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My question is are the Legion of the Damned a viable troop choice for a Space Marine army? does any one find them worth while taking from a causual / tournamnet point of view.

I know 6th is just round the corner but I'm not expecting their role to change much.

Thanks

I was under the impression that they are an elites choice. Or did you mean infantry?

Dheneb wrote:I was under the impression that they are an elites choice. Or did you mean infantry?

I did indeed, well spotted

They are too expensive and take up the important elites slot.

They die just as easily to bolter shots as tactical marines, but cost alot more.

With Vulkan they can be all right as a combimelta,melta, multimelta unit.
This would be fine part from landspeeders do a similar role better and drop pods would land first turn not second, also other elite options are better.

You can build an army that comes on in 2nd turn using Tigurius. This is weird but Legion work as the main source of antitank; However, it works well enough and this could indeed improve in 6th edition.

I do agree they are over priced and elite options are really important.

I am a big fan of Legion of the Damned and I like to take them in just about every games above 1000 points. They are extremely expensive but they have Slow and Purposeful, so give them heavy weapons, and they have a 3+ save. Also I like that I have something to look forward to when they deep strike. Because of the Aid Un-looked For rule, they can re-roll deep strike scatter if you mishap. However if you compare LotD to terminators or other elites, they are usually second to all.

MFletch wrote:With Vulkan they can be all right as a combimelta,melta, multimelta unit.
This would be fine part from landspeeders do a similar role better and drop pods would land first turn not second, also other elite options are better.

You can build an army that comes on in 2nd turn using Tigurius. This is weird but Legion work as the main source of antitank; However, it works well enough and this could indeed improve in 6th edition.

I do agree they are over priced and elite options are really important.

Pretty sure LotD don't benefit from vulkan twin-linking the melta weapons. No combat tactics to replace.

LotD are massively over priced, and anything they can do can be done better by someone else. Terminators, attack bikes or land speeders all bring the pain better and cheaper then these guys. They are a third rate unit (at best) and should be ignored when building an army you intend to win with.

Pros
+ 3+ invulnerable save
+ Deep Strike
+ Extra precision when arriving
+ Can move and fire heavy weapons
+ Access to Heavy Flamers

Cons
- Very expensive
- Die easily to mass small-arms
- Slow and Purposeful
- Compete with Terminators and Dreadnoughts for FOC

The first con alone is why most people don't take them.

Carnage43 wrote:Pretty sure LotD don't benefit from vulkan twin-linking the melta weapons. No combat tactics to replace.

Neither do landspeeders, dreads, landraiders, etc. id est Vulkan makes all hammers, meltas, flamers, multimeltas, heavy flamers twin linked in the army.

MFletch wrote:

Carnage43 wrote:Pretty sure LotD don't benefit from vulkan twin-linking the melta weapons. No combat tactics to replace.

Neither do landspeeders, dreads, landraiders, etc. id est Vulkan makes all hammers, meltas, flamers, multimeltas, heavy flamers twin linked in the army.

Touche. Still doesn't make LotD any better though, they are still basically one of the worst units in the book.

If you are playing mech IG or something with mostly high S low AP weapons and not much mass shooting i think they are awesome with 3++, but at like 38 ppm iirc, they are very expensive, but i still use them in larger games because i think they look awesome

Carnage43 wrote:

MFletch wrote:

Carnage43 wrote:Pretty sure LotD don't benefit from vulkan twin-linking the melta weapons. No combat tactics to replace.

Neither do landspeeders, dreads, landraiders, etc. id est Vulkan makes all hammers, meltas, flamers, multimeltas, heavy flamers twin linked in the army.

Touche. Still doesn't make LotD any better though, they are still basically one of the worst units in the book.

I think it is more a yes it does in fact make them better than originally thought... but still not worth it

you can play them for fun and make them work if played right but they are kind of like an eldar unit in the space marines codex they are mostly good at one thing marching around and shooting big heavy weapons but are hard use properly and vastly overcosted

I'd think an accurate deep striker who can fire a heavy weapon after would always be a useful thing. They can also have heavies and specials without having 10 guys. 3+ invulnerable...

They're 200+ points for a 5 man squad with melta, combi-melta and multi-melta.

It'd kill the crap out of one tank in the turn it dropped.

Then most likely immediately die afterward.

They are hideously expensive for their rules.

Thanks for all the replies.

Lokas point of having a 5 man squad DS in with melta, combi-melta and multi-melta is quite interesting.

I'm used to playing CSM so they seem like a good deal points wise.

I'm looking into running differently themed armies at the moment and thought they would look quite good alongside a small Deathwatch kill team.

Yeah I'm more into making sure my army looks good than it winning but I dont want a unit that is not worth its weight on the battlefield.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
edit: Just had a thought can you attach a Stormtalon to these guys?

Legion of the Damned always arrive via deepstrike.

What does the Storm Talen say about attaching from units from reserve?

Just had a google as I don't have the WD and you cant attach it to DSing units.

You can always field them as Sternguard. Fashion their drop pod into something that'd fit the fluff of LotD.

From what ive heard, they are a bit overpriced for what they can do, IMO better take sternguards if you can.

Legion of the Damned are perhaps the worst unit in Codex: Space Marines. Apparently all their shooting attacks were originally going to ignore saves entirely, which is why they're so expensive, but it got changed at the last minute because they were worried about balance, and the costs didn't get updated. You can still see the fluff about all their attacks cutting through armor in the unit description, but that doesn't translate into rules anymore, and since they're priced in accordance with their old (and greatly increased) capabilities there isn't much of a reason to field the Legion.

A shame, since the models are so cool...