Detachment Focus: Anvil Siege Force

In this series of articles we take a deep dive into a specific Detachment for a faction, covering the faction’s rules and upgrades and talking about how to build around that faction for competitive play. In this article, we’re covering the Anvil Siege Force Detachment in Codex: Space Marines.

Most Space Marine Detachments map neatly onto one chapter or another, and the Anvil Siege Force is the most Imperial Fist-flavored of the bunch. Focusing on defense, long range shooting, and more or less standing still, this Detachment is one that sells Dorn’s characteristic stoicism. Whether or not that translates into something usable on the tabletop is another question entirely.

Detachment Overview

This Detachment emphasizes a largely sedentary playstyle, which is at odds with how Warhammer 40,000 is generally played. Maybe if your battles are set on Hole 9 of the golf world Tigris Woods IV, an army standing in place and opening fire is going to do well, but in a world of dense terrain layouts and forward objectives this Detachment is going to struggle. This Detachment theoretically benefits units with [INDIRECT FIRE] but given those can only ever hit on a 4+ it doesn’t actually do much for them. Instead your plan here is to move to objectives early and quickly, then hold the line on those using your +1 to hit benefit to destroy key targets headed your way.

The Video Version

If you’d rather watch this than read it, check out our video version below:

Detachment Rule: Shield of the Imperium

Ranged weapons on ADEPTUS ASTARTES models gain [HEAVY]. If a model already had a weapon with this ability and Remains Stationary, it gets +1 to Wound rolls.

This is a pretty simple Detachment rule and an easy one to build around, though it’s got some pretty obvious drawbacks. To take advantage of [HEAVY], your units will need to be standing still, meaning that you won’t be grabbing objectives or interacting with the board. Fortunately a few of the Enhancements and Stratagems also encourage you to Remain Stationary, letting you layer a few buffs at a time on your shooting units. One interaction to keep in mind is that the bonus to wound from the Detachment won’t stack with the bonus to wound from Oath of Moment, so you’ll want to be mindful with your choice of target when you’re going for this.

On the whole, this isn’t great – movement is life in 40k, and having an ability that turns off if you have to move to capture an objective isn’t ideal. Your big plan here is likely going to be “move to objectives early, then stand on those while using your [HEAVY] benefit to protect them. For that reason, this Detachment usually wants to go first.

Enhancements

These are an unusual bunch of Enhancements. Fleet Commander is probably too much work to set up, while Stoic Defender and Architect of War definitely will find their uses. Indomitable Fury is probably best on a solo Gravis captain doing objective play.

• Indomitable Fury — GRAVIS model only. The first time the bearer is destroyed, roll a D6 at the end of the phase. On a 2+, set them up outside of engagement range as close to where they were destroyed as possible with full wounds. This is a fun add-on for a solo gravis captain, and will typically be something you want to put on a solo character, making him an annoying midtable harassment unit.
• Fleet Commander — Once per battle, at the start of the Shooting phase, place a marker anywhere on the battlefield. At the start of your next Shooting phase, place a second marker within 12″ of the center of the first marker, and raw a line between them. Roll a D6 for each unit it passes over, and on a 3+, that unit takes D3 mortal wounds, then remove both markers.
• Stoic Defender — Models in the bearer’s unit have a 6+ Feel No Pain while they’re controlling an objective, and halve their OC if the unit is Battle-Shocked. You more or less need this if your plan is to stand out on an objective in the open and it’s great on Terminators.
• Architect of War — Ranged weapons in the bearer’s unit have [IGNORES COVER]. This one’s good on something like Desolators or Hellblasters, to make sure you’re getting the most out of their ranged weapons.

Stratagems

The stratagems here mostly focus on digging into objectives, or unleashing extra firepower. They’re not generally good enough to make this Detachment worth looking at, but there are some pretty solid offensive buffs here.

• Armour of Contempt (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) — Used in your opponent’s Shooting or the Fight phase to worsen the AP of attacks against your unit for a single activation. This is a little bit better for melee-focused armies like Black Templars, because using it in melee tends to be much better than shooting – you’re seldom being hit by two different enemy units in the same phase that require this stratagem. That said, it’ll have a lot of use against something like Knights, where you’ll often have to face AP-1 or AP-2 firepower and you may not have that many units shooting at you, either. 
• Rigid Discipline (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) — Used at the end of the Fight Phase. One ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit can fall back, but must end that move wholly within your deployment zone or within range of an objective. This is a solid way to disengage when you don’t want to be in a fight, and combos well with that [HEAVY] ability to ensure you’re not in combat and so getting your full shooting without having to Fall Back.
• Not One Backwards Step (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) — Used in your Command Phase. One ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit within range of an objective marker doubles their OC, but must Remain Stationary this turn. Useful if you’re outnumbered on an objective and need to stay put while shooting.
• No Threat Too Great (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) — Used in your Shooting Phase. One ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit can re-roll wound rolls against MONSTER or VEHICLE units with their ranged weapons. This is a solid ability, but blunted a bit by the fact that the unit you’d most want to use it on – Eradicator Squads – already re-roll all hit and wound rolls against those targets. So that means this is really for punching up with Hellblasters, Centurions, and Heavy Intercessors. 
• Battle Drill Recall (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) — Used in your Shooting Phase. One ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit gains [SUSTAINED HITS 1], with their ranged attacks scoring Critical Hits on a 5+ if your unit Remained Stationary. This is very solid if you’re already where you need to be and you can combine this with HEAVY and Oath of Moment to get some eye-watering damage output.
• Hail of Vengeance (Strategic Ploy, 2 CP) — Used in your opponent’s Shooting phase, after a unit has finished its attacks. One ADEPTUS ASTARTES unit that lost one or more models can immediately shoot back at the unit that shot them. This isn’t Overwatch, and since you generally aren’t moving on an opponent’s turn, that means the [HEAVY] rule will apply to your shots, giving you +1 to hit when you use this. That’s pretty damn good, and one of the rare points of synergy for this Detachment. 

Playing This Detachment

This Detachment favors a gunline approach, plopping down bricks of infantry and vehicles in positions where they’ll have good firing lanes. That means deployment will be extremely important for this army, as it won’t have the maneuverability to get those angles while still taking advantage of the Detachment rule. That will open you up to getting shot early though, so sticking to cover will be necessary to keep your units intact. There might be some play in holding some units back, then bringing them in with Rapid Ingress in positions where they’ll have some shooting, so when it comes around to your turn, they can Remain Stationary in an advantageous position. This does however, mean that you’ll have to potentially put yourself in a place to be shot by enemy units.

The units that are really going to sing here are units that already have [HEAVY] and put up a fair amount of shooting, namely Hellblasters, Gladiators, and Repulsor Executioners. Hellblasters with an Architect of War character will be ignoring cover, making them effectively AP-4. Stack that with a Lieutenant for [LETHAL HITS] and the Battle Drill Recall stratagem, and you’re putting out a frankly upsetting amount of plasma fire. The problem is, your dudes are just T4 bodies with 3+ saves, and they’ll have to stand still to take full advantage of this. That opens them up to being stuck out of position at best, or massacred at worst. The threat of shooting back with Hail of Vengeance could deter that somewhat, and a smart player will either try to bait it out with a unit that doesn’t matter much, or avoid shooting your Hellblaster or Eradicator brick altogether unless they can wipe it in one activation.

Note that Not One Backwards Step requires you to remain stationary, but doesn’t preclude a unit from making a charge, meaning you could absolutely use it to flip an objective, score it in your Command Phase, then charge someplace else if there’s something in range. There’s nothing here to boost those combat units though, so if you do try this trick, it’ll have to be with something fairly self sufficient, like Aggressors or Bladeguard.

Strengths

• Shooting. Conditional +1 to Hit and occasional +1 to Wound are solid shooting buffs, and the enhancements and stratagems can enhance your shooting further. There’s a lot of potential offensive output you can put to work here.
• Objective play. Boosts to OC and some stratagems help your dudes pile onto objectives and outscore your opponent.
• Offensive Stratagems. This set of Stratagems is a solid mix of retaliatory fire, boosted shooting, and maneuvering, with some unique effects not seen in other Detachments.

Weaknesses

• Movement. The Detachment rule and stratagems largely depend on your guys staying put, meaning you’re not moving around the table much. That’s brutal, since it means you’ll have to put in a lot of work to play around the drawback to your +1 to hit bonus.
• Melee. None of the stratagems or enhancements here support any kind of melee punch.
• Heavy weapons. While there are some great units with [HEAVY] weapons like Hellblasters and tanks, you generally want them moving to keep them alive and get into position.

A Sample List

The Anvil Siege Force doesn’t see a lot of competitive play. You have lots of other, better options when it comes to Space Marines, and those options tend to boost your offensive output while also making you more mobile. That said, it’s still perfectly capable of stringing a few wins together at a local event.

Pissed About These Fists - Click to Expand

The plan here is for your brick of Hellblasters, the Lieutenant, and power armored Captain to roll up the board in the Land Raider Redeemer, and plant themselves on an objective. The Captain will give them a 6+ FNP on the objective, while the Lieutenant keeps them ignoring cover when they shoot. Once they’re planted there, if they survive that first turn, they’ll be able to wreck pretty much anything they see with a good position, and if they get shot, they’ll be able to retaliate with a discounted Hail of Vengeance.

The +1 to wound from the Detachment rule will come through with the Land Raider Redeemer, parking in the center of the board and presenting a potent Overwatch threat, also protecting that forward Hellblaster brick. Your scouts and Gravis Captain will be doing objective work, either pulling off the board or standing back up to keep scoring points and doing actions. Your Heavy Intercessors will hold the rear, parking in cover and depending on their Datasheet ability to stay alive while staying put, occasionally punching above their weight with the Detachment rule.

Your armor can either park back home too, or try coming in from reserves to get some good angles before parking in those spots for as long as they need to. Eradicators can be a useful tool to keep in reserves, Rapid Ingressing them into a good position and unleashing in the next turn, or just popping out and letting their built-in re-rolls do the work. They’re a self sufficient unit that enjoys what this Detachment can give them, but being short ranged and slow limits that somewhat. Lastly, your Aggressors and Apothecary Biologis give you a second target for Battle Drill Recall, while also providing a counter-punch threat. If you wanted to be spicy, these could stay in reserves until later, or you could consider giving the Apothecary the Architect of War Enhancement instead of the Lieutenant with the Hellblasters, giving these Aggressors a smidge more shooting punch.

Final Thoughts

While we could have saved some time by just saying “this one sucks, move on”, we still wanted to give this Detachment its due and see if there was something we missed. There’s certainly a few scary shooting combos here, at least on paper. That pumped up Hellblaster stack here can do some serious damage in the right conditions, but to make anything work you’ll need command points, stationary units, and enemies who for whatever reason don’t want to shoot or charge your stationary, exposed infantry. You’ll probably wanna make sure Mercury’s in retrograde while you’re at it. The setup required to make this Detachment work likely isn’t worth it, and probably won’t work unless your opponent’s asleep at the wheel.

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.