Court of the Archon

[eldargal]

I know this unit is widely disregarded, but looking over it again I started to wonder. With a Lhamaean and three slyths you get 9 shardcarbine shots that wound on a 4+(Edit: Sod it, forgot that Lhamaean poison doesn't apply to other court members, nevermind), plus 15 WS4 S5 attacks on the charge with FNP before even getting a pain token. Throw in a couple of medusae and you have two S2-7 AP1-6 templates which would be a bit of a gamble but could be quite effective.
I don't see much reason to take Ur-Ghuls, except perhaps one or two to bump the unit total to ten including Archon.

It would clock in at around 300 points with an Archon and a raider and while I wouldn't say it is an exceptional unit I could see myself taking it for fun without it weighing me down in most battles.

What do you think? Bear in mind I'm not looking at it from a ultra-competitive perspective.

[DrLove42]

Can see the use of them

Only problem to me is having to take at least one of each of them. The Archon is better deployed with a squad who support him well, these guys just don't specialise enough. If you want a shooty archon you stick him with some Trueborn, if you want a stabby death Archon you deploy him with Incubi and Bloodbrides.

[yrdetraxe]

I'd say from a non-competitive view there is a (limited) use for them. Yes, Bloodbrides or Incubi are nearly always the better choice but I think the court can dish out quite good as well and it doesn't use up a FoC Slot leaving you free to take some Incubis and Bloodbrides as well. ^^ What's nice with them is that they can dish out a lot of S5 Attacks in CC which is something rather rare for a DE Army.

Only problem, as said before, is that you have to take at least one each, where the lhamean is more than meh.
But the other 3 are imo alright.

- Lhamean:
Worst Unit in the whole book. Period.

- Medusae:
Quite nice, but in the end she's 'only' a liquifier gun with +1S for 15pts. But depending who you're playing a few more templates can be quite nice.

- Sslyth:
Best of the bunch, because of the of the Shardcarbine plus 5 Attacks each @ I4 & S5 in the assault and FNP.
But for 35pts he's rather expensive.

- Ur-Ghul:
Ii don't think he's too bad because for 15pts you get another combat critter having 4 attacks @ I6 & S5 in the assault and FNP.

In the end the Unit would be much better without the "minimum one each" clause because you could specialise them far better by only taking Sslyth and Ur-Ghuls to get a good assault unit.

So far the theory, I've yet to give them a try. :)

[eldargal]

Well, the Lahmaean gives you a 5/6 chance of wounding something when you shoot into a unit before assaulting, that could translate to one less model to deal with.:rolleyes: Yes, I know, desperate. I'm converting a really nice Lhamaean model though.

I see the CotA as being a bit of a gamble unit. It could do really, really well and munch through some very tough units thanks to its S5 or it could fail miserably. I rather like it to be honest.

[DrLove42]

Against Hordes i think they're maybe worth something. Lots of attacks and a template or 2 they can be good

But against MEQ or anything with a decent save they will be hurting, mostly due to the lack of power weapons (i think...running from my memory here). The only armour shot is the flamer template, and although that will scare marines 50%, and even Termies 33% of the time, is still a hit or miss.

Think the lack of models for them doesn't help either....its harder to convince someone to convert a meh unit to play with than a 1337 one

[yrdetraxe]

I overread that she also has a 2+ Poisoned CCW in Addition to her 2+ Pistol so while ignoring the Mistress of Poison Rule and her pistol she can work rather well with the rest of the Unit adding another 3 Attacks @ I5 wounding on 2+ in CC

That still changes not much about the use of the CoA (or my view of the Lhamaean).


I see the CotA as being a bit of a gamble unit. It could do really, really well and munch through some very tough units thanks to its S5 or it could fail miserably.
That's definately true. But no Risk, no Fun! ;)

@DrLove42:
You are right, they cannot have PW. But at least they are wounding MEQ mostly on 3+ with a bucketload of Attacks. And apart from Incubis there is no Unit in the DE Repertoire that has an abundance of Power Weapons and even they only wound on a 4+. (So do Agoniser)

[GrenAcid]

@all up
So in the end CoA is meh.

[eldargal]

I wouldn't say it was 'meh', its random. It could be exceptional or it could be utter rubbish but that many S5 CC hits is not to be sneezed at for DE in my opinion. Its certainly not the best unit in the codex but it could be fun. I would certainly take one in Apoc games were points aren't an issue.

[MaltonNecromancer]

I desperately want the Court to be worth taking, but in the 1500 point games I play, they're competing for points with other, better units. The Sslyth are a pretty good call, but (as has already been stated) overpriced.

Plus, the big thing for me is the lack of models. I don't proxy as a rule, and can't think of anything (apart from Garlghast witches = Lhamaeans) that I would use to begin modelling a Sslyth or any of the other, fruitier options.

That might change, but I have more pressing projects on the go ATM (like my Lemarchand cube inspired Raider to finish).

[GrenAcid]

I wouldn't say it was 'meh', its random.
I always thought that `random` in wh40 is fun but not with CoA, Archon with harlequins are better, and I dont understand why we dont have opion to buy flickerbelt(that thing to make them jump), TBH Archons should have every option avaible(reminds me old chaos wargear section) since they are masters.
Oh...back to the topic, I think archon with grotesques would be more fun, costly but fun.

[somerandomdude]

The Court is actually a decent choice in a list that already includes other options. I see a lot of people compare them to Bloodbrides, but nobody is mentioning the great strength that they have over the Brides: They don't take up an FoC slot.

Lhameaens: These are actually pretty good I think. They are 10 points for essentially 4 attacks that wound on a 2+ the turn you charge (1 shot, 3 CC). Who cares if her ability doesn't go to anyone else, it's still extremely efficient for getting more attacks.

Medusae: As a big fan of Liquifier Guns, I see these as really good options for a key reason. If you are taking a Court, then you are taking at least on Archon, limiting your Haemonculi. More templates with a random AP is great I think. 15 points is a bit much because I think they offer less than Lhameaens, but since there is no reason to take two it isn't that bad.

Ur-Ghuls: Another 4 attacks on the charging turn, for 5 more points and no fixed wounding number, but FNP/FC is nice of course. I think they're the worst in the group just because the Lhameaens do things better the turn of the charge, but these provide cheapish models to fill out the unit to whatever size you want.

Sslyths: Expensive, but a LOT of attacks. FNP base is nice, but the big thing is 3 shots + 5 attacks. 35 points for a model with 8 attacks? Sounds like an alright deal to me.

These guys are not supposed to go against Terminators, Sang Guard, Grey Knights, or anything like that. Throw them against non-assault units and they shine. This is a torrent unit. They're sort of like DC you can control. Lack of power weapons isn't a big deal when you're dishing out 50 attacks.

My typical built (2 Lhameaens, 1 Medusa, 3 Sslyths, 2-4 Ur-ghuls) gives 10 shots + template, then 31-39 attacks on the charge, all for under 200 points. A good deal I think.

Also, since they don't take up an FoC slot, they don't really "compete" with your other assault units or any of your shooting units. The only competition is getting a spot for your Archon, and then overall points. Now, in a lower point game, I'm not sure I'd like these, although they might shine because the enemy would have fewer units overall that are bad targets.

They also allow you to take more vehicles outside the FoC.