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Is the legion considered a good unit?
Could I/should I run them with imperial Knights as a standalone army?
If not, where do they excel?

I bought the codex, love the fluff, and I desperately want to run them.
I need help in how though. They seem like leadership killers, what imperial army forces fear tests?

If you want to run them then by all means run them.

I'd give them a Multi-Melta, Meltagun and Combi-Melta and call it a day. Cheap anti-tank (145 points) which is the cheapest you can get the three shots, bested only by BA Assault Marines imo.

Bonus points if you can fit Vulkan in an Allied Detachment to TL it (but you need the Scout Troop tax)

When you say Vulkan, do you mean Hes'tan or the Primarch?

Hes'tan. You cannot legally mix in HH stuff to 40k armies. The Primarch cannot just jump into the SM stuff.

Deep strike. Melta stuff. Done deal.

Legion of the damned are a great and versatile unit. I like to use them two different ways. The first has already been mentioned as a suicide melta unit. I also like to run them with a plasma cannon, plasmagun, combiplasma and a powerfist. it runs pretty expensive but having a cover ignoring plasmacannon is something that most opponents cannot ignore, and with the 3++ and fearless they are one of the few units where I feel a powerfist is not a waste of points, because they will stick around in close combat long enough to make it worth the points you invest in it. I haven't tried it yet but I have considered running 10 of them with only bolters and getting them stuck in with the biggest threat that my opponent has. It seems to me that it is the best tarpit option in the marine codex

So, can I run their formation that's in the legion of the damned codex, or is that nullified by the new SM codex?
I also assume the animus malorum and the improved feel no pain is out too.

Ally in space wolf great company a cheap hq and 20 pt troop tax from two servitors and give them drop pods to have them come in turn 1.

peirceg wrote:
Ally in space wolf great company a cheap hq and 20 pt troop tax from two servitors and give them drop pods to have them come in turn 1.

Well they already deep strike.
I don't own the SW codex, although I've heard of cheap drop pods.
Do they really deep strike in turn 1?

peirceg wrote:
Ally in space wolf great company a cheap hq and 20 pt troop tax from two servitors and give them drop pods to have them come in turn 1.

It's very debatable if Drop Pods meet the "have to arrive by deep strike" requirement

They're the best Elite slot in the SM codex you don't have to spend the slot on, because supplement.

Meltas are the way to go. Ignoring cover means they'll do something for sure to any designated vehicle.

So, can I run their formation that's in the legion of the damned codex, or is that nullified by the new SM codex?
I also assume the animus malorum and the improved feel no pain is out too.

The formation - annoyingly - is apocalypse only (which is a shame because fleshbane would have been nice) but the codex is still legal.

An Imperial Knight Detachment and a Legion Of The Damned Detachment should work well together - The Legion provide pinpoint strikes with ignore-cover weapons, allowing them to either dig out small units off objectives that you don't want to send a knight after, melta weapons to engage armour, etc, etc.

The animus malorem itself is a damn good tool.

There's an argument to giving your warlord the animus, and taking one squad at full size with a heavy bolter - you get a serious crowd control unit which can fend off things like jetbikes (no jinking for you) or tyranids under venomthrope cover and is actually damn survivable (3++ and feel no pain). Plus, every so often the animus will eat someone and make you even tougher.

Finally, having that squad have a heavy bolter and 8 generic dudes means that the one game in 6 where your warlord gives the squads bolter weapons armourbane, you have a squad that's just ridiculous.

I tend to run melta/multimelta/combigrav. Gives a bit more flexibility than the all-melta configuration, lets me target stuff like broadsides/riptides, eldar jetbikes, etc etc - while still remaining a potent antivehicle unit when I need them for that.

Depends how much you need them to ultra-reliably kill a tank, though. My armies tend to be heavy on the melta anyway, historically.

Combi-grav ^ is always a good idea on a relentless, ignores cover, DS platform. I've seen LotD given a MM, Plasma gun and Combi-grav before. Seems scitzophrenic until you realise it has the highest rate of ap1/2 fire. 6 shots compared to 3 melta. Decent Teq and MC hunters.

 CrownAxe wrote:

peirceg wrote:
Ally in space wolf great company a cheap hq and 20 pt troop tax from two servitors and give them drop pods to have them come in turn 1.

It's very debatable if Drop Pods meet the "have to arrive by deep strike" requirement

It's not debateable at all. LotD can not even embark a drop pod. They have to arrive by their special deep strike.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Poly Ranger wrote:
Combi-grav ^ is always a good idea on a relentless, ignores cover, DS platform. I've seen LotD given a MM, Plasma gun and Combi-grav before. Seems scitzophrenic until you realise it has the highest rate of ap1/2 fire. 6 shots compared to 3 melta. Decent Teq and MC hunters.

This is how I run it - it is the best setup.

I used to run something similar, but with melta gun, plasma cannon, and combi-grav on mine. Plus a power fist and animus malorum on a 5 man unit. Very pricey, but super fun to use.

Excellent suicide melta and general harassment/nuisance unit. They're shooty enough that your opponent can't simply ignore them. They're tough enough that your opponent can't trivially kill them.

Blow up big scary vehicles with ease. Ignores Cover means that you can blow up those pesky Eldar and Necron skimmers without worrying about jink saves. Re-rollable scatter dice means you can deep strike them fairy accurately. 3++ means that you can tarpit Monstrous or Gargantuan creatures (and even dish out some damage if you give the sergeant a power fist).

For best results, take them as elite choices in a Salamander's CAD with Vulkan, and give your drop pods locator beacons. But they're also perfectly usable without those extra buffs. And with the LotD supplement, you can take them as an auxiliary formation alongside a Gladius Strike Force, or indeed any Imperial faction (try them out with Grey Knights or Imperial Guard).