Detachment Focus: Unforgiven Task Force

In this series of articles we take a deep dive into a specific detachment for a faction, covering the faction’s rules and upgrades and talking about how to build around that faction for competitive play. In this article, we’re covering the Unforgiven Task Force Detachment from Codex Supplement: Dark Angels.

The Dark Angels have three detachments in their Codex: Inner Circle Task Force covers the first company, Company of Hunters covers the second company, and Unforgiven Task Force covers everyone else. It’s the most generalist of the three options, designed to model the Dark Angels’ grim resolve and determination on the battlefield. There are some nifty options here, but they come at the cost of needing to avoid focusing on the units in the other two detachments and they’re attached to a Detachment ability that just isn’t great.

Detachment Overview

The Unforgiven Task Force has the odd and unenviable task of trying to make a Dark Angels Detachment which doesn’t give massive bonuses to the Deathwing or Ravenwing outright, and that’s tough because those are the faction’s bespoke units. That said, those detachments aren’t very good despite having access to better units, partly because they don’t do enough to boost your damage output. And while the Unforgiven Task Force has a few nifty tricks for improving both your offense and defense that at least give it some play, it’s largely shackled by a pretty bad Detachment ability and some just awful conditions on its stratagems and enhancements which keep it from matching what the Gladius Task Force offers.

And just because this detachment doesn’t benefit Deathwing Knights specifically doesn’t mean they won’t see play here – Deathwing Knights love to throw down Unbreakable Lines when charged and Azrael works well with Unforgiven Fury Stratagem.

Detachment Rule: Grim Resolve

While an Adeptus Astartes unit from your army is Battle-shocked, the OC of models in that unit becomes 1 instead of 0.

In your Command phase, pick one unit from your army and until the start of your next Command phase, add 1 to the OC of models in that unit.

This is… not great. Getting +1 OC on one unit per battle round isn’t bad, but the other part of this is just dog water. It’s neat to have OC insurance for when your fail a battle-shock test but you still lose the ability to use Stratagems on that unit, and in many cases you might still be losing OC if the unit had 2+ per model to begin with. On top of that most of your units have OC 6+, so failing Battle-shock tests isn’t going to happen that often. It’s nice to have in your back pocket for going up against say, Tyranids, but ultimately space marines don’t need a ton of help with battle-shock. And that’s also a real shame here, because there are a ton of rules in this Detachment which key off being battle-shocked. Which, again, is still bad for you, only less bad and advantageous in some ways. But it’s also completely out of your control, since you can’t choose to fail a test.

Enhancements

The Enhancements in this Detachment all key off the bearer’s unit being Battle-shocked. Which is an OK consolation but makes them feel really half-baked, as you’ll have very little control over when and how that happens, making it difficult to use them effectively.

• Shroud of Heroes (25 points) – The first time the bearer is destroyed, roll a D6 at the end of the phase; on a 2+ set them back up as close as possible to where they were but outside of Engagement Range of any enemy units. That model stands back up with 3 wounds remaining unless they were battle-shocked when they were destroyed, in which case they stand up with full wounds. For 25 points this is a bit too expensive and there aren’t many characters you’ll actually want to put it on.
• Stubborn Tenacity (15 points) – The bearer’s unit gets +1 to hit if it’s below Starting Strenght, and +1 to wound if they are both Battle-shocked and below half strength. That’s an insane second hoop to jump through, but you can make the first one happen easily enough with some plasma guns. Though it’s not necessarily worth it to intentionally kill a model just to get +1 to hit unless your unit is pretty large. That second effect is so difficult to get that it’s not worth planning for.
• Weapons of the First Legion (15 points) – Add 1 to the Attacks, Strength, and Damage characteristics of the bearer’s melee weapons. While they’re battle-shocked add 2 instead. Even at the baseline it’s one of the best weapon buffs available anywhere in Marines, and if the additional boost triggers its wild. The updated Ravenwing Champion in the Command Squad is a potentially interesting bearer for this, and it’s also pretty great on a Gravis Captain with the dual wield build (although the A buff doesn’t apply to the Extra Attacks, the other two boosts do).
• Penant of Remembrance (10 points) – Ancient model only. While the bearer is leading a unit, models in that unit gain the Feel No Pain 6+ ability. If the unit is battle shocked, they gain a 4+ Feel No Pain instead. You really want this on a Terminator Ancient paired with Deathwing Knights, where the FNP combines well with -1 damage and the OC+1 increase from the Ancient makes them able to contest objectives against nearly any unit in the game when you tack on the Detachment ability to make them OC +1 on top of the buff. Even battle-shocked, they’ll be OC 3.

I think you want the Penant in here, and Weapons of the First Legion is solid enough that you may take it just for the raw damage output you can get from it. You can skip Shroud of Heroes and Stubborn Tenacity, though.

Stratagems

Roughly half of the Stratagems in the Unforgiven Task Force Detachment key off having a battle-shocked unit, albeit in different ways. It makes them a bit less reliable than you’d like.

• Armour of Contempt (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Used in the opponent’s Shooting or Fight phase when one of your units is targeted to reduce the AP of incoming attacks by 1 against that unit for a phase. Always useful to have, and a staple for the Space Marines faction. It’s great with Deathwing Knights, helping combo with other effects to make them one of the game’s toughest units.
• Unforgiven Fury (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Used in your Shooting phase or the Fight phase on a unit in your army that hasn’t fought yet. Until the end of the phase models in your unit gain the [LETHAL HITS] ability. If one or more of your units is battle-shocked, then until the end of the phase, that unit also scores critical hits on 5+ results.
• Intractable (Strategic Ploy, 1 CP) – Used in your Movement phase, just after you fall back with a unit. That unit can shoot and charge until the end of the turn. Another always useful ability, good for disengaging from bad combats or re-upping on your ability to fight first with a charge.
• Fire Discipline (Battle Tactic, 1 CP) – Used in your Shooting phase on a unit that hasn’t shot yet. Until the end of the phase those weapons gain [ASSAULT], [HEAVY], and [IGNORES COVER]. This is very solid, giving you either extra mobility with Assault or a bonus for standing still with Heavy. But don’t count out Ignores Cover – cover is very easy to get in tenth edition and a gun with AP-1 and Ignores Cover is a powerful threat against most targets.
• Grim Retribution, 1 CP) – Used in your opponent’s shooting phase right after an enemy unit shoots. Pick a unit from your army that lost one or more models to that enemy unit. Your unit can shoot as if it were the shooting phase, but has to attack the enemy unit that just attacked it. This is always useful, and great for threatening opponents who want to take pot shots at a good unit.
• Unbreakable Lines (Battle Tactic, 2 CP) – Used in your opponent’s charge phase, when they finish a charge move against one of your units. Pick one of your units within engagement rage of the charging unit and until the end of the phase subtract 1 from the wound rolls of incoming attacks.

It’s a mixed bag. There’s some interesting stuff here, like Unbreakable Lines, Grim Retribution, and Unforgiven Fury, but the battle-shock effects here aren’t great. Overall this detachment continues to have some cool stuff going for it, but still can’t compete with the potency of Gladius Task Force as an all-rounder pick, so you’re mostly doing it if you want to create some silly herohammer setups with the Weapons.

Playing This Detachment

The Unforgiven Task Force Detachment may have some odd rules which are difficult to plan around, but it also has some solid effects you can just use, ignoring the battle-shock bonus and treating it like a nice extra in the rare cases it’s active. As we mentioned earlier, there’s some mileage here you can get out of Terminator Ancients, both because they can give you the option of an OC 3 Deathwing Knights unit as well as a 6+ feel no pain, which helps to make that unit even more insanely durable.

Once you get past the Deathwing Knights, things become a little more nebulous, but you still have plenty of decent options. Azrael is also a great shout here, and his ability to give you extra CP and SUSTAINED HITS 1 to his unit can really help get an otherwise OK unit over the top with its damage output. He makes a great partner for Bladeguard Veterans and Inner Circle Companions but he can also do OK with an Assault Intercessor Squad if you want to save the points. Lion El’Jonson is also worth a look, as he can be a solid melee threat, improve your other units’ melee output, or help them weather mortal wounds from say, Thousand Sons and Grey Knights armies.

You know who really loves the Fire Discipline Stratagem? Eradicators. A unit of Eradicators who can either advance and shoot or ignore cover can help them take down tougher targets in a single volley, or close the distance. The Stratagem isn’t limited to infantry either so it’s fair game on the likes of Repulsor Executioners and Vindicators.

Otherwise, the Unforgiven Task Force is largely a Space Marines army running a different set of Stratagems. Keep your capabilities in mind and focus on finding opportunities to use them.

Sample List

The Unforgiven Task Force hasn’t seen a lot of competitive play, and when it has results haven’t been great. This list was run by veteran player Stephen Corrales at the Hammer of Wrath GT in late August. Stephen took this list to a 3-2 finish after a 2-0 start, narrowly losing to Grey Knights in round 3 and losing to Dark Angels in a close game in round 5. Although it’s not an X-1 list, the list has the ability to score secondary objectives effectively and supports the Deathwing Knights with a mix of fast melee threats and hard-hitting anti-vehicle units.

The list - click to expand

Supporting those three units of Knights are two units each of Eradicators and a pair of Repulsor Executioners. Each of the Repulsors is capable of carrying one of the three-man Eradicator squads, giving them a nice little deadly cargo to drop out for extra firepower. The Scout Squad and Assault Intercessors with Jump Packs provide mobile action units who can threaten at the edges of an opponent’s force as needed.