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I've got Yarrick and I quite like his rules and fluff, but is he worth having?

He's absolutely worth having. He's about $15 and you can paint him up really nicely. I've seen some awesome paint jobs.

Oh, for playing the game? Uh... not so much. He's designed for melee, yet he's terrible at it. Has no invul save, and he has a 4+ chance of standing back up. Awesome, except he'll be dead before he gets to hit with the Klaw.

He's good, not a tournament choice, but not bad.

His save is the same thing as a 5++ against weapons that wound on a 2, and better against weaker weapons (str5 and down) he hits hard and makes the unit he is with powerful. He is more for a fun game where he can be amazing. The crappy thing is if he dies and his squad is no longer fearless that can be very, very bad. If you throw him in a blob, make sure they have a regular commissar, too. He works well with Ogryns, too. I have had a lot of fun with him in an Ogryn unit, although again, not the most competitive choice.

Also, he gets up on a 3+, not a 4+.

I'd say use him if you play mostly casual games and have a laugh with him. If you are a tournament player, leave him at home.

Yeah, I'm much more of a casual gamer; I've used him a few times and had mixed results.

Reecius wrote:
Also, he gets up on a 3+, not a 4+.

Ah, good catch. Sure, he's fun. Worth it though? I don't think so. You're better off with a LC and some 100+ extra points in your pocket.

daedalus wrote:

Reecius wrote:
Also, he gets up on a 3+, not a 4+.

Ah, good catch. Sure, he's fun. Worth it though? I don't think so. You're better off with a LC and some 100+ extra points in your pocket.

True, we probably are.

The below is based on ideas for a predominantly infantry build. I don't think anything other than a CCS is worth it competitively in a more standard guard list.

Actually I think he can be worth it. I used to say he was a point sink and served no purpose. But I swiped an idea from MVB and the reasoning and the more I look at it the more I like it. The reason blobs need a commisar is to re-roll their leadership right? Well what about a ld8 stubborn re-roll that doesn't kill a sergeant (i.e. power weapon) every time?

Think how many points you generally since into a commisar lord (if you take one for orders), and multiple power weapon armed commissars. Then look again at the price of Yarrick. 15-25pts difference if you take 2 Commissars and a Lord. To me that is totally worth it. He actually gives you the ability to not blob but get all the benefits. And he's not half bad at beating in face on top of it.

Just my thoughts

Hulksmash wrote:The below is based on ideas for a predominantly infantry build. I don't think anything other than a CCS is worth it competitively in a more standard guard list.

Actually I think he can be worth it. I used to say he was a point sink and served no purpose. But I swiped an idea from MVB and the reasoning and the more I look at it the more I like it. The reason blobs need a commisar is to re-roll their leadership right? Well what about a ld8 stubborn re-roll that doesn't kill a sergeant (i.e. power weapon) every time?

Think how many points you generally since into a commisar lord (if you take one for orders), and multiple power weapon armed commissars. Then look again at the price of Yarrick. 15-25pts difference if you take 2 Commissars and a Lord. To me that is totally worth it. He actually gives you the ability to not blob but get all the benefits. And he's not half bad at beating in face on top of it.

Just my thoughts

I see your point with the first part, but remember, two Commissars gets you 6 power weapon attacks NOT on the charge that can't be singled out in melee. Yarrick gets you what, 3 fist hits at I1? That's the big problem with Yarrick. You have to completely discount his face beating ability in the name of keeping him alive to the end of the fight. I know the first thing I'd do if I was up against a blob with him is hit him until he died, then worry about the rest of the blob. When leadership came up, the blob would crumple, unless you had another commissar, but if you did, what's the point of Yarrick to begin with? Now if you wanted to talk about having him float around in the back of the infantry mass so as to make use of the crazy stubborn bubble, that's fine, but that definitely hurts the amount of choppy you're bringing to the table.

I think you actually missed the point. You don't have to bring the choppy death because you can pretty much choose to end or continue cc's on your terms and then you can shoot the offending units.

His face beating is secondary. It's not hideous but it is his ability to influence the entire game that is worth it.

I see your point with the first part, but remember, two Commissars gets you 6 power weapon attacks NOT on the charge that can't be singled out in melee. Yarrick gets you what, 3 fist hits at I1? That's the big problem with Yarrick. You have to completely discount his face beating ability in the name of keeping him alive to the end of the fight. I know the first thing I'd do if I was up against a blob with him is hit him until he died, then worry about the rest of the blob. When leadership came up, the blob would crumple, unless you had another commissar, but if you did, what's the point of Yarrick to begin with? Now if you wanted to talk about having him float around in the back of the infantry mass so as to make use of the crazy stubborn bubble, that's fine, but that definitely hurts the amount of choppy you're bringing to the table.

I think you are missing some key elements that Yarrick brings to the table besides his power fist. He confers Stubborn to all units within 12". That's a rather decent force multiplier. He makes the unit he is joined to Fearless. Another decent force multiplier if joined with the right unit. He also gives re-rolls to your to-hit rolls, yet another force multiplier. I think Yarrick can work in blob infantry units like Hulksmash says. It's a fairly decent utility idea for that guy. Where he really shines though is in an Ogryn squad. He elevates the Ogryns to where they should be. It's expensive, but that combo has served me well when I have used it. It is as close to a beatstick deathstar unit in that codex as you can get besides the full Straken command squad. While it isn't hyper competitive, I feel that it can be used in tournament lists...but you sort of have to build your army around that with idea in mind.

Personally I use the model as a Lord Commissar and spend the extra points on weapon options elsewhere ...

In a casual game? Sure, he's fun, has some cool special rules and works well with other punchier, casual units such as Ogryns. In a competitive environment he's a bit too expensive for what he bring to the table to really be worth it, so if your going to a tournament I'd probably leave him at home.

L. Wrex

Hulksmash wrote:I think you actually missed the point. You don't have to bring the choppy death because you can pretty much choose to end or continue cc's on your terms and then you can shoot the offending units.

His face beating is secondary. It's not hideous but it is his ability to influence the entire game that is worth it.

Okay. So I think I get it now. Please stop me if I'm still not getting it; I didn't sleep well last night so reading comprehension is at an all time low, but what I think you're proposing that we have, say, 5 infantry squads, separate instead of blobbed. They're going wherever they want, because they're cheap, plentiful, and not going to run. They're shooting their guns, lasguns, flamers, whatever. If they get assaulted, then it's no biggie. The assault then effectively ends when you decide it does, and you're out a pittance of points, because it's not an "all or nothing" blob.

It's an interesting premise. I'd like to try it sometime.

@Daedalus

That's exactly it. I don't personally have any experience playing it and would need to practice the style. It was suggested by MVBrandt in a discussion on the nova forums and I think the idea has merit. I just wanted to share that merit