Background.
Possibly the best way to think of the Reaver Lord is the Blackshield analogue of the Legion Praetor. He is an individual, of somewhere near Captain level, that has left his legion and obscured his heraldry to pursue a brand new path in the wars of the Horus Heresy.
Strengths.
The Reaver Lord gets access to all the nice things that a Praetor of a Legion might. Plus, they get access to the unique Blackshields equipment like the Xenos Deathlock, Pariah armour, as well as novel items like the cyber familiar that would only be available to certain legions otherwise.
As such, the Reaver Lord is an incredibly customisation individual fit for almost any battlefield role. Much like the Praetor, it has to be said.
Weaknesses.
There are two principle weaknesses that army list builders need to think clearly about. The first is the points value of this character. He is unambiguously more expensive than a Legion Praetor (both at a base level, and in terms of some of the upgrades available) and has disadvantages such as no re-rolling of warlord traits. Secondly, the base equipment is worse. The lack of artificer armour is the most obvious of these. Compounding this is the lack of items like the paragon blade -- instead, there's a halo blade which on paper seems a lot worse for the points.
Builds.
The best way to think about builds is to consider (a) what battlefield role the Reaver will be playing and (b) what "Wrought by War" special rule the army might possess, and build accordingly.
Here are some sample builds to consider.
Reaver Lord, Xenos Deathlock, Jump Pack, Iron Halo, Power Axe (198 points).
This one could go with an Outlanders theme. The Xenos Deathlock will never trigger the lethal rule thanks to only two shots being fired and the jump pack enables the Reaver to get in to position easily. Switch out the jump pack for a bike if desired. Similarly, the power axe could be replaced with a power fist or thunder hammer to taste.
Reaver Lord, Iron Halo, Cyber Familiar, Thunder Hammer, Rad Grenades, Space Marine Bike (225 points).
Take with Chymeriae Attributes Option 1 for a very rude awakening for your opponents. Toughness of 6 coupled with an excellent save, rapid movement and rad grenades to reduce the toughness of your opponent is insane. It hardly matters that they're swinging late due to lower initiative, don't sweeping advance and have a lack of charge distance -- its all made up for. Very worth it! Take melta bombs to taste. Add in artificer armour if points cost allow.
Reaver Lord, Terminator Armour, Chain Fist, Digital Lasers (195 points).
A deep-striker for the Outlanders perhaps. Take a Xenos Deathlock to taste.
Reaver Lord, 1 Lightning Claw, Plasma Pistol, Iron Halo, Jump Pack, Digital Lasers, Artificer Armour (235 points).
A possible Orphans of War option to take advantage of the Preferred Enemy (Characters) rule. I don't know really, the Orphans of War option seems expensive to me really.
Reaver Lord, Artificer Armour, Rad Grenades, Melta Bombs, Power Fist (175 points).
Something of a character to hide in a large blob of other troops. Could suit a Death Seekers lord in some respects.
Possibly the best way to think of the Reaver Lord is the Blackshield analogue of the Legion Praetor. He is an individual, of somewhere near Captain level, that has left his legion and obscured his heraldry to pursue a brand new path in the wars of the Horus Heresy.
Strengths.
The Reaver Lord gets access to all the nice things that a Praetor of a Legion might. Plus, they get access to the unique Blackshields equipment like the Xenos Deathlock, Pariah armour, as well as novel items like the cyber familiar that would only be available to certain legions otherwise.
As such, the Reaver Lord is an incredibly customisation individual fit for almost any battlefield role. Much like the Praetor, it has to be said.
Weaknesses.
There are two principle weaknesses that army list builders need to think clearly about. The first is the points value of this character. He is unambiguously more expensive than a Legion Praetor (both at a base level, and in terms of some of the upgrades available) and has disadvantages such as no re-rolling of warlord traits. Secondly, the base equipment is worse. The lack of artificer armour is the most obvious of these. Compounding this is the lack of items like the paragon blade -- instead, there's a halo blade which on paper seems a lot worse for the points.
Builds.
The best way to think about builds is to consider (a) what battlefield role the Reaver will be playing and (b) what "Wrought by War" special rule the army might possess, and build accordingly.
Here are some sample builds to consider.
Reaver Lord, Xenos Deathlock, Jump Pack, Iron Halo, Power Axe (198 points).
This one could go with an Outlanders theme. The Xenos Deathlock will never trigger the lethal rule thanks to only two shots being fired and the jump pack enables the Reaver to get in to position easily. Switch out the jump pack for a bike if desired. Similarly, the power axe could be replaced with a power fist or thunder hammer to taste.
Reaver Lord, Iron Halo, Cyber Familiar, Thunder Hammer, Rad Grenades, Space Marine Bike (225 points).
Take with Chymeriae Attributes Option 1 for a very rude awakening for your opponents. Toughness of 6 coupled with an excellent save, rapid movement and rad grenades to reduce the toughness of your opponent is insane. It hardly matters that they're swinging late due to lower initiative, don't sweeping advance and have a lack of charge distance -- its all made up for. Very worth it! Take melta bombs to taste. Add in artificer armour if points cost allow.
Reaver Lord, Terminator Armour, Chain Fist, Digital Lasers (195 points).
A deep-striker for the Outlanders perhaps. Take a Xenos Deathlock to taste.
Reaver Lord, 1 Lightning Claw, Plasma Pistol, Iron Halo, Jump Pack, Digital Lasers, Artificer Armour (235 points).
A possible Orphans of War option to take advantage of the Preferred Enemy (Characters) rule. I don't know really, the Orphans of War option seems expensive to me really.
Reaver Lord, Artificer Armour, Rad Grenades, Melta Bombs, Power Fist (175 points).
Something of a character to hide in a large blob of other troops. Could suit a Death Seekers lord in some respects.
1 comment:
Very useful. Thanks for the break down. Theme-icly, I love blackshields, I just hadn't gotten round to actually reading the rules that much. So your thoughts do help.
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