Background.
Much can be said about the Primarch's background. He has a fame that is the equal of Horus, and arguably should have been selected as the Warmaster over Horus, not that he actually cared for that role or accolade. He had the gift of foresight, much in the same way as some of his brothers (e.g., Night Haunter), not that that helped him too much.
He also has wings and was not considered a mutant to be destroyed. Enough said.
Strengths.
Even amongst the Primarchs, Sanguinius is one of the more powerful. Sure, Russ is going to be great in combat against him, and Alpharius is better at boosting the whole army than him, but Sanguinius is still utterly amazing and worth the points.
His personal buffs include bonuses to S and I in the first round of combat, and for his army the ability to use jump packs in both movement and assault phases. This argues for a swift moving, and close combat focussed army, which is aided by unlocked Dawnbreakers as troops. He also boosts units close to him with +d3 wounds for combat resolution purposes. Given that you were probably already playing a jump-pack equipped close combat legion build (you were, right?), Sanguinius positively buffs the army to amazing movement amounts (and if you weren't, then Sanguinius' buffs are not as good as other Primarchs).
His equipment gives him a re-roll on invulnerable saves on any turn that he charges, and his wings function as a jump pack that can be used in movement and assault phases, with a hammer of wrath resolved at S=10 and AP2. He also does not scatter if deployed via deep strike (this is perhaps a recommendation, all things considered). If you remember the old vector strike rules, then Sanguinius can also do something akin to that as well.
Finally, he carries a one-use pistol (assault 2) which will cause a lot of damage, and gets a choice about which blade he will carry in to combat. His spear can be thrown (but is not recommended since he then cannot use it!), but is a great S+3 AP1 weapon when he charges, becoming AP2 on subsequent rounds at normal strength. This comes paired with the Moonsilver blade which gets bonuses against daemons Take it. Otherwise, he can select the Blade Encarmine for rampaging, shredding fun.
Weaknesses.
The price tag (both points cost in game, and money for the model plus base) for Sanguinius makes him the most expensive primarch to date. To be clear, I would contend that the points cost is worth it. You can make your own mind up about the money that his model costs.
However, the biggest draw back is the required build for Sanguinius and his army. They have to be charging in to close combat all the time to make the best of the bonuses supplied by the Primarch. But the Blood Angels player was probably doing that anyway.
Surprisingly to me though, Sanguinius can readily be locked in combat by tarpit units. This is a big negative and even the Khan gets better than Sanguinius in this department (i.e. hit and run).
He can only ever be a loyalist too. Oh well.
Overall.
Great. He's an awesome primarch with an awesome model. He buffs an already close combat and jump pack orientated legion to a good amount. And he is awesome in close combat. Take him with a bodyguard unit and go forth, just don't get locked down to truly amazing tarpit units.
Much can be said about the Primarch's background. He has a fame that is the equal of Horus, and arguably should have been selected as the Warmaster over Horus, not that he actually cared for that role or accolade. He had the gift of foresight, much in the same way as some of his brothers (e.g., Night Haunter), not that that helped him too much.
He also has wings and was not considered a mutant to be destroyed. Enough said.
Strengths.
Even amongst the Primarchs, Sanguinius is one of the more powerful. Sure, Russ is going to be great in combat against him, and Alpharius is better at boosting the whole army than him, but Sanguinius is still utterly amazing and worth the points.
His personal buffs include bonuses to S and I in the first round of combat, and for his army the ability to use jump packs in both movement and assault phases. This argues for a swift moving, and close combat focussed army, which is aided by unlocked Dawnbreakers as troops. He also boosts units close to him with +d3 wounds for combat resolution purposes. Given that you were probably already playing a jump-pack equipped close combat legion build (you were, right?), Sanguinius positively buffs the army to amazing movement amounts (and if you weren't, then Sanguinius' buffs are not as good as other Primarchs).
His equipment gives him a re-roll on invulnerable saves on any turn that he charges, and his wings function as a jump pack that can be used in movement and assault phases, with a hammer of wrath resolved at S=10 and AP2. He also does not scatter if deployed via deep strike (this is perhaps a recommendation, all things considered). If you remember the old vector strike rules, then Sanguinius can also do something akin to that as well.
Finally, he carries a one-use pistol (assault 2) which will cause a lot of damage, and gets a choice about which blade he will carry in to combat. His spear can be thrown (but is not recommended since he then cannot use it!), but is a great S+3 AP1 weapon when he charges, becoming AP2 on subsequent rounds at normal strength. This comes paired with the Moonsilver blade which gets bonuses against daemons Take it. Otherwise, he can select the Blade Encarmine for rampaging, shredding fun.
Weaknesses.
The price tag (both points cost in game, and money for the model plus base) for Sanguinius makes him the most expensive primarch to date. To be clear, I would contend that the points cost is worth it. You can make your own mind up about the money that his model costs.
However, the biggest draw back is the required build for Sanguinius and his army. They have to be charging in to close combat all the time to make the best of the bonuses supplied by the Primarch. But the Blood Angels player was probably doing that anyway.
Surprisingly to me though, Sanguinius can readily be locked in combat by tarpit units. This is a big negative and even the Khan gets better than Sanguinius in this department (i.e. hit and run).
He can only ever be a loyalist too. Oh well.
Overall.
Great. He's an awesome primarch with an awesome model. He buffs an already close combat and jump pack orientated legion to a good amount. And he is awesome in close combat. Take him with a bodyguard unit and go forth, just don't get locked down to truly amazing tarpit units.
2 comments:
Only sang gains the +1 S and I on the charge, not the whole army.
Thanks for spotting my silly mistake! I’ve corrected the main text.
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