Violatrices: A Sniper Unit

I've always wished the DE had a sniper unit, so I decided to try making one. This is kinda made up where I sit, so yeah.

VIOLATRICES

Basically, ascetic females who are dedicated to the precise shot. I don't have much fluff for them. The singular form is Violatrix.

22 Points each.

WS4 BS5 S3 T3 W1 I5 A1 Ld8 Sv.6+

Composition: 1 to 5 Violatrices.

Unit type: Infantry.

Wargear:

Chameleon Armour: The Violatrix is known for her ability to remain unseen. Chameleon Armour produces an effective invisibility cloak and gives a 6+ Armour Save. In addition, any cover save is upgraded by one point. For example, if a Violatrix is behind cover that normally confers a 4+ save, the save is upgraded to 3+.

Focused Darklight Rifle: R36" S6 AP3 Rapid Fire, Sniper

Special Rules: Night Vision, Power from Pain, Fleet of Foot

Unnatural Focus: Upon receiving one Pain Token, a Violatrix may reroll any to hit roll of 1.

Options:
If the unit is at full strength, one or two Violatrices may replace their Focused Darklight Rifles with:
-Darklance: 20 points each.

Character Options:
If the unit is at three or more Violatrices, one Violatrix may be upgraded to:
-Mistress Superior: 10 points.
WS4 BS6 S3 T3 W1 I5 A1 Ld9 Sv.6+

The Mistress Superior may take:

-Viper Rifle: R36" SX AP3 Assault 1, Sniper, Poison 3+ 10 points.

-Band of Desolation: Bands of Desolation are rings that imprison the soul of a tortured slave in a runic gem. Upon release, the soul screams in Hellish agony before dissolving into the warp.
Template S7 AP3 Assault 1, One Shot. 5 points

I like this idea. What FOC slot did you imagine them taking up? I assume an elite choice?

One of the things I'm a bit iffy on is making the rifles rapid shot. I would personally keep the sniper rifle as a heavy weapon or perhaps assault 1 like a blaster. 10 S6 AP3 rending shots that hit on a 2 coming from a potential effective range of 32" (12" move, 2" disembark, 18" half range double shot via rapid fire) is pretty beardy.

Does Unnatural Focus replace FnP, or do they claim both benefits of having one pain token? At BS 5, this pretty much means they will hardly ever miss so I would suggest it replace FnP.

If you decide to upgrade one of them to a Mistress Superior, does she also get Unnatural Focus? The wording for it only benefits a Violatrix. I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, I'm just trying to be helpful with cleaning up the rules language.

Do they have any options for Dedicated Transports?

[quote="Archeonlotet"]One of the things I'm a bit iffy on is making the rifles rapid shot. I would personally keep the sniper rifle as a heavy weapon or perhaps assault 1 like a blaster. 10 S6 AP3 rending shots that hit on a 2 coming from a potential effective range of 32" (12" move, 2" disembark, 18" half range double shot via rapid fire) is pretty beardy.
[quote]

you can correct me if Im wrong, but rapid fire at movement means they still only have 12 " Range, so its not as bad as it looks. Personally I would stick it being other sniper weapons (other than our hexrifle) and make them heavy 1

Also Im not too keen on the AP3. Yes I understand its suppose to be anti- Everything except termies, but with the way cover is, this unit will suffer the same way dark reapers do in the eldar codex (actually... they are the same weapon, just not a sniper) I would rather see it being AP 4~5, and you drop them 4 points to 18.

You are correct sir. I was picturing the example from the book in my brain head when I was posting and thought it was 1/2 range for rapid shot. I was mistaken, it is a 12" range regardless of the max range of the weapon. 26" for all those shots is still very nasty.

Wait, isn't "sniper" a rending weapon that wound on 4+ (and pen with S3)?
You really should drop either S value or not use sniper, that may be confusing...

Maybe make the unnatural focus replace the second pain token, since furious charge would be out of character for snipers.
The necrons have a rapid fire sniper weapon, but heavy or assault one would be better. Maybe instead of dropping the strength 6 completly, make it count as str6 lance when fired at vehicles. It is a darklight weapon, interesting image of snipers shooting latches off access panels then cutting wires and hydraulic lines with micro darklance beams to stop a tank.

abjectus wrote:

The necrons have a rapid fire sniper weapon, but heavy or assault one would be better.

yeah, i have to agree with abjectus. the sniper rifle should be either assault or heavy. also, lose the dark lances. if their supposed to be stealthy snipers, they probably wouldn't be carrying something that big and cumbersome around. tends to give you away.

Really cool idea, love the concept and rules. Couple of things:
No Rapid Fire, thats just ridiculous.
S5 For the Darklight Rifle
Maybe the option of a poisoned weapon instead?

My favorite rules had to be those cameleon armours, just cause that is an awesome idea, and unnatural focus. WIN.
You my friend, are a genius. One day, when my current painting desk is clean and I have money, I WILL MAKE THESE.

Change the name and fluff (maybe, I just wasn't too keen) and keep them sniper, especially since you know pick targets on a 6 to hit!!!!

Posts merged together. Please edit your posts instead of posting another one. /mod

My take on the concept (which is excellent) would go like this:

ELITES
Violatrix Assassins ............18 points per model
Violatrix Assassin WS5 BS5 S3 T3 W1 I7 A1 Ld8 Sv6+ Type: In
Violatrix Shadow Mistress WS5 BS5 S3 T3 W1 I7 A2 Ld9 Sv6+ Type: In (Ch)

Composition:
• 1 Violatrix Assassin
[You may take up to 3 units as one choice.]

Wargear:
• Stinger rifle (Rng: 30" S:X AP:5 Assault 1, Sniper, Poisoned (2+))
• Venom blade
• Haywire grenades

Special rules:
• Fleet
• Night Vision
• Power from Pain
• Unnatural Focus (The Violatrix model may re-roll any rolls of 1 to hit if she has a pain token.)
• Shrouded
• Scouts

Character Options:
• One Violatrix Assassin may be upgraded to a Violatrix Shadow Mistress.....+10 points.
• The Violatrix Shadow Mistress may replace her stinger rifle with:
- Haywire Blaster..........free
- Darklight Rifle (Rng:24" S7 AP2 Assault 1, Lance, Rending, Pinning).....+10 points
• The Violatrix Shadow Mistress may replace her venom blade with:
- Scissorhand.......+5 points
- Huskdagger (4+ poison w/ Rending & ID on rends).......+15 points
• The Violatrix Shadow Mistress may take any of the following:
- Ghostplate Armor.......+10 points
- Phantasm Grenade Launcher.......+20 points

Okay, that's it. This seems more balanced to me, and has more interesting uses within the army. I'm just not fond of being able to spam a bunch of high-strength snipers on the field for relatively cheap. That's why we have blasters and dark lances, and why they are rather expensive in points. The real advantage of a sniper unit is the ability to pick off a model here and there, causing multiple pinning tests and morale checks. The Violatrix are all single-model units to maximize on that. They can still take a darklight rifle, but it's 1 in every 74 points rather than 22.


please refrain from bringing old topics to life. If the topic has not been posted in for over a month, it is probably dead and does not need any new posts. /mod

I personally would make them male, as in DE Fluff shooters (Granted not totally) seem to be male, and CC master females, as a general rule. I think Kovin's rules are the most balanced.

please refrain from bringing old topics to life. If the topic has not been posted in for over a month, it is probably dead and does not need any new posts. /mod

Looking for a Unit like this, always struck me as odd that DE don't have a sniper unit, as the whole stalking prey and spreading confusion in enemy ranks seemed very DE like. Assuming their an elite choice. One thing though, Dark Lances strike me as being a bit to bulky for infiltrators.

Please do not necro threads. Cheers - Cavash.