Steel Legion unit analysis and gameplay experiences (WIP)
Posted: Thu Jan 25, 2018 2:59 pm
Dear community,
this is just a thread to post my experiences with the game strategy-wise. I will try to be as objective as possible. I also want to thank DuncanSteward for his enlightening guide about units and mechanisms. I used some of his wisdom to shape my army and use it accordingly. Feel free to comment and add to this thread.
First, one must understand that 40k Armageddon is not Panzer General although it looks like a GW clone of the game. There are mechanisms working different which can make a difference.
Your army consists of units belonging to classes each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Although done before, I will sum up the basics I found out:
Infantry: This is the backbone of your army. Most objectives are about conquering and holding victory hexes. And if it is not a plains or city hex with road...well, you cannot do it because other unit types may not enter those hexes. So be sure you have enough of them.
Walkers: These could be hard hitters if you are a Space Marine or Ork or be nimble yet fragile scouts if you play Steel Legion. They can cope with almost any terrain besides fortresses and city hexes methinks. Quite high movement range as well.
Vehicles: Wheeled or tracked light to medium vehicles fulfilling a lot of roles. Mostly scouting operations or magic bullet against a certain unit type. Low defence so keep away from trouble. Best on plains and roads for maximum movement.
Flyer: fragile vehicle that ignores terrain for movement purposes. Nice in scenarios where bridges are to be crossed and resulting bottlenecks. Keep away from FlakkaDakka Battlefortresses at all cost!
Tanks: the workhorses of battle. Good defence, good armament. Small unit numbers so battle losses will hit those units harder.
Artillery: the big guns firing from second line. Keep away from damage. Although it looks like a tank it isn't meant to deflect bullets.
Titans: the gods of war. Big, mean machines of mass destructiion with a wide array of weaponry. Expect them to be effective against everything and hard to kill.
Now to remember some game mechanics to efficiently use your units.
AI behavior: I realized that the AI controlled units can be roughly divided into 2 categories: Blockers and Hunters. Blockers are units that garrison certain hexes and will usually not leave them without a reason i.e. enemy in sight. Mostly used as obstacles to shave away turns from your turn counter as their ZoC prevents reaching your goals. Hunters are units that follow a certain pattern. They attack enemies in sight and if not present, they move towards a certain direction, mostly a victory hex. The latter can be exploited by ambushing them accordingly. If you can expect them to show up somewhere and have a good recon, you can position your own units into good defences and firing positions. If not then those will be the units plopping out of the fog of war ruining your day. Also, the AI seems to attack certain units more happier than others. Auxilliary units are such a thing. I fought missions with cannon-fodder units like hive gangers, where the orks rather slaughtered those units instead of my own, more dangerous ones. If you happen to have expendable free units, use them to lure the orks. The AI is also happy to attack all other infantry, mainly, because I believe, is to prevent you from winning the game. If you cannot secure victory hexes because you have no infantry, you lose. I guess there is an algorithm floating around for picking targets. This could either be a target-type of choice or attacking best odds. However, there have been experiences that certain units have a 'kick me' sign placed on their backs and the AI loves to destroy them. First are HQ units. I guess, because they are most expensive in their class and AI wants to inflict as many RP hits as possible to win the war of attrition. And by depriving the player from regaining morale quickly it will make scenarios more challenging. Then, I experienced that the AI likes to kill fire support squads and high vision units, if able. I guess this is hard-coded to take out 'the most dangerous' units of the player.
Morale: Morale is important as it keeps your units in fighting shape. Losing morale will decrease unit efficiency by lowering initiative and accuracy. Neutral morale is fine but you want good morale as it raises initiative by 2 and accuracy by 20% making your guys hit more often and preventing more of them to fire back. You will want to include units into your army that have the leadership trait or heroic trait (only in special missions). Leadership adds +25 Morale to neighbouring units per turn making them more deadly. You want this, believe me. Get rid of negative morale as it will make your units worse lowering initiative and accuracy up to -40% if broken. Use the R&R order, if possible or even better: use HQ units, which do the same for up to 6 units around without losing a turn in return. Keep in mind that morale will not prevent units from firing. They will only hit worse and fire last. A big ork mob with low morale still has a metric buttload of attacks to return fire.
Initiative: Basically, attacks are resolved simultaneously. However, the unit with the higher Initiative fires first. Before the enemy units can fire back some casualties will be removed, if their initiative is lower. Those will not fire back.
E.g. a unit with 20 guys and an initiative of 6 was attacked by an enemy with initiative of 9. 6 casualties were inflicted. Because 9 is 3 higher than 6, 3 of your guys won't fire back. You can only retaliate with 17 guys. As each unit sprite will attack once this is very important. Units with high initiative can kill or finish off better, but slower units without taking damage in return. Also, experience gained will increase initiative so veteran units are more likely to receive less damage as they will prevent more killed sprites from returning fire.
Bigger is not always better: As the campaign progresses, you are offered new unit choices and can make upgrades. However, this comes with a dual price. Once, the new units will more likely cost more requisition points. So you will have a hard time replacing them or repairing them as more expensive units will cost more to reinforce. While this is fine if playing easy, on higher difficulties RP do not grow on trees. Also, certain units will perform good against one type of unit but poorly against others. Example: Artillery. Compare the Wyvern with the Deathstrike. Which one would you prefer? On first glance the Deathstrike, because it is a cool unit, costs a lot more so it WILL be better than the Wyvern. True AND false at once.
First, we observe, that the Deathstrike has one single shot that matters - the rocket. In most cases it is too far away from the front to use the heavy bolter as well. And then it is only 4 sprites per unit so only 4 shots fired. The Wyvern has a range of 3 only, but it comes in units of 5 tanks and each stormshard mortar will have 4 shots each meaning 20 shots plus the heavy bolter of same range adding another 2 or 3 per sprite. What would happen, when you fire it onto a unit of gretchins? Without the bonus damage rule you would kill 4 gretchins with the deathstrike barrage but about 20-30 with the Wyvern. Targetting a gargant, however, would be deadly for the Wyvern as their weaponry is no use for the high defence. Here is the place the Deathstrike shines. Have one, when you will expect heavy ork tanks like battlefortresses and gargants. Against the hordes, it is useless so swapping out each artillery to deathstrike as soon it is available seems foolish to me.
Example 2: Shadowsword vs. Destroyer. Both snipe high defence targets from range 4 ideally. Destroyer comes with 5 units and 5 shots. The Shadowsword comes with 2 units and 2 volcano cannon shots resulting in 4 attacks made. The higher strength of 120 helps a lot against titans or heavy tanks and has an increased chance of bonus damage. But it is sluggigh as heck with horrible movement points while the destroyer is nimble and can keep up with your other troops.
Additionally, wothout the targetter upgrade the shadowsword's guns will have less accuracy than the destroyer meaning even less shots will hit. The upgraded destroyer for about 450 points will hit at 100% with no penalty for distance.
Orks always have superior numbers: True and in this case very important as each unit's sprite can attack. So a 40 gretchin mob will do 40 attacks AND a close combat afterwards if you let them. You will lose any war of attrition against orks so kill them quickly with the priority of melting away the big mobs, if able. When playing space marines, keep in mind that you have very good, durable infantry with weapons against all kind of foes so your artillery will be used to take away the numerical advantage of the orks. Whirlwind batteries and the tech priest's gun do just this: turning big mobs into small mobs which are no threat to your marines so you can ignore them and hit the stronger ones. Just do not expect your whirlwinds to take down gargants.
Always use the right tool for the right task. This means you will need a lot of different tools in your army.
Before attacking something: think!
Know your own armament and take your time to right-click the enemy unit. Compare the defence of the enemy with your own strength. Is your unit efficient against this type of foe? Have you forgotten something like have they more initiative because of XP or basic value? Do they have multiple hits so that more units will stay in fight and retaliate? Playing rushed never helped anybody. (A flaw most youtubers have playing too quickly).
Support fire is your friend: I have seen it a lot - orks charging a unit protected by a weapon team and getting hammered for it. Those are a life insurance against ork mobs breaking through and getting into close combat. Also, you will want to reinforce those with priority. Reason is easy: each other unit will lose their actions to reinforce. The support unit just will continue to lend fire support as this is no action but a reaction. For extra giggles, keep close a HQ unit so that it always has high morale. Support fire with +20 Accuracy is stellar. Especially when new unit types are available always ask yourself: when I am upgrading and giving up the support fire trait, will my army suffer from this choice? Will more own units die because I have a new toy with a slightly bigger gun that cannot protect the other team members? In defence scenarios, this trait is pure gold.
Recon is the key: Units with high vision are a must. They will see the enemy before he can see you or run into him and get ambushed. You do not want to get ambushed. Your unit will get locked in battle and hammered by multiple ork units in return leading to its demise. You are not allowed to waste the Emperor's soldiers, commander! Ratling Snipers, Salamander Scouts, Sentinels and later Space Marine Scouts will fit that role. Look out for transport vehicles. Scouts can have the storm landspeeder later which is a flyer with very high speed. Remember, they can move fast, but tend to go Leroy Jenkins. Remember: Scouts are your army's eyes. The eyes move WITH the body, not in front of and are well protected. Also mind minimum range on sniper rifle (Ratlings/Scouts). If you can grab a vision 4 unit - you will not regret it, if used wisely. In fact, most artillery which most players like is blind without scouts and cannot fire at targets.
Do not underestimate assault weapons: Another round of dealing damage is always nice and it ignores cover so more hits possible. Also, those units can actually retaliate if attacked in close combat. Steel Legion units, however tend to be glass cannons. Ogryns are an exception. But you will want terminators or dreadnoughts for this.
Transport vehicles are useful: They just do not make your units faster, but you can embark and use a whole different array of weapons which might even be stronger or have more range than standard issue. Think: Steel Legion infantry comes at a price of 100 points plus an odd number for the chimera (Conscripts even less). Those are 7 sprites comparable to a salamander scout with the multilaser weaker than the autocannon. But have you ever tried to use them as tanks instead of infantry? They can be effective at range 3 getting almost no retaliation fire from orks and have higher defence still. The Gorgon is a double-edged sword. It has far more weapons (yet more inaccurate ones) and more defence but is more expensive. I would rather not use it in units which tend to receive combat losses often. Has anybody tested yet whether conscripts will have more chimeras? I reckon that they will have not.
I would try to add some information about units I have already tested. As RP are limited in higher dificulties, it is important to get cheap units first and upgrade them later. Also, those will get XP while used which they will keep after upgrading. Each level of XP will add 1 point of initiative and a small bonus to defence and base accuracy.
Try to remember, how a weapons attack will work:
A unit has a melee and a ranged attack value it uses in battle. This value should be met with a d100 or under meaning 50% hit means a 50 or less will inflict a hit while 51 or higher does not. The weapon it uses might influence the attack. I guess this modifies the first roll. The accuracy value changes the to-hit number. A 100% would mean the unit's value is unchanged while a lower value seems to be multiplied with unit accuracy to get the new, lower to-hit-number. Also, there might be a penalty for each hex beyond the first which is cumulative. Let us get practical:
A Steel Legion Infantry has a base ranged accuracy of 50% meaning that statistically, half of its attacks will hit. Each sprite in the unit will use its weapon once. In that case it is a standard lasgun which has 2 attacks. The unit has 30 men which will result in 60 attacks at a base to-hit-number of 50%. The lasgun has accuracy 100% so the value will not be changed. It has a penalty of -10% per hex beyond the first. The one thing I am not sure is, whether this means the hex the unit is standing so even the neighbouring hex will get the -10% or the one after the neighboring one. Let us assume the last but maybe you can correct me. Shooting a neighbouring unit will inflict 30 hits which seems much first but we still have not calculated cover into it which influences accuracy as well as morale. The lasgun has range 2 so it can be fired an additional hex away but becomes poorer in accuracy. It will drop to 90% so I guess only 90% of the 30 hits will really hit meaning 27.
Usually, each hit will wound in 50% of all times. However, this value is modified. First, weapon strength and defence are compared. Just subtract the defence from the strength and you will get the modifier for the wounding throw.
A lasgun has 20 and we assume the ork unit has 30 defence. Remember, they are rather sturdy, while not armoured well. So 20%-30%=-10% which will drop the to-wound chance to 40%. So 27*0,4 results in 10,8 hits on range 2 and 30*0,4 results in 12 wounds. Each wound will remove a HP which might result in a guy dying. Thougher units have more than one HP so they can take multiple hits before another one bites it.
The lasgun has no piercing value. If it had, it would decrease the defence value by the piercing value. A high piercing value will make a weapon more efficient against targets with high defence making it useful against a broader spectrum of targets. The lasgun clearly is usable versus light infantry only like gretchins and slugga mobs. Usually, units will be in hexes offering cover which will lower the attackers accuracy. Same is true for shooting through units. Morale also will decrease accuracy by -20% and -40% for shaken/broken units. This is why you engage units from range before getting close. If you manage to drop morale the unit you attack will become weaker so that mopping up in close range will not be too dangerous to the attacking unit. Also, keep in mind, that a higher initiative will remove units from the equation when it comes to returning fire. For each point of initiative higher than the opponent, one sprite of the just killed ones may not return fire. Higher initiative keeps your units alive in combat, so do not underestimate that value. When the strength of a weapon is higher than the defence, then there is a chance of bonus damage. A hit can inflict multiple wounds and in rare cases, cause insta-kills. Odds are better, the higher the difference between strength and defence is. This is important, when you want to upgrade to something with a weapon with few shots, but high strength and piercing. It will do more hits than statistically estimated.
Finally, units with assault weapons will start a close combat phase at range 0 after shooting. They will use the melee accuracy value modified by the weapon's accuracy. Cover will be ignored so it is good for clearing out fortifications. Mind that the attacked unit still might fire first so fewer attackers will enter the breach. Otherwise, same rules apply here. Important: If the attacked unit does not have range 0 weapons, they will not retaliate this melee attack. Most orks have a kind of close combat ability while steel legion units have not, so keep the green tide away!
Let us take a look at the units that are available for the Steel Legion:
Infantry Section
Steel Legion Company Command
This is your basic HQ unit with the main purpose of giving +25 morale each turn to adjacant units. Raising morale to good will raise their initiative and accuracy so overall efficiency is raised.
It comes at a cost of 350 RP for 20 men with only one HP. With movement 4 they are rather nimble, have a good sight of 3 hexes and for infantry a rather good defence of 37. The initiative of 10 is rather high and helps keeping the unit alive. Melee/ranged accuracy stands at 50%/50% so every other attack will inflict a hit. With 20 men this is not much and they are rather fragile. They can be upgraded with chimeras and the gorgon later. This might be a viable option but increases repair costs. Speed 4 might be enough to have them walk by foot. The best spot for them is near other friendly units because of the leadership skill which adds 25 morale per turn (efficiency increases). It also has assault skill meaning it can shoot, then do a melee attack which can inflict a fair amount of damage. Their power sword is a good weapon with 2 'shots', strength 40 and 25 piercing so you could try and attack light to medium vehicles as well with them if need arises. Just do not expect them to live long enough to do this more than once or twice. Take an occasional shot at range but main job should be regenerating morale. As infantry, they can enter almost every hex and capture victory points. You might want to have at least one of those. Heed this advice: The AI likes targetting this unit very much. I think because it destroys a lot of RP by doing that and by removing leadership from the equation the player would have a much harder time.
Steel Legion Conscripts
The poor man's infantry. It comes at 75 RP and is armed with a lasgun which we know from above. The stats are horrible. True, they are 40 men thus 80 shots but, alas only 35%/35% base accuracy, sight 1, poor defence of 25 (expect them to die in droves), only movement of 2 and initiative 5. Expect those to take large losses and be almost inefficient when reduced to small numbers. I have not tried them out yet and only used the auxilliary units the missions give to me. It is infantry, so it can take objectives. With speed 2 it is rather defensive. I guess, best use is to put it into a trench, have a fire support team next to it and use it as wave breaker (yet a fragile one). On higher difficulties, RP might be so scarce, that you would buy one of those and upgrade them later to Steel Legion Infantry. Because of +25% men and -15% overall accuracy I guess a full unit will be 10% more efficient than a standard infantry but after even small losses this will be equalized or be even worse. Their role might be live and learn before promotion, sacrificial lambs, meat shields.
Steel Legion Infantry
Bread and Butter unit of Steel Legion Forces. They cost 100 RP so they are rather cheap and affordable. They also carry the well-known lasgun and have 30 men per unit. Sight is raised to 2, defence to 35, movement to 3, initiative to 9 and accuracy to 50%/50% which is definitively an improvement. You will start with some of these and might want to keep them a bit. Infantry is always needed to capture points, it can enter fortifications making them very durable and should be supported by fire support units. Improvement with a chimera is very useful as it will turn the unit into a tank, if wished. For 90 RP the chimera will appear as 7 AFV unit with 50 defence and 6 movement points and 3HP each. Keep in mind, that the base ranged accuracy is 40% for this unit and not 50% so less shots will hit. The multilaser is comparable to the lasgun, but has +1 range and +1 shot. Additionally, it comes with a heavy bolter which has range 3, strength 40, 0 piercing and 2 shots. Accuracy starts at 100% but will drop by 10% per hex. So converting the unit into AFV mode it will swap 60 lasgun shots with 50% chance to 21 lasgun shots with 40% and additional 14 shots with the heavy bolter. This might result in less damage done, but engaging at higher range makes it less risky for the unit to attack someone. Their main role is holding the line while being supported properly and taking objectives. Also, you can early invest into them and upgrade for less later.
Also, you could instead add the Gorgon assault vehicle. It will cost 360 RP however. You would get 8 units with 3 HP each so pretty sturdy with movement 5 which is a bit less than the Chimera. The sight is 2, iz has whopping 60 defence bit comes with poor initiative of 1 and only 30%/30% accuracy. Its weapons array sounds awesome at first glance. 4 heavy stubber which are a 35 strength weapon with 3 shots but lame basic accuracy of 75% even getting worse with -10% per hex. Range is 1-3. Also there are 4 of the well-known heavy bolters and 4 mortars similar to the ones the mortar squads carry. Number of shots do not equal, however so I suggest a possible bug there. Do not expect this transport to wipe out anything it comes along. It loks nice but woth only 30% accuracy hardly every 3rd shot will connect. Make it worse with range or cover intervening.
Steel Legion Special Weapons
A variant of the vanilla infantry with flamers as armament. They cost 125 per unit. They have only 25 men and their defence is improved to 37 (a meager +2). Other stats are identical with Steel Legion Infantry. The flamer is an assault weapon. It has range 0 meaning it will be used in melee. Which is bad since most attacked units can shoot them first. Those that survive, however attack with strength 30 which is higher than a lasgun and 3 'shots'. It has no piercing so it would bother light to medium infantry only. Good thing: it will ignore cover so it is more efficient against entrenched units than other units. I usually do not have many of them as they die too quickly and their flamer is missing the 'terror' trait decreasing morale.
You might want one of those for special occasions - at least in the early missions. Or in mission with many city hexes where they excel. Attack from cover something in cover with them. Just be sure the attacked unit is not supported, otherwise the support fire will butcher your unit.
Hive Militia w Autopistols
Using those is an act of despair. 40 RP is cheap and they come with 25 men per unit, but they are even worse than conscripts. Even less defence than conscripts (20!) only initiative 3 and a weapon that works like a neutered lasgun with only range 1 and 1 shot at base accuracy 30%/30%. Why should one buy such a unit? I can see only 2 reasons: First: You have no RP left but slots available so invest 40 RP now and upgrade later. Second: Sacrificial lambs, although I believe, even 40 RP are too much for that task.
Hive Militia w Autoguns
Costs at 55, identical to above mentioned militia unit. Gun is slightly better than a lasgun strength-wise otherwise identical. Yet, I rather would take regular infantry. If you want to play it fluffy or in scenarios, do it. Otherwise I see no reason to take them as better units are available from the beginning. Basically worse concripts with a better gun in fewer numbers.
Ogryn Squad
Now we are talking heavy infantry - at least for Astra Militarum. Ogryns cost 290 RP. A unit has 20 sprites but every one has 2 HP meaning it is two times harder to kill them than normal infantry. Movement is 3 is standard for infantry as it seems. Sight is 1 so they need scouts if they do not want to run blindly into the enemy. Defence is rather high with 45 but initiative is low. Base Accuracy is 50%/50% so it is a buffed infantryman. Ogryns are armed with ripper guns and ripper clubs. The ripper gun has similar stats to a lasgun but double the strength i.e. 40. Add 3 shots and you have a good amount of attacks made. Accuracy is worse and deteriorates with range by -20% so maybe they could profit from having a transport when engaging units from higher range. Since they have the assault trait they are much deadlier units when it comes to close range. The ripper club has the same stats as the power sword with strength 40 and piercing 25. Also, 2 attacks per sprite. These guys can hurt everything but the heaviest units and can endure some fire. However, they are not invulnerable and replacements costly. Good shock troops for Astra Militarum. Supported, they are real beasts. Fire support teams are their best friends.
Ogryn Veteran Squad
The Ogryn Veterans have the same armament as their cousins. They cost 380 RP and the following improvements over the vanilla ogryn: +1 move, +1 sight, -6 Defence (o.k. - this is no improvement), initiative of 6 and the most important: base accuracy of 70%/70% which makes them elite amongst the infantry units of the Steel Legion. They put many things into a world of hurt at close range and will decimate ork mobs reliably. Yet, still not immortal.
Ratling Snipers
These are the true scouts in the Steel Legion. They cost 225 RP and come in 15 men squads, which is not much given their fragile natur. Movement 4 is high and can be enhanced to 6 by adding a chimera for 90 points. Sight is 4 meaning their best use is to locate enemy units first and then placing your other units in perfect firing positions. Be warned: moving fast could also lead in ratlings ambushed by the enemy. Defence is 30 and initiative rather high with 9. Also, in chimera mode, sight is reduced. Their accuracy is 50%/70% so they shoot better than they fight (which they don't anyways). The sniper rifle they are armed with is interesting. It packs some punch with a strength of 40 but still lacks piercing. It has a range of 2-4 meaning you cannot fire at adjacant hexes. It has 2 shots and 100% accuracy which deteriorates by -10% per additional hex. Their role is harrassing the opponent from out of range and reconnoitering the enemy to prepare the attack and avoid ambushes. Keep them away from trouble.
Steel Legion Rough Riders
A Cavalry unit costing 200 points so double the price of regular infantry. Unit stats are similar to infantry. Less sprites - only 20 per unit. Movement is higher (5 instead of 3) and they also have +1 sight making them mediocre scouts. They have a lasgun and a hunting lance which make them better shock troops than flamer units in my book. The hunting lance is another power sword lookalike weapon. Same stats - different name. Better than flamers, since they have something to shoot with before the assault but worse than ogryns, which have more staying power. The Rough riders are too fragile to make a large impact on the battlefield. They have their uses, however. If you are lacking RP for buying ogryns with chimera but want some shock troops you could try them out.
Steel Legion Support Team
For whopping 400 points you will get 20 guys with heavy bolters. Stats are those of regular infantry but initiative reduced due to the bulky nature of the guns. The heavy bolter seems not to be the same as used in the chimera - which might be a bug. It has 4 shots instead of 2. Strength 30 is mediocre but the unit is laying down a hailstorm of shots. The most interesting trait is their support fire perk. Place them adjacant to another unit and it will punish those who want to attack the protected unit. Needs direct LoS and accuracy deteriorates by -10% hex. Main role: protect the infantry from ork mobs.
Steel Legion Mortar Support
Identical to the Fire Support Team mentioned above but with different armament. Mortars have a range of 2-3, strength 30 and no piercing at 3 shots per sprite. Which is still plenty. However, the mortar can fire indirectly and accuracy is not deteriorating making it a bit more effective at range 3. Very good in city fights where you do not have clear line of sight. Worth having at least one. Has the support ability so it will punish units attacking neighbours as well. Can be used to siege other units out although the range is not comparable to real artillery. All support teams are vulnerable and are more costly to repair than infantry.
Steel Legion Anti Tank Support
Those troops carry missile launchers. Having only 1 shot each, sporting 20 men this is still a lot: each shot has strength 75 and 35 piercing which will make bonus damage likely. Good versus light to medium vehicles - they tear them apart. Initiative of 9 instead of 1 is nothing to sneeze at so you can use them aggressively. Those can survive long if you are careful. Accuracy deteriorates with range by -10% per hex so expect no wonders at range 3 but they are deadly in ambushes at close range.
Walker Section
Steel Legion Sentinel
The Steel Legion only has one walker: the Sentinel.
A sentinel is a chicken-style walker sporting a single weapon. In the game it is a lascannon. In canon it can be a heavy flamer, a multilaser or a rocket launcher as well. It costs 200 points and fulfills the role of a mobile scout. It only has 8 sprites and each has 2 HP so it is rather vulnerable. It comes with movement rate of 5 which is good and has a sight of 4 which makes it an excellent scout choice. Defence 51 is o.k. but will fail if anybody puts effort into destroying the unit. Initiative of 7 is mediocre but coming to accuracy we see, that it comes with 50%/60% so it is a better marksman than other units. Armament is the lascannon, a weapon intended to hurt tanks. The stats are range 3 so do not expect fire exchanges with other tanks to be healthy. Strength is 65 which is enough to hutrt most light and medium vehicles. Additionally it sports 20 piercing and one shot per sprite. A lascannon has deteriorating accuracy with range: -10% per hex.
Sentinel Armageddon Pattern
A more armoured form of sentinel and better in many regards. Costs go up by 100 to 300 RP per unit but stats are improved significantly: Movement by 1 hex, defence by 10, initiative to 9 and ranged accuracy raises from 60% to 70%. You should do the upgrade if you have sentinels as scouts in your army. It is wirth its salt. This variant also is good for delivering the coup-de-grace for wounded tank units. High initiative plus tank-busting weapon means game over for injured units with not so much danger for the sentinel. Beware: AI seems to like to attack them. This unit is useful until the late game although - in campaign game - as soon as space marines are available, I tend to replace my scouts with space marine scouts and use dreadnoughts as walkers i.e. walking wrecking balls.
Vehicle Section
Tauros
The Tauros is a...peculiar piece of equipment. We first see it in the tutorial mission as first enemy vehicle and remember it as 'that thing that fell apart'. It is, indeed, very fragile. For 250 RP you get a scout unit of 7 with only 1 HP (yikes!) and movement 6. Sight is great with 4 and defence 46. Initiative 7 is o.k. and accuracy is decent: 70%/70% - it beats the basic Sentinel. Armament is a heavy flamer with a range of 1, Strength 40, 4 shots at 100% accuracy and terror trait. The problem is: this unit cannot survive any fire returned. Too few sprites, only one hit and with that kind of weapon not even a glass cannon. For 200 I would get the Salamander Scout which is better in any way. This thing needs to be balanced A.S.A.P.
Tauros Venator
An upgraded version of the Tauros. For 350 RP you will get initiative of 9 while every other stat remains the same. Armament, however is interesting: 2 lascannons (i suppose, they should be twin-linked ones). Like a regular lascannon, only with 2 shots. But wait, there is a drawback: Instead of the Sentinel's lasgun, which has 100% accuracy, this one only has 80%. Why is a twin-linked weapon nerfed over a single shot one? Twin-linked usually ensures better accuracy, not vice versa. Nevertheless, 14 lascannon shots at rather high initiative will take out injured vehicles rather well. But it is a gamble: if something survives, the Venator is toast. I have not used it yet as the RP price is too steep.
Salamander Scout
A sturdy choice for every army. It is only 200 RP and is comparable to the Sentinel statwise but has far better armament. 7 AFVs per unit with 2 HP each, so one less than our walkers.Sight is 4, which is awesome. Defence is 51 which is on par with the Sentinel as well. Initiative 7 is o.k. and base accuracy is 70%/70% which is great. Armament is an autocannon (R1-3;ST40;P10;S3;ACC100/-10%) and the heavy bolter again (R1-3;ST40;P0;S2;ACC100/-10%) which is odd as it is only 2 shots again. I mean, Gorgons have 4 shots with that and fire support squads have 4 shots as well. Who messed up the numbers here? Either way: great choice. You get a good scout unit being able to contribute something to your war efforts. It will shred light infantry and even deal some damage to medium infantry and light vehicles easily. Most armies will have at least one of them, if not more.
Salamander Command
In fact a copy of the Scout variant. Price is steep at 500 RP, you sacrifice 1 point of sight (4->3) and gain +2 initiative over the scout. Important trait it has for its cost are the leadership skill, which boosts morale for adjacent units raising overall efficiency. You might want this over a normal HQ, depending on playstyle. However: as all leadership units, they get pummeled by the AI which seems to be fond of killing HQs.
Hydra
An anti-aircraft tank. 350 points for 7 sprites with 3 HP each. Movement 4 is fair. Sight is 2 so it needs recon to work properly. Defence is 51, initiative 9 and accuracy 70/70. Armament is wonky. 4 Autocannons it reads. (R1-3;ST30;P0;S2;ACC100/-10%)...so...compared with a single autogun on the salamander this one is weaker, has no piercing, one shot less and that for combining 4 of those babys. They get AA trait for that which makes flyers lose their evasion bonus...right. This cannot be right. A corrected version would be (R1-3;ST40;P10;S12;ACC100/-10%)...but it has not, sadly. Additionally it sports a heavy bolter that we know already.
Its role should be defending your artillery from flyers. In campaign play there are only few occasions where you need it. Maybe more in multiplayer games. I skip it usually although it is effective versus infantry. Unit seems broken to me in current state.
Hellhound
I like the smell of promethium in the morning. Smells like...victory. Gooooood morning, Armageddon! This unit is a giant flamethrower on a tank. Strangely, it lacks a skill that makes it ignore cover. For 300 RP you will get 7 tanks with 3 HP, 4 movement, sight of 2 and defence of 61 at initiative 6 which is rather low. Accuracy is good with 70%/70% base chance. Each of them comes with a heavy bolter and an Inferno Cannon (R1-2;ST50;P0;S3;ACC100/-10%;TERROR). This thing will incinerate lots of light infantry and also lower their morale tremendously. I usually use them for fun and burning gretchins and slugga mobs - in which case they excel. I have read that a skill called siege is hardcoded in the game but not used. Ignoring cover would really fit to this weapon. Having to get close to the enemy means that you might get casualities quickly.
Bane Wolf
In fact the very same unit as the Hellhound. For +50 RP (350) you will get a +1 on initiative and the awesome Inferno Cannon is replaced by...a Chem Cannon. *scratches head*
Its stats are: (R1-1;ST20;P0;S4;ACC100/-10%;TERROR). So in fact you get a lasgun with double shots at point blank range only. Really, an infantry squad has 60 shots, while this unit has only 28. Yeah, terror it has, but terror does not strike me. S4 is too low. Also it has the well-known heavy bolter. I never used it. Only in the tutorial mission where you get one and this one was even pitted against a destroyer and a macharius. Strange unit and I do not take it - it is not balanced. It should have high piercing as corroding chemicals a seeping through nearly everything and ignore cover. Then we would talk. But in that state...no, Sir.
Devil Dog
Another Hellhound variant which costs +100 over the original. initiative is raised by +2 to 9 and main gun is exchanged with Melta Cannons. (R1-2;ST70;P50;S1;ACC100/-10%;TERROR). This thing is interesting as it can deal with tanks and drop their morale faster and deal with other heavily armoured stuff as well. Drawbacks are only 1 shot and rather weak and small unit. One might try to use it to hurt enemy tanks and vehicles but then it has to close up to the range where it has to face the music and it is not built to do so. Too fragile. Nice for support but for similar points I get either a Destroyer or Thunderer which do more for almost the same cost. Sadly, I do not use them as well as they seem not worth theri salt.
Tank Section
Not counting special regiments like the Catachan Jungle Fighters or the Elysian Shocktroops, the Tank is the backbone of the Astra Militarum. The Empire of Man uses 2 major chassis: the Chimera and the Leman Russ. While the Chimera has its use as troop transport, variants for artillery, recon and even assault forces have been made. The Leman Russ is the Empire's MBT and it is iconic for that. Expect juggernauts of steel armed to the teeth grinding forward and pulverizing anything in their way. Let us take a closer look at the section. At the beginning of the game you only have access to the basic tank configurations i.e. vanilla Leman Russ and direct offspring. Later you will unlock variants tailored to fighting a special foe and of course the super heavy tanks on the chassis of the macharius and the baneblade. These are real behemoths. At all times, keep in mind, that tanks can become VERY expensive RP-wise. Their repairs also won't come in for cheap - so avoid losses! Especially, since most of those come in units of 5 tanks or less which will impair the unit's fighting power by at least 20% per casualty. Tanks cannot fight in close combat - so keep them away from ork hordes. Even gretchins can damage a tank - by luck or sheer numbers. You have been warned, commander!
Leman Russ
This is the most basic tank the Steel Legio will get. And it is also the cheapest. 375 RP is a stealer for stats and armament. Do not expect wonders from this version, but it is sturdy and a good first start.
5 tanks per unit with 3HP each. Movement is 4 with sight 2 added. Defence is 60, which is useful against most small arms fire. Remember: each hit has a 50% chance to inflict a wound. By comparison, each point defence over weapons strength will reduce this chance by 1% (or increments of 10 for 10%), so basically, if you are 50% over weapons strength, you are immune to that damage. Just avoid big mobs because even if it tickles, in numbers there will be the odd shot to punch through. Avoid dedicated AT guns like Zzap-weapons or cannons. Also, keep in mind that ork close combat weapons mostly come with piercing value so keep away from melee at all costs. Weaponry on this baby is basic: a battlecannon (R1-3;ST70;P0;S1;ACC100/-10%) and the already known lascannon, which is a bit weaker. I would expect the battlecannon to have more shots to reflect the AoE their shells have but I guess at that high strength bonus damage rules will apply and a salvo will inflict more than one wound. Against Tanks it is mediocre. It lacks piercing value to be truly efficient. It is a jack of all trades unit. It will work against almost everything, but specialized equipment is better. Use them as piggybank for XP. Invest 300 now and improve later for less.
Leman Russ (upgraded)
Let us add some sponsond to our MBT. This comes at a price: with 550 RP this version costs 175 points more than the basic version. By doing so, some stats increase: defence increases by 5 to 65 and initiative gets a huge boost of 4 to 9. Also, ranged accuracy improves to 70 - so it is a reasonable price. We get another weapon system: 2 Heavy Bolters in sponsons. Their stats are as usual with the odd 3 shots instead of 4. I still do not know whether this weapon fires twice since there are 2 of them on each tank or if that is just the name and the realization in the code was sloppy. Usually, this is the tank most players will field in the early campaign stages. It works very well and decimates ork mobs easily. Against later ork tanks it becomes more and more unreliable and inefficient. Again, a jack of all trades unit, but better overall.
Leman Russ (armour upgrade)
Let us pay 450 RP instead to buy this version. Weapon configuration remains the same as the vanilla Leman Russ but defence is improved to 75 and initiative is raised to 7. 15 points of defence is a difference you will feel. It just lacks the bite of the more sohisticated versions of the Leman Russ.
Leman Russ (dozer upgrade)
This is a cheaper version of the upgraded Leman Russ. It only comes at a cost of 475 RP, but has only initiative 7 and also the ranged accuracy is not boosted. It has a dozer blade, but I do not know the benefit of this thing. Movement points are the same so maybe something is hidden in the code when it comes to terrain types. Consider this as a minor upgrade to the vanilla Russ.
Leman Russ (weapon upgrade)
Tanks can get even more expensive. This variant costs 580 RP and adds better sponson weapons to our tank. Stats are as the vanilla Russ with the exception of defence, which is 65 and initiative, which is 9. The heavy Bolters have been replaced with plasma cannons (although the list reads plasma cannon which means 1). Its stats are (R1-2;P30;S2;ACC100/-10%) I wonder, as the plasma cannon is know to be an AoE weapon, is this reflected by having 2 shots? If yes, then only one weapon is counted, but the tank has 2 of them. Again, sloppy coding when the units were created? The plasma cannons enhance the tank's battleworthyness versus a wide spectrum of units in range 2. Piercing 30 with this tremendous strength means lots of bonus damage chances on infantry and good armour penetration on tanks. Prolonged fire exchange, however will cause attrition, so be careful using this unit. It might be better to 'train' this unit a bit meaning leveling up a veteran Leman Russ to get more initiative so it will not receive more hits. A sturdy choice for a reasonable price.
Leman Russ Annihilator
Basically, a Leman Russ, where we swap out the main cannon for a turret with twin-linked lascannons. Now, this one thing that irks me very much. In this game, twin-linked weapons are worse than single ones. The lascannon comes with an extra shot but has an accuracy penalty of 20 so only 80% of base chance-to-hit. This is so wrong. It should be one shot with increased accuracy beyond 100% like 125% or 150%. In the tabletop games, twinlinked weapons had a re-roll for misses. In this game, they are crap. I do not know whether I would spend 650 RP for a nerfed battlecannon...rather not.
Leman Russ Annihilator Upgrade A
Strange enough, there is no upgrade B or C. From the picture, a dozer blade is attached. It costs even more than the Annihilator (750RP) and has Defence 70 instead as well as initiative of 11 (THAT's something!) and improved ranged accuracy of 70. It really needs it as its main weapon is our nerf-gun, the twin-linked lascannon. Hull-mounted lascannon (better one) included. For that points I forgo this equipment. Anybody there with some XP on it?
Leman Russ Conqueror
For 500 RP you can have one squadron of these. Stats are o.k. with defence of 65. Really interesting is the accuracy of 80/80. +15% over most models. Let us take a closer look at the main gun: The Conqueror Cannon has comparable range to the Battlecannon but swaps 10 points of strength for 10 points of piercing. (R1-3;ST60;P10;S1;ACC100/-10%). At first glance this looks very much the same, so why bother? Is there a hidden benefit? Let us ask the Ordo Mathematicus: If Defence of a unit is compared with the strength of a unit via subtraction...
(Def - Piercing) - Strength = Wound modifier. Let us assume Defence as 60 and fire our guns:
Battlecannon: Modifier = D60 - P0 -S70 = Mod-10
Conqueror: Modifier = D60 - P10 - S60 = Mod-10
I wonder, if the bonus damage rule applies by comparison of unmodified defence value versus strength or modified value. In the first case, the battlecannon would still be superior, in the second case, there would be no difference. Canon says, that a Conqueror Cannon can be shot while the tank is moving at higher speed - it is more accurate. It has lower callibre thus lacks the punch. I would understand, if that thing would lose the accuracy penalty for range, but no. There is another thing, that might tilt our favor towards the conqueror, however: It has coaxial stormbolters. This is an additional weapon with the stats (R1-2;ST30;P0;S3;ACC100%-10%). Because the conqueror is a marksman in the tank class, we might not abandon it for other, pricier choices. It will seem, that more shots will connect than compared to a vanilla Leman Russ and even the upgraded version. This needs more playtesting. I guess this one will become more useful on higher difficulties as RP become scarce. Standard-issue lascannon included.
Leman Russ Demolisher
This is a heavy close support tank. To reflect this role it has more armour than the Standard Leman Russ. It costs 475 points which is rather cheap. Statwise, it has improved armour of 75 and initiative of 6 while all other stats remain the same as the vanilla version. The armament is tailored to close range. First, the turred sports the feared demolisher cannon. (R2-2;ST75;P25;S4;Acc100/-10%). This gun is nasty as these are many shots with high strength and good piercing. This will hurt many target types. For even closer range, since at range 1 there is a gap, it has a heavy flamer. (R1-1;S40;P0;S4;ACC100/-10%) with the terror trait. This is a nice tank, good for the second battleline. This tank has some means to protect itself from quick target which would under-run his minimum range of 2. The heavy flamer will make them regret this. I am a friend of the demolisher cannon. It is very effective and the price of this unit is rather cheap. Close range, however means, that you must play it carefully.
Leman Russ Eradicator
At the cost of 600 RP we will get a slightly buffed Leman Russ. Armour is 65 and initiative is 7. Everything else is the same. Hull-mounted lascannon is replaced by a heavy bolter which does not sound like a real improvement to me. The Nova Cannon it mounts in its turret demands a closer look: (R1-2;ST90;P20;S2;ACC100/-10%). At first glance this looks like an alternative to the demolisher. We will give up 2 shots of a very good weapon for a weapon with even more Dakka. Strength 90 means more bonus damage - there is a small shift in the chance of inflicting multiple wounds. Yet, I find this design rather dull. I mean, the demolisher cannon has almost the same range, but more attacks. The eradicator might be slightly better, when it comes to shred dreadnoughts or other tanks because of the higher strength. But I am sceptical, whether this makes the price of 600 RP reasonable. This one would be a good point to discuss.
Leman Russ Executor
On the table, this is one of my favorites. I own a Forge World tower to convert one of my Leman Russ at demand. It costs 600 RP and has minor improvements over the improved Russ. Defence went up by 3 to 68 but initiative was lowered by 1 to 8. Still not bad, but no improvement really. So the weapon must be the good part. The fearsome Plasma Destroyer comes with those stats: (R1-2;ST60;P30;S3;ACC100/-10%). This is much better than a battlecannon. Trading 10 points of strength for 30 piercing is very good. 2 more shots as well. You just have to cope with the reduced range. It needs to be within 2 so it will face return fire of units it has shot. Sadly, it lacks sponsons.
Leman Russ Exterminator
Another happy member of the favored Leman Russ family of tanks. It costs 500 RP, which is reasonable. Stats are similar to the vanilla Russ with the exception of defence which is 65 and initiative which is 9. Main gun was replaced with a twin-linked autocannon which is 2 autocannons here. Strangely enough, this autocannon is the same as on the salamander scout, but has +10 strength. This time no accuracy penalty. Wonky indeed. Since it has no sponsons, it lacks its bite. On table i always play this with sponson heavy bolters to maximize destruction on infantry. I even swap out lascannon for 3rd heavy bolter. But in this game it comes with the standard lascannon so rather useless for either role of tank-killer and infantry-murderer. I do not use it.
Leman Russ Punisher
600 RP and we get some kind of heavy bolter on steroids. Improved stats are the defence value with 68, initiative which is 9 and the formidable punisher cannon: (R1-2;ST40;P0;S8;ACC100/-10%). and also a heavy bolter, this time with only 2 shots. Someone should get those stats right, seriously. It is annoying. The very high number of attacks makes it a real meatgrinder and decimates ork mobs quickly. However, closing up to range 2 is dangerous and as it is a heavy bolter on steroids, it is nearly useless versus tanks. Sadly, it lacks sponson weapons. I have tried it out already and while it is fun, losses add up quickly and frankly, a thunderer would be the better choice in my book.
Leman Russ Vanquisher
This is the version everybody likes to have. And it is the most expensive one: 750 RP to buy one. Initiative and ranged accuracy have been increased: 11 and 70%, which is really good. Many people like the Vanquisher because of its awesome gun and use its range of 4 to snipe targets almost every time. Well, let's take a look at the weapon: (R-4;ST75;P50;S2;ACC100/-10%). You will get a lot of high strength shots, but will lose 30% of them due to poorer accuracy at range. Piercing 50 will let look targets like they were made from tinfoil, which is good in my book. Mind, that there is no lascannon but a stormbolter so maximum damage is dealt at range 2 where casualties will be likely - and frankly, repair costs are steep! Losses during a mission can and will ruin your day. Defence 65 is not that great. Overrated in my book. To kill infantry, I go for the much cheaper thundere, for tanks the more accurate destroyer. Usually, I have 2 or 3 of the Vanquishers in my army, but not more. Other variants are useful as well.
Destroyer
A dedicated tank-hunter reminding me of the German Hetzer tank. This one has no turret but a single hull-mounted weapon, the laser destroyer. The Destroyer and its sister tank the Thunderer are faster than Leman Russ tanks - they have movement 5 instead of 4. Increased mobility make them ideal firefighters going hither an to at the frontline where they are needed most.The Destroyer mounts a single weapon, the Laser Destroyer (R1-4;ST90;P45;S1;ACC100/0%). The first thing to come in mind is, that both strength and piercing are awesome and will hurt everything equally hard besides titan-class warmachines. True, it is only 5 shots, but they come with no range penalty, so there is no reason to go closer than range 4. Basic accuracy of the tank is great: 80%/80% makes it a real sniper. I really like this tank and use it often. Used properly, it will not take any casualties during a mission. In the lategame, however, keep in mind that the orks will field range 4 guns of their own. Maybe then it would be a good time to upgrade to Shadowsword Super Heavy Tank. Until that time, it is great for its cost.
Destroyer (upgraded)
Not much to say. It costs 480 instead of 450 RP and you get defence 70, initiative 11 and accuracy 90/90 - insane! Almost every shot will count! This upgrade is mandatory if you have destroyers. You will love it - with capital letters!
Thunderer Siege Tank
A cheap alternative to the Leman Russ Demolisher - for 400 RP. In fact a demolisher cannon on a stick. A faster stick. Having no other weapon is no big drawback. Just keep it at range 2 and watch it blast up stuff. Initiative of this one is 8, so 2 points more than the Demolisher. I usually have 1 or 2 of them in my army. They make big holes in almost everything and make short work of mobs and light vehicles. Give them some cover and they are very happy.
Thunderer (upgraded)
Upgrade the Thunderer for +50RP and improve its stats: Armour will raise to 70 which is very good and initiative to 11 which is even better in terms of durability. Extra bonus: Accuracy also is boosted by +5 to 70%. If that is no bargain, then I do not know. If you already have Thunderers, then you want this as well.
this is just a thread to post my experiences with the game strategy-wise. I will try to be as objective as possible. I also want to thank DuncanSteward for his enlightening guide about units and mechanisms. I used some of his wisdom to shape my army and use it accordingly. Feel free to comment and add to this thread.
First, one must understand that 40k Armageddon is not Panzer General although it looks like a GW clone of the game. There are mechanisms working different which can make a difference.
Your army consists of units belonging to classes each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Although done before, I will sum up the basics I found out:
Infantry: This is the backbone of your army. Most objectives are about conquering and holding victory hexes. And if it is not a plains or city hex with road...well, you cannot do it because other unit types may not enter those hexes. So be sure you have enough of them.
Walkers: These could be hard hitters if you are a Space Marine or Ork or be nimble yet fragile scouts if you play Steel Legion. They can cope with almost any terrain besides fortresses and city hexes methinks. Quite high movement range as well.
Vehicles: Wheeled or tracked light to medium vehicles fulfilling a lot of roles. Mostly scouting operations or magic bullet against a certain unit type. Low defence so keep away from trouble. Best on plains and roads for maximum movement.
Flyer: fragile vehicle that ignores terrain for movement purposes. Nice in scenarios where bridges are to be crossed and resulting bottlenecks. Keep away from FlakkaDakka Battlefortresses at all cost!
Tanks: the workhorses of battle. Good defence, good armament. Small unit numbers so battle losses will hit those units harder.
Artillery: the big guns firing from second line. Keep away from damage. Although it looks like a tank it isn't meant to deflect bullets.
Titans: the gods of war. Big, mean machines of mass destructiion with a wide array of weaponry. Expect them to be effective against everything and hard to kill.
Now to remember some game mechanics to efficiently use your units.
AI behavior: I realized that the AI controlled units can be roughly divided into 2 categories: Blockers and Hunters. Blockers are units that garrison certain hexes and will usually not leave them without a reason i.e. enemy in sight. Mostly used as obstacles to shave away turns from your turn counter as their ZoC prevents reaching your goals. Hunters are units that follow a certain pattern. They attack enemies in sight and if not present, they move towards a certain direction, mostly a victory hex. The latter can be exploited by ambushing them accordingly. If you can expect them to show up somewhere and have a good recon, you can position your own units into good defences and firing positions. If not then those will be the units plopping out of the fog of war ruining your day. Also, the AI seems to attack certain units more happier than others. Auxilliary units are such a thing. I fought missions with cannon-fodder units like hive gangers, where the orks rather slaughtered those units instead of my own, more dangerous ones. If you happen to have expendable free units, use them to lure the orks. The AI is also happy to attack all other infantry, mainly, because I believe, is to prevent you from winning the game. If you cannot secure victory hexes because you have no infantry, you lose. I guess there is an algorithm floating around for picking targets. This could either be a target-type of choice or attacking best odds. However, there have been experiences that certain units have a 'kick me' sign placed on their backs and the AI loves to destroy them. First are HQ units. I guess, because they are most expensive in their class and AI wants to inflict as many RP hits as possible to win the war of attrition. And by depriving the player from regaining morale quickly it will make scenarios more challenging. Then, I experienced that the AI likes to kill fire support squads and high vision units, if able. I guess this is hard-coded to take out 'the most dangerous' units of the player.
Morale: Morale is important as it keeps your units in fighting shape. Losing morale will decrease unit efficiency by lowering initiative and accuracy. Neutral morale is fine but you want good morale as it raises initiative by 2 and accuracy by 20% making your guys hit more often and preventing more of them to fire back. You will want to include units into your army that have the leadership trait or heroic trait (only in special missions). Leadership adds +25 Morale to neighbouring units per turn making them more deadly. You want this, believe me. Get rid of negative morale as it will make your units worse lowering initiative and accuracy up to -40% if broken. Use the R&R order, if possible or even better: use HQ units, which do the same for up to 6 units around without losing a turn in return. Keep in mind that morale will not prevent units from firing. They will only hit worse and fire last. A big ork mob with low morale still has a metric buttload of attacks to return fire.
Initiative: Basically, attacks are resolved simultaneously. However, the unit with the higher Initiative fires first. Before the enemy units can fire back some casualties will be removed, if their initiative is lower. Those will not fire back.
E.g. a unit with 20 guys and an initiative of 6 was attacked by an enemy with initiative of 9. 6 casualties were inflicted. Because 9 is 3 higher than 6, 3 of your guys won't fire back. You can only retaliate with 17 guys. As each unit sprite will attack once this is very important. Units with high initiative can kill or finish off better, but slower units without taking damage in return. Also, experience gained will increase initiative so veteran units are more likely to receive less damage as they will prevent more killed sprites from returning fire.
Bigger is not always better: As the campaign progresses, you are offered new unit choices and can make upgrades. However, this comes with a dual price. Once, the new units will more likely cost more requisition points. So you will have a hard time replacing them or repairing them as more expensive units will cost more to reinforce. While this is fine if playing easy, on higher difficulties RP do not grow on trees. Also, certain units will perform good against one type of unit but poorly against others. Example: Artillery. Compare the Wyvern with the Deathstrike. Which one would you prefer? On first glance the Deathstrike, because it is a cool unit, costs a lot more so it WILL be better than the Wyvern. True AND false at once.
First, we observe, that the Deathstrike has one single shot that matters - the rocket. In most cases it is too far away from the front to use the heavy bolter as well. And then it is only 4 sprites per unit so only 4 shots fired. The Wyvern has a range of 3 only, but it comes in units of 5 tanks and each stormshard mortar will have 4 shots each meaning 20 shots plus the heavy bolter of same range adding another 2 or 3 per sprite. What would happen, when you fire it onto a unit of gretchins? Without the bonus damage rule you would kill 4 gretchins with the deathstrike barrage but about 20-30 with the Wyvern. Targetting a gargant, however, would be deadly for the Wyvern as their weaponry is no use for the high defence. Here is the place the Deathstrike shines. Have one, when you will expect heavy ork tanks like battlefortresses and gargants. Against the hordes, it is useless so swapping out each artillery to deathstrike as soon it is available seems foolish to me.
Example 2: Shadowsword vs. Destroyer. Both snipe high defence targets from range 4 ideally. Destroyer comes with 5 units and 5 shots. The Shadowsword comes with 2 units and 2 volcano cannon shots resulting in 4 attacks made. The higher strength of 120 helps a lot against titans or heavy tanks and has an increased chance of bonus damage. But it is sluggigh as heck with horrible movement points while the destroyer is nimble and can keep up with your other troops.
Additionally, wothout the targetter upgrade the shadowsword's guns will have less accuracy than the destroyer meaning even less shots will hit. The upgraded destroyer for about 450 points will hit at 100% with no penalty for distance.
Orks always have superior numbers: True and in this case very important as each unit's sprite can attack. So a 40 gretchin mob will do 40 attacks AND a close combat afterwards if you let them. You will lose any war of attrition against orks so kill them quickly with the priority of melting away the big mobs, if able. When playing space marines, keep in mind that you have very good, durable infantry with weapons against all kind of foes so your artillery will be used to take away the numerical advantage of the orks. Whirlwind batteries and the tech priest's gun do just this: turning big mobs into small mobs which are no threat to your marines so you can ignore them and hit the stronger ones. Just do not expect your whirlwinds to take down gargants.
Always use the right tool for the right task. This means you will need a lot of different tools in your army.
Before attacking something: think!
Know your own armament and take your time to right-click the enemy unit. Compare the defence of the enemy with your own strength. Is your unit efficient against this type of foe? Have you forgotten something like have they more initiative because of XP or basic value? Do they have multiple hits so that more units will stay in fight and retaliate? Playing rushed never helped anybody. (A flaw most youtubers have playing too quickly).
Support fire is your friend: I have seen it a lot - orks charging a unit protected by a weapon team and getting hammered for it. Those are a life insurance against ork mobs breaking through and getting into close combat. Also, you will want to reinforce those with priority. Reason is easy: each other unit will lose their actions to reinforce. The support unit just will continue to lend fire support as this is no action but a reaction. For extra giggles, keep close a HQ unit so that it always has high morale. Support fire with +20 Accuracy is stellar. Especially when new unit types are available always ask yourself: when I am upgrading and giving up the support fire trait, will my army suffer from this choice? Will more own units die because I have a new toy with a slightly bigger gun that cannot protect the other team members? In defence scenarios, this trait is pure gold.
Recon is the key: Units with high vision are a must. They will see the enemy before he can see you or run into him and get ambushed. You do not want to get ambushed. Your unit will get locked in battle and hammered by multiple ork units in return leading to its demise. You are not allowed to waste the Emperor's soldiers, commander! Ratling Snipers, Salamander Scouts, Sentinels and later Space Marine Scouts will fit that role. Look out for transport vehicles. Scouts can have the storm landspeeder later which is a flyer with very high speed. Remember, they can move fast, but tend to go Leroy Jenkins. Remember: Scouts are your army's eyes. The eyes move WITH the body, not in front of and are well protected. Also mind minimum range on sniper rifle (Ratlings/Scouts). If you can grab a vision 4 unit - you will not regret it, if used wisely. In fact, most artillery which most players like is blind without scouts and cannot fire at targets.
Do not underestimate assault weapons: Another round of dealing damage is always nice and it ignores cover so more hits possible. Also, those units can actually retaliate if attacked in close combat. Steel Legion units, however tend to be glass cannons. Ogryns are an exception. But you will want terminators or dreadnoughts for this.
Transport vehicles are useful: They just do not make your units faster, but you can embark and use a whole different array of weapons which might even be stronger or have more range than standard issue. Think: Steel Legion infantry comes at a price of 100 points plus an odd number for the chimera (Conscripts even less). Those are 7 sprites comparable to a salamander scout with the multilaser weaker than the autocannon. But have you ever tried to use them as tanks instead of infantry? They can be effective at range 3 getting almost no retaliation fire from orks and have higher defence still. The Gorgon is a double-edged sword. It has far more weapons (yet more inaccurate ones) and more defence but is more expensive. I would rather not use it in units which tend to receive combat losses often. Has anybody tested yet whether conscripts will have more chimeras? I reckon that they will have not.
I would try to add some information about units I have already tested. As RP are limited in higher dificulties, it is important to get cheap units first and upgrade them later. Also, those will get XP while used which they will keep after upgrading. Each level of XP will add 1 point of initiative and a small bonus to defence and base accuracy.
Try to remember, how a weapons attack will work:
A unit has a melee and a ranged attack value it uses in battle. This value should be met with a d100 or under meaning 50% hit means a 50 or less will inflict a hit while 51 or higher does not. The weapon it uses might influence the attack. I guess this modifies the first roll. The accuracy value changes the to-hit number. A 100% would mean the unit's value is unchanged while a lower value seems to be multiplied with unit accuracy to get the new, lower to-hit-number. Also, there might be a penalty for each hex beyond the first which is cumulative. Let us get practical:
A Steel Legion Infantry has a base ranged accuracy of 50% meaning that statistically, half of its attacks will hit. Each sprite in the unit will use its weapon once. In that case it is a standard lasgun which has 2 attacks. The unit has 30 men which will result in 60 attacks at a base to-hit-number of 50%. The lasgun has accuracy 100% so the value will not be changed. It has a penalty of -10% per hex beyond the first. The one thing I am not sure is, whether this means the hex the unit is standing so even the neighbouring hex will get the -10% or the one after the neighboring one. Let us assume the last but maybe you can correct me. Shooting a neighbouring unit will inflict 30 hits which seems much first but we still have not calculated cover into it which influences accuracy as well as morale. The lasgun has range 2 so it can be fired an additional hex away but becomes poorer in accuracy. It will drop to 90% so I guess only 90% of the 30 hits will really hit meaning 27.
Usually, each hit will wound in 50% of all times. However, this value is modified. First, weapon strength and defence are compared. Just subtract the defence from the strength and you will get the modifier for the wounding throw.
A lasgun has 20 and we assume the ork unit has 30 defence. Remember, they are rather sturdy, while not armoured well. So 20%-30%=-10% which will drop the to-wound chance to 40%. So 27*0,4 results in 10,8 hits on range 2 and 30*0,4 results in 12 wounds. Each wound will remove a HP which might result in a guy dying. Thougher units have more than one HP so they can take multiple hits before another one bites it.
The lasgun has no piercing value. If it had, it would decrease the defence value by the piercing value. A high piercing value will make a weapon more efficient against targets with high defence making it useful against a broader spectrum of targets. The lasgun clearly is usable versus light infantry only like gretchins and slugga mobs. Usually, units will be in hexes offering cover which will lower the attackers accuracy. Same is true for shooting through units. Morale also will decrease accuracy by -20% and -40% for shaken/broken units. This is why you engage units from range before getting close. If you manage to drop morale the unit you attack will become weaker so that mopping up in close range will not be too dangerous to the attacking unit. Also, keep in mind, that a higher initiative will remove units from the equation when it comes to returning fire. For each point of initiative higher than the opponent, one sprite of the just killed ones may not return fire. Higher initiative keeps your units alive in combat, so do not underestimate that value. When the strength of a weapon is higher than the defence, then there is a chance of bonus damage. A hit can inflict multiple wounds and in rare cases, cause insta-kills. Odds are better, the higher the difference between strength and defence is. This is important, when you want to upgrade to something with a weapon with few shots, but high strength and piercing. It will do more hits than statistically estimated.
Finally, units with assault weapons will start a close combat phase at range 0 after shooting. They will use the melee accuracy value modified by the weapon's accuracy. Cover will be ignored so it is good for clearing out fortifications. Mind that the attacked unit still might fire first so fewer attackers will enter the breach. Otherwise, same rules apply here. Important: If the attacked unit does not have range 0 weapons, they will not retaliate this melee attack. Most orks have a kind of close combat ability while steel legion units have not, so keep the green tide away!
Let us take a look at the units that are available for the Steel Legion:
Infantry Section
Steel Legion Company Command
This is your basic HQ unit with the main purpose of giving +25 morale each turn to adjacant units. Raising morale to good will raise their initiative and accuracy so overall efficiency is raised.
It comes at a cost of 350 RP for 20 men with only one HP. With movement 4 they are rather nimble, have a good sight of 3 hexes and for infantry a rather good defence of 37. The initiative of 10 is rather high and helps keeping the unit alive. Melee/ranged accuracy stands at 50%/50% so every other attack will inflict a hit. With 20 men this is not much and they are rather fragile. They can be upgraded with chimeras and the gorgon later. This might be a viable option but increases repair costs. Speed 4 might be enough to have them walk by foot. The best spot for them is near other friendly units because of the leadership skill which adds 25 morale per turn (efficiency increases). It also has assault skill meaning it can shoot, then do a melee attack which can inflict a fair amount of damage. Their power sword is a good weapon with 2 'shots', strength 40 and 25 piercing so you could try and attack light to medium vehicles as well with them if need arises. Just do not expect them to live long enough to do this more than once or twice. Take an occasional shot at range but main job should be regenerating morale. As infantry, they can enter almost every hex and capture victory points. You might want to have at least one of those. Heed this advice: The AI likes targetting this unit very much. I think because it destroys a lot of RP by doing that and by removing leadership from the equation the player would have a much harder time.
Steel Legion Conscripts
The poor man's infantry. It comes at 75 RP and is armed with a lasgun which we know from above. The stats are horrible. True, they are 40 men thus 80 shots but, alas only 35%/35% base accuracy, sight 1, poor defence of 25 (expect them to die in droves), only movement of 2 and initiative 5. Expect those to take large losses and be almost inefficient when reduced to small numbers. I have not tried them out yet and only used the auxilliary units the missions give to me. It is infantry, so it can take objectives. With speed 2 it is rather defensive. I guess, best use is to put it into a trench, have a fire support team next to it and use it as wave breaker (yet a fragile one). On higher difficulties, RP might be so scarce, that you would buy one of those and upgrade them later to Steel Legion Infantry. Because of +25% men and -15% overall accuracy I guess a full unit will be 10% more efficient than a standard infantry but after even small losses this will be equalized or be even worse. Their role might be live and learn before promotion, sacrificial lambs, meat shields.
Steel Legion Infantry
Bread and Butter unit of Steel Legion Forces. They cost 100 RP so they are rather cheap and affordable. They also carry the well-known lasgun and have 30 men per unit. Sight is raised to 2, defence to 35, movement to 3, initiative to 9 and accuracy to 50%/50% which is definitively an improvement. You will start with some of these and might want to keep them a bit. Infantry is always needed to capture points, it can enter fortifications making them very durable and should be supported by fire support units. Improvement with a chimera is very useful as it will turn the unit into a tank, if wished. For 90 RP the chimera will appear as 7 AFV unit with 50 defence and 6 movement points and 3HP each. Keep in mind, that the base ranged accuracy is 40% for this unit and not 50% so less shots will hit. The multilaser is comparable to the lasgun, but has +1 range and +1 shot. Additionally, it comes with a heavy bolter which has range 3, strength 40, 0 piercing and 2 shots. Accuracy starts at 100% but will drop by 10% per hex. So converting the unit into AFV mode it will swap 60 lasgun shots with 50% chance to 21 lasgun shots with 40% and additional 14 shots with the heavy bolter. This might result in less damage done, but engaging at higher range makes it less risky for the unit to attack someone. Their main role is holding the line while being supported properly and taking objectives. Also, you can early invest into them and upgrade for less later.
Also, you could instead add the Gorgon assault vehicle. It will cost 360 RP however. You would get 8 units with 3 HP each so pretty sturdy with movement 5 which is a bit less than the Chimera. The sight is 2, iz has whopping 60 defence bit comes with poor initiative of 1 and only 30%/30% accuracy. Its weapons array sounds awesome at first glance. 4 heavy stubber which are a 35 strength weapon with 3 shots but lame basic accuracy of 75% even getting worse with -10% per hex. Range is 1-3. Also there are 4 of the well-known heavy bolters and 4 mortars similar to the ones the mortar squads carry. Number of shots do not equal, however so I suggest a possible bug there. Do not expect this transport to wipe out anything it comes along. It loks nice but woth only 30% accuracy hardly every 3rd shot will connect. Make it worse with range or cover intervening.
Steel Legion Special Weapons
A variant of the vanilla infantry with flamers as armament. They cost 125 per unit. They have only 25 men and their defence is improved to 37 (a meager +2). Other stats are identical with Steel Legion Infantry. The flamer is an assault weapon. It has range 0 meaning it will be used in melee. Which is bad since most attacked units can shoot them first. Those that survive, however attack with strength 30 which is higher than a lasgun and 3 'shots'. It has no piercing so it would bother light to medium infantry only. Good thing: it will ignore cover so it is more efficient against entrenched units than other units. I usually do not have many of them as they die too quickly and their flamer is missing the 'terror' trait decreasing morale.
You might want one of those for special occasions - at least in the early missions. Or in mission with many city hexes where they excel. Attack from cover something in cover with them. Just be sure the attacked unit is not supported, otherwise the support fire will butcher your unit.
Hive Militia w Autopistols
Using those is an act of despair. 40 RP is cheap and they come with 25 men per unit, but they are even worse than conscripts. Even less defence than conscripts (20!) only initiative 3 and a weapon that works like a neutered lasgun with only range 1 and 1 shot at base accuracy 30%/30%. Why should one buy such a unit? I can see only 2 reasons: First: You have no RP left but slots available so invest 40 RP now and upgrade later. Second: Sacrificial lambs, although I believe, even 40 RP are too much for that task.
Hive Militia w Autoguns
Costs at 55, identical to above mentioned militia unit. Gun is slightly better than a lasgun strength-wise otherwise identical. Yet, I rather would take regular infantry. If you want to play it fluffy or in scenarios, do it. Otherwise I see no reason to take them as better units are available from the beginning. Basically worse concripts with a better gun in fewer numbers.
Ogryn Squad
Now we are talking heavy infantry - at least for Astra Militarum. Ogryns cost 290 RP. A unit has 20 sprites but every one has 2 HP meaning it is two times harder to kill them than normal infantry. Movement is 3 is standard for infantry as it seems. Sight is 1 so they need scouts if they do not want to run blindly into the enemy. Defence is rather high with 45 but initiative is low. Base Accuracy is 50%/50% so it is a buffed infantryman. Ogryns are armed with ripper guns and ripper clubs. The ripper gun has similar stats to a lasgun but double the strength i.e. 40. Add 3 shots and you have a good amount of attacks made. Accuracy is worse and deteriorates with range by -20% so maybe they could profit from having a transport when engaging units from higher range. Since they have the assault trait they are much deadlier units when it comes to close range. The ripper club has the same stats as the power sword with strength 40 and piercing 25. Also, 2 attacks per sprite. These guys can hurt everything but the heaviest units and can endure some fire. However, they are not invulnerable and replacements costly. Good shock troops for Astra Militarum. Supported, they are real beasts. Fire support teams are their best friends.
Ogryn Veteran Squad
The Ogryn Veterans have the same armament as their cousins. They cost 380 RP and the following improvements over the vanilla ogryn: +1 move, +1 sight, -6 Defence (o.k. - this is no improvement), initiative of 6 and the most important: base accuracy of 70%/70% which makes them elite amongst the infantry units of the Steel Legion. They put many things into a world of hurt at close range and will decimate ork mobs reliably. Yet, still not immortal.
Ratling Snipers
These are the true scouts in the Steel Legion. They cost 225 RP and come in 15 men squads, which is not much given their fragile natur. Movement 4 is high and can be enhanced to 6 by adding a chimera for 90 points. Sight is 4 meaning their best use is to locate enemy units first and then placing your other units in perfect firing positions. Be warned: moving fast could also lead in ratlings ambushed by the enemy. Defence is 30 and initiative rather high with 9. Also, in chimera mode, sight is reduced. Their accuracy is 50%/70% so they shoot better than they fight (which they don't anyways). The sniper rifle they are armed with is interesting. It packs some punch with a strength of 40 but still lacks piercing. It has a range of 2-4 meaning you cannot fire at adjacant hexes. It has 2 shots and 100% accuracy which deteriorates by -10% per additional hex. Their role is harrassing the opponent from out of range and reconnoitering the enemy to prepare the attack and avoid ambushes. Keep them away from trouble.
Steel Legion Rough Riders
A Cavalry unit costing 200 points so double the price of regular infantry. Unit stats are similar to infantry. Less sprites - only 20 per unit. Movement is higher (5 instead of 3) and they also have +1 sight making them mediocre scouts. They have a lasgun and a hunting lance which make them better shock troops than flamer units in my book. The hunting lance is another power sword lookalike weapon. Same stats - different name. Better than flamers, since they have something to shoot with before the assault but worse than ogryns, which have more staying power. The Rough riders are too fragile to make a large impact on the battlefield. They have their uses, however. If you are lacking RP for buying ogryns with chimera but want some shock troops you could try them out.
Steel Legion Support Team
For whopping 400 points you will get 20 guys with heavy bolters. Stats are those of regular infantry but initiative reduced due to the bulky nature of the guns. The heavy bolter seems not to be the same as used in the chimera - which might be a bug. It has 4 shots instead of 2. Strength 30 is mediocre but the unit is laying down a hailstorm of shots. The most interesting trait is their support fire perk. Place them adjacant to another unit and it will punish those who want to attack the protected unit. Needs direct LoS and accuracy deteriorates by -10% hex. Main role: protect the infantry from ork mobs.
Steel Legion Mortar Support
Identical to the Fire Support Team mentioned above but with different armament. Mortars have a range of 2-3, strength 30 and no piercing at 3 shots per sprite. Which is still plenty. However, the mortar can fire indirectly and accuracy is not deteriorating making it a bit more effective at range 3. Very good in city fights where you do not have clear line of sight. Worth having at least one. Has the support ability so it will punish units attacking neighbours as well. Can be used to siege other units out although the range is not comparable to real artillery. All support teams are vulnerable and are more costly to repair than infantry.
Steel Legion Anti Tank Support
Those troops carry missile launchers. Having only 1 shot each, sporting 20 men this is still a lot: each shot has strength 75 and 35 piercing which will make bonus damage likely. Good versus light to medium vehicles - they tear them apart. Initiative of 9 instead of 1 is nothing to sneeze at so you can use them aggressively. Those can survive long if you are careful. Accuracy deteriorates with range by -10% per hex so expect no wonders at range 3 but they are deadly in ambushes at close range.
Walker Section
Steel Legion Sentinel
The Steel Legion only has one walker: the Sentinel.
A sentinel is a chicken-style walker sporting a single weapon. In the game it is a lascannon. In canon it can be a heavy flamer, a multilaser or a rocket launcher as well. It costs 200 points and fulfills the role of a mobile scout. It only has 8 sprites and each has 2 HP so it is rather vulnerable. It comes with movement rate of 5 which is good and has a sight of 4 which makes it an excellent scout choice. Defence 51 is o.k. but will fail if anybody puts effort into destroying the unit. Initiative of 7 is mediocre but coming to accuracy we see, that it comes with 50%/60% so it is a better marksman than other units. Armament is the lascannon, a weapon intended to hurt tanks. The stats are range 3 so do not expect fire exchanges with other tanks to be healthy. Strength is 65 which is enough to hutrt most light and medium vehicles. Additionally it sports 20 piercing and one shot per sprite. A lascannon has deteriorating accuracy with range: -10% per hex.
Sentinel Armageddon Pattern
A more armoured form of sentinel and better in many regards. Costs go up by 100 to 300 RP per unit but stats are improved significantly: Movement by 1 hex, defence by 10, initiative to 9 and ranged accuracy raises from 60% to 70%. You should do the upgrade if you have sentinels as scouts in your army. It is wirth its salt. This variant also is good for delivering the coup-de-grace for wounded tank units. High initiative plus tank-busting weapon means game over for injured units with not so much danger for the sentinel. Beware: AI seems to like to attack them. This unit is useful until the late game although - in campaign game - as soon as space marines are available, I tend to replace my scouts with space marine scouts and use dreadnoughts as walkers i.e. walking wrecking balls.
Vehicle Section
Tauros
The Tauros is a...peculiar piece of equipment. We first see it in the tutorial mission as first enemy vehicle and remember it as 'that thing that fell apart'. It is, indeed, very fragile. For 250 RP you get a scout unit of 7 with only 1 HP (yikes!) and movement 6. Sight is great with 4 and defence 46. Initiative 7 is o.k. and accuracy is decent: 70%/70% - it beats the basic Sentinel. Armament is a heavy flamer with a range of 1, Strength 40, 4 shots at 100% accuracy and terror trait. The problem is: this unit cannot survive any fire returned. Too few sprites, only one hit and with that kind of weapon not even a glass cannon. For 200 I would get the Salamander Scout which is better in any way. This thing needs to be balanced A.S.A.P.
Tauros Venator
An upgraded version of the Tauros. For 350 RP you will get initiative of 9 while every other stat remains the same. Armament, however is interesting: 2 lascannons (i suppose, they should be twin-linked ones). Like a regular lascannon, only with 2 shots. But wait, there is a drawback: Instead of the Sentinel's lasgun, which has 100% accuracy, this one only has 80%. Why is a twin-linked weapon nerfed over a single shot one? Twin-linked usually ensures better accuracy, not vice versa. Nevertheless, 14 lascannon shots at rather high initiative will take out injured vehicles rather well. But it is a gamble: if something survives, the Venator is toast. I have not used it yet as the RP price is too steep.
Salamander Scout
A sturdy choice for every army. It is only 200 RP and is comparable to the Sentinel statwise but has far better armament. 7 AFVs per unit with 2 HP each, so one less than our walkers.Sight is 4, which is awesome. Defence is 51 which is on par with the Sentinel as well. Initiative 7 is o.k. and base accuracy is 70%/70% which is great. Armament is an autocannon (R1-3;ST40;P10;S3;ACC100/-10%) and the heavy bolter again (R1-3;ST40;P0;S2;ACC100/-10%) which is odd as it is only 2 shots again. I mean, Gorgons have 4 shots with that and fire support squads have 4 shots as well. Who messed up the numbers here? Either way: great choice. You get a good scout unit being able to contribute something to your war efforts. It will shred light infantry and even deal some damage to medium infantry and light vehicles easily. Most armies will have at least one of them, if not more.
Salamander Command
In fact a copy of the Scout variant. Price is steep at 500 RP, you sacrifice 1 point of sight (4->3) and gain +2 initiative over the scout. Important trait it has for its cost are the leadership skill, which boosts morale for adjacent units raising overall efficiency. You might want this over a normal HQ, depending on playstyle. However: as all leadership units, they get pummeled by the AI which seems to be fond of killing HQs.
Hydra
An anti-aircraft tank. 350 points for 7 sprites with 3 HP each. Movement 4 is fair. Sight is 2 so it needs recon to work properly. Defence is 51, initiative 9 and accuracy 70/70. Armament is wonky. 4 Autocannons it reads. (R1-3;ST30;P0;S2;ACC100/-10%)...so...compared with a single autogun on the salamander this one is weaker, has no piercing, one shot less and that for combining 4 of those babys. They get AA trait for that which makes flyers lose their evasion bonus...right. This cannot be right. A corrected version would be (R1-3;ST40;P10;S12;ACC100/-10%)...but it has not, sadly. Additionally it sports a heavy bolter that we know already.
Its role should be defending your artillery from flyers. In campaign play there are only few occasions where you need it. Maybe more in multiplayer games. I skip it usually although it is effective versus infantry. Unit seems broken to me in current state.
Hellhound
I like the smell of promethium in the morning. Smells like...victory. Gooooood morning, Armageddon! This unit is a giant flamethrower on a tank. Strangely, it lacks a skill that makes it ignore cover. For 300 RP you will get 7 tanks with 3 HP, 4 movement, sight of 2 and defence of 61 at initiative 6 which is rather low. Accuracy is good with 70%/70% base chance. Each of them comes with a heavy bolter and an Inferno Cannon (R1-2;ST50;P0;S3;ACC100/-10%;TERROR). This thing will incinerate lots of light infantry and also lower their morale tremendously. I usually use them for fun and burning gretchins and slugga mobs - in which case they excel. I have read that a skill called siege is hardcoded in the game but not used. Ignoring cover would really fit to this weapon. Having to get close to the enemy means that you might get casualities quickly.
Bane Wolf
In fact the very same unit as the Hellhound. For +50 RP (350) you will get a +1 on initiative and the awesome Inferno Cannon is replaced by...a Chem Cannon. *scratches head*
Its stats are: (R1-1;ST20;P0;S4;ACC100/-10%;TERROR). So in fact you get a lasgun with double shots at point blank range only. Really, an infantry squad has 60 shots, while this unit has only 28. Yeah, terror it has, but terror does not strike me. S4 is too low. Also it has the well-known heavy bolter. I never used it. Only in the tutorial mission where you get one and this one was even pitted against a destroyer and a macharius. Strange unit and I do not take it - it is not balanced. It should have high piercing as corroding chemicals a seeping through nearly everything and ignore cover. Then we would talk. But in that state...no, Sir.
Devil Dog
Another Hellhound variant which costs +100 over the original. initiative is raised by +2 to 9 and main gun is exchanged with Melta Cannons. (R1-2;ST70;P50;S1;ACC100/-10%;TERROR). This thing is interesting as it can deal with tanks and drop their morale faster and deal with other heavily armoured stuff as well. Drawbacks are only 1 shot and rather weak and small unit. One might try to use it to hurt enemy tanks and vehicles but then it has to close up to the range where it has to face the music and it is not built to do so. Too fragile. Nice for support but for similar points I get either a Destroyer or Thunderer which do more for almost the same cost. Sadly, I do not use them as well as they seem not worth theri salt.
Tank Section
Not counting special regiments like the Catachan Jungle Fighters or the Elysian Shocktroops, the Tank is the backbone of the Astra Militarum. The Empire of Man uses 2 major chassis: the Chimera and the Leman Russ. While the Chimera has its use as troop transport, variants for artillery, recon and even assault forces have been made. The Leman Russ is the Empire's MBT and it is iconic for that. Expect juggernauts of steel armed to the teeth grinding forward and pulverizing anything in their way. Let us take a closer look at the section. At the beginning of the game you only have access to the basic tank configurations i.e. vanilla Leman Russ and direct offspring. Later you will unlock variants tailored to fighting a special foe and of course the super heavy tanks on the chassis of the macharius and the baneblade. These are real behemoths. At all times, keep in mind, that tanks can become VERY expensive RP-wise. Their repairs also won't come in for cheap - so avoid losses! Especially, since most of those come in units of 5 tanks or less which will impair the unit's fighting power by at least 20% per casualty. Tanks cannot fight in close combat - so keep them away from ork hordes. Even gretchins can damage a tank - by luck or sheer numbers. You have been warned, commander!
Leman Russ
This is the most basic tank the Steel Legio will get. And it is also the cheapest. 375 RP is a stealer for stats and armament. Do not expect wonders from this version, but it is sturdy and a good first start.
5 tanks per unit with 3HP each. Movement is 4 with sight 2 added. Defence is 60, which is useful against most small arms fire. Remember: each hit has a 50% chance to inflict a wound. By comparison, each point defence over weapons strength will reduce this chance by 1% (or increments of 10 for 10%), so basically, if you are 50% over weapons strength, you are immune to that damage. Just avoid big mobs because even if it tickles, in numbers there will be the odd shot to punch through. Avoid dedicated AT guns like Zzap-weapons or cannons. Also, keep in mind that ork close combat weapons mostly come with piercing value so keep away from melee at all costs. Weaponry on this baby is basic: a battlecannon (R1-3;ST70;P0;S1;ACC100/-10%) and the already known lascannon, which is a bit weaker. I would expect the battlecannon to have more shots to reflect the AoE their shells have but I guess at that high strength bonus damage rules will apply and a salvo will inflict more than one wound. Against Tanks it is mediocre. It lacks piercing value to be truly efficient. It is a jack of all trades unit. It will work against almost everything, but specialized equipment is better. Use them as piggybank for XP. Invest 300 now and improve later for less.
Leman Russ (upgraded)
Let us add some sponsond to our MBT. This comes at a price: with 550 RP this version costs 175 points more than the basic version. By doing so, some stats increase: defence increases by 5 to 65 and initiative gets a huge boost of 4 to 9. Also, ranged accuracy improves to 70 - so it is a reasonable price. We get another weapon system: 2 Heavy Bolters in sponsons. Their stats are as usual with the odd 3 shots instead of 4. I still do not know whether this weapon fires twice since there are 2 of them on each tank or if that is just the name and the realization in the code was sloppy. Usually, this is the tank most players will field in the early campaign stages. It works very well and decimates ork mobs easily. Against later ork tanks it becomes more and more unreliable and inefficient. Again, a jack of all trades unit, but better overall.
Leman Russ (armour upgrade)
Let us pay 450 RP instead to buy this version. Weapon configuration remains the same as the vanilla Leman Russ but defence is improved to 75 and initiative is raised to 7. 15 points of defence is a difference you will feel. It just lacks the bite of the more sohisticated versions of the Leman Russ.
Leman Russ (dozer upgrade)
This is a cheaper version of the upgraded Leman Russ. It only comes at a cost of 475 RP, but has only initiative 7 and also the ranged accuracy is not boosted. It has a dozer blade, but I do not know the benefit of this thing. Movement points are the same so maybe something is hidden in the code when it comes to terrain types. Consider this as a minor upgrade to the vanilla Russ.
Leman Russ (weapon upgrade)
Tanks can get even more expensive. This variant costs 580 RP and adds better sponson weapons to our tank. Stats are as the vanilla Russ with the exception of defence, which is 65 and initiative, which is 9. The heavy Bolters have been replaced with plasma cannons (although the list reads plasma cannon which means 1). Its stats are (R1-2;P30;S2;ACC100/-10%) I wonder, as the plasma cannon is know to be an AoE weapon, is this reflected by having 2 shots? If yes, then only one weapon is counted, but the tank has 2 of them. Again, sloppy coding when the units were created? The plasma cannons enhance the tank's battleworthyness versus a wide spectrum of units in range 2. Piercing 30 with this tremendous strength means lots of bonus damage chances on infantry and good armour penetration on tanks. Prolonged fire exchange, however will cause attrition, so be careful using this unit. It might be better to 'train' this unit a bit meaning leveling up a veteran Leman Russ to get more initiative so it will not receive more hits. A sturdy choice for a reasonable price.
Leman Russ Annihilator
Basically, a Leman Russ, where we swap out the main cannon for a turret with twin-linked lascannons. Now, this one thing that irks me very much. In this game, twin-linked weapons are worse than single ones. The lascannon comes with an extra shot but has an accuracy penalty of 20 so only 80% of base chance-to-hit. This is so wrong. It should be one shot with increased accuracy beyond 100% like 125% or 150%. In the tabletop games, twinlinked weapons had a re-roll for misses. In this game, they are crap. I do not know whether I would spend 650 RP for a nerfed battlecannon...rather not.
Leman Russ Annihilator Upgrade A
Strange enough, there is no upgrade B or C. From the picture, a dozer blade is attached. It costs even more than the Annihilator (750RP) and has Defence 70 instead as well as initiative of 11 (THAT's something!) and improved ranged accuracy of 70. It really needs it as its main weapon is our nerf-gun, the twin-linked lascannon. Hull-mounted lascannon (better one) included. For that points I forgo this equipment. Anybody there with some XP on it?
Leman Russ Conqueror
For 500 RP you can have one squadron of these. Stats are o.k. with defence of 65. Really interesting is the accuracy of 80/80. +15% over most models. Let us take a closer look at the main gun: The Conqueror Cannon has comparable range to the Battlecannon but swaps 10 points of strength for 10 points of piercing. (R1-3;ST60;P10;S1;ACC100/-10%). At first glance this looks very much the same, so why bother? Is there a hidden benefit? Let us ask the Ordo Mathematicus: If Defence of a unit is compared with the strength of a unit via subtraction...
(Def - Piercing) - Strength = Wound modifier. Let us assume Defence as 60 and fire our guns:
Battlecannon: Modifier = D60 - P0 -S70 = Mod-10
Conqueror: Modifier = D60 - P10 - S60 = Mod-10
I wonder, if the bonus damage rule applies by comparison of unmodified defence value versus strength or modified value. In the first case, the battlecannon would still be superior, in the second case, there would be no difference. Canon says, that a Conqueror Cannon can be shot while the tank is moving at higher speed - it is more accurate. It has lower callibre thus lacks the punch. I would understand, if that thing would lose the accuracy penalty for range, but no. There is another thing, that might tilt our favor towards the conqueror, however: It has coaxial stormbolters. This is an additional weapon with the stats (R1-2;ST30;P0;S3;ACC100%-10%). Because the conqueror is a marksman in the tank class, we might not abandon it for other, pricier choices. It will seem, that more shots will connect than compared to a vanilla Leman Russ and even the upgraded version. This needs more playtesting. I guess this one will become more useful on higher difficulties as RP become scarce. Standard-issue lascannon included.
Leman Russ Demolisher
This is a heavy close support tank. To reflect this role it has more armour than the Standard Leman Russ. It costs 475 points which is rather cheap. Statwise, it has improved armour of 75 and initiative of 6 while all other stats remain the same as the vanilla version. The armament is tailored to close range. First, the turred sports the feared demolisher cannon. (R2-2;ST75;P25;S4;Acc100/-10%). This gun is nasty as these are many shots with high strength and good piercing. This will hurt many target types. For even closer range, since at range 1 there is a gap, it has a heavy flamer. (R1-1;S40;P0;S4;ACC100/-10%) with the terror trait. This is a nice tank, good for the second battleline. This tank has some means to protect itself from quick target which would under-run his minimum range of 2. The heavy flamer will make them regret this. I am a friend of the demolisher cannon. It is very effective and the price of this unit is rather cheap. Close range, however means, that you must play it carefully.
Leman Russ Eradicator
At the cost of 600 RP we will get a slightly buffed Leman Russ. Armour is 65 and initiative is 7. Everything else is the same. Hull-mounted lascannon is replaced by a heavy bolter which does not sound like a real improvement to me. The Nova Cannon it mounts in its turret demands a closer look: (R1-2;ST90;P20;S2;ACC100/-10%). At first glance this looks like an alternative to the demolisher. We will give up 2 shots of a very good weapon for a weapon with even more Dakka. Strength 90 means more bonus damage - there is a small shift in the chance of inflicting multiple wounds. Yet, I find this design rather dull. I mean, the demolisher cannon has almost the same range, but more attacks. The eradicator might be slightly better, when it comes to shred dreadnoughts or other tanks because of the higher strength. But I am sceptical, whether this makes the price of 600 RP reasonable. This one would be a good point to discuss.
Leman Russ Executor
On the table, this is one of my favorites. I own a Forge World tower to convert one of my Leman Russ at demand. It costs 600 RP and has minor improvements over the improved Russ. Defence went up by 3 to 68 but initiative was lowered by 1 to 8. Still not bad, but no improvement really. So the weapon must be the good part. The fearsome Plasma Destroyer comes with those stats: (R1-2;ST60;P30;S3;ACC100/-10%). This is much better than a battlecannon. Trading 10 points of strength for 30 piercing is very good. 2 more shots as well. You just have to cope with the reduced range. It needs to be within 2 so it will face return fire of units it has shot. Sadly, it lacks sponsons.
Leman Russ Exterminator
Another happy member of the favored Leman Russ family of tanks. It costs 500 RP, which is reasonable. Stats are similar to the vanilla Russ with the exception of defence which is 65 and initiative which is 9. Main gun was replaced with a twin-linked autocannon which is 2 autocannons here. Strangely enough, this autocannon is the same as on the salamander scout, but has +10 strength. This time no accuracy penalty. Wonky indeed. Since it has no sponsons, it lacks its bite. On table i always play this with sponson heavy bolters to maximize destruction on infantry. I even swap out lascannon for 3rd heavy bolter. But in this game it comes with the standard lascannon so rather useless for either role of tank-killer and infantry-murderer. I do not use it.
Leman Russ Punisher
600 RP and we get some kind of heavy bolter on steroids. Improved stats are the defence value with 68, initiative which is 9 and the formidable punisher cannon: (R1-2;ST40;P0;S8;ACC100/-10%). and also a heavy bolter, this time with only 2 shots. Someone should get those stats right, seriously. It is annoying. The very high number of attacks makes it a real meatgrinder and decimates ork mobs quickly. However, closing up to range 2 is dangerous and as it is a heavy bolter on steroids, it is nearly useless versus tanks. Sadly, it lacks sponson weapons. I have tried it out already and while it is fun, losses add up quickly and frankly, a thunderer would be the better choice in my book.
Leman Russ Vanquisher
This is the version everybody likes to have. And it is the most expensive one: 750 RP to buy one. Initiative and ranged accuracy have been increased: 11 and 70%, which is really good. Many people like the Vanquisher because of its awesome gun and use its range of 4 to snipe targets almost every time. Well, let's take a look at the weapon: (R-4;ST75;P50;S2;ACC100/-10%). You will get a lot of high strength shots, but will lose 30% of them due to poorer accuracy at range. Piercing 50 will let look targets like they were made from tinfoil, which is good in my book. Mind, that there is no lascannon but a stormbolter so maximum damage is dealt at range 2 where casualties will be likely - and frankly, repair costs are steep! Losses during a mission can and will ruin your day. Defence 65 is not that great. Overrated in my book. To kill infantry, I go for the much cheaper thundere, for tanks the more accurate destroyer. Usually, I have 2 or 3 of the Vanquishers in my army, but not more. Other variants are useful as well.
Destroyer
A dedicated tank-hunter reminding me of the German Hetzer tank. This one has no turret but a single hull-mounted weapon, the laser destroyer. The Destroyer and its sister tank the Thunderer are faster than Leman Russ tanks - they have movement 5 instead of 4. Increased mobility make them ideal firefighters going hither an to at the frontline where they are needed most.The Destroyer mounts a single weapon, the Laser Destroyer (R1-4;ST90;P45;S1;ACC100/0%). The first thing to come in mind is, that both strength and piercing are awesome and will hurt everything equally hard besides titan-class warmachines. True, it is only 5 shots, but they come with no range penalty, so there is no reason to go closer than range 4. Basic accuracy of the tank is great: 80%/80% makes it a real sniper. I really like this tank and use it often. Used properly, it will not take any casualties during a mission. In the lategame, however, keep in mind that the orks will field range 4 guns of their own. Maybe then it would be a good time to upgrade to Shadowsword Super Heavy Tank. Until that time, it is great for its cost.
Destroyer (upgraded)
Not much to say. It costs 480 instead of 450 RP and you get defence 70, initiative 11 and accuracy 90/90 - insane! Almost every shot will count! This upgrade is mandatory if you have destroyers. You will love it - with capital letters!
Thunderer Siege Tank
A cheap alternative to the Leman Russ Demolisher - for 400 RP. In fact a demolisher cannon on a stick. A faster stick. Having no other weapon is no big drawback. Just keep it at range 2 and watch it blast up stuff. Initiative of this one is 8, so 2 points more than the Demolisher. I usually have 1 or 2 of them in my army. They make big holes in almost everything and make short work of mobs and light vehicles. Give them some cover and they are very happy.
Thunderer (upgraded)
Upgrade the Thunderer for +50RP and improve its stats: Armour will raise to 70 which is very good and initiative to 11 which is even better in terms of durability. Extra bonus: Accuracy also is boosted by +5 to 70%. If that is no bargain, then I do not know. If you already have Thunderers, then you want this as well.
I want to share my experience too
Don't forget about "Hero" units wich restores full morale.
You can gain full XP at 4 or 5th mission of original campaign