This week’s Hammer of Math explores the ways Assassins can execute the Emperor’s foes in the new Codex Imperial Agents.
It’s safe to say that the Imperium gets the most toys, especially when something like Codex Imperial Agents comes out. One of my greatest failings as a Warhammer 40k player is that I still haven’t painted 2000 points worth of Space Marines. Instead I rely on influxes of Armigers and Imperial Agents to fill in the gaps. In 8th Edition I would bring a complete Execution Task Force without any sense of shame; not because I wanted to be good but because I wanted to bring a painted army. That attitude still remains to this day, although I swear I will paint more at some point.
From a competitive standpoint Assassins fit into that niche category of units that are fully embraced when the Datasheets are good, and completely forgotten in the next edition. The release of Codex Imperial Agents definitely brings them back into the “good” category, with a lot of fun abilities and the option to swap out one assassin for another so long as the replacement isn’t worth more points. This means that you can gleefully bring a Culexus to one battle and then swap it out for an Eversor the next.
Callidus Assassin
The Callidus is a master shapeshifter, leveraging polymorphine to drastically alter their bodies and achieve nearly any possible disguise. Their weapons are equally disturbing; a neural shedder which destroys the minds of anything nearby or a phase sword which may or may not have been borrowed from the Necrons. While their influence is arguably more narrative driven than something that affects the battlefield, in 10th Edition they do have some abilities. When caught in melee the Callidus can use Acrobatic Escape to Fall Back D6″ away at the end of a Fight phase, and at the end an opponent’s phase in which the model is not within 3″ of the enemy it can be removed from the battlefield and brought back as Reinforcements. That means that if you ensure the Callidus isn’t touching an opponent (and they don’t get surrounded) they have a 66% chance of escaping.
The neural shredder has both [PRECISION] and [ANTI-INFANTRY 2+] and as a [TORRENT] weapon the D6 attacks automatically hit. Unfortunately the output isn’t terribly impressive unless the target has a low save; against anything with a 4++ you’re most likely to only get 1 wound through.
While the phase sword and poison blades make a mockery of most armor thanks to having an AP values of -4. As with the neural shredder the output is heavily affected by the presence of a save roll, although against targets with a low or no invulnerable save the Callidus can do some damage in melee.
Eversor Assassin
Eversor Assassins are basically cyberpsychos from Cyberpunk 2020 with more skulls and less of a regard for human life. These juiced up killing machines aren’t so much assassins as they are ambulatory terror weapons, and their primary purpose is to kill the target, anyone nearby, and probably anyone who those people met. They also explode when they die, which is a nice touch. In the game they’re armed with pistols and melee weapons which features a wonderful combination of [ANTI-INFANTRY 3+] and [SUSTAINED HITS 3] for the potential to absolutely explode with damage. The graphs below reflect this, with the melee profile able to inflict a median of up to 10 wounds against poorly armored targets.
Vindicare Assassin
In the lore Vindicare Assassins are the ultimate sniper, able to stay in impossible position for days or weeks until the target presents itself for the perfect shot. On the tabletop they are specialized killers, ideally positioned to take out Lone Operatives and other important figures if they present themselves. Particularly notable is the Shieldbreaker ability, which once per battle gives the player the chance to cause a Critical Wound on any successful Wound roll (with a +1 to Wound to boot). Given that the exitus rifle has [DEVASTATING WOUNDS] this is pretty nasty. The chart below reflects that, showing how 80% of the time the attack will inflict at least 4 mortal wounds on a target that has a Toughness characteristic of 7 or less. It also shows the lack of reliability that a single shot threat has against targets with an invulnerable save like a Space Marine Captain; more often than not the attack doesn’t do anything.
Culexus Assassin
The Culexus kills psykers. That’s it. It exists to pop up, murder a Psyker, and then get killed. It is extremely well suited for this task, featuring a ranged attack that can potentially deal 18 wounds and the ability to appear anywhere on the battlefield that’s more than 3″ away from an enemy unit. The chart below shows just how unpleasant the output of this thing is, reliably dealing a median of 6 woulds in melee and from 5 to 9 wounds depending on the Save characteristic at range. That’s enough to reliably killa Farseer in one turn.
Wrapping Up
Don’t be surprised if you see an influx of Assassins appear on the battlefield; with these abilities and lethal output they definitely seem like a viable option in 10th Edition. Whether it’s the specialized attack of a Culexus against a psyker-heavy force or a Callidus sneakily capturing objectives and making life hell, there’s an option for everyone. Hopefully these numbers will give you guidance and context for how to best use these models in your army.
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