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http://thebrownpaintbrush.blogspot.com/ Made a quick post on my blog about psychic defence.

I just want to know what you guys think about competitive armies and psychic defence? Do they need it? Should they bother? Can they do without? What do you think?

Psychic Defense is awesome. If it's available to your army, it's almost always worth taking.

You don't need it. But, I only say that because some armies can't take any at all. If they could take it, they should.

yermom wrote:http://thebrownpaintbrush.blogspot.com/ Made a quick post on my blog about psychic defense.

I just want to know what you guys think about competitive armies and psychic defense? Do they need it? Should they bother? Can they do without? What do you think?

It really depends on what army you are playing, and your list. Most powers you see tend to be in 2 categories, offensive powers, and utility/buffs.

Most of the pure offensive powers aren't actually that scary. The utility ones though... can destroy you quick, null zone and doom are examples of this.

So if you are worried about these type of powers, due to unit vulnerabilities, then you probably should consider taking a hood or whatever you can get for your army. Many armies are stuck with no defense though, and they still win games.

What purpose does psychic defense really serve now?

It helps deal with mephiston, but thats just one model... It can stop null zone, if your army cares. Most competitive lists dont now days. Rune priests aren't scary enough to warrant it. And eldar are rare in tournaments now, even rarer is lash.

While if your army can get access to it, is it really best? Guard can do a lot for the 75 points theyre paying for the hood, and space wolves could just take thunder lords/battle leaders instead which they do need, to save points.

I've seen many successful lists run without it.

It doesn't matter, my Tau lay down and die if a stiff wind blows so it's no different from a space marine giving them a mean look...

The imperial guard have no access to psychic defense, and they do just fine.

Generally, psychic powers are nice boosts to an army, but they rarely do anything that non-psychic abilities can't already do. They need to be worked around, like any class of thing in 40k, but they don't need things that hard counter them.

I sort of think of them like Imperial Guard orders, except they're more expensive and better. You don't need to kill guard officers, because they're support units, but they can be handled with regular firepower if you really want them dead. I mean, a libby will be insta-killed just as bad as any other space marine when krak missiles, battle cannons, and power fists start throwing around their weight.

I think it will be of great help against the new GK codex. But it is helpful against Meph as said and against Chaos sorcerers and Chaos Daemons.

I think it is pretty important imo, you may as well as it's often only a few points, eldar get RoW for 15pts.

There are a few powers which can really ruin your day, notabot made a good point, the buffing up powers are often overlooked, though something like doom can mean the destruction of an important unit. However the destructive ones are often plain nasty too, like Jaws of the World Wolf, that's just evil

So yes, psychic defense is important, but there are more important elements which should have priority when making a list.

I try to take a librarian at 1500 points for defense. At 1750 and above, I always field one.