Effrit Headhunter

The Alpha Legion's Men in Black Blue.

Remember when we talked about how much the Alpha Legion love the concept of the Seeker Squad? Yeah, here is the result of centuries of improving on said concept into something new. Headhunters, or Effrit were the hyper specialized Alpha Legion infantry during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.

Overview

As aforementioned, these were a further refinement of the Seeker concept, the Alpha Legion formed Kill Teams of skilled infiltrators who specialized in creating conditions of all-consuming chaos among the enemy's ranks. They sowed confusion by eliminating key officers, striking key positions, and sabotaging key assets. Had their activities been known by the Galaxy at large, they would have been greatly feared. They were considered to be one of several formations referred to as an Effrit Stealth Squad.

Outside of typical Splinter Cell-shenanigans, Effrit Headhunters also performed a role of Honour Guard for their Primarchs. Yes, like the Black Legion, the Alpha Legion had two Honour Guards with the other being the Lernaeans. Compared to their bulkier counterparts which serve as the generic orthodox bodyguards, the Effrit was the 'hidden dagger', the bodyguards you cannot see which adds a layer of defence for either Alpharius or Omegon.

As the most skilled infiltrators and assassins in the Legion, Headhunters had access to the most advanced wargear the Alpha Legion could provide. This included Combi-Bolters and Astartes Assault Shotguns with specialized Banestrike ammunition designed specifically to penetrate Power Armour, Combi-Volkites, Heavy Bolters, Multi-Meltas, Bolt Pistols, Power Daggers, a shitload of Frag and Krak Grenades, as well as all of them wearing advanced Mark VI: Corvus Armour.

Crunch

On the Horus Heresy tabletop, the Headhunters come in two varieties. The first is called the Headhunter Kill Team which are Fast Attack squads that start with a Banestrike Combi-Bolter, Power Dagger, Bolt Pistol, Venom Sphere on the Prime, Frag Grenades, Krak Grenades, Relentless, Precision Shots (4+), Preferred Enemy (Independent Character), Infiltrate and Scout for 125 points. These guys are a threat to characters of all varieties and will force your opponent to deal with them.

The second variant is called the Effrit Disruption Cadre, and at 145 points you get 5 Recon Marines with 2 wounds and BS5 who are all equipped with specialised Banestrike Shotguns which are simply AP5 Shotguns with Shred, Breaching(6+) and Concussive (1). The Banestrike Shotguns can be swapped out for Nemesis Bolters and each marine is also equipped with a Hydra's Wail Disruption Array that doesn't do any damage to its targets, but instead inflicts -1Ld and disables all Augury and Vox equipment unit the start of the next active player's turn (coincidentally meaning the rule doesn't actually affect Augury Scanners- this needs an FaQ). Five more men can be added to the squad and the whole squad can also take Power Daggers for a fixed 25 points and Melta Bombs for 5 points each.