Codex Review: World Eaters, part 3

Hey everyone, Danny from TFG Radio here, and today, I am going to finish my full review of the World Eaters codex. Today, we go over some of the new units in the book as well as look at some sample lists, so you can get on the table and start getting those skulls. Be sure to check out my first 2 parts, and of course, it makes the most sense to maximize money to blood ratio to shop at Frontline, so don’t be shy about using my affiliate link.

While the codex is overall small, there are some plenty of new things to dig into, and really, these are the going to be the mainstays of most army construction, so we are going to to through what they are, what they do, and why you should have them!

Lord Invocatus –

Just a beatstick character that also has a ton of utility, and if you don’t want the big man, he is the best choice for Warlord.  First off, he is a melee murder machine with 8 attacks at S7 AP-3 D2 that ignores Invulnerable Saves.  He will blitz through most characters, and with a movement of 12″ that flies, he is going to cause problems. Very few characters are going to survive getting hit by him, and even units like Bladeguard or Terminators can start to bleed models to him, and while he is not going to solo these units, if they have been weakened, he can polish them off.  He also has 8 wounds at T6 with a 2+/4++, so he can be surprisingly tanky.  He is also a force multiplier as he gives the aura of +2″ movement to any Core within 6, which makes Eightbound scary fast or allows Berserkers far more threat range than your opponent might consider.  His warlord trait is basically a game plan, giving you the chance to blitz and pin your opponent with 12 Eightbound that move 11″ before the game begins and then 11″ more when they activate.  For 160 points, he is both a buff piece and a character killer, and thanks to Fly, he has strong mobility.  He is generally an auto-include.

The generic Chaos Lord on Juggernaught, Juggerlord, is very much a “we have Invocatus at home” choice, but then for 125 points and a CP for a relic, he can do some work.  You can make him a bit of a doorstop in both subfactions with either The Burning Plate or Helm of Brazen Ire, really getting value out of his 8 (or 9) wounds and a 4++.  In World Eaters, he also becomes a fairly reliable infantry mower with the Berserker Glaive.  A Juggerlord also has the +2″ movement aura for Core, so if you are running Invocatus with a lot of berserkers and Eightbound, having another source of the aura helps with positioning headaches.  Again, not going to be a mainstay, but there are some ways to make him work. He doesn’t have Fly and the Cavalry keyword is all downside, so he isn’t as useful as Invocatus.

Angron –
Oh, my most anticipated models in a long, long time.  He dices, he slices, and he comes back from the dead.  There is a lot of ballyhoo about whether he is actually good or not, and there are some drawbacks to be sure, but he does bring a mechanic that World Eaters desperately need.  Statwise, he is what you expect from a Primarch with S9 T7 18W on a 2+/4++, but the real standout is that he is 16″ move when healthy and he has 12 attacks when healthy.  The speed is essential as with that lucky number 16″, if you go first, he is able to assault into your opponent’s lines on Turn 1, assuming they deployed anything on the line.  Even just advancing forward means that your opponent HAS to focus fire him down, which means you can be more brazen in advancing other threats.  I think there might be a build with Angron and Daemon Engines as it forces your opponent to have to choose who to kill first, and with his speed, it is likely going to be Angron.  This lets your other threats have time to cross the board and get to work.

But yes, T7 18 Wounds with a 2+/4++ sounds tough, but in the shooting reality of the game, it really isn’t.  He cannot hide behind terrain, and he is going to get shot, like, a lot.  Even though he is only 360 points, it is fair to say that in such a shooting heavy game with things like Tau Railguns and Astra Militarum, he is not likely to live.  If that was it, then yes, I’d say he was more of a for giggles unit, but with Reborn in Blood, he brings late-game threat, and not just a little threat, but a lot of it.   He will die, but that’ll net you 2 BTP, and with 4 more, you can put him back into reserves and bring him back into the fight.

 Reborn in Blood does not require that you use it when Angron is destroyed, only that he be destroyed when it is used, so you can lose him T1, get to the killing on T2, and then bring him back on T3 or even 4 or 5, making him an immediate threat that your opponent has to consider.  It can force your opponent to keep forces back to help screen out the backfield, which means less forces in the center, and really, no one wants Angron hitting a charge out of reserve, and even at his middle profile, he is going to kill most targets.  This constant threat, not just a little one either, is exactly what World Eaters need in the late game, especially if going MSU where you are going to often be left with just a few smaller squads that may punch above their weight, but may not have the knockout power that you desperately need.

Of course, there is also the downside that Angron has to be your Warlord, and while his trait is workable, it isn’t as immediately game changing as Invocatus.  It’d be nice to have more flexibility here, and well, it is not like Angron is good at giving orders anymore, but hey, I am still happy to have the big guy.

Berserkers
Ok, these are new kits, not a new unit, but they are the best infantry that WE have.  At 22 points per model, you get 4 attacks base, but as WE, that’s really 5, all at S6 AP-2 D1 (on the charge).  That’s a decent amount of melee heat, and the addition of a special weapon, the Khornate eviscerator, makes the squad that much scarier as suddenly you have 5 or 10 attacks S8 AP-4 D2.  As MSU, Berserkers can do work, or as a big bully unit inside of a Rhino, Land Raider, or Dreadclaw, they are not just a threat but a primary one.  This is all before you factor in Blood Tithe, and suddenly they can be hitting on 2s, AP-3, exploding 6s and autowounding on 6s, or some combination thereof.  They are relatively inexpensive for what they do, they are flexibile in terms of army construction, and they are ObSec.

But then you have to factor in the stratagems. They can pop out Mortal Wounds, they can Fight on Death, they can charge 3d6 and drop the lowest.  Thanks to being Core, they benefit from a host of different auras, and really, they work as either MSU piece-traders or as big bully units, especially in rhinos and dreadclaws.  You could even go bold and do a landraider with either 4 squads of 5 or 2 of 10, or a combination thereof.  Be sure to get at least one box of the new combat patrol when it drops.

Eightbound
A truly new kit, these not Mutilators are all about speed and hitting power. With a blistering 9” move, they can rocket up the board, and as Infantry and Core, they sure do benefit from a host of abilities and stratagems. They also pack a decent punch at 7 attacks at S7 AP-3 D2 on the charge with 6 attacks at S8 AP-3 D3 from the champion. That’s a fair amount of mid range power out of a 40 point model. Defensively, they aren’t great at T5 3+/5++ with 3 wounds each, but they aren’t an anvil unit designed to absorb damage. Their native ability to come in from board edges starting turn 1 is amazing, and it helps add a huge boost of board control early, especially in the funky deployments where there are objectives outside of the deployment zones.  They can also work great for scoring Engage on All Fronts as they can generally get to any quadrant they need.   Of course, they also provide a ton of threat as on Turn 2, they can show up in your opponent’s deployment zone (not battlefield edge), so against gunlines or castles, Eightbound offer you a great way to start threatening without just rushing forward towards the guns (but you can do that too!).

You can also load them up for pure bully as with a full six, they put out a ton of heat and still require some significant resources to wipe, and with Lord Invocatus as the Warlord, two units of 6 are going to fly forward on the first turn.  Even if taking just one 6 man bully unit, putting them into reserves can offer you one really scary threat that your opponent has to factor.  If not doing that, even just having 2 units for 240 points is some decent threat and tactical flexibility.

Exalted Eightbound
Ok, so they come in the same kit as Eightbound, and these occupy an interesting space.  They are 5 points more than Eightbound, and they lose both Core and the ability to come out of Strategic Reserves (my old brain wants to say Outflank). So what do they gain? Their statline is the same save for WS 2+ natively and a 4++, which does make them tankier.  They also deny Fallback on a 4+, which can absolutely be game changing in certain matchups, if they make it.  Finally, they have an inherent Deepstrike mechanic, so they aren’t limited to the board edges like Eightbound.  They also have slightly different weapons as 2 of them will have either 6 attacks at S7 AP-3 D2 or 1 attack at this statline and 5 S10 AP-4 D2 attacks. The unit leader will likely have 6 attacks at S10 AP-4 D3.  The main difference here is that you are getting over that S7 hump, now able to wound T8 on 3s or wound T5s on 2s, which changes the math big time against hard targets.  Exalted are much, much better at killing hard targets as 3 Eightbound do 10.18 wounds against a Knight while Exalted do 22.15 wounds, almost killing it, and with certain Bloodtithe bonuses up like exploding 6s or 6s autowound, 3 Exalted will kill a standard Knight on the charge on average dice.

So Exalted are limited to only 3 per unit, but when you need to kill a hard target, they are your best bet as they have a ton of high quality attacks, and with the inherent WS 2+, they are going to connect quite a bit.  Their native Deepstrike gives them far more room to land, so they can pick their shots a bit better than Eightbound, but the lack of good overall stratagems for them does hurt.  Really, they do different things, so I can totally see using Exalted over regular Eightbound if running an MSU horde where you have a lot of high volume attacks already like Berserkers.

Jakhals
Our new cultists, Jakhals are all about cheap, cheap bodies, but really, they are also sort of like Masters of Executions in that they are little missiles that you can fire and forget.  Statwise, they are cultists with WS 4+, T3, and a 6+ save, but they also have 3 base attacks, so that’s not anything to sneeze at, especially since they do have the faction trait for +1 S and +1 A, so they are actually S4 with 4 attacks at AP-1.  That’s not terrible for 7 points per model.  When you factor in that they do benefit from Bloodtithe, they can start hitting on 3s, autowounding on 6s to hit (they love this), and at AP-2.  Now suddenly, that 7 ppm cultist is putting out decent numbers.  To demonstrate, a standard Jakhal squad against a Primaris unit is doing 4.65 wounds, so killing 2, on the charge, but with +1 to hit, autowounding 6s, and AP-1, they suddenly jump to 10.2 wounds, or killing 5 Primaris, more than double their output. The unit can also take d3 mortals to gain +1S for a round, so if you really, really need to hit S5, here you go.   But wait, there’s more! This doesn’t include the Dishonured, the big guy that comes with every 9 Jakhals who is S4 base, so 5 on the charge with 4 attacks, but he can take a Skullsmasher for 5 points to make him pump out 8 S5 AP-2 D2 attacks at WS 4+.  That’s like a mini-character that also has 9 ablative wounds around it, or you can take 2 of these with 18 ablative wounds for 155.  Jakhals can do big damage, and even at just 75 points for a Skullsmasher, they is only 10 points more than a Master of Executions that is a full squad with ObSec.

The downside to them is that they aren’t Core, so they can’t get a bunch of good stratagems or rerolls, and they compete for Blood Tithe.  To really work, they desperately need +1 to hit, autowounds on 6s, and -1 AP, and that’s 15 BTP, reviving Angron twice with 3 BTP to spend on a secondary.  In other words, to get value out of them, you need to build to maximize them and maximize your BTP generation, and really, it is either them or Angron.  That said, I think a Jakhal heavy horde can work, but it’s a very skew build, and if you want to bring the biggest mad lad around, then you can’t really invest too heavily into these.

Spawn

Yes, they aren’t new, but you should own three if you want to play World Eaters.  Right now, they are the only fast attack choice, and while they cannot be included in Disciples of the Red Angel, in a standard World Eater army, they are 75 points for full Fast Attack slots that generate 3 BTP and can sit in the back, holding an objective.  Why pay the same points for Jakhals with a Skullsmasher for 1 BTP when you can get 3?  Just have 3.

Ok, so that’s a highlight of the new stuff, and that’s not getting into Forgeworld just yet, but let’s look at some lists and see what you can do here:

Eightbound spam
Disciples of the Red Angels

Arks of Omen Detachment: Selection – Elites
HQ – Invocatus
EL – 5x Eightbound
EL – 5x Eightbound
EL – 5x Eightbound
EL – 3x Exalted Eightbound
EL – 3x Exalted Eightbound
EL – 3x Exalted Eightbound
LoW – Angron (Warlord)

Khorne Daemon Patrol –
Karanak
10x Bloodletters
2×5 Fleshhounds
Skull Cannon

So this list is all about setting up for carnage as most of your big hits are coming in from out of reserve.  One unit of Exalted Eightbound  and Regular Eightbound start on the board, using Invocatus’ aura to move 11+d6″ on the first turn, and for 1 CP, one unit is going a full 17″ with the auto 6 advance stratagem for DotR, giving you some early push into the center. All the Daemon Patrol start on the board, mostly to run around and grab objectives while the Skull Cannon mostly takes potshots.  Angron runs up and likely dies, but hey, maybe not, and he’ll be back.  You then have a ton of options starting on Turn 2 of where your reinforcements arrive, making your opponent have to fight on their weakest flank.  Kill Maim Burn…Profit??

Invocatus Pin
World Eaters

Arks of Omen Detachment: Selection – Fast Attack
HQ – Invocatus (Warlord)
HQ – Kharn
TR: 10x Berserkers with 2x Eviscerators and Icon
TR: 5x Berserkers with 1x Eviscerator and Icon
TR: 8x Berserkers with 1x Eviscerator and Icon
TR 10x Jakhals with Icon and Skullsmasher
TR 10x Jakhals with Icon and Skullsmasher
EL: 6x Eightbound
EL: 6x Eightbound
EL: 5x Terminators
FA: Spawn
FA: Spawn
FA: Spawn
FA: Dreadclaw droppod
Rhino
Rhino

So this is all about first turn pressure and keeping your opponent in their deployment zone.  If you go first, you have the two big blocks of Eightbound moving up with Invocatus 22″ total, forcing your opponent to either deploy far back or letting you get into the mix on turn 1.  You can also slam in the Dreadclaw with 10 Berserkers on another flank, and even at a 9″ charge, you have 3d6, drop the lowest, and a CP reroll.  This is a lot of heat for your opponent to have to chew through before they can start to try and take the center where rhinos full of berserkers and Kharn are waiting.  If you go second, you can move the Eightbound up to hide and avoid fire, and if you position well, baiting out shots, you can try and get to the sweet 3 BTP to get that +1 charge for the Berserkers in Claw. You also have the terminator drop for Turn 3 to try and take an objective and sit there. While Termies don’t have the same damage output as other units, they are the most resilient, especially in cover.  This list is all about pressure, pressure, pressure, and with no Angron, you can focus on getting certain buffs up like +1 to hit and auto-wounding 6s.  

Just Blood and more Blood
World Eaters

So this is more of a lolz list, but it can really befuddle a lot of lists.  You have 12 troop choices here, so you can definitely win the objective game, and this MSU spam means that your opponent will often have to overspend to kill units, lowering their overall efficiency.  This list generates a ton of BTP, meaning you can bring Angron back constantly to hit hard targets that Berserkers may struggle to take down, and Invocatus does help speed up the Berserkers as they advance across the table.  The Spawn and your Jakhals mostly keep your own objectives but the Jakhals can do work in the late game with that Skullsmasher.  The Master of Executions is a cheap missile to throw forward, and overall, this is just about maxing out our secondaries while also drowning the opponent in bodies. This is actually an easy list as once the Combat Patrol box comes out, you really need 2 to mostly be where you need to be to build this list.  

Ok, so that is it for my World Eaters codex review.  After all 3 parts, what is the final assessment?

For me, this book is a homerun for die-hard WE fan likes myself. It plays the way you want it to, relying on getting into combat and killing, and the ability to bring back Angron brings me such joy.  You can make some really fun, thematic lists for low-key games with your friends, and WE actually make a great teaching army as a newer player isn’t going to get ROFLcopter’d on the first turn due to shooting, but it does have tricks that can teach tactics and anticipating enemy moves.  Plus, the army wants to die to help score points or power up surviving units, so it makes for a fun, enjoyable game where even if you are winning, your opponent is killing models, rolling dice, and interacting, which is perfect for newer players to go against.  

From a competitive standpoint, this is a codex that can easily win an RTT and even smaller, regional GT. The secondaries are easy to achieve, and it can actually play the missions fairly well. Can it survive the true heat of a supermajor? I don’t think so.  WE struggle against strong gunlines like Guard, Tau, and Votann, and a lot of our tactics to get around this are reliant on charges out of reserve, which means variance is going to matter, and over 5 or 6 games? You are going to fail key charges that you need to happen to have a chance.  You aren’t going into a fully competitive environment with a handicap, but you also are not going to have any sort of list advantage against a lot of top-tier meta armies right now.  If you haven’t read one of my reviews before, which to be fair, it’s been a bit, I tend to rate things on a 0-100 scale, 0 being completely unfun to play even in the most narrative of environments, and 100 being mathematically broken that needs nerfing.  All that in mind, I’d give the WE codex a solid 85.  It can be narrative, and it can be competitive, but it isn’t going to be on the top of the meta, and honestly, that’s fine. 

Thanks as always for reading, and I am going to start doing unit by unit deep dives as I get more games and more data.  If you want to support, when you do your shopping at FLG, use this link and toss a coin to your berserker here. 

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