2/5 stars. Alpharius is simply not worth the points cost. The rules are poor for what you pay and I honestly could have given 1.5 stars out of 5 instead.
Background.
Much has been written about the Primarch of the Twentieth legion. It is mostly lies. But buried beneath the double speak, duplicity, and mystery is a nugget of truth somewhere. He is an insidious master mind capable of bringing down many enemies through misdirection and application of critical force at the weakest points. Regardless of his (or Omegon's?) loyalty, he tended to put his own forces first and built up his legion from the smartest recruits whilst operating a flat structure that was self sufficient.
Strengths.
His warlord trait allows for 3 units to redeploy in either the deployment zone or into reserves. This is cute, but not a great trait and it might as well be the Master of Lies trait instead considering the similarity. The ability to choose a phase and gain an extra reaction in the chosen phase is better though.
Everywhere and nowhere allows him, and 3 other units, to gain either infiltrate (yay!), scout (nah), or deep strike (might be good depending on build and unit selected and certainly is a nice way to avoid paying for drop pods).
Insidious Mastermind allows him to choose fleet (situational), preferred enemy of everything (yay!), or sudden strike (can be good) for one turn. This is solid enough.
His equipment is sufficient for most purposes short of confronting other primarchs. His armour has special rules against fleshbane and poisoned. His Pale Spear weapon is going to be great against many targets thanks to the AP=1. Very few other characters can boast of this. His side arm is also great with assault 2 at S=8 and AP=3 with rending as well. His BS=7 can readily take advantage of this.
Weaknesses.
Lacking Brutal, with S=6 and WS=7, he's not going to win battles against other Primarchs. Pretty much ever. Don't even think about attacking Horus with him. Not worth it. Don't get me wrong: as a primarch, Alpharius is crazy deadly as you might expect. But against his brothers he is flat out the weakest (barring unlucky dice rolls by Lorgar perhaps). This should not be new to Alpha Legion players though. So that's okay at first blush. Use him instead against other targets.
His special rules are not that great and his warlord trait in particular is very poor versus his brothers (cross reference Guilliman for instance). He has lost a lot compared to First Edition if I am honest. Take for example he used to be able to seize the initiative and grant preferred enemy to everything all the time. That's just gone. No cognis signum either. I am crying.
Overall.
To be absolutely candid: Alpharius is not worth the points cost. His points cost needs to come down by a minimum of 50 points for him to be on par with what he is capable of. Preferably slightly more (but not as much as 100 points). What I'm saying is that he is between 50-100 points over costed. And that is a lot of points. Players will also need to build their armies around him. By that, I mean consider which units you will be infiltrating or deep striking if you are choosing to use those rules. Frankly this needs a FAQ it is that bad and that noticeable. Or just give him back some of the better rules, or maybe double strength on the pale spear and you have a deal.
Difference to First Edition.
Alpharius has been nerfed and his points cost is not justified.
I'm just as sad as you are and maybe more so. Sorry folks.
6 comments:
It's sounding like you think the Alpha Legion may be the worst of the legions?
I think a lot of us Alpha Legion players are feeling bad, bitter even, with second edition. I am certainly disappointed given how much I've invested in the legion in First Edition. As to whether it is the worst, I'm not sure. The White Scars are close to that claim, it has to be said.
Anyway: better units yet to review, so its not all grim.
I would be happy to pay 415 points for him. I would also want his force multiplication to be boosted up a bit as well. I mean, Guilliman is better at such things as it stands. At least change Alpharius' warlord trait. I've no problem with him being the worst in a Primarch vs Primarch fight though - that's a given :)
Just realized how powerful his Everywhere and Nowhere ability can be. Infiltrating a talon of dreadnought, a particularly vicious Reward of Treachery unit, or a pack of Lernaeans2 right on top of your opponent's turf Turn 1 can be quite the game changer.
Pop one of his Insidious Mastermind rules like Preferred Enemy (Everything) or Sudden Strike (1) immediately after and I think your opponent will be in for a pretty horrendous start and leave you with the room to take over the battlefield.
Hi Bingus - I do agree with you, and such a move can be a complete game changer! However, I still maintain that his points cost is simply too high in comparison to Guilliman who feels like he was trained by the Alpha Legion and did it better ;)
Post a Comment