The Iron Hands Leviathan has been causing a commotion in the 40k community lately. But is it really that bad for the game?
Wyatt over from Jack of Clubs painting did a math breakdown on all the investments that need to be made for that near-unkillable Leviathan. It might have a wounds profile so it can technically die, but with its survivability, you may be better off just blowing the rest of the enemy army away.
That being said, there’s a lot that has to go into that Leviathan to become that scary. So much so that it may not be as bad as we think…
Is the Iron Hands Leviathan Really Bad Enough to Get NERFED?
Yes, it is absolutely hard to kill, no argument there. But the thing is, to have the unit, the investment in points, unit taxes (For the Relic keyword), and CP, is well worth its tanky-ness in-game.
Here is an explanation and math of what the actual investment on a Leviathan is for Iron Hands.
Sure, the Leviathan with storm cannons is 303 points (plus 6-18 for HK missiles) and just to bring it in the list you need a heavy support slot filled because of the Relic tax. Usually, a Thunderfire Cannon, Whirlwind, or Eliminator squad if you want the tax unit to be useful. so 72-92 points. Now the total is up to 375-395. THEN you need Feirros, 110 points– up to 485-505. THEN you need Ironstone Relic, which is CP free if Feirros’ Warlord Trait, but it needs a non-named character you put it on. The Techmarine is cheapest so let’s go with that for the 45 point tax. total is now 530-550.
THEN you need the Might of Heroes power to slap on him from a Psyker to make it T9. Cheapest librarian? 88 points. total is now 618-638… Six Hundred Eighteen points for the Leviathan with its unit taxes! Now we go into resource investment. 1 CP to make him a character, 1 CP to give it a WL trait, then even more CP each turn it gets shot at to halve damage with Duty Eternal.
That’s 3 for a fast game, 6 if we can keep it waddling along brrrrting stuff the whole game. 5cp to 8cp is half to most of a typical Space Marine list’s CP. So we’re looking at a 700 point unit that also eats 5 to 8 cp over the course of a game.
Strong AF? yeah, you betcha. But worth banning? Not unless you also ban Castellans, most other variants of Knights, and Mortarion. Also, be sure to note that it has to use Duty Eternal again in the fight phase. so double CP investment for the game for it being shot at, and charged by smash captains. and it can’t even fall back and shoot. Plus 2-3 squads of chaff can lock it down in combat if even one reaches it though the brutal overwatch.
Is it really that bad when compared to things like Knights, Magnus, or even Mortarion? Is it just an unkillable distraction Carnifex that lets you focus on the rest of your enemy’s army?
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About the Author: Wyatt Turk
