HQ builds for the new codex

With the new codex comes a large number of new problems and solutions to the ol ' what do you do with a DE HQ question. Since we have Alliance of Agony, we can play with WL traits a whole lot more than other armies, so I made a list of HQs I've been liking the idea of looking at the new codex.

Durable Haemonculus

Electrocorrosive Whip or Scissorhand, Relic: The Nightmare Doll, Reroll 1s on Inured to Suffering aura trait, Prophets of Flesh

I kind of like this trait combo if you're going for a largely coven-based PoF army, though it may get beaten out in pure utility by making Urien the warlord and getting the D3 command point bonus. But if you've got a load of Grotesques and Pain engines and you'll be making a ton of Inured rolls, you might get some mileage out of the occasional rerolled 1 into a 6 from the aura, and it makes the haemie himself just absurdly durable.


Killy Haemonculus

EC Whip or Scissorhand, Ichor Injector, Add 1 to wound rolls trait, Coven of 12

(That's 4 attacks that hit on 2 wound on 3 -3AP 2 damage, and 1 attack that hits on 2 wounds on 3 rerollable -2AP 1 damage that deals D3 mortals on a 5+)

Very fun build if you're going for 3 patrols, also doesn't require a relic at all which is very nice. I think Sciss vs EC whip is preference with this build because -2AP on a scissorhand gets you through GEQ like a hot knife but -3AP and 2 damage makes you better at downing characters. If you're just running 1 haemie and 1 unit of wracks, wracks like being Coven of 12 more than any other haemie unit IMO and this gives your haemonculus a nice terrifying boost as a murder machine.

Blood Glaive Succubus

Blood Glaive, +Str drugs, 3++ trait, Cult of Red Grief, splinter pistol

Keeping it cheap with the splinter pistol because you're going to be advancing and charging with this lady as much as possible. Substitute +str drugs for +Mov or +A if S7 doesn't make a difference in your matchup.

Suicide Duelist Succubus (AKA The Deathsnuggler)

Shardnet and Impaler, choice of mortal wounds on a 6 trait or double-drug trait to get her +mov and a combat stat as well (though TBH, this build is probably best when you're NOT giving her a warlord trait...), Traitor's Embrace Relic, Cult of the Cursed Blade.

54 points for a model that gloms on to an enemy character or unit until either that character is dead, or they're both dead. With the new shardnet you have an 80% chance of preventing an infantry unit from leaving combat with you. Starting at 4 S4 AP-1 D2 attacks that basically auto-hit, you've got a pretty decent chance of killing a basic level character, and you'll probably at least deal a few wounds before you die yourself. And when you do, you've got one last D6 mortal wounds to the face to try and finish the enemy character off with.

Whip my Hair Back and Forth Succubus

Archite Glaive, Triptych Whip relic, +A drug, Blood Dancer trait, Cult of Grief.

Yo I heard you liked attacks so I put some attacks on your attacks so you can attack while you attack. Personally, I'd be running this in a Strife Battalion, so I would probably leave the trait off this lady in favor of giving it to Lelith, since she is allowed to be chosen with Alliance of Agony thanks to that stratagem calling out SUCCUBUS as a keyword rather than Succubus. 9 attacks practically auto-hitting then wounding on 4s with AP-2 is still very good for 54 points.

What Kind of Drugs Were They Denny Succubus

Archite Glaive and Impaler, Phial Bouquet relic, Double Drug Trait, Cult of Strife. Bonus points if you give her +Str and +A.

This is purely a silly build that mostly revolves around using the Hyperstimm Backlash stratagem (possibly in combination with the fight twice stratagem since Hyperstimm lasts the full battle round) to create the most hilariously drugged up succubus in Comorragh. With peak stats, this succubus could be making 9 attacks (or be S9 with her Archite Glaive) with +4 to one stat and +2 to another. Also, if you're Shredder, buy a pair of loaded dice that always roll 3s and gleefully yell "THERE WAS A MOVEMENT RELIC ALL ALONG! I DONT NEED A JETBIKE I HAVE DRUGS!!!" while your succubus pelvic thrusts 20" across the board in a movement phase.

Boring Ol' Buffchon

Venom Blade and Splinter Pistol, Writ of Living Muse relic, Labyrinthine Cunning Trait, kabal of the black heart.

Keep him cheap because he's going to be sitting in the backfield and "poisoning his blade" as the hellions these days call it. Take him in a Spearhead and plop him down next to three ravagers to give them reroll 1s to hit and wound and give you Agents of Vect+Labyrinthine Cunning. It ain't sexy, but if it works it works.

Time to DDDDDuel Archon

Blast Pistol (or blaster if you're indexfully inclined) and Djinn Blade, Reroll all wounds trait, any Kabal

The Flayed Skull trait works better on an Archon with a basic huskblade, but if you're giving the Archon the relic blade, the reroll all wounds trait is a bit better against most targets due to the weight of attacks he slings.

Nice, you've definitely got all the builds I've thought of so far, plus a few. I love your suicidal character trapping succubus, finally someone came up with something Cursed Blade can do with their HQs

Nice. Thanks for posting these.  

I've got some HQs to share as well, but a couple of them are more for fun. I hope that's okay.


Mandrake in Disguise

Poison Tongue Archon with Huskblade, Splinter Pistol, Soul Seeker, Soul Thirst

He's primarily a sniper, ideally using the Soul Seeker to try and put wounds on any characters close to the front lines (if that's not possible, he can instead aim for monsters or heavy infantry). He can also fire from behind a LoS-blocker, which is always amusing. However, he's also pretty good in melee - having 6 attacks that reroll 1s both to hit and to wound. Soul Thirst is mainly because it fits the flavour, but it does mean that you can choose to use his armour save against small-arms fire (saving his Shadowfield for high-damage weapons) and then much some infantry to regain lost wounds.


Werewolf Haemonculus

Coven of Twelve Haemonculus with Ichor Injector, Flensing Blade, Master Regenist

The Flensing Blade is the claws, the Ichor Inhector is the infected bite. I have nothing more to say about this. Just a silly idea I wanted to share.


Glaiveabus

Red Grief Succubus with Splinter Pistol, Blood Glaive, [Red Grief warlord trait]

If you give her the +1A drug, she's got 5 S6 AP-3 Dd3 attacks that hit on 2s with rerolls, and a 3++/6+++ save. Not bad for 54pts.


Fisticuffs Succubus

Cult of Strife Succubus with Hydra Gauntlets, Vile Bouquet, Precision Blows

With the +1A drug, you've got 6 attacks that hit on 2s with rerolls. Then every 6+ you roll will inflict a mortal wound, and you reroll all failed wounds (plus whatever Vile Bouquet gives you). I don't know how effective it will be, but for only 55pts I doubt you'll be too disappointed.

Oh man Fisticuffubus is really fun. I generally think the phial us a total waste of a relic (unless you're running the Just Say Yes To Drugs succubus build) but I'd totally run that build in an actual semi competitive game.

the_scotsman wrote:

Oh man Fisticuffubus is really fun. I generally think the phial us a total waste of a relic (unless you're running the Just Say Yes To Drugs succubus build) but I'd totally run that build in an actual semi competitive game.

Hey, thanks.

To be honest, you could probably ditch the Bouquet entirely. I only added it because I thought she looked a bit bare.

Many good combos have already been mentioned, but there are two I am especially thrilled to see:

Incubus Hierarch HQ

Archon with Huskblade, +1D trait and the Armory of Misory (Obsidian Rose).

You get an Incubus with a Shadow Field and 5 attacks. 1 + D3 damage means instant death for Primaris Marines and friends. You also get a nice -1 to hit in the fight phase.

Not to mention that your Blast Pistol suddenly becomes 1 + D6 damage too.
Happy Disintegrating!

Survivor of Endless Drought HQ

Archon with Djinn Blade and Soul Thirst

You like the Djinn Blade but are afraid of losing wounds after each combat? Fear not!
You receive a bonus attack and regain a wound every time you kill a model. No need to spend CP on a Parasite's Kiss.

Soul Thirst being a universal trait makes this extremely flexible. You can use this build and fully benefit from the Flayed Skull or Poisoned Tongue obsessions (did I hear party bus?).

An alternative take: Use the Poisoned Tongue and throw a party with your Court in a Raider. Take the Soul Seeker and snipe enemy characters from 18". Use Soul-Trap to get an Archon with S6, S7, S8...

Edit: I guess I understand why nobody is thrilled for the Soul-Trap now. Thanks for pointing it out @Soulless Samurai.

It's amazing how cheap and fun those succubi profiles are.

Sent from Topic'it App

The Strange Dark One wrote:

An alternative take: Use the Poisoned Tongue and throw a party with your Court in a Raider. Take the Soul Seeker and snipe enemy characters from 18". Use Soul-Trap to get an Archon with S6, S7, S8...

I like your builds, but this particular tactic doesn't work. You have to kill them in melee to use Soul Trap.

I think it'd be incredibly fun to set up a narrative scenario where you run a Strife battalion with Lelith and the second Succubus with the all the drugs build as a young upstart succubus trying to surpass Lelith with all her fancy enhancements.

Why doesn't this forum have a like feature, because this? This, I like.

Quote :

Whip my Hair Back and Forth Succubus

Archite Glaive, Triptych Whip relic, +A drug, Blood Dancer trait, Cult of Grief.

Yo I heard you liked attacks so I put some attacks on your attacks so you can attack while you attack. Personally, I'd be running this in a Strife Battalion, so I would probably leave the trait off this lady in favor of giving it to Lelith, since she is allowed to be chosen with Alliance of Agony thanks to that stratagem calling out SUCCUBUS as a keyword rather than Succubus. 9 attacks practically auto-hitting then wounding on 4s with AP-2 is still very good for 54 points.

Blood Dancer is Cult of Strife Trait. Probably a typo mistake
But yeah, 9A hitting on 2s (6s are 3 hits instead of 1), wounding on 4+ is pretty scary for nothing in pts....

HQs! HQs everywhere!

I love how finally having HQs that aren't the worst in the game is enough for everyone to giddily make up silly nicknames for the builds they're excited to try. It's really very endearing to see.

mynamelegend wrote:

I love how finally having HQs that aren't the worst in the game is enough for everyone to giddily make up silly nicknames for the builds they're excited to try. It's really very endearing to see.

I mean, what's not to love about Fisticuffsubus?

Sniper Haemonculus

Dark Creed
Spirit sting

To be used with screaming jets and easoteric kill stratagems

Deep strike, shot a character, D3 shots, wounds 2+, -4 ap, no inv saves

Pretty snipery if boubble wrap is not done properly. Sadly not enough to kill any important character XD

Murder Haemonc
Warlord trait for +1 to wound
Flensing Blade or whatever relic.

Warlrod trait and Flensing Blade

5 attacks that hit on 2's wound characters on 2's and do 3 damage. Most characters have an invul save so the -2 rend actually is fine

Wow just realized I been posting in the wrong thread like an idiot.

No it doesn't. It just says they can't shoot if the vehicle fell back, and can't shoot non-pistols if the vehicle is engaged. There is nothing about "modifiers" there at all. You are the only person in every thread asking this question.

Deleted

It is talking about for the purpose of targeting, as in -1 to hit modifiers on many models for being >12" away, etc. Obsession bonuses are not modifiers.

I agree, I know people that are making an argument they can so I was saying it would be nice if they clarified it in faq

I really the Archon from Flayed Skull with +1S/A when charging/charged/HI.

This with Djin Blade gives him 8 attacks, hitting on 2s with S5 AP-3 D3 damage. The Soul Thirst is also exceptional for Archons because of the life leech.

Otherwise, for 54 points, the 9 attack Succubus from Strife is probably the best we have for melee. I think Blood Dancer is great here as it can skyrocket her damage, especially from T3+ onwards. Probably the best single-wound infantry muncher in the game for the points.

Likewise, a big fan of the Red Grief Succubus as well with Blood Glaive. Give her Adrenalight again for 5 attacks at S6 AP-3 D3 damage with no -1 to Hit. Pretty rad since she has 3++/6+++.

Do you think the Obsidian Veil is worth considering with Soul Thirst?

If you want your Archon to be survivable, might as well go the full mile.

I think the armor of misery is preferable to the veil if you're not locked into Flayed Skull. 3+ save vs low quality attacks and -1 to hit is clutch.

Sadly, relics are in much shorter supply for us than warlord traits, and IMO the HQ that skyrockets in power the most with a relic is a succubus. Blood glaive, Triptch, and Traitors Embrace are all just incredible and easily double the threat of a succubus with the right gear and WL trait.

Only relics I'd really consider on anyone else (unless you're going pure kabal/coven) are djinn blade, writ and Helm of Spite.

None of the Haemonculus ones are thrilling to me. Which is a huge shame because my Haemonculus is modeled as a puppeteer with a marionette holding his weapons.

I disagree vexator mask is critical. Avoiding overwatch entirely is very strong