So... StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm was released and as such I haven't spent much time on 40K... but I thought I'd remedy that by trying an experiment. One thing that really bothers me with the new Daemons codex is the Warpflame rule that grants Feel no Pain for passing a T-test. This seems like a very big deal when the standard opponent is Marines with their T4 running around...
So lets just do a test. Horrors vs Dark Angels Tactical Marines. Now, I'd take Horrors in a squad of 16 to get the extra Warp Charges, and also a Herald at Level 2 with Exalted Locus of Conjuration. This is a set up I'd play with. Total value of 239 points. The Horrors take Flickering Fire, the Herald Flickering Fire as well as Prescience. We'll face this against a Dark Angels Tactical squad, with 10 guys, full plasma (Plasma Gun and Cannon, as well as Pistol on the Vet. Sergeant). That's 180 points. Just to even out the points, lets add a Librarian with no upgrades, he takes Divination and get Prescience. Not a completely fair set up, but one that is somewhat likely to happen on a battlefield. Lets also assume the squad isn't Combat Squaded for simplicity, and they start 24" from each other and the Horrors gets first turn.
Test 1
Turn 1 - Daemons
Prescience - pass
Horrors shoots Flickering Fire - pass, not denied by the Librarian. Number of shots: 13. Hits (after re-rolls): 10. Wounds caused: 9. Saves made: 7. So 2 wounds taken, and because I'm lazy one of them was the Plasma Cannon.
Herald Flickering Fire - pass, denied by Librarian.
Then T-test for the Marines: pass on a 2, so they now have 6+ FnP.
Turn 1 - Dark Angels
Prescience - pass
The unit moves forward 6", then shoots 1 Plasma Gun and 7 Bolters at 18" range. Hits (after re-rolls): 7 Bolters + 1 Plasma. Wounds caused: 6. Saves made: None (despite re-rolling 1's). So 6 wounds taken, brings their number down to 10 plus Herald.
Turn 2 - Daemons
Prescience - pass, but with perils
Horrors shoots Flickering Fire - pass, not denied. Number of shots: 3 (2D6 is bad sometimes...). Hits: 3. Wounds: 2. Saves: 1. Feel no Pain: none. So 1 Marine dies, leaving 7 standing.
Herald Flickering Fire - double six, perils and he dies...
T-test for the Marines: Failed. D3 more dies: 1. So 6 Marines left.
Turn 2 - Dark Angels
Prescience - pass
Moves up into Rapid Fire range and shoots 5 Bolters, 1 Plasma Gun and 1 Bolt Pistol (Librarian). Hits: 2 Plasma, 1 Bolt Pistol, 9 Bolters. Wounds: 5. Saves: 1. So 4 Horrors die, leaving 6.
Turn 3 - Daemons
No Prescience... so Flickering Fire: pass, not denied. Number of Shots: 7. Hits: 2. Wounds: 1. Saves: 0... Feel no Pain: none. One dies.
T-test: failed. 3 more dies(!). 3 Marines and Librarian left, but Fearless makes them stay.
Turn 3 - Dark Angels
Prescience - pass
Moves up so they're 6" away, shots 1 plasma pistol and 3 bolt pistols. Hits: 4. Wounds: 3. Saves: 1. So 2 Horrors die, leaving 4. Marines charge - 5" and thus fails to reach them.
Turn 4 - Daemons
Flickering Fire - pass, not denied. Number of Shots: 11(!). Hits: 8(!!!). Wounds: 6. Saves: 3. Feel no Pain: none... Which leaves the Librarian left alone... I guess he still needs to take a T-test: pass, so now has FnP on 5+.
Turn 4 - Dark Angels
Prescience - pass
Moves up and shoot, hits and fails to wound. Charges 1". 3 Hits, 2 wounds. Both saved. Horrors hits three times, wounds once which goes through both armour and FnP. Fearless so stays.
Next round: Prescience - pass. Hits twice, wounds twice. No saves made. Horrors hit twice and fails to wound. Fails Ld by 4 and are gone.
So first test is a DA victory, but with only 1W left on the Librarian. The Horrors did really well, especially since I didn't move them back (which could've been easily done since their shooting is Assault). But lets try that test another two times, but with less writing.
Test 2
Daemons - Turn 1
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - fails Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - fails (...) Kills: 0
T-test: n/a
Fnp granted: none
Marines left: 10+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 1
Prescience - pass
Kills: 3
Horrors Left: 13+Herald
Daemons - Turn 2
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - denied Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 1
T-test: fails, suffers 1 wound
Fnp granted: none
Marines left: 8+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 2
Prescience - pass
Kills:5
Horrors Left: 8+Herald
Daemons - Turn 3
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 1
Herald Flickering Fire - fails Kills: 0
T-test: fails, suffers 2 wounds
Fnp granted: none
Marines left: 5+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 3
Prescience - pass
Kills:4
Charge: gets in. Kills: 5 Horrors hits back: 0 kills fails Instability by 5, taking the rest of the squad.
Horrors Left: 0
Test 3
Daemons - Turn 1
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - denied Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 2
T-test: pass
Fnp granted: 6+
Marines left: 8+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn1
Prescience - pass
Kills: 2
Horrors Left: 14+Herald
Daemons - Turn 2
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - denied Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 3
T-test: pass
Fnp granted: 5+
Marines left: 5+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 2
Prescience - pass
Kills:3
Horrors Left: 11+Herald
Daemons - Turn 3
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 0
T-test: n/a
Fnp granted: 5+
Marines left: 5+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 3
Prescience - pass
Kills:2
Charge: gets in. Kills: 5. Horrors hit back: 0 kills, fails Instability on double six and are wiped.
Horrors Left: 0
So. After three tests I can conclude that granting the Marines FnP is a non-issue because they never needed it once! It's rather the fact that their entire shooting can be denied by a Psyker that really hurts. Now I rolled some exceptional rolls here, but it just goes to show that the Horrors shooting is very easily stopped. On the other hand however, those times when Marines actually do fail their T-test it really hurts. Look at the round where I only managed to kill one Marine with the attack itself, but then thanks to the failed T-test another 2 died. That actually hurts for a Marine squad.
So what I've learned from this little experiment is that I shouldn't avid shooting something because I'm afraid it'll give them a Feel no Pain, but rather I should avoid stuff that I can't get through the armour of. Seriously, even when I rolled good on the number of shots they were terrible at hitting despite re-rolls. S6 helps, but even so with a 3+ armour they can't really bring enough shots to really hurt. Especially since if you drop below 16 models you very rapidly drop fire power. I actually start to think that minimum squad of 10 is a better way to go, because no matter how few they get they still have 2D6 shots - which can be a lot if you're lucky. Paying those extra points doesn't seem to do much for them, and could probably be better spent elsewhere.
This test was of course very much simplified, but it does give hints at how smaller situations within a game might turn out, and it certainly helped me decide on how to build squads of Horrors. At least when it comes to Flickering Fire... now, about Beaming yourself with Bolt of Change to get Feel no Pain... that's another issue...
So lets just do a test. Horrors vs Dark Angels Tactical Marines. Now, I'd take Horrors in a squad of 16 to get the extra Warp Charges, and also a Herald at Level 2 with Exalted Locus of Conjuration. This is a set up I'd play with. Total value of 239 points. The Horrors take Flickering Fire, the Herald Flickering Fire as well as Prescience. We'll face this against a Dark Angels Tactical squad, with 10 guys, full plasma (Plasma Gun and Cannon, as well as Pistol on the Vet. Sergeant). That's 180 points. Just to even out the points, lets add a Librarian with no upgrades, he takes Divination and get Prescience. Not a completely fair set up, but one that is somewhat likely to happen on a battlefield. Lets also assume the squad isn't Combat Squaded for simplicity, and they start 24" from each other and the Horrors gets first turn.
Test 1
Turn 1 - Daemons
Prescience - pass
Horrors shoots Flickering Fire - pass, not denied by the Librarian. Number of shots: 13. Hits (after re-rolls): 10. Wounds caused: 9. Saves made: 7. So 2 wounds taken, and because I'm lazy one of them was the Plasma Cannon.
Herald Flickering Fire - pass, denied by Librarian.
Then T-test for the Marines: pass on a 2, so they now have 6+ FnP.
Turn 1 - Dark Angels
Prescience - pass
The unit moves forward 6", then shoots 1 Plasma Gun and 7 Bolters at 18" range. Hits (after re-rolls): 7 Bolters + 1 Plasma. Wounds caused: 6. Saves made: None (despite re-rolling 1's). So 6 wounds taken, brings their number down to 10 plus Herald.
Turn 2 - Daemons
Prescience - pass, but with perils
Horrors shoots Flickering Fire - pass, not denied. Number of shots: 3 (2D6 is bad sometimes...). Hits: 3. Wounds: 2. Saves: 1. Feel no Pain: none. So 1 Marine dies, leaving 7 standing.
Herald Flickering Fire - double six, perils and he dies...
T-test for the Marines: Failed. D3 more dies: 1. So 6 Marines left.
Turn 2 - Dark Angels
Prescience - pass
Moves up into Rapid Fire range and shoots 5 Bolters, 1 Plasma Gun and 1 Bolt Pistol (Librarian). Hits: 2 Plasma, 1 Bolt Pistol, 9 Bolters. Wounds: 5. Saves: 1. So 4 Horrors die, leaving 6.
Turn 3 - Daemons
No Prescience... so Flickering Fire: pass, not denied. Number of Shots: 7. Hits: 2. Wounds: 1. Saves: 0... Feel no Pain: none. One dies.
T-test: failed. 3 more dies(!). 3 Marines and Librarian left, but Fearless makes them stay.
Turn 3 - Dark Angels
Prescience - pass
Moves up so they're 6" away, shots 1 plasma pistol and 3 bolt pistols. Hits: 4. Wounds: 3. Saves: 1. So 2 Horrors die, leaving 4. Marines charge - 5" and thus fails to reach them.
Turn 4 - Daemons
Flickering Fire - pass, not denied. Number of Shots: 11(!). Hits: 8(!!!). Wounds: 6. Saves: 3. Feel no Pain: none... Which leaves the Librarian left alone... I guess he still needs to take a T-test: pass, so now has FnP on 5+.
Turn 4 - Dark Angels
Prescience - pass
Moves up and shoot, hits and fails to wound. Charges 1". 3 Hits, 2 wounds. Both saved. Horrors hits three times, wounds once which goes through both armour and FnP. Fearless so stays.
Next round: Prescience - pass. Hits twice, wounds twice. No saves made. Horrors hit twice and fails to wound. Fails Ld by 4 and are gone.
So first test is a DA victory, but with only 1W left on the Librarian. The Horrors did really well, especially since I didn't move them back (which could've been easily done since their shooting is Assault). But lets try that test another two times, but with less writing.
Test 2
Daemons - Turn 1
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - fails Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - fails (...) Kills: 0
T-test: n/a
Fnp granted: none
Marines left: 10+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 1
Prescience - pass
Kills: 3
Horrors Left: 13+Herald
Daemons - Turn 2
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - denied Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 1
T-test: fails, suffers 1 wound
Fnp granted: none
Marines left: 8+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 2
Prescience - pass
Kills:5
Horrors Left: 8+Herald
Daemons - Turn 3
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 1
Herald Flickering Fire - fails Kills: 0
T-test: fails, suffers 2 wounds
Fnp granted: none
Marines left: 5+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 3
Prescience - pass
Kills:4
Charge: gets in. Kills: 5 Horrors hits back: 0 kills fails Instability by 5, taking the rest of the squad.
Horrors Left: 0
Test 3
Daemons - Turn 1
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - denied Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 2
T-test: pass
Fnp granted: 6+
Marines left: 8+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn1
Prescience - pass
Kills: 2
Horrors Left: 14+Herald
Daemons - Turn 2
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - denied Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 3
T-test: pass
Fnp granted: 5+
Marines left: 5+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 2
Prescience - pass
Kills:3
Horrors Left: 11+Herald
Daemons - Turn 3
Prescience - pass
Horrors Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 0
Herald Flickering Fire - pass Kills: 0
T-test: n/a
Fnp granted: 5+
Marines left: 5+Librarian
Dark Angels - Turn 3
Prescience - pass
Kills:2
Charge: gets in. Kills: 5. Horrors hit back: 0 kills, fails Instability on double six and are wiped.
Horrors Left: 0
So. After three tests I can conclude that granting the Marines FnP is a non-issue because they never needed it once! It's rather the fact that their entire shooting can be denied by a Psyker that really hurts. Now I rolled some exceptional rolls here, but it just goes to show that the Horrors shooting is very easily stopped. On the other hand however, those times when Marines actually do fail their T-test it really hurts. Look at the round where I only managed to kill one Marine with the attack itself, but then thanks to the failed T-test another 2 died. That actually hurts for a Marine squad.
So what I've learned from this little experiment is that I shouldn't avid shooting something because I'm afraid it'll give them a Feel no Pain, but rather I should avoid stuff that I can't get through the armour of. Seriously, even when I rolled good on the number of shots they were terrible at hitting despite re-rolls. S6 helps, but even so with a 3+ armour they can't really bring enough shots to really hurt. Especially since if you drop below 16 models you very rapidly drop fire power. I actually start to think that minimum squad of 10 is a better way to go, because no matter how few they get they still have 2D6 shots - which can be a lot if you're lucky. Paying those extra points doesn't seem to do much for them, and could probably be better spent elsewhere.
This test was of course very much simplified, but it does give hints at how smaller situations within a game might turn out, and it certainly helped me decide on how to build squads of Horrors. At least when it comes to Flickering Fire... now, about Beaming yourself with Bolt of Change to get Feel no Pain... that's another issue...
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