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Hey, so I am mobilizing my guard army (foot guard) and was thinking of adding in a psyker battle squad and a telekinesis primaris psyker. Its 200 points and it seems like it would be pretty devastating, seeing as it can pretty effectively shut down a squad a turn. I am looking for tactics on how to use them effectively in 6th edition.

I fail to see how a telekinesis Primaris Pysker can be devestating. The primaris power is junk, the others aren't all that good too. I'd say if you are going to get a PBS have them as standard but they kinda work better in a Chimera, which as a footguard you'll unlikely be running. The primaris pysker himself would work better with default spells imo.
Might be interesting to take telepathy for that primaris power with the PBS, but it's such a short range on a very flimsy character with too many hoops to jump through.

The potential wounds from Psychic Shriek (Telepathy) on a unit that has been knocked down to leadership 2 is amazing but the odds of pulling it off is less than 10% and the range of 12" means you'll get one shot per game which makes it a bad combo to build a list around.

Telekinesis has no synergies with Weaken Resolve or Soulstorm so is a bad choice for a Primaris Psyker while Telepathy has I think 3 powers that can really hurt a unit who has had it's leadership reduced to 2 (Dominate is pretty good).

However nightshroud is what you want. Put your Primaris in a unit and cast this and every enemy unit that wants to shoot that unit have to pass a leadership test to do so. This can benefit footsloggers pretty heavily and while closing the gap you can use Weaken Resolve on whichever enemy unit is most threatening to the shrouded unit (who if your opponent is smart will now pick a different target).

Weaken Resolve has a 36" range which normally means you can cast it on an enemy unit that is camping an objective in their DZ - follow it up with enough shooting to force a leadership test and that unit is going to abandon that objective, throw in a couple of pinning weapons and you can completely remove that units firepower for a turn.

Finally Weaken Resolve is not a Psychic Shooting attack so it doesn't roll to hit only requiring a psychic test to cast and your opponent to fail their deny the witch roll. However as it does require Line of Sight and is not a Witchfire attack it cannot be used from within a transport.

Most importantly is the timing of when to use Weaken Resolve - causing a unit to break and flee is worthless if you can't then assault them to finish them off as they will probably regroup. Get a squad of Vets with shotguns into a position to cause that leadership check and then assault them as they scarper while they still have terrible leadership (note this doesn't work on Marines due to ATSKNF as they will just auto-regroup when you assault them).

Blaggard wrote:a PBS have them as standard but they kinda work better in a Chimera

Except that PBSs can't shoot out of a chimera anymore.

As for the PBS itself, it got weaker than before, not only because of the loss of chimeras, but also because they now just flat-out don't work 1/6th of the time. Also, it's a lot easier to rally, so weaken resolve isn't as good anymore. They also suffer from other new problems like worse cover, etc.

The TK PP I actually like, though. Two chances to get gate, crush, or OM, any of which are pretty dang decent abilities (the last one being nice as it's one of the few abilities that can hurt fliers without rolling still). I think I'd use it in conjunction with some other unit you're already bringing, like plasma footvets or a CCS. Plus, you still maintain the ability to use lightning arc, which can be very useful, depending on who you're fighting.

 Ailaros wrote:

Blaggard wrote:a PBS have them as standard but they kinda work better in a Chimera

Except that PBSs can't shoot out of a chimera anymore.

Wait what? When did this happen?

As been stated before the PBS got weaker by the changing of psychic powers and how to use them w/ fire points.

However you only need one psyker to have LOS to the target meaning that the rest can hide behind terrain and if you have a full squad you can lose two or three before Weaken Resolve loses its effectiveness. A prime place to hide them is behind a multi-level ruin, with the rest hiding underneath the floors, making barrage unable to hit the squad.

The PBS is viable IMO opinion simply because of its chealp cost and the presence of more infantry lists in 6th. When a squad rallys now they must shoot snap shots, severely limiting their firepower. (Unless ATSKNF).

Also people seem to forget about Soulstorm. Str 7-9 large blast is nothing to sniff at with a possiblity of AP 1 or 2.

True deny the witch does degrade it, but every psyker has that issue.

To me putting them in a multilevel structure means their short range got shorter.
Now you have to hope the targets you need get close enough for them to work.
I didn't run them before. Losing the ability to shoot out/cast of a Chimera means my
nicely painted squad will never see the table for awhile, if ever.

Blaggard wrote:
I fail to see how a telekinesis Primaris Pysker can be devestating. The primaris power is junk, the others aren't all that good too. I'd say if you are going to get a PBS have them as standard but they kinda work better in a Chimera, which as a footguard you'll unlikely be running. The primaris pysker himself would work better with default spells imo.
Might be interesting to take telepathy for that primaris power with the PBS, but it's such a short range on a very flimsy character with too many hoops to jump through.

Gah, I failed there. I did mean telepathy. The one that focuses on moral.

I did enjoy that with weaken resolve and dominate, I can effectively shut down a squad for a turn. Plus, the primaris should be devastating with leadership 2.

I think a Psyker battle squad by itself, is awesome, the amount of fire power the rest of the army can bring down on the group that you want to lower their leadership, force them to take a morale check and they will fail. It is pretty sick at 36" range... I have had it affect my warlord and nob biker squad and they ran off the board after 2 losses, I had it happen to my Eldar Jetbike seer council and go off the board. I think for its points like so many things in the IG army is awesome.... If I were playing IG I would not leave home without it, nor would I leave home without vendettas. I think Guard are still one of the armies in 6th edition that benefit or play better all meched up. Once out of their vehicles they are weak. Rappid fire and overwatch is awesome for them and 6th ed favors shooting over CC so they are still a very good army to play

Well thats because IG are a tank army. It's right in the fluff. I think the PBS are still great, who cares if they can be shot when there are so many other larger threats. They are a force multiplier but not the initial treat.

Could ally them with ba to drop ld and force morale tests.

What really killed pbs was the removal of the 6" rule where units couldn't regroup with enemies within 6". Between marbo and vendettas it was really easy to walk a deathstar off the table in 5th.