#warlordtraits

After an unexpected delay, lets jump into the final three Warlord Traits in the Vanguard tree. For a recap on part 1, click here

Stealth Adept

Unless this

WARLORD

is the closest eligible target, enemy models cannot target it with ranged attacks.

Pros

This is basically the old CHARACTER rule but in 9th has a load more application than it used to. At its very core, your Warlord will be able to operate independantly so long as its not the closest thing to your enemy. Its a level of protection should you mess up your requirements for Look Out Sir, or you need to move a unit with something such asTemporal corridor to get onto an objective.

Where this is specifically differant to the same trait from 8th edition though is that units that used to specifically say that they could target CHARACTERS regardless of targeting restriction have evolved to 'Ignore the Look Out Sir rule'. Your warlord could be completely independant but visible and not targetable.

Cons Most of the time your Warlord should be a support role as well as packing its own punch. If your Warlord is isolated, there’s a good chance a plan has gone wrong.

Utility Best units to use this on are your Librarian or Captain due to the nature of their abilities and in combination with other unit wargear The Librarian can benefit as it allows you to use your psyker abilities to move units around with less risk of being left open for attack. The Captain has a bolter that can target characters ignoring look out sir, and omni scramblers which means he can sit back on an objective and snipe, stopping reinforcements arriving within 12inch, a large protective bubble on a rear objective. What about his aura ability? Whilst its only on infiltrators, they have equipment allowing them to benefit from auras anywhere on the table, it might not be much, but its something.

Summary With all the various traits available, only a few army builds will seriously benefit from this, I'd probably go for something else unless you're building around making use of Infiltrators to shut down areas of the table.

Target Priority

In your Command Phase, select one friendly PHOBOS unit within 6inch of the WARLORD. Until the start of your next Command Phase, add one to the hit rolls of ranged attacks.

Pros

Reliable shooting is always good. Whilst modifiers are capped at +1/-1 using this could help mitigate Dense Cover.

Cons

The restrictions on what units can benefit make it less useful. Most PHOBOS units are not designed for their firepower.

Utility Best used when fighting an army with a lot of -1 to hit or on boards with Dense Cover. Eliminators would be a good choice for a target but as they already sit at BS2 its only for mitigation.

Summary Its a very situational trait that in preselecting army build and with its limitations I don’t think Id ever take with all the other options out there. 

Master Marksman

Add one to the damage of ranged weapons the Warlord has, except relics and grenades.

Pros

More damage, its always good. Who wouldn’t like a 4 damage assault 1 bolter on their Captain that can ignore look out sir.

Cons Similar to rank and file Phobos units, the character in the Vanguard aren't especially built for damage.

Utility Obviously the Captain is a good call, he can stick his rifle to 4 damage, which can ignore look out sir. Guard characters would need to hide well from him, most light characters sit at the 4 wound mark and this guy would be a serious threat, if he could take this and Stealth Adept then up, I'd do that all day. The Reiver Lieutenant isn’t a bad call as it sticks his pistol up to 3 damage with decent AP but if you're using this, use a Captain.

Summary I might take this, on a Captain, supported by a unit of almost any Phobos, especially if fighting against a lot of lower wound characters. If you have an ability to give him two warlord traits and can take Stealth Adept he becomes a really annoying character chipping away buffs and auras on the move with his omni scrambler.

Welcome back.

Today I'll be looking at the Warlord traits in the Vanguard tree. For a recap on what the Vanguard are, check out my introduction here.

Being Vanguard traits, only your PHOBOS Warlord can take them, as well as any extra PHOBOS units you use a stratagem on to allow for more. The main focus of these traits is to bolster the PHOBOS elements in your army, and is best used in conjunction with a largely PHOBOS force. You can find a recap on the PHOBOS Captain here, the Lieutenant here and the Librarian here

So lets get to it.

Shoot and Fade

If you've played Aeldari before you’ll recognise this, for those that haven’t this allows a PHOBOS unit within 6 inch to make a normal move or advance after shooting.

Pros

Great if you want to shoot and duck into terrain, or if you just want that extra movement. Aeldari players have used this for years to get their units across a board but with 9th edition this could get your units onto Objectives quicker which is the name of the game.

Cons

You can’t charge after you use this, so running your Infiltrators or Incursors forward doesn’t mean you'll be throwing them into combat that turn. This isn’t to mean that you're weak in combat, you're still Space Marines and you'll still get your bonus Shock Assault attack if you're charged. You have to be careful with it to make sure you don’t run your Look Out Sir screen too far and leave your Warlord open though so keep that in mind.

Summary

Its ok, but not brilliant. In a game where your PHOBOS Warlord has access to 13 different warlord traits in the game, probably steer clear of this one. Its one saving grace is that you can run a Librarian up, cast a power, shoot his pistol and run back but that’s super situational.

Lord of Deceit

After both players have deployed, you can select up to three PHOBOS units from your army and redeploy them, or put them into Strategic Reserve for free regardless of normal limitations.

Pros

I love this one. During deployment you can use your units such as infiltrators to screen off the midfield especially if the opponent has any advanced deploying elements of their own, (here’s looking at you Nurglings). Doing this can ruin some midfield plans of your opponent, then you just pull them back, or reposition them to shore up a flank, or exploit an opponents weak spot.

If you're playing a mix of Phobos and back field holders, you could even throw the Phobos into strategic reserve for free and without limitations, to possibly come and harass an enemies backline and flanks from turns 2 and 3. If you were considering sticking your PHOBOS in strategic reserve anyways, this has an extra CP bonus.

Lets take a full unit of 10 Reivers, split into combat squads, and a unit of Incursors split into combat squads, both split for extra protection and mobility. Reivers have to pay for wargear to allow them to arrive at various points on the board, otherwise they have to go in your deployment area. Incursors can advanced deploy to screen out the midfield as highlighted above. Now, after you’ve got both players deployed you simply pick these two units up and put them in strategic reserve, maybe even throwing your Warlord in for good measure. You just popped 25 power of unit in strategic reserve, that were on the board, FOR FREE rather than 3 CP. Its cost a Warlord Trait sure, but those Reivers are going to have a better time popping on a flank. Sure the rest of your army might look light but unless your opponent reacts to this huge threat, you’ll grab objectives all over the board with durable units.

Cons

You are using a warlord trait to do it, and you can leave your board presence pretty light but its all about objectives in 9th.

It might not suit every opponent but the utility it gives, even if its just to pull your units back is pretty good. Just be aware that strategic reserves can be fenced out if your opponent starts lining the flanks and if they don’t turn up they’re destroyed, some missions will put a time limiter on this. Main con here is that its after deployment, which means before you know who is going first. You could redeploy your units and then end up going second, leaving something such as your eliminators out of position as your opponent just moves around, though there is an argument that they would just do this anyway.

Summary

Super useful, super fun and thematic, you can use this with Guerilla Tactics to effectively take a small PHOBOS army off the table though I'm not sure why you'd want to. Its good at stopping things like Nurglings getting objectives turn one, and trust me when I say Nurglings have become a serious problem in 9th with their durability and advanced deployment coupled with low points costs and small models. I can see this getting a lot of play in armies where you take a second warlord trait for 1CP to save 2 or more down the line with strategic reserves. I'd say one to watch.

Master of the Vanguard

This nice little Aura Trait, gives you +1 to charge rolls and plus one to move and advance whilst within 6 inch of your warlord.

Pros

Extra move and charge while using Concealed Positions is pretty nice, if you're going for a turn one charge you could do worse. The extra move will help you get around the board and onto Objectives (there’s a trend here) or just in between the enemy and somewhere they want to go.

Cons

One inch isn’t a lot (insert joke here), and your PHOBOS units for the most part are not combat monsters. In my experience, a lot of disagreements pop up around that extra inch as perspective on the tape measure can sometimes give as much variance.  Summary I see this one as a corrective measure for poor movement and deployment rather than a sure ploy, and that’s mostly because of the units it affects. If this was on all CORE units say, then assault intercessors could benefit but as it is there are better traits to take. Like I said, before 13 traits are available to your PHOBOS Warlord.