it's a fluffy or a competitive list i'm seeking.
i'm found of pure GK lists, so i don't have used Coteaz and others inquisitor named characters already... i tried once the alpha-strike Mordrack list, but with the 6th released the nearly full DS lists are not so appealing anymore !
I used my own GM 80% of the time Aubec de Terrenoire de Casteljaloux known as Aubec le noir : and he's got his history and fluff and is geared consequently : often very heavily geared !! => all grenades, psycannon, MC sword ...etc
the 2 lists i play with him are nearly the same each game : an all comer with DK interceptors, GKSS, GKT LR (i still don't have used SR and i don't like purgators), and a heavy Pallies and GKT list cause i find it fun and fluffy and i my old times the GK were only termies, i loved them before so i love them today !

The second GM i use is Draigo ... with a classic Draigowing : i love to be outnumbered, for me it clearly enhance the pleasure of the game with the stress and uncertainity of the result of the battle. I love winning against all odds ! Maybe i'm a little bit masochyst !

For me the GMs are the ultimate HQ for pure GK lists : they are tough, possess very cool special rules and gear that other HQs are jealous of !
I always try to transport them in the middle of the toughest fight, cause i imagine them in the center of their troops holding the line with their skills and their faith and cruching the Heretics, the Unfaithfuls and evrery other foe of the Emperor !!

When i can take 2 HQ, i take the libbie... for his versatility and the buffs he gives to the whole army... but he's always a second choice to me.

Aubec

I play a GM for pretty much the same reasons as Aubec. He's tough, he hits hard (or fast in the case of my halberd armed GM) and he isn't relying entirely on psychic powers.

I also play a brotherhood champion in games under 1500 points and as a second HQ choice at 2000 on account of being so cheap. He is capable of far more than people give him credit for. The reroll to hit on the charge and ability to tie up enemy characters in challenges through the shield of blades often leads to his unit winning combat even is he fails to strike a single blow. He allows his unit to win and not get mauled. Again, he doesn't have to pass a psychic test except in the worst case scenario where he's relying on 'heroic sacrifice.'

i mainly use inquisitors. coteaz has to be there of course or i couldnt play my army...

I voted for Coteaz. For me the ability to take of those shiney new Divination powers is amazing. he can save a poor round of shooting, or turn a good round into a great round. A few times I've landed with the ignore cover and rerolls, scoring 5-6 psycannon shots that then ignore cover can break a lot of squads I face.

Again sorry guys, only aloud 10 options in the poll and realised I've left out the brotherhood champion.

Heres my input.

I do think certain hq choices impact the game significantly, I think we have some very powerhouse all round hq's that are just gold. Not always bang for your buck. Infact theu can get very expansive if you go over board with upgrades.

Being relatively new to the game, my first hq was draigo, and as much as matt ward screwed up, I think he did ok with draigo, the only 3++ save in our codex and with the eternal warrior USR I think he does ok. In smaller games he really takes up army space but that's the price of fame I guess.

He can't take some of the cool upgrades that a Gm can take, but I5 str 10 against daemons and psykers. Your laughing.

At the same time though, you can get great bang for your buck with coteaz. Psyker lvl 2 for 100 pts, spy network and making henchmen troops, is gold.
I so think a standard inquisitor in gold, an ordo malleus inquisitor with termie armour and a psycannon with prescience is cheap and adds great bonuses to units.
The other inquisitors add a little flavour and great upgrades aswell.

I think when writing an army list you really have to think want you want to accomplish.

With my normal 2k list I'm usually running draigo, maybe a Libby or coteaz as a support hq and the hq's play a major part in the game.

However with the 1k doubles tourney I was in. I wrote my list with the intention of being the most flexible and versatile and yet, pack a punch at the same time. So in actual fact I chose coteaz as a support hq with the left over points I had and he was brilliant!

As for the warlord traits, I think they give a lil' some something. They even out the game sometimes or can really hurt your opponent, or. They pretend their not there sometimes -_-' when you roll crap.

I'm missing Crowe. Though not a great character, the ability to unlock purifiers is just great.

I will always take Coteaz for first turn control, my army may not even have inquisitoral units in it and I will still take him.
2nd choice will depend on what is in the rest of my army, G.M if i need to make things scoring and a Lib if I do not.

I would have to agree with you first strike with the option of our inquisitors being able to take different psychic powers like a librarian coteaz is really bang for your buck!! Lvl 2 psyker with awesome other abilities! I don't run inquisitorial units yet either as I have none but coteaz I will use most of the time now!

Do you guys think that some of the combat heavy characters are over powered though?

And what's you plan with warlord traits?

Coteaz is amazing, I like to take a grandmaster too and get the best of both worlds.

Some H.Q's are realy powerfull but you can still deal with them.
Warlord traits are to hit and miss to plan anything around. Just roll the dice and hope for the best.

I like taking Corteaz with Prescience and a random role from Divination. I usually take Corteaz over a Grand Master in 1500 point lists because I'm such a points miser. If I go 1850+ I usually take both Corteaz and my Grand Master to.either obtain more scoring units or rerolls to wounds of ones. I typically take Command traits for my Warlord because of I enjoy the options of pptentiallyoving through cover or rolling extra dice to run.

i am starting to use the brotherhood champion myself

works out pretty good with the challenge rules

No battle exp. under my belt but I picked up coteaz as my first HQ. When I expand my army ovet 1500 I will create a GM model for the flexibility.

My Choice is most of the time a grandmaster because a GM unlocks so many different tactics via Grandstrategy, especially with the warlordtraits and other rules that came with 6th ed. And not only does a grandmaster give ample amount of tactics to abuse, there is not many things a GM can ruin in CC. Also i like to spin my own fluffy army, so far Grandmaster Eronen hasn't failed me on the battlefield.

I like to use both a generic Grand Master and Coteaz. I start by most of the time giving my 10 man Purifier Squad (4 Psycannons) Scout and put Coteaz in this unit. Move them forward in my Scout phase, then cast Prescience on them first turn.

Now I don't have to move my Psycannons to get into range (most of the time) and have 16 shots, re-rolling to hit, plus the storm bolters and the eagle (who goes to town on everything!!).

That sounds like a great strategy Brother Valten. What do you primarily target with your Purifiers during that shooting phase?

Whatever scares the crap out of me in the deployment!

There is nothing that will last long against a lot of re-rolling Psycannon shots - NOTHING.

nevek wrote:i am starting to use the brotherhood champion myself

works out pretty good with the challenge rules

In what point games do you use the champion?? With 1 wound its pretty easy for your opponent to "slay the warlord" and he doesn't have that bang for your buck the way say... A grandmaster has or coteaz. I'm my opinion that is. :/

Valten wrote:I like to use both a generic Grand Master and Coteaz. I start by most of the time giving my 10 man Purifier Squad (4 Psycannons) Scout and put Coteaz in this unit. Move them forward in my Scout phase, then cast Prescience on them first turn.

Now I don't have to move my Psycannons to get into range (most of the time) and have 16 shots, re-rolling to hit, plus the storm bolters and the eagle (who goes to town on everything!!).

It would be cheaper to use 5 man purgation squad.


On another note, anyone use crowe's broken ability. His psychic spell counts as a closecombat attack and all of crowe's cc attacks rend on a 4+ so.... Rules as written and nothing has been FAQ'd

In what point games do you use the champion?? With 1 wound its pretty easy for your opponent to "slay the warlord" and he doesn't have that bang for your buck the way say... A grandmaster has or coteaz. I'm my opinion that is. :/

I'd say that a 2+/3++ re-rollable save is pretty good. Might even be harder to kill than a librarian without a stave. But you're right, given a larger game I'd want a warlord with 3 wounds.

A large unit re-rolling to hit on the charge is pretty good, especially in a large unit that re-rolls 1s to wound due to a grand masters strategy. The good thing is that there is no way to negate these bonuses.

He tends to only get 1 or 2 attacks, but with a re-roll to hit followed by a re-roll to wound he can take his psychic test and kill most anything without a very high toughness or ward save.

Though it's a last resort and a gamble I'd avoid, heroic sacrifice will kill the nemesis dreadknight/greater daemon/dragon-thing/abbadon/tharka etc. that's eating the rest of your squad.

I see the champion as a champion- he's a cheapish add-on to a squad to help it out rather than a 'warlord' type HQ.

You only get the 3++ in cc. 4++ against shooting.

GM wrote:You only get the 3++ in cc. 4++ against shooting.

Yeah but from shooting he's safely hidden in a squad with Look Out Sir! which is pretty damn sweet.