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I was reading up on the VSG and if I'm reading the rules right it seems potentially very useful. If I understand things correctly you can have a blob unit all strung out in a conga line, and if the last model has a toe in the PVS bubble the whole unit will benefit from the shield effect. It doesn't make much sense but RAW it seems that's the way it works.

The armies that would seem to benefit most would be horde and assault based armies. I'm interested in trying the VSG out but I haven't seen it in many lists, particularly in my meta. Is there a reason for this as it looks pretty good to me? Is it considered too cheesy/OP or is it a fair take given the general perceived disadvantage that assault armies have compared to shooty armies? Is it a lack of model support? I understand the official GW model was only a limited release.

On that note, are there any commonly accepted proxies for a VSG model? Is a bastion around the same size?

Any thoughts appreciated as always.

I wouldn't run it like you describe in your second sentence, there was a thread a while back that debated whether it acted like an 'aura' as you describe or as an 'umbrella' where only that part of the unit within the void shield would benefit, which is how I play it. Bastion is around the same size and both have battlements.

If your opponent lacks the tools to bring down three AV12 hull points, his army has some serious issues.

I personally consider it a great counter to grav alpha-strikes. It's like the salty cracker to stop the Skyhammer/Centurion grav cheese bombs.

It's very good for some armies, especially things like the Ork Green Tide, but there are a lot of ways for a competent player to get around it. It also helps assault armies a lot.

Some people say it starts getting cheesy when you take the Void Network Relay or whatever it's called, with 1+ Prometheum Pipes and 1-3 VSGs, as you can get a total of 9 shields. Costs a lot of points though.

Model-wise the original model is surprinsingly tall: taller than a Knight! I believe the bastion is about the same size, at least I hope so because my plans for the weekend are to build my bastion into a VSG

The downside is that the rules are pretty poorly worded in regards to other special rules (does Tank Hunter, Armourbane, Haywire, etc. work on it? There are lots of discussions over at YMDC), and it can be a bit frustrating for people the first time they face it, but that's got more to do with people struggling against the unfamiliar than the VSG being overly strong in itself.

 Intercessor wrote:
I wouldn't run it like you describe in your second sentence, there was a thread a while back that debated whether it acted like an 'aura' as you describe or as an 'umbrella' where only that part of the unit within the void shield would benefit, which is how I play it. Bastion is around the same size and both have battlements.

The rule just stops functioning well if you play it like that

I hate the VSG so much. Is it cheesy, well yeah. But not nearly as bad as what is quickly becoming the majority of the game.

If your opponent has trouble bringing down a couple av12 hullpoints (that don't get cover), you're either facing a mellee-oriented army, that's happy you've spent points on a vsg and not something killy, or an army that you wouldn't have had problems against in the first place. There are a few exceptions, ofc. But it mainly depends on how you rule out grav, haywire and stuff like that. Cause original rules are bad as always.

Thanks for the replies guys, I'm fairly happy that the VSG isn't considered OP now. As pointed out it's only 3 AV12 shields to deal with but obviously one of it's main benefits would be to protect infantry against massed small arms fire.

As for the armourbane/grav/haywire issue that's something I hadn't considered. My first instinct is that they wouldn't work against the PVS as it isn't a vehicle and there is no mention of hull points in the description of the shields. But that's an issue for YMDC, I'll have a look through there as no doubt there will be counter arguments. I'm guessing there isn't an established consensus on that one though.

I run it as an umbrella that cuts off at 12", not as a magical-pony-string-buff.

Note I play this casually and not competitively.

Every game I've taken it, I've either won or drawn as IG (I use infantry IG backed up with artillery)... Current record - 3 victories, 1 draw (against IG/Marines/Superheavies).

Each game the VSG is what has carried me.
To me, it's worth fething gold.

It isn't overpowered at all even as an aura. The fact it protects an entire unit even beyond 12in isn't a big deal every single army has numerous ways to take down av12. Most armies can't stretch the aura much either. The only real advantageous build is a greentide with 100+ orks. Not only is the aura easily disabled you can also destroy the building itself or deepstrike inside the aura as an opponent and take advantage of the field yourself and deny your opponent benefit from it.

The only ambiguous rules that might make it cheesy is how your group plays grav and necfon weapons vs it. Ruling it not a vehicle makes it more difficult for those armies to disable it however even then it's still not hard to deal with.

At the end of the day the only armies you see even taking a void shield relay are those that need it the most such as orks and guard who rely on numbers and slow attrition rates. Most elite armies such as marines, eldar, demons, tau etc ding usually take it because they either don't have the numbers to justify its cost or they have better choices then a shield that eats a few mid str shots.

My first run through at reading the rules on it reminded me of KFFs back in the old ork codex. Specifically because it says "unit", not "models". I would play it like people did with KFFs back then before they changed the wording so that as long as something is under it, every model in the squad gets the benefit.

Doesnt really make sense but thats how I feel its worded.

Dark eldar have a hard time with void shields due to lack of decent or numerous high strength weapons.

I used it with my orks (NOT a green tide) during the recent HK tournament with great effect. The VSG allowed my army to pass the first turns with minimum casualties so my orks could go and rush at full force.

Going second is a big risk when playing orks, but objective-wise it's a big advantage (because we used ICT-style missions). The VSG solved that "contradiction" problem for me.
Even when the opponent dedicates a part of its shooting to collapse the shields and blew up the generator, the VSG already accomplishes its purpose.

Absolutely not OP (av12 shields, hey) and definitely worth the points

Could you make it invisible so the shield was more survivable?
Just asking ive never read the rules but i cant imagine why not.

 Ubl1k wrote:
Could you make it invisible so the shield was more survivable?
Just asking ive never read the rules but i cant imagine why not.

I think you could make the actual generator building invisible but not the shields themselves.

The building and/or shields are not a unit, so no invisibility.

 Intercessor wrote:
The building and/or shields are not a unit, so no invisibility.

Actually, if your purchased them as a Fortification in your army, they are claimed by the player and is a unit in their army.
So yes, they are a unit and can be made invisible, though it doesn't effect the void shield projections since you can't target the void shields: you roll to hit against a unit protected by them and then roll to damage the shields.

 Matt.Kingsley wrote:

 Intercessor wrote:
The building and/or shields are not a unit, so no invisibility.

Actually, if your purchased them as a Fortification in your army, they are claimed by the player and is a unit in their army.
So yes, they are a unit and can be made invisible, though it doesn't effect the void shield projections since you can't target the void shields: you roll to hit against a unit protected by them and then roll to damage the shields.

Yes the building is a unit. the Void Shield Projections are special rules and thus can't be made invisible.

Indeed. Remember that you're not shooting at the shields - you're shooting at the target blob of dudes - the shield just takes the hit as per the projected void shields rule.

So if the squad is invisible, fine. But making the generator invisible doesn't help.

And yes, to me it has to be unit-by-unit, as Crownaxe says. Because if a unit is partially protected by a shield, what do you do? Roll to wound? But what if your wound allocation carries you to a model in the unit inside the shield?


Haywire/Graviton/etc is a different argument and belongs in YMDC (lets not start it here).

Ultimately, it's useful because it's cheap. If a marine thunderfire cannon doesn't get to fire into an infantry block once in the game, it's probably made it's points worth.

The Void Relay Network is a whole 'nother animal. It makes for a truly terrifying firebase for a gunline - 9 interlocking shields can keep a lot of infantry safe, especially with a sort-of-aegis-line promethium pipe set as well. (yes, it may set you on fire occasionally but it's better than taking a battlecannon hit and dear god the flamethrowers).