Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Solar Auxilia (30k)

Behold, Solar Auxilia!!

The Imperial Army now takes to the field with the addition of the Solar Auxilia rules for the Horus Heresy.

The Solar Auxilia are a shooting army, relying on weight of fire to counter the Legiones Astartes and the Mechanicum.

Special Rules

• Disciplined Fire: All models with this rule can fire Overwatch at BS2 when using Pistols, Assault and Rapid-fire weapons (read: all your infantry). Whatever helps stalling close combat is nice, but with AP- on most of your weapons this isn't a game changer. Though it's a nice incentive for buying plasma pistols or Archaeotech Pistols for that re-rollable 5+
• Close Formation Fighting: Akin to the greek and macedonian phalanxes, 2+ models with this rule in base contact during an assault phase gain +1 WS, sorta helping stall those killer marines. Like with the real life formation, this is meant to be used for gaining/holding ground while support units (like tanks & artillery) do the real pummeling. Of course, assume this formation only when assaulters are upon you - your enemy also has artillery of his own!
• Hold the Line: If you have a squad within 12" of another squad from the same Tercio (platoon) that is not falling back, you can re-roll Morale and Pinning rolls of 6 in the Psychic or Shooting phases. They'll still flee in assault, but CFF helps them in that. Nice, because your vexillas (banners), unlike the Legion's ones, won't allow you to re-roll morale checks.
• Structured Command: The elaborated version of 40K Militarum's Chain of Command.
  • The Lord Marshal is always the Warlord unless there's a named character who can override.
  • If you lack any Lord Marshals, then a Legate Commander is the Warlord.
  • Not having those, the Stratego of any of your Tactical Command Section will be the Warlord.
  • Not having that, then the Tank Commander with the priciest tank will be the Warlord, but he won't have a Trait.

Wargear

Ranged Weapons

• Archaeotech Pistols: S6 AP3 Master-crafted pistol. Your powermincer. Too bad it's available only to the Lord Marshal. Works well with Disciplined Fire, hitting on a re-rollable 5+ on Overwatch so, if you're using him, buy one for him.
• Graviton Weapons: Not to be confused with Grav-weapons; their wounding has nothing to do with the enemy's armour save. These Heavy weapons (not Salvo) possess no Strength, but have both Concussion and Haywire effects. They roll against the enemy Strength to score wounds - a result of 6 always causes a wound. Annoyingly this makes it largely ineffective against infantry blobs (seriously GEQs have 50% chance to survive, while MEQs have a 66% chance). However it also creates Difficult and Dangerous terrain in its blast radius, so it can at least severely impede their movement. A little short ranged, they come in gun (18", Blast) and cannon (36" Large Blast) flavors.
• Grenade Launcher: Comes with 3 different grenades: The basic Kraks, Kinetic (S4 AP5 Blasts, so AoE Bolter) and Tempest, which is AP6 Haywire on demand. Pretty versatile, actually.
• Las Weaponry: Yeah, this is your army's bread and butter right here. And we mean it: not counting Volkite/Flamers-only squads and Techpriests, currently you can field like 6 special weapons per detachment. Fortunately, you get LOTS of variety, as the lasrifle your basic tercios get comes with special attachments and whatnot.
  • Laspistol: It's a fucking laspistol. What'd you expect?
  • Blast Pistol: A predecessor to the Hot-Shot weaponry. It's pretty much the revolver version of the laspistol: Officers only, with Twin-linked and S5 but half the range and Gets Hot, with no AP value. But it's only 2pts, and Gets Hot is virtually unheard of with TL, while comboing with Disciplined Fire.
  • Lasrifle: A 30" lasgun with a fancy name. Extra range, BS2 on Overwatch, attachment options...these were manly weapons, instead of mere flashlights.
    • Collimator: The first of two attachments, this is a 36" Heavy 2 lasgun shot. Pretty useful when holding objectives and you need to add some firepower to a fight.
    • Blast-Charger: Turns your lasrifle into a pocket multilaser. An 18" S6 AP6 Heavy 1 shot that runs a modified version of Power Outage: After shooting, the gun can't be used again for the next turn as it cools down. In addition, roll one D6 (per squad); on a 6 the charger (not the lasrifle) becomes unusable for the rest of the game, but at least you'll be wounding marines on a 2+ and now your basic troops have a chance against Mechanicum, so it's worth a try. Remember Disciplined Fire doesn't work for Heavy weapons, so DON'T use them for Overwatch - you'll end up less unsaved wounds overall, and with the risk of a Charger Burnout, so stick to normal BS2 lasrifle overwatch.
• Needle Pistol: S2 AP5 with Rending and Poisoned, which is actually as good/better than a bolter, specially vs 2+ save MEQs. Medicae exclusive.
• Plasma pistol: The same as always, with a minimal but significant twist: It's rather decently priced now - 15pts was insane, 10 still borders madness, but with Disciplined fire less so. Not to mention it's pretty much the only plasma your infantry can get. So, instead of a power weapon that pretty much always goes last, which WILL get you killed, consider buying this, which might get you killed.
• Rotor Cannons: Salvo lasguns, really. A nice way to add volume of fire. They're 30" S3 AP6, so they suck only slightly less than normal.
• Volkite Weapons: The literal Martian ray gun. They have the Deflagrate special rule, which means each unsaved wound inflicts another automatic hit. Additional hits this way cannot cause yet more hits. They have nice Strenght but poor AP and range, so you better throw DTs or some support in the mix. Your infantry only gets access to the Serpenta (pistol) and Charger (assault) variants here, both S5 AP5.

Armor & Invuln

• Void Armor: When the IG got actual space armor instead of cardboard. Void Hardened Carapace Armor, thus 4+ save being stock for the Solar Auxilia, while doing fine even in Zones Mortalis (if you ever play that). Pretty sweet.
• Reinforced Void Armor: Void Armor that re-rolls failed saves against Templates and Blasts. This is invaluable and awesome - short of the best armor a regular human could hope for. Veletaris exclusive, though.
• Artificer Armor: The classic 2+ save Marine Commanders (and Inquisitors) usually get, available for your Legate Commanders.
• Refractor Field: The Guard Commander's familiar 5++ Invul.
• Iron Halo: The Chapter Master's familiar 4++ Invul.
• Displacer Matrix: Possibly the best protection system even Magos could ask for, wonder how this isn't a Relic. A 3++ Invul save that, if any 1's are rolled, teleports the wielder to Ongoing Reserves. The player must then Deep-Strike this guy anywhere he likes, meaning boot him to another wherever he's needed most (like behind a big squad). The supposed 'catch'? If you get any mishap he'll die. BUT since even your common squads have vox operators (no scatter), you won't ever care.

Equipment

• Augury scanner: No unit can infiltrate within 18" of the unit. In addition, grants Interceptor to the unit's Rapid fire & Heavy weapons but only against enemies within the 18" range. That last part is incredibly important, turning this from an auto-include item to highly-situational, namely, to keep someone from infiltrating with a melta near your tanks' rear AV. But don't expect much against Terminators.
• Cognis-signum: Counts as an Augury scanner + Night vision. In addition, if the model doesn't shoot, it can confer +1BS to ANY nearby squad, except for ICs and Superheavies. So yeah, it can benefit Tanks.
• Cyber familiar: +1 to your invuln save and allows re-rolling of failed tests, except Ld and Dangerous terrain.
• Digital lasers: +1 attack. Good thing it's only 5pts, because even with this you don't want to be in CC.
• Grav-wave generator: "What wouldn't I give to avoid CC". Emperor heard your plea, this is -D3" to enemy assaults targeting the bearer (or his unit), and denies HoW. Better than some relics, actually.
• Infravisor: Confers Night vision but renders the user vulnerable to Blind, testing at I1 only. Available to any character in the army.
• Nuncio vox: No scatter for allied Deep strikers within 6", and Barrage weapons can use the carrying model's line of sight (range is still measured from the firing model).
• Psi-jammer: Grants Adamantium Will.
• Troop Vexilla: 'Vexilla' is Latin for 'Banner'. Allows you to regroup despite incurring in 25% casualties. It also counts as scoring +1 wound in CC, so it both stacks with Close Formation Fighting and Hold the Line. Nice, since every Section Sgt. has one.
  • Cohort Vexilla: Counts as a Troop Vexilla that allows friendly Auxilia squads within 24" to utterly ignore casualties when taking Morale tests. Command Section exclusive, naturally.
• Shroud Bombs: "Let's keep this avoid-assault trend!" Count as Defensive grenades (Blind when thrown, no +1 charge attack when assaulted) with a bonus: Unless the assaulters are Daemons, Gargantuan creatures or have Night vision, they need to take a Ld test to charge at you. Ld is very high in 30k, so take them as Defensive grenades, mostly.

Vehicle Equipment and Rules

• Armoured Ceramite: Lets the vehicle ignore the Melta rule. This is the reason Melta weapons are frowned upon in this millenium.
• Auxiliary Drive: Allows the vehicle to repair an Immobilized result on a 4+ at the start of the Movement phase.
• Explorator Adaptation: All your Tanks have this. Rerolls failed Dangerous terrain tests, 6++ save against Blast/Templates and counts as Void Hardened. And you thought your vehicles were already tough.
• Flare Shield: Front facing force field that reduces the strength of incoming frontal shots by -1. Template/Blast weapons get a -2S reduction instead, but melee/Destroyer hits are unaffected.
• Lascannons: EVERY vehicle can get Lascannons (except artillery), and very often these are Twin-linked, so you can actually spam them because they are surprisingly cheap. Tread softly and carry a big gun indeed.
• Multilasers: Seriously, more more Multilasers than an Irish Leper colony. Your trademark Heavy weapon, it is to the Auxilia what Heavy Bolters are to Astartes. You've got them as standard on quite a lot of vehicles, you can swap Heavy bolters with them for free on Leman Russes and damn near every vehicle can take them as a pintle-mounted weapon. Being able to shove these things on vehicles instead of Heavy Bolters is a god-send. Although S6 wounds Marines on a 2+ and even Castellax on a 5+, AP6 is nigh useless. That said, Multilasers are better than Heavy Bolters against 3+ saves, but against most Mechanicum and other Auxilia you'd be better keeping the Heavy Bolter's AP4.

Relics

The Solar Auxilia use the generic list of Dark Age of Technology relics everyone uses, plus their SA specific ones. Since they are restricted for IC use, the only ones with access to them would be Legate Commanders/Marshals, so the usefulness of some items does not translate directly over from the Legion options.

In a campaign you're only allowed one character with a relic which you'll be stuck for the rest of the campaign, so be sure of your decision. If the relic bearer is killed, the side that killed him can choose to play a Relic Hunt mission, where the winner steals (or recovers) the relic, even if it's a Legion specific one, but a Draw means that relic is effectively lost for everyone. Still, you can always opt to play a 'Relic Hunt' mission at the beginning of every campaign phase to acquire FREE relics, where your war zone-assigned character must be deployed and thus miss all other missions played in that phase...but that way you can hoard up on relics, even getting duplicates of the non-faction-specific ones, by rolling a D6 on the 'Relic Uncovered' table below. Of course, this only matters when playing missions instead of casual gaming, enjoy!

• #1 Nanyte Blaster: The Grey Goo gun of uncontrolled carnage!!! It's a S5 AP2 Fleshbane weapon, where if it kills anyone you centre a large blast over the dead model on a die roll of 4+, causing a S5 AP2 hit to those underneath it. Unlike Volkite, each model who dies to this can cause yet MOAR large blasts on further rolls of a 4+. All you need to do is get one casualty and you can wipe out an entire unit! Smashing!
• #2 Warp Shunt Field: 3++ against shooting, however for every save of a 6+ (against direct fire weapons) the shooting unit suffers D6 S5 hits. This is the only risk-free defensive relic.
• #3 Phase Walker: Each moving phase, instead of moving you may place the bearer anywhere you like, counting as having just deep struck but with no scatter. If you move through a solid object you have to take a dangerous terrain check for EACH solid object you went through (including all models) so be wary of abusing it in city scenarios. Quite nice for Void Masters, who have Move through Cover, so feel free to abuse it. Too bad this leaves behind the rest of his unit, and commanders aren't known for being one-men armies. If you're up against an Assault heavy army though or are playing a Zone Mortalis/Cities of Death game it can make it's points back as your Warlord retreats through walls (and into another unit) so he can't be assaulted, like a panic button.
• #4 Combat Augment Array: Once per game, at the beginning of any of the controller's player turn, he may count any single die (only 1) rolled as an automatic 6 (Emails from FW confirm). However, he must also pass Toughness tests for each remaining wound. If he fails he suffers a wound with no saves or mitigating FnP rolls of any kind. A cyber familiar can mitigate the danger by granting a re-roll on the commander tests. However, you're paying 35pts for one guaranteed 6 - nice combo with a Paragon Blade, but given that you hit on 5+ and everyone strikes before you...[Tau|do you really want to be in Close combat]?
• #5 Cloaking Array: Once per game, at the beginning of ANY game turn you may make yourself invisible for that whole game turn (ie. on the 3rd turn both in your and your opponent's turn, thus starting on your enemy's turn if he goes first). You cannot be shot or charged at unless the enemy unit contains psykers or daemons, in which case the array immediately shuts down (so now everyone can hit you, not just the prevous two). Unfortunately you cannot activate it while attached to a squad or if engaged in close combat already. You also cannot shoot, assault, move or do anything at all. So your model stands on the same spot invisible but doing nothing during a whole game turn. Since you don't want your commander to be alone, pass on this one.
• #6 Void Shield Harness: Yep. You can get a voidshield for your dude. It's a large blast-sized shield, centered on your dude but protecting anyone that fits inside. Glancing, Penetrating and Destroyer hits will collapse the shield, but it can be restored at the end of your turn on a 5+, and with AV12 you'll be immune to most small arms fire. However, a result of Explodes! will overload the shield, disabling it for the rest of the game and placing a S6 AP4 Large Blast template centered on the bearer - that's Instant Death for your commander and his friends, who won't get their armor saves, so better pick another relic.

• Solar Auxillia Specific
  • Metaphasic Reader: Grants the bearer and units from the same detachment within 12" the Interceptor rule. Costs 45 points but can be priceless against an Orbital Strike Legion detachments, especially bacause it also affects vehicles like Leman Russ tanks.
  • Apex Digital Weapon: More like Ape-X, am I right? Incredibly overcosted for what it does, though. It counts as a normal Digital Weapon, granting +1 attack, but also once per game it can be fired as either a Lascannon, Plasma Cannon, Multi-Melta or Volkite Caliver. But when you factor the cost of the basic Digi weapons you've essentially just paid 30 points for a One-use heavy weapon at BS4. If you want a super shooting attack, buy the Nanyte blaster instead.

Warlord Traits

1. Uncanny Survivor: Your squishy humie is now an Eternal Warrior, which is actually good, since a lucky plasma bolt could ID your 80pts+ Commander, and there's a lot of that in 30k. However, he should be a force multiplier instead of a champion or something.
2. Shattering Bombardment: Warlord grants Twin-Linked to a single Ordnance weapon within 6".
3. Bitter Blood: Gains Hatred, but only in challenges.
4. Blind Barrage: At the start of the game you can give all friendly SA units the Shrouded USR, there is no reason not to use this.
5. Void Master: Being a Rogue Trader makes him Stubborn and any unit they join gains Move Through Cover.
6. Siege Master: Because Shatter Defenses and Digestive Denial were so great FW saw fit to re-re-use this decent Warlord Trait.

Unit Analysis

HQ

• Legate Commander - A basic Company Commander with Carapace armor for only 45, he comes with all the basics of the army and can upgrade his pistol and buy a Charnabal Sabre. For extra survival, he can also buy an Iron Halo or Artificer Armor for survivability. He can let anyone in his army use his Ld for Morale and Pinning so long as he's not Falling Back or in combat, so he's a bit better with his Ld, but not as breakingly powerful as his 40K equivalent's orders.
  • Lord Marshal - For 35 points more, you boost your commander's I/A/Ld by 1. This is also a lot more badass as it not only gives him a special retinue, but it also allows him to CHOOSE his WT, which absolutely nobody but Fulgrim can do, and here's a squishy humie who can do so. Along with all the other upgrades, the Lord Marshal can now buy a Paragon Blade and Archaeotech Pistol, a Grav-Wave generator, and a Displacer matrix.
  • There's a big question here over where to put him and what role he should have. You can keep him barebones just to get the command benefits, but a barebones Lord Marshal costs 80pts and only has T3, W3 and a 4+/5++ Save. A good place to start with upgrades is to give him Artificer Armour, an Iron Halo and a Cyber Familiar to grant him a 2+/3++ save for 40pts, and then maybe a Void Shield Harness for good measure.
  • Alternatively, you can kit him out for close combat and he can do fairly well at it, with WS5 (due to Close Formation Fighting, and lets face it you'll never run him alone), I4 and 3 Attacks (for the Lord Marshal) he can put out a fair bit of damage with the right tools. Tools such as, say, a Master Crafted Paragon Blade, Digital Weapons and a Grav-wave Generator, with maybe a Combat Augment Array and/or Void Shield Harness to make him even more rage inducing. This set up can put out 5 WS5 S4 AP2 MC Paragon Blade attacks on the charge, with the possibility of forcing an ID roll with the Combat Augment Array, coupled with a 2+/3++ save and Grav-wave Generator to make it harder to be charged. Combine with a Household Retinue with Power Axes (see below) and you have a hard hitting unit that is practically impossible to charge.

• Lord Marshall Ireton MaSade - He may only look like an average humie with a badass BS 5, but there's more to this badass. As warlord, he gets the Grand Strategy that allows him to place d3 units in reserve or vice versa. He comes stock with Artificer Armor with IWND, an Iron Halo, and AW, making him tough to remove, short of plasma. Aside from that, he's identical to the Legate Commander as a leader, but also gains a rule like the Tyranid formations: The first time a unit that isn't a Unique, Transport, or Lord of War dies, roll a d6; on a 5+, that unit returns to ongoing reserves. As for weapons, he has an MC power sword, an archaeotech pistol, and grenades, so he's about as good as an average guard commander, but with a better pistol by far.

• Auxilia Tactical Command Section - The classic CCS that Guard Players love. For 75, you get the Stratego (Commander), Proclamator (With Nuncio-Vox, so treat him like a walking Homing Beacon), and Vexilarus (Standard Bearer) with 2-7 vets as bodyguards. The Stratego gets a Chapter Master's bombardment, which is S9 AP2 here with Barrage, Blast, and Pinning. Stratego can buy Charnabal Sabres, power weapons, or pistols, 0-2 guards can buy flamers, plasma, melta, volkite, or grenade launchers.
  • When making these guys, always max out the squad size. 25pts for 5 more wounds and 10 more BS4 Lasrifle shots is always worth it.
  • Do note, the Veteran Auxiliaries have both a Collimator and Blast Charger standard, making the squad quite versatile.
  • Don't forget that the Stratego has a Cognis-signum, and is your only source of this BS-boosting gear. Due to it's limited range however you want to keep this squad close to your other units, otherwise they wont be able to benefit from it. Use it on a group of Veletaris with rotor cannons for 40 "lasrifle" shots at BS5.
  • When it comes to upgrades you're pretty limited, with only 2 Veterans being able to replace their lasrifles for special weapons. Volkite aren't worth it: you wont be able to pump out enough shots to take full advantage of them, and by that point you're probably a bit tooooo close to the enemy. Grenade Launchers are always a good choice, especially with the versatility of the three grenade type that can be fired. Flamers are good, but yet again why are you letting the enemy get that close to you? Rotor Cannons allow you to pack more "Lasrifle" shots at range, but don't allow them to deal with more specialised threats. Melta Guns are nigh-useless in the 30K setting, so are unrelated to your interests. Plasma guns have the usual "useful but keep blowing up in my face" problem, however this squad is pretty much your only source of plasma, so consider wisely. As for the Strategos' upgrades, they're mostly useless: they either don't add enough firepower or are use for positions you shouldn't be getting yourself into, like, say, close combat. Notable exceptions include the Blast and Needle Pistol which, if you have 5pts that need spending, you may want to give to another squad anyway.

• Auxilia Tank Commander - Fun note, these guys give anyone within 12" re-rolls on morale for being on a huge tank of win. For 55 more points, you can make a Russ, Malcador, Valdor, or Baneblade become a Command Tank with BS4, but he can never be the mandatory HQ. His tank can now overwatch with any weapon available and can choose either Tank Hunter, Monster Hunter, IWND, Scout + Move Through Cover, or Precision Shots (on all non-Template and non-Blast weapons). Select based on how the tank works.

Elites

• Auxilia Medicae Detachment - They work essentially like Legio Apothecaries, they have to split up into multiple squads, conferring FNP to that new squad. These squads can either be Tercio squads or Command Sections. They are strangely priced at 60 for three and then 15 for each successive one, and they can only buy Needle Pistols.
  • Generally, these wont see quite as much use as their Legion counterparts, which is a shame really because giving a Solar Auxilia unit FNP makes them nearly as hardy as Space Marines against Bolter fire. The main issue in their use is that they stop a squad from fitting inside transports, which isn't as much of an issue if you're foot slogging you men across the battlefield. If you're going to use them think carefully, 60 points is a waste if you only really need it for one squad. However, they'll really help out any unit they are attached to, so are definitely worth considering.

• Auxilia Rapier Battery - The same rapier from legions, crewed by auxillia, squad size 1-3 guns with 2 crew members a piece and with slightly different weapon options. Comes with a quad multi-laser, can be upgraded to laser destroyer, quad mortar, or graviton cannon. The Quad mortar may use either standard Frag-munitions or Shatter-Shells in a manner similar to missile launchers Frag and Krak. Shatter-Shells at H4 S8-Sunder can take on pretty much any target with margins of success.
  • Lets look at the weapons - your stock Quad Multi-Laser is 36" S6 AP 6 Heavy 6 and Twin-Linked. Unfortunatly, it's not very good at anything, with 3 of them only causing 4 wounds on MEQs. They could be used as a light vehicle hunter, where they can chip off quite a few hull points for low AV targets, however they lose effect on AV13-14. Laser Destroyers are dedicated anti-tank weapons designed to blow shit up, however they wont chip off many hull points and in an addition where tanks die a death of a thousand cuts, these fall by the wayside a bit. However, if you do use them remember that they are Twin-Linked and that whatever Pen results you get are going to HURT that tank, be it through blowing off guns, stopping it moving or just blowing it up. Quad mortars are the "tactical" choice, and are probably the best one off this list. They fire 4 S5 AP5 Pinning Small Blast templates with an additional -1 to the Ld test for pinning, or 4 S8 AP4 shots with Sunder, which re-rolls failed armour penetration rolls. However, while this weapon is good it will struggle with Heavy Infantry/Tanks, so take something else to cover this. Graviton Cannons are an odd one, they're AP 4, but wound based off of a Strength test which means they wound Marines on a 5+. However, their true value lies in their ability to create dangerous terrain, so should you feel your army needs to make sure the enemy stays in place to work then take these. Also they possess both concussive and haywire, which can both be effective to make foes strike after you (for once) or destroy vehicles.

• Auxilia Ogryn Charonite Squad - These are essentially Ogryns if they became Arco-Flagellants. They get the basic 4+ and have no guns, but instead get S+1 AP3 melee weapons that, if they score a 6 to-hit, become AP2 ID, meaning utter RAPE. Issue is that they're never scoring, they can't go to ground, and always have to make sweeping advances or consolidate towards the nearest enemy. If they ever fail morale, then an unengaged HQ can *BLAM* d3 wounds randomly off the mindless brutes, automatically ignoring the test. If you need walking shields, then you can do worse.
  • These guys are hella-tough. With toughness 5, a 4+ Save and Feel No Pain (6+) they are going to take quite a beating to put down outside of demolisher cannons. However, don't think you can just sit them in the midfield and let them get on with it: they may be Stubborn, but only have Ld 6, so if they have to take any moral checks they're going to run, and with Initiative 2 they're likely to get sweeping advanced as well. You *could* *BLAM* D3 wounds off them, but then run the risk of killing an Ogryn off and lowering the damage output of the squad. The best route is probably to put your Legete Commander/Lord Marshal in with them, as his Leadership should stop them from failing any tests. He has the High Command Special Rule, meaning that all friendly models use his leadership for Moral and Pinning tests. Same principle applies though.
  • On the offensive front, these guys aren't quite as impressive as they first seem. Sure, there Charonite Claws LOOK good on paper, but each Ogryn can only has 3 attacks, so on the charge that's 4 attacks + Hammer of Wrath at S5. Considering how expensive they are (and that you probably should have them in a transport) you probably aren't going to have more than 3, meaning 12 attacks + 3 HoW, leading to only 6 dead Marines. Also, they're claws are AP3, and even with To-Hits of a 6 being AP2 they're going to struggle. Terminators on the other hand will laugh at you as they fistfuck you with their Power Fists. In short, keep them the fuck away from terminators and use them as a DISTRACTION CARNIFEX.

• Enginseer Auxilia - Another strangely priced unit with 1 Enginseer and 4 servo-automata normally costing 40 (20 for Enginseer, 20 for the automata) as opposed to the 65 mentioned. 15 points allows the Enginseer to grab other automata, Servo-automata with servo-arms (for 5 points) boost their Enginseer's Battlesmith roll by +1 each.
  • Fun side note, every servo-automata in the unit can be given a special weapon. This gives you the opportunity to have a unit of 8 solar auxilia grenade launchers (which have haywire grenades), not a bad tankbusting unit.
  • Also, don't forget that these guys can take Cortex Controllers, meaning you can take you some SA Castellax or Thallax in your Heavy Support section, neither of which are bad units.

• Household Retinue (Lord Marshal only) - If you bring a Lord Marshal in the army, then he can purchase Veletaris Storm Sections as Elites, boost them to WS4, and let them grab a Dracosan or Arvus as transports, but sacrifice Hold the Line. While the Lord Marshal who bought them's still alive and not falling back, they'll also have PE (Infantry), which is handy.
  • If you're going to take Power Axes, take them on this unit. With their WS4 and Preferred Enemy (Infantry) they make for a surprisingly good assault unit. They have Move Through Cover to keep them shielded when they advance, Shroud Bombs for making it hard for the enemy to charge them and can absolutely own in assault. Each one will put out three S4 AP2 attacks on the charge at WS4 (WS5 with Close Formation Fighting!), with re-rolls to hit and to wound, a full unit (which wont happen because you're almost always striking last, but still) can pump out 31 attacks on the charge, leading to 10 dead marines. Put your Lord Marshal in them and troll your opponent as his big expensive Terminator Squad with Power Fists gets annihilated by a bunch of squishy humans and his Legion Preator gets coup d'eted by a combination of Paragon Blade, Combat Augment Array and the EW Warlord Trait
  • If you want to keep them ranged however, it's probably advisable to go for Volkite Chargers over Rotor Guns. Their PE will help them get more Deflagrate attacks, the WS4 will also help them out as they're more likely to get into close combat due to the range of their guns, and if push comes to shove they still have a Laspistol+CCW. But go for Axes for the awesomeness of your dudes owning the high and mighty space marines. You know you want to.

Troops

• Auxilia Infantry Tercio - Basic core of the army. Consists of three separate slots, with three possible choices for each. One lasrifle commander in the three slots can become the Troop Master (Basically a 15-point upgrade to Vet Sarge), they all can buy Dracosans, and each section can take their own ADL if they aren't in Dracosans.
  • Auxilia Lasrifle Section - A 100-point 20-strong infantry squad with mandatory sarge, vox-operator, and troop-vexilla. 25 points gives the team Blast-Chargers for their lasrifles, while sarge gets all the basic goodies. Also, they come stock with Collimators, which turn their Lasrifles into 36" Heavy 2 weapons, which is always useful when sitting in the backfield.
    • Real talk - Blast Charger - not all that much better than a Lasrifle for the job you think it does; only scoring one more average wound against a Marine during overwatch. However what it is good for is allowing you wound the big fucking nasties that Mechanicum can pull out, at all! The ubiquitous Castellax is T7, making it impervious against S3 weapons - S6 however would grant you a chance against these monsters; other members of the Mechanicum, are not so hardy; Thallax cohorts will not appreciate a fusillade of Blastchargers to the face, and as the Lightning Gun is 18", this is a very real possibility. If the tech-thralls have opted for FNP, you will of removed that chance FNP does not work against ID - even more so if they have not been equipped with Carapace armour, once again the 18" Laslock will allow you the opportunity of doing just that. However, against marines.
    • The fact each and everyone one of these squads comes with a free Nuncio-Vox, heavily encourages the use of barrage weaponry, which you have a number of choices for.
    • Also, Blast Chargers - they're S6. Why point this out? Well, a squad of 20 Auxilia with Blast Blast Charges will statistically chip off 5 Hull Points on AV10, 3 on AV11, and 1 on AV12. So, you can use them to those pesky Landspeeders that got a bit too close last turn (18" range + 6" movement = 24" threat bubble), or destroy the Rhino transport over there, and then use the Nuncio-Vox to launch a Medussa Shell in to finish off the Marines inside. Not just a weak flashlight now, eh?
  • Veletaris Storm Section - a 115-point 10-man squad of storm troopers, armed with Volkite Chargers, or start off with Rotor Cannons (for free) or Power Axes (for 5 points). Once you've settled on that, you can then grab a Nuncio-vox and Shroud Bombs. They also have BS4!
    • Volkite Chargers are great for short-ranges (Duh). Rotorcannons at first glance seem shit, but if you can find a decent place to garrison them, you'll be throwing 40 BS4 at 30"; that's a lot of Diddly! However, a Lasrifle Section can throw out 40 S3 shots at 36" as well if they stay still, and are more survivable to boot. This is in turn countered by the fact that Rotor cannons will be shot at BS4 rather than 3, and even on the move will still have 30 shots at a 30" range. Basically, it's a choice between having more boots on the ground (and therefore being able to take more of a beating) or being able to put out more accurate and mobile fire power at long range. Personally, I'd go with the Vets in most cases.
    • Don't immediately dismiss the Power Axes. Sure, while the idea of a squishy humie going toe to toe with the mighty SPEHSS MAHRENS might seem BAWLD and FEWLISH, but you would be wrong. See, a normal squad of Veletaris armed with power axes that charges a tactical squad will lose two guys before then killing 7 in return, and if they are a Household Retinue then that number gets upped to 9. They don't have as much to worry about Overwatch quite as much due to Reinforced Void Armour (re-roll against Wall of Death template weapons), Unwieldy will hardly affect them at I3, possess Move Through Cover and can get Shroud Bombs which are not only Defensive Grenades but anyone charging you (provided they aren't a Vehicle/Daemon/have Night Vision/ are a Gargantuan Creature (at which point you'd probably better roll for anal circumference)) then they have to take a Ld check before they can charge you. Suddenly you have an extremely good skirmisher unit.
    • Also, don't forget that even if they don't have Power Axes they can still do decently in assault due to having a Laspistol and CCW. Just don't expect them to stand up to dedicated close combat units if you do.
  • Auxilia Flamer Section - 125 points for 10 guys with flamers, which need a Lasrifle Section in order to become available. Considering how pricy this is, it does kinda discourage bringing lots along, considering all the templates you could be laying down.
    • If you want to use these then you need to get them a transport. A Dracosan is expensive and doesn't add much to your damage output by itself, however by replacing its lascannon with a demolisher cannon it becomes a Land Raider/Vindicator hybrid, and becomes a serious distraction for your enemy. Add to that they 10 guys with flamers inside and you can run the tank up into the enemy's face (preferably while blowing up something important) then drop off the Flamer Section into his face. Well done, your opponent now has two serious threats to his battle plan in his section of the field, and is going to have to expend some serious resources to try and deal with them before they wreck his shit. Bonus Points if you used a Lord Marshal to select the warlord trait that allows you to outflank up to three units.
    • Also, you don't need to worry about being charged with this unit. Seriously, no one will want to charge a unit with that many flamers
  • Aegis Defense Line - Yeah, ignoring transports lets you take a non-FOC ADL. 50 points lets you grab a small bite of 0-4 long bits and 0-4 short bits of a wall to give your men a small bit of cover. You can then buy an Icarus Lascannon or Quadgun, the ability to re-roll 1's to hit while shooting (though this drops cover to 5+ the ammo dump gives the 5+, it does not reduce the ADL cover save and you have to be within 2" of it.), or a re-rolling reserves base so long as any player (including your enemy) is within 2" of it (But also drops cover to 5+ Still no, read the whole sentence in the book).
    • note that an adl may ONLY be taken in this manner if you are playing with the age of darkness force org (aka playing a bound list without any of the actual benefits)

Dedicated Transports

• Dracosan Armoured Transport - If Space Marines can grab Land Raiders en mass in the old days, so can we! This is a 5HP 13/12/11 tank with "only" a TL Lascannon for a weapon with lights and a re-rollable 6+ invul against blasts and templates (and re-rolls on Dangerous Terrain). It can buy two HKs, a pintle-mounted heavy flamer/multilaser ceramite to make it anti-melta, flare shields to drop shooting by 1 (-2 for templates and blasts), or an auxiliary drive. This beast can comfortably carry 20 models (no bulky or anything), but if you replace the lascannon with a Demolisher cannon, you only get room for 10 models.
  • This vehicle has some serious problems. It's extremely expensive and only has one twin-linked lascannon as a weapon, meaning that while it can do some damage your opponent can just leave it without too much trouble. While you can upgrade it to be more survivable, there is no point to that if your opponent isn't going to bother to target it. This can be alleviated however by swapping the Lascannon for a demolisher cannon, at which point you create a bastardisation of a Land Raider and a Vindicator. However, at this point the tank costs 165 points and drops the transport capacity down to 10, meaning that you cant have your 20 strong Lasrifle Sections on it any more. If your going to run this, run it so that you have a Veletaris/Flamer Section on board, get it a Demolisher Cannon, run it up in the opponents face blasting shit and then disembark the squad inside to lay down even more hurt. Otherwise, don't bother.

• Auxilia Arvus Lighter - The Arvus is a flittery little thing, holding 12 models, but nothing else at a bone-stock price of 75 points. It does get a rather broad list of upgrades and weapons, which might give it survivability, but its not going to really go that much once it unloads its squad. Best kept mostly cheap and used to drop off 10 man squads (with maybe an added character or 2). If you do take any weapons on this, twin-link them! It's only 5pts more.
  • Looking at the weapons, there's not much point getting the multi-laser, due to the low rate of fire and fact that an autocannon does the job of light vehicle hunting much better. Select from the Auto and Lascannon based on whether you want it targeting light or heavy armour respectively. Picking Hellstrike missiles is also a good option since the thing isn't going to live through more than two turns
  • When it comes to using this, it's probably best with a flamer or Veletaris section, using them as a reserve to help out in a crucial firelight or capture an objective late-game. It should come on, zap something with it's Lascannon/Autocannon/Hellstrike missiles (preferably an enemy flyer) then hover next turn and deliver your dudes to where they're needed.

Fast Attack

• Auxilia Tarantula Sentry Gun Battery - It's 1-3 sentries, same as the ones used in 40K. Each one can choose between firing up to 36" in a 90 degree arc or going 360 degrees up to 18" range. Heavy flamers, heavy bolters and rotor cannons must fire at non-vehicles and all lascannons and multi-meltas shoot vehicles. They can be deployed in one of three ways: They can be deployed out using Scout, they can be set up like normal and gain shrouded until they start firing, where it wears off, or they can be Deep Striked, each turret rolling individually.

• Auxilia Leman Russ Strike Squadron - The world was truly strange in 30k, where Leman Russes were actually able to go FAST. (well, once a game, they can get Fast. They'll move like ordinary tanks normally) You can only grab the main, Exterminator, Annihilator, and Vanquisher variations, and they can all get Outflank and a 6+ invul against Blasts and Templates. Their hull guns are the same, they can mount a multilaser or heavy flamer on the pintle, and can grab an HK, Ceramite, extra armor, and dozers. Oh, and you lose sponsons, but that's a minor matter since you also lack PotMS.
  • Leman Russ Battle Tank: That AP3 pieplate is going to work wonders in a Heresy setting! There are two main ways you can use the Battle Tank Russ in the Solar Auxilia, fire support (where it trundles along behind your main gunline) or to outflank it. If you chose the former option then play it like you would in normal games of 40K, just with a bit more survivability. If you choose to Outflank it however, prepare for cheese to flow. This thing will be like a massive DISTRACTION CARNIFEX to your opponent, appearing in his backfield and blasting the shit out of his army. If you do this, be prepared to be labelled That Guy. Avoid the Heavy Flamer on this one: your main gun is Ordanance, and you can't Snapfire template weapons.
  • Leman Russ Exterminator: Oh boy, now this will be fun. What is the thing that stops Autocannons from popping Heavy Tanks? High AV. What do most tanks have a rear armour? Low AV. This tank really shines in this role, where it can easily be outflanked into the backfield and get at the weaker rear armour of the enemy tanks. You can run this one in two ways: 1) Outflank it with a lascannon and hunt tanks or 2) add two heavy flamers (Normal + Pintle mounted), use the induction charger to run it into the face of infantry and laugh manically as you toast his infantry and then finish them off with Autocannon shells.
  • Leman Russ Annihilator: I have but one thing to say to you: Flare Shielded Spartans. You can get two lascannons (one of which it twin linked) on this Vehicle and Outflank it to be behind them where the Flare Shield wont reach. Even if they have charged their Spartan over into your side of the table, you have a 48" range weapon so you can reach out and touch him. Otherwise you're probably going to be better served with the Exterminator above for almost everything else.
  • Leman Russ Vanquisher: Meh. it was so-so in the Guard codex, and is so so here. While having a S8 Armourbane weapon appear behind your enemy's Flare Shielded Spartan, it's only one BS3 shot that's not twin linked, and you can't have other sponsons to offset this deficiency. Pass.
  • When it comes to outflanking any of these, make sure you buy Armoured Ceramite. You're in you opponents territory with a tank: you're going to have every melta squad in his army gunning for you. Don't take chances, play safe
  • Also, you may be wondering what the point to Induction Charges is. Well, to answer your question, they're used for when your Leman Russ is running down the side of the table and wants to move a bit further this turn to target it some lovely rear armour, or when it's Outflanked to the wrong table edge and wants to move quickly across the map.
  • These guys are also hella-survivable. Each of them comes with AV14/13/10, 3HP, Explorator Adaptation (6+ Invul vs Blasts and Templates and re-roll to Dangerous Terrain tests. Oh and Void Hardened, like that matters) and Auxiliary Drive (Repair Immobilised Results on a 4+), meaning that they can take even more of a beating than a normal Leman Russ.

• Auxilia Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter - This is an interesting awesome, if somewhat fragile, fighter unless you take a flare shield. It's BS4 with 11/11/10 and 3 HP with 2 TL lascannons and a multilaser 2 Twin Linked Autocannons and a Twin Linked Lascannon, and has 4 special 48" S6 AP2 Armourbane Heat-Seeking missiles that make it ideal against other flyers (It even gets a re-roll on reserves if there's an enemy flyer on the field!). It has an armoured cockpit and chaff launchers, so stunlocking it's pointless, and glances can even be ignored if it rolls a 6 after getting the hit.
  • It can upgrade to have Ground Tracking Auguries (Strafing Run) and a Flare Shield, both of which are highly recommended if you can afford it. It can also replace its four Kinetic Piercer Missiles for four Hellstrike (Heavy anti-armour) or Sunfury heavy missiles (S6 AP3 Large Blasts with Blind and Gets Hot). Pick which you want based on what you want it to do.

• Auxilia Primaris Lightning Strike Fighter - A cheaper alternative to the Thunderbolt for your Aerial needs, with an extra +1 to all jink. It starts off with a TL lascannon, chaff launcher and armored cockpit, so it can always be on the move, but then it gets better. It gets 3 hardpoints it can equip for TL Multi-lasers, TL autocannons, TL lascannons, TL missile launchers (which can be upgraded to buy fucking RAD missiles) and any of two special sets of bombs and missiles. It can also buy Tank Hunters, Strafing Run, and a Ramjet Diffraction Grid.
  • The Missiles can either be S6 AP3 Large Blasts with Blind and Gets Hot or S8 AP1 Armorbane missiles. One's meant for blasting up blobs, the other's for totaling vehicles (Especially with Tank Hunters). The bombs can either really risky S5 AP2 two-hit bomb cluster barrages which can move again after scattering to hit a few more models and forces the area that's blasted to remain dangerous terrain for anything open-topped or with a toughness value, or a simpler S3 AP4 Large Blast with Haywire and Concussive. A warning about the former bombs: if the flyer gets hit while carting these around and suffers damage, it has to roll a d6. If it rolls 6, the thing instantly blows up.
  • Before you go "I won't use bombs/missiles because they are only one use and I can fire a gun as many times as I like, hurdyhurdyhur" remember that this thing isn't going to be in the air for long. It only has AV11/11/10 and 2HP, and all of those missile/bombs (well, bar maybe the Electromagnetic Storm Charges) packs more of a punch when it hits than TL Multi-lasers/missile launchers/auto/lascannons. In addition the Phosphorex bombs can be used for area denial, perfect for trolling your enemy.

Heavy Support

• Auxilia Leman Russ Assault Squadron - The other half of the russes, the Demolisher, Eradicator, and Executioner are all present in this force and are slightly cheaper. They're essentially the same as their cousins above, but with two distinctions: they can't choose to be Fast for a turn, and if they hit a target another member of the squad was targeting then they gain +1 BS. Important to remember that unlike their 40k counterpart, they do NOT have the heavy special rule. Awkwardly they do NOT have sponsons - that incinerator sure looks tastier anti infantry duty now.

• Auxilia Artillery Tank Battery - 1-3 Medusas, Basilisks, or Bombards are grouped here. They all can grab pintle weapons if they feel the need to defend themselves and can buy some extra survival gear too. Bombards can also fork over 25 points to gain Sunder and Concussive on their blasts.

• Auxilia Malcador Heavy Tank - Suddenly useful, especially compared to it's 40k counterpart. A 13/13/12 super-heavy that is not in the lord of war, with all the goodness that means. Has fast vehicle instead of an engine that tries to self-destruct. Starts with a traverse-mounted battlecannon, a hull-mounted autocannon, and 2 autocannon sponsons. The battlecannon can be swapped for a twin-linked lascannon (why?Flare shields completely negate the Cannon on anything with 13/14) the autocannons can all be swapped for heavy flamers, multi lasers, or lascannons, with the hull one being swappable for a demolisher cannon. Has access to flare shields, armored ceramite, and siege armor (+1 av on front, at the cost of fast vehicle, which you didn't need on a super-heavy anyway), and 6 hull points makes this a tough nut to crack.

• Auxilia Malcador Infernus Special Weapons Tank- Hand picked to completely fuck over infantry. A super heavy with a MASSIVE S7 ap3 hellstorm weapon with an 18" torrent on it. Just in case you didn't hate infantry hard enough, it has the option to upgrade to chem munitions, making that 18" torrent hellstorm s3, 2+ poison and ap2. Has the same sponson options as the standard malcador. Because of the big fuel tanks hanging off the back, add +1 on the catastrophic damage table when it explodes.

• Auxilia Valdor Tank Hunter - A frightening motherfucker with a Neutron Beam Projector, a 36" S10 AP1 Ordinance 2 gun that has Concussive and force Superheavies that get a pen to only fire snap-shots for the next turn. It also has a SINGLE sponson-mounted autocannon (which can become a Multilaser, Heavy Flamer, or Lascannon), making for a very weird dead zone on one side of the Valdor. Being an insanely expensive dip, you need to keep this side covered at all costs if you want to total tanks. Not only because you want it to live, but because if you ever suffer a pen, you need to re-roll all results of 1 on vehicle damage and if it explodes, it adds +d3" to the explosion radius. it still is a super-heavy, so at least it's durable there.

• 0-1 Cyclops Remote Demolitions Unit - Nobody really likes these things, and the only reason D-99 makes use of them is to give them more room to land more Valkyries Turn 1. Sure, you can buy 1-5 of the little doom-tanks, but they all need to be the same payload: an S9 AP3 Large Blast, an S5 AP4 Cover Ignoring Massive Blast, or a D Blast with Blind and ID (Which can only be purchased if a Lord Marshal's in the army). All's said and done, use only if you want to troll with deathly bombs.

Lords of War

• Auxilia Baneblade: - Though outclassed by the Legion Fellblade, the Baneblade is still a nasty proposition to face. Sporting a Baneblade cannon, co-axial Autocannon, Demolisher Cannon, two Lascannons, three twin-linked heavy bolters, optional pintle mounts, AND optional Hunter-killer missile, it is a rolling fortress of death.

• Auxilia Stormlord: - Your basic stormlord. Still vomits walls of bullets per turn, still has absurd transport rules.

• Auxilia Shadowsword: - for hunting Titans and enemy Superheavies. Can also one-shot Primarchs on a lucky six on Destroyer roll, though mind for invisible ones (Lorgar and Corax), since you cannot snapfire blasts.

• Auxilia Stormsword: Best at street fighting and siege warfare (and there was a lot of that in the Heresy), what it lacks in range is is made up for in firepower, and in 30k firepower is everything.

• Auxilia Stormblade: - Taking the Shadowsword chassis and sticking the Plasma Cannon from a Titan on it. Allows for two firing modes: Rapid and Overload. Rapid gives you 2 shots at 72", S8 AP2 with a 7" Blast and Overload drops it down to 1 shot with 96" range S10 AP2 Apocalyptic Blast. So if you need to clear out a horde of non-super heavy tanks or massed Astartes at range, this'll be high on your list.

• Auxilia Stormhammer: - Taking Dakka to a logical extreme, the Stormhammer is less a superheavy and more a rolling fortress bristling with guns.