Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Officio Assassinorum (8E)

Why Use Officio Assassinorum

Because you like black, skulls, and your army needed that extra bit of punch. The Officio Assassinorum is a clandestine group of killers, each hailing from a temple honing a unique method of murder. Not a true army, as such, but rather a set of elite individuals which provide their uniquely aggressive form of support. The armies of the Imperium are served well from the shadows.

Pros

• Stats that make Marines weep in envy
• All universally characters makes them a lot safer than before.
• All come with 4++
• WRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY!
• New Rules to alternate deploying means first turn charges are a thing now

Cons

• Expensive to add
• Not a 'true' faction, so no buffs from anyone
• Can't ride in transports
• Elite slots are more competitive than ever

Faction Keywords

The only two they get are IMPERIUM and OFFICIO ASSASSINORUM. With no HQ choice, they can only be deployed in IMPERIUM battle-forged armies. This also is a severely limiting factor, as they won't get buffs most of the time (and most that they do won't matter). This also means that there are no transports for them.

Special Rules

Independent Operative: No assassin can be the warlord, but they all have the ability to set up off the table and deep strike in.

Lightning Reflexes: All have a 4++. Not bad at all.

Unit Analysis

Since all assassins come with their equipment and no customization, let's dive straight in.

Elites

Vindicare Assassin: Everyone's favorite sniper is back and as punishing as he always is. His trademark exitus rifle is a phenomenal 72" Heavy 1 with S5, -3 Ap and D3 Damage. It also always wounds INFANTRY on a 2+ and ignores invulnerable saves. Deadshot increases damage to D6 should he roll a 6+ to wound and lets him snipe CHARACTERs. He ignores cover with his spymask while his stealth suit forces a -1 to hit rolls during shooting, or -2 if he is in cover. Overall, he is around to act as a high threat to any important model your opponent has and the fact that your opponent will struggle just to actually shoot at him (ie. Character) he's going to be even harder to kill than last addition. His real weakness is melee as he only has his pistol. While still plenty dangerous, he will quickly find himself overwhelmed. He's also not as useful as he used to be against vehicles anymore having lost his special turbo rounds but he more than makes up for it by being an even deadlier character killer. Keep him at a distance, in cover, and snipe your enemy from a mile away.

Callidus Assassin: The Callidus continues to be the odd model of the assassins. She is less of a murder machine (though she is still damn good at it) and more of a tactical threat. Polymorphine allows her to set up in disguise (note that this is different from Independent Operative and requires you choose in advance) to deep strike D6+3" away from an enemy model (one of the few times in the game something can bypass the 9" restriction). At worst, you're in the same boat as everyone else. As long as she is deployed, you can roll a die each time an opponent spends a CP, and on a 4+, they have to spend an additional CP to use it. This can be great if you keep her on for any length of time. With this in mind sometimes it can be good not to infiltrate her, instead keeping her behind your other units so her character status can protect her from enemy shooting while she eats up his Command Dice.(Reign of Confusion ability only takes effect in the first battle round, also does not stack FWIW) In combat, her Neural shredder is a 9" Assault 1 that rolls 3D6 vs Leadership and, on a match or higher, causes D3 mortal wounds. Math says the average rolls are 9-11, which means this will usually work. Hit and Run can let you kite enemies. You want to use this as a very sudden, very serious threat to one of your opponent's valuable units and to cause merry havoc. Think of her as a meele variant of the Vindicare, precise and surgical, unlike the other melee assassin.

Eversor Assassin: Smashing through walls and punching dudes like a boss. His stats give him the usual asssassin line, but with six wounds and attacks apiece. His executioner pistol gets 4 shots and gets to re-roll failed wounds on INFANTRY. Sentinel array lets him re-roll failed hits for Overwatch. His melee options are the Neuro-gauntlet, which hits at S5 and -1 AP which re-rolls to wound, or a power sword. Also comes with a melta-bomb for some anti-vehicle goodness. Frenzon allows him to charge 3D6 and gain two attacks if he charges. Meaning with command point re-rolls if necessary he can almost always make his 9" charge. The ever popular bio-meltdown means that he explodes. This potentially causes mortal wounds. He is what he has always been: a dangerous close quarters combatant with a tendency to explode. He may end up useless, but he's always good to have at parties and maintains the title of most versatile assassin. Also note that the melta-bomb is useful to armies that lack good anti-vehicle weapons, and it can be thrown like any other grenade so he doesn't have to tangle with big monsters if he doesn't want to. Be careful, though: his melee will likely bounce off of higher toughness/armor models so stick to his preferred prey, lots of tasty infantry.

Culexus Assassin:. The anti-psyker assassin, now with a few more nasty tricks. First, Abomination no longer affects your own units! You can now field this guy alongside psykers without worrying about screwing them over. He can't be targeted by psychic powers at all, and PSYKER models subtract 2 from Psychic tests and DtW in 18". Meaning like the Callidus he can be useful even outside of combat, acting as a passive psyker defense to armies who are lacking in that regard. His animus speculum is where his real potency is. Assault D3, S5, -4 AP at one damage can cause a lot of grief, and if an enemy PSYKER is in range, it becomes Assault D6. Psychic assassin means you can always shoot the PSYKER CHARACTER model you need to. His other abilities, life drain and etherium, mean that he ignores armor in melee and attacks against him resolve at 6+ always. As an anti-psyker model, he's fantastic, forcing opponents to consider their psychic phase more carefully.