With the release of the March 2019 White Dwarf, Games Workshop have dropped a nice little gem in the form of Codex Imperialis Assassins.
Something Sneaky, Stealthy and Nasty
All four Assassins have had their points adjusted and come in at 85pts each including wargear. Some seem expensive at first, but when you dig into there Stratagems and rules a little more they’ve got some nasty little tricks hidden up the Synskin sleeves…
Death to the Psykers
The Culexus stats and special rules haven’t changed, they’re still remarkably quick to move across the battlefield and like all the other Assassins can effectively deepstrike using the Independent Operative special rule.
They have change the Abomination rule slightly in that now EVERY psyker within 18″ has -2 to it’s psychic tests and deny’s, not just the enemy psykers like the Index version.
Stratagems wise, the Culexus can gets access to two. The first is Pariah’s Gaze (1cp) which ups the damage for the Animus Speculum to D3 from just 1. Useful, but not super reliable if the enemy psyker has a a decent invulnerable save. The second stratagem is Soul Horror (2cp) that is played during the fight phase that makes enemy units within 3″ of the Culexus fight last, even if they charged in the preceding phase. If the enemy unit has the ability to always fight first, Soul Horror negates that too! It’s a great stratagem, but will need some fine playing with to get off and used properly. 2Cp means it’s not overly expensive too
The Imperiums Best Shot
The Vindicare has had probably the biggest overhaul in terms of special rules.
Faultless Aim now lets the Vindicare always hit on 2’s regardless of any negatives. That is of course if it stays still in it’s preceding movement phase.
Head Shot is new that kicks in after a target has taken wounds from a ranged weapon. On a 3+ the target takes a single mortal wound, then on a 4+, 5+ and so on until the roll is failed or the model being rolled for is slain. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.
For stratagems the Vindicare gets access to Double Kill (1cp) that allows the Vindicare to fire twice but must target a separate unit which is a shame but I can see why they wouldn’t want a Vindicare double tapping the same target.
The second strat is the Turbo-Penetrator Round (1cp) that does D3 mortal wounds against Monsters or Vehicles only. A bit of a let down if I’m honest. Sure it’d be great taking off the last few wounds of a Knight etc. Would’ve preferred for it to be straight 2 or maybe 3 mortal wounds. For a sniper to be that good, rolling a D3 seems a bit…unreliable.
Now You See Me
The Callidus remains largely unchanged, in fact it didn’t change at all. It’s Phase sword did get an extra point of damage though. The assassin still pops up D6 + 3″ away from enemy units and it’s phase sword ignores invulnerable saves. Great for picking off softer units and backfield characters.
It’s stratagems are Acrobatic (1cp) that is played during the movement phase and allows the Callidus to advance and charge until the start of the next phase. Additionally units suffer a -1 to hit in attacks that target the assassin.
Next stratagem is Supreme Deception (2cp) that basically takes the Callidus’ Reign of Confusion and makes it last an additional turn. Whether it’s actually worth it remains to be seen. Against CP heavy armies it could be useful.
Everyone Dies
Probably the most improved Assassin is the Eversor. Boy did this guy get a kick! The rules writers have really boosted this guy to being the killing machine the Assassins want and need.
Killing Rampage is a new rule that allows the Eversor to gain additional attacks for every model it slays in combat but must do so immediately. It also allows him to consolidate up to 6″. Those two rules alone make him almost an auto include if you’re looking to add an Assassin to your army. Keep in mind that the Eversor gets 8 attacks on the turn it charges too.
Sentinel Array has changed to, the Eversor now gets to fire at units that fall back from combat.
Bio-meltdown changed slightly too. When the Eversor is reduced to 0 wounds every enemy unit within 6″ takes D3 mortal wounds on a 4+.
It gets better too, the Eversor gets access to a fantastic stratagem in the form of Stimm Overload (2cp) that allows the Assassin to fight twice, but takes 1 mortal wound on a 1,2 or 3 on a D6 after it’s fought. Now considering of the Eversor charged in the proceeding charge phase that’s an additional 8 attacks that can generate additional attacks for every model slain.
Along with that the Eversor can use the Hypermetabolism (1cp) stratgem that allows it to ignore wounds on a 4+ for that phase. Very handy if you want to frustrate your opponent and keep it alive.
Accessing the Killers
So how you get to use Assassins now? Well GW have given us two ways, firstly you can take an Execution Force in the shape of a Vanguard Detachment with no required HQ. However, if you do take double of any of the Assassins you lose the 1cp detachment command bonus. But if you take exactly one of each you get to keep your 1cp.
You can also pay 1cp for Operative Requisition Sanctioned during deployment to take an Assassin as reinforcements (you must still pay the required points in Matched Play). This allows you to select any one of the four Assassins prior to deployment and making your selection purely based on what opponent you’re facing. This doesn’t count towards the number of Detachments in your army and can only be used if your Warlord has the Imperium keyword.
The Assassins can also use the Priority Threat Neutralised (1cp) stratagem that gives them 2cp back for every character slain by an Assassin or 3cp if it was the enemy warlord. The best part is they haven’t limited this at all, meaning if you can kill a few cheap characters during the game you can easily start racking up CP for yourself.
Assassin This!
So the new Assassins are here and these new rules about how to take one really open them up. Not having to lose a detachment is very useful as is throwing all four into Reinforcements and selecting what you want for the game. Playing a horde army and need units cleared, take the Eversor. Playing a psychic heavy army, take the Culexus.
Having the ability to take the best tool for the job rather than being locked into one choice is invaluable.
But overall, I think the Eversor wins the choice hands down. It’s ability to just chew through stuff and keep going for just 85pts is hard to look beyond. Next would have to be the Culexus, it’s the bane of so many armies and can hold it’s own and is durable too.
The Vindicare is good, but I’ve never been a fan of single shot weapons (always rolling that dam 1 to hit!) and with terrain etc, it’s targets of choice will be limited to what it can see and any decent player will just hide characters out sight. It’s situational at best and frustrating at it’s worse. You will get those one games in six where a single Vindicare will just decide to go bonkers and kill everything though!
Lastly we come to the Callidus, I really want to like it, but I just can’t see myself ever taking one over an Eversor for what it wants to do. The Vindicare has better shooting as does the Culexus. If you want to take the Callidus…take an Eversor!
Black is the New Black
So you want to take an Assassin in a Chaos army, but you need a Warlord with the Imperium keyword to use Operative Requisition Sanctioned, just one word
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Cypher*
*Expect an FAQ closing that loop soon