Warpsmith Tactica: Picking it apart

With kick starting my blog and trying to keep up constant content I also decided to spread my warp way of where I post my blogs and have a peek into other people doing similar things. I did run into a chap who was going through all the Codex choices and going through a 'review' of the Warp Smith he did seem to miss the  point and, to me, came off a little harsh on the guy. The problem I had with the review was that he was being compared to the Sorcerer and Chaos Lord respectively for different purposes. Obviously the Warpsmith gets smashed by both of these choices any day of the week because they have access, and better stats, to use the available armory equipment.


In fact the Warpsmith has been very undermined by a lot of people and hardly ever seen on the battlefield in games where you have a drink and a laugh with your mates, which isn't a bad thing by all means, but I feel Warpy has been given the bad end of the stick so lets re-re-rereview him at what he is actually meant for.

Ok, first off the bat I am not going to be going through his stat line as you should know that off by heart by now, even without my book I can tell you hes BS5, good for his melta, has a power axe, 5 attacks 2 wounds 2+ save, all you need to know really. Anyway, where he is useful is through his Shatter Defence and Repair abilities where he shines. First off, Shatter Defence can actually have a massive difference on how the entire game pans out as it will make cover a less viable option for your opponent.

'After deployment, but before Scout redeployment and Infiltrate deployment, nominate one piece of terrain in your opponents Deployment Zone. This terrain's cover save is decreased by one for the duration of the game.'

 Ok, so after you both have deployed you can mull over your enemies deployment zone and pick a piece of terrain he is most likely to use to hold units or where an objective is placed or a unit that relies on their cover saves to survive the initial game turns then you have the power to target them pieces of terrain. If you have two then the areas that your opponent is most likely going to favor. Ruins for example are not going to convey much of a bonus in game.

Think of Shatter Defences along the lines of Foreboding from the Divination table, it isn't as effective but it does mean that enemy cover saves are not going to be as sufficient as they otherwise would be. Also, seen as though Shatter Defences are determined after Psychic powers are rolled for so you can knock out any 'Cover and Shroud' plays for the 2+ save down to a 3+, which actually is a big difference in saving throws. Likewise a 4+ ruin save turned into a 5+ means that low AP weapons are going to make more of an impact on the game.

So shatter defence can be big, and obviously with the Warpsmith you are going to be working along side some Vehicles to make further use of his 4+ repairs.

'To repair a vehicle, the Warpsmith must be in base contact or embarked upon it. Roll a D6, (add +1 for if the Warpsmith has Mechatendrils). If the result is 5 or more, you may either restore a hull point or repair a Weapon Destroyed or Immobilised result suffered earlier in the battle, effective immediately.'

Now, this seems to be a really hit and miss chance with the repair at only a 4+ and it cannot be improved by servitors, however if you take 2 Warpsmiths then you are 'math hammered' to get a hull point back each turn of the game. Now, I did ask myself what unit would really benefit from this, and this is supposing it is going to be an actual playable list, so I got a few ideas.

Lords of War: Knights, Typhons, Thunderhawks and Fellblades.

These can all work as supporting units as they all have range and low AP weaponry that has decent range that can make use of the Shattered Defence (the Typhon just ignores cover anyway) and make good use of the HP regen of upto 2 a turn as they are all large models so getting the Warpsmiths in base contact is going to be an easy thing to do whilst keeping them safe from being picked off. Thunderhawk Gunships work in a different manner with it's Daemonic Transport rule to help it stay alive on the battle field. Other LoW such as the Lord of Skull, Kytan and Brass Scorpion are far better situated with a combat roll which the Smithy would probably do best to avoid.

Heavy Support: Land Raider Achilles, Proteus, Classic, Renegade Artillery Battery, Tank Squadron, Strike Battery, Bombard.

Quiet a list yes, the Repair function and the Shatter Defence also affects all these different heavy firepower units including the Renegade vehicles as they are Battle Brothers with their low AP high range weaponry. The Land Raider Achilles takes major advantage from the Warpsmith as with the 'Fulled by Hate' special rule increases the weapons power as the vehicle receives damage, the Smith can repair the Achilles whilst sat inside it with a small troop unit to capture on turn 5 whilst the Smith keeps the HP value of the Achilles up, this along side Shatter Defence allows the Achilles to utilise its weapons to greater value.

Helbrute Murder Pack

At AV12 Helbrutes are quiet easy to tear through, with the right amount of cover they can sit back at 48" and rain havoc on the enemy. Repairing the pack will keep them at peek efficiency as they do become better once they have taken damage.

Other units:

Any fortification with a weapon able to be 'manned' by an individual benefits from the Smith's BS of 5. Also non vehicle units can make use out of the LD buff on the Warpsmith whilst the smith repairs a vehicle as it does not interfere with the unit and their shooting.

My Conclusion is that although the Warpsmith may not be the 'best' HQ choice when put up against it's rivals. However, from my experiences of using it, it is worth it's weight in points for a passive HQ and if you are going down the route of more and more guns then it should be worth looking into how much the Smithy can benefit your army choices and not just pushed under the rug because it's stat line falls short in comparison to others.