Hi everyone, Michael here with a review of another Space Marine Formation, this time the Reclusiam Command Squad. Check the Tactics Corner for more great reviews!
Overview:
The Reclusium Command Squad is designed to whip the Space Marines into a killing frenzy and lead them to glorious victory on the battlefield. On paper, the Reclusium Command Squad is actually not too bad. A Chaplain is a solid HQ unit for Space Marines and a Command Squad is a valuable choice that can be kitted out in a lot of ways to suit your playstyle. It is actually a decent formation to take in a Space Marine army, but is rarely seen on the tabletop, being severely outclassed by the Librarius Conclave as a Command choice for a Gladius Strike Force.
Formation:
- 1 Chaplian (may be Chaplain Cassius)
- 1 Command Squad
- The Command Squad must take a Razorback as a Dedicated Transport. The Chaplain must join the Command Squad on deployment and cannot leave the unit during the game.
Special Rules:
- Crusader- The unit rolls an extra D6 when running and uses the highest roll. The unit also adds D3 to their Sweeping Advance total.
- Stirring Rhetoric- All friendly Space Marine units within 6″ of the Chaplain get to re-roll failed To Hit rolls during the first round of combat.
Tactics:
Looking at the individual elements of the Reclusiam Command Squad, it is actually quite a decent formation.
A Chaplain is a solid HQ choice for a Space Marine army. He is not as good as a Captain or a Chapter Master, but he is cheaper than both of those. In addition, he provides a unit with Fearless and Hatred re-rolls (thanks to Zealot) and can actually boost the combat potential of a Space Marine unit.
The Command Squad is equally a very useful and versatile unit in the Space Marine Codex. You can arm all the members of the Squad with a Special Weapon or Melee Weapon, leading to a potent shooting or combat force. You can also take a Banner to boost the units around you or an Apothecary to increase the durability of the unit (in addition to arming them all with Storm Shields, except the Apothecary).
The Reclusiam Command Squad is obviously designed to be a formation for boosting the close combat potential of a Space Marine army. There are two problems with this. In general, Space Marine armies excel at shooting rather than close combat, with many Space Marine armies not wanting to be in combat in the first place if it stops you from shooting in your following turn. The Razorback that the formation is forced to take is not an assault vehicle. If you are embarked in it, you will not be able to assault the turn that you disembark.
However, there is a loophole around the Reclusiam Command Squad. Just because you have to take the Dedicated Transport, doesn’t mean you have to use it. There is also nothing stopping the Command Squad from taking Bikes, as well as the Chaplain. This gets around the mobility issue of Marines on foot, actually giving the Reclusium Command Squad a chance of getting in to combat, as well as the added durability and firepower of being on Bikes.
My choice for the Reclusiam Command Squad would be:
- Chaplain- Bike, The Hunter’s Eye, Meltabombs
- Command Squad- Bikes, Apothecary, 4 Grav Guns, 4 Storm Shields
- Razorback- TL Assault Cannon
This gives you a fast, mobile unit with Ignores Cover grav guns and some great durability with the Storm Shields and Apothecary.
The big questions is: are the formation special rules worth the “tax” of taking the Razorback? In my opinion, they are not.
Crusader is a decent special rule. The extra die when running is nice, but you can get this through White Scars Chapter Tactics. The addition to Sweeping Advance rolls can be really good in the right situation, allowing you to wipe out an enemy unit in one go. However, in a meta dominated by ATSKNF and Fearless units, it is not always going to have an effect.
Stirring Rhetoric is a nice bonus, but is limited by its 6″ range. You are most likely only going to benefit one other unit thanks to the range (two if you get lucky), and will most likely been needing to charge two units into the same enemy unit. If the range was 12″, I think it would be much more useful, giving your army a big boost in combat. My White Scars bikers would love this sort of bonus, allowing me to charge all 3 or 4 units of Bikes into combat and hopefully be in range of the re-rolls.
Overall, I just don’t think the Reclusiuam Command Squad is worth the cost. If you want a Chaplain and Command Squad in your army, simply take them in a CAD. You don’t need to pay the Razorback “tax” and you are not really missing out on the Special Rules. Even better, take them in a Battle Demi-Company. There you gain Objective Secured for them, as well as the bonuses of the Tactical Doctrine.
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I am curious to see this on the tabletop. I have never actually seen it played.
Sigh. I know it’s the state of the game, but it really does suck that every Formation has to be measured against White Scars Grav Bikes. So it becomes “It’s not very good because you can do better with White Scars Chapter Tactics” and, “better if you add bikes and Grav!” just irks me to no end :/
Well no one was forcing the designers to make that option so ridiculously good.
Unfortunately, that is a very strong choice at the moment. It is one of the easiest ways to get an assault unit into combat quickly without paying for a Land Raider as an assault vehicle.
I raise that white scar command squad to my iron hands one
You’re not helping 😉
“It’s a Chaplain and his buddy team in a tiny little clown car. They give out an aura that won’t matter because the other player shot your AV11 transport down and then murdered the guys inside to deny you bonuses.”
Normaly I would say that should have been the article because it is awesome.
But it did put in the effort of making them useful by putting them on bikes. Sadly that just made it the same bikestar everyone plays already and sort of irrelevant.