40K: White Scars Tactics: Mastering Your Warlord Traits
Today we take a look at the warlord traits in Codex White Scars. Will these help your Khan warlord slay his foes on the hunt?
Warlord Traits
The White Scars get access to six warlord traits in their supplement to boost the effectiveness of your warlord on the tabletop. Using the Tempered by Wisdom stratagem, you can take an additional White Scars warlord trait for 1CP, allowing you to further boost your warlord and allow you to get some great combinations together.
The codex supplement contains six new traits to help out your forces.
Deadly Hunter– After your warlord finishes a charge move, select one enemy unit within 1″. On a roll of a 2+, the unit suffers one mortal wound.
Situational. Not the best trait available. The chance to do a mortal wound on an enemy units is a decent bonus, but there are better traits available to your warlord. Could be useful for taking the final wound from a vehicle/monster in combat, or for taking it down a tier.
Chogorian Storm– If your warlord makes a charge move or performs a heroic intervention, add D3 to their attacks until the end of the turn.
Competitive. One of my favourite traits for the White Scars. With Shock Assault, you will be getting D3+1 attacks on the charge. This really boosts the damage potential of your warlord, making them great with a number of weapons and relics that the army has access to. With the Teeth of Terra relic, you will be getting 9-11 attacks on the charge with a Captain, each doing 2 damage per wound. This Captain will cause some serious problems to a number of infantry and Biker units in the game, as well as being a serious threat to other characters.
Trophy Taker– When your warlord destroys an enemy Character, add 1 to their attacks characteristics for the rest of the game.
Efficient. A nice permanent bonus for your warlord, but is reliant on killing enemy characters, so may be limited by your opponent’s army or how they play their forces during the game. One I would probably leave in most cases, but could be useful if you are going up against a character-heavy army such as Genestealer Cults or Astra Militarum, and can get to the characters to kill them with ease. I would probably go with Chogorian Storm to get the bonus attacks all game, even though these may be fewer than you could rack up with this warlord trait in some cases.
Master Rider– Biker only. When a charge roll is made, you can re-roll the dice. When resolving an attack against your warlord, they are -1 to hit if your warlord advanced in the previous movement phase.
Competitive. With a re-roll to your charge, and the ability to advance and charge, this helps to ensure your warlord gets into combat to do the most damage. The additional -1 to hit is a nice boost to his durability in combat. Can be combined with a stratagem to give your warlord -2 to hit against shooting attacks when they advance.
Hunter’s Instincts– When resolving an attack with your warlord against an enemy Monster or Vehicle, add 1 to your hit and wound roll.
Efficient. This is a great bonus for your warlord when armed with a Thunder Hammer or Khan’s Spear. The +1 to hit will allow a Captain to still hit on a 2+ with his Thunder Hammer and will be wounding most vehicles on a 2+. This makes him a potent threat to enemy monsters and vehicles. This is a solid warlord trait, making your warlord great for going after enemy vehicles and Knights.
Master of Snares– When an enemy unit within 1″ of your warlord is chosen to fall back, roll a D6. On a 4+, they cannot do so. This does not apply to models with a minimum movement value.
Competitive. This is a very powerful ability to lock enemy units in combat. Not only does this stop them from firing most ranged weapons in their turn, but it stops your warlord from being fired upon by other enemy units. This is great for keeping your warlord and any other units locked in combat safe from enemy firepower if you can roll the 4+ to keep the enemy units locked in. The fact the White Scars can fall back from combat and still shoot, as well as shoot (with a stratagem) makes this a powerful ability. Ideally, you’ll be wanting to try and engage multiple units at the same time, giving you greater odds of locking at least one enemy unit in combat.
Adding Relics & Equipment
The White Scars warlord traits and relics allow you to make some powerful combinations. For example, you could give a Khan or Captain on Bike the Relic bike, allowing them to move 16″ and ignore terrain. You can combo that with the Master Rider and Master of Snares warlord traits. This allows your warlord to move and advance 22″ and still charge, moving over intervening terrain and units in the movement phase. This should allow you to make a charge in your first turn, especially with the re-roll from Master Rider. Once in combat, your warlord will be at -1 to hit and can do some serious damage with his Khan Spear.
If you do not wipe out whatever unit you are in combat with, you have the potential to stop them from falling back and stopping your warlord from being shot at by the enemy army. If you do wipe out the squad, you can use the Strike For the Heart stratagem to consolidate 6+D6″, giving you the potential to tag further enemy units in combat and potentially stop them from falling back from combat in the following turn as well.
Another potentially useful combination is to use a Captain on Bike (or Jump Pack) with a Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield, as well as Chogorian Storm and Hunter’s Instincts. This Captain will be useful for taking on enemy vehicles and Knights. On the charge, he will be getting 6-8 attacks, hitting vehicles on a 2+ re-rollable and wounding vehicles on a 2+ (wounding Knights on a 3+) and doing three damage per wound (4 damage per wound if you give him a Master-Crafted Relic).
The Verdict
The White Scars have access to a range of useful warlord traits in their supplement book. The ability to combine several warlord traits means you can provide your warlord with a range of buffs to really boost his effectiveness on the tabletop, depending on the role that you want him to play.
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