Hi everyone, Michael here to continue my look at the Cults Creeds for the GSC. Up next is the Bladed Cog. For more reviews and analyses, check out the Tactics Corner.
Cult Creed- Cyborgised Hybrids
Gives all your units a 6+ invulnerable save. Gives you a single re-roll to wound whenever a unit shoots or fights. In addition, you add 3″ to all ranged weapons (excluding Grenades and Demo Charges).
Gaining a 6+ invulnerable save on your units is a nice little durability boost, able to frustrate your opponent if you are rolling well. Given the number of bodies that GSC are likely to field, it could come in useful during your games, as you will often be getting no armour save against your opponent’s more powerful firepower.
A single re-roll to wound will be nice for boosting your damage ouptut, and will work particularly well with high powered one shot weapons, such as Mining Lasers, or your Heavy Rock weapons in combat. A nice boost, but does not have the generic boost that something like +1S from Twisted Helix gives. Again, the bonus to the range of your weapons is nice and situational, but is unlikely to have a huge impact on your game.
Overall, a decent set of buffs, but certainly not the most powerful of the Cult Creeds. As discussed previously, Four-Armed Emperor or Twisted Helix probably have the best buffs available. This could be useful if you fancy a change in a friendly game.
Warlord Trait- Single Minded Obsession (Aura)
Before the battle, select one enemy unit. While a friendly unit is within 6″ of your warlord, each time a model makes an attack against the selected enemy unit, you can re-roll the wound roll.
Quite a powerful warlord trait to have in the right circumstances. Obviously, this works well if the opposing army has few models, such as Knights, or has a big centrepiece unit, such as a Primarch or the Silent King. This is a bit situational, but can give you a very powerful buff against a key enemy unit for the game.
Relic- Mark of the Clawed Omnissiah
Gives the bearer a 4+ Invulnerable save. In addition, at the start of the fight phase, roll a D6 for each enemy unit in engagement range. On a 2-3 they suffer 1 mortal wound, on a 4-5 they suffer 2 mortal wounds and on a 6, they suffer 3 mortal wounds.
This is a solid relic for protecting one of your non-Patriarch characters who does not have access to a good invulnerable save. The mortal wounds in engagement range are also a nice bonus, maybe allowing you to survive if you are locked in combat with an enemy unit, reducing the number of attacks coming in against a fragile character. Alternatively, you could put this on a Patriarch for the mortals in combat, but it seems a bit of a waste as he already has a 4+ invulnerable save.
Relic- Xenoform Bionics (1CP/2CP)
Use before the battle to give one of your Infantry or Biker units a 5+ invulnerable save. Costs 1CP if the unit has a power rating of 6 or less, otherwise it costs 2CP.
Giving one of your key combat units a 5+ invulnerable is actually a big boost to their durability, perhaps allowing them to survive a turn longer in combat to cause some damage. The downside is the high CP cost to put this on a sizeable unit. Costing 2CP to give a 5+ invulnerable to a large unit of Acolytes is pretty expensive, especially in the CP-light economy of Nephilim. Might be useful on a unit of Bikers, who already get -1 to hit as well. Could help to keep them alive to move around the table to help you get engage in the early turns.
Psychic Power- Broodvolt Surge (Aura, WC5)
Until the start of your next psychic phase, while a friendly unit is within 3″ of the psyker, they gain +1 armour save to any damage one attacks.
This is actually a nice boost power for helping out your backfield units, or for any units in cover. You could pair this with the stratagem for +1 to your save while receiving cover to get a 2+ armour save, which would make shifting a squad incredibly tough without any high AP weaponry. A nice power that should seriously boost the survivability of your nearby units.
Will also help out for those units in combat against low AP and low damage weaponry, going to a 4+ armour save in most cases.
Overall
Bladed Cog actually gives some nice durability bonuses to a typically fragile army. If you are planning on taking massed bodies with heavy weapons, the re-rolls to wound could prove to be useful, allowing with the increased chance of making your 6+ invulnerable save. They also have a nice psychic power for further boosting the durability of your forces.
This could be a fun Cult Creed to run. Certainly not the most powerful, but it has a nice relic, and a potentially powerful warlord trait in the right circumstances.
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