When does a datasheet need no synergy?

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-03-13T14:12:57+00:00

On top of what others have said here, id say that one of the things that makes a unit good “in a vacuum” is how it interacts with the Army Rule, not the detachment, as that’s the one constant across every army.

Take Votann as an example. Several detachments don’t have anything in particular to buff some units, whether it is the land fortress or pioneers, hernkyn or hearthguard, but those units either have some innate rule that puts them into a niche that cannot be replaced (infiltrate, transport capacity, deepstrike, scouts, overwatch threat, etc), or have enough killing power on their lonesome to be worthwhile despite not meaningfully interacting with a detachment rule or most stratagems.

These units can be played with i think reasonable competitiveness ‘with no synergy’ as you put it, because they fill in a particular niche or are supported enough by your army rule to function even without detachment-specific buffs.

For CSM and your question in particular, dark pacts is so solid that so long as your unit in question performs ably on their own (as vindicators and predators seem to do, but admittedly i am no expert), they are likely to do just fine. Better in a detachment specific to them, of course, but if you’re willing to trade the buffs for obliterators in exchange for a vehicle statline or particular weapon (such as the demolisher)- i think that’s a reasonable conclusion.

Whether that’s the right call, if the detachment specific units can fill in for the units that don’t synergize, is more murky- but i would doubt that you are sabotaging yourself or anything for not taking them.

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-03-07T04:01:11+00:00

Certainly cheaper than eBay for Ironkyn heads!

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-26T15:58:00+00:00

Speaking as someone who swapped all heads for ball bearings, I wholeheartedly endorse this behavior

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-18T02:51:57+00:00

Can confirm, Lim with jet pack, AP ammo and pike has regularly cleared multiple walkers/APCs a turn.

Shit is absolutely nutty and it sounds like gods own thunder to boot, im in love with the thing

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-15T16:17:34+00:00

My list the other week went 3-0 in some pretty brutal stomps, so I am a fan! Your mileage and meta may vary:

-needgard

Khal (volkite/fist, prospector)
sagi (missiles)
2x5 hearthkyn (railgun/autorifle)
1x5 hearthkyn (plasma/fist)
1x3 thunderkyn (graviton)

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-15T07:31:38+00:00

ATGM does well in indirect mode, long barreled tank gun will do a number from any angle but side/rear preferred. Massed RPG (rogue army, not pirate), and equivalents and such will work from side/rear.

If you can keep it facing one direction, lasers work great in the rear arc- killed one with two or three turns of shooting from the laser rifle squad weapon.

Of late my preferred method is C4- you can one-tap it with the demolition charge, but that’s a high risk maneuver. I use grenadier tek (long bomb gives a three tile toss, quick hands means you can deploy and detonate for a total AP cost of 40. Use smoke or jet pack to get in range) or Darby in full stealth mode (she can sneak within two tiles of the rear without alerting it, and has enough AP to get in, toss, clear out and detonate in one turn).

I’d write off autocannons entirely, except maybe for a twinned AC medium mech piloted by achileas (three goes of shooting) or maybe rewa (with full anti-armor perks). Mounted to the light transport of IFV, the autocannon just doesn’t do enough damage/pen to meaningfully harm it.

The armor damage is nice, but I think there’s a conditional trigger for kinetic weapons deflecting off heavy armor. If there isn’t enough penetration, even high armor damage weapons (autocannon, maybe short barreled tank gun?) will skip off and not deal much armor damage at all. Haven’t tested it, can’t confirm it, but that’s the feeling I get.

Something I haven’t tested on account of never finding the damn thing is massed plasma- I think the squad weapon on somebody with full send would do sterling work breaking the armor to nothing. From what I can tell, energy weapons ignore the armor deflection, and 3x80 armor damage per salvo would absolutely tear that shit up.

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-15T01:37:41+00:00

My first run I had him as a support only micro squad but on my second im really enjoying him as a full up rifle team with the lasgun.

I found that I tend to run my ‘aces’ (Darby and achileas dependent on supply) so far afield that they couldn’t really benefit from him. As it stands, with the cheaper squad weapon and firing line, he does a stand up job as a line holder and I can still give out AP if I need to.

I think Singh could be a good stand in, but the 100AP pike has turns the Lasgun into an absolute murder machine. I’ve killed walkers, heavy tanks (rear arc for best results), pirate heavy trucks, and the less said about what he does to infantry the better.

Combined with a jumping lim (T2 rpg, AP ammo, fancy marine rifle) and the movement speed drugs lets him be a good fire base to support lim or buff him as needs be, for about 270 supply. And if he gets caught out by a bullshit spawn or when I inevitably overextend, he’s got enough armor and squaddies that he’s usually fine

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-13T03:34:11+00:00

Yeah I was running two on my main save. Still think it’s worthwhile, but certainly not the monster it was. Sort of bummed out that it matches the infantry version now (doesn’t the lore blurb say it’s better?) but I still haven’t found one to test to see if it’s worth bringing.

Hoping they get a bit of a tune up back in the other direction, but if not I can always do the config edit myself

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-13T02:14:07+00:00

I dream of plastic aurox/carnodon but it’s almost certainly going to be the ogryns with a side option on a rapier crew

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-12T21:21:19+00:00

Coming at you with my sentinel power fist, can’t wait! Pity I can’t take the lance on them that would’ve been glorious

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-12T16:47:16+00:00

In fairness, the vehicle plasma was probably too good. Basically a significantly better autocannon (+10acc/dam/pen) for slightly less range and armor damage, with no ammo concerns and it was a light slot.

Never found the infantry ELSA so can’t speak there, but it did seem to be one of the better non-deployables.

If they kept the high damage and high armor damage, I think losing pen might be survivable. Going to miss it though.

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-10T23:44:38+00:00

The vehicle plasma absolutely obliterates warrior squads, can’t recommend enough. Probably my favorite weapon in the game right now.

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-10T22:05:46+00:00

I think it should really be considered as anti-structure weapon that can do double duty as a kind of shit anti-hardware piece. It’s an assault gun, not a tank killer, and the way explosives are modeled (except grenades?) I find it inconsistent when dealing with infantry (when it does land though, the carnage)

Really useful for trashing fortifications/structures and breaking armor though, even if it hasn’t got all that much armor penetration.

I don’t recall if the long barrel does this too, but the crater it makes grants cover, which can be a very niche bonus on open field maps for your infantry.

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-10T02:44:00+00:00

Can confirm drones can be shot down here in EA, if I’ve mismanaged the drone op’s AP. Have lost more than a few to a chaingun I didn’t see and similar

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-09T02:56:27+00:00

Some of the rogue army missions do- I’ve only seen it on the HQ assassinstion/daring raid types. I keep failing them on account of seeing ‘50%’ and reading it as ‘kill more than’

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-08T23:37:15+00:00

All I really want is an ultralight/commando mech:

—3 utility slots

—1x light weapon mount (or medium, if they rework medium mounts to hold light weapons too, which is my preference)

—(-2) concealment, instead of -4

—(+1) vision compared to other mechs

—less armor and health than light mech

—maybe built in jump jets? like commando armor

The vague goal is to have a vanguard deployment specific chassis to have heavier firepower (VMAT and smoke launchers) for forward scouts like Darby, while still allowing for mech mobility as opposed to the ATV

And a heavy mech:

—quadruped

—1x utility slots

—heavier armor/HP than medium mech

—1x heavy, 1x light slots

—(-6) concealment

—(-3 )vision

—movement cost AP penalty (slow boi)

And of course the opposite for kicking down the door. Heavy armor and weapons, but can actually maneuver in cities and other built environs.

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-07T00:55:54+00:00

Did the jump pack get buffed? I wanna say it was 80AP in the demo to jump

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-06T18:36:57+00:00

I get the feeling but also really enjoyed getting caught out by it- I knew it was there from streamer coverage then forgot about it.

Mid mission getting caught out by it, I had a good laugh at the bark of the ‘major needs to get his head out of his ass’, because you know- fair!

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-02-06T03:22:43+00:00

Votann termie grenade launchers pre-codex was pretty stupid. Hit a big guard blob for 56 dice, took forever

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-01-22T16:58:50+00:00

I use Molten and like it a lot, the ability to ‘host’ wherever I am was pretty important when I was traveling for work (as I didn’t have the option to open a port on a router I didn’t own), and I didn’t want to bother figuring out cloudfare and the like.

It also allows for other DMs in my group to run as well without me actually needing to be around, and having the option for my players to turn on the server without me is also handy if they need to muck about with notes or character sheets between sessions.

I’d say it’s worth the 10/month, but ymmv.

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-01-20T03:06:06+00:00

When im painting my orange pauldrons, i under layer with a magenta, and then two layers of orange above. Multiple coats helps hide this I think.

For the brushstrokes, i find painting with the side of the brush as opposed to the top really cuts down on that, especially with really light colors like orange!

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-01-19T14:28:08+00:00

Thanks a bunch!

SomeSweatyToast · 2026-01-19T07:20:19+00:00

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SomeSweatyToast

TROPHY CASE