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Summary
This HQ is probably the best value for a non-named IC in the book. He brings so much to the table for a moderate price. If your looking for just one HQ and your trying to go on the cheap, the MotF is worth a look.

Stats
The stats on the MotF are similar to a librarian or chaplin, but he comes with a BS of 5 and WS of 4 instead of the other way around. This means that the MotF is better at shooting, and can fit the role of a ranged IC better than some other ICs.


Gear
This is where the MotF really shines. Look at the list of gear that he gets for his 90 points. After each item I am going to give the value for them if you bought them individually. Most of these items come with the servo-harness
- Artificer Armor...............(Valued at 20 points)
- TL Plasma Pistol.............(Valued at 15 points)
- 1 Power Fists.................(Valued at 25 points)
- 1 Extra Specalist Wpn.....(Valued at 15 points)
- 1 Flamer.......................(Valued at 5 points)
Most of those items come from the servo-harness which has changed greatly since the last codex. Instead of extra swings at I1, they are just a STR *2 AP1 weapon. The servo-harness comes with 2 of them, so it gives an extra attack -- something that normally an IC is paying 15 extra points for by buying a LC to go with their PF

You can also spend 20 points on him and buy a conversion beamer. As this is a heavy weapon, its best to add this with a bike or the Armor of Indomitus. Given that you can have him just hang out with a tactical squad on the back line taking pot shots at range with a BFG this is not a bad way to use an HQ slot in a shooty army.

You can also use him as an auspex caddy or teleporter homer. I think there are better roles for him though.


Special Abilities
Shoot an Extra Gun
In addition to shooting a flamer or plasma cutter from the servo-harness, the MotF can shoot his bolter at a target. If you got him Primarch's Wrath or a combi-weapon, he can pop off that in addition to his plasma cutter/flamer.

Unlock Dreads as Heavy Support
For what its worth, if you wanted to take dreads in heavy slots in addition to elite slots you could if you took a MotF. If deads were not simply horribad, this might be a decent option.

Repairing Vehicles
A MotF can forge his shooting for a turn and attempt to repair a hull point on a vehicle or remove a 'weapon destroyed' or 'immobolized' result. The MotF has a 50% to do this successfully.

This means that if your vindicator has had its weapon destroyed, you can correct the problem and send the vindicator back into the fight.

Bolter Defenses
This allows you to boost the cover save for any terrain in your deployment. This can be a great assist if you have something like devastators in a ruin. If you took multiple TFCs you might not need this ability as much, but its almost always nice to have.

part of me really wants to run 2 MotF 6 dreads 2 scouts and iron hands and just see if it can do anything =P


Automatically Appended Next Post:
and yes for just a good cheep HQ they are amazing for what you get

They are good for points value. If they could repair IG vehicles they would be great.

Nice write-up. Do you have an example army list to draw on the strengths of the MotF?

as much as i hate IG and dont want to give them more tank BS. Blessing says base contact 1 friendly vehicle.

How can he not repair IG??

I'd certainly run it in a mechanized Iron Hands list.

In a 1000 point biker/iron hands list that I have, the set-up is:

1xCaptain /w Bike, Emperor's Wrath, melta bombs
1xTech-Marine /w Servitor
1xCommand Squad, 5xGrav-Guns
1xLand Raider Redeemer
7xBikers, 2xGrav-Guns
7xBikers, 2xGrav-Guns

The Land Raider is basically the anchor of the army, with the Tech-Marine/servitor hunkered inside of it repairing lost hullpoints on a 3+, alongside its natural 5+ IWND. The bikes wander around it pew-pewing to death anything that can harm it. With that 3+ Blessing of the Omnissiah AND 5+ IWND, a Land Raider is pretty hard to take down, especially at 1000 points.

That's just with a tech-marine. At greater than 1000 points I'd upgrade the TM to a MotF for a 2+ hullpoint repair, and just throw more armor in there. I might put the MotF on a bike so that it can zip around reparing vehicles if need be.

Put him in a landraider Achilles with Ih chapter tactics. proceed to laugh maniacally. Give that landraider a dark angels techy on a bike with pfg (4+ invuln) . It is pretty much unkillable with 33 percent IWND, and weapons/imobs regenerated instantly, and -1 to all rolls on damage table. (not to mention immune to melta and all that gak). Yep MoTF has a bright future in my lists.

 ansacs wrote:
Nice write-up. Do you have an example army list to draw on the strengths of the MotF?

What made me start looking at the MotF closer was the fact that I was running a drop pods and needed some tough characters to not die.

I was wondering what I could buy with ~200 points, and a CM beatstick came to mind. Then I started thinking -- you know for the same cost I could bring 2 MotFs with room to spare.

Going with a CM gives you a lot of concentration of power in one point -- which sometimes is exactly what you want. Going with 2 MotF gives you a dispersed concentration of power. So instead I have two squads that are tougher and more threatening in assault.

I don't think that the MotF is best regulated to being a hull point jockey, but that is a feature he can do. For example, when I drop him down in a pod with my Skies of Death list, his job is not to repair hull points on a drop pod -- but if a pod has 1 hull point left I will consider repairing it to help it stick around. Trying to hedge the MotF into that role otherwise is a 90 point upgrade for just repairing hull points -- which seems an extreme point jump unless your talking about a land raider achilees.

Interesting. It makes more sense to me now. I can see master of the forge fitting in really well with a drop pod list as he brings more special weapon fire, decent CC, and access to more dreads for a bargain price.

If you run forgeworld he also appears to unlock relic vehicles in numbers if forgeworld releases the rumored collection of their rules for 40K.