Tactics of a Legion: A guide to the Crusade Army List

Welcome one, welcome all! I have noticed around Heresy and other places that there are a
growing number of people taking up pre-heresy armies. Ive also noticed there seemed to be very
little in the way or resources for them. So, I have/am writing a tactica article which will
encompass all the generic options for a pre-heresy army. This means that I wont be doing any
of the Primarchs/special characters/legion specific units or discussing legion specific rules at this
time. I may well do a later article on those, but for now its just the standard Crusade army list.
However, thats not to say we cant have fun with your bland legion choices. Oh no, were going
to have a LOT of fun! With that
Contents (to be updated as time goes on)
- Some things to note (Version 2.0)
- HQs (Version 2.0)
- Elites (Version 4.0)
- Troops
- Fast Attack
- Heavy Support

Some things to note: Version (2.0)

Some things to note off the bat. Firstly, in your Crusade Army List, you can have 1 more HQ and
Elite than you can in the usual army list in 40K, which is nice. Secondly, the Crusade Army List
has its own Warlord trait table. I personally dont think you can bank too much on Warlord Traits
to help you in the game, but its worth noting. Thirdly, and probably most importantly, marines
in a Crusade Army List do not have ATSKNF! That means that you can be cut down if you
lose assaults, meaning you have to pick your fights carefully. They have Legiones Astartes,
which means they can regroup regardless of casualties, so its not all doom and gloom.
Wargear
Right, so its worth having a discussion about some new, or should I say old, pieces of tech that
the Crusade Army List has available to it.
Shooting stuff
Archaeotech Pistol
Its a S 6, AP 3 pistol. Pretty nice, but not as nice as some bits of kit you can have.
Graviton Gun
If you want to kill people, 40Ks version of the Graviton Gun is better. If you want to slow down
a nasty assault unit, thisll probably do the job pretty well.

Needle Pistol
A S 2 AP 5 pistol with Rending and Poisoned. Maybe useful for shooting some big beastie, but
its only one shot a turn, so probably not.
Phospex grenades/shells
30Ks Napalm but worse. S 5, AP 2 with Poisoned(3+), Blast/Large Blast, itll clear out
most things pretty effectively. Plus, wherever it lands is treated as dangerous
terrain. One of the gems IMO.
Rad grenades
If youve read the Grey Knight Codex, youve seen these. Still just as nice.
Rad missiles
Krak missiles that half their strength in exchange for Fleshbane and whenever they
wound a model, its toughness is reduced by 1 for the rest of the game. Perfect for
making bikes/MoN/Nurgle Daemons/Wraith-things a bit easier to kill with standard
weapons.
Volkite weapons
Slightly higher strength than a bolt-weapon but suffer a 3 decrease in range for it.
Also have a nice rule, Deflagrate, which means that when they cause an unsaved
wound, the unit suffers another his from the weapon. Sadly, these dont cause
addition wounds, but still it allows you more effectively decimate low-armour
hoards.
Choppy stuf
Chainaxe
AP 4 close-combat weapon. Nice for getting through GEQ and the like.
Charnabal Sabre
Not as bad as everyone makes them out to be. Theyre AP -, but it does have
Rending and you get +1I in a challenge. If you are strapped for points and want to
give your sergeant an edge in a challenge, feel free. Also occasionally useful (if you
are lucky or have lots of them) of helping your guys get through AV10-12, but
otherwise there are better options if you can spare the points.

Paragon Blade
Another gem of the Crusade Army List. For a start, its an AP2 weapon that strikes at
initiative. It also gives you +1S. Plus, any wounds of 6 cause Instant Death.
Basically, whenever you can, take this.
Power Weapons
In the Crusade Army List, most of the time you may upgrade a model with a power
weapon, although the type of weapon is not specified. Forge World say in the books
that if it is not specified, you just simply have to model your upgrade in a manner
you like. So it might be worth keeping a few spare sergeants and the like armed
with axes instead of sword (for example) in case you need the AP 2.
Other stuf
Augury Scanner
Stops infiltrators setting up within 18. Plus if reserves arrive within 18, all Rapid
Fire and Heavy weapons get Interceptor.
Cognis-signum
This is a package deal. It includes an Augury Scanner, Night Fighting plus a model
equipped with it may buff a unit within 6 with +1BS instead of shooting. Pretty
sweet.
Boarding Shields
Basically, Combat Shields that give you defensive grenades.
Legion Vexilla/Standard
A unit with a Vexilla can re-roll failed morale checks, which is vital when you dont
have ATSKNF. Standard gives you a 6 Fearless bubble.
Nuncio-vox
Gives you a 6 bubble of no scatter and allows the model equipped with I to draw
LOS for other barrage weapons. Meaning you can park you artillery behind a
building and let these folks direct them.
Suspensor Web

I can't remember if these are in any other GW publications, so I'll put it here in case.
Basically these are bits of kit that allow you to halve the range on a heavy weapon
but count it as an assault weapon. Pretty neat if you ask me.
Terminator armour
Now, you might be thinking But we have Terminator armour in 40k, why are you
mentioning it? Well there are a few differences. One is that Terminator armour
doesnt give you Deep Strike in 30k. Some legions can buy it and one Rite of War
can give it to Terminators, but in general 30k Terminators have to walk/be carried
around.
Two is that there are actually two types of Terminator armour in 30k. One is pretty
much the same as the one in 40k, minus the Deep Strike. The other is called
Cataphractii and gives a 4++ instead of a 5++, but it makes you Slow and
Purposeful rather than Relentless. So no Overwatch or running, but you Terminators
all have Iron Halos basically. However, the nice thing is that if a model with
Cataphractii armour joins a unit that doesn't, the unit doesn't gain Slow and
Purposeful, which it nice.
Vehicle stuf
Anarbic Claw
You know James Bonds car from Tomorrow Never Dies where it is electrified? Its
basically that.
Auxiliary Drive
Ignores Immobilized results on a 4+. Pretty nice
Flare Shield
Reduces the strength of Template or Blast weapons by -2 and everything else by -1.
Slap it on Spartans and laugh as most things can only glance your AV14.
Kheres Assault Cannon
Better than your average assault cannon, since it has 6 shots, not 4. But otherwise
the same.
Laser Destroyer
Basically an AP 1, Twin-linked Ordinance Lascannon

Predator Cannon
Basically a Heavy 4 Autocannon
Magna-melta
A Large Blast Melta. Say no more.
Rites of War
These are basically ways you can augment your Force Organisation. Each Legion
has a specific one, but in the spirit of generic Legion tactica I wont comment on
them. They allow you things like taking Drop Pods/Land Raiders/Storm Eagles as
dedicated transports, or having Veteran and Terminator squads as troops. Beware,
though they do come with limitations and so can take some forward planning/more
strategic thinking to use effectively. But since you can chose them its entirely
possible to build an army around them, unlike Warlord traits.
Legiones Astartes:
It is worth noting that in Forge World's most recent publication they said that
unlisted legions may chose between Furious Charge and Stubborn as an army-wide
USR to compensate for the fact that the listed legions have unique army-wide rules.
So if you were playing a legion like White Scars or Space Wolves you might pick
Furious Charge to represent their savage charges. Similarly, Ultramarines or Dark
Angels might pick Stubborn to represent their...stubbornness? Or you might defy
convention and just pick one on a whim. Either way, it's worth factoring in.
Right with that out of the way, onto actual units.

HQs: (Version 2.0)

Right, so bland HQs are pretty limited. There are basically 2 options; Praetor of
Centurion. Theres also a command squad, but thats part and parcel of the Praetor.
So lets have a look at your options.
Praetor
30Ks Chapter Master equivalent. I wont list his stat-line but hes the same if not
better than his 40K counterparts in terms of stats. Comes with Artificer Armour as
standard which is nice. Also has some of the widest array of close combat weapons
to choose from. However, his ranged capabilities are limited so you cant make a
shooty character even if you wanted to. Really, these are your slice-and-dice

characters.
He can also take terminator armour if you like giving up Sweeping Advances and
your grenades. Yes he gains Relentless, but theres no option to give him a heavy
weapon so its mostly wasted. Plus, buying him an Iron Halo is cheaper if you want
an invulnerable save. He also has the option to take a Paragon Blade, which you
should always do when you can for reasons already mentioned. He can also take a
Jump Pack, Bike or Jetbike.
He also enables you to take a Rite of War and a command squad, which you dont
have to do but both are nice options to have. Also, he gets to roll twice on
whichever Warlord Trait Chart you want and you can pick your preferred result. So,
with the new rules to do with bound armies, you can re-roll that. Sure it doesnt
guarantee you the trait you want, but if gives you an increased chance of getting it
between 4 dice.
Now, after all that youre probably thinking Why would you ever not take one of
these guys?. Simple answer is the cost. A bare Praetor is 100 points and to give
him all the goodies youll want to give him, the cost will climb to the 150-200 points
mark quite easily. So I dont tend to include him in lists below 2000 points, just
because I dont like having 10% or more of my list sunk into one dude. But if you do,
more power to you.
So, to summarize, a great CC character with lots of options but also has a
reasonably large price tag.
While Im here
Command squads
Yes, command squads. Now these can only be taken if you take a Praetor, much like
in 40k marines. They also take up the same HQ slot as Praetor. To be honest they
are fairly similar to your 40k marines honour guard. They can take almost
everything the Praetor can, save the Paragon Blade and any invulnerable save
except for either a combat shield or terminator armour. But they can only take
terminator armour if your Praetor has terminator armour, so that might be a reason
to take it. They also get a Legion Standard which, as I mentioned earlier are a
godsend since it gives you a 6 Fearless bubble, which is great for keeping your
frontline troops from running away and being cut down. It also stops, assuming you
run them with your Praetor, your very expensive HQ from legging it and being killed
in Sweeping advance after one bad round of combat.
Centurion

Centurions are 30ks Captains. Except they only have 2 wounds, which makes them
more fragile than some people would like. They dont come with artificer armour as
standard, but then neither to Captains. They have almost the same options as a
Praetor (at the same cost near enough), except they cant take a Paragon Blade, an
Iron Halo, Digital Weapons or make their weapons Master-crafted. So you can still
use them as cheaper beat-stick characters to slap down most things up to and
including Captains. However, they cant take a command squad and dont allow you
to take a Rite of War. They are half the starting cost of a Praetor, which is a good
way to save on points if you need to.
Now you might be thinking Only 2 HQ choices, isnt that a bit bland? It seem like
you have a choice between a beat-stick and a more fragile beat-stick. But youd be
wrong. You see, theres one thing I havent mentioned yet, and that is
Consuls
These are upgrades you can give a Centurion to reflect all the different types of
commanders in a Legion. Lets have a look:
Chaplain
So Zealot is nice in, say, a 20 man assault/reaver squad or another close combat
unit, but thats the same with 40k Chaplains. He only has an AP4 power maul which
you can't exchange hurts the Chaplain's personal combat abilities against MEQs,
although you can pay even more points to give him some AP3/AP2 weapons. In the
right squad, his buff with make the 35 points you spend on him worthwhile, but I
would keep him as bare bones as possible (maybe a power sword/axe to mitigate
the AP4 of his maul) and leave him at the back of the squad, driving them on (as he
should be).
Master of Signal
Definitely not a close combat Centurion. Most of his combat options are limited and
he doesn't add much if anything to a front line squad. However, he has a Cognissignum which is very nice. Another bare-bones Centurion you slap in a 10 man
heavy weapons squad, keep at your back and tear your enemies to shreds with your
BS5. I would put him in a squad of 10 with Volkite Culverins for 40 shots, S6, BS5
with Deflagrate. Thatll hurt any infantry unit and probably successfully glance to
death AV12 or lower.
And a D3 S8 AP3, Large Blast, Barrage once a game helps too!
Legion Champion

+1 WS and a single weapon gains Master Crafted. He has to accept and issue
challenges, so if you dont tool him up for that youve picked the wrong guy. If he
was 10-15 points, I'd consider it, but it's not worth it for 35 points IMO, since he
doesnt add anything else to your army.
Vigilator
+1 to cover saves, Scout, Sniper, special ammo, and the potential to gain Infiltrate
and Move Through Cover (at the price of a 4+ save) is...well it's ok. Scout is good
for, well, scouting some unit forward. Synergises well with recon squads (30k
scouts. More on them later). Plus the Sabotage! ability is nice too, although it likely
won't do much. Potentially kill one or two MEQs or a Rhino, but not much else. As
with Master of Signal, his combat options are severely limited.
All in all, IMO rather lack luster, and I don't think worth it. If you want to scout a unit
forward, buy them a Rhino. They cost about the same.
Librarian (Version 2.0)
I like Librarians a lot! They don't have a Psychic Hood like they're 40k counterparts
which sort-of hurts, but not much. Since only their chainblade/combat blade is
replace with a force weapon, you can replace it's bolt pistol with another close
combat weapon (I like Force Axe + Lightning Claw. Then you can either use AP 3
Claw for MEQ or AP 2 Axe for TEQ). Plus, they can have up to 2 Mastery Levels and
can have them in any discipline.
Now the bad news. First, and biggest is the cost. You have to pay 25 points and then
buy at least one Mastery Level, which costs extra. So for a Mastery Level 2 Librarian
it'll cost you 65 points, before further upgrades and the cost can rack up quickly.
And if you pay that much, a 2W character is a bit fragile. Second is not so bad, but
you have to generate all your powers from a single discipline. No mixing and
matching. However, all in all I think Librarians are great and can really boost your
army and be a close combat beat-stick.
Forge Lord
Basically a Techmarine HQ. More options (as they have both the options for a
Centurion and a Techmarine) and can repair tanks. Nothing to write home about, but
still pretty good.
Primus Medicae
Gives FNP to a unit and gives you a 1/3 chance of getting a victory point whenever
your opponent kills a unit you are within 6" of. It can be aligned to any unit, so is

more versatile than a regular Apothecary and can have all the close combat options
that a "standard" Centurion can have. If you just want FNP, buy a regular
Apothecary, it's only 10 points more. If you want your Centurion and his unit to be a
bit more survivable while they're chopping things to mince-meat, I'd say he's worth
it...just.
Siege Breaker
The Siege Breaker is very similar to the Master of Signal. He has a Nuncio-vox. He
has and confers Tank Hunter and Wreaker onto any unit he joins. He can also buy
Phosphex grenades, which it a bit paradoxical. You either sit him at the back with a
load of lascannons or missile launchers and blow up vehicles/fortifications, or run
him forward and lob napalm grenades on steroids. He also lets all Legion Medusas
take Phospex shells for free, meaning you can just saturate your opponents lines
with dangerous terrain pie plates. One of the better Consuls.
Moritat
His CC weapon options are limited and the only way he can move faster is with a
Jump pack. He can only join Destroyer squads and can't be the compulsory HQ. Only
one thing save him; Chain Fire. Basically, he's BS 5 and he keeps firing his pistol
until he misses with it. This happens with both pistols. So, you can give him two
plasma pistols, score an average of 10 hits and watch the best part of a TEQ squad
disappear in a turn. Which is cool as hell. The problem is once he does that, he can't
fire next turn. Plus you could be unlucky and only land like 3 hits before the Chainfire dies. Alternatively, you could be really lucky and score like 30 hits.
People say he's broken, and in a way he his. But he's also easy to eliminate and has
to be on the front lines for his ability to be worth anything. Plus, you have to buy
another HQ as well as him to have a Bound army and he can only hide in a 3+
armour squad, meaning if you try to give him a 2+ armour to protect him, he can be
Focus Fired out.
All in all, a neat broken ability, but situational at best and, IMO, nothing to write
home about.
Elites (Version 4.0)
So today we are going to talk about elites, which are thankfully more varied than
the HQ section. But with 10 total options you could have for your Elites, you can
understand why Forge World gave us 4 Elites slots instead of 3! Anyway, let us
begin
Legion Veteran Tactical Squad (Version 2.0)

A rule you will quickly discover in 30k is Bigger is better. For example, the Veteran
squad starts out as 5 lads which are 25 points each, but if you make it a 10 man
squad the average cost is 20 points. They are basically Tactical Marines with 2 A and
nothing else changes really in terms of Stats. Interestingly they have a bolter, a bolt
pistol and a combat blade/chainsword, so they get a total of 4 attacks on the charge
before youve even paid to give them anything. One in five guys can take a special
weapon; Volkite/melta/plasma, but also heavy bolter or missile launcher (which can
have Flakk missiles for a cost) both with a Suspensor Web. They can also all take
Power Weapons and you can equip the entire squad with melta bombs for 25 points,
regardless of the size of the squad (another reason to take a large squad).
The final thing to mention is they get Veteran Tactics. This means at the start of
the game they can have one of the following USRs: Fearless, Sniper, Furious Charge,
Outflank or Tank Hunters. In summary I think they are a pretty solid choice. Good
mix of shooting and CC. You can tool them all up with Power Weapons and Furious
Charge and run them at MEQs/TEQs (depending on your weapons), but its worth
remembering they only have a 3+. Alternatively, give them two meltas and all
melta bombs, Outflank and go vehicle hunting. Or, another great thing that is worth
considering is taking 2 heavy bolters and give the whole unit Sniper. Then laugh at
Big Tyranid bugs, Wraithknight, Wraithlords, Riptides, Greater Daemons, etc
Legion Terminator Squad (Version 2.0)
Theyre terminators, what more do you want? A barebones squad of 10 will set you
back 325 points, which Im certain thats cheaper than their 40k counterparts.
Theyve got combi-bolters and power weapons to start, but they can all take
power/chainfists, lightning claws and thunderhammers. They can also take volkite
chargers. And one in five can take an Assault 2 plasma weapon, which is nice. They
also have the option to take a grenade harness, which gives you assault grenades
for one turn. Sure its not constant grenades, but itll save your bacon and let you
tear apart that unit that thought it was safe in cover from your terminators.
They also have a rule where they count as scoring units whenever troops could as
scoring units, which was really good in 6th because you could park terminators on
objectives. But in 7th, everythings a scoring unit. Does that mean that they will get
Objective Secured? Edit: I have it on good authority (@Vaz) who has emailed Forge
World's customer services who have said that Terminators gain Objective Secured
when troops normally would. So in a bound army they are even more worth your
time!
All in all, pretty much everything youve come to expect from terminators, but at a
discount. Plus, if your army is bound, they get Objective Secured even without being
troops! Eat your heart out 40k Space Marines.

Legion Destroyer Squads (Version 2.0)

If you enjoy breaking the Geneva Convention, condemning your foes to an
agonising death by radiation poisoning or throwing napalm at people, youll find
yourself in good company with the Legion Destroyers. They come armed with two
pistols (so a nice +1A in assault), rad grenades and the sergeant can be given up to
3 Phosphex bombs and one in 5 models can have a rad missile launcher with a
suspensor web. They can also take jump packs.
So, if you can would something like a GUO or Carnifex with the missile launcher and
then charge, they suffer -2T on the first turn which is nasty. Even if youre only
facing single wound models -1T will help their weight of attacks carry them in
combat against things like tactical squads or assault squads. If you combine their
charge with things like your Praetor + Command Squad, terminator squad or assault
squad, you can really start to do some damage. Best used in tandem with other
units I find.
However, there is an issue that I havent touched upon and that is their price tag.
For a starting squad of 5, itll cost you the same as a 10 man tactical squad. A 10
man squad will cost you the same as an 10 man assault squad, and then youd have
to pay another 75 points to give them jump packs. Already thats one unit that costs
325. Plus if you want to give them missile launchers, Phosphex bombs, etc those are
all more points. Its easy to spend 400 points on this one unit. Are they worth it?
With the missiles, Phosphex and melta bombs and jump packs, they can wreak
some serious havoc, but I would only use them in high point games (i.e. 2500+)
where its more justifiable to sink 430 into a single unit.
Techmarine Covenant
This allows you to buy 1-3 Techmarines as a single Elites choice, although they are
independent during the game. Sadly, they cant take servo-harnesses like their 40k
counterparts, but they can all have conversion beamers. They can also have the
30k equivalent of servitors, which dont have mindlock, they just have to take a
pinning test without the techmarine. They arent Independent characters though.
Basically, if you have a large number of vehicles/an artillery line, get some of these
guys. Otherwise, dont bother, unless you really like conversion beamers.
Apothecarion Detatchment
Another 1-3 choice. Basically you buy however many Apothecaries you like and you
can put any of them in any power armoured/artificer armoured squad that are on
foot. At a measly 45 points, you want to be putting them in your largest squads. Put
them in your 20 man tactical/breacher squads and youll be paying a measly 2.25

points a model to give them Feel No Pain, which it a pretty sweet deal. Plus you can
give them Augury scanners for anti-infiltration/pseudo-Interceptor. The other option
is to put them in your high value squads like your command squad or your heavy
weapons squad and give them an extra line of defence from bad dice rolls/high AP
weapons. Either way, for a reasonably low price-tag, I would always include at least
one detachment.
Legion Dreadnought Talon
1-3 Dreadnoughts as a single Elites choice. I think you might begin to see a pattern
here. As with the terminators, these guys are pretty much the same as you standard
40k Dreadnoughts, except with a few differences in load out, such as you cant have
an assault cannon but you can have a flamestorm cannon. Theyre also BS5, which I
dont know if 40k Dreadnoughts are. If you like having lots of Dreadnoughts walking
around, this is the unit for you. They are just as useful and just as versatile as you
have always known Dreadnought to be, so Im not sure what new I can say about
them.
Legion Contemptor Dreadnought Talon
Pretty much the same as above, but you have to understand the difference between
Contemptor and normal Dreadnoughts. The difference is that Contemptors are
better. For starters they have front AV 13, not 12. They have a 5++ against shooting
and a 6++ in combat, whichll save your bacon a fair few times. They have a higher
base strength. They have fleet. They can take Kheres Assault Cannons and Heavy
Conversion Beamers. Plus they just look cooler! They cost 50 points more, but if you
have the points I would say always go for Contemptors.
Legion Mortis/Contemptor-Mortis Dreadnought
Pretty much the same as the two above entries and the same differences apply,
except in these units you only take one of the Mortis/Contemptor-Mortis
Dreadnoughts, rather than 1-3. However, in this case, the arm weapons of both
arms must be the same (i.e. both twin-linked lascannons/heavy bolters/etc). Also, if
the Dreadnought stays stationary and doesnt Run in its turn, it gains both Skyfire
and Interceptor for your turn and your opponents turn. Really, this is the first bit of
anti-air we see in a Crusade army list.
Interestingly, the Mortis Dreadnought costs the same as one of the regular
Dreadnoughts, but the Contemptor-Mortis costs 20 points less than the regular
Contemptor. So, if you only want one Contemptor, pick one of these and get a
discount on points, plus a bit of AA while youre at it. Sure you sacrifice your S10 AP
2 Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons, but for a lot of people the risk of random
melta-bombs or sergeants with powerfists stops people charging their

Dreadnoughts in. Plus, in 7th shooting is king so

Legion Rapier Weapons Battery
The Thunderfires 30k cousin. Except you can take 1-3 of them. And theyre only 40
points each. And they have S 5, AP 4, Heavy 4 Twin-linked shots. They can also have
Laser Destroyers, Quad Mortars or a Graviton Cannon. A pretty cheap way to get a
reasonable amount of Dakka into your list, but considering the other options in the
Elites sections, I wouldnt reach for them first. That being said, they are very good if
youre strapped for points and in need of dakka.
Troops
Welcome back for another instalment of this Legion Tactica article. Today we will be
talking about troops, the bread and butter of any Legion List. Well, since 7th edition
dropped maybe not so much anymore, but they are still worth a look. In the Crusade
Army List, the troops are divided into two categories; those which can be taken as
compulsory troops and what are called Support Squads. These Support Squads
may not be used to fill compulsory Troops selection slots on the Force Organisation
chart. But well cross that bridge when we get to it. So, without further ado
Legion Tactical Squad
Starting squad size is 10 for 150 points and a full squad of 20 is a meagre 250
points. Unlike their 40k counterparts, they have no options to take special
weapons (i.e. Plasma guns, Melta-guns, Rocket Launchers, etc). There are three
configurations you can have for you tactical squad.
1) Bolter + bolt pistol toting marines
2) Bolt pistol + chainsword marines (sometimes called Reavers)
3) Bolter + bolt pistol + chainsword, but thatll cost you extra.
Really it depends what you want. If you are playing Sons of Horus, World Eaters,
Night Lords, or some other combat heavy legion you might go for the Reaver
configuration. If you want a disciplined gunline ala Imperial Fist, Emperors Children,
Iron Warriors, etc then the first configuration might be better.
They also have a neat rule called Fury of the Legion which basically allows you to
fire twice as many shots at the cost of not being able to fire next turn. It can turn a
rather nasty combat unit bearing down on you into a more manageable size, help
you thin out some hoards or (as I have done) glance light vehicles (such as
Dreadnoughts) to death before they can turn your nice Tactical Squad into jam. All
in all, nothing too special, but they are a cheap and sturdy gunline.
Legion Assault Squad

Pretty much identical to 40k tactical squad except they can go up to a 20 man
squad for 400 points. By comparison a 10 man squad is only 250. If youve got 3060 points to spare you can give them all a combat shield for an invulnerable save.
Other than that, if you wanted to take an assault squad in 40k, youll want to take
their 30k cousins.
Legion Breacher Siege Squad
Only slightly less for a 10 man squad as for a 20 man tactical squad. So what do you
get? Well you get a boarding shield, which is nice because it give you an
invulnerable save. They have bolters as standard. You get special armour that lets
you re-roll failed armour saves caused by blast or template weapons, but your
sweeping advances and runs suffer by -1. Unlike Tactical Squads, you can give
them special weapons like flamers and melta gun. You can make them into a 20
man squad. They have additional survivability, so Id use them mainly as objective
huggers, since as a gun-line your bog-standard Tactical Squad are cheaper and
better with Fury of the Legion.
Legion Tactical Support Squad
Here we get onto our first Support Squad. In case you were wondering what
happened to all the plasma and melta guns that occupy the 40k Tactical Squads,
heres where they went. You start off with a 5 man squad with 5 flamers. You can
make them into a 10 man squad and give them all Rotor cannons, Volkite Calivers,
Plasma guns or Melta guns. Give them a Rhino and run them at your opponents
tank line/terminators with melta/plasma.
The bonus is that you can have a 5 man squad, with melta/plasmas and a Rhino for
210 points, which isnt that expensive all things considered. The downside is that all
marines have to be equipped with the same weapons, so no mix and matching.
Contrary to the standard Crusade Rule of bigger is better, I would buy them in
small squads with a specialised role, much like CSM Chosen.
Legion Reconnaissance Squad
Our other support squad. Basically your 30k scouts. Unlike 40k scouts, they start
with power armour. They can downgrade to standard scout armour and they gain
Infiltrate and Move Through Cover. Even without scout armour, they have Scout,
Acute Senses and Outflank. They can also all take Melta-bombs and Cameleoline
(basically camo-cloaks) at a price. Starting size of 5 and max size of 10. The other
nice thing is that, unlike 40k scouts, they have BS4 rather than BS3. Much like the
Assault Squad, if you like 40k scouts youll like 30k scouts.

Fast Attack
Welcome ladies and gentlemen for another instalment of Tactics of a Legion. Today
were talking about Fast Attack, as you may have guessed from title. I cant think of
some witticism to go with this, so Ill share with you a line my friend told me which
should successfully end an argument with someone who just wont listen to you.
Arguing with you is like playing chess with a pigeon. It doesnt matter how good my
moves are, youre still going to poo all over the board.
Without further ado, heres my breakdown of the Fast Attack choices we have, and
there are a lot!
Legion Seeker Squad
Right so here we have a squad that costs the same as a terminator squad, so it
better be pretty good. I suppose the obvious question is, are they? Well, let me
answer that question with another question; would you buy sternguard at the price
of terminators? Thats basically what they are. Except they came make one enemy
character or unit their Preferred Enemy. And theyre BS 5. If that does it for you,
then take them. If not then not worth it IMO.
Legion Outrider Squad
Heres another unit I really like. So you start off with three lads for 90 points. They
can go up to a squad of 10. They can replace their twin-linked bolters with flamers,
melta-guns or plasma-guns. You have to pay for a sergeant, and he can have the
generic close combat weapons most sergeants can have. He cant have artificer
armour though, like most sergeants. They can all take melta-bombs and they all get
Scout. Now, this might not sound like much, but allow me to compare to an earlier
unit; Legion Tactical Support Squad
Lets look at the comparison:
- Legion Tactical Support Squad + 5 Plasma-guns + Rhino = 210 points
- Legion Outrider Squad + 1 additional Space Marine Outriders + 4 Twin-linked
Plasma-guns = 220 points
So they have the same movement, until the Rhino is destroyed. They have the
same BS, but the Outriders get an additional attack in Close Combat due to two
close combat weapons. Also, the Outriders are T 5. Plus, the Support squad can only
fire 2 of their guns for their 12 movement, and the Outriders are twin-linked. Now
you can argue that the Rhino offers extra protection and once they get out you have
more shots (if they all survive), but with the constant 12 movement and increased
toughness, plus the advantage in combat which they can do after shooting thanks
to Relentless, I think the Outriders are a pretty brilliant unit, especially when
compared to similar units.

Legion Attack Bike Squadron

Now, if you were liking what I was saying about Outriders, youll probably like these
guys too. It allows you to have up to 5 Attack Bikes in one unit. Same deal as
before, 2A, 5T, 3+ with twin-linked bolters, 2 close combat weapons and can buy
melta-bombs. Except now they have 2 wounds. Yay! Plus, they have a heavy bolter
as standard, but you can give them a Heavy Flamer, Autocannon or Multi-melta. So
for 250 points you can have 5 Relentless twin-linked bolters and multi-meltas
running around. Id say thats a pretty good deal, especially for tank hunting. Or 200
points for 5 Relentless twin-linked bolters and heavy bolters and mow down hoards.
Legion Jetbike Sky Hunter Squadron
Now here is a unit I really want to like. I really do. But 5 of them with heavy bolters
costs 5 points more than 5 attack bikes with heavy bolters and the Jetbikes have
only 1W and no twin-linked bolter, I find myself asking why you would take them.
They can have Multi-meltas, Volkite Culverins or Plasma cannons, but only every 1
per 3. Ultimately, an expensive unit that has better contemporaries and so therefore
I cant (tactically) advise taking them. Still, I love the models.
Legion Land Speeder Squadron
Land Speeders! Basically a 1-5 unit of land speeders. They cost 10 points more than
an Attack Bike to start, and they come with a heavy bolter as standard, which can
be swapped for a heavy flamer or multi-melta. They can also buy a Havoc Launcher,
another Heavy Bolter, Plasma cannon or Graviton gun. On the one hand, with 2 hull
points and AV 10 all round, they can be easily glanced to death. On the other hand,
the new vehicle damage chart makes them harder to explode to death. Plus jink
could help. Not the best choice, but also not the worst.
Legion Storm Eagle Assault Gunship
The Storm Raven of 30k. Well, slightly different armaments and a transport capacity
of 20, so a bit different. It starts with mostly anti-infantry weapons (twin-linked
heavy bolter and missiles), but you can give it a twin-linked Multi-melta and twinlinked Lascannons on the wings. Starting at 210 points, its a reasonably pricy unit,
but being durable and having a decent range of weapons will see you through most
things. Although, dont let the name fool you. This is not a gunship. Its a transport
with pretty good guns strapped to it. Dont think of this as your AA option.
Tarantula Sentry Gun Battery
Honestly, these confuse me. These are basically automated weapons platform that
fires at the nearest target, but the targets it wants to shoot depend on what

weapons you give it. You can give it (all twin-linked) a heavy bolter, a heavy flamer,
a rotor cannon, a lascannon or a multi-melta (not twin-linked but you get a
searchlight, for what its worth). Also, for 50 points per gun (you can have up to 3)
you can basically have a krak missile launcher with skyfire, interceptor and re-rolls
to hits on fliers or fast skimmers. So 150 points for decent AA stuff. Not bad. Other
than that, since you have no real control over what they fire on I cant recommend.
Primaris-Lightning Strike Fighter
A 2 hull point, AV11/11/10 flyer that starts with a twin-linked lascannon and you can
upgrade to carry various weapons and bombs. Cheap when you start buying it but
with all the various armaments it can get expensive. Easy to equip as both an
infantry bomber or a flyer killer. Although, in neither case would it be the first thing I
reach for.
Legion Javelin Attack Speeder Squadron
Now we have a 2 hull point, AV11/11/10 skimmer for almost as much as two attack
bikes. Both, Ill remind you, can be killed by bolters, but only one has a 3+ save and
can still fire its weapons without snap shooting. Its got a heavy bolter and basically
a missile launcher that fires twice, either krak or frag. You can give it a twin-linked
lascannon instead, but I wouldnt. Again, not the first thing Id reach for in a frankly
obese Fast Attack choice section.
Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pod
Its basically a drop pod that acts like a hovering flyer after it deep strikes instead of
being immobile. Plus its an assault vehicle, so if you can keep it alive for a turn you
can disgorge a deadly 10 man assault-y unit and they can get straight to it. The
other nice thing is it can be bought as a dedicated transport for a 5 man terminator
unit. It has a kind-of-flamer attack which I wont go into. As I said, its basically a
AV12 all round drop pod that can move after it lands.

Heavy Support
AaaaaannnnnndddddIm back! Sorry for being gone for so long. With a busy
summer and other things I kind of let this fall to the wayside for a bit since its one
of those time consuming things I love but dont always have the time for. However, I
have managed to get some free time to talk to you all a bit more about the tactics
of a legion and today were going to break down the Heavy Support choice for your
30k army of choosing. And there are quite a few!
Deathstorm Drop Pod

At some point in the Imperiums history, someone looked at a drop pod and thought
Yeah we could put people in itor we could pump if full of missiles! It costs
roughly as much as two regular drop pods and basically gives you 5 immobile
missile launchers that can only launch frag missiles. You can pay for krak missiles
for a 1/3 of what the pod itself costs, but you then lose the frag missiles, meaning it
lack flexibility. For its points there are much better option in this section, and most
of them dont require you to land in the enemys front lawn to start blasting them
apart.
Legion Heavy Support Squad
Ok, so these cost 15 points less than a tactical squad, but you only get half as many.
However, they do come with heavy bolters as standard. These can be exchanged for
just about any other heavy weapon under the sun for a cost. You can also make the
squad size 10. Now, you might be asking why I havent akined them to devastators
yet, like I have with terminators or the Fast Attack Sternguard. There is a very
simple reason for this; they are not like devastators/havocs. This is because every
single squad member can have a heavy weapon. Yep, thats right, all 10 of them
can tot heavy weapons. There is however a downside; they must all have the same
heavy weapon. So no plasma/las/heavy bolter mixes for multiple duties. However,
they do get access to Volkite Culverins, one of my personal favourite anti-infantry
weapons. It is Heavy 4, S 6 to start with, but it also has the Deflagrate Special rule.
Watch hordes of orks/guard/nid wither and die to them in droves.
Now, 10 lads with heavy bolters will cost you 10 points more than a terminator
squad, which since they die twice as fast is pretty good considering they have the
additional range and absolutely no need to march forward into enemy units to try
and hack them apart. If you want 10 lascannons thatll cost you almost twice as
much, but 10 lascannons will scare the crap out of any tank, with any AV. Hell, thats
something I dont think titans would be too happy about facing. Plus if you throw a
siege breaker in there to make them all BS 5 you are laughing. All in all, they are
probably one of the most reliable way to bring the most dakka/anti-tank stuff in one
unit, but also probably not the most cost effective. And the fact that they all have to
have the same gun does put a limit on how many duel duties they can pull, which
they need to to get the most out of their points. I would definitely throw an
Apothecary in with them, as giving them all FNP will help you get the most out of
them for just a little bit longer.
Legion Predator Strike Armour Squadron
Those of you with working brains will have noticed the word squadron in the title.
Guess what that means? That means you can get more than 1 Predator for a single
Heavy Support choice. In this case its 1-3 (because everything seems to be in the
Legion list). They start of dirt cheap at 75 points. This doesnt buy you much

though, since at this point in time guns on the side of a Predator were an optional
extra. On the sides you can put heavy bolters, heavy flamers or lascannons. On the
top you start out with the predator cannon, but you can choose a flamestorm
cannon, an Executioner plasma destroyer (eat it Astra Militarium), a heavy
conversion beamer or a magna-melta. Oddly the Imperium hasnt decided that
putting lascannons on a Predator yet, so thats not an option. You also have to buy
things like the machine spirit and bolters on top, but thats reasonably standard.
Realistically, the Predator is you main medium dakka bringer. 225 points will get you
12 S7 AP4 shots. By comparison a 10 man heavy support squad with autocannons
will cost you 285 points and you get two less shots. 3 plasma destroyers (basically 9
plasma cannons) will cost you 330 points, whereas a 10 man heavy squad with
plasma cannons will set you back 385 points. There is always the argument
between whether a tank is better than infantry. A single lascannon will at most kill
one lad, but could ruin your tank. On the other hand, you wont see Predators dying
to lasguns and bolters. All in all, they are more cost effective that heavy weapon
squads and pull almost the same duty of infantry/light tank killers. Bear in mind
that, since the only really reliable anti-tank weapons that the predator has in the
Crusade Army List are the Magna-melta and lascannons (the two most expensive
upgrades to buy), they are not your Land Raider hunters really. At that point, 10
lascannon dudes are better value for 45 points less. But yeah, if you want dakka,
get yourself some predators.
Legion Land Raider Battle Squadron
Another squadron! Its another 1-3 slot, but this time with god-damned Land
Raiders! However you can pick between three different flavours of Land Raider.
Theres your standard Land Raider (Phobos) which is everything we know and love
about Land Raiders. Theres the Proteus, which is 50 points less, loses the assault
vehicle rule, but can be upgrades to have an Explorator Augury Web, which either
gives you re-rolls to your reserves or gives your opponents reserves a -1 penalty.
Finally theres the Land Raider Achillies, but with a quad gun instead of the
thunderfire cannon. Its immune to Lance and Melta weapons and reduces all results
on the vehicle damage chart by 1. It does only have a transport capacity of 6 and
lacks the assault vehicle rule as well. You can have these in any combination within
the squadron, but only 1 can be an Achillies variant. So basically if you really love
land raiders, this is the unit for you.
Legion Fire Raptor Gunship
You know when I said that the Storm Eagle wasnt a gunship, it was a transport with
guns. Well, to paraphrase Crocodile Dundee; Thats not a gunship, this is a
gunship!. It costs a mere 200 points and this is what you get:
- A S 6 AP 3 Heavy 7 nose mounted gun
- Two twin-linked Heavy 6 heavy bolters (Quad heavy bolters)

- 4 S6 rockets with Sunder (re-roll armour penetrations)

The quad heavy bolters can be upgraded to quad reaper autocannons, giving you
only 4 twin linked shots, but all at S 7. Plus, the quad heavy bolters/quad reapers
can be fired at different targets to all the other weapons (and each other) and dont
count towards the maximum number of weapons you can fire that turn. AND it has
the Strafing Run special rule, making you BS 5 against anything that isnt a flyer or
fast skimmer. One of the gems of this section in my opinion. Even as I write this Im
not quite sure why I dont own one
Achillies-Alpha Pattern Land Raider
From the brilliant to the not so brilliant, this entry is 25 points more than its
counterpart in the squadron section, except you can only take 1 for the 1 heavy
support slot, it gets to re-roll dangerous terrain tests and gets twin-linked volkite
culverins instead of multi-meltas. Other than that it remains unchanged, so Id give
it a miss.
Legion Artillery Tank Squadron
Another squadron, horray! Although its pretty fortunate it is a squadron because
you can only have 1 of them in the army. You can chose 1-3 of and of the following
(but no mixing and matching): A basilisk, a medusa and a whirlwind. I dont play
Astra Militarium so I cant tell you how the pricing of the two tanks differ, but they
both cost around the 150 points mark, so hopefully that helps. Other than that they
are exactly the same. The only change to the whirlwind is that it can give up its
usual missile batteries for missile batteries which basically fire 1 krak missile with
skyfireIm not impressed frankly. If you want AA options, there are much better
ones than the whirlwind. As for the medusa and basilisk, well since they are
unchanged if they are good enough for Astra Militarium they are good enough for
you.
Legion Vindicator
Oddly, this is not a squadron for some reason(s) unknown to me. You just get one. It
costs 120 points without the dozer blade and you can exchange its demolisher
cannon for a laser destroyer array (an AP1, twin-linked, ordinance lascannon with a
36 range), but frankly if you do I think you have missed the point of what a
vindicator is supposed to do. Another cop out section where I go you already know
what this is. I think it costs about the same as it does for regular Space Marines.
Its good at what it does, and what it does is rolls forwards and ruins peoples days
with S10, AP1 pie-plates.
Legion Spartan Assault Tank

Good god, this is a Land Raider on steroids. It has 5 hull points, quad lascannons
(two twin-linked lascannons taped together) where a Land Raider has just regular
Lascannons. Its an assault vehicle, can have most standard vehicle upgrades, plus
a few ones which are uncommon (like the flare shield). Now, at this point you might
wonder why does it cost almost 300 points? That is because it has an absolutely
massive transport capacity of 25 models. Thats right, you can throw 10
terminators, any primarch/terminator armoured hq in there and still have room.
With 4 twin-linked lascannon shots, it can break open even the most stubborn of
tanks (usually) and whatever you put inside will almost certainly ruin anyones day.
Another gem.
Legion Caestus Assault Ram
You know those weird flying things the Space Wolves recently got because Games
Workshop decided that any army that didnt have a flyer in it wasnt worth it
anymore? Well the Caestus kind of looks like two of those duct-taped to either side
of a fat melta-gun. It cost 10 points more than a Spartan and it only has a transport
capacity of 10, so you might wonder why you would use it. Its because of a lovely
invention called the Misericord, which means that you get to ignore the Bulky
special rule. So its not great from transporting regular joes or the larger primarchs,
but if you just want to get 10 terminators somewhere really quickly then thisll do
that. It is also the only flier to have an AV higher than 12 (being AV 13 on both the
front and sides). It also has a 5++ to any shooting attacks directed at its front
armour. As I said, it has a magna-melta in the middle of it which will also suitably
ruin most vehicles just as well as 4 lascannons. It can ram, but thats not really
worth talking about in 7th ed since ramming got nerfed.
Basically, between this and the Spartan there isnt much sway you either way. One
is a flier and one is a tank, so I suppose it depends which one you trust more. For
me, it come down to the extra 2.5 terminator troop capacity, the 10 point
difference, and the fact that if the Spartan dies, it is unlikely to kill all of its
occupants. But there are plenty of merits to the Caestus too.
Sicaran Venator Tank Destroyer
All hail the nipple gun! In all seriousness, this tanks does what it says on the tin; it
destroys other tanks. Its 2 shot ordinance S10 AP1 gun that forces and tank (even
super heavies) it penetrates to only be able to fire snap shots the next turn. You can
also strap heavy bolters or lascannons onto the side of it, but if you go for the heavy
bolters then you have seriously misunderstood the purpose of this tank. It has a
higher chance of blowing up though, due to its dangerous core. Realistically, itll do
its job and do it well, but its price tag of nearly 200 points make it a strong but not
outstanding choice in my mind.

Legion Sicaran Battle Tank

Before you ask, I do these in the order they appear in the Legiones Astartes Crusade
Army List book and I dont know why the original Sicaran tank comes after the
variant. In any case, whereas its Venator cousin deals with the big boys, the
original Sicaran is the light tank/anti-infantry tank in the family. It has a 6 shot
autocannon as its main gun, as opposed to the nipple gun previously mentioned.
That might sound unremarkable, but consider thisit ignores jink saves. As before,
it can take heavy bolters or lascannons. Also, as before, if you take the lascannons
you have mistaken the purpose of this tank. However, with a much more reasonable
price tag of 155 points for it and the heavy bolters and the ability to laugh as Eldar
players, hovering fliers and the like, its a pretty tempting option.
Legion Kharybdis Assault Claw
Aside from having a name no dyslexic could hope to spell, this thing is basically a
20 troop capacity with the assault vehicle. It also has 5things which fire S 6 AP 5
Heavy 2 twin-linked shots which cause pinning and can fire at different targets, but
Id hardly count that as remarkable. It can fly around after it lands and has 5 hull
points, which is pretty good. It also means you can have 10 terminators in assault
by turn 2 (since it can come down turn 1 with drop pod assault). All this would be
really good, but the 260 points price tag makes it less appealing in my mind. Id just
bit the bullet and get a Spartan. But, if you dont have the 35 points to spend, or
dont need 2.5 extra terminators coming in, its a pretty good option.
Legion Whirlwind Scorpius
In my opinion, this is what the Whirlwind should be. Its basically a predator shell
with a rocket launcher slapped on the back. But not the crappy one the Whirlwind
normally carries. No, this carries a Heavy 1 S 8 AP 3 Blast missile launcher. Plus, if
you dont move you get and extra D3 shots. And all that for less than a Vindicator.
Weep ye MEQs, thy death is at hand!