Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Leagues of Votann (section)

==Unit Analysis==
===HQ===
*'''Kâhl:''' The generic "captain" of the Votann, your <s>Karl</s> Kahl clocks in with a solid statblock, with a 2+ to hit with both melee and shooting, 4 strength, 4 toughness, 5 wounds, 4 attacks, a 3+ save and a 4++ invuln. He can either take a ''Teleport Crest'' for movement shenanigans and the {{W40kKeyword|Teleportation}} keyword, or a ''Rampart Crest'' to grant a nearby {{W40kKeyword|<league> Infantry}} or {{W40kKeyword|<league> Biker}} a 5++ against ranged attacks, as well as the {{W40kKeyword|Shield Crest}} keyword. Once in your command phase, he can put a ''Vengeance Token'' on a visible enemy unit, and he can let nearby {{W40kKeyword|<league> Core}} units within 6" reroll hits of 1. All that for 90 points before upgrades, the Kâhl is a cheap, efficient and solid little model that will be a mainstay in most army lists.
**'''Votanic Council - High Kâhl:'''+2PL and +40pts. Upgrading a Kâhl to a High Kâhl excludes them from the 0-1-Kâhl-per-Detachment limit, so you can have one Kâhl and one High Kâhl. 
***'''Ability - High Kâhl:''' During the Command Phase, pick <League> Core or <League> Character within 6" to re-roll all hit rolls until your next Command Phase.
***'''Ability - Ancestral Judgment: Efficient Exemplar''' - Whenever the High Kahl kills something that has a Judgment token, ''you can immediately give someone else a token.'' You're already marking one unit a turn, two if you took the High Kahl WT, why not dump a third?
***'''Trait - Experienced Eye:''' You may use Grim Efficiency one additional time, but only on a unit that has not been selected this phase. 
****A good combo for a High Kahl is to give him the Long List Warlord Trait instead of the Experienced Eye trait and then give him the Grudge's End Relic. You have a semi reliable sniper that can put full re-rolls on himself if you need to, snipe out smaller characters, and bounce judgement tokens around the board. This also allows you to move your Kahl to a more advantageous place, get vision on an enemy, kill a unit, and then put a judgement token on that new unit you have vision to. Otherwise you run into the problem finding difficulty putting two tokens on a unit in your command phase before moving and seeing anything. 
*'''Grimnyr:''' Your psyker, with floating robot assistants. Can cast two and deny one psychic power, and comes with some interesting abilities. First off, he gets a 4++ that all of the Votann HQs get, and his floating robobuddies let him ignore perils of the warp so long as one of them are still alive. Perils will destroy a CORV, though, so watch out. In addition, the Grimnyr lets all {{W40kKeyword|<league> Core}} within 6" add one to their combat attrition tests. The whole unit is 100 points, which is relatively cheap, so you should be able to find a place for him in your army.
**'''Votanic Council - Lord Grimnyr:''' +1PL and +25pts upgrades a Grimnyr to a Lord Grimnyr. 
***'''Ability - Lord Grimnyr:''' An additional cast,.
***'''Ability - Ancestral Judgment: Anger of the Ancestors''' - When casting a Stormskein power, if there is an enemy with a judgment token within 18" of the Lord Grimnyr, you get to add 1 to the cast. Since you want to target dudes with tokens anyway, this just makes the cast easier.
***'''Trait - Ancestral Power:''' +6 to power range. 
*'''Brôkhyr Iron-Master:''' The [[Adeptus Mechanicus|techpriest]]. The Iron-Master comes with a bunch of robot helpers, a handful of odd weapons and several useful abilities if you're running a vehicle or {{W40kKeyword|Exo-Frame}} heavy list. The Iron-Master himself totes around a Graviton Hammer, giving him a bit of melee punch. He also has a Graviton Rifle, which is a 18" HunTR 3, S5 AP-3 D2 grav gun that does D3 on enemies with a 3+ save or better. He also has a friendly helper bot armed with a Las-Beam Cutter, but its main use is letting you advance and still perform actions, as well as shoot without an action failing. In addition, you have 3 E-COG helper bots armed with a variety of weapons of questionable usefulness. One gets a Plasma Torch, which is a S+4 AP-4 D2 blowtorch, another has a set of manipulator arms that hit for S:User AP0 D1, and 2 extra attacks, and the third one gets an Autoch-Pattern Bolt Pistol. The E-COG's main use, though, is to buff up your repair ability, so instead of repairing d3 lost wounds to an {{W40kKeyword|<league> Exo-Frame}} or {{W40kKeyword|<league> Vehicle}}, you can repair d3+1, as long as any E-COGs are still alive. To cap this off, your Iron-Master can buff a nearby {{W40kKeyword|<league> Core}} or {{W40kKeyword|<league> Vehicle}} within 9" with a +1 to hit with ranged attacks. What does all this run you for? 90 points, which would be excellent, except you have a very limited pool of repair targets and your {{W40kKeyword|Vehicles}} tend towards being a bit squishy in practice.
**'''Votanic Council - Brokhyr Forgemaster:''' +1PL and +25pts upgrades a Brôkhyr Iron-Master to a Brokhyr Forgemaster. 
***'''Ability - Brokhyr Forgemaster:''' You get to use WARGEAR stratagems as 1 CP less (to a minimum of 0).
***'''Ability - Ancestral Judgment: Forgemaster's Eye''' - When shooting at someone with a Judgment Token, UMWRs of 6 deal MW equivalent to the damage characteristic of the attack and the sequence ends; if using a BEAM weapon, this also applies to anyone else hit that has a judgment token. 
***'''Trait - Master Armourer:''' A two part trait. repair 3 wounds instead of d3 and once per battle round, you can negate the damage of one failed save made by a <League> vehicle or <League> exo-armour unit.
*'''Einhyr Champion:''' The [[Muscle Wizard|muscle]]. The Einhyr Champion is a tough nut to crack, with their {{W40kKeyword|Exo-Armour}} giving them a 2+ save, 5 strength and 5 toughness, as well as -1 to all damage taken. In addition, they buff nearby {{W40kKeyword|Hearthguard}} units within 6" with an aura of rerolling 1s to wound. Because he's a special boy he also gets a ''RAM Shield'', which forces enemies to subtract 1 from any wound rolls against him, as well as a ''Mass Driver Accelerator'', which lets him roll a d6 after making a charge and while he's within engagement range of an enemy unit. On a 6, '''or''' if it beats the highest toughness characteristic of that unit, that unit takes d3 mortal wounds. The Champion can pick between a ''Teleport Crest'' which grants {{W40kKeyword|Teleportation}} and the associated benefits, or a ''Weavefield Crest'' for an extra wound, the {{W40kKeyword|Shield Crest}} keyword and a very sorely needed 4++. He comes stock with an Auroch-Pattern Combi Bolter, which is a 24" HunTR 4 Bolter, and a Darkstar Axe. Depending on what you want to chuck him at you might want to think about dropping 10 points to give him the Mass Hammer, which turns him into a very short, very angry [[Vindicator|Vindicator]]. Point him at the nearest dreadnought or tank and watch him carve a hole right through it. He's a bit expensive at 140 points with the hammer, however. 
**One good way to run him is in the Ymyr Conglomerate with the warlord trait Guild Connections and the relic The Last Crest of Jaluk. This gives you a pretty good beatstick that also has a damage 2 gun and a relic that makes him super tanky.
**The other common way to run him is in the Greater Thurian League with the relic Mass Hammer, Exactor, alongside Uthar. If you roll out your attacks fishing for 6s to hit, Uthar can make one of them a 6 right away giving out mortals incredibly fast. 
**This also kind of works with the Kronus Hegemony. Your Champion with the warlord trait Exemplary Hero gives him 5 attacks that can all be rerolled making it possible to fish for 6s for those tasty mortals. 

====Special Characters====
*'''Ûthar the Destined:''' A High Kahl (Chapter Master) of the Greater Thurian League. Uthar has a lot of things going for him, and as the only named character in the first wave of models, he damn well better be awesome. Overall, he makes for a great force multiplier. You want him on the battlefield handing out full re-rolls to hit and 2+ judgement tokens each turn. Not to mention a host of beneficial auras. Also he can block melta gun blasts with his face. 
**Two Warlord Traits: Experienced Eye (hand out two judgement tokens) and Ancestral Bearing (+3 range to his auras)
**Has a beefed up stat line in comparison with your generic kahl, including 1 better strength, toughness, and attacks and 2 more wounds
**Packs a bog standard Vulkanite Disintegrator and the unique Blade of the Ancestors (User +1, -4 AP, 2 damage). The blade has the twist that an unmodified hit roll of 6 causes 2 mortal wounds and the sequence ends (or 3 mortal wounds if the target has a judgement token). 
**On the defensive side, he rolls with a somewhat weak looking 3+ void armour save and a 4++, but his destined rule compensates. ALL attacks allocated to him have their Damage changed to 1. Yes, he can eat a shot from a meltagun or a las cannon and just walk it off.  
**Has two two auras which benefit from his Ancestral Bearing warlord trait as well as a pseduo-aura: Kindred Hero (see the generic kahl), Rampart Shield (Greater Thurian League infantry and biker units within 6" have a 5++ against ranged attacks) and Ancestral Fortune. (Not really an aura, but once per round Uthar or another GTL Unit within 6" can change the result of a hit roll, wound roll, damage roll, or saving throw to an unmodified 6.)
**Thanks to his Experienced Eye Warlord Trait, he can pick out two units for Grim Efficiency. Which synergizes with the GTL's Appraising Glare stratagem (one unit picked gets two tokens instead of one) and the GTL Judgment (treat 1 token as 2, and 2 tokens as 3); that means, every turn, at least one guy's getting autowounded on 4s.

===Troops===
*'''Hearthkyn Warriors:''' Hearthkyn are your sole troop option, so best get familiar with them quickly. No matter what anyone says, they are not Marines. They have one wound base and only a 4+ armor save to keep them alive. The various customs can boost this durability, but don't expect miracles. The real strength of the unit lies in its ranged weapons, which turn the Hearthkyn into something of a glass hammer. 
**All Hearthkyn weapons, even the most basic, have some kind of ap, starting with -1 on the bolters and hitting -4 on the rail rifle. The value of this will differ when facing opponents with armour of contempt.
**Bolter vs. Ion Blaster: All the models in a unit can swap bolters for blasters for a tiny cost. Doing so gives better strength, ap and damage at the expense of range and halving the number of shots. If you intend to run your hearthkyn aggressively in Sagitars or are facing a MEQ heavy meta, ion blasters may be the better bet. Otherwise, stick to the bolters.
***Take note that Ymyr can really take advantage of the Ion Blasters with their 4" range increase across the board getting 22" range total. The bolters still have the range advantage with 28" total, but the blasters being almost normal bolter range make them even more tempting.
** The Medic is cheap and will save a Hearthkyn a turn by turning the damage of a failed save to 0, easily making him worth the upgrade. A Strategem to bring D3 models back is great- especially since it can bring back the Theyn. Don't feel bad about using the model with 2w and a good invuln to 'tank'.
**Scanners are okayish if you're up against an army that likes to deepstrike. The strategem is expensive CP wise so spam scanners at your own risk.
**Comms can be useful for turning off auras but beyond that their only use is keeping the Kahl buff outside of his range. Generally a skip unless you want the utility aura denial provides.
**These guys can get pricey if you aren't careful. It's best to pick a build and stick with it depending on what League you are running. Greater Thurian League players will benefit from high rate of fire weaponry and Ymyr players can take advantage of their buffed ranges to make the short range heavy weapons more viable. Whatever you choose, keep them cheap. Nothing stings worse than spending 165 points on a fully kitted squad just to lose it turn one because these Dwarfs aren't very hardy.
***Alternate Take: Pain builds character.

===Elites===
*'''Einhyr Hearthguard:''' Dwarfy [[Terminator|terminators]], or shorter [[Starcraft|Starcraft]] marines. No matter what you think of them, they're pretty solid, with {{W40kKeyword|Exo-Armour}} giving them 5 strength and 5 toughness, a 2+ save but [[Fail|no native invulnerable save]], and the ability to reduce damage done to them by 1 (to a minimum of 1). 
**They come stock with one EtaCarn Plasma Gun, Exo-Armour Grenade Launcher and Concussion Gauntlet each, and can swap the plasma gun for a Volkanite Disintegrator, as well as swap the gauntlet for a Plasma Blade Gauntlet. The Hesyr can instead switch their melee weapon to a Concussion Hammer for a smidgen more damage at -1 to hit.
**They can either take a Weavefield Crest that grants the unit the {{W40kKeyword|Shield Crest}} keyword and an extra wound and 4++ for the bearer, or a Teleport Crest that gives the unit the {{W40kKeyword|Teleportation}} keyword and the ability to deep strike. 
**Ultimately, what holds them back is the lack of an invuln, the low number of attacks per model, and them having just ''2'' wounds, though they're somewhat protected from plasma by reducing damage done to them by 1. 
***Those Crests are going to be very important in determining how you play them. The Shield Crest will <s>make you better Gravis</s> [[Bullshit|only apply to the squad sergeant]], with 3W and a 2+/4++, on top of your -1 Dam and Void Armor, but with a 5" move (8" if advancing), and 24/18" guns, you'll struggle to be in range of anything just walking; the Telportation Crest keeps you at at 2W, but lets you deepstrike or reposition with a strat; the lack of an invuln is ''slightly'' made better by the fact that with Void Armour and a 2+, you'll at least have a save. 
**Taking them in either the Ymyr Conglomerate for a 4++ or the Urani-Surtr Regulates for +1 toughness, as well as tossing the ''Fortify'' power on them via Grimnyr, will go some way to mitigate their average durability. If you so choose, you can also deep strike them, use the ''Site-to-Site Transport'' stratagem  or squeeze them into a Land Fortress to get them within face-punching range, which helps their lack of mobility.
*'''Cthonian Beserks:''' M5" A3 WS3+ S5 T5 Sv6+/5+++ W2. They can re-roll charges, and if a model dies before it can make its attacks, it can fight after the enemy unit attacks. Their 5+++ is a 4+++ against D1 attacks.
**Each is armed with a heavy plasma axe that has two profiles: SU(5) AP-3 D1 but A*2 (A*D 6, 4 after accuracy), or S+1(6) AP-3 D2 (A*D 6, 4 after accuracy), or replace that with a concussion maul for Sx2(10) AP-3 D3, -1 to hit (A*D 9, 4.5 after accuracy). 
**For every 5 guys, you can replace one guy's axe with twin concussion gauntlets, hitting at A+1(4) S+3(8) AP-2 D2 (A*D 8, 6 after accuracy). 
**Additionally, 1 in 5 guys that doesn't have twin concussion gauntlets can take a mole grenade launcher for a 24" HunTR D6 S5 AP-2 D1 Indirect Fire, Blast (A*D 3.5) weapon that gives the ''bearer'' +1 W and A, as well as giving the unit the {{W40kKeyword|Subterranean Explosives}} keyword. This ''does not'' replace the bearer's axe.
***That 6+ save and W2 doesn't feel very thick, in spite of it also having Void Armor and a 5+++; if you make them {{W40kKeyword|YMYR CONGLOMERATE}}, they get a 5++, though, which is hilarious.

===Fast Attack===
*'''Hernkyn Pioneers:''' Objective secured hover bikes with a scout move and fly. M12" T5 W3 body with a 4+ Void Armour save. Each bike packs a decent shooting package with shotguns, pistols, and grenades, all resolving at strength 5, Ap -1. However the real meat will be the Autocannons (24" 3 shot, S 7, AP -1, 2 damage) and the option to upgrade one in every three models with one of two special weapons as an add on: the 9 shot rotary cannon (24", Strength 6, Ap -2, 1 damage) or the 2 shot Ion Beamer (18" strength 7, Ap -2, 2 damage, beam). Alternatively, you can equip a model with wargear that grant the {{W40kKeyword|Searchlight}}, {{W40kKeyword|Comms}}, or {{W40kKeyword|Scanner}} keywords and an appropriate benefit.
**Probably the best datasheet in the book. They offer a lot of utility which is always nice, they are fast which the Leagues of Votann lack, and they can be outfitted in a number of ways depending on the army build you are going for. Obsec is just a cherry on top.
***Stocks are at an all time high with the Arks of Omen release. A unit of three of these without upgrades is the cheapest way to fill out the mandatory requirements for the AoO detachment. Even with upgrades they run slightly cheaper than a basic squad of Hearthkyn Warriors (with no upgrades!).
*'''Sagitaur ATV:''' A space marine razorback that comes in squads of up to 2. Its toughness of 7, 9 wounds, and 3+ armour save leave it on the slightly more fragile side, even with Void Armour. The Sagitaur can carry up to five infantry models, but no Exo-armour or exo-frames. If you take two, you can split a 10-model unit of Hearthkyn Warriors or Beserks between them, providing a pseudo-combat squad effect. 
**Offensively, the Sagitaur packs a '''HYLas Beam Cannon''' (24" 2 shot, S 9, AP -3, d6 damage, beam) and a '''Twin Bolt Cannon''' (36" 6 shot, Strength 6, Ap -2, 2 damage). The HYLas can be swapped for either of the following:
***The flexible '''L7 Missile Launcher''' (30", either 1 shot, strength 9, AP -2, d6 damage or 1d6 shots, strength 5, AP -1, 1 damage, blast) paired with the longer-range '''Sagitaur Missile Launcher''' (36" 2 shot, strength 10, AP -3, 3 damage). Both launchers can be fired in the same turn as they are seperate weapons.
***The high rate-of-fire '''MATR Autocannon''' (24" 6 shot, Strength 7, AP-2, 2 damage).

===Heavy Support===
*'''Brôkhyr Thunderkyn:''' Your standard devastator equivalent core unit. Comes in squads of 3-6 (no sergeant). T5 W3 Sv3+ and the built-in ability to ignore dense cover. Can only be transported by a Hekaton but the fact that all their guns are HunTR mitigates some of the need for standing still. All models in the unit must have the same weapon and the options are as follows: the long-range Bolt Cannon (36" HunTR 3 S6 AP-2 D2, A*D 6), the close-range Graviton Blast Cannon (18" HunTR d6 S5 AP-3 D2, Blast and D3 against Sv3+ or better, A*D 7 or 10.5) and the slightly more expensive SP Conversion Beamer (30" HunTR 1 S7 AP-2 D3, Beam and each hit counts as 2 against units more than 15" away, A*D 3 or 6 per unit).
**With the new FAQ out, it confirms that "Each time an additional hit is scored against the target, that hit counts as its own attack, and so will cause a wound roll to be made against any intervening units." This is great because with the beam weapons you can put on the Thunderkyn, if you run 6 of them and hit something >15" away and get the expected 4 doubled to 8 hits, every unit along the line takes 8 hits too regardless of if they are within 15" of your unit. Still expensive and probably not good, but still cool to come in from reserve and beam an entire line of enemy units 30" across the board. If you're worried about missing any initial beam shots, use the strat to give them full rerolls to hit to really make sure you get all 6 shots through which will then double. 
*'''Hekaton Land Fortress:''' The Hekaton is the toughest vehicle in the league armory with 16W, a toughness of 8, and a 2+ void armour save.  M10-6" and a BS that starts at 3 before degrading. 
**Each comes stock with a '''MATR Autocannon:''' 24" Heavy 6 S7 AP-2 D2 (A*D 12)  
**Weapon choices:
***4 '''Bolt Cannons''' (36" HunTR 3 S6 AP-2 D2, A*D 6 - FAQ changed these to 3 shots apiece), 4 '''Ion Beamers''' (18" HunTR 2 S7 AP-2 D2, Beam, A*D 4 per unit), or 2 of each. You probably want 4 Bolt Cannons. 
***1 of the following:
****'''Cyclic Ion Cannon:''' 24" Heavy 3D3 S8 AP-2 D2 (A*D 12)
****'''SP Heavy Conversion Beamer:''' 30" HunTR 2 S8 AP-3 D4, Beam, scores an additional hit if a unit that was hit was wholly outside 15" (A*D 8 or 16 per unit).
****'''Magna Rail Cannon''' 36" Heavy 1 S14 AP4 D2d3+6, Magna-Rail (A*D 10)
***1 of the following:
****''' Spectral Scanner:''' Grants the {{W40kKeyword|Scanner}} keyword and lets your attacks ignore light cover.
****'''Ancestor's Vengeance:''' 36" Heavy D6 S6 AP2 D2, Indirect Fire, One Shot Per Battle, when used against a {{W40kKeyword|vehicle}} increase to D3 and a wound roll of 4+ always succeeds; A*D 7 or 10.5
****'''Kin's Wrath:''' 36" Heavy 2D6 S6 AP-2 D1, Blast, Indirect Fire, One Shot Per Battle; A*D 7
****'''Mountain Breaker:''' 36" Heavy 1 S10 AP-3 D6, Indirect Fire, One Shot Per Battle; A*D 3.5 
*****The best option is the scanner. It lasts all game long instead of just once a game, it's free, it gets rid of light cover which is great when facing marines in cover, and it unlocks the strat to PAN SPECTRAL WARNING a unit that drops in from reserve within 12 inches of your giant landfortress. It's great having a unit of warptalons or something deepstrike in to charge and tie up your tank, and then die from all of the firepower.
**Oh, and it's a transport. 12 {{W40kKeyword|INFANTRY}} models, with {{W40kKeyword|Exo-Armour}} taking up 2 slots and {{W40kKeyword|Exo-Frame}} taking up 3. Basically you put your warriors in, go up to an objective, drop them off, and then sit your tank on the objective with the troops around it as a mini base of operations that can also shoot a unit coming in from deepstrike to take the position from you. 
**At 16 W, it has more wounds than a Russ, equivalent to a Repulsor Executioner or Land Raider, but less than a Daemon Primarch and some Tyranid Monsters. This is a heavy transport and should be played as such, but with Void Armor making it so that an unlucky opponent ''cannot'' re-roll wounds or unlucky damage rolls of 1 or 2, it will be a lot harder to fully destroy than a Repulsor.
**A Brôkhyr Iron-Master or Forgemaster is a natural pairing with the Hekaton. They can boost the ballistic skill of its numerous weapons, repair it, and (in the case of the Forgemaster's warlord trait) negate a failed save each battle round.