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I had this crazy idea, that I haven't seen on Dakka, if it has... my bad guys.

Correct me if I am wrong, but due to Assassins being allies of the imperium they can hitch rides on imperium transports. Space Wolves can take drop pods as fast attack choices. My idea was slap a culexus assassin in a drop pod and put him right midfield/near enemy lines. Get lucky with placement first turn and you can potentially mess up an opponents day. Once the assassin pops out, due to him being pretty tough to hit with shooting and a fair invuln save, he should live to mess some stuff up!

What do you all think? Am I missing something or is this illegal?

Yeah, you're missing something huge. Culexus already has infiltrate so what's the point of Deep Striking? The only upside is if you have bottom of the turn so it can't be Alpha Striked off the board before you even get to throw any dice. And since the Culexus has Polymorphine, forcing snap shots on her Turn 1 and can set up a single inch from an enemy model... Or arrive from Reserve from the enemy table edge... Yeah I really don't see the point.

Sure it's legal but so what? What is the benefit?

Your thinking of the callidus assassin with the polymorphine. the Culexus is the anti psyker.
The culexus does have infiltrate as well, but you want him within 12 inches asap to prevent psykers from generating warp charges, etc. So a pod will get you in closer, faster, possibly safer too. I'm going to give this tactic a try this Saturday and ill see how it does, but I just wanted to pitch this to dakka.

It would be absolutely devastating if your opponent is running a Psychic based Death Star and you support him with long range firepower.

 SharkoutofWata wrote:

Sure it's legal but so what? What is the benefit?

The only benefit would be to counter seize the initiative. nothing sucks worse then having an expesnive unit or model asplod because you placed it somewhere too close in some dumb way.

that about it

 Eldarain wrote:
It would be absolutely devastating if your opponent is running a Psychic based Death Star and you support him with long range firepower.

That was the plan, supporting with Long Fangs and such.

This seems to me to be a 1-trick-pony build. Yeah, it may work well against psychic deathstar builds....but what about the rest of the armies that you will face? What about Imperial Knights that are so prevalent in tournament play? How does it work against flyer armies or MSU-mech? Basically, this is a tactic that you can consider if you are tailoring against an opponent's army, but it isn't viable as a solid Take-All-Comer's build.

 jy2 wrote:
This seems to me to be a 1-trick-pony build. Yeah, it may work well against psychic deathstar builds....but what about the rest of the armies that you will face? What about Imperial Knights that are so prevalent in tournament play? How does it work against flyer armies or MSU-mech? Basically, this is a tactic that you can consider if you are tailoring against an opponent's army, but it isn't viable as a solid Take-All-Comer's build.

While I agree that it is best against what the Culexus is built to fight, calling it a "1-trick pony build" is a bit extreme. The cost associated with this idea is extremely minimal (140 and your ally slot if it is for a 2 source tournament) (I'm not counting the pod as it can be re-purposed with another unit or left empty to maximize turn one pods if against a non-psychic deathstar army)

That leaves you with the grand majority of your points to make any kind of list you like with your Wolves Primary. Even against armies without psykers the Culexus is a fantastic backfield nuisance being essentially invisible with a nice list of wargear and special rules.

 jy2 wrote:
This seems to me to be a 1-trick-pony build. Yeah, it may work well against psychic deathstar builds....but what about the rest of the armies that you will face? What about Imperial Knights that are so prevalent in tournament play? How does it work against flyer armies or MSU-mech? Basically, this is a tactic that you can consider if you are tailoring against an opponent's army, but it isn't viable as a solid Take-All-Comer's build.

Considering he's such a good foil for psychic spam armies, and somewhat effective against those without, it's totally viable. If it fits use it. Saying don't take a culexus because you might have a game where he's useless is like saying "Don't take meltas, you might face a horde of Orks".

Ohh, and against imperial knights, he's still got uses if you use your brain. A single infiltrating (and outflanking) unit can still be helpful against a low modelcount army.

He can still kill non psyker units... he doesn't herp derp as soon as all the psykers disappear. That's like saying a tactical squad can't hurt that tank right in front of it because its only got a flamer upgrade... (krak).

 Desubot wrote:

 SharkoutofWata wrote:

Sure it's legal but so what? What is the benefit?

The only benefit would be to counter seize the initiative. nothing sucks worse then having an expesnive unit or model asplod because you placed it somewhere too close in some dumb way.

that about it

It also helps if the psyker you're trying to kill happens to be on a bike, jet bike, or have a jump pack. He could move 12" then activate powers normally and the culexus would never catch him again on foot.

Belly wrote:

 jy2 wrote:
This seems to me to be a 1-trick-pony build. Yeah, it may work well against psychic deathstar builds....but what about the rest of the armies that you will face? What about Imperial Knights that are so prevalent in tournament play? How does it work against flyer armies or MSU-mech? Basically, this is a tactic that you can consider if you are tailoring against an opponent's army, but it isn't viable as a solid Take-All-Comer's build.

Considering he's such a good foil for psychic spam armies, and somewhat effective against those without, it's totally viable. If it fits use it. Saying don't take a culexus because you might have a game where he's useless is like saying "Don't take meltas, you might face a horde of Orks".

Ohh, and against imperial knights, he's still got uses if you use your brain. A single infiltrating (and outflanking) unit can still be helpful against a low modelcount army.

This x10

Why not put the assassin in a land raider and infiltrate?

pa1310 wrote:
Why not put the assassin in a land raider and infiltrate?

It has to have been a dedicated transport to confer infiltrate to the vehicle

The main issue with the Culexus in a pod is that once it drops he's very easy to avoid/dodge.
I played a whole campaign where my main opponent was a Nurrgle flying DP spammer, the Culexus was awesome but I had him riding in a LR or Stormraven the whole time.
1) it expands his nullifying aura
2) gives him much needed mobility
3) both are assault vehicles
4) stretches his lifespan for more than 1 turn

Hope this helps.

 phoenix darkus wrote:
The main issue with the Culexus in a pod is that once it drops he's very easy to avoid/dodge.
I played a whole campaign where my main opponent was a Nurrgle flying DP spammer, the Culexus was awesome but I had him riding in a LR or Stormraven the whole time.
1) it expands his nullifying aura
2) gives him much needed mobility
3) both are assault vehicles
4) stretches his lifespan for more than 1 turn

Hope this helps.

Yes. This does help, but it also costs 180 points more than the assassin and a pod. So, there is a significant cost associated with this added mobility.

This has been discussed at some length around here and other forums. It's a viable tactic but it takes your allied slot and if you play 2 source limit like most places it's not worth the opportunity cost.

That said if your not using the second source and need psych defense it's hard to beat especially against psyker units. Any true psychic deathstar worth it's salt won't be undone by a culexus however. Movement 12", jink, hit and run, bubble wrap + GoI, counter assaulting IKs and so on all make it just a set back, albeit one you might can capitalize on.