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So guys.. there must be some filthy alpha legion tactics to draw upon right? My view is that with the Alphas anything goes.


So one idea, not so much filthy but possibly effective.
Across the front line of cultists, add in Maelific Lords for smite output. But also keep some reserve points for summoning.
So where the enemy needs to be cut down, deep strike in alpha legion oblitorators of tzeentch. Then summon in the changling and a horror screen.
Now the oblits are at -2 for shooting, have a decent screen from charges. You can fit a lot of wounds in one summon if you use pinks to start (points heavy tho).

That is exactly what I am planning to do, with 2 units of Obliterators but also with a 10-man Possesed unit. Both get the -2 to be hit.

I couldn't play with my Alpha Legion since the Codex got out, but I want to try several strategies and share them here.

I'm adding 3 units of 3 to my Daemon list. Quite excited to try them out.

Are you all using GW's Obligados? I find them ugly as hell do I decided to convert my own from some old terminators. They are the same base size right?

I'm using lightly converted Primaris Aggressors. They're the same size, and to me they fit the Alpha Legion "not very demonic" style.

Oh god, that is a wonderful idea. I use Primaris as the base for my Possessed for the same reason, didn't think about Aggressors as the base of Obliterators. Do you have any pictures of them?

So does anyone think FW is gonna FAQ their chaos characters interacting with the parent legions normally? As written, Arkos won't do anything for our dudes.

Supposedly they are working in it. A bit irritating.
TBH for alpha builds I think a regular Lord or exalted champ or dark apostle or sorceror are all more useful.

 ochobits wrote:
Oh god, that is a wonderful idea. I use Primaris as the base for my Possessed for the same reason, didn't think about Aggressors as the base of Obliterators. Do you have any pictures of them?

Here ygo.

Love it. How do you plan to remove/cover the imperium eagle?

For the Emperor!

I was wondering how to use Forward operatives strategem to bring an entire army into melee range. Right now, the two most resilient infantry models I can think of are plague marines, and possessed.

So, if we use forward operatives, 4 cp can let us place 80 plague marines up the board, or 80 possessed. Even if opponent seizes, these can take a lot of punishment.

Eldenfirefly wrote:
I was wondering how to use Forward operatives strategem to bring an entire army into melee range. Right now, the two most resilient infantry models I can think of are plague marines, and possessed.

So, if we use forward operatives, 4 cp can let us place 80 plague marines up the board, or 80 possessed. Even if opponent seizes, these can take a lot of punishment.

You cant have your entire army in reserve, as such you cannot have your entire army deploy this way. That being said if your going melee Zerkers are the way to go. Bring 1 20 man squad for every 5 man squad deploy the 5 man squads and infil the 20 man squads. 3 units of 20 and 3 units of 5 with dark Apostles and Exalted Champions for support. Your looking at (((3x19)+4)x2)x3 attacks with a 88% hit rate and a 88% wound rate vs MEQ (chain swords are slightly less effective, but worth it IMHO)

That is enough damage to do a little less then 1800 points per turn to MEQ if you can manage to get every one of the zerkers into CC.

 ochobits wrote:
Are you all using GW's Obligados? I find them ugly as hell do I decided to convert my own from some old terminators. They are the same base size right?

If you want real obliterator alternatives, you can also go here:

https://wargameexclusive.com/shop/chaos/chaos-space-marines-obliterators/

 Thousand-Son-Sorcerer wrote:

Eldenfirefly wrote:
I was wondering how to use Forward operatives strategem to bring an entire army into melee range. Right now, the two most resilient infantry models I can think of are plague marines, and possessed.

So, if we use forward operatives, 4 cp can let us place 80 plague marines up the board, or 80 possessed. Even if opponent seizes, these can take a lot of punishment.

You cant have your entire army in reserve, as such you cannot have your entire army deploy this way. That being said if your going melee Zerkers are the way to go. Bring 1 20 man squad for every 5 man squad deploy the 5 man squads and infil the 20 man squads. 3 units of 20 and 3 units of 5 with dark Apostles and Exalted Champions for support. Your looking at (((3x19)+4)x2)x3 attacks with a 88% hit rate and a 88% wound rate vs MEQ (chain swords are slightly less effective, but worth it IMHO)

That is enough damage to do a little less then 1800 points per turn to MEQ if you can manage to get every one of the zerkers into CC.

I thought about that before, and discussed it in the CSM tactics thread. The issue is that we can't always bank on going first. So, that's why I was mentioning most resilient infantry. Because what if opponent seizes initiative? Berzerkers are a lot more fragile compared to possessed or plague marines. If I am going first and I manage to charge you with 80 plague marines or possessed, I may not do as much damage as 80 zerkers, but it will still be a lot of damage, and you are tied up in close combat already. At most you fall back to be charged at again. The problem is what happens if opponent seizes initiatve or goes first, and you have already used your 4 cp on those 4 strategems.

 ochobits wrote:
Love it. How do you plan to remove/cover the imperium eagle?

I don't. It stays. My Alphas are always "loyal" alphas.

Also it would be annoying to remove.

This has probably been answered somewhere, but would it still be fluffy to have an Alpha Legion force without any cultists?

The codex says that Alpha Legion is known for using them the most, but I figured there would still be some strike forces made up of mostly Marines and Terminators who did the heavy lifting while the cultists were off causing havoc somewhere else.

I don't see alpha legion not using any assets at thier disposal.

 Astmeister wrote:

 ochobits wrote:
Are you all using GW's Obligados? I find them ugly as hell do I decided to convert my own from some old terminators. They are the same base size right?

If you want real obliterator alternatives, you can also go here:

https://wargameexclusive.com/shop/chaos/chaos-space-marines-obliterators/

Those are sexy as hell... I just ordered two units, so i'll report in with how they look in-hand when they get here.

I'm soooo thrilled they're finally units worth taking. I've loved the idea of Obliterators forever.

 orchewer wrote:
This has probably been answered somewhere, but would it still be fluffy to have an Alpha Legion force without any cultists?

The codex says that Alpha Legion is known for using them the most, but I figured there would still be some strike forces made up of mostly Marines and Terminators who did the heavy lifting while the cultists were off causing havoc somewhere else.

Of course there will be times when the Alpha Legion wants to do something in a place where there is no native population to corrupt. They might just be in a hurry. It's fine not to use cultists.

An alpha legion force probably wants quite a lot of CPs though, for its stratagem, so taking cultists to fill out battalions makes sense. You could potentially even go for a brigade - though I'm not sure how practical that would be.

 orchewer wrote:
This has probably been answered somewhere, but would it still be fluffy to have an Alpha Legion force without any cultists?

The codex says that Alpha Legion is known for using them the most, but I figured there would still be some strike forces made up of mostly Marines and Terminators who did the heavy lifting while the cultists were off causing havoc somewhere else.

If you want to play competitive and not fluff, do it but don't try to bring excuses for your fluff if you go competitve.

Ignoring fluff... So Alpha Legion Plague Marines sound pretty decent. Thoughts on load out?

Mandragola wrote:

 orchewer wrote:
This has probably been answered somewhere, but would it still be fluffy to have an Alpha Legion force without any cultists?

The codex says that Alpha Legion is known for using them the most, but I figured there would still be some strike forces made up of mostly Marines and Terminators who did the heavy lifting while the cultists were off causing havoc somewhere else.

Of course there will be times when the Alpha Legion wants to do something in a place where there is no native population to corrupt. They might just be in a hurry. It's fine not to use cultists.

An alpha legion force probably wants quite a lot of CPs though, for its stratagem, so taking cultists to fill out battalions makes sense. You could potentially even go for a brigade - though I'm not sure how practical that would be.

Pfft, I plan to go brigade with one of each Cult Marines and several Chosen, Spawn, and then Obliterators if there's room. Thank Chaos Cultists are so inexpensive.

Captyn_Bob wrote:
Ignoring fluff... So Alpha Legion Plague Marines sound pretty decent. Thoughts on load out?

They wouldn't be my first choice actually. It strikes me that AL benefit most units that either hit very hard at close range (using the stratagem to get there) or that shoot effectively from outside of 12". To me, that suggests using berzerkers and/or noise marines. I'd go so far as to say that noise marines are clearly better using AL CT than Emperors' Children - as noise marines don't gain an awful lot by striking first in cc.

The trouble with plague marines is their damage output at range - or rather the lack of it. To be fair, I'm not sure how effective they are in cc, and in the new codex they are certainly a lot better than they used to be. So maybe it will make sense to have a melee-armed unit of plague marines using the AL CT to infiltrate and then bash people with their weird flails, bells and things. Berzerkers still seem the obvious option - or would be if their models weren't so awful and plague marines weren't about to get some really awesome new toys. Plague marines are obviously a hell of a lot tougher than zerkers, and that helps if the other guy gets first turn. They might well, under the new matched play rules.

 Cephalobeard wrote:

 ochobits wrote:
Oh god, that is a wonderful idea. I use Primaris as the base for my Possessed for the same reason, didn't think about Aggressors as the base of Obliterators. Do you have any pictures of them?

Here ygo.

Whoa...what is the deal with those horrific seams on the legs?

 exliontamer wrote:

 Cephalobeard wrote:

 ochobits wrote:
Oh god, that is a wonderful idea. I use Primaris as the base for my Possessed for the same reason, didn't think about Aggressors as the base of Obliterators. Do you have any pictures of them?

Here ygo.

Whoa...what is the deal with those horrific seams on the legs?

Don't worry, I noticed it as well. I made the error of building the first one without proper lighting. All the legs have weird mold lines. The first photo just looks a little more hardcore because I had just filed them down.

Yeah, I just hadn't seen the kit and was surprised that a newer kit needed that much filing on such a prominent surface. Weird.

I am thinking about using Tartaros Termies for my Oblits...that and a bunch of shooty bitz.

I used Forgeworld renegade Ogryns for mine. I think if I were to make some today I might base them on the mechanicum combat servitors with the tracks.

Havocs are also a very nice unit to use with the AL Legion Trait of -1 to hit over 12 inch.

So, Cultists.

Do you run all 40 man squads?

To me, I'm thinking the best way to do things is to run one 40 man squad and then multiple 20 man squads. You will only ever need to regrow the largest squad, while the others run around in the backfield.

I've also started running a Slaanesh Daemon Prince w/ Intoxicating Elixir as my main HQ/Warlord for my Daemons/Alpha. Gives them S8/A8 with dual claws, while also being 9wounds with a 6+ FNP, and then an additional 5+ FNP from the Slaanesh powers.