Abhuman doctrines!

[panzerjeager]

Yeeeeee!!!!! Haaaaaaw!!! Abhuman doctrines!!!! Now, with the aid of a band of conscripts you can upgrade your meat shields to a band of frothing, semi-human animals! Flush out the underhive and put 'em to work! Subs are kinda worthless after the first turn. Feral Ogryns don't strike me as too useful outside of an orgryn heavy army, but Afriels, Nightsiders and those nasty Imperial version of beastmen make me want to pull an Imperial Night of the Longknives and drive those subhumans into battle. Please, give me some comments on experiences with them.

[Broadside_Pilot]

Um...what are you talking about? Where is this stuff from?

[panzerjeager]

White Dwarf #302 March 2005 page:64 Chapter Approved. Allows use of "Abhumans", basically sanctioned mutants. Feral Ogryns: basically, wild Ogryns. Nightsiders: Can see in the dark or have improved senses due to coming from the darkside of a planet. Slave Levies: Mutant workers pressed into service, can take alot of damage and move slowly. The Afriel Strain: Ever read a Last Chancers Novel? The white guys that are clones of Imperial Heroes. Homo Sapiens Variatus: Imperial Beastmen, sort of. Subs: untermensch, sub-human meatshield, literally moving cover. Gland Warriors: like in Inquisitor, IG with Adeptus Mechanicus combat drugs.

Imagine a Jungle Fighters army taking on gaunts in hand to hand with the Homo Sapien Variatus.

[Sokhar]

That sounds great until the gaunts kick your ass with superior numbers, or the larger 'nids enter the fray. :p

To be honest, I think most of the abhuman doctrines are kinda crappy. A few have potential for themed armies, and the Afriel Strain is not bad, but overall it was a half-assed article that White Dwarf probably slapped together at the last minute. If you don't have the word "Marines" somewhere in the name for your army, you pretty much get sloppy seconds rather than quality stuff.

[panzerjeager]

That sounds great until the gaunts kick your ass with superior numbers, or the larger 'nids enter the fray.

Dramatic counter attack by a platoon of Variatus + Orgryns = a potentially split/redirected nid army. Difficult terrain with Jungle fighters is one of the ultimate, most diffuicult ways to fight nids. I suggest you play a few games, then learn about using units to prevent the "bigguns" from hitting your main line. Imagine a Carnifex getteing ready to charge a line from his deployment point. A unit of Gland Warriors uses their special ability to rush ahead and delay the carnifex, while the main line moves out of the way, then you have another turn to fire the heavy weapons he was charging. Or Variatus in a similar situations against gaunts. True, they will be overwhelmed, but their function is not necessarily to wipe out the enemy. Defensive strategy doesn't just mean stand and shoot. Delaying actions, deception, strategic redeplyment and dramatic counter attack are some of the defensive tools of the well learned strategist. (Karl von Klauswitz)

[Sokhar]

*shrugs* You might have a point, though in my defense I'd call a Jungle Fighters army fighting in the jungle would fall under the "thematic armies" I mentioned. Anyway, its an interesting thought, just not one that really appeals to me personally. I'm more partial to regular Guard or city fighters rather than Jungle fighters. To each his own though, glad that I was proven wrong on the apparent limitations of the Abhuman doctrines.