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So I'm trying to figure out how to field my core Troops for my Alpha Legion. 3 squads of non-marine infantry, but in what format? Chaos has three choices now for cheap Troops (well four with mutants but I'm not counting mutants for this army).

Option 1: [Legion] Cultists. Reasonable fighters, n armour, crappy leadership. Their advantage is that they can be buffed by a Dark Apostle. A DA with Icon of Vengeance has a Ld 10 bubble that gives them elite lvls of leadership. And re-rolls in combat.

Option 2: [R&H] Cultists. Same as Legion Cultists but with even worse leadership. Their advantage is they can take a covenant, in this case certainly the Covenant of Tzeentch for better overwatch. They can also roll with a commissar equivalent that gives them leadership immunity (though they will start dying fast to achieve this).

Option 3: (R&H] Renegade Militia. Garbage troops, no armour, crappy leadership, but cheap and with better weapon options than cultists *though most of them are not worth it). Advantages, the best leadership options, with commissars, re-rolls on their crappy leadership scores and roll twice for morale checks. They can take double the flamers of cultists and have a heavy weapon in squads of equal size. They can also take the Covenant of Tzeentch and get overwatch+.

I'm looking at 3x 10 man squads. I'm not convinced taking them in sizes larger than that are worth it. You're just opening yourself up to more leadership weaknesses that way. And these guys have only two purposes really - screen against early charges and grab objectives if they survive. The second mission is irrelevant as you can't plan tactically for that. So only the screening role matters really. they'll be equipped with rifles so they have a chance to shoot something. I think the potential for longer ranged shooting or double shoots up close beats having more attacks in CC. In CC you ar either throwing these guys away to tie up units or they're being charged by good CC units that will destroy them anyway. I'd want rifles on them in case they survive so they can be useful to me.

Legion cultists are ok screeners, being cheap. When you apply the DA tax to them I don't think they lose value at all. For 88pts you get a Ld 10 bubble and cultists who can re-roll failed hits in combat, plus a dude who can strike hard against horde units. Give them flamers and you at least have something to hit back against first or second turn chargers. Depending on placement though you might need two DA's to cover all units, or you may have to choose where to bolster the line and leave some units unsupported.

R&H Cultists require more expense to bolster, with 3 commissar types costing more than a DA (but less than 2 DA's), though they're gonna be more sticky in combat if you roll well for moral checks and only lose one guy. Their overwatch is more dangerous but their combat damage potential is reduced compared to buffed Legion Cultists. I'm not sure but I think buffed Legion Cultists might be better here, although R&H cultists come in at 2pts cheaper due to their cheaper flamers.

R&H Militia are utterly garbage in effectiveness at base. With the option of 2 flamers in a 10 man squad though and with overwatch+ they're much more dangerous to charge. Throw in a cheap heavy weapon too (mortar's look good, being cheap and having potentially 6 shots) and they might actually put some hurt on units wanting those early charges. But they just can't put out any real damage beyond overwatch. They're not hitting anything with their BS, and you're gonna have to move them to get anything out of the unit meaning you heavy weapon is hitting on a 6! In CC they won't do jack. They'll die the same as cultists but won't do nearly as much in return. For a unit with 2 flamers and heavy mortar they costs the same as a Legion Cultists squad with just 1 flamer. However you might need to add Vox Casters and/or Chaos Sigils to them to make them work, pushing their cost up much more. Though without using commissars you can take both wargear options on all 3 units for less than a single DA.


I;m having a hard time working out which option is most efficient/effective (i.e. which will do more damage per pt when taking it in the face turn 1). Any suggestions?

Whatever you choose, it isn't going to last more than a turn if it is looked at by the enemy. I take Mutant Rabble and they get alpha striked and shot off the table turn one, doing their job as a temporary screen. I would take Militia with double (or quadruple) flamers if I had the models to, though, because it'd be a great way to soften up alpha strike units before your beatstick HQs pop out to have some fun.

Again, though, don't expect them to last very long on the tabletop unless you bring something far scarier, like a Greater Deamon or something.

Note that if you want covenants, you need the renegade commander and they must be warlord. Which shouldn't be much of an issue currently if you keep him safe, but does mean you miss out on a warlord trait on a more useful unit. Oh, and currently the renegade commander isn't a character, until more forgeworld FAQs drop. Similarly, the enforcer used to keep your troops in line currently isn't a character, which again means lascannon sniping. So you'd need to talk with your opponent if you plan to run those now. Renegade militia also can't use half their options because their options refer to renegade cultists which.... yeah wow there was no proofreading at all this time.

Assuming that all gets fixed, you've got the cheapest option in militia, and the easier and more synergistic option in normal cultists.

If you just want bodies, go militia with an enforcer. Don't bother with any upgrades, even for morale. Maybe grab a leader for the covenant, but likely it won't matter much.

If you want the most effective unit possible, probably stick with normal cultists, keep them at squads of 10 and have a dark apostle to boost their morale. Use melee options for best effect, maybe with flamers.

The issue with R&H cultists is covenants aren't that good and require you to take a commander as warlord. Honestly the best one is tzeentch and even then they could easily die to a single salvo of guns before charges ever become an issue. Beyond that your main benefit is the enforcer. Now the enforcer is good, particularly if you want to run big blobs, but on 10 man squads a dark apostle accomplishes much the same thing, you really aren't going to take more than 1-3 causalities from morale except if you roll badly and most of the unit got shot up already... in which case it's still going to be 1-3 morale causalities because that's all that is left in the unit. .

Personally, I'd just stick with normal cultists for now, kit them out for melee and toss a dark apostle nearby. Militia are a viable option, but only because they are a point cheaper for the same basic toughness, with a slightly cheaper way to deal with morale.