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With IA: Vraks and The Purged detachment, it is now possible to build a passable Obliterator Cult (and continue my apparent obsession with Obliterators, one of the strongest units in the CSM 'dex), with minimum count models. Here is my take:

The Purged Detachment:
HQ: Terminator Lord ~ MoN, Chainfist, Blight nades
Mutilatorx2 - MoN
Mutilator - MoN
[4] Obliterator x2 - MoN, VoTLW

The Purged Detachment #2:
HQ: Terminator Lord ~ MoN, Chainfist, Blight nades
Mutilator - MoN
Mutilator - MoN
[4] Obliterator x2 - MoN, VoTLW

~It is slow, but deepstrike mitigates the speed issues...And it packs a ton of firepower. I won't be holding many objectives, though, until I blow away the opposition.

The Mutilators fulfill the obligatory two Elite slots per formation. Plus, they are thematic to the list. This nets me 8 squads of Obliterati, with two chaos lords that can attach as necessary. I will start minimum squads on the board, with bold deepstrikes come turn 2. I need to be able to weather a couple of drop pod-grav attacks on Turn 1, so this could create an issue as to what to start on the board (single Mutilators, tucked away, could be nice...But I obviously don't want to get tabled).

As for HQs, there are some other thematic options: I could replace the lords with termie sorcerers, or even bring in a warpsmith. I used some oddball spare points to add a second Mutilator to one squad, but there could be divvied up elsewhere (beefier lords, squad of cultists for late-game obj grabbing, etc).

Your thoughts are welcome here.

Mutilators!!! I never ever see anyone use them but I like the models and the theme of warp corrupted marines who have been combined with their weapons. Let me know how it goes, I would think nurgle sorcerer would be the way to go on second hq.

I have only seen them as solo deepstrikers, and just one for a distraction of sorts. My take is not much different.

Ideally, I would like to work in helbrutes to fulfill the Elites requirement...But the points just don't work out. This would invariably scream for the Warpsmith over one lord [or sorcerer], but for now, I am learning towards the sorcerer.

Not worth swapping one of the mutilators for a lightning claw on each lord?

Or how about swapping a lord for a sorcerer (in termi armour) with a force weapon and power weapon?

Have you considered a warpsmith as a fluffy hq for an obliterator cult army?

Is it worth making one a CAD and losing a HS slot to take 2 units of cultists instead of more mutilators?

UncleanOne wrote:
Is it worth making one a CAD and losing a HS slot to take 2 units of cultists instead of more mutilators?

Not sure on that. I mentioned a squad of cultists above...But I really don't like them for the fact that the run off of the board so easily. I typically run plague zombies if I am going to run cultists, but I don't want to fork over the Typhus tax in this list (or his R&H counterpart).

It might be worth pursuing with some playtests, though.

I am interested in reading the play testing results.

With the release of the Black Crusade Detachments, I can now run an Obliterator Cult without too much extra flotsam.

The free VOTLW is a nice bonus for Oblits and saves some points, while having the ability to stick a boon on a cultist champion each turn for free is icing on the cake...If they morph into spawn or a daemon prince, then all of the better!

CULT OF DESTRUCTION:
1 Warpsmith, Aura of Dark Glory
-3 Nurgle marked Oblits
-3 Nurgle marked Oblits
-3 Nurgle marked Oblits
CULT OF DESTRUCTION #2:
1 Warpsmith, Aura of Dark Glory
-3 Nurgle marked Oblits
-3 Nurgle marked Oblits
-2 Nurgle marked Oblits
THE LOST AND THE DAMNED:
-1 Dark Apostle
-4 squads of barebones Cultists
1847 points, 60 bodies

~Cultists get a bit of a suicide role, as the potential to outflank on a 4+ after biting the bullet is a strong one. Still, I am not a huge fan of non-zombified cultists. As such, some possible options:

-Drop a squad of two oblits and a warpsmith (thus removing one of the CULT OF DESTRUCTION formations), and add Typhus to get respawning zombies. Leftover points can beef up the zombies or the Dark Apostle. I actually prefer the Crimson Slaughter's CULT OF SLAUGHTER formation for this, but would invariably lose the Black Crusade command benefits if I went with it.

-Drop the LOST AND THE DAMNED and just run Oblits (20+!), with two Warpsmiths. I have to pay for VOTLW (I never run squads of 2+ Oblits without it), but the firepower makes up for it. I would add at least one squad of Tzeentch-marked Oblits, if for anything to have a bit more resilience to AP2 weaponry. Note that I do have enough models to cover this, for better or worse.

Any thoughts...Too spammy, not enough mobility, etc?

Does the Cult of Destruction allow 3-5 squads of Oblitz? If So then load up on max 5 squads in detachment to avoid paying for 2 warpsmith when you have zero vehicles. Instead of having 18 obliterators you wilm have only 15. However you can spend remaining points of a speed element. I recommend looking into mauler fiends or spawns. Spawns from the IA:SoV are cheaper and weaker than main csm but worth for their speed.

 CadianGateTroll wrote:
Does the Cult of Destruction allow 3-5 squads of Oblitz? If So then load up on max 5 squads in detachment to avoid paying for 2 warpsmith when you have zero vehicles. Instead of having 18 obliterators you wilm have only 15. However you can spend remaining points of a speed element. I recommend looking into mauler fiends or spawns. Spawns from the IA:SoV are cheaper and weaker than main csm but worth for their speed.

It does (either Oblits or Mutilators...But I can't get on aboard with Mutilators). In my experience, having more squads of two oblits is better than fewer squads of three, but I agree about the inclusion of a speed element. There is also a spawn-based formation, but I don't yet have the full rules for it...It might be worth looking into.