The BA book powers have some of the best that were created in 5th edition. Shield of Sanguinius is no longer as good with the reduced requirements for cover. Blood Lance is really a glorified melta shot which is not as good as it was with vehicle rules changes. The Sanguine Sword and Unleash Rage also feel underwhelming with the decrease in value of assault in 6th edition.
6th edition is more of a shooting game now. Prescience has been well recognized as one of the best powers in the rule book due to its reliability and effectiveness:
Primaris Power
Prescience is a blessing that targets a single friendly unit within 12". Whilst the power is in effect, the target unit can re-roll all failed To Hit rolls.
The important thing is to look back at Blessings:
Blessings are manifested at the start of the Psyker's Movement phase. They grant extra abilities to the Psyker's allies, such as characteristic boosts or additional special rules. Blessings can affect units that are locked in close combat and can affect the Psyker himself. ...
How can this power do the most work for your army? It's probably best to not upgrade your Librarian to an Epistolary as that is half the cost for an additional Librarian. The To Hit roll is generally the biggest limiting factor to damage output (the first step and only 66% chance).
What you are going to do is have your Librarian in Rhino / Razorback deployed within 12" of your Devastators. You want to cast it Turn One on them to maximize your chances of putting damage onto your opponent.
You have some flexibility about your approach for what comes next. You can use Sternguard or Death Company (without Chaplain) and go with five and a razorback with Heavy Bolter or Heavy Flamer or a larger squad and a Rhino. Then you can zoom ahead still on Turn One. Do not leave them unsupported or they will die as usual.
You will then apply battlefield tactics like you can see on YTTH to maximize your firing and cover potential. Those re-roll hits will be maximized with those two units as you will pretty much always be shooting with them both and probably end up in hand-to-hand with two attacks. It's best to not waste points on Sternguard power weapons, just have them shoot and move back which will be hard because you want them rapid firing. Remember, you will get re-roll Overwatch Rapid Fire Snap Shots too.
Last, do not forget about your Rhino / Razorback after disembarking. It still can fill useful battlefield roles. Additionally, do not forget that you can give the Prescience blessing to a unit that you are not in, and that unit could already be locked in combat to give them some help.
This could work just as well if you are running a bike squad, just put your Librarian on a bike too. You could also do this with Sanguinary Guard, especially if they are troops too.
You can always double this up with a second Librarian to further harass your opponent.
Using Prescience for your army might be a refreshing way to play your Blood Angels army.
I'm told adding a Libby into a 4 plasma gun toting honor guard is pretty mean, helping negate gets hot and ensuring they hit.
ReplyDelete-Rage
Rage, thanks for adding that, but Honor Guard + four plasma/melta/flamers out of Drop Pods does not even necessarily need a Librarian because of the number of powerful shots coming out of it. Further, for better or worse, that unit will become a huge target (for better or worse) and your Librarian is going to go poof. The person across the table from you may also not enjoy it as much as you ;) With the state of the BA Codex though, I am sure you can take some liberties with this so have fun.
ReplyDeleteI've been using a epistolary librarian with 2 divination powers. if you are lucky (well you have 2 chances out of 6 to get it, not too bad), you can roll the power that negates cover and then take prescience. Then you can choose to split the powers on 2 squads (for example, use prescience on a tactical shooting some demons charging you in the open and give ignore cover to a devastator squad with four missile launcher firing at some pathfinders hidden in some ruins...) or concentrate it on the same squad (same devastators shooting four crack missiles on a jinking vehicle...). Pretty badass.
ReplyDeleteOther tricks that come to my mind with prescience: the most obvious is using on a devastator squad with lasguns or multimelta to bring down even the toughest flyer. It's wicked because usually people who sports flyers will try to destroy threats like quad guns or units with skyfire before their flyers enters, but will most likely underestimate or forget about the divination librarian/dev squad combo.
ReplyDeleteIs there any other discipline that would be good for BA?
ReplyDeleteHonour Guard, it comes down to how you build and design your army. What do you want your Librarian to do?
ReplyDeleteIf you take the Biomancy discipline, you might be looking at taking Mephiston or buffing a Librarian for close combat (although maybe not a good idea).
Pyromancy is not available.
Telekenesis powers are inferior to the BA codex powers unless you really want Gate of Infinity for moving Terminators around but it's not going to be reliable enough.
Telepathy is also not as strong as the BA codex powers although they are amusing to use on your opponent.
Essentially, as a result of the fairly good powers in the BA codex, the main rule book powers + randomness just don't cut it.
I've been using a divination librarian for some time now (even used epistolary with divination at last battle brothers tourney held here in my town). Before that i used codex powers but i feel they got very lame after 6th ed.
ReplyDeleteShield synergi is still very strong with Land Raiders or full mech. Though i'd favor prescience in most other cases.
ReplyDeleteAnon, you do also have to consider the greater ease with which to get cover now in 6th Edition. Your Librarian could be doing much more on the battlefield potentially.
ReplyDeleteDont forget, the power isnt just for shooting. it works in melee too.
ReplyDeleteGood catch, Mark.
ReplyDelete