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So I'm thinking about different units to expand my CSM collection, and I've come to Forgefiend/Maulerfiends. Obviously, these serve separate roles, but are they any good at what they do? I kind of like the Forgefiend's amount of plasma it can pack, but the Maulerfiend looks like the better build. What are your thoughts/experiences?

**THIS IS NOT FOR ANY SPECIFIC LIST**

I prefer the Mauler. They are really fast and can keep up with my Daemon Cavalry/Spawns.

The Forgefiend is too fragile for it's cost and I'd rather spend those points on Nurgle Havocs or Obliterators if I'm going for some Fire support.

That's one of the thoughts I had. The thing that made think a little more about it is all the plasms Forgefiend can bring could be rather devastating.

The low ballistic skill is a huge pain on both load-outs for it in my experience.

When I was first trying the Forgefiend out I had a great string of luck rolling hits on the scatter dice.

Luck as it always does, balanced out eventually and I couldn't justify spending 200pts on a dreadnought who kept missing.

I'd say forgefiend, especially with the 3 ectoplasma cannons. I'd say this because Chaos has plenty of things to beat people up with in close combat.

However the true answer is to magnitise the fiend, thus it can be both.

Good points. Now did you run spawn/bikes in front of the Maulerfiend for a screen?

Try to use it's complete immunity to the negative aspects of terrain to your advantage. Ruins in particular are nice for the 4+ cover on the way in.

If you're running a Forgefiend, a really good option is to ally in Daemons for a Tzeentch herald w/ Prescience so that your accuracy troubles go away. Prescience on three plasma cannon blasts or a lot of Hades shots is nice.

If you don't have Prescience, Obliterators are a better fire Support option than a Forgefiend in my experience. It dies quicker than Oblits, and it's less versatile than Oblits.

Maulerfiends do something quite different, and I like them in a lot of CSM lists. Since CSM often have to run forwards anyways, having fast cheap walkers taking away fire from a spawn-tide or whatever really helps out the survivability and threat of your list.

For right now, I'm focusing on straight CSM. I may somewhere in the future pick up daemons.

The general consensus I've picked up from tactics threads, and list building threads is the heavy support, ideally, should be full of Obliterators(MoN+votlw) or Havocs with autocannons. I saw a few lists run Maulerfiends and a BL detachment for a fourth one. I was looking at some "outside the box" type units that may help against the currently powerful Elder and Tau.

For simplicity, do like i did.



Model him to be modular and able to fill one or the other role.

Just mount the fiend like it is a Mauler, then where you will put the Magma cutters/mecatendrils just use magnets or counter pierce, and mount the Range weapons on the supports.

You then can put the weapons support in place of the tendrils or cutters if you want to use it as a Forgefiend.

I personnaly use and like better the mauler, its fast, many opponents are really surprised with the speed it can display(fastest and most mobile walker in the game i think).

Last game Vs Nids did well in killing a brood of Hiveguards, 2 Tyrant guards and blocking in CC a Tervigon for 3 turns, blocking MC's while your Walker's Tendrils only allows them 1 attack per turn, is really something.

Now i have a friend who runs a really Deamon engine heavy list, 2 Drakes, 2 Maulers and 1 dakkafiend, the 2 maulers act as "Tanks" where they receive a really large number of hits from the ennemy who doesn't want to see those coming to close, while the rest of his army can advance pretty untouched.

So yeah make a modular Fiend, test them both to see what you like better and what matches your tactics and lists better.

I will leave this out here, 2x Forgefiends with HAC, 16 rounds of punishment. Leave no army with dry pants.
From my experience they are not all that easy targets, and id rather have 8 Hades rounds than the Preds.

maulerfeind don't need escorts they have a 5++ invulnerable due to daemon so they actually make better cover for other units. whatever a vehicle a maulerfeind charges dies but they suck against infantry.

although recently I've been running be'lakor and casting invisibility on them. they open up terminators and meganobs now with surprising ease especially with lasher tendrils. invisifeinds are now a favourite of mine

forgefiends imho need presence to have any effectiveness, the plasma isn't as good as it looks as you need to get within 24 inches to fire and that's not where I want my 200 point walker to be.

Forgefiend is a 200 pt unit with a 24 in. range. It's okay at best, and will draw alot of fire. For the same price, roughly, you can get 3 Oblits, same number of plasma cannon shots, Lascannon options, relentless, DS if you want it, and can get cover alot more easily for a 4++.

Maulers, on the other hand, with Fleet and Move through Cover, get into the enemies faces FAST, and only cost a buck and change. Taking two isn't significantly more than one forgefiend, and the firepower it takes to clear two out of cover can be a great cover for the rest of your army.

I love magma tendrils. Always love getting 2+2 autohits on top, all of which ID any T4 models and melt AV 14 like butter.

Maulerfiends look like my next purchases then. I'll need to get a few more smaller things, but Maulerfiends with bikes/spawn with a bike lord and perhaps rhino rush could make for a nasty in your face list.

I haven't run maulers but I have haves down some flyers flyers with my forgefiend.

elaps wrote:
I will leave this out here, 2x Forgefiends with HAC, 16 rounds of punishment. Leave no army with dry pants.
From my experience they are not all that easy targets, and id rather have 8 Hades rounds than the Preds.

I know a guy that runs a list like that. He loves his 16 rounds of presience Hades Autocannon. Though I think he said they were gak against Tau.

Dual forgefiends for me! The amount of firepower they unleash every game is insane. I'm planning to add a third. Strength 8 comes in very handy when the majority of vehicles are AV12 and dudes are toughness 4 or less.

I usually pay 20 points more and upgrade to +1HP and a Battlecannon, as well as more weapon options and a better (IMO) looking model.

Playing vs a Tau list; brought 2 Maulerfiends, two units of Spawn, three rhinos (one w/dirgecaster) and 6 CSM each, and a DP of Tzeentch, Psyker 3.
Tabled the Farsight Enclave list turn 3.
He fielded 2x 3 crisis, the riptide IC, Farsight, two piranha, two units of pathfinders, and a hammerhead.

MVP? Those mauler fiends, and the one brave rhino with dirgecaster.

Next game; got a lasher-tendril maulerfiend into CC with another riptide, tore it apart.

That said, I've also won games due to having HAC Forgefiends, either pinning key units or simply tearing them a new one.

Hence why I'm in the process of magnetizing two models to do either.

I like the Forgefiend more, the low BS doesn't really scare me. The fragility is a concern, but it can be offset with cover / walls of other units.

The maulerfiend hasn't worked out well for me in combat. It seems like he always ends up in the open, trying to charge up the board, and gets shot up before he can get into combat.

I wannt to like the defiler, but that extra HP on an AV12 vehicle isn't that great. Most of the time you get penned and explode. All those extra weapon options would be good...if you could actually fire them.

Maulerfiend I have found to be more of a threat and functions better than the Forgefiend. But the problem with the Mauler, is that you have to tailor a list around him and other fast units. You can't just take 1 and expect it to perform miracles. You take 3, and 2 sets of Nurgle Spawn. Then rush them all up the board and smash into enemy units.

Where the forgefiend can sit back and take pot shots at everything, and can be effective in most lists, but the low BS, does in fact hurt it greatly... In my experience, you'll miss about 1/2 the shots... The Ectoplasma Cannons are worthless since you only have 24" range on them... Dunno why the Ectoplasma cannons don't have the same range as Plasma cannons... More hate for poor Chaos I suppose..

GoliothOnline wrote:
Dunno why the Ectoplasma cannons don't have the same range as Plasma cannons... More hate for poor Chaos I suppose..

To be fair Ectoplasm is S8 rather than S7 of the Plascannon, meaning you can ID T4 with it. Ecto ups the cost to defiler levels though, which does templates better.

Well, by all rights T4 means nothing when the AP is 2

I could understand it being 30" but 24" is just abysmal... Heck, throw it down to str7 if they want... anything but 24 >.<

GoliothOnline wrote:
Well, by all rights T4 means nothing when the AP is 2

Obliterators come to mind, AP2 denies their armour sure, but they won't die, they'll likely kill you in return.

OK the battlecannon won't deny their save, but they'll stay dead.

I guess it's kinda a case of 12 one way a dozen the other.