# A legend is born: What is the hardest single model you can build?



## Shadow's Fury (Jan 15, 2014)

Hello heresy land! 
I have a question to pose to you guys, something which has vexed me and a few others, what is the greatest single hero or villain you can make from your codex?

Now, this seems a very vague question, so let me give you some context as to how we got to question, and what we are actually asking. What I really love about the Space Wolves is the characters that you can generate, you can create an army of individuals, each seeking glory for the all father (and themselves of course). They aren’t just a mass of blank faces which can come from vanilla marines *braced for the hate train*. Chaos space marines are another example where you can really individualise your models, and create fun fluffy characters. 

One day, me and some mates got together for a few games and starting talking about a model which we feel has got a life of its own, who had waded through the thickest of fights and come out with barely a scratch. Of course the usual’s were mentioned, riptides who had managed to evade everything thrown at them and dished out destruction every turn, and the 2+ cover save daemon prince smashing headlong into a gunline and practically slaying the entire of the enemy force single handed, etc etc. 

After a while we got into discussing more specifically our single infantry models, HQ units totting so much gear that they were pretty much a walking army of their own. Of course this is when the arguments started, who could create the best generic HQ unit that had the capability of going into pretty much any situation and coming out on top without the support of any other model. Even now we are still arguing, boasting over work breaks when we happen to run across each other. 

So I’d like to throw it out to you guys, and see how you respond. 

A few rules we have abided to when creating our characters:

The model in question must be a single, unnamed and non-unique HQ unit (e.g. Space marine captain, Ork Big mekk, etc.)
The build must be legal, meaning that he takes only the options that are available to him/her. It is assumed that they may only take a single relic/artifact equivalent from the codex. 
Supplements and dataslates (crimson slaughter, Champions of Fenris, etc.) can be used
We didn’t really set a points limit, so I’d say go for it, create a model with as many options as you want
The model is assumed that they will be by him or herself for the entire game, they are an army of one. If they were charging into assaults, they would do so alone. If they sit backfield, they would have no other friendly models around, they are simply by themselves. They cannot purchase any additional models (such as fen wolves)
They cannot buy transports! But can have a mount, such as a bike, daemon, etc. 
It is assumed they are NOT your warlord, so do not have warlord traits. Some armies have better traits than others, so this keeps everyone at level pegging (well, as level as possible!)

As to who or what you are facing, that is entirely up to you. Are you going up against a horde of greenskins? Or a tau battle line? Or are you just creating a character to take on all comers? 

For instance, the model I campaigned for was:
Wolf Lord
Thunderwolf mount
Runic Armour
Stormshield
Black Death
Digital weapons
Meltabombs

This build would be for all comers, send him up the board straight into the thick of it


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## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

With only a little thought, 

CSM: Black-Legion 

Deamon Prince,

Power Armour, Wings, Gift of Mutation.. Mark of Nurgle (2+ Cover/Jink)
Level 4 Psyker (3+ Last Memory of Yuanthos)+ Skull of Ker'ngar 4+ Deny the which rolls, and imume to Instant Death 

Eye of the Night - To use on turn one to try and cripple LOW's and other big things.. 

Spine Shiver Blade for +D6 extra attacks. 

Boom!


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## venomlust (Feb 9, 2010)

King of the Daemon Princes! It's a shame there's no way to give a Bloodthirster the Eye of Night. BS10 FTW :laugh:.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Edit; missed the non unique bit


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## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

venomlust said:


> King of the Daemon Princes! It's a shame there's no way to give a Bloodthirster the Eye of Night. BS10 FTW :laugh:.


Its a Large Blast, any BS over 2 is good!


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## venomlust (Feb 9, 2010)

If you roll like me, every large blast scatters 12".


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## falcoso (Apr 7, 2012)

Destroyer lord
Warscythe
Res. Orb
Phylactery
Nightmare Shroud
Phase Shifter
Mindshackle Scarabs
Gauntlet of fire 

250pts T6 S7 AP2 2+,4++,5+++ w/ It will not die, Preferred Enemy (Everything) and able to re-roll 5+++ for a turn
Just try and kill that


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## Shadow's Fury (Jan 15, 2014)

Uveron said:


> With only a little thought,
> 
> CSM: Black-Legion
> 
> ...


I wondered how long the nurgle prince would take to appear. A hard nut to crack indeed! Large numbers of ignores cover could be a problem, but you've got to pin it down first! 

Is all the black legion gear artifacts? Never played against them or read their rules.


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

falcoso said:


> Destroyer lord 110pts
> Warscythe +20pts
> Res. Orb +25pts
> Phylactery +15pts
> ...


Itemised points costs, naughty falcoso 

Chapter Master on Bike with Burning Blade, Artificer Armour, Shield Eternal and Digital Weapons (expensive, but amazing)
Warboss in Mega Armour with da Lucky Stikk, Cybork Body, Kombi-Skorcha and Attack Squig (not great, but super-super cheap for what he does)
Bloodthirster with the Eternal Blade and Greater Reward (beats basically anyone in combat, getting there is more of an issue)
Grey Knight Grand Master with Soul Glaive and Master-Crafted Psycannon (kills anything without Eternal Warrior or if they roll a bunch of 2+ saves if he gets to swing at I5)
Necron Overlord with the Solar Thermasite, Warscythe, Phase Shifter, Phylactery, Resurrection Orb and Gauntlet of Fire. (slightly less resilient than falcoso's build, perhaps, but a Str8 AP2 weapon at I2 with a Heavy Flamer overwatch is no joke and a 3+/4++/5+ Feel No Necrons with re-rolling 1s on saves and IWND is still hard to shift).
OP's Wolf Lord build

Am I the only one that doesn't like Daemon of Nurgle on a Prince? Sure, 2+ Jink is great, but Ignores Cover isn't uncommon, you're still fragile in combat, and losing the ability to run people down is _huge_.


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## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

Shadow's Fury said:


> I wondered how long the nurgle prince would take to appear. A hard nut to crack indeed! Large numbers of ignores cover could be a problem, but you've got to pin it down first!
> 
> Is all the black legion gear artifacts? Never played against them or read their rules.


Yep its all Black Legion Gear. 

Last Memory of Yuanthos < Gives the Guy another spell*(a broken on as well 'Huge Nova) and Level (hence level 4) 
Eye of the Night < Large Blast, causes D3+1 Hullpoints of damage to everything hit! No Cover save.
Skull of Ker'ngar< Addamiti will and Eternal Warrior.


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Are you not limited to one Relic?

If not by the book, then certainly by the OP :so_happy:


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## venomlust (Feb 9, 2010)

MidnightSun said:


> Are you not limited to one Relic?
> 
> If not by the book, then certainly by the OP :so_happy:


I don't see anything in the Black Legion supplement that says you can only take one relic per character.

Also, OP _assumes_ you can only take one. :biggrin:


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

Huh, fair enough. Pimp Hand of Darkness is the only one I'd bring anyway


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## Uveron (Jun 11, 2011)

MidnightSun said:


> Are you not limited to one Relic?
> 
> If not by the book, then certainly by the OP :so_happy:


Nope. You can have as many as you have the points for... 

But the Deamon Prince is clocking in at over 450pts... closer to 500 if you give him the item to allow him to make one AP1 Instant Death attack (with S10 and Armour and Flesh Bane)


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## venomlust (Feb 9, 2010)

MidnightSun said:


> Huh, fair enough. Pimp Hand of Darkness is the only one I'd bring anyway


The pimp hand is strong with this one!


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## kiro the avenger! (Nov 8, 2010)

Tau crisis commander- onager gauntlet
Who sucks at close combat now! :threaten:

probably wanna throw in iribium armour, stil injector, shield generator... And um... pimp slaps!


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## Xabre (Dec 20, 2006)

While it's probably not as powerful as some could be, my favorite HQ right now is the GK Hammer of the g... I mean Librarian.

Level 3, Liber Demonica, and a strong Warlord roll (reroll it!)means he could 6 of the 7 GK powers if you stick with Santic, and reroll 1s on the casting.


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## falcoso (Apr 7, 2012)

MidnightSun said:


> Itemised points costs, naughty falcoso


No idea what you are talking about


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## Mossy Toes (Jun 8, 2009)

My mind jumped straight to a Black Legion or Crimson Slaughter MoN Palanquin Lord, depending if you wanted Skull of Ker'ngar or Daemonheart, respectively. But nah, that DP is gonna wreck his face first.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Lord Scion Cerastus Knight Lancer = 425pts

Solar Auxilia Tank Commander; Monster Hunter, Stormhammer, 6 Lascannons, Armoured Ceramite, Pintle Mounted Heavy Flamer, Four Hunter-Killer Missiles

Solar Auxilia Tank Commander; Monster Hunter, Hunter Killer Missile, Armoured Ceramite, Two Pairs of Sponsons with a Lascannon and Twin Linked Heavy Bolter in each, Pintle Heavy Flamer

ArchMagos Prime, Malagra, Master-crafted Paragon Blade, Chainfist, Machinator Array, Phased Plasma-Fusil, Abeyant, Contagium Mechanica, Void Shield Harness, Cloaking Array, Combat Augment Array, Phase-walker, Warp Shunt Field, Nanyte Blaster = 465

First few are easy. They're Super-Heavies, bringing either a Strength D and Stomp in the manner of the Knight, and just a shed load of firepower for the Super Heavy tanks, including Strength D for the Volcano Cannon.

The latter is a complete beast;

4 WS5, Preferred Enemy attacks against enemy characters, with a Master-crafted Paragon Blade (S5 AP2, and Instant Death on a roll of 6 to hit) with a Combat Augment Array allowing a guaranteed 6 once per battle at the expense of a Toughness Test (at T5 with a reroll courtesy of my Cyber Familiar). Alternatively, if facing a vehicle I can activate Chainfist for Armourbane. On top of that, I get 2 S5 Shred AP2 Armourbane Attacks from the Machinator Array (so, that's 6-7 S5 AP2 Attacks).

Defensively, I have a 2+/3++, while enemy shooting attacks which draw LoS to me automatically take D6 S5 hits if I roll a 6, on top of T6, 4 Wounds, and IWND, while surrounded by an AV12 forcefield vs shooting. 

Movement wise, I can instantly redeploy anywhere unless I'm caught in CC; which once per game, I can activate to turn myself immune to being shot at or charged unless enemy is Daemon or Psyker.

In addition, for shooting, I can shoot either my flamer or inferno pistol from the array, and one other weapon (either the other weapon, my Plasma Fusil (Salvo 2/3 S6 AP3) or my Nanyte Blaster (S5 AP2 Fleshbane), or even my Contagium Mechanica which puts a Haywire hit on the enemy vehicle if necessary. I think that's everything.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

I haven't played in a while so I will offer my unkillable chaos lord from 2nd edition.

*Chaos Lord*

Gear:
- Mark of khorne (frenzy and increased armor save by +1)
- Mark of Nurgle (+1 toughness)
- Terminator Armor, lightning claw, combi-bolter

Wargear cards/Chaos rewards (lord could have up to 3 total)
- Praise of Khorne (Chaos reward, re-roll failed armor saves)
- Refractor field (wargear card: 5+ invulnerable. Though for this post I'd make it a displacer field, which was a 3+ invulnerable)
- And I could give him a daemon sword, which didn't do quite the same thing but was easily as scary.

So a little history lesson. In 2nd ed there was no instant death rule, but it wouldn't have mattered much. This guy was toughness 6 with literally the toughest armor save to beat in the game, 2+ rerolled on 2D6. Terminator armor was 3+ on 2D6, modified by every strength point over 3 (like fantasy) and with no 5+ invulnerable.

I never bothered taking him with the daemon sword or the more expensive invulnerables because they would usually be wasted. He just trudged up the battlefield 8" a turn. Often he never did anything more than denied the enemy a potion of the table. There was basically nothing in the game that could kill him with shooting or combat, but likewise if my opponent ignored/avoided him he would do nothing. The games where my opponent engaged him were hilarious though.


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## DaisyDuke (Aug 18, 2011)

Man they were the days of who's got the hardest character.
My lord rocked around on a disc of tzeench with combat drugs, demon sword ( for the parry) and a displacer field oh and wearing terminater war plate. Now he owned the battlefield. Move 12 then charge 24. Boom! That was a close combat phase.
Not much could touch chaos back then... And along came eldar and space wolves.. Some things never change.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

3.5th edition Khorne Princes though. Like 13 S7 Attacks ignoring armour, T5(6) 2+/4++ with a FNP (4+) effectively.


Or 12" move and assault princes with armour ignoring and invulnerable ignoring attacks at I7.


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## Kreuger (Aug 30, 2010)

Vaz said:


> 3.5th edition Khorne Princes...


Man, I miss the Khornate dedicated dreadnoughts. 2 DCCWs, extra dice charging, and a 50/50 chance of doubling base attacks characteristic. On the charge they often had 6 or 7 attacks of instant death or vehicle annihilation. 

I'd take several of them and they became one of the most feared units at my FLGS.


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## Brother Liam (Apr 20, 2014)

It is assumed that they may only take a single relic/artifact equivalent from the codex.

my eyes are bad but...
V----v


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## KnockOut51 (Dec 18, 2009)

Chaos lord 75
Terminator Armour 40pts
Juggernaut of Khorne 45pts
With the Axe Of ruin. 60pts
So with these upgrades you get WS6 BS5 S4 T5 W4 A4 (base) with a 2+ and a 5++

Also the axe of ruin is ap 2 with Decapitating blow. Also when this Model dies He become a 250 point Blood thister!
So for me this is a hero I Will run on the board by himself Charging into what ever he can, If he Dies, well oh well now I have a blood thister! The 60 point axe is always worth the Cost to me
This is from the Khorne Daemonkin codex


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

Brother Liam said:


> It is assumed that they may only take a single relic/artifact equivalent from the codex.
> 
> my eyes are bad but...
> V----v


If we're dealing with RAW, "assuming" means fuck all XD


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