Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Horus Heresy Review: Justaerin Terminator Squads

When anyone first looks at the Justaerin terminators, they will no doubt be blown away by the sky high points value of the models. For such a huge price increase in comparison to standard legion terminators, the Justaerin don't seem to get all that much bonus: +1WS, furious charge, all at Ld9 and stubborn. Sure, stubborn is at a premium in 30k, but I'm not sure it merits such a massive points value increase. That said, the increase in WS combined with furious charge (and not forgetting the Merciless Fighters rules) will make these terminators highly effective in melee -- much much more so than regular terminators. But rightly, this unit has to be considered one of the most over-priced in the entire 30k army list. I just can't see them being used other than in a fluffy manner, even if they are scoring units. They're just not worth it in my eyes in comparison to regular terminators. Sorry guys.

Additionally, the Justaerin terminators are also something of a conundrum. With cataphractii armour as standard, (not to mention slow and purposeful) I would naturally be inclined to equip them as a long range shooty squad. But they really should be getting in to melee as soon as possible. Preferably as the body guard to a Praetor or other named character as they are supposed to be the cream of the crop: the literal tip of the Sons of Horus' spear.

The question then becomes how does one best take advantage of all of these facets of the Justaerin terminators. To be fair, the answer is quite simple (and repeated frequently through the Legions army lists): take a LARGE number of them in a squad. That way, the additional costs become more "balanced" (after a fashion). Indeed, many units in 30k should be taken at large sizes to maximise benefits and the Justaerin are one such example amongst many of this fact. Even so, at maximum size, they're not much more bang for their points value than regular terminators. I did mention they were over-priced, didn't I?

Here are a few builds to consider.

10 Justaerin Terminators, 2 multi meltas, 4 combi-meltas, 2 chain fists (638 points)
Didn't I tell you things got pricey? This is a whopping 638 points of doom for enemy infantry and the tanks transporting them. Equip with power axes for the main part. Hope you get a good deep strike roll…

10 Justaerin Terminators, 2 heavy flamers (560 points)
Still very expensive. Still the issue of getting them in place. Sure you don't want standard terminators instead? Are you playing Sons of Horus for the Justaerin terminators alone (I hope not!).

3 comments:

Unknown said...

i think you might want to update this force entry when you have the time, Justaerin terminators got a points decrease!! and can now go from 5-12 man unit sizes bizarrely.

ive had great success running 10 with combi-melta or plasma + power axe (525 points) and using them with horus in deepstrike or outflank as a tactical missile.

i think their is some debate of melta vs plasma, and what melee weapon they should use, as often they fight vs elite infantry where ap2 is sooooooo needed but that means your fighting at initiative 1 (power axe or chainfist) so you lose the extra attack from merciless fighters, or get the extra attack using say a lightning claw and tearing through 3+ Armour things but struggling vs other terminators and such.

jabberjabber said...

Thanks for the comment. Indeed: my earlier reviews were correct at the time of publishing, but as with many units, they have received updates. Backtracking through many hundreds of units is almost impractical at this stage.

Good to hear about your successes with this unit though - great combinations!

Unknown said...

its all good that makes perfect sense!

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