New Weapons for Assassins

[MarksmanCypher]

Well, I'm going through my Witch Hunters codex, when I see the Assassins. And I think to myself, "If I were a higher level assassin, I'd want something special!"

So, I sat down, and I wrote up a weapon for the Culexus Assassin.

I call it: THE CULEXUS BLADE

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Added into the Culexus Assassin entry:

For an additional 30 points, the Culexus Assassin may be upgraded to a Veteran Assassin. Veteran Culexus Assassins carry a Culexus Blade with them.

The Culexus Blade has the following effects:

SOULLESS - The Culexus Assassin not only has no soul, but is able to draw the very soul from those around him. Models affected by the "Soulless" special rule are at leadership 6 rather than leadership 7.

When Psykers within 12" of the Culexus assassin - friend or foe! - try to cast a Psychic Power, it is nullified on a 2+. If it is nullified on a 6, they suffer an immediate "Perils of the Warp" attack. This is cumulative with any "Perils of the Warp" suffered on a double 1 for their psychic test. Additionally, all psychic tests being cast on the Assassin are nullified on a 2+.

In Close Combat, the Culexus Blade has no special effect against non-psykers, counting only as a Close Combat Weapon. However, against Psykers, it always wounds on a 2+ and allows no armour saves.

Should the Assassin be killed by a non-psyker in close combat, the Culexus Blade is considered lost for the remainder of the game. If the Assassin is killed by another Psyker in close combat, however, the Psyker may pick up the Culexus Blade.

EFFECTS ON THE PSYKER SHOULD THEY PICK UP THE CULEXUS BLADE

Leadership - All friendly models, including the psyker, are at +1 leadership to a maximum of 10 as the blade radiates the psyker's energies to his fellow troops.

Psychic Powers - all of the Psyker's psychic powers have 6" added to their range (except for Template weapons and psychic powers that work only on the Psyker or models in base contact). Enemy psykers within 12" casting a Psychic Power have it nullified on a 4+. Additionally, the Psyker with the Culexus Blade will suffer "Perils of the Warp" on any doubles roll rather than just 2 or 12, but "Perils of the Warp" is ignored on a 3+.

Close Combat - When the Psyker picks up the Culexus Blade, he counts as having a Force Weapon.

Should the Psyker be killed by a non-psyker in close combat, the Culexus Blade is considered lost for the remainder of the game. If the Psyker is killed by another Psyker in close combat, however, the Psyker may pick up the Culexus Blade. This means that the Culexus Blade may change hands multiple times in the game.

If the Assassin or another psyker is alive at the end of the game, and holds the Culexus Blade, the player will receive an extra 2D6 x 10 victory points.

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A little history on the Culexus Blade:

The Culexus Blade is a weapon forged out of many different materials. Studies thus far have failed to identify any except for Eldar Wraithbone and the Living Metal that some Necrons appear to be made from. It is theorised that these weapons were created before the dawn of Mankind, when the Necrontyr and the Old Ones waged an eternal war. Who created them is a mystery, but what is known is that it appears to have properties beneficial to both sides.

The Culexus Blade is said to form no presence in the Warp, but at the same time has more warp energy than all but the most powerful psykers. It enhances Psykers to an extreme level and draws more Daemons than any other beacon, and at the same time it is able to suck the psychic potential out of any individual.

In the Inquisition, only seven blades are known to be in existance. Whether there are more is completely unknown, but the Imperium has watched as three of the blades they once possessed slipped into the hands of very powerful Psykers.

Of the four blades that the Imperium still has, two are in the hands of the two most experienced, powerful Culexus Assassins, known only as CA-001 and CA-002. Very rarely do they get dispatched, and even then it is only against the most fearsome Psykers.

One of the blades the Imperium still possesses is kept in a stasis chamber on Holy Terra. It awaits the day that the Emperor awakens from his sleep to rise up and command the Imperium of Mankind once more, and with the Culexus Blade, he will be the most powerful psyker in the galaxy.

The last of these blades belongs to the one who discovered them - High Inquisitor Tor'a. A Witch Hunter, Tor'a is different than most other Inquisitors - whereas Psychic Abilities are common amongst them, Tor'a has the same unusual abilities as a Culexus Assassin. She uses this to destroy blasphemous and heretical Psykers. Why she was not trained as a Culexus Assassin is not known, but what is known is that when she opens the shield over her right eye on the battlefield, all hell breaks loose.

The three blades that have been lost by the Imperium can be estimated as to their whereabouts. The first is only whispers that Eldrad Ulthran obtained this weapon just before his disappearance in the Black Crusade. Some whisper that he fights Slaanesh with it, and that using it he can bring the Eldar God of the Dead, Ynnead, into existance. Should he do so, Slaanesh will be doomed as Ynnead defeats the Prince of Excess, and raises Eldrad to a god-like status amongst the Eldar.

One blade is known to definitely be in the hands of Magnus the Red. When the Culexus Blades were discovered, Magnus had left his Daemon World and had launched attacks on other planets. A Culexus Assassin was dispatched to eliminate him, but it has been confirmed that the Assassin was defeated in combat by Magnus. Magnus uses the blade to create his own Daemons and to warp time and space to his will.

The last blade is believed to be in the hands of Ahriman of the Thousand Sons. In the lead up to the Black Crusade, Ahriman captured Inquisitor Czevak. The Inquisition knew that this was a dire circumstance and so released CA-003, a Culexus Assassin with a Culexus Blade, to destroy AHriman or Czevak before things got out of hand. CA-003 has since never been heard from and his body was never found - it is theorised that Ahriman has the Culexus Blade and intends on using it as he reached the gates to the Black Library - with the Culexus Blade, the final Psychic Defense of the Black Library could be destroyed, and Ahriman will become an unstoppable Psyker.

[Torquemada Coteaz]

awesome, simply awesome.
though a page worth of rules for one sword is... big.
xD that is one powerful sword!

[Killermoose]

Yeh, those rules are going to get slightly complicated, but hey, I think its worth it. They look really good rules, though perhaps you could raise the points slightly.

[Torquemada Coteaz]

no i think 30 is enough.
it's around a third/quarter of the assassin's points cost anyways

[Inquisitor Rosenadel]

I have but one question: is this a "real" blade? Or is this fluff of your own creation?

Because I find simultaneous nulling and psychic enhancing effects hard to reconcile. They are entirely contradictory, and thus both contained in one sword seems a bit... silly. Sorry.

Though I must say, the persons in possession of the swords is very interesting.

[Inquisitor Ralei]

Originally Posted by Inquisitor Rosenadel

Because I find simultaneous nulling and psychic enhancing effects hard to reconcile. They are entirely contradictory, and thus both contained in one sword seems a bit... silly. Sorry.

This is what I thought also.

[Icarus Athrasuriel]

Yeah, unless the psyker can control the blade's effects.

[Torquemada Coteaz]

well either way the blade can be activated by some sort of "psychic" disturbance, pyschic or anti-psychic.
however you could always just make it a onehand power-stake (2+ wounding psykers, ignores armour saves always)

[MarksmanCypher]

Icarus and Coteaz got it right - it is controlled by the user. It has it's own "innate" abilities, but, because of the material it is made out of, it doesn't have "set" abilities - it can enhance your Warp Presence, or lack thereof, depending on if you have the Pariah or Psyker gene.

30 points I thought would be reasonable - I wouldn't want to pay 50 points for a weapon that my opponent might pick up, and that's if they even have a psyker!

And yes, I know the rules are complicated - you wouldn't expect an Assassin to have a nice, simple piece of wargear if they were one of the best

I'm probably going to trial it this weekend (my friend will use my Eldar and I'll use my Witch Hunters). Next weapon to be produced will be some new rounds for the more "experienced" Vindicare assassins

[Torquemada Coteaz]

Originally Posted by MarksmanCypher

I'm probably going to trial it this weekend (my friend will use my Eldar and I'll use my Witch Hunters). Next weapon to be produced will be some new rounds for the more "experienced" Vindicare assassins

well,erm, eldar!?!
using a culexus, eldar are dead enough without the sword xD

[MarksmanCypher]

Haha. It's my own army, so it's ALREADY lost. I know its weak points.

However, they aren't necessarily dead. There's only 4 psykers in the whole army - a Farseer and 3 Warlocks (2 in Guardian squads, 1 Emboldening my Vibro Cannons). It's more of a test of how the Culexus Blade will fare against a Farseer - in close combat, the only edge that the Culexus Assassin has is that he has more attacks, but the Farseer has more wounds. It'll be an interesting game. And, quite simply, I don't think he'll be bothering to cast psychic powers when within 12" of the Culexus Blade

[Torquemada Coteaz]

haha good point.
looking forward to vindicare one then.
when you get to the polymorphine one, let me know

[MarksmanCypher]

Well, I thought to myself, "If I were a high level Vindicare assassin, what would I have?"

Extra rounds.

I wouldn't just have the three rounds in the book, I'd carry extra rounds.

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A Vinidcare Assassin can be upgraded to a Veteran Assassin for free. Veteran Assassins may carry four different round with them, chosen from the following list at the points cost. Note you may only carry one of each bullet and it can only be used once per game.

Turbo-penetrator - free
Shield breaker - free
Hellfire - free
High-Concentrate - +10 points
Tranquiliser - +20 points
Meltabullet - +10 points
Shrapnel Bullet - +10 points
Psychout - +10 points

See the relevant codex for the rules on Turbo-penetrator; Shield breaker and Hellfire (Codex: Witch/Daemon Hunters)

High-Concentrate: These bullets contain a higher concentration of the poison used in the Exitus rounds than normal. If a model is wounded by this bullet, they suffer a further D3 wounds.

Tranquiliser: The bullet fired by the Assassin contains a non-lethal toxin that will instead make the target drowsy. Roll to hit and wound as normal. Rather than taking a wound, however, the model halves its Weapon Skill, Initiative and Attacks characteristics (rounded up). This effect lasts the remainder of the battle.

Meltabullets: These raise the AP of the gun to AP 1.

Shrapnel Bullet: Pick a target model and roll to hit as normal. Instead of rolling to wound, place the small blast marker over the target's head. All models underneath (roll for partials as normal) take a wound on 4+ with armour saves allowed as normal. The model underneath the central hole takes the hit at AP5.

Psychout: Using Pariah technology, the Psychout bullet targets psykers specifically and injects them with a fluid that makes the Warp seem to slip from their fingers. Roll to hit and wound as normal. Instead of taking a wound, the Psyker must take all of his Psychic Tests on 3D6. Perils of the Warp only occurs on triple 1 or triple 6 as the warp and its Daemons slip more readily from the Psyker's grasp.

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[Inquisitor Rosenadel]

This is very neat! the tranquilizer bullet would make for some very cool missions, such as "Tranquilize the Tyranid Leader-beast so the Adeptus Biologus can examine it". Capturing would be based on attacks hit and so forth, so halving weapon skill, initiative and attacks would be quite beneficial!

[MarksmanCypher]

Thats what I thought.

I have a new addition to the Culexus Blade - if a Tyranid Psyker (such as a Warrior, Broodlord, Zoanthrope or Tyrant) kill the Culexus Assassin, the blade is considered lost (I mean, seriously! A Zoanthrope having the intelligence to wield the blade? I don't think so!)

The Tranquiliser bullet is my favourite. Halving those three things are the most painful to have halved in combat - all of a sudden, your Archon doesn't look so scary with WS 4, I 4 and 2 attacks. But it's his fault for falling asleep...

It can also be justified for things such as Necrons - rather than using a tranquilising serum, it contains a disruptive field that causes them to malfunction, or a magnetic field that they have to fight against because otherwise they could be bound together.

I've been sitting around trying to do one for Callidus and Eversor, but it's hard! So far I've come up with these:

Callidus veterans:

- Neural Shredder has a strength of 10 rather than 8
- Poison blades now allow no armour saves.
- A Word in your Ear extends to the owning player being able to choose the table edge instead of rolling for it.
- Polymorphine - you can select one troops unit at teh beginning of the game. As long as the Assassin is still in reserves, at the beginning of the opponents turn roll a D6 for that unit. On a roll of 1, the Callidus player may move the unit. Shooting and Assaulting is done as normal (by the owning player).

Eversor veteran:

This was a difficult one. All I could come up with was that their drugs enhanced them to give them +1 attack and +1 initiative, and their Bio-meltdown! was a large blast marker rather than the small one.

I'm not sure about assassains, but for the effects your listing, the costs seem a bit low.

[MarksmanCypher]

Thanks Erus.

The assassin himself costs only 110 points. I was considering upping the points for each of the bullets or saying "For +15 points the Assassin can be upgraded. This gives him options to select blah blah blah."

You have to keep in mind though that the points cost I have given those things incorporate the fact that he only has 1 shot, and needs a 4+ after he hits for it to take effect. To pay 30 points for a 1-shot weapon that has a 5/6 chance of hitting and a 50% chance of actually doing anything - not including the Invulnerable save the character will inevitably have - is a little too pricey for my opinion.

The only reason the Turbo-penetrator, Shieldbreaker and Hellfire are free is because standard Vindicares come standard.

As for teh Culexus blade, it's 30 points because it has no special effects on ordinary troops when wielded by the Assassin. Otherwise it'd be more.

I did not know it was a 1 shot deal. I've not played or faced an assassain, except to blow them the hell up before they ever touch me. In that case, you values are just fine, maybe some could be knocked down a bit.

[Torquemada Coteaz]

The high concentrate round seems hella fun.
don't give the vidicare the "+15" he can be upgraded, that;s like more than 10% of his points cost already... the rounds pts are enough

[MarksmanCypher]

Erus - yeah, they're one shot bullets only. If they weren't I would have probably mentioned something about the bullets stacking/not stacking (I try to eliminate vague areas where I can).

Coteaz - I think it's fine as it is, too. And the High Concentrate will, for me, become standard when House Rules are being used It will be so much fun to watch those Archons become less-than-average fighters in close combat... Muahaha!

The only problem, though, is Combat Drugs and Always Striking First with them. I think I'm going to change a little bit to say this:

If the character that has been hit takes Combat Drugs, then they must roll 1 additional D6 (for example, if they took one drug, they would roll 2D6, if they took 3 drugs they would have to roll 4D6!). This represents the Drugs mixing with the high-concentrate and causing bad side effects.

Weapons and wargear that allow the model to strike first instead revert the model back to their normal initiative (this will be phased out eventually - look around. Banshee masks, Cover? Now Initiative 10, rather than "first", and Power fists now Initiative 1, rather than "last". Initiative 11 and 0 are being phased out, people!)

[The Horror in the Shadows]

drugs are bad mmmk
that should make all slanneshi/dark eldar players a little worried

for the Eversor maybe have him being even more crazed by having move 2d6 in the sweeping advance to show him being desperate to get at the enemys of the imp.

[Khadhar'phak]

I really like the stuff for Vidicare assassins. BUT NOW I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO CHOOSE! lol. Really cool rules.

Yorishiku!
~Khadhar'phak~