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How are people using these guys? I'm thinking of going back to the roots of my first 40k army consisting of a Radical Inquisitor with daemonblades, daemonhosts and assassins, so basically how are people running them? What are they finding them useful against and which ones are worth the point investment? Since radical inquisitors and dameonhosts aren't the best at anything really I need the boosts provided by assassins

The Culexus is the only one which is really worth it as a means to counter psychic/invisible deathstars.

I've seen it run well in either a drop pod (in a list with at least one other pod in case you don't want it first turn) or in an Inquisitorial Valkyrie so it can follow psychic deathstars around for more than a turn.

I've had huge successes with the Culexus. His Psyk-Out Grenades are not to be underestimated. All you need is a hit on the unit and any Psykers suffer PotW. Doesn't even have to hit the Psyker, just the unit.

Vindicare is ok from my experience, just not as good as Culexus.

Thanks guys I'll pick a culexus up

In my experience, Vindicare is pretty unreliable because he's got too many single dice rolls to jump through. To hit, to wound, cover/invul save are all hard knocks when he's only got 5-7 shots per game. He's best at taking out support models in units, like sergeants/priests/medics or weapon/banner carriers, but even those sometimes have crappy odds.

Callidus stands out as a good all-rounder, who can really do some damage, no matter what the enemy brings. She's got nothing tailored like the calexus does, but every little gadget she has will mess somebody's day up.
Eversor is probably the weakest, but he's still dumb fun. He can be used defensively really well as a countercharge unit. Hide him out of LoS near your firebase or whatever, then constantly remind your opponent he's there. Not many generals will willingly send a unit in to get blenderized.

 McGibs wrote:
In my experience, Vindicare is pretty unreliable because he's got too many single dice rolls to jump through. To hit, to wound, cover/invul save are all hard knocks when he's only got 5-7 shots per game. He's best at taking out support models in units, like sergeants/priests/medics or weapon/banner carriers, but even those sometimes have crappy odds.

Callidus stands out as a good all-rounder, who can really do some damage, no matter what the enemy brings. She's got nothing tailored like the calexus does, but every little gadget she has will mess somebody's day up.
Eversor is probably the weakest, but he's still dumb fun. He can be used defensively really well as a countercharge unit. Hide him out of LoS near your firebase or whatever, then constantly remind your opponent he's there. Not many generals will willingly send a unit in to get blenderized.

Better than 2+ to hit
2+ to wound
LOS on a 6 vs characters
AP2 Ignores Cover.

Basically the Vindicare suffers from the problem of extreme greed. So many Culexus players bust out the D3 wound, or go for an independent character with a high invuln save. As soon as you go for an independent character your odds of LOS go down to 50%. As soon as you go for invuln or D3 rounds your wound odds go down to 50%.

With the Vindicare you should either knock out a really important special weapon or CHARACTER, or you should just use the S10 AP2 Ignores Cover shot. If you want to get a high value make-your-points-back shot, take out a tank, not an IC, your odds of doing something useful are much better.

Agreed. The Vindicere does not kill independent characters at range well.

His best function is support - take out a sergeant with a power fist before charging the unit, or eliminate a flamer, or an icon bearer/apothecary.

Alternatively, he does a nice line in taking down jinking light skimmers. A Ravenwing Darkshroud is nigh untouchable by conventional fire, but a turbo-penetrator is going to hurt it pretty reliably.

Probably a silly question, which Assassin is good at targeting powerful MCs? Something like Wraith Knight, Greater Daemons or a fully upgraded Daemon Prince, Stormsurge or Swarmlords?

Depends on the nature of the monster.

The Eversor is never a bad pick - his big advantage is that he's a multi-purpose assassin - as 4-shot poisoned needle rounds followed up by a flobbertybajillion shred/fleshbane attacks from the neurogauntlet are pretty tasty.

As a bonus, fleshbane isn't reduced in lethality against gargantuan creatures (like poison is) so the wraithknight and stormsurge still get wounded on 2's with rerolls.

Daemon Princes, Greater Daemons and the Swarmlord.... I'm gonna have to say Culexus. His abilities are so much scarier when the target is a psyker that it's untrue.

I just picked up the Callidus Assassin and am now trying to decide how best to use her.

With the ability to infiltrate anywhere (even within 1" away of an enemy) and an ap2 template, it seems like she could really ruin the day of some infantry.

However, she is setting herself up to be charged the very next turn and while she is good in combat, she only has a 4+ invuln save. Should i put her in to bring down infantry first or try to get her to charge a strong opponent?

I've played quite a few games using all the Assassins, and I have to say that they are most fun (and probably most effective) when played with either all 4 of them together, or typically just with the Culexus.

1. The Culexus. For the points, best anti-psyker in the game. Tough to kill, and can kill in the Psychic and assault phase reliably.

2. The Callidus. Has been the biggest letdown for me typically. The AP2 flamer tends to whiff for me, and then she tends to draw fire. However, if you get her into combat with a lighter infantry unit, she will beat face.

3. The Vindicare. As others said, if you don't get greedy, he can be great. Being able to penetrate most skimmers reliably is huge. I have found his best use is as an anti-tank gun. However, it is fun to watch your opponent cry when you nail the D3 wounds on a Riptide or other wounded MC and the Vindicare pops it with one shot.

4. The Eversor. On paper, I thought this guy was the worst. Once I started playing with him, I found him to be an absolute beast. He is often ignored, and if not, he can easily be hidden behind other units to protect him for a turn. And believe me, with Infiltrate, normal movement, maybe run in the shooting phase to get closer, and THEN the uber-long charge range, he will get into close combat. When he does, he does a crap-ton of S5 AP3 attacks. He is very murderous, and fun as well.

The Eversor does well against blob enemies compared to everyone else. I've found that much out.

That's my concern with the Callidus, the temptation to try to get the flamer on the turn she infiltrates is strong, but I think I would benefit from infiltrating somewhere further away, then making sure to move and get the charge on a better unit the next turn.

From order of most useful to least (and that's not to say the least ones are bad, just not as useful), it's worth mentioning that I would only ever take the Culexus to a tourney, the others have their uses but don't have the value-per-point I'm looking for:

1) Culexus: your most powerful anti psychic-deathstar tool, all you need is a mode of transportation, it shoots in the psychic phase, it shoots in the shooting phase, it's hard to hit and it handles itself in CC. I'd consider it a must-take for imperial armies. By far the most effective assassin (for its point value)

2) Vindicare: he can be a big nuisance for certain armies, I could actually see it doing really well against Tau, people get hung up on the Hellfire rounds but don't overlook the other ammo, the turbo-penetrator can bring the pain to multi-wound models, D3 wounds on those broadsides is sweet.

3) Callidus: has some sneaky alpha-strike potential against the right opponent but will most likely die quick. It's true value is in the reserve penalty and seize reroll, which against an army that relies on null-deployment or reserves can be very useful. There just aren't that many of those armies around anymore, it was great against flyer-heavy armies.

4) Eversor: so much fun! But usually dies like a dog before he even gets near CC. I've had the most success with him riding in his very own land raider (just fun games) and watching him blend through MEQ blobs like they're grots. He's a very focused assassin whose sole purpose is CC and it's just too hard to get him in a position where he can infiltrate and then charge on turn 2 before he gets shot to death... I'd say 2 things about him: don't forget he has FNP, and don't forget he shoots overwatch at normal BS.

Other thoughts: don't forget that IF an assassin kills the enemy warlord you get an extra VP. Assassins have LOTS of rules, review them carefully before each game to make the most out of them.

The quad assassin formation is for fun games only, 570pts for 4 models... The PE enemy warlord bonus is okay but not worth the investment.

Hope this helps.

Don't forget the 'snapshots only' rule for the Callidus!

It's usually enough to protect you in the shooting phase as long as you're careful. If someone charges you, then you'll often come out best - and you have hit and run if needed.

What are these Assassins anyway? Is it the Officio Assassinorium army?

locarno24 wrote:
Don't forget the 'snapshots only' rule for the Callidus!

It's usually enough to protect you in the shooting phase as long as you're careful. If someone charges you, then you'll often come out best - and you have hit and run if needed.

Yeah the snapshot rule is good, but if any competent melee unit attacks you, you will probably not survive. t4 with a 4+ save and no eternal warrior.
So you really need to make sure that the unit you target doesnt have any str8+ weapons in it.

But you're right, hit and run does make it a little bit better

Depends, again, on the unit. A dreadnought, or wraithknight....yeah, you're dead.

An assault squad with a power fist? The sergeant's either going to have to refuse the challenge (and not strike) never going to live long enough to swing.

The callidus isn't, I hasten to add, a squad-killer. She, of all the assassins, is a specialised actual assassin - i.e. good at killing something that looks more or less like a space marine captain.

The eversor is crowd control, the vindicere support (removing bodyguards, medics and heavy weapon, and the culexus is there to keep psykers and monstrous creatures out of the equation.


If you ever want a real tactical challenge, try a 1750 point army consisting of three full execution forces and nothing else!

The snap-shots only for the Callidus is only for turn 1 (or the turn she comes in), one good round of shooting in a subsequent turn will see her erased.

 phoenix darkus wrote:
The snap-shots only for the Callidus is only for turn 1 (or the turn she comes in), one good round of shooting in a subsequent turn will see her erased.

That also, So she needs to be in assault by turn 2.

I havent run one in a while, but the Vindicare is also good at popping vehicles, I Have killed land raiders before (with a fair amount of luck). i have also popped dreads. I haven't ever been able to pop a Named character, but I have killed lone units (lone wolves mostly). He is definitely a useful tool if you pick your targets correctly.

Vindicare can also be very useful when you expect flyers. Put him on an Icarus lascannon and Intercept at absurd BS, ignoring cover. Then murder other things once the troublesome flyer is gone. No one likes when their Croissant/Flyrant/whatever gets knocked down right off.

aushlo wrote:
Vindicare can also be very useful when you expect flyers. Put him on an Icarus lascannon and Intercept at absurd BS, ignoring cover. Then murder other things once the troublesome flyer is gone. No one likes when their Croissant/Flyrant/whatever gets knocked down right off.

Heck, if that's your plan you can save 15 pts and have an Eversor or Culexus man the emplacement. Most people don't think of them as the 'shooty' assassins because of the short range of their shooting attacks, but they still have BS8. Fire into that flier and then they can stick around for counterattacks.

Sure, other assassins can shoot. They just don't ignore jink, which is huge. Getting a pretty much guaranteed grounding check and wound on a monster is pretty sick too.

 GKTiberius wrote:
I havent run one in a while, but the Vindicare is also good at popping vehicles, I Have killed land raiders before (with a fair amount of luck). i have also popped dreads. I haven't ever been able to pop a Named character, but I have killed lone units (lone wolves mostly). He is definitely a useful tool if you pick your targets correctly.

I second this. I recently ran a Vindicare against a Khorne Daemonkin list with two Land Raiders full of Berzerkers. Over the course of the game, he popped both of them (one he exploded, the other had only one hullpoint left and he glanced it to death). I've also had him take out two Thunderfire Cannons in one game before. I feel like he is more of a TAC assassin while the Culexus, as great as it is, is somewhat situational. Not sure a Culexus is too amazing against Tau or Necrons or Khorne Daemonkin, although it is great against Eldar, Tzeentch Daemons, Grey Knights, or Space Marine Centstars.

 SkrawnyNob wrote:

aushlo wrote:
Vindicare can also be very useful when you expect flyers. Put him on an Icarus lascannon and Intercept at absurd BS, ignoring cover. Then murder other things once the troublesome flyer is gone. No one likes when their Croissant/Flyrant/whatever gets knocked down right off.

Heck, if that's your plan you can save 15 pts and have an Eversor or Culexus man the emplacement. Most people don't think of them as the 'shooty' assassins because of the short range of their shooting attacks, but they still have BS8. Fire into that flier and then they can stick around for counterattacks.

Indeed. In the same way, don't hesitate to use your vindicere up close! He's still quite the badass in assaults - even if he should avoid them where possible - but more importantly is quite the pistoleer since the exitus pistol can use the same special ammo - infiltrate means he can often get side armour shots, and with ignores cover he only needs to be able to see the tiniest sliver of a tank to hit it!