Bad TheoryHammer: Archetypes

 Bad TheoryHammer:  Archetypes

(Image Credit:  GW)

Yes, I had to use the TACTICAL GENIUS here for an image just because.  And you are warned.  I am extremely, extremely biased here.  I'm also just going to say this.

Can You Roll a Crit pretty much mirrors my thoughts here (and they did it a LOT longer ago than I did!).  So, if you just want to skip through all my junk, you can probably just check our their blog here.  In general, it's a great blog.  Highly recommended and stuff.  Seems like good people, too.

Seek and Destroy

Great song.  Terrible Archetype.  I hates it, precious!  I really, really dislike things that rely on my guys just being better than yours (keep in mind, I play Brood Covens almost exclusively).  But let's get into each of them.

Headhunter

Eh, I somewhat disagree here.  I think that trying to off a Leader in TP1-2 is rather difficult unless they're a weedy leader who isn't playing smart.  It's probably one of the easier ones to get off, but it isn't THAT easy.  Not my favorite, not my least favorite.

Challenge

STRONG disagree here.  Never ever ever take this unless you are playing something like Custodes or the like, and even then it's a bad idea.  Why would I want to send my guy at your guy if I know they're stronger and I don't have a chance?  It doesn't work that way.

Rout

Okay, this one is okay.  Assuming you're playing hard melee and your opponent is holding back, at least.  You'll have to do some messing around to get the VPs, but it's at least doable.

Execution

Strong disagree here as well.  For elite teams, you can pull this off easily.  It's a better version of the Security one (we will get to the GOAT Archetype in a bit).  It really does require playing an elite team though.

Deadly Marksman

No.  Just no.  Needing to incap someone and stay alive?  That's just silly.  I hates it!  Stupid fat archetypes!  I mean, at least it can give you a pretty easy 1 VP.

Rob and Ransack

This can actually be pretty darned good if you activate it at TP4.  Otherwise, it's just an easy 1 VP.

Security

Now we are cooking with gas!  Security rewards you for playing the game the way the game should be played, rather than trying to be Metallica (sorry, Lars, you lost me during the Napster debacle) or wasting APL to do stuff.  I love Security.  If you can take Security, take Security.

Seize Ground

This one is so easy and can be combined with so many missions that it's criminal not to take.  Always take it.  I love it.  Let me get my Underground guy up on a place near an objective and turn it into a double objective?  Amazing.  A perfect 5/7.

Hold the Line

Probably one of the weaker things for Security, but it's still not bad.  If you play aggressively (hey, I thought this was Security!), your opponent will be hard-pressed to get into your Drop Zone.  Not the worst, not the best.

Protect Assets

Cover your ass...ets!  Seriously, you're going to be doing this anyway.  Why not get VPs for doing it?  As mentioned by Cyrac (I'm just gonna call them that from now all), it's hard to score against elite teams, but otherwise, you should be doing this all the dang time.

Damage Limitation

I don't care what other choice you have, you're taking the other choice.  It's that simple and clean (is the way you are making me feel tonight).  This one is just bad unless maybe you're playing Custodes, but even then.

Plant Banner

Yo, ho.  All together.  Hoist the colors high!  This one is amazing because you can literally just move plus dash into the opponent's Drop Zone on TP 4 and drop the banner for a free 2 VP.  And if your banner dude gets killed, anyone else can pick it up, so who cares?  Take it.  It's good!

Central Control

It rewards you for playing the game the way you should be trying to play it.  Chef's kiss.  Muah!  This is a great thing to have.

Infiltrate

I'm generally not a fan of Infiltrate as it seems that most of it comes with a rather steep cost and makes you do things you otherwise would not.  It isn't terrible, but it isn't great.

Capture Hostage and Infiltrate

What a long and silly name!  It can be useful on TP4 when your Operative no longer really matters, I suppose.  For some teams, it's quite useful.

Behind Enemy Lines

Why are you putting Operatives in your opponent's Drop Zone and away from opposing Operatives?  Are you super-shooty and also really mobile?

As a note, for Kommandos, this is really ridiculously easy to score due to the Grot Ninja (I know, he's not a Ninja, but still).  So for them, it's great!

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2 AP?  Ugh, no.  That's about all I have to say about it.  You're not going to be scoring this any time soon.

Implant

Eh, it's okay if you're willing to forgo a Strike to get a VP (or three to get two VPs).  In some teams, it's pretty decent.  Otherwise, hard pass.

Sabotage

Here I'm going to disagree with Cyrac, just because I can.  With the right team, Sabotage is 2 VPs scored in the first TP (look at Chaos Cultists and Brood Covens, for example).  For everyone else, though, it's a huge waste.

Interlope

This is another thing that goes great on the Kommando Grot.  Theoretically, you can get 4 VP on TP2 from two Behind Enemy Lines plus Interlope.  But you have to designate your Interloper beforehand and if they get ganked, you're SOL.  So for most KTs, not the best.

Recon

Meh.  I really dislike Recon in general.  No offense meant to anyone, I just don't see the point.

Mark Target

This would work a LOT better if it just said "if any hits were scored."  As it stands, you need to use fairly reliable shooting to score with this (let's be honest, a Neophyte with Autogun doesn't stand a chance of marking a Custodes Leader) and you're wasting a lot of decent damage for a VP.  Not my favorite by far.

Triangulate

At least this one is easy to score, but it's still AP that you don't have the option of wasting (in my opinion).  One of the best for Recon, but still, that's not saying a lot.

Plant Signal Beacon

Generally speaking, I dislike objectives that cost 2AP to use.  But I tend to run 2 AP teams, so that might be me.  This is probably the second-least-bad one of the bunch to use, but still, Plant Banner is so much better.

Vantage

This is another one that isn't THAT bad for being 2 APL.  Again, Chaos Cultists and Brood Covens can score all 2 VPs TP1-2 without any real issues.  It's not the most fun thing to do, but eh, I guess it beats popping off an autogun or something.

Retrieval

Potentially really, really good.  If you're pushing for the middle of the board, you can easily pick it up TP4 and score.  That's not that bad, even if your opponent can put it somewhere REALLY hard to get to.

Overrun

I actually think this is one of the easier things to score in the game, but keep in mind what I play.  Having an Operative in each quadrant is simple (and oftentimes necessary).  Quite a bit harder to score for more elite teams, mind you!

But that's about it.  I'm not going to get into the bespoke team's cards at this point (I really should have when I covered them--sorry!), but here's my Bad TheoryHammer about them.  Let me know what you think!