¥ Terminus Est Search Engine ¥

Blood Vow

Happiness is success... (Buddha)

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Anti Cullexus Assassin Tactics for DraigoStar


Note - these tactics apply for any army running a high percentage of psykers in your army. DraigoStar has some special issues seeing how this deathstar is basically an infantry unit and it's hard to bubble wrap since your total number of models is small. So there are general tactics and then special tactics... I'll cover both types.

The Cullexus assassin's rules are pretty amazing and some anti psyker is needed for overall game balance. You have to have the right mindset to take them down and fortunately DraigoStar can do it. Keep in mind one model costing only a small percentage of your deathstar will shutdown a lot of your abilities.

Cullexus Assassin Rules
First and foremost learn the rules for the Cullexus assassin. Know the rules inside out. It's only got three wounds, is T4 and has a 4++ invulnerable save... So it's actually quite fragile and can be killed outright via instant death attacks.



Protection
It's shooting attack does not ignore cover so if you deploy in terrain you've got a save. I always take a Techmarine so I can bolster the cover save where I deploy. Its shooting attack does not ignore invulnerable saves either so you can tank wounds with Draigo. Also note the Cullexus assassin cannot fire Overwatch.

Offense
The Cullexus must move into 12" range for its anti psyker abilities to work which is actually its biggest weakness... Shoot first then assault it. Draigo should issue a challenge so it's melee attacks do not spill over into other friendly models plus all other models in the deathstar can attack it during melee. Volume of attacks is one of the keys to defeating it. The Centurions' chest missile can kill it outright along with the sergeant's twin linked lascannon. Every wound inflicted counts ! I run my GK Librarian with a Nemesis force Daemonhammer which is master crafted - another melee attack that can inflict instant death. My Techmarine has a servo arm and power fist so he can kill it outright as well. Remember the Grav Cannons put out a high rate of fire and you're bound to roll at least a couple sixes to hit. The Grav Amps take care of making sure you inflict some AP2 wounds. Save the Devastator protocol for re rolling to hit with your DevCents too... You'll need it !

Cullexus Assassin Delivery Systems
1) Bastion with escape hatch; this setup gives the assassin a large potential footprint so be very careful.
2) Drop pod; this setup is really good for the assassin as it's pretty much guaranteed to come in right where it needs to be... Again the cover save is your best defense. If you take Inquisitor Coteaz you can intercept the Cullexus which is one of the best defenses and may even serve as a psychological deterrent so much your opponent may even chicken out and deploy beyond its magic 12" anti psy area of affect which effectively negates its annoyance.
3) Stormraven; while the assassin is well protected and highly mobile this setup is points prohibitive.
4) Infilitrate; this setup can be the most effective. A good counter is to spread your deathstar with your psykers in back so they can move beyond its 12" area of anti psy.

Types 2 and 4 are the best delivery systems since they cost the least amount of points and are very effective at getting the assassin where it needs to be.

Using the Rest of your Army
I typically run one Stormraven with a squad of embarked Purifiers whom can paratroop when arriving from reserve and target the Cullexus along with the Stormraven... Those twin linked shots from the Stormraven help plus I always kit it with Hurricane bolters. The twin linked multi-melta can inflict instant death, you've got missiles that can inflict instant death too and there's also the twin linked assault cannon. The Stormraven is very good in this roll since it's very hard for the Cullexus assassin to hide and most of its weapons are twin linked.

Depending on how the Cullexus assassin is deployed you may be able to bubble wrap your deathstar - take care as you don't want to unnecessarily sacrifice them.

Conclusions
Other psychic deathstars such as jetseer council can simply out range the assassin once it's made its move which is not the case for DraigoStar - you must engage it as quickly as possible or use the rest of your army.




No comments: