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Joking title aside, the thread in 40k general on an all jokaero army got me to take a closer look at the magic orange furballs and very seriously consider including them in my army.

Originally I was going to include maybe 1 or 2 units of henchmen in my Coteaz army with a couple of jokaero to boost their firepower, but now I'm wondering if giving every henchmen unit at least 1 jokaero isn't such a bad idea.

Is it a no-brainer to throw jokaero into a warrior acolyte squad for the boost they bring, or will that defeat their purpose of being super cheap in an army of high cost, high value units?

For those who need a basic run down:

Jokaero get to pick 1 out of 3 weapons per turn (lascannon, multi-melta, heavy flamer), +5 invulnerable save, BS3 and have "inconceivable customization".
This special rule gives their squad a random boost from a chart, with multi jokaero boosting the chances of a good or even multiple abilities. Everything from no effect, to boosted armor saves, +5 invulnerable, +12" range, and rending on all weapons are possible. Too many jokaero does seem to mean that you will never be able to benefit from the special rule (as they will boost your roll beyond the needed 2-6 every time).

Some combinations that will be possible with the monkeys in your henchmen squad include:

up to 11 rending 36" stormbolters for dirt cheap
up to 3 meltaguns with 24" range or 3 plasma with 36"
up to 3 rending flamers (+ the rending heavy flamer that the jokaero itself can bring)
up to 12 jokaero bringing any of 3 weapons they choose per turn but losing their bonus abilities.

At 35 pts each, they seem like a steal for what they bring to their unit. But you can't rely on 1 jokaero to get you the upgrade you were really hoping for, and 2+ starts to make their previously cheap unit expensive.

So, are these models expensive distractions from making an effective GK list, stealing points from other units that need them badly, or a massive boost of power that I should take in every unit possible? Or something in between?

I could certaintly see including 1-3 of them.

I see their Digital Weapon as being the biggest reason to use them with the weapon boost the 2nd.


a unit of 4-6 of them with some meatshields of other Henchmen would make a nice anti-tank unit. lascannons each turn will hurt tanks.

add them to an assaulty unit for some flamer goodness.

Is just the heavy flamer worth including monkeys in assault units? Because those units are going to be crusaders and death cult, who rely on their own invulnerable saves anyways and actually gain no benefit from the jokaero's abilities. Hitting an enemy unit with possibly rending heavy flamers before tearing them up with death cult assassins sounds awesome, but I really wonder if that situational benefit justifies the 35 point cost.

Why are you saying the storm bolters etc. would be rending? Just curious where that's coming from.

the Jokaero alter the weapons of the models in the squad.

Culler wrote:Why are you saying the storm bolters etc. would be rending? Just curious where that's coming from.

Jokaero come with a random roll for special abilities. If you get lucky you can get rending weapons.

For me it looks like 1-2 Jokaero plus however many unupgraded warrior acolyte meatshields you want and a banisher just because has promise. Around a hundred points for two heavy weapons with some bodies and special abilities around them, not a bad deal. Supposing you're already bringing the Inquisitor and have no more compelling use for his henchman squad, of course.

Very important point some people miss, mentioned in the OP but worth repeating:

2 Jokaero does not equal two rolls on the table. Extra Jokaero add +1 to the dice roll. This means you can only every get one or two upgrades, and if you're not careful, could cause it to be impossible to get the upgrade you want.

Now here's a rules conundrum. If you take 5 Jokaero, you are certain to get the '6' result of two rolls on the table. But as the +5 modifier doesn't go away, the second two rolls will always be six or higher too, so you never get any upgrades at all.


As for henchmen units, I'm leaning towards a few builds complete with silly names:

1. Assaultus Maximus:

Xenos Inquisitor, Rad Grenades, Level 1 Psyker, Hammerhand
4 Crusaders
7 Death Cult Assassins
Stormraven w/ Multi-Melta, Plasma Cannon, Hurricane Bolters

Total - 470
Expensive? Sure. Fragile? A little. Deadly? Absolutely. If the Inquisitor gets off Hammerhand and the unit gets a charge (which it should, the Stormraven has an assault ramp) then the Death Cult Assassins alone will kill an expected 15.5 MEQs on the charge, striking at I6. Hammerhand + Rad Grenades makes you wound on 2+. and DCAs are WS5 with 4 attacks on the charge. Crusaders absorb anything nasty, and the Storm Raven softens up anything that looks scary.

2. Assaultus Goodenough-us

Xeno Inquisitor, Rad Grenades
2 Crusaders
5 Death Cult Assassins
4 Warrior Acolytes
Chimera

Total - 216

Less Expensive, still fragile, still deadly. No Hammerhand means you only wound on threes, but the unit can still be expected to nuke a 10-man MEQ squad without too much trouble before they get to strike back. Harder to get the charge off, but half the price.

3. Shooty-us Mobilitus

2 Jokaero
3 Warriors w/ Meltaguns
Chimera

Total - 167

Chimera has a top-hatch capacity of 5. Either move around, shooting 3 Meltas and 2 Heavy Flamers out the top, or stay still and Lascannon/Multilaser threats until they get close enough. If you have spare points, feel free to add extra warrior bodies to absorb wounds.

4. Shooty-us Decentus

2 Jokaero
6 Psykers
3 Warriors w/ Plasma Guns
1 Crusader

Total - 175

Stay in cover. Hope for a one on the jokaero upgrade (to get the range bonus). 6 Psykers = an S8 AP1 Large Blast. 2 Jokaero = 2 Lascannons. 3 Warriors = 3 Long range plasma shots, increasing to six if something gets close. Crusader jumps in front of the first nasty thing that fires their way.

5. Shooty-us Overkillus

Ordo Xenos Inquisitor w/ Conversion Beamer
Techmarine w/ Conversion Beamer, 3 Servo Skulls
6 Psykers
3 Servitors w/ Multimeltas
2 Jokaero
1 Warrior w/ Plasma Gun
Total - 363

All eggs on one basket. Techmarine bolsters some cover in a corner to 3+, and you sit in it. Servo skulls help reduce the blasts for the psykers and conversion beamers. You get two small S8/10 Blasts, one large S8 AP1 blast, 3 Multi Meltas, 2 Lascannon/Multimeltas and a Plasma gun. Anything that stumbles into range gets killed. Anything that sneezes at you however, will kill you first. 3+ cover helps, but you need to ensure the unit it properly protected.

One doesn't receive the modifier to subsequent rolls....

Bruteboss wrote:Is just the heavy flamer worth including monkeys in assault units? Because those units are going to be crusaders and death cult, who rely on their own invulnerable saves anyways and actually gain no benefit from the jokaero's abilities. Hitting an enemy unit with possibly rending heavy flamers before tearing them up with death cult assassins sounds awesome, but I really wonder if that situational benefit justifies the 35 point cost.

If anything, that will just kill all the models you could have reached in melee.

ChrisCP wrote:One doesn't receive the modifier to subsequent rolls....

yeah, you do.


the rules say, each Jokaero adds 1 to the roll on the chart.


if you roll a 6 you get to roll twice. it doesn't say the 2nd roll doesn't recieve the bonus.

new unit: The Flaming Ape

jokaero, 3 acolytes w/ flamers, chimera w/ hull and turret heavy flamer

6 flame templates, 3 of which are heavy, all potentially rending, and all for dirt cheap. Roasted MEQ? Yes please

Chimera HF templates will not rend; the Chimera is Never part of the Jokero's unit.

A Chimera with 2 Heavy Flames is wasting a weapon-port, No one is going to walk their models 2-8" in front of the Chimera so you can hit them with both templates, you will have to move and then you can only fire 1 HF.

Grey templar: I just convinced Chris of the truth in multiple Jokero 6+ = still applying the modifier to the next 2 rolls over in the YMDC forum.

Grey Templar wrote:

ChrisCP wrote:One doesn't receive the modifier to subsequent rolls....

yeah, you do.


the rules say, each Jokaero adds 1 to the roll on the chart.


if you roll a 6 you get to roll twice. it doesn't say the 2nd roll doesn't recieve the bonus.

Yepo, was enlightened in the other thread too, thanks

The jokaero build is a gimmicky build that will never be competitive. It is a fun build....just don't expect to win any tournaments with them.

2 Jokaero is the right number so you don't roll a 1 for nothing and can still roll a 2 for the +12 range.

Are jokaero's considered IC's?

1 or 2 per squad of mech-hench squads. Not all squads will have them in, as some will want to be used to transport mystics, as again I'm assuming that teleporting and deep striking will feature heavily in GK armies.

If you are taking a hencemen army then inclusing 2 of the apemen (70 points) in the transport chimera (55 points) will be a good adition to the dakka dreadnoughts (135 points.)

With 3 of each you have the start of a semi gunline. Add some rhinos with psycannons forcing the oponent to come to you and you turn that H2 to A4. 8 shots out of a rhino from apurefier squad is not so bad.

3 x Dakka dreads 405
3 x purifiers, rhino, 2x psycannons, 3x halberds, 1x hammer 573
Koteaz 100
3x 2 monkey men 1 chimera 375

at 1750 you have 297 to outfitt the rest of the units in the henchement unit. Seems like it could work fine.

Psycannons are Heavy4 or Assault 2.

Is it just me, or do Jokaero sound a little... Orky? Orange furs instead of green skins notwithstanding.

They were around in the Rogue Trader days

Cortez
Libby
Techmarine


8 Jokaero +4 cheap meat shields in a squad.....

4 squads........

get into a multi level building in your deployment zone and bolster it with the Techmarine........3+ cover save

Now cast Shrouding and all 4 squads have 2+ cover saves.

Costly but 32 lascannon shots spread across several targets..........

Who cares about their special abilities with that kind of firepower!