The Leagues of Votann are the newest faction to join Warhammer 40,000, and today we’re looking at three new detachments for them. What do the Ancestor Cores have in store?
Armoured Trailblazers
Nimble Sagitaurs are the backbone of a kinhost’s vehicular network, acting as both a fast transport and reconnaissance vehicle that roams ahead of the heavier Vehicles and troops. Getting their firepower and small complements of infantry into advanced positions is critically important, so the Armoured Trailblazers detachment helps out with the valuable Scouts 6” ability.
SAGITAUR SPEARHEAD
Scouting out the foe’s positions and performing reconnaissance in force, speeding Sagitaurs lead the armoured charge of the Kin.
Friendly SAGITAUR units have Scouts 6".
The Blistering Advance rule that Sagitaurs already possess lets them drop off their cargo after making an Advance move, so if you roll well, you could now drop a squad up to 24” away from your deployment zone on Turn 1 – a terrifying prospect for armies afraid of being boxed in. Scout moves are also made right before the first turn starts, so you could use it to shift your important scouting Vehicles out of dangerous positions in the event enemy deployments caught you with your void suit down.
Dense terrain areas are the biggest obstacle to your lightning advance up the field, as Vehicles can’t smash through solid walls as easily as infantry can. So, what if they could? A simple enhancement does the trick, taking advantage of structural scans to find safe places to ram your Sagitaurs through wood, brick and iron.
OPTIMISED ATTACK LINES (Upgrade)
With suitable structural reinforcement, Sagitaurs can smash right through battlefield debris and ruins rather than waste time in circumnavigation.
SAGITAUR unit only. This unit has MOBILE.
In case you haven't seen the new Mobile keyword before, it means a unit can move horizontally through dense terrain. Some especially agile creatures and Vehicles will get it, like Ork Squighog Boyz, while towering Super-heavy Walkers can get it in return for risking battleshock – similar to how they operate now.
TERRAIN AND MOVEMENT 13.06
Models can move through different categories of terrain feature as follows:
Exposed/Light: All models can move horizontally and vertically through exposed and light terrain features.
Dense:
INFANTRY/BEASTS/SWARM/MOBILE models can move horizontally through dense terrain features.
INFANTRY/BEASTS/SWARM models can move vertically through dense terrain features.
Other models can move horizontally through dense terrain features provided that all sections of that terrain feature that the moving model’s base would move through are 2" or less in height. Otherwise, the moving model must move vertically to ascend or descend such sections. They cannot move through ceilings and floors while doing so, and they cannot end that move on any surface of that terrain feature that is not on ground level.
Another part of the Scouts rule says that instead of making your Scouts move before the battle starts, you can move the unit into strategic reserves. This is a great way to surprise your opponent with a sudden Sagitaur ambush, as the Outflanking Armour stratagem lets you bring two of them in for just a single Command Point.
OUTFLANKING ARMOUR (1CP)
ARMOURED TRAILBLAZERS STRATAGEM
With the foes’ weaknesses identified, outflanking Sagitaurs streak in to exploit the gaps and punch deep into their lines.
WHEN: End of your opponent’s Movement phase, from the second battle round onwards.
TARGET: Up to two friendly SAGITAUR units in strategic reserves.
EFFECT: Your units each make an ingress move.
Farseekers
Speaking of scouting forces, Hernkyn range ahead of the main kinhost to identify valuable resources and take the measure of enemy forces. Once battle is joined, their sophisticated scanning equipment can be used to triangulate enemy positions and guide their firepower onto chosen targets – whether they’re on foot as part of a Yaegir squad or riding powerful jetbikes in a Pioneer squadron.
EYE OF THE HUNT
Combining scanning and targeting functions for maximum efficiency, the Hernkyn guide fire unerringly down on their targets.
Friendly HERNKYN units’ ranged attacks that target a unit within 12" have +1 to hit rolls.
These pan-spectral scanners are also great at revealing hidden units trying to disguise themselves as masonry and plant life, for fear of retribution at the Kin’s hands. Once their positions have been uncovered, the rest of the Oathband can fire at their leisure.
PAN-SPECTRAL LOCKONS (Upgrade)
Employing their pan-spectral scanners and frontier-scouting instincts, the Pioneers rapidly locate enemy forces and mark their positions for their comrades.
PIONEERS unit only. In your Shooting phase, you can select one visible enemy unit within 12" of this unit. That enemy unit is spotted:
While a unit is spotted, that unit has +3" detection range.
These advance scouts are so used to analysing every rock and field for seams to exploit that they can intuitively spot structural weak points from across a battlefield. Their Scornful Analysis proves invaluable to their comrades, who can blow through weakened walls to hit the stunned enemies behind – all for a single Command Point.
SCORNFUL ANALYSIS (1CP)
FARSEEKERS STRATAGEM
Casting a jaundiced eye over the so-called fortifications of their foes, the Hernkyn quickly identify weak spots in the enemy defences and spread the word to their comrades.
WHEN: Start of your Shooting phase.
TARGET: One friendly HERNKYN unit.
EFFECT: Select one visible enemy unit within 12" of your unit. Friendly LEAGUES OF VOTANN units’ attacks that target that enemy unit have [IGNORES COVER].
The Hearthguard Covenant
The fighting elite of an Oathband march to war in advanced armour suits, carrying powerful weapons beyond the ken of less pragmatic factions. They engage the enemy at point-blank range, taking on the greatest hardship, and fighting like champions of old when eye-to-eye with their foes.
AVATARS OF THE ANCESTORS
Shouldering the greatest responsibility for achieving victory, the elites of the Hearthband fight hardest of all to defeat and destroy their foes.
Friendly KÂHL/EINHYR CHAMPION/EINHYR HEARTHGUARD/ÛTHAR THE DESTINED units’ ranged attacks that target a unit within 9" can re-roll wound rolls of 1.
This detachment has the HEARTHGUARD tag and cannot be taken with another HEARTHGUARD detachment.
Close-range firepower is the order of the day, and with each Einhyr Hearthguard mounting at least two guns on their exo-armour, they get a lot of use out of Avatars of the Ancestors. Anyone who wants to stop them re-rolling Wound rolls would have to engage them in close combat, and that’s not a much better prospect at all.
In fact, even if you did manage to break through their formidable defences and lay low a venerable Kâhl, there’s a chance they’d just take you down with them.
HIGH KÂHL
Not easily do the greatest Kâhls of the Kin let go their grasp on life, not while they might yet benefit the Votann further.
KÂHL model only. In the Fight phase, when a model in this
unit is destroyed, if this unit has not been selected to fight this phase, roll one D6: on a 4+, do not remove that model from the battlefield; after this unit has fought, or at the end of the phase (whichever comes first), that model is removed from the battlefield.
Of course, if re-rolling your Wound rolls of 1 isn’t enough of a boost to your shooting, you can always unleash the Fury of the Hearth. No distance requirements here – spend a Command Point, and your barrage hits a whole lot harder. Just like the Ancestors would want.
FURY OF THE HEARTH (1CP)
HEARTHGUARD COVENANT STRATAGEM
As though they unleash the raging flames of their kindred’s hearth upon the enemy, the Einhyr all but drown their enemies in fire.
WHEN: Your Shooting phase, when a friendly EINHYR HEARTHGUARD unit is selected to shoot.
TARGET: That EINHYR HEARTHGUARD unit.
EFFECT: Your unit’s ranged attacks have:
+1 S.
If you spend 1 YP, [SUSTAINED HITS 1].
You can combine these new options in all kinds of interesting ways. The Armoured Trailblazers detachment, for instance, is a great pairing for the Brandfast Oathband, which is similarly fond of Transports, while the Hearthguard Covenant can reinforce the core of any army with a powerful unit or two of elite warriors. You could also use all three of these 1 DP detachments together to create a fast pioneering force that prepares the ground for a heavy punch of Hearthguard when the enemy is reeling.
We’re down to the last two Faction Focus articles, and next up it’s the Adeptus Mechanicus, bringing up the rear for the Imperium. Only the Necrons are after them, so how will these two mechanical juggernauts compare against each other?
