Horus Heresy Review: Exodus

Background

Exodus is an assassin within the Alpha Legion. Much like Armillus Dynat, it is highly likely that more than one individual has had this name during the legion's history. Or it could just be a codename for one of many people who are truly skilled at ranged assassination within the legion. All that confusion aside, he is one person who would otherwise be in the Emperor's Assassinorum as a Vindicare if he wasn't within the Alpha Legion - that's how good he is. 

Strengths

Clearly, Exodus is meant to be set up as a ranged assassin. He comes with a special weapon to help him do just that - its called simply The Instrument, and it has two firing modes. The first is a salvo 2/4 that gives a S5 rending shot. The second is an execution shot that yields a S6 AP3 rending shot. This is also lethal and ignores cover. This weapon is therefore perfect at taking out a character model who has foolishly not upgraded to artificer armour, or anything that has a 3+ or worse saving throw. The Instrument is helped by Exodus' special rule that means half the time he can choose which models within a unit is hit. 

Exodus has a small treasure trove of other special equipment and rules to help him out. With melta bombs and power dagger, he can be a threat to almost anything in the game. Just for laughs (and unlike Dynat) he also has the good sense to carry a side arm - a bolt pistol - with him. And of course, no assassin would be complete without a Cameleoline. 

His special rules contain a number that might ordinarily be selected by Mutable Tactics such a infiltrate and scouts. This is a shame really, as it'll mean that he will usually not benefit from the legion's tactics unless tank hunters is selected. And that rule isn't so good for him overall probably. Interestingly, he also has "It Will Not Die" in addition to all of this, which is very entertaining.

On top of all this, he's actually rather cheap for what he does! Despite not being a compulsory selection for HQs, I think he will certainly see play in many Alpha Legion armies. 

Weaknesses

He's actually an all rounder who specialises in shooting from 36 inches or closer. In close combat, he can be a pain with 3 wounds and WS5. But critically, he only has a 3+ save as he only wanders around in regular power armour. He has the potential to do some damage with melta bombs, but may not get close enough to a tank to do this often.

Tactics

The obvious thing to do with Exodus is to place him in a building or ruins during set up with a good line of sight to the rest of the battle field. Or perhaps, if you're feeling confident of going first, infiltrate him, then use scouts to get him in to cover in a more central location of the battlefield. And then start the shooting. Use his lethal shot well though: taking two wounds off a character is an excellent way to go, but if they have more than that, can someone else finish the job? And then, being able to select a victim within a squad half the time means that special weapons upgrades and the like can readily be in trouble with Exodus having a line of sight to them.

Once he's run out of good targets for the lethal shots, I suspect that going on foot and using his melta bombs is not a bad idea either. His power dagger can also lend a hand to a melee in a pinch. But for the former, its probably best as a dreadnought deterrent, and the latter as a marine deterrent. He really isn't going to survive long against a full tactical squad, or staring down the barrel of a vindicator come what may. Hence staying put in a good location is a tremendous idea all round really. But which location? One at the back field, or one a bit further up reached with infiltrate and scouts? Either will work, but remember he is limited by the range of The Instrument.