Let me say right off the bad, I'm not writing a tactica for every army. This article is just some guidelines to get you thinking about how to deal with Lash with your own army. If you have any questions or are struggling in your games, send me a email or leave a comment and I'll work up something for you. Of course some armies (like Necrons) will have a harder time than others, but understanding how Lash works is the key to defeating it.
After all of the tips and tricks I discussed in my previous article, I'm sure you are hoping for some quick and dirty tricks to water it down. I'll save you some searching: the only way to quickly stop Lash army is getting the first turn with your own Lash army.
HOW TO COUNTER LASH
As I said earlier, the first step to beating anything is understanding it. In this section I'll break apart the power, piece by piece, and give you some ideas on countering it.
1. It's a psychic power: Things that mess up psychic powers are the lowest hanging fruit. First and foremost is the humble Psychic Hood. I predict that every tournament army that can buy one, will buy one in 2008. This also goes for abilities like Runes of Warding and Shadows of the Warp. But don't forget Shield of Faith (Sisters of Battle), Aegis (Grey Knights) and wargear like Null Rods (Inquisitors). Black Templar's vow Abhor the Witch, Destroy the Witch is fantastic. You'll also be seeing my favorite Assassin, the Culexus, more in Imperial armies.
Note: This also means that Librarians are going to be much, much more common in tournament armies. So you'll be dealing with more psychic powers in general, so a Psychic Hood is going to be an excellent addition to any army. Just keep that in mind when you build your tournament army.
2. The Sorcerer must pass a psychic test: Besides abilities like Runes of Warding and Shadows, a few armies have some units and wargear designed to make psychic tests tougher to pass. Take advantage of this. Lowering Leadership is an easy way for armies that don't have Psychic Hoods to counter Lash. The Culexus and Pariah units have Soulless and Tyranid Psychic Scream armies can make psychic tests tough (especially when combined with Shadows of the Warp).
Note: Also consider wargear and items that allow you to go after the psyker directly. The Dark Eldar's Crucible of Malediction and the Witch Hunter psychic powers Hammer of the Witches and Purgatus are both very effective. Purgatus has the added benefit of having a 24" range so few Sorcerers are going to risk getting close enough to use Lash of Submission.
3. It only works on non-vehicle units: This is going to make mechanized armies more effective, especially the thrice-damned Mech Eldar armies. Lash is just the justification they need for 3 Falcon lists. I can hear it now, "but I have to take 3 Falcons because it's the only thing I have to counter Lash of Submission!" Ugh.
So keep your units in transports and make sure you have enough vehicle based shooting to keep the pressure on the Lash army. Use empty transports to block line of sight (forcing the Chaos player to move to a place of your choosing to use his Sorcerer) and to create firing lanes so your Shooting is more effective.
The Blood Angels, Dark Angels and Chaos Space Marine codices have reduced the base price of a Rhino to 35 points. This makes them a bargain even if you don't plan on using it as a transport. For 35 points, they earn their points as mobile terrain or blocking LoS. Since they are immune to Lash, empty dedicated transports are great tools for making it tough for the Sorcerers to see your non-vehicle units. Every squad that can buy a Rhino, should buy one.
Note: In our test game (against Death Guard), the game ended in a draw thanks solely to the lowly Rhino. Bigred used his Rhinos to block my line of fire. When I destroyed them they became permanent terrain features and made it very tough for me to get a bead on his vulnerable non-vehicle units.
4. The unit has to be visible: Controlling your opponent's line of sight is critical when facing a Lash Army. Using line of sight to your advantage is a real skill and one that should be cultivated. Use your vehicles (including empty transports) and terrain to restrict your opponent's line of sight is a great tool against Lash.
Also keep in mind that close combats block line of sight to the height of the tallest model. Take advantage of units like Grey Knights and Harlequins are tough to see thanks to special abilities. Also units that can take out of sequence movements (like jetpacks and Eldar jetbikes) are good choices against Lash armies. If you can't prevent him from using Lash, don't give him many targets.
5. The range is 24": If the power has an Achilles' Heel, this is it. By closing to 24" to use the power, the Sorcerer is exposing himself to a lot of return fire (and potentially assault). Put units vulnerable to Lash further back and your vehicles forward. This forces the Sorcerer to move close to your vehicles and gives you a chance of getting close enough to him to target him.
Another great tip is to use his short range against him is to deploy your units near each other. Force him to come to your strength to use Lash. Sure he'll move one of your units, but the rest will still be in range to shoot back. Don't spread out because that will allow a fast-moving Sorcerer to pick off your units piecemeal. This has the beneficial side effect of forcing his template weapons to move, making them less accurate (in the case of the Defiler and Vindicator) or not an option to fire (e.g., the "single frequency" Blastmaster).
Note: The most common Lash tactic is to use a Sorcerer on a Bike with Lash and a screening unit of Bikes that turboboost to stay between your army and the Sorcerer. This allows the Sorcerer to benefit from the Independent Character targeting restriction and puts a hard to kill unit in front of them (T5 with a 3+ Invulnerable save). I'll give you some tips for countering this combination below.
6. Your unit is moved 2d6": That's an average of 7" and it's not affected by difficult terrain. Generally your opponent is going to bunch them up (for his template weapons) or he's going to move them closer to assault them. Know which ability is most likely to use on which unit and setup your unit appropriately.
Example 1: If you have an 8-man Devastator or Havoc squad in cover, your opponent is most likely going to move them out of the terrain and bunch them together. If you deploy your models 5" into cover and 2" apart in a long horizontal line, your opponent is going to have a hard time getting them out of the cover or bunched up if he rolls low. Don't do his job for him -- use a ruler and make sure your units are 2" apart when you deploy them.
Example 2: If your opponent is using Daemon Princes with Lash or infiltrating Chosen, he's probably going to move your advance units forward to make his assault easier. With some luck (or two Lash Princes), he can pull off a first turn assault. To counter this, don't put your non-vehicle units on the front edge of your deployment zone and put vehicles (even empty transports) on your flanks to keep his infiltrators away.
7. Dead sorcerers can't use psychic powers: It sounds obvious, but his Sorcerers (or Lash Princes) are the key to his entire army. Your opponent doesn't have a back-up plan, so if you get rid of them quickly your opponent is going to have a tough time recovering. So no matter how much of your army you have to dedicate to it, kill those Sorcerers. Kill their screening units and then kill them.
Chaos Sorcerers don't have Psychic Hoods so they are vulnerable to abilities like Mind War, Mind Worm, Vortex of Doom, and Gift of Chaos. The Sorcerer isn't immune to Instant Death, so once you kill his screening unit he's toast. Make sure that your opponent knows that getting too close to you is suicide. A strong show of shooting force may be enough to keep the Sorcerer out of Lash range, especially if you kill off his screening units.
Note: Daemon Princes with Lash will be less common because Monstrous Creatures don't benefit from the Independent Character targeting protection. But if he takes a Daemon Prince, pour all of your firepower into him. The second he pokes his nose out, target him with everything.
RECOMMENDED UNITS
Here are a few ideas for Imperial players that don't have Librarians. Any Imperial Player can add these units to their army (these are great options for IG players). But don't go crazy, you only need one of them. A serious risk of Lash-hype is going overboard countering Lash and making your army too weak.
1. The Imperial One-Two Punch (Daemonhunters Inquisitor Lord + Culexus Assassin): I recommend this unit for Imperial Guard and Inquisitorial armies. This can also be a very effective unit for Space Marine armies without LD10 Librarians (such as Dark Angels and Blood Angels). I find it strange that an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Lord is more effective against Lash of Submission than the Ordo Hereticus Lord.
Ordo Malleus Inquisitor Lord (Psychic Hood, Emperor's Tarot, Psycannon); 152 pts.
Retinue: 3 Veteran Guardsmen, 2 Mystics
Culexus Assassin; 105pts
So for 257pts (and a HQ and Elite slot) you can pretty much shut down a standard Lash army. The Psycannon prevents your opponent from turboboosting his bikes to protect his Sorcerer (it completely ignores their saves, including their armor save thanks to the poor wording of turboboosting). The Emperor's Tarot gives you a better chance of choosing who goes first (a critical choice when facing Lash armies). And the Culexus is just really, really nasty against Sorcerers.
The goal here isn't to build the most efficient Inquisitorial retinue, but to give you an option to counter Lash without completely changing your army.
Note: I don't recommend Sanctioned Pskyers or Deathwatch Librarians to counter Lash. They are nice units, but you really need a LD10 Psychic Hood. So go with an Inquisitor Lord instead.
2. Grey Knights: This is a great option when you don't have a lot of points. For 81 points, you can get a Grey Knights Brother-Captain with a Psychic Hood (for 30 more points, you can give him a Psycannon). I love this option for Dark Angels as well (he can join a Deathwing Assault unit and gives them an option for a Ld10 Psychic Hood).
The squad joined by the Grey Knights character also benefits from The Shrouding which offers some protection from Lash by making the unit tough to see.
Note: The Grey Knight Grandmaster is pretty tempting too, if you don't mind the points. Sacred Incense counters the Mark of Slaanesh, so he'll go simultaneously with the Sorcerer (or Daemon Prince) and has a good chance of taking them out with the force weapon power of his Nemesis force weapon.
3. Special Characters: You shouldn't feel any guilt about resorting to special characters to counter Lash of Submission, especially if you are using an army that has a tough time against Sorcerers. Characters like Kharn, Ahriman, Mephiston, Tigirius, and Eldrad can make short work of Lash armies.
CONCLUSION
I hope you leave this tactica with a better understanding of Lash of Submission and with some ideas on how to use the strengths of your army to conter it. Yes, it's a very versatile and dangerous psychic power, but it's not impossible to beat.
If you have any questions or thoughts, post them and I'll answer. If you face Lash, please take the time and post a comment to tell us know how it went!
21 comments:
For DaemonHunter armies, whether stand - alone or allied with other Loyalist armies - Unguents of Warding also are effective against the lash.
"Oh, you got past the Shrouding, you passed the psychic test to Lash me, and weren't stopped by the psychic hood?"
I rolled a 4+. Gee that must suck..."
I see lots of oversized buggies in the orks future.
Either that, or a looted basilisk and try to get the drop on him (ok, bad pun).
@capt tyranus: Unguents of Warding are great and not too expensive for 10pts.
Witch Hunter Inquisitors with a Penitent also gets a 4+ save against psychic powers. If you take two, your save jumps to 2+. The only downside is that you have to choose between using the Penitents and using your Psychic Hood.
To help with point #7 - don't forget your Psi-tracker! Reroll your melta gun hit roll...
Instead of Vet. Guardsmen, putting a few heavy bolter/multi-melta/Plasmacannon servitors in with your inquisitor can be a pretty cheap way to make a nice little firebase.
I run a dirt cheap elite Inq with 2 heavy bolter servitors in my Sisters army (just for the Callidus), and it holds its own quite well. I will probaby drop a hood on the Inq. if Fzorgle starts popping up a lot at the local store.
Lovely help.
Especially the empty rhino LOS trick.
(previously I only used rhinos for moving reserves up into my battleline or using them to punch through with some razorback support to take an enemy deployment zone)
I had thought of the psy. hood or just targetting him with some deep striking terminators with the @$$ cannons.
But that upsets my HQ standard choices of Capt. and Chaplain.
For apoc. I wont worry too much and just drop some heavy template fire on him. But for standard games, I am thinking of adding another predator and dropping one of my combat squads. That, or trying out another dreadnought.
No point in worrying too much, as I only know of two Slaanesh armies in my area. I expect to see more in the near future, but that will drop off as the next new thing comes along. ;-)
@anon1: In my armies, I prefer a better built Inquisitor Lord (check out my Tactica on that subject), but the goal of this was a cheap unit that would spend most of it's time out of line of sight. If you increase the budget on your Inquisitor by another 100pts or so, you can have an amazingly effective shooting unit.
@anon2: I would start painting a Librarian if you don't already have one.
Since there are no FOC restrictions in Apocalypse, EVERYONE is going to have a Librarian or Inquisitor Lord.
Nice response tactica Mkerr, good stuff again. Before I got very far into it I was bitterly thinking how ridiculous it is to add so many points in psy gear and devote so much fire & manpower to eliminating what amounts to 25 points of upgrades.
But as you note, the lash army is going to be structured around getting expensive assault troops into lash-assisted assault, or messing with the enemy in order to pound with templates (oblits, blastmasters, defiler/vindi). Take down the lash(es), and there's no alternate plan for him/her to fall back on.
And on APOC - Hell's yes! My chaos lads might just pick up the (freshly turned traitor) inquisitor lord that usually pals around with my marines ;)
@ Anon2 - Were you the dude at the Portal this weekend, with the WH inquisitor w/ 2 gun servitors?
- Salvage
Boss S.: Yup that's me. I don't know why I didn't bother set up a Google account...
Please disregard all statements about how I intend to combat you vile heretics and your fzorgle. I am instead going to run all Storm Troopers. With shot guns. And bum legs...
Saddly, I see fzorgle vs. shield of faith just making me frustrated. I would almost rather have no chance of defending against it than getting my hopes up over a 5+, only to have them dashed.
Oh, and mkerr, I got the idea for the Inq, as well as the concept of just how good assassins are, from your excellent tacticas.
I had originally tried to make a melee Inq., Sisters being a little weak in that area, then gave up on the model entirely in frustration. Now the shooty style has a nice home in my army.
Any ideas for us Tau players aside from hiding in/behind our transports?
@anon: I think that Mech Tau with lots of suits is going to cream a Lash Army at all point values.
Tau aren't going to suffer much from Lash. You won't be able to use massed Firewarriors or Pathfinders (but they are rare in tournament armies), but everything else will be able to avoid Lash.
Here is your cheat sheet:
1. Use jetpacks to keep your suits out of sight. A mass of suits will is the best Sorcerer Repellent in the game (he won't come anywhere near them).
2. Rely on vehicle based heavy weapons to destroy this pie plates. Hammerheads should have no problems with his Defilers and Vindicators. Try not to expose them to his Obliterators as you take them out.
3. Next take out his Obliterators. Since they are T4 they will drop to Railguns and since they compete with Heavy Choices there won't be many of them.
4. Once you've taken out some of his heavy weapons bring your Devilfish out and FoF his screening units. Without his bike screen other elements of your army can pop his Sorcerer.
The problem with most Lash armies that you take advantage of is that his units are small, fairly brittle (Defilers are AV12) and very expensive.
What about Vindicare assasins? Hellfire rounds will put the hurt on the Socerers.
Thanks for the 2-sided coverage and advice!!
@Anonymous: I think the Vindicare is a great way to keep Sorcerers out of sight.
@O: My pleasure!
What about an Elite DH Inquisitor with a gun and the Null Rod? Stick him in a devastator squad or whatever. Sure, it's only good for that unit, but useful none-the-less.
@Jim: Null Rods are great. I have no idea why they aren't in the WH Codex, but they are a great counter to Lash.
This is also a great counter to Veil of Tears...
I was planning on an armoured company anyways... ;)
"I'll se your lash and raise you a half dozen AP3 pieplates." :D
BLESSING OF THE BLOOD GOD!
I'm talking daemons here
Interesting thoughts and tactica. Just one question: when a Space Marine fire a weapon out of the top hatch of a Rhino, does that make him visible? I know that that this normally makes a vehicle open-topped, but that`s another matter I guess. According to the new edition, if you can see one member of a unit, then you can target them all (at least as far as I have understood the rules). So, if you can see one or two marines of a squad, then you can move the whole bunch. After all, they are not a vehicle unit, I guess. What is your view on the matter?
Isn't it perfectly viable for the Choas player to join the sorcerer to a squad of nine or less chaos marines, put them in a rhino, and have that rhino moving around at 12" a turn to allow the sorcerer to fire from that protection?
I don't recall anything in the Lash description that says that it is a "heavy" (i.e. can't be fired if moved) power.
The protection of a rhino for the sorcerer introduces another minor challenge... you have to pop that rhino first, and then whittle down the squad that the sorcerer had joined before you can remove the sorcerer and the threat of Lash.... Just a slightly different approach needed that a sorcerer on a bike or on foot with a retinue.
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