Objective Secured

Lorgar – Master of the Word Bearers, Aurelian, The Golden, The Voice of Truth. These are just some of the titles granted to the lord of the XVII legion. The 30k universe has given us the chance to field the demi gods of war – the Primarchs. How does Lorgar fare? Lets see…

Background

Lorgar Auralian, the golden son as many called him, who alone amongst his brothers wielded the raw power of devotion as his preferred weapon, was the lord of the Word Bearers Legion. In his earliest days, he swayed an entire world with his powerful oratory and the sheer force of his charisma, leading Colchis, his adopted home world, through the fires of civil war to the veneration of the emperor, whose coming he had foreseen in dreams. Reunited with his father, and at the head of the Word Bearers Legion, Lorgar conquered, not simply through stratagem, overmatching power or simple brute violence, but by the subtle craft of exaltation, liberation and example, by inspiring his sons to feats of arms in the name of the Imperial truth and swaying whole planetary populations though his statecraft and vision. Under his governance, his legion did not simply batter a world into submission, leaving behind only a scorched ruin, but applied force of arms only as needed to raise them up and render freedom, reserving raw destruction and carnage for the recidivist, the hopelessly corrupt and damned. But in his literal interpretation of the meaning of the great crusade upon which he was embarked, he and his legion strayed from the path that had been set out for them.

For his failings, Lorgar received only disdain, contempt and censure from his siblings and father. His greatest success, the temple city of Monarchia was rendered to dust and ashes at the command of the Emperor, who sought no worship from his son, only swift victories to hasten his works. With his beliefs shattered by the actions of his father, anger and resentment set Lorgar upon the path that would lead to the Heresy, and the Word Bearers began to secretly accept new, darker truths, even as they channelled their anger into a renewed slew of conquests, that allayed the Emperor’s suspicions. Both betrayer and betrayed, it was Lorgar and his legion who would set the stage for the nightmare of the Heresy, seeking to spread his new creed across the galaxy.

(From The Horus Heresy Book 5 – Tempest, page 254, Copyright Games Workshop Limited 2015.)

The first heretic then! Lets dig deeper…

On the Table

Lorgar is simply a demigod mad manifest and when it comes to the table, he fits that bill. Like all Primarchs, he is a Lord of War for his legion. And for his considerable cost we get a set of rules and stats that make most characters quiver with envy. 375 points is no joke and with just a single upgrade available at another 75 points, he better be awesome on the board!

Looking at the statline, its a mix of Hero and Monster. WS 6 is great but lower than you might expect and indeed, his brothers tend to be 7+ in this area. Never the less, 6 is more than adequate for most enemy forces. BS 6 is run of the mill for the Primarchs but you don’t buy them for this stat do you. S & T of 6 is a huge boon to Lorgar and this seems to be the benchmark for the brothers on the table though some creep up into the 7 or 8 area. The T of 6 is especially good for dealing with small arms fire while S6 means he will wreck infantry and even vehicles (with his weapon). 5 wounds is on the low side for the Primarchs with most sporting 6 or even 7! 5 is reasonable but only due to his psychic nature. Initiative of 6 is another boost he gets meaning he will strike before most, if not all, astartes as well as simultaneous with his kin. 4 attacks base is on the low side again for the Primarchs though in reality its 5 thanks to 2 close combat weaponswithout charging. Leadership 10 is expected. His armour save of 2+ is standard fare for the Primarchs and its comes from a unique set of armour with a few extra perks described below.

Rules wise, its quite a long list (though the norm for the Primarchs!) – Independent Character, Master of the Legion, Eternal Warrior, Fear, Adamantium Will, Fleet, Fearless, It Will Not Die, Precision Shot, Precision Strike along with Living Icon, Sire of the Word Bearers, Dark Fortune, Erratic Psychic Power (which can be upgraded to Lorgar Transfigured) as well as bulky. Most of these are probably familiar o the average 40k player so lets focus on the couple that really make Lorgar the epitome of the 17th legion.

Master of the Legion allows the legion to choose from a select group of specialisations in the way they can deploy and the units they can select. This is common across any of the significant HQ choices as well as the primarchs. The key thing is that you may only have 1 model with this rule per 1000 points of your army. It means its only the REALLY BIG games that you will see multiple Primarchs and the required HQs!

Living Icon gives all Word Bearers who can draw line of sight to Lorgar a +1 t their charge distance, +1 to their combat resolution and immunity to the fear special rule. It can not be underestimated how good this is. These things encourage an assault style army and having Lorgar in the midst of the carnage where this rule will have the most impact.

Sire of the Word Bearers grants Lorgar the crusader special rule as well as any unit he joins. Also, while Lorgar is on the table (not in a transport) all Word Bearers can use Lorgars leadership for Morale and Pinning Tests. Combined with the legion rule – the unit gains the ability to roll 3d6 for all moral and pick the 2 lowest – makes units very hard to shift.

Dark Fortune allows Lorgar to reroll and failed Deny the Witch rolls for Lorgar. In addition, once per game before dice are rolled, Lorgar can force a single enemy model or unit to reroll all 5’s and 6’s to hit and wound against Lorgar. This is HUGE when combined with Lorgars psychic buffs and his considerable statline and saving throws.

Erratic Psychic Power makes him a Level 2 Psyker who can roll on either Divination and Telekinesis. He will only harness warp charges on a 5+.

On the wargear front, he has a nice (if short) list of gear. He carries frag grenades for charging things and an Archaeotech Pistol for the extra attack and a half decent shooting attack but the meat of Lorgar is in his 2 unique items.

The Armour of the Word is where Lorgar gets his 2+ save from. It also confers a 4+ invulnerable save which increases to 3+ against psychic powers or force weapons. While not massively complex or interesting, it does mean he will take a beating and keep going and makes him all but immune to psychic attacks thanks to the combination of Admantium Will, being a level 2 psyker and then the 3+ save.

Illuminarum is the weapon gifted to him by Ferrus Manus. Its a +2S, AP2, melee, master crafted, concussive, smash mace of doom! Essentially it means Lorgar can fight and hurt or kill just about any target. The reroll from master crafted and his WS6 means he should get a solid 3 or 4 hits against any foe while the +2S makes his total S8 and striking at AP2. Concussive means he should go before anything that lives through the impact of the maul while smash gives him an option for S10 if needed. Its a great weapon!

His single option is Lorgar Transfigured. This rule turns an average (and over costed) Primarch into a machine on the table. He loses the Erratic Psychic Power Rule and its replaced by making him a Level 3 psyker who can choose (not roll) any combination of powers from Divination or Telekinesis. He also harnesses warp charges on a 3+ with this rule. It can not be understated how much better Lorgar becomes with his rule. By selecting powers you can guarantee just what Lorgar can achieve – Divination gives some great options with Prescience & Precognition the 2 main choices. Perfect Timing and Misfortune are 2 more that, depending on who Lorgar joins, could be very good. Even Forewarning can make units much more durable – 4+ invulnerable saves on a 20 strong legion tactical squad with an apothecary is no joke! The main one from Telekinesis would be Levitation for mobility on the aforementioned tactical squad or Telekine Dome for a gun line army. Psychich Maelstrom could also be fun in a pinch! He also gains access to Malefic Daemonology when transfigured and being able to select cursed earth for the Gal Vorbak or just summoning, Sacrifice, Incursion or Possession (for when you hit 1 wound!) makes the Word Bearers a danger on the table.

How do you use him?

Most Primarchs dont need a body guard but Lorgar in either guise works best when supported. Legion Tacticals will do just fine but a true assault unit like Gal Vorbak is where you see red mist assaults! In almost every case, Lorgar and his unit should have an assault transport and combined with Lorgar having the Bulky rule, that can limit their choices. When embarked on a phobos Land Raider he and his unit can cross the table in moderate safety to engage the target of your choosing. The Spartan Tank is another great option for larger squads or units of Gal Vorbak but it pushes the cost up a lot. I would avoid flyers for him (along with any primarch) as it keeps far to many points off the table for too long. Running him on foot is possible and thanks to his special rules, its almost a simple choice to do so. The main issue though it the majority toughness rule means he loses much of his durability and unless he is tanking his for a unit, his 2+ save means little. No, like every Primarch, he needs to be across the table and hitting things quickly – better to find him a ride!

When using Precognition he will be able to face down just about any other enemy on the table – even his brothers – and have a half decent chance of winning. In older versions – Lorgar had the option for Telepathy and thus Invisibility! Alas no more – and to be honest, I think its a good move!

Have you seen Lorgar across the table from you in your games of 30k? How did he fare? Do you agree with my thoughts on him? Let me know in the comments!