Horus Heresy: Destroyers
- Nicholas Smith
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
Greetings one and all,
Today, we’re going to take a look at those walking war crime dispensers of the 30th Millennium: Destroyers. So get your hazmat suit, neck some iodine tablets, and mind the white/greenish fires as we tiptoe into looking at these ill reputed units.
What are Destroyers?
Destroyers were first used during the unification wars on Terra. Though not by the forces of the Emperor, but by his enemies. Never one to overlook a good idea, the Emperor adopted the tactics of his enemies, and soon the first destroyers were fielded. Many legions consider the destroyers a necessary evil at best and a punishment unit at worst. Wielding weapons that not only kill the enemy but also permanently taint the earth itself, they use proscribed weapons such as rad and phosphex. They are deployed as a last resort, or against the most unspeakable foes whose existence needs to be wiped completely from the universe.
Special Rules
Both non-legion-specific destroyers have the same special rules, which are worth going over before we dive into the details of each unit.
Firestorm - Volley fire is a great new rule to the game. The idea of unloading your weapon into a foe while they return fire feels like a great narrative touch, while being a great rule too. However, for most units these attacks are made as snap shots, meaning few of them actually hit. That is unless the charging unit has the firestorm special rule, allowing them to fire their volley attack at Full BS, and then decide not to complete the charge action if they don't want to. Quite a nice little rule, basically giving you two full rounds of shooting in one turn.
Vanguard - We all know this one: the unit can’t score more than 1 point for holding an object, but can gain its Vanguard rating for forcing opponents off objects it controls. Basically forcing units with this special rule to play aggressively.
Bitter Duty - Can not be joined by units that don’t have this special rule (the Moritat now has this special rule, thanks to the new FAQ)
Mortalis Destroyer Squad - The basic squad? But in seriousness, these guys get access to a lot of special weapons (special weapons… showing my age here), those being the graviton gun, disintegrator rifle, destroyer missile launcher and a plasma pistol. But the best of the lot, if you ask me, is definitely the destroyer missile launcher with rad missiles. I mean, look at this thing!
Pic
I mean what's not to love? And at only 15pts? I’ll take two!
Personally, I’d get a squad of ten, get two Destroyer missile launchers with rad missiles and arm the rest with volkite serpentas (oh yeah, they can have those or hand flamers). Stick them in a rhino, or better yet a Land Raider, and charge forward. Always fire the rad missiles first, and you’ve got a great chance of hitting on 3s, and wounding on 2s with the Volkites.
Lastly, I should mention the rad grenades, which are also phage (T). In case you don’t bring the missile launcher, the Sergeant can have a phosphex bomb too. Just be careful it doesn’t roll back on you though.
Do
Max out the squad size (it’s a base 160pts).
Take the destroyer missile launcher with rad missiles.
Volkites and a transport with the Assault Vehicle special rule.
Don’t
Make them walk
Equip the plasma pistol (seriously, why?)
Destroyer Assault Squad - Right, now, those were good. But these are better. And why is that? Jump packs! (Okay, so I mean 12-inch movement). Not only does this mean they have way more mobility in that they can jump over terrain, they can also deep strike, which might not be an awful idea.
The weapon options for pistols are the same as the mortails. As well as this, 1 in 5 of these guys can have a charnabal sabre or a power weapon. However, their choice of special weapons are much more limited. 1 in 5 can exchange their bolt pistols for a plasma pistol (again though, why?) or a missile launcher with rad missiles.
So personally, I like the same load out as the squad of ten from before: two destroyer missile launchers with rad missiles, the rest with volkite serpentas which while they do cost a tad more at 260pts, it’s worth it. I’d then either deep strike them to deal with tough areas of resistance, or if given the choice, mount them in a spartan for that chance of a turn one charge. At the very least, you'll be able to bring two units down a point of toughness for the rest of the game (unless you have my dice rolls…)
Do
Take the destroyer missile launcher with rad missiles.
Volkites and a transport with the Assault Vehicle special rule.
Treat them as expendable but make sure you get a good trade
Don’t
Leave them in the open
Target units with a 2+ save
Final Thoughts
Destroyers were left out of this edition on release and last edition, they were kind of a jokey unit. But I think this edition they’re very powerful and if I'm honest, maybe a little too good. There are some hints around that the Destroyers might be getting their own Journal tactica, but I'll wait and see on that. Overall, they’re a really fun unit. They’re easy to build with the MK II assault marines and a melee upgrade pack, or through 3D printing. Just, don’t be that guy and spam them.
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