Solo Haemonculus Covens in 8th

Hey all,

So I am new to DE and about to make a buying spree to start an army.

I really want to run solo Haemonculus Covens (with some support from stuff unaffiliated with Kabals or Cults like Scourges and Mandrakes) and am interested in any and all advice on what to buy first and how to play them. My main army is Imperial Guard, so already know it's going to be a huge adjustment.

I don't expect (or seek) to win any GT's, just want a nice fluffy Coven list that can hold its own.

Was planning to start off by buying:

Two Taloi

Two Haemonculi

Two Raiders

Three Wrack squads (probably just one actual box and will covert two more squads with bits from other packs)

One Grotesque squad (also predominately converted)

Two units of Scourges

Since your list is almost entirely CC based, i would highly recommend a Chronos. The Healing factor is nothing special, but the reroll aura for CC is actually pretty nice, especially when combined with poisoned weaponry.

I'm a big fan of the Ossefactor. You can find a threat where some of us fought about wether or not its mortal wounds could generate additionnal mortal wounds : http://www.thedarkcity.net/t16085-ossefactor-infinite-mortal-wounds

Taloï and grotesques aren't really optimal, but you can't go Full Coven and not take them. I don't really like Liquifier guns, but i think some people here are having some success with them, so it can be tried.

Don't bother with Hexrifles. Having a pocket of snipers does nothing at all, you need to have at least 5 for them to become relevant.

Since the big weakness of coven is their lack of Anti tank, i would recommend taking 2*5 scourges with 4 Dark Lances in each squad. They just rock

Be sure to post pictures of your paintings, if you feel like it !

I'll add to Mppqlmd's post that in 8e the (Forge World) Reaper is also a <Haemonculus Coven> unit and excellent for anti-tank, comparable in every way to a Ravager (better in some ways, worse in others). So if you care about that, there's <Coven> lances in a very effective package.

You don't need to, and probably shouldn't if you're just starting, buy the expensive FW model, since it's basically just a Raider with some resin bits in front (the kit is literally a plastic raider and extra parts) so you can convert or just use your Raider to proxy. 3 Reapers is decent anti-tank for a 1500 pts list already.

Scourges will work just as well in that role and are sweet models though.

You're absolutly right about the Reaper being a great AT.

Quote :

Scourges will work just as well in that role and are sweet models though.

The best thing about Scourges is the price... here it's 22.50 euros for those gorgeous models. They need a bit of converting, though, since each weapon is only included once

To start an army, they are really great.

Great ideas all!

Yeah, I don't think I'll want to go FW this early and I am going to try and be strategic about my purchases. I figure if I get a couple of Raiders, I can run them with disintegrators and give their Dark Lances to the Scourges so I can at least have one unit with 3 Dark Lances in it.

I've heard polarizing things about the liquefier guns. A lot of people seem to swear by them. Again, as a guard player that runs a lot of conscripts, I look at the Coven as needing them just be able to clear screening units and stuff since they can't lean on volleys of splinter rifles.

What about heat lances on the Taloï for AT? They're assault weapons so if I deploy them correctly (i.e. within 27"-32" of what I most want to kill), I can have them move and advance 9"-14" turn one and that should put me within 18" of my opponent's big hitters. Four heat lances from two Taloï should do some damage in this case with a CP thrown in.

I would advice not to do that
4 HL is 100 points (not counting the Taloi). That's a lot for 4 S6 shots that will hit on 5+
Those things are way too pricey for a single S6 shot. DL are cheaper, better Strength, better range... and the difference between AP-4 and AP-5 is pretty minor.

Yeah, that's a good point. Everything's pricey though and at least a Talos with a Haemmy babysitting is a tough platform.

I guess the best course is magnetize and experiment.

My guess is that DE are going to get some point adjustments when their Codex finally comes out, but given that they're probably one of the smaller armies in terms of GW sales, that could be a while.

Honestly, if you want AT on a Talos i'd go with Haywire blasters. They are nothing special, but they have a better range, and at least they will wound something. They also cost less than half the cost of a HL.

But, as i said earlier, Dark Lances beat those weapons reaaaaally hard in terms of efficiency.

Yeah, but haywire seems even less likely math-wise to do serious damage. I have a feeling it'll get buffed with the codex though.

Since they've made nearly all DE weapons specifically bad against vehicles, they really need to make their one vehicle-specific weapon decent. We'll see.

I feel like my best chance is going to be deploying such that I can shoot heat lances at something without advancing.

How do we feel about Stinger Pods while we're on the subject?

It's not bad at all, but lost a bit of it's shine now that "blasts" have to hit, and the Talos isn't very accurate (in our standards)
Being S5 does serve a niche in an army full of poison, though. It's definitly a valid choice, and not that pricey.

Using my math post below (I recommend Lord Splata's calculator if you are doing this at home but I'm travelling) it seems like the stinger pod will be better anti-infantry vs common targets at full range than the Twin Splinter Cannon, but worse at SC half range. Despite what you might think, Twin Splinter Cannon at RF range is only slightly worse vs common vehicles than S. Pod (12 vs avg 7 shots wounding on 6 vs 5, no AP). Since the sweet spot for S. Pod is 24-18" which is pretty small I'm not too convinced of it. But I haven't tried these since I'm more of a Kabal player. Heat Lances are not great but they are of course your best anti-vehicle on the Talos.

Do post reports of how it works.