Why would you ever take an archon?

Why would you pick an archon if you have other awesome options like the solitaire or the autarch.
I mean, he only buff leadership.

I had tested a list with a solitaire and he managed to kill a 10 man grey knight unit. Then died.

A few reasons. Archons are cheap, they can soak Overwatch like a champ, and if you stick one in a Tantalus then almost everything you have on the board magically gets Leadership 9.

The solitaire is not a HQ so it's not a great comparison.

The archon is durable and Killy enough for his 60ish points to be ok. Hand him an agoniser and blast pistol and good to go.

If you take eldar in your army, you get a Aeldari army and not a Drukhari army. Which mean you won't be able to pick Drukhari stratagems when they will come out.

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If you take eldar in your army, you get a Aeldari army and not a Drukhari army. Which mean you won't be able to pick Drukhari stratagems when they will come out.

Though it pains me to say so, I don't forsee this to be a concern for many months to come.

Because Ti2+ + CP rerolls is nasty

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Because Ti2+ + CP rerolls is nasty

Hate to be the downer, but the Shadowfield rule isolates that it cannot be rerolled for any reason.

Well I had an archon soak like 11W before his Shadowfield dropped. He was such a PITA... So yea. That's why - people tend to think twice if they want to bet on me rolling that "1" or get stuck in CC.

I'm just glad shadow fields are included in the cost now. 0 is the absolute most I'm willing to pay for those piece of garbage devices.

They are not a garbage. They are a deterrent. Try not to think about it from your perspective, but your oponnent's perspective.

"Do I move my Dread into this position so I can fire at that unit and get charged by the Archon who has a good chance of tying it till the end of the game or not?"

OR

"There is that archon with Agoniser and Blast Pistol in Venom circling to my backfield to play with my precious shooty tank... I have no counterchargers there..."

Shadowfield is a tactical thing. Not a CC invulnerability.

aurynn wrote:

They are not a garbage. They are a deterrent. Try not to think about it from your perspective, but your oponnent's perspective.

It's only a deterrent to people who don't know me and my dice. Anyone who does, knows that the chance of me rolling a 1 on my first Shadowfield save is roughly 98%!

Why would you ever take an archon ?
Cheap okayish HQ slot. 60-70 points for an equipped warlord is really cheap.

That's not cheap. 35 points for a Warlock is "the" cheap.

Hellstrom wrote:

That's not cheap.  35 points for a Warlock is "the" cheap.

Just because you can find something cheaper doesn't contest the fact that the archon is cheap.
"This table was quite cheap".
"No, this bubblegum is cheap".
If you're okay with having to ally to CW, and you need a tax HQ, then go ahead, and take a Warlock (and since it even has utility, it's much better than the archon). But some people actually want to play DE, and for them, Archon is the cheap HQ. And compared to most armies, 70ish points for a HQ that is survivable, has a very good shooting attack, and might do something in CC is cheap.

Now let's agree, DE HQs stink on ice. But at least with the Archon you're pouring less points into a useless HQ.

I think the Archon would be great, if he'd have a decent aura.

Why do people want to use our HQs as SM or other HQs? There is strength in not having to stick with other units. I am glad we have a HQ that does not have to predictably keep between units to buff them and go do something unexpected. Archon is useless if you are trying to make him a SM Captain. He is great for the points on his own.

- Because you like the model
- Because you want your army lead by an Archon
- Because he is pretty durable with his 2+Save and Sslyth bodyguards
- Because he works great with a Tantalus
- Because he is a BS2+ Blaster
- Because he is relatively cheap for what he brings to the table

plenty of reasons

Sslyth wrote:

- Because he is pretty durable with his 2+Save and Sslyth bodyguards

I hadn't quite appreciated how durable he becomes with Sslyth. Because they are characters and you need to choose your targets for shooting before rolling to hit, anyone trying to shoot them out of the way in order to get to the Archon has to pretty much fire entire units at each Sslyth individually because you can't split fire into another one as it's not the closest unit.

Well in the shooting phase its true indeed (expet against sniper) but its not true in figth phase

True, but they can still screen the Archon and keep him out of combat (if he so wishes).

Count Adhemar wrote:

True, but they can still screen the Archon and keep him out of combat (if he so wishes).

Of course but if you dont want your archon to go on combat then don't take sslyth

Quauchtemoc wrote:

Count Adhemar wrote:

True, but they can still screen the Archon and keep him out of combat (if he so wishes).

Of course but if you dont want your archon to go on combat then don't take sslyth

The Sslyth are there for firepower, resilience and ablative wounds. If you make the Archon Ynnari, he gets to fire his blaster anytime one of them dies too

Well Venom can screen your archon in shooting phase if you need to.
@Count Adhemar - Thats actually a nice little perk. Although I still prefer Agoni/BlastPistol.

The Venom is his first line of defence. Then the Sslyth. Then his Shadowfield. Then his running shoes.

CptMetal wrote:

I think the Archon would be great, if he'd have a decent aura.

This.
I don't mind him being sub-par in combat, but you get a lot of value due to the auras of a Succubus or Haemonculus.

Also, if you take a Blaster he is suddenly not that cheap anymore.
I wish he had the "Marked for Death" ability from the 7th edition start formation...