An Argument for Obliterators

So the CSM codex has been out for several months now and while I haven’t heard anything lately about their performance, I did hear how they were no longer a good/viable unit choice any longer when the codex dropped.

I thought I’d go over the changes to their profiles and how that’s affected their new role and go over how I like to use them in the current 40k environment.

What Changed?

So the first question is how are they different from before?

• They gained an extra wound, attack, point of leadership and inch of movement

• Fleshmetal guns became Heavy instead of Assault

• Their weapon profiles have been upgraded

  • Fleshmetal guns lost their rolled random stats in favor of 3 static profiles you get to choose from

  • Their fists became power fists without the hit penalty. (str+1, ap-1, d3 damage to str x2, ap-3, 2 damage)

• Gained a renamed version of Big Guns Never Tire, letting them move and shoot heavy weapons without penalty and into combat at -1 to hit

• Lost the ability to gain a chaos mark

• Went down 5 points to 90

• Went down 1 power level to 5

Now this all looks like huge upgrades, and part of my argument is that Obliterators are in fact better than they were, but they had lost the ability to do everyone's favorite combo.

Now this loss has less to do with Obliterators themselves rather than the restriction of chaos marks and the kids of the stratagem Endless Cacophony.

For those that don't know, Endless Cacophony allowed you to pick an infantry unit that had been Slaanesh marked and fire its weapons again at the end of the shooting phase.

So one would teleport the squad in from Strategic Reserves and fire 36 shots at strength 6+d3, ad-d3 and d3 damage. Each time you would choose it you would roll the extra strength, AP and damage. If you got lucky and rolled a whole set of 5+ x3 twice those 36 shouts could decimate anything with their quality stats.

Now, they can’t be marked at all, Endless Cacophony no longer exists at all and their number of shots varies with the quality of the chosen profile. Instead of being a unit that could be brutally destructive with a lucky set of high rolls now they have to choose a profile and if they chose their strongest profile are limited to an absolute maximum of 18 shots.

Essentially their shooting is more versatile and able to be targeted into specific targets but overall less destructive.

What can they do now?

With the loss of their main stratagem combination they are no longer quite the destructive damage threat they were. However there are still a few solid roles they can fill.

First and foremost they CAN still perform their old role, though less efficiently than before as they can no longer double shoot. It’s not a terrible idea to place a unit of 3 in Blasphemous Reserves and drop them on a flank to weaken a unit with their Flashmetal Guns.

One could also start a unit of 3 on the battlefield as a bodyguard for your casters and aren’t a terrible target for their buffs either. They can be buffed by Mutated Invigoration or Cursed Earth for defensive buffs, Prescience and Warptime to give their shooting a boost and make sure they’re in an opportune position without having to advance AND they can be healed and revived by Pact of Flesh. They’re not even a bad unit to place in the center of the board and buff to high heaven and, while they aren’t as hard of an anvil as buffed Terminators which can be given relics in and take chaos marks, they do get hard to shift.

Finally, my favorite and I think most interesting build is to have one or two in single units placed into Blasphemous Reserves. These act as harassing units that can drop in very tight places behind enemy lines. Using them as such they become a unit that your opponent has to consider before they move and can make your opponents play further back in their deployment zone. When they do that it lets you push your army up and control the board and seize the tempo of the match. If they don’t play back it instead lets you capitalize on the space they leave to place your models and contest objectives or assassinate the odd character. Or if they don’t present that opportunity and begin pushing up you can always drop one as a lone screen to, due to their innately tanky frame, act as a speed bump that requires a few dedicated shots or will hold up any advancements to your more important units.

I ran one in my 500 point list recently and while it didn’t kill much, mostly due to my inability to roll attacks, it added a good amount of pressure just by existing off the board.

Where do they fit?

To be honest, it can be a bit rough to find a place for Obliterators in lists currently. They definitely got buffs and are cheaper than previously but so many things got cheaper, better and have more synergies. This makes it hard to justify bringing them along without a direct plan for their use.

The Venomcrawler for example is only 105 points, which is the same as a single Obliterator and a Mark of Chaos, and the angry spider is tougher, stronger and gives out buffs for your psykers.

However their use is much different as the Venomcrawler is a great support, tank and counter charge unit Obliterators can benefit from more buffs and can get into places a Venomcrawler can’t easily assault. They’re more of a scalpel than the hammer they used to be and so if you already have a strong front line then bringing one or two along isn’t a terrible idea.

Does it even matter?

Overall I think that Obliterators are honestly in a good spot right now. They’re not insanely overpowered, or particularly weak, but are instead actually balanced. They’re tough, can hit hard and can always be exactly where they need to be. They’re a little pricey at 90 points but for as much flexibility they bring, being good in multiple phases and being solid recipients of several buffs they most definitely still have a place in the current landscape of fast paced 40k.

Of course, make your own conclusions on whether or not you want to bring them, but I enjoy the shenanigans they allow. If you have any thoughts on using Obliterators I'd love to hear em!