Horus Heresy - Blades in the Wind: White Scars Chorgorian Brotherhood RoW

Malevolence has finally dropped on to our doorsteps but what does that mean for the Sons of Chogoris?  JohnGG here to give you my thoughts on our most iconic Rite of War: The Chorgorian Brotherhood.

A very quick overview of this White Scars exclusive Rite of War;

• Bikes and jetbikes are compulsory troop choices and your Warlord will have to be mounted thus also.
• Footslogging Infantry and heavier vehicles are required to start in reserve but will outflank when they arrive.
• Pretty much everyone gets Hit & Run
• The army may only take ONE heavy choice
• If all your jet/bikes are removed as casualties your opponent gains D3 VPs

Obviously this RoW stacks hand in hand with the Born in the Saddle rule which makes White Scars jet/bike units some of the best in the game.

So, what kind of armies are we likely to see?  Well, most obviously at least three units of jet/bikes.  However with the new D3 VPs penalty I would assume one of these units will be a small three bike unit keeping well out of the way.  Basically this is a tax for taking the RoW. The other, more expensive way of keeping your bikes alive a little longer would be to add in some FNP.  An Apothecary detachment may be beneficial for a larger unit of bikes that are going to be put in dangers way but certainly not for a smaller unit. The second choice would be a Primus Medicae.  This option gives you a Centurion level Character into a unit who can add more punch if required.

I’m going to use this opportunity to Segway into one of the pieces of unique wargear the Scars get, the Power Glaive.  This versatile close combat weapon can be used as either a power sword or power axe, although with no Int penalty. But you pay a price for it.  The two handed nature of its Axe mode and the higher points cost means I think, regrettably, we’re less likely to see these blades carried by squad sergeants but only by certain characters.  I say ‘certain’ as this glaive costs the same as a paragon blade, which is arguably better.

All of these units are likely to start the game on the board. No one wants to be tabled Turn 1 after all!   And so far we have a highly mobile force, with a relatively low model count and unless you’ve stuff every nook and cranny with melta, not a great deal of anti-tank capability.

So what else CAN we see starting on the table?? I’m going into this as most people seem to overlook the obvious choices and run pure jet/bike armies.

The obvious; All versions of jetbikes, bikes and speeders.

Other than the above; Infantry in Rhinos; ALL vehicles with 3 or less hull points; and ANY vehicle with the ‘fast’ rule.  The quick witted amongst you may have noticed this includes Dreadnoughts. Yes! A really viable way to get a talon of heavy weapon toting angry robots in your army, shooting on Turn 1!  You should be reminded that dreadnought talons use up Elite slots and NOT that single valuable heavy support slot.

Oh and if anyone can actually think of a vehicle with more than three hull points AND has the ‘fast’ rule,  please let me know…

Ok so far we have our core of mounted marines, a scattering of mechanised infantry and/or tanks/walkers in support.  But what are our reserves going to look like??

It should be noted here that we no longer get to manipulate the first reserves roll of the turn. Shame as that was handy.

Outflanking Infantry open up some interesting possibilities [also remember that all infantry in this RoW will confer outflank to their dedicated transport].

Personally I use this to negate the need for jump packs on my Destroyers and it Segways super handy to get my Seekers in the enemy backfield where I can be a right nuisance.

This leads on to my second wargear Segway, the Cyber Hawk. Available to Praetors this token gives re-rolls to hit of 1s to nearby infantry units and fleet.  If you can manage to get your seekers in range of their marked for death enemy until then the Cyber Hawk truly is extra handy. Also handy for Moritats of course.

The only other way of taking a Cyber Hawk is with the new unique unit of Falcons Claws. This scout unit is cheaper than regular scouts, and all come with cameleoline and lightning claws.   They also have an 18” scout move, really handy for getting in and amongst the enemy quickly. However in our chosen Rite of War these guys will be held in reserve and likely outflanking. This limits their impact on the game I feel and therefore are less likely to be taken in a Chorgorian Brotherhood.

This is where you’re probably likely to fill that single Heavy slot.  To take advantage to maximum effect you may want to look at squadrons. Predators give the greatest versatility as weapons platforms. Land Raider squadrons are punchy points wise and if you're looking to transport terminators and the like then you’re more likely to see these being taken as dedicated transports.  The new Sicaran variants, though shamefully not the Main Battle Tank, are now available in squadrons of 2. Tougher and faster than predators but more expensive, a good shout.

What you’re less likely to see.  Sky Slayer Support Squadrons; These guys sit in the heavy section and unlike their Skyhunter brethren can’t be taken as a troops choice.  

Deathstorm drop pods:  I personally would loves these to be a talon option to make them viable but a single pod is very unlikely to beat the other options to the heavy slot.

Leviathans would have to be held in reserve and can’t outflank meaning they would be in your own back field for a large portion of the game and therefore easier to avoid.  The Leviathan also does not have a great deal of long range weaponry further diminishing its impact on the game. However a drop pod is always an option, if you’re that way inclined.

Lords of War slots recently seem to be taken up by Sub-orbital Strike Wings, players choosing their Aircraft of choice.  This tends to be to as a result of most of the Fast Attack slots being taken up by fast skimmers which now is more likely with the new Kyzagan assault speeder.  A suitably suped up version of the Javelin speeder toting two twin-linked autocannons and a nose mounted Kheres assault cannon. This fast weapons platform will be a threat to infantry and medium vehicles alike with the ability to manoeuvre itself into the enemies weakest points.  They are however more expensive than a predator and arguably more fragile. Personally I love the model and the aesthetic and will be fielding a squadron of two of these speeders when they’re released.

Other Lords of War choices are only limited by your own imagination and any aesthetic constraints you yourself put on your army selection.  I’ve not seen a Typhon in White Scars colours, but that doesn’t mean to say you can’t take one in a Chorgorian Brotherhood.

A quick note on Warlords and named Characters.  The Khan himself can lead the army if he takes his Voidbike [The Khan becomes type ‘jetbike’ when mounted and this is enough to satisfy me regarding the conditions of the rite of war] as can Tsolomon Kane if mounted.  Kane will be my default Warlord when the Khan isn’t taking the field.

The Khan Afoot and Qin Xa are a little more complex.  Another Character who is mounted is required to be your Warlord. My advice,  don’t make it one of your squad sergeants. This could be another fully tooled up Praetor but then your HQ sections starts becoming quite expensive.  More likely you’ll see a cut down cheaper praetor or choose a support character of centurion rank. Another drawback of taking Xa in particular is that you cannot take advantage of his warlord trait.  Being able to bring a single unit out of reserve without the need to roll can be used to great effect Then again arguably, this is more useful in an army which isn’t as manoeuvrable as a Chorgorian Brotherhood.

Some shots from the Forgeworld Site from today pre-order release.

Overall the Chorgorian Brotherhood is actually quite a versatile RoW as it really only limits your army selection in the heavy slot, which is not an overly used slot traditionally in a White Scars force and only limits HOW the army behaves via deployment.

In conclusion, to those who shun the Chorgorian Brotherhood as a one dimensional Rite of War filled almost exclusively with jet/bikes, I invite you to take another look.  However you run your ChoBro’s just remember to laugh when you kill.

For the Emperor

For the Khan

GG out.