Objective Secured

During the Horus Heresy, the Gal Vorbak became one of the most sinister and feared forces to deploy on the war torn worlds of the imperium. The first of what the modern imperium would call possessed chaos space marines, the Gal Vorbak were the elite of the Word Bearers legion during the upheaval that the Horus Heresy created. Combining deadly combat skills with the ferocity of a daemon, the Gal Vorbak had few opponents that could match them. Their 40k counterparts are often regarded with scorn when deployed on the table – so how do the progenitors of the unit fare?

Background

The Gal Vorbak is built upon the remnants of the Serrated Sun Chapter of the Word Bearers Legion, the conquerors of the primitive world of Cadia who looked into the depths of the Eye of Terror itself and in doing so were changed for all time. Their psyches infiltrated by creatures from the darkness of the Ether, the survivors are named the Gal Vorbak or “Blessed Sons” in the language of Colchis, and are possessed of strengths and abilities far above those of other astartes.

It is said that each of the Gal Vorbak was a host to some form of warp entity, itself subservient to the greater scheme plotted between Warmaster Horus and the nightmare powers beyond. In battle, this being comes to dominate the mind and body of the warrior. His already mighty form swells as hands turn into rending talons and jaws into slavering, fang filled maws twisted beyond any reason and reality. At Isstvan V, the Word Bearers pact with the horrors beyond was sealed in a great ritual of carnage and betrayal.

(From Legiones Astartes – Isstvan Campagin Legions, page 74, Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2014.)

Sounds pretty cool so far!

On the Table

The Gal Vorbak like most of the elite units found in the 30k series, occupy the Elite section of our detachment – thankfully we get 4 in the age of darkness so taking a unit of these killers does not hinder us greatly from taking the other great selections of this slot.

The basic squad is 200 points for 5 models which when they are not in terminator armour seems kinda steep… until you read the entry in full!

Looking at the statline, its a very solid for the cost. WS 5 is fantastic on a line unit though BS 4 is run of the mill. You don’t buy Gal Vorbak to shoot and their options are limited in this arena so its not a big loss. S & T of 5 is a huge boon to the unit, enabling them to take more punishment from basic legion weapons and keep going. 2 wounds is the second part of the durability boost this unit receives over standard astartes and the squad leader, known as the Dark Martyr is actually 3 wounds! You essentially get a captain level character as the squad leader! Initiative of 5 is another huge boost the unit gets meaning they will strike before most other astartes. 2 attacks base is also nice, with 3 on the Dark Martyr and in reality thanks to 2 close combat weapons, 3 & 4 attacks respectively without charging. Leadership 8 (9 on the Martyr) is expected in the heresy but their special rules help mitigate this weakness. Power armour save of 3+ is standard fare but again is supported by their special rules.

Rules wise, its quite a long list for a unit – Daemon, Stubborn, Bulky, Rage, Rending*, Deep Strike and Damned. Most of these are probably familiar o the average 40k player so lets focus on the couple that really make this unit special.

Daemon is the big thing this unit gets. They gain the special rule Fear from this first of all which has quite an impact in the 30k setting where the legions have yet to learn no fear. The second bonus from this rule is a 5+ invulnerable save, making it possible for this unit to take hits from missile launchers and las cannons and take little to no damage.

Rending is a rule players should know. What makes the Gal Vorbak version special is part f the unit entry and it reads – This rule applies to all the models close combat attacks only, regardless of the weapon being used and in addition to any weapon special rules. It can not be understated how huge this is. Combined with the ability to purchase special weapons for a limited number of models in the squad, you end up with Power Weapons, Power Fists and lightning claws with the rending special rule. While the AP2 from this rule is nice, the main bonus is against vehicles were a power maul in the hand of Gal Vorbak is a real danger to pretty much any vehicle found in an opposing legion force.

Damned is the last rule that deserves a mention – a unit with this rule never counts as a scoring unit, regardless of the provisions of the mission being played. What this means is you should be aiming these guys at the enemy units and focusing on killing thing with them – simple.

By being word bearers, the unit gains the ability to roll 3d6 for all moral and pick the 2 lowest and combined with Stubborn – makes the unit very hard to shift. Like all legions astartes, they can also regroup at their normal LD value regardless of casualties. They also pick up the ability to reroll sweeping advance rolls of a 1 with the caveat that they must always sweeping advance.

On the wargear front, the unit carries Bolt Pistols, Bolt Guns, a Close Combat Weapon as well as frag and krak grenades – all very typical in the Horus Heresy legions.

You can add up to 5 extra Gal Vorbak for 30 points each (a bargain!) but the Bulky rule makes it hard to run a transport outside of a Spartan or one of the flyers which makes the unit a massive points sink. You can just Deep Strike them but its unpredictable and fraught with danger for such an expensive unit.

For every 5 models in the unit, 1 model may take a Flamer, Plasma Gun, Melta Gun or Power Weapon. I can’t ever envisage taking the first 2 weapons and while a melta gun might be handy, I would rather just take the power weapon and leave the guns to the other Word Bearers.

The Dark Martyr gets a couple of options as well – access to a power weapon, power first or a single or pair of lightening claws. The power fist is an easy pick here – S10 and rending means very little wants to be near the Martyr in combat – especially if he charges!. The Lightning Claws could also be fun but I think the fist gives the unit better utility.

The Dark Martyr also has access to melta bombs as well as artificer armour. While the melta bombs are options (and they are rending as well!) the artificer armour should have just been added to the unit cost. When you have a 3 wound, captain level model in the unit – you want him around as long as possible!

It should also be noted that your Dark Martyr could take a Tainted Blade for the same price as a power weapon. This unique little weapon has no S modifier nor AP modifier. Its main benefit is that it carries the Instant Death special rule. The Horus Heresy has very few models who have eternal warrior so this weapon in the hands of the Dark Martyr and combined with Rending could be a very viable tool.

How do you use them?

There are a couple of ways to run the unit that jump out straight away. In almost every case, they should have an assault transport and combined with the Bulky rule, that limits their choices. I would suggest that a unit of 5, with artificer armour and a power fist on the Dark Martyr as well as a power weapon on one of his squad mates (in my opinion the maul is the go to for its S boost as well as the fluffyness of the pseudo crozius) is the most flexible and all round squad. When embarked on a phobos Land Raider they can cross the table in moderate safety to engage the target of your choosing. The 5 of them should be more than a match for just about any other unit they encounter and with T5 and 2 wounds, they fear little in the way of retaliation.

Running a maxed out squad of 10 on foot is possible but I can’t help but want a Centurion upgraded to a Primus Medicae joined to them to give them feel no pain. While their innate toughness will keep them around (along with the 20+ wounds this unit would have!) – the enemy will be trying to stop this wall of flesh and steel getting anywhere near them – 50 attacks with rending and S5 is unit killing in every sense of the words! The other option is a transport but as mentioned earlier – the Spartan and the legion flyers make this unit prohibitively expensive in most games.

When combined with psykers, this unit can be even more scary. The Word Bearers even have a HQ choice who is a member of the Gal Vorbak! Zardu Layak, while lacking the rule suite of rules from the Gal Vorbak does have the daemon special rule as well as access to some very cool psychic powers. Endurance from Biomancy and Cursed Earth from Malefic are the 2 main ones I can think of which make the Gal Vorbak even more nasty. Add to the fact that most word bearers can access daemons as allies and that Daemonic Heralds can access some pretty insane items (Grimoire anyone?) which affect daemons and well – you can probably see where this is going!

Have you used the Gal Vorbak in your games of 30k? Have you had them eat your squads? Do you agree with my thoughts on them? Let me know in the comments!