3/5 stars. A sort of middle-of-the-road oath that is neither intrinsically amazing, nor totally poor.
Background.
This oath is all about warbands who have simply fallen from grace. They might hail from either side of the civil war, but they are now little more than roving petty warlords. They have banded together through common purpose, but I would assume that such an arrangement is only going to be temporary.
Rules Evaluation.
No Warlord! What?
Seriously: you are not taking any warlord here. There's no one in overall command! Very fluffy and appropriate to this oath if you ask me! Dig a little deeper and you'll see that its not just warlords: its HQ selections full stop.
Instead, character types gain a bonus to their stat line (Ld, W, and one of WS, BS, or I). This is truly excellent and makes for very interesting play. I would advise deploying minimum sized units to make the most of this oath overall. But there's a price: all other models have their Ld docked by 1 pip. This is expensive if you are facing an Alpha Legion or Raven Guard force full of snipers who can take down your squad characters readily. But hey, there has to be a penalty for the boon. Apothecaries and tech marines are noted as being slightly different: they don't gain anything, and don't lose anything.
From a modelling point of view, there might not even be a need to paint your models different. You just declare that they've fallen from grace! I'm thinking Alpha Legion and Dark Angels for a start.
From a modelling point of view, there might not even be a need to paint your models different. You just declare that they've fallen from grace! I'm thinking Alpha Legion and Dark Angels for a start.
Combinatoric Analysis.
The Eternal Vendetta: ⭐️⭐️. 2/5 stars. Situational. Could work with some thought, but can't say I recommend it.
Panoply of Old: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. This one works very nicely and is consistent with the narrative of falling from grace. Would love to see some Space Wolves like this.
Only in Death Does Duty End: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. Okay this works, but is also distinctly average.
The Spoils of Victory: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. Works very well in combination with both rules and your narrative. Who wouldn't like some petty space pirates ravaging the galaxy. Fallen Dark Angels might just be this.
An Eternity of War: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. I don't mind this combination at all. I know I gave it 3/5 the other way around, but I just thought of this: raging Blood Angels who succumbed to the madness! Come on, that's worth one additional star.
The Flesh Is Weak: ⭐️⭐️ 2/5 stars. Not one that I can get behind as a combination. Unless you're thinking necron dynasties for extra strange Iron Hands conversions?
The Legacy of Nikaea: 0/5 stars. I would love this combination to function. But it does not due to the requirement of a HQ choice. Drat.
The Broken Helix: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars. I will refer readers back to the previous blog entry for this combination. There's some strength (literally) to be had, but also strong negatives. I do like this idea though - mutants and clones cobbling together with each other because they've nowhere else to turn.
Pride is our Armour: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. Veterans who have fallen from grace? Sure, why not. This sings to me of Dark Angels to be honest.
The Taint of the Xenos: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. You're disgraced, so you presumably don't care about touching and using filthy xenos weaponry, right? Works for me.
The Weapons of Desperation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. Another strong narrative build can be had here I think.