Site icon

Space Marines Reviews: HQs Part 14: Honor Guard

Reecius
Image by Jorsch
Image by Jorsch

The unit that is generating a lot of buzz due to their dramatic points decrease is up for review: Honor Guard!

Honor Guard: the men in black protecting the Chapter Master in battle and each a bad ass in his own right. Last edition they rocked almost the same rules, but were too pricey to take in most serious lists. This edition they’ve seen a massive points decrease but is it enough to make them a competitive choice?

Overview:

Honor Guard are armed to the teeth, and pack some seriously impressive kit allowing them to be a potent assault unit and force multiplier. They can only be taken with a Chapter Master, but hey, that is hardly a setback. They weigh in at a modest points cost (5 melta bombs per model) and can pack a wallop but their lack of an invul save is the only thing that holds them back from being a premiere assault unit.

Wargear:

Special Rules:

Tactics:

Honor Guard are almost an exceptional unit. They shoot, they assault, they have good defense, they’re great. However, they’re not exceptional. Why? No invul save, good shooting but not outstanding, and the Champ has to challenge or accept a challenge. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is still a unit that is 100% worth considering in an army, but it has its limitations. Those limitations can be played around though, and this unit can be a great addition to a list but isn’t as overtly powerful as it at first appears.

With their kit, these guys are just insanely points efficient. They have a 2+ which is better this edition than it’s ever been due to the changes to AP in HtH and the reduction in general of low AP weapons as the general meta shifts towards more infantry. A 2+ means that to small arms fire, an Honor Guard is twice as durable as a Space Marine (6 averages wounds as opposed to 3 for a kill). So in that context, they’re already cheaper than 2 Marines and showing why they’re so incredibly efficient. They also hit that AP2 theshhold that means you are protected from Power Weapons, Krak Missiles, etc. It is really powerful, but AP2 and 1 obviously, still smoke you and with crazy combo Riptides about that ignore cover and don’t miss, that is no bueno.

Secondly, they all have better than veteran status with 2 base attacks plus 2 combat weapons and Ld10, which is amazing. That means you get 4 attacks on the charge (5 if you take the Chapter Banner), and they are unlikely to run away. With their power weapons, these guys can really beat this dog doo out of what they assault so long as they can swing. And, further, you again see their crazy points efficiency due to having a power weapon and LD10, which is better than a Veteran Sarge. Again, at less points than 2 basic Marines cost.

They’re very flexible with their choice of kit. As they get Power Weapons; that means Axe, Sword, Maul, or Lance (although the Lance well and truly blows). You can also toss a few Relic Blades in their (or on all of them if you want!) and a T.Hammer on the Champ or give him an additional close combat weapon which means if you take an Axe, you can take another melee weapon to swing at initiative if you choose to. You get a unit that has the ability to gear up to specialize in a given roll, or to generalize to fight all opponents. That is just incredible. Considering a Sarge pays 15pts for just a Power Weapon and isn’t nearly as good, again, you can see how crazy points efficient these guys are. Plus, with Bolters, they shoot well, too! Plop them in a drop pod, Razorback or Rhino, get into position, hop out, double tap, then charge. Solid. Give them the Chapter Banner to boost their already considerable damage output (and at the cost of one Honor Guard for the banner, you get +1 attack for all of them plus any other unit within 12″ gets to reroll morale and pinning checks, crazy!) go to the next level. Their potential damage output is staggering and they’re considerable force multipliers with the Banners they can bring.

However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. These guys have several rules (or lack thereof) you have to think about when considering how to actually use them on the table top.

For one, they do not have an invul save. That means that they are very vulnerable to anything with AP2 weapons. Anyone remember 3rd ed Terminators that didn’t have an invul? Yeah, you never saw them on the table. It means that in an exchange with a comparable unit that does have that save, the Honor Guard come out on the losing end. Hammernators for example, even costing more, will typically beat them to death in an even points fight, although they will suffer casualties in return. This is compounded by their very average Initiative 4, which is nothing to get excited about. It means they will typically swing simultaneously at best with most units and second against many of the premiere assault units in the game. What this means is that the truly powerful assault units  will still whip your ass in a fight. Monstrous Creatures, and high Initiative units with either AP2 or Rending attacks will have the advantage over you and often at a lower points cost/greater speed/etc. Now, your 2+ is going to help a lot to mitigate that and often the Honor Guard will at least give as good as they get, but they won’t be the dominating powerhouse as they appear to be with their stats at first glance.

Secondly, their Champ HAS to challenge or accept. Boo. I have been over multiple times why this is so crummy, but for completeness’ sake, here we go again. Losing choice is bad. Challenges are designed to be a narrative driving rules mechanic in which two players pit their heroic or nefarious warriors against one another, let the bones roll and have fun seeing what happens. In reality, with a game based on funky math where some characters have almost no chance of winning a fight, players game the system for maximum advantage. What you get is an exploited rules mechanic wherein you use challenges to either prolong or speed up a combat to end it on a chosen turn, or to protect or remove a character form a fight. It is a tactical exercise, not usually forging a narrative. So, when you take that choice away from the controlling player it is easily manipulated by the other player for advantage. Having a pricey model that while yes, is potent, he isn’t good enough by any stretch of the imagination to actually win a tough fight.

For example, you charge Abbadon with your unit, you HAVE to challenge with the Champion, and Abby accepts, you now do not get to attack with any of your Honor Guard who lose their charge bonus, Abby slaughters the Champ safe from counter attack, then kills half the unit in the next turn and beats their asses. Or, a flying Daemon Prince or Greater Daemon charges you, challenges, you have to accept, kills him in his turn which keeps him safe from shooting in your turn as he stays locked in combat, then kills the rest of the unit in your turn, freeing him to assault another unit in his turn. Also, a model with a lot of attacks, such as the Chapter Champion, can only kill one model in a challenge (who often only has one wound) thereby actually blunting his punch. A lot of the time, your opponent WANTS you to be in a challenge as it is better for him. It is stupid. That is a limiting factor on this unit as smart players will use it against you. He has choice, you do not.

They are an expensive, non-scoring unit. They can kick the crap out of the other guy but they aren’t taking objectives.

So what to do? Set your expectations accordingly. These guys are not meant to kill the truly powerful assault units in the game. Now, that is not to say that if you were to charge a powerful model (assuming your stupid Champ was not in the equation) and be willing to trade models for the kill or go into a unit of studly assaulters and grind them down, they can, but you will often be subsequently and dramatically diminished in capability to the point where your unit is neutered. In other words, a Pyrrhic victory. What these guys do extremely well is destroy light and heavy infantry, moderate MCs and Characters and tanks (properly equipped). That is where they shine and if anything, are overkill.

For example, you send them into Chaos Marines, your champ should kill theirs or at least die with him, and your unit butchers theirs with few if any casualties. Rinse and repeat. These guys do very well in that function. At their reasonable price point, you can realistically expect them to take down a lot of units in the course of the game if played intelligently. This is where they shine.

Secondly, if you really want to use them as a primary assault unit you should run them with the Chapter master that unlocks them. He is there to tank wounds, provide a pseudo invul save (by tanking wounds) step into challenges for the Champ if he can win them (yet another reason to take that Shield Eternal), freeing up the champ to slice and dice, etc. He takes them to the next level and helps to work around their weaknesses. Plus, the Chapter Banner makes him even more deadly than he already was.

You definitely want to deliver this unit into combat reliably which to me means a Land Raider. The Rhino or Razorback isn’t bad as they shoot decently, but you want to be able to extend their assault range which is what the LR does. Again, a Storm Raven also does this but strong AA or bad reserve rolls really hurts this delivery vehicle in comparison to the LR for me.

A drop pod works well, too. Just be wary of facing armies with powerful AP2 shooting like Tau, who also have powerful interceptor and can wipe the unit before it does a damn thing.

Alternatively you can consider an ally with an invul Save for them like Azrael or a Power Field Dark Angels Libby (although remember that the Power Field works on enemy units, too). That helps so much. From there you can walk up the field with roughly Terminator resiliency, or take Raven Guard CTs for Scouts to get upfield quicker or Outflank, or attach a character that provide the same USR. Tigurius (or any Divination Psyker) can also possibly get Forwarning (4++for the unit) or buff them with awesome Divination powers. Biomancy can also be solid with Endurance, as can Invisibility through Telepathy.

These guys do great with Raven Guard and White Scars CTs (Hit and Run is SO good), as well as Iron Hands (6+ FnP) and to a lesser extent Salamanders (Master-crafted weapon on the champ and defense against Flame weapons), Ultramarines (all the Doctrines benefit them) and Imperial Fists (reroll 1’s to hit with Bolters). Also, obviously, Black Templars love these guys as they buff the Champ a ton and Crusader and Adamantium Will on them is really good. Their Banners also mesh super well with foot Black Templars, buffing all nearby units considerably.

Alternatively, you could run then cheap with a banner in a vehicle to simply buff nearby units and to serve as a light counter assault unit. Not the best use maybe but in a combo list that really takes advantage of their buffs, it could be very useful for a small points investment.

In the end you have an incredibly points efficient unit that has a huge potential top-end damage output and huge force multiplication capability but that has some fairly serious weaknesses that need to be considered before putting them in your list. While they can hit like a freight train, they also stand to get smoked before even swinging in a fight or getting to the fight against the wrong opponent. Think about how you are going to get them where needed, how you deal with overpowering assault units they can’t fight well on their own, and how many points you want to invest into them in order to fulfill their given roll. As I almost always say, plan to be flexible. Take a Chapter Master that can go with them if needed when facing units they can’t take on on their own, and have them hunt units they can realistically overpower while building elements into your list that can handle those things they cannot. If you can balance that, you will have great results with these guys. If not, they will be massively disappointing.

Exit mobile version