I'm going to try and write some this stuff up earlier during the daytime as recently I have been typing away all night into early morning, and that just doesn't do the blog well and doesn't do my sleeping pattern any good. So far we have established that the Lord and Sorcerer both benefit largely from this formation and that Terminators and Chosen are at an equal standing of 'which one do I prefer' with possessed being forgotten about and standard marines being the tax of the formation. So, onto the next blocks of units available Raptors, Talons and Bikes and Havocs and Helbrutes.
Infact we will start backwards.
Helbrutes first.
The Helbrute at 100 points stock, with stupidity table unaffected by this formation, it is a healthy points sink in most regards. It gains from Hatred (Imperial people) which is nice for combat but that is it. It doesn't have boon access and it doesn't have a LD value.
Being Objective secured is OK for this unit, but there will be times when you need to move 4" closer to an objective, but stand and shoot twice instead. Alternatively, you want to stay on this objective, but you run off like an arse and charge something in combat. This is assuming they don't get themselves killed via stupidity.
There is a single saving grace for this option however, given a Dread Claw drop pod (looking at the American, forgeworld loving meta) Dropping in but remaining inside the pod for a turn stops it rolling on "I'm stupid" for a couple of turns, and the turbo boost and jink of the claw can set it up for a good assault. Also the Claw becomes Ob Sec too, so it can sit on the objective whilst the stupid one runs about or keep the stupid one inside it, so when it blows up there is another unit to get rid of sitting on the objective.
Still I'm in the UK, so no claws or alternate strategies for me. NEXT!
Chaos Havocs
These seem to be the optimal choice then for UK and possibly America too. Free Votlw means Mr champion is expendable, and hatred helps out if you are wanting to max out the squad for combat (4 flamers, MoK, Wrath, bit crazy lolz). The free boons roll would probably never come to them however, there are bigger guys in the formation who would benefit more from it.
Having thought for a while about the Havoc squads, I do see a reason to take 3 units of these. They are better than Marines, more weapon options and availability, and Chosen, cheaper for the same job. They also do better than Helbrutes, but that has already been said. Objective secured means as well as bringing a lot of fire power availability to the table for cheap they and their transports count where it matters. So builds.
The first build is quiet classical for the Havocs, sit at the back with a heavy weapon, shoot stuff. 5 man squads with either 4 Autocannons (115pts) or 4 Lascannons (155pts) would be the most popular options even though Hatred and Favoured Scions wouldn't buff them that much. The Objective secured means it needs to be dealt with if they are sat on, or are close to, an objective and they can support the Tax Marines if they get in trouble.
The second build mirrors that of the chosen yet a lot cheaper. 5 guys, 4 special weapons in a rhino with the following total costs: Flamers (130), Meltas (150), Plasma (165). Still very cheap considering that they can pump out a heavy amount of firepower and still score. For the Americans, replacing the rhino for a drop claw would be +65 points.
Both builds have their merits, and now that there isn't only 3 Heavy support slots (there are billions in the auxiliary formations) for the 8 options to fight over Objective Secured Havocs might creep back into the game over other options. Get Rekt Oblits.
Choice winner: Obviously Havocs.
The last choices are possibly the ones who gain most out of the formation buffs, Raptors, Talons and Bikers.
Chaos Raptors:
At 95 points, also with Free VotLW, Ob Sec, Hatred (Imperium peps), Favoured Scions is quiet a baller considering this is an assault based unit. The free VotLW and Favoured Scions means that you can give your champion something to win a challenge with, rather than targeting, or hoping for a unit that has a crappy Character in it. A maxed unit of raptors with MoK and Icon of Wrath is pretty good, this would be a unit you might want to add your Lord and Sorcerer to too give it potential buffing with fearless and a few power buffs meaning a mini deathstar of sorts. Although expensive it can be arguably worth the points for all the buffs available too them.
Add in upto 5 Lords/ Sorcerers available from the Command options (I see 1/2 extra lords with a Powerfists and Lightning Claws and a couple extra sorcerers as a good choice) then you can make a really good unit.
There is also the minimum deep strike and hide/ hunt the little squads unit available if you are needing something that is a bit faster than terminators. 3 Units of 5 of these all in deepstrike would be alright scoring for mid/late game, also the Ob Sec means that they are going to have to be dealt with again and with the speed and the Hatred, they can claim and defend objectives on their own.
Warp Talons
At 160 points, Warp talons are still very expensive for their chow, not really points efficient to sneak them round the board for turn 5 scoring. The only other option is 10 guys with Lords and Sorcerers glued onto them from the formation and the Command branch as talked about for the Raptors. However, the squad base is 310 points for 10 guys when 15 raptors are 265 and have grenades and ranged weapons. You can buff this squad to the max with psychic powers for Hammer hand (that might hurt them because of Daemon), cursed earth, invis and re-roll saves, you can even make them Tzeentch for the extra invulnerable.
All this, however, is very costly and very expensive. It also asks the question of "Is it points efficient?". The answer is probably no. The attacks from the lords and sorcerers weapons have enough to deal with the majority of stuff they are fighting anyway, the 30 odd Hatred lightning claw attacks would be overkill at that point, and if you don't get first turn they are going to be butt naked and die like marines.
There are ways to counter this, but keep adding on the points and you will notice the next option is cheaper and better.
Chaos Bikers
At 70 points for 3 it is the cheapest of the options, so first off it you are just wanting minimum squads then go for this option. T5, Jink and Turbo boost means it is great for hiding around the board and scoring last turn with Ob Sec. ^This is brilliant.
Alternatively, you can do what has been discussed above, Death star. The Votlw, Hatred and Favoured Scions benefit this unit massively, making it not so scared of challenges and re-rolls to hit. Being Ob sec and bikes they have a free jink to stave of AP2/3 and turbo boost also helps with last turn scoring.
Adding sorcerers and Lords to this unit just buffs it more, again LVL3 sorcerers and biked lords with Power fists lightning claws should be able to deal with any amount of trouble they come across. Hammer hand is a giver and Mark of Nurgle, but not on sorcerers, means the entire unit is T6 with a possibility of T7 if fleshmetal hide is rolled too.
T6/T7 Invisible unit with a possible 2+ jink is shrouded is also rolled sounds like a brilliant meta death star. Granted it wouldn't be the best, but it is a pure CSM unit with no outside help. Ob Sec on the original bike unit and 2 of the characters within it also help out last turn with holding down them objectives, there is no loss here.
Note: Forgot to add 16 twinlinked rapid firing bolt guns makes a nice amount of shooting too.
The Bike options in my mind beat the other two hands down. Raptors can be utilised for alternate play styles if you wish but Talons are too pricey for the chaff and don't have the resilience that a bike naturally has.
Final Thoughts:
First off, I overlooked this formation for other things, thinking it was not worth it and I could get something better for cheaper. However, now that you break it down you can build a constructive and precise competitive army out of this formation and the Command options, just need a Auxiliary or two to complement the final product. I would mention taking Cabal in place of the Commander options, but then you would lose some of the Detachment buffs and only have a single lord to tank challenges.
Lords, Sorcerers, Terminators (minimum), Marines (minimum), Bikes, Havocs are all in my yes pile.
Chosen and Raptors are in my "Depends how you play" pile, but strictly not for me.
Possessed, Helbrutes, Warptalons are in my no pile.
Thank you for reading this 2 part first look/ review of the CSM Warband formation. Luckily this is the largest formation in the book, so the others might be able to be 1 single post instead of many.
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