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 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Max Kill sounds surprisingly low? Mind you, as demonstrated earlier today in the Hachette thread, maths is exactly my strong suit.

I know enough for day to day, and that averages aren’t be all and end all, so I’ve no reason to doubt your findings. But still seems low to my eyes.

Each shot has a 68% of killing a GEQ.

So it's .68^12, since you need twelve kills.

Fair enough!

As for my approach to math hammer in the game? It is of course an inescapable part of the game. Even if it’s just “I want that tank dead. No, second thoughts, I need that tank dead”, then taking aim with the weaponry most likely to achieve that goal in a given turn.

But as for being entirely reliant on averages?

Mort, by Terry Pratchett wrote:
“Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one.
But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten.”

I’m very much on the side of the magicians here - and it’s won me more than a few games as a result. Examples being plinking off the last wound/hull poing or two with opportunistic pistol fire, then charging into something squishy with Assault Marines (except in editions which I can only charge what I shot of course). Because if it’s a choice between maybe, with good luck and a fair wind taking out a tank, or reliably blatting a couple of weedy Guardians who’s unit I’m about to give a good kicking anyway, I’ll go with trying my luck on the tank. Because whilst it’s always nice to have the right tool for the right job, sometimes you need to get creative.

Other opinions and approaches to gaming are available and no more or less valid than my own “sod it, I’ll give it a try” ethos.

I’m of a mind to get a Hexmark for dealing with a regular opponent’s outflanking Repentia.

Man this is how i just love to see my threads go: People reasoning, debating, stating their cases, showing evidence to support their views, no name calling, snark, etc. Intelligent reasonable discussion back and forth with both sides behaving reasonably. I love it when a thread goes like this!

One issue is the deathmark synergizes quite well with various rules and units. As was mentioned, put him with a Destroyer lord and he rerolls 1's to wound, up go his kill rates.

Give him the right dynasty and his kill rates go up too. Mephrit gives him AP 2 at 9". Another dynastic trait gives him one rerolled wound roll per turn. Other dynastic traits may help him in various ways.

Plunk him in terrain and he gets cover, increasing his survivability and his chances to kill more enemy.

Plus, and this is a major point: He can fire twice in a whole turn. Once when he HHs in, and again on his next turn assuming he survives. Even if he's locked in CC he can fire in close combat with all his rules.

If you consider him over a whole turn with at least two full shooting phases, hmmmm. In the video i posted he whacked an entire 10 man squad of eldar guardians that way and was never in any danger from them.

Maybe the hexmark isn't so useless after all. With proper synergization (Yeah I just made that word up.) he can even make spess muhreens sweat a little.

One weakness is he can be one shotted, yes, one lascannon hit can take him out. One lascannon can only stop one deathmark in a 5 man squad, and he might resurrect...

If necrons still had the lightning filed relic he'd be a real monster with it.

Except the synergy is too expensive and you'd literally just be better off buying a second Hexmark. Deathmarks have more synergy options and just aren't awful.

Slayer-Fan123 wrote:
Except the synergy is too expensive and you'd literally just be better off buying a second Hexmark. Deathmarks have more synergy options and just aren't awful.

The synergy could just be a side effect of an existing situation. Not a whole strategy in itself.

And again, remember on the turn you HH him, he has a good chance of firing off 12, maybe even a few more, shots, on the turn he appears in and once on the next necron turn. In that same whole turn a 5 man deathmark unit gets 5 shots, period.

I think we can safely say that a Hexmark is a unit that has to be used carefully. If used correctly, it can be very effective. If not, it can disappear to very little effect.

Therefore the questions are: Can you use it effectively? Is what it does useful for your army?

Hexmark is definitely a finesse unit. You can't just plonk him down on a table and blast half of your opponents' army off the board like certain brainless/#Winbutton SM units. I like a good challenge and Hexmarks are good in the right hands (sorry, Slayer-Fan123).

Can we also hook a Hexmark up to a Canoptek Plasmacyte?

I always forget about those little buggers.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Can we also hook a Hexmark up to a Canoptek Plasmacyte?

Yes, you can. You can also give a hexmark destroyer a WLT, and it can share protocols.

 Matt Swain wrote:

Give him the right dynasty and his kill rates go up too. Mephrit gives him AP 2 at 9".

The unfortunate part is, that he just cannot use it the turn he arrives. And therefore the "guaranteed" impact is lost.
I stand by my assertion that one is a useful tool to have and provides options, we otherwise would not have or only at higher costs. It is not the best unit in the codex, but it is a viable choice for lots of people (and a great model )

ccs wrote:

BTW, have you found me another Destroyer unit yet that has Translocation?
Or maybe you can you show me another unit in my chosen sub-faction that does what I'm using my Hexmark(s) for??

The Ophydian destroyers have the equivalent ability, even if it is not called translocation. So you could use those. And all Nephrek units for which you use the specific stratagem.

They both feel like meta picks to me. I dont think there's a wrong choice or right choice in general.

Ophidian destroyers can do a DS and even do it twice, but they still fall short of the hexmark in some ways.

They can only appear and attack in their turn, and once deployed must successfully charge the enemy, they are not guaranteed an attack.

The hexmark can deploy in the enemies turn and since his guns have an 18" range he is guaranteed an attack on the enemy. Plus since he can deploy within 9" and that's half his gun's range it means he can get a 2AP if he's mephrit. Assuming he survives till the next necron turn he can get off two salvos in one full turn.

I saw a video excoriating the hexmark as worthless and was leaning that way until i saw him be very useful in a video, which really made me think it over again, and the more i look at him the more i see he can be a very useful unit that just needs deploying with more thought and care than plopping down a blob or a monolith.

 Matt Swain wrote:

 p5freak wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Can we also hook a Hexmark up to a Canoptek Plasmacyte?

Yes, you can. You can also give a hexmark destroyer a WLT, and it can share protocols.

Um, WLT? I must have missed the memo on that abbrev.

WarLord Trait. On that note, how about the -1 to be hit Nephrekh one?

 AduroT wrote:

 Matt Swain wrote:

 p5freak wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Can we also hook a Hexmark up to a Canoptek Plasmacyte?

Yes, you can. You can also give a hexmark destroyer a WLT, and it can share protocols.

Um, WLT? I must have missed the memo on that abbrev.

WarLord Trait. On that note, how about the -1 to be hit Nephrekh one?

Yeah, i realized what WLT meant after i posted this, and redid my post as a comment i meant to make about ophidians vs hexmarks. (BTW, I wish the ophidian had been called something like Kobrekh destroyers since the egyptians had a thing for cobras.)

Also I must say i never once thought of using a wlt on a hexmark, as they seem anything but leaders, but your post was right on the money. Thanks.

Does he have a special rule that lets him deploy within 9”? The standard is more than 9” away.

Yeah, it's easy to overlook the "more than" and just remenmber 9". Still, on his next turn he can scuttle forward an inch and get the -2 ap if he's merhrit.

BTW, what warlord traits might make him better?

Really I don’t think any of them are great. Only the Nephrekh’s has much of any use.