This article looks at the mainstay of Legiones Astartes armies: the Troops and Support units. These are mostly made up of your “normal” Legionaries, with WS/BS 4, one wound and one attack – except for some of the melee-focused units.
You get Troops units in the Crusade Primary Detachment, the Allied Detachment and the Tactical Support Auxiliary Detachment. It includes two Troops and is also the main way to get Support units, as it includes two slots for them too. This is plenty of troops and probably more than you need.
I want to add a bit of a disclaimer to these “Tactica” articles. Heresy is really much more of a narrative game than a tournament one. It’s not as important to try and wring the maximum efficiency out of every point as it is to have good games with armies that look great. In fact the third edition has much better balance between units without nearly as many “auto-take” or “trap” units, so you won’t be punished that badly for taking your favourite unit. I’m going to try and talk more about how to use units rather than just telling you what to take or not take. I’ll talk a bit about the capabilities you need your army to do – things like capturing objectives and destroying various kinds of enemy units – and how your units can achieve those things.
Table of Contents
Troops
You don’t have to bring any Troops in third edition if you don’t want to, as there are no compulsory units. Several of these units are very good, though, so instead of a “troop tax” they’ll form the core of your army. In particular they have the best Line scores, so they give you the most points for holding objectives. Success or failure will depend on whether you can get these units onto objectives and keep them there… or maybe send in another unit if the first lot are dead.
Tactical Squad
Here’s your basic squad of 10-20 Legionaries with bolters, at 10 points each. They’re significantly better now thanks to bolters having two shots at all ranges and Fury of the Legion adds a third shot if they don’t move. Actually you’ll often want them to move as they have Line (2), so getting them onto objectives is going to be a priority.
You should probably always give your Tactical Squads a Nuncio Vox to remove tactical statuses and allow them to do their job, which is scoring objectives. It’s hard to justify buying the Sergeant a fancy melee weapon as they only have A1 and WS4, so you won’t get much value out of it. I’d avoid bayonets too, as they don’t really do anything. AP5 melee attacks in a game where hardly anything has a 5+ save isn’t useful.
The big choice is whether to go for Rhinos or bigger squads. Rhinos are a lot better this edition, with front armour 12, so your models will be fairly safe in them. Transports are excellent this edition as they go their full move, then your infantry can get out and do a full move themselves – perhaps even charging after that. The problem comes when you get out and find that your opponent just brought more people than you did instead of transports. Both approaches are valid, perhaps depending on Legion rules.
This is an excellent unit. Tactical squads can provide efficient firepower while also getting you VPs from holding objectives and they will often be the unit you rely on to win you games. If you have a lot of tacticals then you probably don’t need much else to provide “dakka”. Things like Sicaran Punishers, though they are perfectly fine on their own terms, might not really be necessary. Consider the Combat Veterans Prime Advantage to improve their mental resilience, or of course just use them to unlock a Logistical Benefit.
Despoiler Squad
The foot-mobile melee squad is very like a Tactical squad, also with 10-20 models at 10 points each, but swapping their guns for Chainswords. Unfortunately the swords have suffered a lot from core rule changes, losing +1A on the charge and rerolls to wound. The result is that the two attacks a Despoiler can do in melee are less dangerous to WS4 opponents than the two or three shots a tactical marine can do at 24”. There’s no Spite of the Legion any more either.
However, Despoilers have Line (2) and some power in melee. Removing a big unit from an objective is going to require more effort than if they were tacticals. They might be useful, especially for things like Zone Mortalis. They benefit a lot from some Legion rules too. World Eaters stand out, gaining a bonus attack on the charge.
For most Legions though, the unit is in a very tough spot compared to tacticals. You’re losing pretty respectable firepower and gaining melee power that just isn’t that great. Despoilers aren’t fast enough to choose their battles so they’ll often find themselves in melee with things like Dreadnoughts, Terminators or WS5 melee elites, with no real hope of success.
You can equip one in five of these guys with an upgraded melee weapon like a charnabral sabre or power weapon and also with a pistol. The Sergeant makes better use of melee weapons than his Tactical brothers, thanks to having A2. This adds to the price of the unit though of course.
A Despoiler squad might be a good place to put a Consul on foot, like a Siege Breaker or Librarian. They’ll be protected pretty well from shooting and contribute a lot to the unit’s melee power. Even then a tactical squad might be better overall if they’re on foot, but the Despoilers might be better in a Rhino.
Rhino rush might save Despoilers. It lets them travel a long way and reach melee fairly reliably. A despoiler squad in a Rhino with some upgraded melee weapons is around 200 points, which isn’t too much and can potentially be spammed. There are quite a lot of armies it’ll just bounce off though. On no account should you try to Rhino rush Custodes.
The Dropsite Massacre Journal Tactica gives an interesting Prime Advantage option, Interdiction Cadres, which you can use to have a tactical or Despoiler squad set up in concealed positions. As a reaction they can appear somewhere over 5″ from an enemy unit and then snap fire and attempt a Disordered charge to contest an objective.
Ultimately the job of Troops with Line is to stand on objectives, earning you VPs. Despoilers on an objective can’t do much more than wave their chainswords in the air and look threatening, while Tacticals can fire three shots each from their bolters.
Assault Squad
These are very like the Despoilers and have similar upgrades available. Assault Squads have 12” Antigrav move from their jump packs, which also make them Bulky (2) and let them Deep Strike. The Sergeant can have a disintegrator pistol as well as the usual options. The whole squad can have chainaxes instead of swords for free (making them S5 but I3). Crucially, they are Vanguard (2) instead of Line, so they have a different role to your other Troops. You use them to score extra VPs by chasing people off objectives, not for holding them.
An interesting option is swapping bolt pistols for combat shields, giving them a 5++ in melee, for 2 points each. An assault squad will often choose not to shoot its pistols to avoid return fire and an invulnerable save in melee is very good to have. It’s certainly worth considering.
The best use for these guys is probably with a Jump Centurion to give them some melee punch. That way you ought to score Vanguard points fairly often. It isn’t really possible to equip them to do a lot in shooting, though I suppose hand flamers could wipe a unit of militia, so you’ll mainly need to try and score in the assault phase. You can also use a Master of Signals to give them Line (1) for a turn, scoring objectives early or late in the game.
Assault squads can Deep Strike but you can’t then charge so I wouldn’t recommend it, except perhaps if there was somewhere safely out of sight from which you could threaten the back line later. It’s a nice option to have though.
Breacher Squad
Breachers look pretty good now. Their shields give them a 5++ and they can use the Shieldwall reaction to get T5 for a the duration of a phase if targeted by shooting or a charge, so they won’t be easy to remove. They have Line (1), so not as many bonus VPs as tacticals. They are Heavy, so not as quick either but cooler.
On the offensive side it’s nice they have two shots with their bolters now. One in five can also have a graviton gun or lascutter and the latter of these looks pretty nasty, striking at S10 AP2 with D2 and Ordnance D doubling their damage if stationary.
All of this means that Breachers really want a Rhino, drop pod or some other way to get around the board. In previous editions their choices of Dedicated Transport were very limited but now they can ride in any Astartes transport, making the unit much more flexible. They can’t Dash though, due to being too heavy, so they have to be delivered to where you want them. It’s cool that we have a plastic upgrade finally on the way as they’re looking very useful now.
Support
This is a category with a lot of units in it. They are mostly made up of Legionaries with big guns, providing heavy firepower. Apothecaries and Techmarines also find themselves here, though as both get a dedicated detachment that only they go in it’s kind of irrelevant what FOC they have.
Tanks are not in this section by the way. There’s now a separate Armour role for Predators, Sicarans, Kratos and so on.
Tactical Support Squad
Pretty much unchanged, these are your guys armed with plasma guns, meltas, rotor cannons and so on from the guns box. 8 points each plus 5-15 for their weapons. They all have to pick the same gun. The writers have decided to lock all the prices of their weapons to multiples of 5 points and that results in prices that don’t seem quite right.
Melta squads are scary but a bit pricey at 115 for five, especially as they need to roll a 6 to penetrate AV14 with S8, even up close. They’re good for killing dreadnoughts and Saturnines though, with D3, and can one-shot all but the heavier tanks if they do penetrate.
Plasma guns might be the stand-out option. Like bolters, they now have two shots at 24”. They actually breach less well than they used to but will get two shots more often, which makes up for that. It also means they can fire from safer positions, without requiring a transport to get there. It’s a gun with a respectable rate of fire that kind of works into any target except for AV 14 vehicles. There’s even a safe mode for shooting Auxilia without blowing yourself up. 90 points feels pretty good for 10 plasma shots, I think.
Volkites are interesting but probably not quite good enough. Chargers are a rare Assault weapon, meaning they can fire as part of volley attacks during the charge phase. However Veterans are much better with these, for only a few more points. Calivers give you two S6 shots at 30” so they’ll be useful for laying down fire from relative safety, though they won’t be spectacularly effective. They cost the same as plasma guns, which are much better.
Flamers cause Panic (1), meaning your opponent will always have to take a test or run away if wounded. They’ll also cause quite a lot of saving throws for your opponent and are much scarier in general now you can go so far with a Rhino. 10 flamers in a Rhino could do real damage for under 200 points.
Rotor cannons have Suppressive (1), meaning they can mess up a unit’s shooting (and scoring) from a safe-ish 24” away. 3 S3 shots, or 4 standing still, lets you roll a lot of dice but actually tactical bolters cause about as much damage and cost less, while bringing Line. Suppressive is very good though, so small units of these could have their uses.
Tactical Support Squads don’t have any of the Line, Vanguard or (perhaps ironically) Support Unit rules. They score objectives normally. Expect to see quite a lot of these, with various different weapons.
Heavy Support Squad
Okay these do have Support Unit (1), meaning they can only ever score 1VP from holding an objective. Some objectives are only worth 1VP though, so it’s not a huge issue.
The models are 10 points each plus between 10 (for heavy flamers and bolters) to 25 (multi-meltas and lascannons), so you’re potentially 35 points here for 1-wound models, which feels like a lot. On the plus side all these guns can now move and shoot, with various bonuses for standing still.
The ability to move and shoot means that you can hide your heavy weapons if you’re going second, or use transports to get into position, and still shoot. However, the balance between these squads and tanks has definitely shifted in favour of tanks. I think these squads will be seriously threatened by bolter fire from tacticals, which they trade really badly into.
An advantage for Heavy Weapon Squads is that they can bring Augury scanners and Nuncio-voxes. They’re less vulnerable to statuses than Rapiers and tanks and Shrouding doesn’t work against them.
This time I think they’ve done a better job of balancing the price and effect of the various guns, meaning that you can probably make use of any of them. Autocannons might be the stand-out option, though they’re pricey at 20 points on top of the base 10 per model. They get two S7 AP4 D2 shots with Breaching 6+, gaining a third shot if they stand still. Overall they’re a decent all-round gun, great into Terminators and Dreadnoughts but pretty harmless to any vehicle tougher than a Rhino.
Missile launchers look quite useful for just 15 points as they can move and fire frag missiles at S4, or S5 if they stand still. They can also intercept flyers with flak missiles, which are S8, D1 and Heavy D, which will usually (unless they have a tactical status) work when they react. Krak missiles have S8 AP3 and 1D, with Heavy D. They’re much less effective than Lascannons against tanks but do have a niche against Mechanicum, who bring a lot of 3+ save models like Castellax and Thallax.
For 10 points Heavy bolters are fine, with 3 (or 4 if stationary) S5 AP4 D1 shots. There just aren’t that many situations where you’d prefer to have one Legionary with a Heavy bolter instead of two Tacticals, so I’m not sure you bother.
The new speedy Rhinos make Heavy flamers worth considering. S5 AP4 D1 with Panic (1) is nice. I think you’ll probably find that normal flamers in a Tactical Support Squad are sufficient, and those cost 13 points per model instead of 20.
Multi-meltas are a really tough one to judge. You’re paying 35 points per model compared to 23 for Meltaguns – which already feels like a lot. The difference is 24″ range instead of 12″ and Heavy (RS) making them S9 when stationary – though they’ll often prefer to move to get into Melta range. Melta (8) instead of (6) for the Meltagun doesn’t do much. For hunting tanks the Meltagun might be more efficient but the much longer range of Multi-meltas is certainly significant against other stuff. They’re devastating for things like Dreadnoughts and Saturnine Terminators. That AP2 D3 profile, even when moving, is unsurpassed but do you really want to pay 175 points for five one-wound models?
Plasma cannons are +20 points and that’s too much. Their 3″ blasts are only S6 AP4 with Breaching 6+, with the Maximal Fire mode getting 5+ Breaching in exchange for Overload (2). Both versions have Heavy (RS) and, since going from S6 to 7 doesn’t matter much, they are pretty mobile. But the two shots from a normal plasma gun give you roughly the same number of hits as a 3″ blast and are actually better against single models. Normal plasma guns cost you 18 points per model instead of 30, too.
Volkite Culverins are +15 points and give you many of the same issues as Heavy bolters. Their 3 or 4 shots have a good range of 45″, S6, AP5 and Deflagrate 6. They’re fine but you don’t really need them when you have Tactical Squads for Dakka.
Finally, Lascannons, at +25 points. That’s very expensive but do you just need to take them anyway? There will certainly be plenty of tanks and models with 2+ saves around and the S9 AP2 D1 Heavy D profile is quite good for getting rid of them. However, you can get Lascannons on loads of tougher platforms, like Predators and Dreadnoughts, for around the same price per shot. Overall I’m not sure Heavy Weapon Squads are the best way to do this job.
Rapier Battery
You get one Rapier with heavy bolters and its crew to start with, plus up to three more, for 40 points each. The Gravis heavy bolter battery has 8 shots and is Suppressive (2), so it’s great for taking out enemy infantry. Unfortunately they’ll still get to return fire, as the test to become suppressed only happens at the end of the phase – not immediately like pinning in second edition.
A Laser Destroyer Rapier is one of the best tank-killers in 30k for now. It’s a substantial 25 point upgrade but you get 2 S10 shots at AP2 and D2, with Heavy D and Armourbane. This means it’s 50% more likely to damage an AV14 vehicle than a S9 lascannon and does 1 more damage per hit, while costing slightly less than 2 Legionaries with lascannons. It only has 36” range but it can move and still do 2 damage per shot.
A Graviton cannon is less destructive but still very interesting. It has Shock (pinned), meaning it will pin a vehicle if it rolls a 5+ to hit. That’s amazing if you can do it to a Land Raider or Spartan. It’s also a 36” S8 AP3 blast doing D1 with Heavy D and Pinning (2), so it’s very effective against Legionary infantry.
Finally the Quad launcher has three options. Shatter shells fire 4 S7 AP4 D1 Heavy D Armourbane shots, which are good for stopping Rhinos if needed. Frag fires a single 5” blast, or two of them if it doesn’t move, with 60” range at S5 AP5. You can fire it with Barrage (2), but then it always scatters 2D6”, meaning it won’t ever really hit the target.
Phosphex canister shot is an extra 10 point upgrade you can only have if you brought a Siege Breaker, with just a 24” range but doing 3” blasts that are Poisoned 3+, AP3, D1, Breaching 5+ and Panic 3(!), meaning you can give enemy units a really low chance of survival. These are Barrage (1), so they don’t scatter all that much.
Quad Launchers benefit a lot from having a Siege Breaker. If you can get them line of sight on hidden enemy units you can use the Cognis Signum to let your Rapiers roll to hit even though they can’t see. Without that, barrage weapons automatically scatter. Scattering 2D6” is annoying, as blasts are pretty likely to go around 7” and land nowhere near your intended target.
Incoming shots against Rapiers hit the guns, which are T6, W2 and have 3+ saves. In melee the Legionary crew get hit first. In either case, they won’t survive for long if your opponent takes a disliking to them, which they’re very likely to do. But the same is true of Heavy Weapon Squads. At least Rapiers aren’t all that vulnerable to bolters and it’s difficult to snipe the crew, as precision shots still have to wound T6.
Apothecary
A 30 point model with a bolt pistol and chainsword, which they can exchange for other stuff if you like. They have W2 and A2. As Specialists they can join any units they want, meaning they can save terminators unlike in previous editions,, but can’t fight Challenges. They also have a Narthecium and the Medic (4+) rule.
This is the single unit that we at Goonhammer have struggled most to understand, both in terms of how they work, and why it was decided that they should work that way. I’m going to need to write more text about Apothecaries than any other unit in the game and then conclude that they probably aren’t worth it, so do skip this if you want.
Firstly, you can use the “Medic!” advanced reaction if your unit gets shot. This costs a point of your Reaction Allotment, meaning you won’t be able to return fire and so on as much, and the unit can’t make any other reactions that turn.
Then, during step 11 of the shooting attack, you get to roll a Recovery Test on a 4+ for every model in the unit that has been allocated an unsaved wound. Just one per model and none for the Apothecary, who cannot save themselves. If you succeed then one hit the model took has its damage reduced by 1.
So here’s how I think it works. If you have a bunch of Tactical Legionaries taking damage from D1 weapons, successful Recovery Tests mean those hits did 0 damage and the Legionaries don’t die, which is good.
It gets odd for multi-wound models and multi-damage guns though. It can’t save a W1 Legionary from a D2 weapon, as it would still do 1 damage and kill them. W2 (or more) models will tend to end up with 1 wound left, perhaps meaning a unit could have several wounded legionaries in it as a result.
If I understand this rightly, it can result in some incoming wounds being wasted too. In step 9 you allocate unsaved wounds to models. If you do enough wounds to kill all the models, any remaining wounds are discarded. The recovery tests are then made after this.
There’s also a really odd thing in step 9 where it says models that have had enough wounds assigned to kill them are removed from the unit as a casualty and placed to one side, but not removed from play till step 11. We suggest you don’t physically move any models till step 11 if you’re planning on doing recovery tests, because there aren’t any rules for how you put them back again if they are saved.
Additionally, and slightly more straightforwardly, Legionaries are a bit happier if an Apothecary is there with a Narthecium. Before you make a Characteristic Check during the Morale Sub-Phase the Apothecary can make a recovery test. If they get that 4+ roll then the unit gets -2 off its roll, meaning it’s less likely to get panicked, pinned or whatever.
Are Apothecaries worth having? Well at 30 points they could keep an expensive unit from gaining an annoying tactical status. That would be great, but unpredictable. I don’t think people will often use the Medic! Advanced reaction though, as there will usually be better things to do with your very small Reaction Allocation.
Techmarine
These are way simpler than Apothecaries. They’ve also got W2 and A2 but are better equipped and more expensive at 50 points. They have a 2+ save, bolt pistol and Power Axe as standard and can take a Cyber-familiar to help with IN tests or Melta bombs if you want to wreck other people’s vehicles.
Techmarines can use their Battlesmith ability in the movement phase to take a test on their IN of 8 to fix a Vehicle, Automata or Walker (which will most often be a Dreadnought) within 6”. If they pass the test they can heal two wounds or hull points, or remove two statuses. Techmarines actually heal an extra wound or hull point, but not status, thanks to their servo arms.
It’s a bit weird they can mend stuff 6″ away, but very useful. Doing this doesn’t interfere with their unit’s ability to shoot, charge and so on later in the turn.
If you’re running a lot of vehicles then a few Techmarines would be a good option. Removing statuses in the movement phase means you can then act normally with the repaired unit that turn. A Techmarine who repairs a pinned Spartan will have made a huge difference to a game.
A Techmarine attached to a unit inside a vehicle isn’t allowed to leave the unit to get out and fix it if there are problems. Instead, have them attached to squads nearby. They might even give those units a bit of a chance in melee thanks to their axes. You could use their 2+ saves to tank incoming AP3 shots as well.
Deathstorm Drop Pod
These are Orbital Assault vehicles, so they have to Deep Strike, using your allocation of one Deep Strike per turn. When they arrive they fire up to five shooting attacks, each at a different enemy unit within a range of 18”, like some kind of firework that has gone disastrously wrong.
Unfortunately it has BS2, so the one-off spray of missiles all around isn’t likely to cause much damage. The missiles make D3 attacks on everyone within 18” at S6, AP4, D1 and Pinning (1). After that it’s run out of missiles and everything stops.
These might have been pretty good if you could drop one in on turn one and pin a lot of enemy units but a potential arrival on turn two is far less useful. At that point, stopping units like Rapiers and Heavy Weapon Squads from moving might not matter very much. They seem pricey at 90 points and it would usually disrupt your own plan to deep strike a model like this rather than something more effective. They’re pretty fun though.
Araknae Quad Accelerator Platform
The new turret in the Saturnine box costs 125 points. It’s a vehicle with 0 movement, 5hp, 12 armour all round and BS4. Its Atomantic Pavise gives everyone wholly within 3” of it a 5++ against shooting attacks, though it also has Explodes 4+ so standing near it is a bit risky as you take 5 S8 hits if it goes bang. You ignore the sticky-out legs and instead measure to the hull for all purposes, including the 5++ bubble and explosions.
The Araknae’s quad accelerator autocannon is a decent all-round gun. It fires 10 S7 AP4 D2 shots, with Breaching 6+, making it a threat to any infantry and dreadnoughts. With Rapid Tracking and Skyfire it will be great for intercepting aircraft. It’s obviously a disadvantage to be an immobile turret but the Araknae will probably be able to hurt whatever turns up in front of it.
The rules for Heavy weapons mean that Tanks like Predators don’t really want to move unless they have to. The Araknae’s immobility isn’t such a big problem when other stuff doesn’t want to move either. The trade-off is pretty good firepower for its price and the shield bubble is a good way to protect Rapiers.
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