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Black Legion Tactics

Submitted By: Date: August 22, 2004, 03:30:43 PM Views: 4698
Summary:  
Tactica Black Legion

Writing an article about tactics for a Black Legion Chaos army is quite challenging.  There are as many Black Legion armies as there are Black Legion players.  Unlike other Legions, the options and possibilities offered to Black Legion Lords are almost endless.  This article on Black Legion tactics will not be like most tactical articles.  It will be more of a general overview of the possibilities, advantages and limits of the Black Legion army list.  There are just too many possibilities to cover them all.

When you face a World Eater Legion, or an Iron Warriors Legion, you pretty much know what to expect and the type of play involved, and that is an advantage most opponents will exploit.  They know that if you are going to be shooting or close combat oriented they can equip their armies accordingly.  This is where the Black Legion gains its biggest advantage: nobody can really know in advance what you are going to field, unless they have frequently played against you (and know that you never change your army composition).

Facing a Black Legion army can be a nightmare for some generals.  They just don't know what to expect: a tank heavy army?  An assault-based army?  A firepower army?  An army with many daemons?  A big daemon prince backed-up by an elite retinue?  These are just few of the possibilities offered to a Black Legion Lord.  Learn how to exploit them, as that is where your biggest strength lies.  Nobody knows what to expect from your army.

The other strength of a Black Legion army is its versatility.  You can easily adapt and adjust your army list depending on the opponents you face.  Let's face it, a World Eaters Legion looks more or less like another World Eaters Legion.  Most World Eaters players won't change their army list too much regardless of whether they are facing Imperial Guard or Tyranids because their options are limited and they have to exploit their strengths.  This is not the case for you. Customization, added to the fact that your opponent won't know what to expect from you, gives you a big advantage.  You can both surprise him and design an army list specifically made to face his army.

Now to use this advantage, you need to work hard on your army lists.  The many options offered to you can also be a curse.  You will be tempted to use a lot of marked units (like Khorne Berzerkers and Noise marines) and to use very powerful HQs.  You will also want a powerful retinue of Chosen Terminators for them and big tanks.  It's a classic choice.

Personally, I usually first write down the units I really want to field or need (either because they look cool or because I need them against a specific opponent), then I look at the list and try to spot weaknesses, subsequently adding units that will fix the gaps in my list.  After reaching almost the maximum points allowed, I think about what kind of HQ I will use.  Picking an HQ for Black Legion is tricky, since you can use all the Greater Daemons and any marked Lord or Lieutenant (and they can be sorcerers too!).  Just remember to carefully read p.12 and p.38 of the Chaos codex about Marks of Chaos to make sure you know exactly what you can and cannot field if you use a marked HQ.  For example, it can be very tempting to field a mighty Khorne Daemon Prince with a berzerker glaive, but this will prevent you from using the precious Daemonettes.  Maybe you won't care, or maybe you will, but in my opinion it is a better tactic to adjust your HQ according to your army list than the opposite.  The choice of HQ shouldn't dictate your army list, after all, he's only going to be worth around a maximum of 200 points (for a really strong HQ) out of the 1500-2000 in your whole army, which is about 15% (or less) of your army.  If you weaken 85% of your army by imposing limits on it because of that 15% you have already lost.

Once you have the basic skeleton of you army then you can think about adding options, Aspiring Champions, Marks, Gifts, wargear, weapons, etc.  There is one option that no Black Legion army should go without: the Mark of Chaos Undivided.  For a measly cost, each of your models (those allowed to have marks of course) can re-roll all their morale tests, which, combined with the high leadership of your basic troops (and even higher leadership of Aspiring Champions), means your army will be almost unbreakable in most cases.  Of course if you find yourself outnumbered 4:1 and below 50% you will still need to roll below 4-5, which means you are going to flee but in normal circumstances things like will not happen.  Chaos Space Marines do not have the precious 'And they shall know no fear' of loyalist Space Marines.  This re-roll is our compensation and it is never a bad investment.  If you need to save a few points in your army, do not cut back on Marks of Chaos Undivided.  Also, remember that an independent character with the Mark of Chaos Undivided can join any squads, even those with Marks (unless a specific rule prevents it), so you could have an HQ with the Mark of Chaos Undivided, which would allow you to ignore the Ancient Enemies rule (p. 38 in the codex).  This means you could take Khorne Berzerkers and Noise Marines as Elites, and also be able to summon Flamers of Tzeentch and Plaguebearers in the same army.  The combinations are endless with an Undivided HQ.

Black Legion also has access to two units that Cult Legions (dedicated to a specific god) do not: Raptors and Obliterators.  Articles about them can be found on this web site, but just be aware that a squad of Raptors with three Meltaguns is a great tank hunting squad, and that Obliterators are so versatile that they will never be useless in your army list.  Both are great choices in most situations.

Since a Black Legion army can be so varied, there is no way to give you specific tactics to use.  The best way to learn Black Legion tactics is to know the codex from one end to the other, and to read the other tactics articles.  If you use Khorne Berzerkers in your army, read the World Eaters tactics.  If you plan on using Daemons, read the Daemons tactics.  You get the idea.

A good Black Legion Lord would say: "If you start being predictable with a Black Legion army you are on the way to defeat".  Do not allow your opponents to be able to predict your style of play. Suddenly change your army list every 2-3 games.  They won't know what hit them.  Of course this means that you will need a lot more models to be so varied, but with time you will be able to get a good selection.

In conclusion, you should never underestimate a Black Legion army.  Some of players will think you are a newbie or a bad player because you don't play a cool 'special' army.  Some people think that playing a 'vanilla' army is for newbies.  Teach them differently!  They will never be able to really prepare for what you can field because they won't know what to expect from you, and then you can slowly proceed to crush them in the name of CHAOS!

Lord Silverthorn
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