Age of Darkness-Warhammer 30k/2.0 Tactics/Solar Auxilia Tactics

"What is the strongest weapon of mankind? The god-machines of the Adeptus Mechanicus? No! The Astartes Legions? No! The tank? The lasgun? The fist? Not at all! Courage and courage alone stands above them all!"

– Lord Solar Macharius (his time was later, but the sentiment was true back during the 31st Millennium)

"In war the greatest single deciding factor is will; without the will to do so, no sacrifice is made, no initiative seized, no objective taken and no enemy vanquished - all the guns in creation are useless without the will to pull the trigger."

– Goge Vandire, Sermons to the Frateris Templar, Vol XIII

This is the current tactics page for the Solar Auxilia in HH 2.0. The 1.0 tactics can be found here.

For the generals on how to play the game and the basics on list building (as well as other tactica rules), you may want the General tactics page. You may also find the Horus Heresy general thread as "/HHG/" on /tg/.

Why play the Solar Auxilia[edit]

Because in a time of angels and demigods, it takes true grit to be a mere man and to stand among them, let alone fight them. Solar Auxilia are the elite humans of the Horus Heresy, but that doesn't mean much when you're going up against genetically engineered post-humans wrapped in power armour. They'll be relying on massed firepower, tanks and respectable 4+ armour saves to carry them to victory, while gritting their teeth and bearing the punishment that they can't brush off. It truly can be a hard time to be a mortal among demigods.

Alternatively, you might've seen their models and decided that a steampunk-fantasy 50's sci-fi cosmonaut aesthetic is your jam. And with the drip on those voidsmen, how could you not?

Pros

Amazing looking models!
Stormtrooper-tier soldiers with Imperial Guard numbers.
A wholly original army just for 30k, making it pretty unique.
Models with one of the coolest aesthetics GW/FW have ever produced.
One of the best shooting armies in the game.
The new Cohort Doctrines give Solar Auxilia some very nice diversification in their playstyles and army building.
Did we mention the models?

Cons

Lost the handholding mechanic for better WS from HH1, so you can't really save your sections from complete ruin at the hands of even Tactical Marines.
Most artillery and Blast weapons will evaporate Solar Auxilia units with each shot since they're all AP4 now. Thanks to the Close-order sub-type, you have a unit coherency of 1", which means your dudes will die in droves the moment your enemy pulls out a pie plate. This won't be a problem for your Marine playing opponents and their 3+ armour saves. Likewise, basically the whole army list outside Heavy Support slots are countered one way or another by Volkites, so it can be tricky to remove them (particularly the bullshit 10-strong Culverin Heavy Support Squad) without losing entire units getting into range and/or to Return Fire.
This is not the Tank edition and most of your armour is far more limited in their usefulness and which guns are effective.
Most of your stuff is more expensive now compared to 1E, and that's on top of core game mechanics favouring Marines. Point-per-point, you will lose to Astartes.
This army is expensive to build. Forget selling your own organs, you'll have to build a drug empire and spend your nights hunting people and harvesting all of their organs.
- The recent wave of new plastic Solar Auxilia has made the army less expensive when it was solely in FW resin. Now you 'only need to spend your weekends hunting people to sell their body parts on the black market.

Core Warlord Traits[edit]

Solar Auxilia do not get unique warlord traits, so you better pick the generic one that grants you the extra reaction in the phase of your choice. With Tercio mechanics, it's generally better to get Shooting/Assault Phase reactions in the interests of massed Return Fire/Overwatch, but Movement phase reactions can be useful for avoiding charges and you have to take Armoured Legate if you have Armoured Fist.

Bloody-Handed: +1 to combat resolution within 12". Extra Assault Phase Reaction.
Stoic Defender: Grants Pinning to the shooting attacks of his unit, provided they cause at least one unsaved wound. Extra Shooting Phase Reaction.
Ever-vigilant: Warlord's unit uses his Initiative + 1 instead of the lowest Initiative in the unit when running. Extra Movement Phase Reaction.
- The worst choice of the three, because Movement Phase Reactions don't include a way to use your Tercio shooting rules.
Armoured Legate: Restricted to a Leman Russ Command Tank upgraded with Combat Doctrines if using an Armoured Fist Pattern Cohort. The model gains a 5+ Invulnerable Save and +1 BS (taking it to 5).

Special Rules[edit]

Close-Order Sub-Type: One of the key ways the army functions. The entire squad now has a unit coherency range of 1", cannot Run or Sweep, but they can move up to half their movement speed and still be able to shoot any Heavy weapons as if they stood still.
- It's most notably found on your Troops and HQ Tercios. It is not found on Veletaris Tercios, so keep that in mind; they still can't Run because they're Heavy, but they can spread out to avoid Blasts/Templates and can Sweep after winning combat.

Mechanised Sub-Type: Pretty much treats your Sentinels like Dreadnoughts. Aside from the non-vehicle statline, it forces re-rolls to-wound against successful Poisoned (X) or Fleshbane hits and lets them be affected by Haywire, Detonation and Battlesmith (X) like a dread. They can also shoot with all weapons and can fire Heavy and Ordnance weapons as if they had stood still even if they moved, plus the ability to charge after shooting.

Tercio & being "In Formation": The Tercio special rule is the other key way the army functions, basically allowing you to group multiple units in a single FOC slot. When units belonging to the same Tercio/slot are within 3" of each other, they are considered to be "In Formation". Being "In Formation" gives your troopers benefits such as being able to React in the same way during a Reaction that requires Shooting or Movement, and other things depending on your Cohort Doctrine.
- In essence, this is the Imperial version of the Tau's Supporting Fire gimmick (before 9E wiped that off the board); this gives you the WALL OF GUNS as an Overwatch weapon.
- Note the wording of this special rule says you only have to be with 3" of another unit of the same tercio, not all units of the same tercio. This means you can spread your 3 unit tercio out by "anchoring" a unit on each flank with one in the center/behind them both.
- Sadly, GW's nonsensical decision to remove Flamer Support Sections (and try to justify it by giving Veletaris options for Heavy Flamers now) means you can't add some fiery special effects to the laser light show.
- Remember, a Tercio is only 1-3 units total. This doesn’t wholly matter to the command tercio but matters most to the Veletaris tercio, which could otherwise have access to 5 units without the restriction.

Cohort Doctrines[edit]

The best bit of the older Militia rules applied to the Solar Auxilia, to the point it deserves a section of its own. There are eight options to pick from, which are unlocked either by a model with the Cohort Doctrines special rule, or a model without the rule upgraded to have it via a specific Cohort Doctrine.

Legiones Auxilia[edit]

So Battle for Beta-Garmon decided to make the final step to bridge together legionaries and the Solar Auxilia via this rule. If you have the Solar Auxilia allied to a primary detachment of Space Marines, the Auxilia gain the trait matching their parent legion. This also applies to any auxilia joined to an Overseer Consul.

Wargear of the Solar Auxilia[edit]

Melee Weapons[edit]

Charnabal Weapons
Dueling weapons that rely on speed and precision over brute strength. A few more of these have been added in 2.0, but they all follow the same general theme of relying on Breaching instead of normal AP, but gaining initiative in challenges. A surprising number of Solar Auxilia units can take these weapons, with varying degrees of usefulness.

Charnabal Sabre: The standard Charnabal weapon, with S-User, Breaching (5+) and Duelist's Edge (1). The option that will inflict the least wounds due to having no strength bonus, but strangely the one that will inflict the most AP2 wounds due to having a better version of Breaching than the Tabar and having more attacks than the Glaive. Because your men are Strength 3, you will only wound MEQs on a 5+ anyway, making it practically an AP2 weapon at base. However, this also means it scales terribly with bonus strength (Biomancy, Furious Charge) and cannot threaten >T5 targets. For Dreadnought/Automata combat, look at the Power Weapons list.
Charnabal Tabar: Yeah, I didn't know what a Tabar is either (it's a Persian battle axe of yore), and the Charnabal version isn't too much to write home about. It is a little bit worse than the Sabre as it has the same Duelist's Edge (1), and only has Breaching (6+) in exchange for S+2, which is kind of meh when compared to some Power Weapons. Going up to Strength 5 could help you wound tougher enemies, but those wounds will most likely just bounce off their armour due to the inferior Breaching.
- Mathematically the same against the Sabre against Power Armour, as the 2/3*(1/4+3/4*1/3) of the Tabar is the same as result as the 1/3 of the Sabre. And it falls off against AP2, where 2/3*(1/4+3/4*1/6) is only three-quarters of the Sabre (which remains 1/3). Pass unless you're playing a Penal Cohort and really, really want to ID other Solar Auxilia for some reason.
Charnabal Glaive: Duelist's Edge (2), Breaching (5+), S+1, Two-handed. Hitting before most MEQs is nice, but is it worth giving up chances to trigger Breaching by losing your +1 attack from having 2 weapons?

Power Weapons
The high AP combat weapons that are slower than Charnabal Weapons, but offer more killing power.

Power Sword: The standard AP3 power weapon, but now it comes with Rending (6+) so you can actually cut through Artificer armour. It's not reliable, but a buff is a buff. Generally not worth it for the Solar Auxilia, as the Charnabal Sabre outperforms it against most MEQs and TEQs. It is better against Dreadnoughts and Automata, but why would you ever try to fight those in melee?
Power Axe: The same old S+1 AP2 Unwieldy weapon. Your strength 3 wasn't going to ID any MEQs anyway, so this could be a budget alternative to the Power Fist. Your low strength also makes the Axe inferior to the Sword when fighting everything above T4 (same wounding and AP, but Sword is not Unwieldy), so take the Sword if you expect to fight Dreadnoughts and the like. That said, it is worth considering if you have strength buffs from allied Biomancy Psykers and/or Furious Charge from Penal Pattern Cohort Doctrine, meaning you can for once wound more than Charnabal Sabre/Power Sword.
- A better choice for fighting MEQs on non-Characters than the Charnabals, because without the benefit of Duelist's Edge above you're striking after them anyway.
Power Maul: Got a very nice buff as it is still S+2, but now it is also AP3 so it can actually kill marines rather than bouncing off their armour. Also decent against Automata, as you wound them reliably.
Power Lance: Also received a very helpful buff in the new edition. They are now S+1, AP3 standard and include the Reach (1) special rule, making it more consistent and actually useful after a charge. This allows your HQ sections to a. get to S4 and wound MEQs on a 4+ and b. hit before MEQs, which is very nice indeed.
Power Fist: Sx2, AP2 and Unwieldy, the Power Fist is unable to ID MEQs due to your reduced strength, but it does allow your men to wound MEQs on a 2+ and gives you a better chance against Dreadnoughts and Automata. Has Specialist Weapon unlike everything else on the list; as none of your models can take 2 Specialist Weapons, this means you cannot get extra attacks.
- You can get back to S8 and ID MEQs by adding Biomancy (read: allied Librarian) and Furious Charge from Penal Pattern Cohort Doctrine to your original S6 attack. The HQ officers who can take this are all at least A3 and can go to WS5, so they're actually able to make good use of the weapon.

Other Melee Weapons
The weapons that don't fit into the other categories.

Bayonet: A 1 point upgrade to give your men +1S to all melee attacks, but it has Two-handed, meaning you don't get extra attacks for having a second close combat weapon/pistol. You don't care about that because literally every model in the list that can get CCW/pistol is required to give up their Lasrifle for it, meaning everyone that could get bayonets will not have 2 melee weapons anyway. Gives your rifle sections the ability to wound marines on a 4+, or better if you take the right Combat Doctrine.
Chainsword: The standard S-User, AP- chain weapon, but now it has Shred. Only available to Companions in the Command Tercio, and at 5 points each they're absolutely not worth it.
Charonite Claws: The weapon of choice for your Ogryns. S7 AP3 Two-Handed and Rending (6+). A step down from the old rules, but still your best bet for fighting Automata in melee. Unfortunately, Furious Charge doesn't work on it as a fixed strength weapon.
- Sadly, your Ogryns seemingly were mugged by the Veletaris between editions, because Charonite Claws also lost their Murderous Strike to the Storm Axes.

Ranged Weapons[edit]

Artillery Cannons

Demolisher Cannon: A completely different weapon from 1.0. Instead of being a 5" S10 AP2 pie plate of doom capable of destroying everything under it, it's now S12 AP3 3" Sunder Brutal (3) Rending (6+). It won't do anything against Dreadnoughts due to being AP3, but it's an excellent anti-Automata weapon, as it wounds easily, causes lots of wounds and ignores armour. Also useful in a pinch as anti-vehicle, as S12 Sunder will more or less guarantee penetration.
Earthshaker Cannon: 240" S9 Ordnance 1 is decent enough against vehicles, but being AP4 instead of AP3 makes it basically worthless against MEQs and Shred/Pinning simply doesn't do enough to compensate for it regardless of 5" blast. Can be useful against non-Space Marine armies, but is that really a selling point in the Space Marine civil war game?
Medusa Mortar: The old TEQ killing king has seen a very unfortunate nerf. It's the same as above, except with 36" and Rending (6+) instead of Shred. Much too expensive as self-propelled artillery in Heavy Support, while too short-ranged to be stationary artillery in Fortifications. Pass.

Auto Weapons

Autocannon: Widely available as sponson/hull mounts on tanks. Has gained Rending (6+) for improved performance in general, but remember that it's not a Defensive Weapon because it's S7, so it must fire on whatever the main cannon is shooting unless you have other special rules. This generally isn't a problem because the autocannon can do literally anything serviceably, but you can get actual Defensive weapons if you want emergency anti-infantry, while you should have taken a Lascannon if you wanted heavy duty anti-vehicle.
Heavy Stubber: A literal modern day HMG. Widely available as a pintle mount on all of your vehicles, as you don't get combi-bolters. 3 shots of S4 AP6 really isn't much, but it's only 5 points so you'll make your points back if you kill just 1 guy. Also a Defensive weapon due to being <S7, so it can act as point defence and fire independently of your main guns. Not bad to be honest.
Battle Cannon: Nerfed into the ground because people were complaining about low AP pie plates making massed infantry unplayable. Instead of the previous MEQ-murdering S8 AP3 5" blast, now a S8 AP4 3" blast. The blast is too small to be useful against infantry, while against everything else it is far outperformed by its brother...
Vanquisher Battle Cannon: Lost Armourbane, but is now 2-shot and has Brutal (2). An excellent anti-Dreadnought weapon, as you can wound reliably, cause multiple hits and then cause multiple wounds. Also gained Sunder, so still very good against vehicles.

Bolt Weapons

Bolter: The Space Marine standard 24" S4 AP5 Rapid Fire weapon. Everyone who can take one can also take a Minor combi-weapon, which is objectively superior. Take those instead.
Heavy Bolter: Usually available as hull mounts on tanks. As far as a stock weapon goes, 36" Heavy 4 S5 AP4 really isn't bad, and is arguably better than the Multi-laser you usually get instead in this army.

Combi-Weapons
Half a Bolter, half another gun. There are two categories of Combi-Weapons, with Magna only getting one shot with their alternate gun, and Minor getting to fire multiple times. It's definitely worth mentioning that Combi-Weapons can fire BOTH primary and secondary weapons without requiring the Firing Protocols (X) rule. Squads armed with them are able to throw out a surprising volume of firepower. All of the models that can take this are BS4, so you're as likely to get what you paid for as you would on Space Marines.

Minor Combi-Weapons:: Flamers, Volkite Chargers, and Grenade Launchers. Grenade Launchers seem to be the standout pick, but the Strength of these weapons has dropped to 5 on the Krak profile, and resolving lots of weak Blast (3") shots in a turn with the Frag profile means they're a pain to play. Of course, the combi-Flamer reigns supreme against hordes.
- The Grenade Launcher is always inferior to the Volkite Charger in terms of damage. 1 shot at S5 AP4 is worse than 2 shots of S5 AP5 Deflagrate against any opponent, while the potential to make lots of hits using the frag grenade is also the same anti-light infantry specialisation as the Volkite Charger. The Frag's Pinning and either option's 24" can be useful, but taking the combi-Volkite is generally better.
- These are not generally good ideas. Minor Combi-Weapons are anti-light infantry weapons, but you should already have enough of that between your Rifle and Veletaris sections. Don't throw away your only source of Plasma/Melta to do something the rest of your army is already doing.
- Magna Combi-Weapons:: Meltaguns and Plasma Guns. Not generally a good idea, as everyone who can take these can also take actual Plasma/Melta weapons at a similar price. If you want special weapons, take the actual special weapon.

Flame Weapons
Template weapons, meaning they don't test on BS and instead auto-hit everyone under the teardrop.

Hand Flamer: An upgrade to the Laspistols all of your characters can get. Very nice at 2 points for the same S3 as the Laspistol, except with a lot more hits. However, has the same problem as all of the pistol upgrades in that it replaces the stock longarm the unit gets.
Flamer: A moment of respect for the vanished Flamer Section here. Instead, Flamers are now only available to HQ Tercio Sections. Do not take them as standalone weapons under any circumstance, as a combi-version is available at the same price. Otherwise a decent weapon, as S4 AP5 template can cause a lot of wounds and force failed saves.
Heavy Flamer: S5 AP4, and is therefore extremely deadly against anything weaker than an MEQ and can cause enough hits to force failed saves even against them. That said, it's mostly available as a sponson/pintle mount on your vehicles, most of which do not want to be in flamer range to begin with. Also an alternate choice for Veletaris Vanguard Sections instead of their Rotor Cannons, in case you prefer actually killing people instead of Pinning them. Is a Defensive weapon on vehicles due to being <S7, so it can torch nearby infantry while the main gun shoots something else.

Las Weapons

Laspistol: Same old S3 AP- Pistol. Don't expect to see this a lot, as only your sergeants get it and they will almost always get to choose their unit's normal gun instead, or can take better pistols like...
Blast Pistol: The Hellpistols of the 31st Millennium. Actually very powerful weapons at S6 AP4 Pistol 2 (stronger than a Volkite Charger!), but only available to HQ sections (where it competes directly with special weapons) and unit sergeants, where its 9" range can be troublesome when the rest of the squad has 15" or 30".
Lasrifle: The mainstays of the Solar Auxilia. Unlike last edition, these have all the attachments stock and thus have two different settings to use. Volley is your classic lasgun-like with 30" Heavy 2 S3 AP6. Blast Charger gives you the high-power punch with 18" Heavy 1 S6 AP4.
- The Blast Charger should be used at every opportunity. It inflicts ID on T3 models (denying Feel No Pain) and ignores the typical GEQ's 4+ save, offsets being 1-shot by having more than twice the probability to wound T4/5 targets compared to the standard shot, and can actually wound T6 and above. There are very few circumstances where Volley Fire will do more damage.
- That range will be a necessity, as the Close-Order sub-type severely hampers the mobility of the men carrying them. That said, Close-order also lets you at least move somewhat while firing the Lasrifle.
Multi-laser: "What if I tied 3 Blast Charger rifles together?" You get this. 3 shots of S6 AP6, available by the bucketload on your vehicles. You don't really get Heavy Bolters, so it will have to be this for anti-light infantry. Is a Defensive Weapon on vehicles due to being <S7, so don't be too worried if the main gun is an anti-tank weapon.
Lascannon: "What if my Multi-laser fired one big shot instead?" Good old 48" S9 AP2, except it has gained Sunder for improved penetration rolls. Also an instrument for killing the much-improved Terminators and Dreadnoughts in this edition, as you need the S9 to ID 2W TEQs now and Dreadnoughts are now pseudo-Monstrous Creatures with 2+/5++.
Gravis lascannon: 2 of the above, so you get 2 shots.

Melta Weapons

Meltagun: Your only source of Melta weapons in the list except for the Legate Marshal, available to your HQ Tercio Sections. The customary Assault 1 S8 AP1 Armourbane (Melta) weapon capable of melting TEQ and vehicle alike, but its 12" range can be very limiting. The squads which have this all have Close-order, preventing you from running into range, while it being an Assault weapon receives no benefit from the unit subtype. If you're taking a full squad of these, get a transport.

Needle Weapons

Needle Pistol: Yet another pistol upgrade for your characters, with all of the problems it implies by dint of not being a standard ranged weapon. It's a different flavour to the Blast Pistol in that they're both 2-shot weapons that wound easily, but this one uses Poison instead of high strength. You're not likely to get Pinning either; you'll likely cause a wound, but you don't normally get any leadership debuffs to the test.
- However, it can be an interesting choice if you're set on abusing Tercio mechanics. You can potentially cause multiple Pinning tests by having characters from multiple sections use this weapon on Reactions, cancelling a charge and leaving the enemy Pinned in the middle of your gunline. Works particularly well if you have Fear from Feral Pattern Cohort.

Plasma Weapons
Generally weapons with S7 AP4 Breaching (4+) Gets Hot!. Your models generally have 4+ saves, which means they do NOT get their armour save against Gets Hot! this edition. However, all infantry models who can get one of these (except for Lasrifle Section sergeants and Medicae) have an Invulnerable save, can upgrade their armour, or both, so it's not that bad.

Plasma Pistol: An upgrade to the Laspistols all of your characters can get. Actually reasonably priced at 5 points, but it has the same problem as the Blast Pistol; if you have one in the first place, you've given up your rifle, which is just a bad idea in principle.
Plasma Gun: 24" Rapid Fire available to your HQ Tercio Sections and is a decent choice for killing MEQs. However, TEQs having 2W now means you'll need a lot more shots to take them out. Faces stiff competition from the Meltagun, which while being 1-shot can ID TEQs and ignore their armour. That said, neither weapon can ID Custodes/Dreadnoughts/Automata anyway, while the Plasma Gun could already ID T3 models, so the Plasma Gun's 12" extra range and extra shot within 12" can give it the advantage against non-Marine opponents.

Volkite Weapons

Volkite Charger: The weapon that makes your Veletaris Tercios so fearsome at short range. Assault 2 S5 AP5 Deflagrate is already nice, but it becomes absolutely disgusting when it comes in squads of 20 and squads come in Tercios of 3. Space Marine Legions wish they could take so much firepower in one slot. Also available on your HQ Tercio Sections, but they have even better choices, so look elsewhere. 15" can be limiting when everyone who can take them is Heavy or Close-order, and thus cannot Run into range; your units are cheap and large enough to make a few casualties acceptable, but think about transports, Deep Striking and the like.
- On the attack, 15" range lets you shoot the enemy while remaining outside of the usual 12" 2-shot range for Rapid Fire weapons. Position your units accordingly.
Volkite Caliver: The bigger brother of the Charger at 30" range Heavy 3 S6. Big enough, in fact, that none of your foot soldiers get it; you take these as sponsons on Carnodons and on Veletaris Sentinels, so in that respect it's really a smaller Culverin. Outranges most small arms, in case you're trying to kill off a special weapons unit (Outriders, Tactical Support Squads) and don't want to eat plasma guns to the face.
Volkite Culverin: The big boy weapon, being a 45" 5 shot Caliver. Has enough volume and strength to force failed armour saves on most infantry units, particularly when combined with other anti-GEQ weapons, so don't be discouraged by its poor AP.

Exotic and Miscellaneous Weapons

Grenade Launcher: Comes with Krak (S5 AP4) and Frag (S3 AP6 Pinning) munitions and only available on your HQ Tercio Sections. Never take this as a standalone weapon, as the said Sections can take a combi-version of it at the same price and they have better options in any case.

Equipment[edit]

Void Armour: Space Carapace armour that gives a 4+ armour save.
Reinforced Void Armour: Void armour that also has the Heavy Sub-type.
Heavy Void Armour: Power armour, as it gives the wearer as 3+ save and the Heavy Sub-type.
Auxilia Vexilla: The basic one. +1 to combat resolution and stop your voidsmen from running off the table.
Command Vox: The master vox. Any unit with one can share their Leadership with any other unit that has a Vox Interlock or another one of these, allowing them to use the officer's leadership for Pinning/Morale checks. Works from Reserve, so feel free to hide your Legate Marshal in a Line Command Section in Reserve to broadcast his Ld10 to your entire army.
- Vox Interlock: 1-way radio, allowing units to use the Leadership of anyone whose unit has a Command Vox. Useless without a Command Vox, so don't take 9 of these without actually having a squad with a Command Vox.
- Remember you're technically allowed to not use the officer's leadership and test on your own instead. Intentionally losing combat can be advantageous, as it leaves enemy melee units exposed in the middle of your army, allowing you to then blast them off the table with 5 Lasrifle sections.

Unit Analysis[edit]

HQ[edit]

Solar Auxilia Legate Marshal: 85 points, 0-1 restriction, Infantry (Heavy, Character) - the old ~~Lord Marshal~~ LORD MARSHAL upgrade gets their own entry. Comes with Laspistol, Close combat weapon, Heavy Void Armour (for a 3+ save), Refractor Field, and frag and krak grenades. Can upgrade their pistol to a Blast Pistol, Needle Pistol, Hand Flamer, Volkite Serpenta, Plasma Pistol, Inferno Pistol or Archaeotech Pistol. They may also upgrade their CCW to a Power Weapon, Charnabal Weapon, Thunder Hammer, Power Fist or Paragon Blade. Any one weapon may be Master-crafted for 10 points. They may swap their armour with Artificer (you may remove the Heavy Sub-Type if you do), they may take an Iron Halo, as well as a Cyber-Familiar and Melta Bombs (those are 20 points. 20!). So you can give them a 2+ save and 3++ invuln, and with the way snipers work now you absolutely should. Battle-hardened (1) 2+/3++ 4W makes him basically impossible to kill without S8 AP2, but WS5 S3 means he won't be killing Praetors anytime soon. Also has Stubborn and Cohort Doctrines.
- Cohort Doctrines unlock special bonuses for your army - these are your Rites of War, but are much more characterful, telling us the origins of your Auxilia army - so you will be seeing a Legate Marshal in nearly every list.
- Always put this guy in a unit with a Command Vox. This lets everyone in the army with a Vox Interlock use his Ld10 for Morale checks and Pinning, which you'll need because your basic Auxilia trooper is Ld6 and their sergeants are Ld7-8.
- The Thunder Hammer is strangely costed at the same as the Power Fist for him, and thus only 5 points more than a regular Power Weapon. For that price, you're a legitimate threat to Legion Centurions and the like despite your inability to ID, as you still wound on 2+ and you can force failed Invulnerable saves with Brutal (2). As he's literally the only model in the list that doesn't go splat to a Marine Power Maul, your opponent might just leave the S8 AP2 weapons at home, leaving you at an advantage. Moreover, you can conceivably stack strength buffs on him to get back to S8, which considering his insane saves makes him basically a Space Marine Praetor in close combat. The Paragon Blade is more iffy; as discussed on the Legion Tactica, Terminators being 2W makes the Paragon Blade a lot harder to justify against them and 1W 2+ save models are rare nowadays. However, it is the only chance he has to get Instant Death short of Furious Charge and Biomancy, so if you really want to risk your lynchpin character in a big flashy duel, the Paragon Blade is the best weapon to kill a praetor or named character.

Auxilia Tactical Command Tercio: The most elite Tercio in the list, composed of 1-3 units, one of which must be the Tactical Command section. This is for your fancy custom elites and where you get your special weapons (Plasma, Melta, combi-weapons, etc.) as Veletaris and Lasrifle Sections have little to no choice in weapon upgrades. You can also take Power/Charnabal weapons, but this is not recommended as you could have taken Storm Axe Veletaris for that instead, whereas as aforementioned this is your only source of special weapons. Unlike Veletaris/Rifle Sections, your sections come 5-10 here. The whole Tercio gets Refractor Fields for 5++ and has 2W on everyone except for the officers, who are somehow even tougher.
- The officers strangely cannot wield Power/Charnabal weapons with upgraded pistols, as the option for upgraded pistols only appears after you replace his Lasrifle with Laspistol/CCW, which is mutually exclusive with the option to swap Lasrifle with Blast Pistol and Power/Charnabal weapons. If you want a pistol stronger than a Blast Pistol, the only melee weapon upgrade that can be paired with it is the Power Fist.
- Always take an Aurox so that your Close-order squads with short-ranged specials can get into range. Command Tercio squads only go up to 10 anyway, so you don't need a normal Dracosan, while the Demolisher Cannon Dracosan is far too expensive unless you actually need the Demolisher and cannot take a Russ instead.
- 1 Solar Auxilia Tactical Command Section: The big banner squad, and while said banner is by no means mandatory, refusing to take it should be paramount to admitting defeat. The squad consists of a Solar Auxilia Captain with 3A 3W (yes, he has more wounds than a Space Marine Centurion) and his four friends who have Stubborn. They all come with Refractor Fields, Void armour, Melta Bombs and Lasrifles, but they can be upgraded to take a series of much better weapons like Volkite Chargers, Power Weapons paired with Blast Pistols, Combi-weapons and a couple of special weapons. The Captain can take Heavy Void armour, and be further upgraded to a Marshal (same thing except WS5 A4). The four companions can take between them a Command Vox, a Augury Scanner and an Auxilia or Cohorts Vexilla, and the squad can add five more companions more for a squad of ten and some ablative wounds. In particular, the Cohorts Vexilla confers Line on the unit and lets everyone in 6" of the Vexilla have Ld9 for Morale/Pinning checks. That last part won't come up often due to Command Vox/Vox Interlock, but Line is always nice.
- 0-2 Solar Auxilia Companion Section: A squad of five Companions from the Command section, but as their own squad and an optional WS5 Ld8 3A sergeant. They can be upped to a squad of 10 and they're pretty good since they are essentially Veletaris+. Have the same weapon options as the Command Section, so equip them accordingly. Strangely has a blanket option for combi-weapons at 5pts as opposed to different pricing for Magna and Minor combi-weapons, so you can RAW take Magna combi-weapons for that price. That said, it's still a bad option compared to taking an actual special weapon.
  - The Adjutant-specific options are pistols and the Power Fist. If you just want a bunch of Meltas and you're OK with not having Ld8 because you have a Vox Interlock, consider not taking him and saving 10pts.

Solar Auxilia Lifeward Section^BfBG: Some heavily armored meatshields with heavy void armor and refractors. These guys act as the dedicated retinue of a Legate Marshal, taking all of his challenges thanks to Chosen Warriors and all without eating an FOC slot like a legion command squad. Fortunately, their protection and the addition of Stubborn and Battle Hardened (1) means that they won't fold quite as fast, but they are still guardsmen fighting against space marines at the end of the day. At the very least, this can give you a few extra power weapons to put between the Legate and the enemy. They can also all take pistol upgrades and, with the possible exception of the hand flamer, all of them are good; the plasma pistol needs no introduction and is reasonably priced at 5pts, while the 2pt Blast/Needle Pistols have 2 shots and decent wounding to make up for their inability to get AP2.
- One major issue with their loadout is the fact that they lack the Close Order subtype, and thus can't move and fire their lasrifles. That said, you don't generally want your Legate Marshal anywhere near the enemy, so your Lifewards will tend to stand still. Always take a Command Vox to ensure that you're sharing that Ld10 everywhere; the Cohorts Vexilla is less necessary, but it could be useful to support Rapier crews/Sentinels, not to mention any unit whose Vox Interlock got sniped.

Davinite Lodge Priest^Legacies: What a surprise, an actually new unit to just lump into Legacies! A Traitor-exclusive Support Squad HQ from the place where Horus nearly died and got corrupted, they cannot become the Warlord and their combat power is lacking, but they can be useful as a support psyker. Their single power allows them to restore a wound on a model, though it's useless for resurrecting dead troopers. This does, however, make them decent for supporting Ogryns and allied Veterans and Terminators.

Expeditionary Navigator^Legacies: A second Support Squad HQ that's a Psyker, with their power being the Lidless Stare - an S2 template with Pinning and Force so you have a chance to actually harm guardsmen and MEQ. This is their only combat value, as they're unarmed in melee aside from their meager laspistol.
- Their more valuable use is the 12" bubble they project, forcing the enemy to roll 3d6 for scattering. While it won't actually stop them from arriving, it can help throw them further off the board and maybe even kill some if they scatter into terrain.

Elites[edit]

Auxilia Veletaris Tercio: The elite stormtrooper analogues, all given BS/WS4 and reinforced void armour, including the Heavy sub-type to help resist templates and blasts. Section sergeants can all take heavy void armor, giving them a 3+ save. The entire Tercio besides the Vanguard Section gets Volkite Chargers as part of their standard loadout, which gives them a good means on handling MEQs. They also lack the Close-Order sub-type, making them less of a juicy target to burn alive with templates. That said, short range and Heavy makes getting large squads into battle problematic, as Auroxes are only available to 10-strong squads and you pay out of your nose for Dracosans.
- 0-1 Solar Auxilia Veletaris Command Section: Your classic command squad can replace all their guns for power weapons, but anyone with half a brain can recognize that this would be an extremely stupid idea as it gives up one of your greatest advantages in being a Tercio unless you brought that Vanguard Section to pin them down or you're building a melee Tercio. Veletaris have marine-tier WS4 I4, but 1A and no pistol, so think carefully about equipping this unit for melee. For ranged damage output, just take another Storm Section, who at the same price get 5 more dudes and can go up to 20.
- 0-3 Solar Auxilia Veletaris Storm Section: The volkite gunlines, and you get quite a few of them at 8 points per model. You can replace their guns with Storm Axes so you aren't stuck with mere CCWs. Storm Axes are +2S AP2 Unwieldy (so you're at WS4 S5 AP2 like Power Axe MEQs); they're Two-handed, but you have no pistol/CCW so you don't care. Each Veletarii only has one attack, but they compensate with Murderous Strike (6+), giving them a fighting chance against 2-wound TEQs and most characters. The main problem, of course, is whether it's bright to build a melee squad in this list to begin with, which depends on the Cohort Doctrine you have.
  - Storm Sections have a problem with remaining in Formation with stock Vanguard sections and Sentinel squadrons, as Chargers have 15" range while Calivers and Rotor Cannons are 30". Of course, the other units can just move up the field alongside the Storm Section, but giving up range you've already paid for and putting your units in unnecessary danger is never a positive. Alternatively, consider taking more flamers on those other units; as you're getting into the enemy's face anyway, you might as well take the weapon that inflicts more hits.
- 0-1 Solar Auxilia Veletaris Vanguard Section: Rather than Volkite, these guys get to carry Rotor Cannons to pin anything you want your other forces to mow down. Of course, if you're dealing with hordes such as the Imperial Army or daemons, then you'd be better suited by grabbing Heavy Flamers for an entire block of templates.
  - Mixing and matching is a decent idea; Pinning tests on the same leadership as long as you cause at least 1 wound and you're therefore not incentivized to max out on Rotor Cannons, while the prohibition on friendly fire can make using 20 Heavy Flamers difficult. You statistically only need 4-5 Rotor Cannons to force a Pinning test even on MEQs, so take Heavy Flamers on your other models after making allowance for losing models to enemy fire. If you're spamming Rotor Cannons purely for firepower, just take a few Lasrifle Sections.
- 0-1 Solar Auxilia Hermes Veletaris Squadron^BfBG: Slightly heavier Hermes Sentinels that lose the Skirmish subtype but get S/T5 and WS/BS4 on a 3+ save. Each one comes with a Volkite Caliver, giving your Tercio plenty of firepower. If you're facing weaker hordes, then you can just swap those off with Heavy Flamers for free so you can hose the mobs down with impunity. Given the long range of the Caliver, fitting out the entire unit with the same weapon seems to be the better idea.
  - A full squadron of Calivers puts out 18 S6 shots compared to the 40 S5 shots of the Storm Section, but it's also much easier to get in range because the Sentinels have 8" movement, have twice the range and can Run. Likewise, they will find it much easier to get to flamer range than Vanguard Sections. They're also tougher than Veletaris for the same points cost against most anti-GEQ weapons, as they have 2W and a 3+ save, so they won't suffer critical existence failure if they stray into range of a squad of heavy bolters or something. However, they have Ld7 and cannot get a Vox Interlock, so they have a distressing tendency to piss themselves and run; keep them near Cohorts Vexilla for Ld9.
  - Replaces a Storm Section, so RAW you can only have one per Tercio (as it says a Storm Section, not any). In fairness, would you as an opponent want to play against a list that can take 18 Sentinels from 1 slot?

Solar Auxilia Medicae Section: Cheap as chips at 15 point a pop, but only Feel No Pain (6+), because whoever wrote the rules hates you. But hey, you can take pistols (at reasonable prices for once) and actual close combat weapons like Charnabal/Power and Power Fists now! If you're taking any, be sure to give these to your Command Tercio squads; everyone who knows about Solar Auxilia will try to snipe the Command Vox operators, and you want additional protection for him. Having another layer of protection against Gets Hot! on any plasma weapons is just the cherry on the cake.
- Barring the Power Fist, the melee weapons are arguably worth it considering you can pair it with the pistol for a total of 3 attacks base. Yes, taking a melee upgrade and a pistol upgrade doubles the cost of the model, but double of basically nothing is still basically nothing.
- Like Space Marines, you get up to 8 of these guys. However, while Space Marine lists generally only pack 3-4 eligible squads (Compulsory Troops, Heavy Support Squad, then Seeker/Veteran depending on taste), you're prone to taking 9-12 (2 Lasrifle Tercios, Command Tercio, Veletaris Tercio) because your infantry are both cheaper and more fragile. This means that you will generally not have enough Medicae to cover everyone, so prioritize your expensive short-ranged Veletaris/Command Tercio squads before attaching Medicae to Lasrifle sections.

Solar Auxilia Surgeon-Primus Aevos Jovan: Has Bitter Duty which means that he doesn't get to join anyone anymore, which is perhaps for the best as he's Bulky(5) thanks to his auto-gurney. How does he stay protected then? He has a low-priority-target aura that prevents him from being targeted from further than 12" away, unless he shoots first. Within 12", he gives -1Ld to everyone (friend or foe) because he's Victor Frankenstein in the 31st Millennium.
- Instead of conferring Feel No Pain, he now straight up makes your guys come back to life. Once a turn, you can roll a D6 for any friendly Infantry model that dies within 12" of him in Movement/Shooting Phases. On a 1 it comes back with 1 wound and dies at the end of your next turn while having +1S/T until then. On 2-5, it just comes back with 1 wound. On a 6 however, it comes back with ALL WOUNDS. Legate Marshal got blasted by a Volcano Cannon? Just respawn him, no biggie. You can also take up to 3 Orderlies, which you can sacrifice to the Auto-Gurney to increase or decrease your roll by 1, in case you want to make sure your Legate Marshal/Ogryn/(insert important model) comes back.
- Note that the Auto-gurney rule says friendly model, not Solar Auxilia model. So yes, you can bring back allied Praetors and other Astartes (or even Custodes), though sadly not Primarchs as it only works on Infantry. Similarly, as your Sentinels are Cavalry, you can't use it on them.

Charonite Ogryn Section: They cost 40 pts per Ogryn, have S/T5, Rage (2), Hammer of Wrath (2), Feel No Pain (5+) and 4 attacks at S7 AP3 weapon with Rending (6+), what's not to like? Well, a lot, actually. First of all, at WS4 they aren't effective against dedicated Marine melee squads. Second, thanks to Bitter Duty your characters won't be joining them. Third, while they have a safety net of Death Frenzy (basically, if you fail a Morale check, remove one model and count that check as passed while getting +1 attack per model for the next turn for your trouble), their Ld of 6 will do jack shit against any other shenanigans with Ld. Oh, and the signature Instant Death on their claws was moved to the 1 attack Veletarii with Storm Axes. Their best use seems to be running them in front of the rest of the army as a speedbump; Marines with Sx2 weapons won't be able to ID these guys and have to chew through all three wounds on each Ogryn, buying some time for the rest of your army. They still come with no DT, but can be transported by Dracosans now.
- Let's also not forget that three of these guys are a frankly batshit £84 from FW/GW which also works against them if you're behaving yourself. It seems insane to shell out £252 for a full squad of 9 figures...

Troops[edit]

Auxilia Infantry Tercio: The bread and butter of your army, with most of your universal Line units. No longer includes Veletaris or Flamer sections (moved to Elites), nor Aegis Lines. No longer locked into sizes of 20, it makes your army marginally less expensive to collect as you may use leftover voidsmen from one unit to bulk up the numbers of another. However, the Close-Order sub-type makes these guys the most prone to being wiped out by pieplates and templates. You've lost Flamer Sections, so it's full on Lasrifle spam.
- 0-1 Solar Auxilia Line Command Section: As the force leading your tercios, you'll be needing these guys behind the rest of your guns. A Command Vox will hardly do you wrong in keeping order in the squad as you're otherwise stuck relying on that mere Ld7 for everything. The Troop Master is surprisingly killy in close combat with WS4 3A base as well as pistol+Power/Charnabal weapon and Refractor Field as upgrades; that said, the rest of his squad is stuck with bayonets, so don't confuse this with a melee unit.
- 1-3 Solar Auxilia Rifle Section: The most budget force you get short of Imperialis Militia, at 60 points for 10 and 5pt/model thereafter. Each soldier carries a lasrifle, which actually have variable settings, with a lasgun-tier Volley that shoots twice each time and the heavy-power Blast Charger so you have the chance to wound marines with a single S6 shot. The Lasrifle is Heavy, but Close-order lets you move half your movement score and still shoot. If you're worried about melee and aren't facing against marines with Power Mauls that can paste them within seconds, then you might be okay with bayonets.
  - Standing in the back and using 30" range is great, but don't be afraid to use Rifle Sections on the attack. Close-order lets you move and shoot the Lasrifle regardless of Heavy, while your 18" Blast Charger still outranges 2-shot range of Rapid Fire weapons. Getting charged is not so scary when a full Tercio can kill 8 Marines on Overwatch.

Dedicated Transports[edit]

Dracosan Armoured Transport: Ol' reliable Malcador chassis. Still the best looking vehicle in the range, still more expensive than most of the squads it carries, still not Superheavy or an Assault vehicle, still unavailable to Ogryns who need it the most. With a transport capacity of 22, it can comfortably move around a deathstar unit, plus Marshal and medic. Has the choice of purchasing a Demolisher cannon for 50 points, at the expense of reducing its transport capacity to 10 and not by 10, leaving it only able to take minimum-sized squads with no Medicae/ICs. In addition, the Dracosan may also equip Flare Shields to make sure it gets its passengers into battle, as well as Hunter-Killers and pintle-mounted weapons.
- You will generally only ever take the normal Dracosan for two squads and two squads only; Veletaris Storm Sections with Volkites and Veletaris Vanguard Sections with Heavy Flamers. Lasrifles and Rotor Cannons have enough range that they don't need a DT, while everything else is 10-man and thus can take an Aurox at 1/5 of the cost instead. That said, there are fringe scenarios where the survivability of the Dracosan and its Flare Shield is worth the investment, like being a command vehicle for your Legate Marshal to hide in while he broadcasts his Ld10, or if getting your Command Tercio squads and their tasty Melta/Plasma into range is key to your battle plan. The Demolisher Dracosan is interesting for avoiding limitations on Armoured Tercios because it's 225pts when an actual Demolisher Russ is already 185-200pts, but it's questionable as an actual transport because it will become a huge fire magnet.
- While practically every unit in this edition has a caveat on its Dedicated Transport options to stop oversized units taking a transport, the editors seem to have missed this with a Demolish Cannon Dracosan, as it can still be taken by a maxed unit of 20. This actually causes a rules snarl due to the BRB saying that Dedicated Transports must be deployed with the unit that purchased them inside them...but it doesn't say what happens if they legally can't carry said unit. So if you do this, be prepared for a debate with your opponent.
Aurox Transport: Your Rhino equivalent. Cheap as chips at only 30pts, maybe 40 after upgrades. Can only carry 10 models but since your basic lasrifle voidsman can move and shoot thanks to Close-order it is an appealing prospect for transport. Not much so for protection since its armor is paper-thin, but since Auxilia won't ever be carrying elite terminators or artificer-armoured units, it's not that big of a deal. These lil' buggers aren't cheap in ca$h however, so whatever money you think you are saving by splitting your 20-man squads into MSU will soon evaporate if you're planning to mechanize. Further, having a 10-model capacity means you won't be bringing any Medicae or ICs with you; not that you generally want to take Medicae on 10-man squads, but this could be relevant if the unit in question is one of your HQ sections.

Fast Attack[edit]

Arvus Transport: A flying bus. No upgrade options at all. Leave it in the box, unless you took Solar Pattern, in which case treat it as a Drop Pod.

Divisio Aeronautica Primaris-Lightning: Comes at 150 points with just 2 lascannons stock, it costs more than the Thunderbolt (it does have +4" M, but lacks the extra autocannons) for the sole reason of being able to take Kraken Penetrators you know and love - 36" S8 AP1 Armourbane and One Use. However, since this edition is not Vehicle-friendly, their value has greatly diminished, and they lack Brutal to deal with Dreadnoughts. There are also Sunfury missiles, but they are hilariously bad.

Divisio Aeronautica Thunderbolt: Comes at 120 points, and has more weapons (4 more autocannons!) and special rules than the Lightning. Can automatically come on from Reserves as an Advanced Reaction if the enemy calls in Flyers from Reserve and take a shot at them. While the rules technically only allow Flyers to get Skyfire in their own Shooting Phase, you can buy Skystrike Missiles with baked-in Skyfire to circumvent that. This is one of your most reliable (not to mention only) means of anti-air, as it comes on automatically and can't get hit by Interceptor (it comes on in your opponent's turn remember?). Take a couple of these; with how depleted the Fast Attack section is, it's not as if you had anything better to take.
- As you come on from Reserves in the opponent's turn, you can circumvent the rules against Zooming off the table on the turn you arrive from Reserves, as you're technically moving off the table in your own turn, which is the turn after you come on. This can be useful if the Thunderbolt is deep into enemy lines after coming on from Reserves and blasting an enemy flyer, and you really need it to leave before a Dreadnought shoots it down. That is, of course, if your opponent didn't shoot it down in his turn.

Solar Auxilia Hermes Light Sentinel Squadron^BfBG: Less armored walkers and more like mobile turrets, these things are very light with only S/T5 W2 and a 4+ Save. However, they're very fast at M10" and the Skirmish subtype improves their cover saves. On top of this, they gain Shrouded (5+) if they decide to run, making them pretty much reliant on hiding before hitting.
- Offensively, they're an 18 point multi-laser platform that can also shoot a laspistol. The 5pt upgrade to the grenade launcher is interesting, the frag round being an 18" frag missile (S4 AP5 3" blast Pinning) and the krak round being 2-shot and having a 1.0 standard S6 AP4. Mixing and matching is OK, as the Sentinel is quick enough such that 18" on the grenade launcher is not really an issue, while you generally only need as many grenade launchers as required to force a Pinning test.
- The Light Sentinel suffers from the lack of a defined role. The multi-laser as stated is a big lasrifle, which is a weapon you get by the boatload in your Troops slot. The Krak round is excellent against non-Legion armies because it IDs GEQs, wounds Thallax/Daemon Troops reliably and ignores the armor of all of them, but it's otherwise inferior to the multi-laser, while you already have tons of Pinning from other slots without having to rely on 3" blasts from a BS3 platform. Further, it has Ld7 and you can't give it a Vox Interlock, so it is prone to running from 25% casualties morale checks. Still, it's a way to make use of your Fast Attack slots, so if you only need one Thunderbolt for AA and don't want Carnodons, consider these. As for the Ld issues, babysit them with a Cohorts Vexilla if possible.
  - In particular, if you want multi-laser Sentinels, the Veletaris Sentinel has a Volkite Caliver that is basically a 30" version of it, except it has BS4, a 3+ save and doesn't eat a slot on its own. Consider taking Sentinels from there; the Elites slot is even less used minus Veletaris spam lists, and those tend to be Solar Pattern lists taking them as Troops.

Solar Auxilia Carnodon Strike Squadron^Legacies: Lightweight assault tanks, something that the Liber left out. They're fairly cheap at 70 points a tank, but they're fairly flimsy with 3 HP and AV 12/11/10. The free Volkite Culverins are generally superior to the stock TL Multi-laser (as lack of Twin-linked is compensated by sheer volume of fire), while you can also take stronger turret weapons in TL Autocannon/Lascannon. Their sponsons come with all the typical and reliable armaments, with the addition of free Volkite Calivers if you're really keen on burning something alive. It's a bit like a Sentinel on tracks in that it's a cheap fast source of firepower, but it dies if someone so much as chips its paint. Moreover, even if it's cheap, you can't spam it because you only get 3 Fast Attack slots and none of them come in Tercios. Think carefully about what you want it to do, and always take 3; any less is a waste of a slot.
- The issue with the Carnodons is that you have to give all of them the same turrets and sponsons, which can be very annoying if you need one to fill out a specialized role. Your only solace is the fact that pintle weapons aren't constrained by those same rules, but between the heavy stubber, Multi-laser and heavy flamer, their only purpose is crowd control. That said, Autocannon spam is usually an acceptable alternative to taking more specialized weapons, and if 3 Carnodons' worth of Autocannons can't bring down the target, 1 specialized Carnodon wouldn't have either, so just take 3 Carnodons specialized to kill whatever target you had in mind.
  - Massed Volkites with pintle Multi-laser are a good counter to Tactical/Heavy Support Squads if you can't spare the points to take Executioner Russes, particularly Heavy Bolter/Volkite squads. The Carnodon is immune to everything below S5, and then it's tough enough that Return Fire from 10 BS4 Volkite Culverins will statistically take out just under 2 Carnodons. It sounds daft, but when you look at the points cost, trading a 70pt light tank for 6 Marines actually works in your favor, not to mention preventing the enemy from targeting your vulnerable T3 4+ save Auxilia. It could still be a good idea against massed Lascannons; yes, you lose your entire squadron, but that's still just 230 points, whereas your opponent likely paid just as much for Lascannon Marines. That said, with how much Lascannons overkill against GEQ, consider just shooting them with your infantry/Rapiers, particularly if they have cover.
- Taking 2 lascannon sponsons is strangely costed the same as taking TL Lascannon turrets (Autocannon sponsons cost twice compared to TL Autocannon turret), making it the superior choice in terms of firepower as you get the same 75% chance of hitting at least once, while having 25% chance of making 2 hits. If you want to mix and match between Battle and Defensive weapons, take the Lascannon sponsons and keep the turret with Multi-laser/Volkite Culverin rather than taking a Lascannon turret.

Solar Auxilia Termite Assault Drill^Legacies: And it's back here too now. Not much different than its versions in the Legions or Mechanicum. That said, 12 spaces doesn't really do much for you, especially considering that they can't become DTs for your Tercios in any way. Maybe it can work for a Command Squad, but nothing further.

Heavy Support[edit]

Auxilia Armoured Tercio: Your Leman Russes. Many Cohort Doctrines restrict you to one Armoured Tercio per detachment, but since you can cram up to 9 tanks in here it's not that big of an issue.
- 0-1 Solar Auxilia Armoured Command Section: Moved from HQ to command of their own Tercio, and riding a single basic Leman Russ with battlecannon, but one which can take tasty upgrades (Flare Shield for 20pts and Cognis-Signum for 25pts) and must be assigned to a Strike or Assault Squadron before the game begins. Like the standard Russ, it also has the Outflank special rule by default. That being said, it's +50 points over the already poor Battle Cannon Leman Russ, while buying a cognis-signum means you've just spent 245 points to give 3 tanks +1 BS and 4 ablative hull points (admittedly at frontal AV15). Considering you're using points that could simply have gone to more tanks, is this really worth it?
  - One marginal case can be made for leading a full Assault Squadron of Macro-saker Russes. Giving them +1BS is a way of effectively taking a 4th tank (not possible in the same squadron) because you go from 4+ to hit to 3+ to hit on your weapons. You do so at slightly higher cost than simply starting a new Assault Squadron (200 points base), but hit allocation in squadrons means the whole squadron collectively becomes a superheavy as long as you can assign hits to the Command Russ; the Command Russ won't be shooting (because a. the battlecannon is shit and b. it has a cognis-signum), so it doesn't care about anything short of Immobilized, while frontal AV14 with Flare Shield makes it impervious to anything without S9, Armourbane or Haywire. The latter part is important, as while you have far cheaper ways of spamming Volkites (eg. Carnodon, Veletaris), they also die to anything bigger than a heavy bolter, and more importantly are not part of the Armoured Tercio, and so cannot Return Fire when another squadron is being shot at. If you really really need to bully enemy infantry at range and/or deter them from shooting your Strike Russes, consider this. This applies to Macro-saker and Macro-saker only; Strike Russes are cheap enough that you should just take a new squadron, while the other Assault Russes use pie plates.
- Solar Auxilia Leman Russ Strike Squadron: 150 points give you a 14/13/10 vehicle with four HP and Outflank that moves 12". It comes with either a battlecannon, Gravis Lascannon, Gravis Autocannons (Twin-linked 3-shot Autocannon), or a Vanquisher Battlecannon with co-axial autocannon for a measly +5pts. The squadron can include a pair of additional tanks with a discount of 15 points each. The Battlecannon should be replaced at first opportunity and the Gravis Lascannon is objectively inferior to the Vanquisher, but the Vanquisher and the Autocannon both have their own merits, even if the Vanquisher is generally much better.
  - Outflank won't come into play very often, as the Vanquisher has enough range and power to not need it, particularly against Terminator/Dreadnought targets that take the same damage from any direction. Further, as the Tercio must deploy together, putting the Armoured Tercio in a Flanking Assault more or less precludes taking Assault Squadrons; they aren't very good anyway, but it's still something to remember.
- Solar Auxilia Leman Russ Assault Squadron: 200pts for the same Leman Russ trading in 2" movement and Outflank for Reinforced , with either a demolisher cannon (underrated but still mean), Executioner Plasma Cannon (5" Plasma Cannon) or Volkite Macro-Saker (8 shot Volkite Culverin), again at -15pt discount if you take more tanks in the squadron. Weapon choices aren't rocket science; Demolisher for anti-vehicle/Automata, Executioner for anti-TEQ, Macro-Saker for anti-light infantry.
  - The Executioner is one of the few weapons that can semi-reliably remove large groups of MEQ short of taking a Stormhammer, so take a couple against Legion opponents and kill any Marine squads that are particularly threatening to your infantry, while its Rending (4+) (as opposed to the standard Plasma Breaching (4+)) means it can fight vehicles in a pinch. Compared to the Stormhammer, the tradeoff is basically immunity to Artificer Armour shenanigans in return for inability to inflict ID. Still, with how cheap your infantry is, you can conceivably take both.
  - The Macro-Saker is S6 and therefore a Defensive weapon, regardless of being turret mounted. Can be useful if you want something more substantial than pintle and hull mounts for anti-infantry and to add some punch to Reactions. On the merits of the weapon alone, it's not much better than the (much cheaper) Autocannon Russ, not to mention having as much firepower as a Carnodon which comes at 1/3 the cost. Unless you're going full bore with it (see entry for Command Section for more details), use the Executioner Russ for anti-infantry or take a full squadron of Volkite Carnodons, which cost the same as the Russ.

Auxilia Artillery Tercio: The heavy weapons teams of the Solar Auxilia, now in Tercio format. These consists as usual of three units, of which at least one rapier or tarantula unit is mandatory.
- 0-1 Solar Auxilia Artillery Command Section: Command Squad like the one in the Troop slot Tercio, with option to take a Cognis-signum. Honestly nothing too impressive, as the Cognis-signum only works on your own unit, which in this case is a bunch of lasrifle dudes. You're better off taking more Rapiers.
  - Alternative take: They can take Augury Scanners and get free Interceptor, which extends to Rapiers due to Tercio mechanics. Think about it if you're concerned about Deep Strikes, so you can welcome that Deep Striking Justaerin deathstar with 6 Laser Destroyers.
- Solar Auxilia Tarantula Sentry Battery: Actually can shoot with all its guns after the latest Errata, gaining Firing Protocols (2) and Fearless! Still bad though, because Sentry Protocols forces them to shoot at the nearest thing they can see, even if that thing can laugh off their fire with ease or if doing so would be wasteful (especially if you took the Hyperios Missile Launcher, which has Skyfire and thus must snap fire at anything else). Probably usable for cheap Lascannons, particularly against Legion/Custodes lists where Sentry Protocols doesn't hurt as much because basically everything is a good Lascannon target, but you also have Laser Destroyer Rapiers for that.
- Solar Auxilia Rapier Battery: Comes with Gravis Multi-laser (2 Twin-linked Multi-lasers) to cut holes through Imperial Militia, but can swap for a free Gravis Heavy Bolter Battery (2 Twin-linked Heavy Bolters) for even more fire that can cut through enemy Auxilia, a tank-busting Laser Destroyer (36" S9 AP1 Ordnance 2 Twin-linked Exoshock (6+)) or a Quad Launcher (with frag only, but these can be upgraded with Incendiary, Shatter or Splinter for specific roles).
  - Your choice in Quad Launcher rounds really does depend on what you want to do with it, considering that each round type costs you. The base Frag Rounds you start with come with a S5 AP5 large blast with Shred to handle most things. The Shatter Rounds are the only rounds that aren't blast and the only ones with any anti-armor use with S8 AP4 with Sunder. Both the Splinter and Incendiary Rounds can Pin enemies, with Incendiary Rounds getting Ignores Cover and Shred to flush out cover campers (though AP5 means basically everyone will just take armor saves) and Splinter Rounds compensate for their dismal S2 with Rending (6+) and with Shell Shock (1) to help guarantee Pinning.
  - The Rapier crew have Ld6 and you can't give them a Command Vox, so they'll likely fail a 25% casualties Morale check and they won't be coming back once they run. Consider putting a Cohorts Vexilla near them for Ld9; not even Reborn Cohorts will help them, as Ld7 is still not very good.

Solar Auxilia Malcador Heavy Tank Squadron: Up to three tanks at 225 points each give you a Reinforced 13/13/12 chassis with 14" movement. For 10pts it can trade its battlecannon for a Gravis Lascannon or Vanquisher battlecannon. That said, the Vanquisher is better provided on Leman Russes because they get a co-axial weapon. The heavy bolters on the front and sides can be exchanged for Autocannon/Multi-laser/Heavy Flamer, or upgraded to a Lascannon for 10 and 25 points respectively. If you want heavy duty anti-vehicle, the front Heavy Bolter can be exchanged for a Demolisher cannon for 50 points. It can also take a Flare Shield and dozer blade, in case you're building a plan around these things. It has the Independent Fire Control rule, which allows any weapons that were not fired as part of the initial shooting attack (either by choice or if they weren't in range/line of sight) to be fired at a number of secondary targets at -1BS, since the Malcador is a pseudo Super-Heavy. However, as they're only base BS3, -1BS can give interesting results.
- A Vanquisher/Lascannon Malcador with Demolisher Cannon and Flare Shield (for effective frontal AV14) is 285 points. You could instead have taken a Strike Russ AND a Demolisher Russ for 355 points, which are collectively far tougher than the Malcador (heck, one Russ already has 4HP and it has the same Front AV14 Side AV13 as the Malcador), have turrets, can get cheaper in squadrons and in the case of the Vanquisher Russ is more accurate. The Russ is simply a more cost-effective way to get firepower on the table, so the benefits of the Malcador boil down to 14" movement, Independent Fire Control and sidestepping restrictions against taking Armoured Tercios.

Solar Auxilia Armoured Battery: Your basilisks or medusae. 200 points per vehicle is ridiculously expensive for an AP4 gun, even with 240" range, S9 and Large Blast, Shred and Pinning. Can be exchanged for Medusa Mortar that trades 204" of range and Shred for Rending (6+). Thanks, but no thanks. If you really want high strength AP4, take some Leman Russes; better yet, take the Fortification artillery choice.

Solar Auxilia Valdor Tank Hunter: Its Neutron Beam Laser is a very powerful anti-tank weapon (Ordnance 2 S10 AP1 Concussive (3) Shock Pulse Gets Hot!), therefore having the same anti-vehicle firepower as the Vanquisher Cannon while having Shock Pulse to silence anything it doesn't kill. However, you only get 1 per slot as opposed to 9 Leman Russ Vanquishers/Destroyer Tank Hunters, and the lack of Brutal limits its power against Dreadnoughts/Automata. Unless there's an enemy unit you absolutely must shut up using Shock Pulse/Concussive, just take some Vanquishers for cheaper and without taking up a slot all on its own.

Solar Auxilia Cyclops Demolition Vehicle: You will laugh in the face of your enemies! 1-3 cyclops, each of which come with an operator (who acts independently after deployment, so hide them!). Can also be carried in an Aurox, Arvus or Dracosan - you must pick one for each Cyclops. Now just attacks in close combat with a single autohit that also removes the Cyclops itself. The problem is while previously the little suicide robot blew up at I10, now it does at I1. S10 AP1 Instant Death, Armourbane and Brutal (2) means you'd want to target high value targets, but WS1, T5, 2 Wounds and 3+ pretty much guarantees anything bar Vehicles is quite capable of beating the little guy to death before he does anything, unless you're already in combat using another unit that can take the hits instead. In short - bad unit has somehow been made worse.

Solar Auxilia Armoured Support Tercio^Legacies: A collection of Leman Russ-based vehicles, except with centreline mounts/no main gun at all. Counts as an Armoured Tercio for the purposes of Cohort Doctrines, so don't think about using this to circumvent restrictions against Armoured Tercios. Being without a turret means they're smaller targets and can more easily claim Cover, but it won't help too much because almost everything you can claim will be 6+. Not generally a good idea, as the actual tanks are extremely overpriced; they may be worth it if they were significantly cheaper than Russes like the jury-rigged retrofits they are, but they're not.
- 0-1 Solar Auxilia Armoured Command Section: Same Russ as in Armoured Tercio. Equip as you see fit.
  - RAW, as the Armoured Command Section must be assigned to a Strike or Assault Squadron, it can't be taken in this unit. Welcome to Legacies, everyone.
- 1-3 from the following:
  - Solar Auxilia Thunderer Siege Tank Squadron: The Space Marine Vindicator, except on a Leman Russ chassis. Being the Slow subtype will unfortunately mean that you'll be needing to keep the Thunderer protected until it can fire away. Competes directly with the Demolisher Russ at the same cost per vehicle, with the comparison mostly coming down to Slow making the Thunderer harder to kill with Penetrating Hits while preventing it from firing on the move (Demolisher Cannon being Ordnance), as well as the Thunderer having fewer secondary weapons and a narrower firing arc due to the Demolisher being a centreline mount as opposed to a turret. As such, the Demolisher Russ is generally the superior choice.
  - Solar Auxilia Destroyer Tank Hunter Squadron: The Laser Destroyer Vindicator to the Thunderer's Demolisher Vindicator, and a direct competitor to the Vanquisher Russ. Its Proteus Laser Destroyer is iffy; 2 shots of S9 AP1 Twin-linked Exoshock (6+) is great and Gets Hot! isn't too bad due to Twin-linked, but the loss of Sunder/Brutal compared to the Vanquisher means you still lose a huge chunk of your killing power. As a result, the 45pts you pay for this over the Vanquisher Russ is mainly for the extra durability from Slow/Reinforced. Moreover, the normal Laser Destroyer the Rapier has is far superior simply because it has Ordnance and can much more reliably Penetrate and blow vehicles up with AP1. Think very carefully.
  - Solar Auxilia Trojan Support Vehicle: The Trojan is not here to fight, not with that mere heavy bolter. Its bigger goal is to fix other tanks, as it has the Field Repair (5+) rule to let it fix up any other tanks without needing an allied detachment for models with Battlesmith (X). The issue is that you'll be needing other tanks to protect it while doing the patch jobs or hope that nobody pays enough attention to consider trashing it. It's cheaper than Techmarines from your Sworn Brothers Legions because the Techmarine also needs a squad to be attached to, but is 100pts for 1/3 chance per turn to repair worth it to begin with?

Aethon Heavy Sentinel^PDF: Lookie lookie, a variant of the venerable chicken walker. This is essentially the answer to the later Armored Sents, touting S6 T6 and a hefty 5 Wounds to protect them as the Dreadnought-equivalent Cavalry (Heavy, Mechanized). They come stock with a multilaser and their special missile launcher, an S4 AP5 Large Blast with Assault 1, Barrage and Twin-Linked. These missiles can't do a lot against legionaries, but at least they're infinite as opposed to the rack of four Hunter-Killers you can replace them with.
- That main gun's where you want the attention on, seeing as it's the most varied. Alongside the more familiar options of the lascannon and autocannon, you can also slap on a goddamn Volkite Culverin (because fuck yes), a Heavy Incinerator if you want a heavier flamer and a Melta Lance with surprisingly decent range considering it has Armourbane (Ranged) so it'll be effective anywhere it goes.
- Let's get this out of the way; you take the Aethon for the anti-tank weapons. Volkite/Flame is much better provided by Veletaris Sentinels, which have better BS (Volkite), more mobility (flamer) and do not take a slot on their own, let alone one as heavily contested as Heavy Support. You can also take 2.5 Veletaris Sentinels for the price of one Aethon; the Aethon is still tougher thanks to having just as many wounds on T6 and a 2+ save as opposed to T5 3+ save, but it's also outgunned significantly.
- As an anti-tank platform, the Aethon is a questionable use of your Heavy Support slots simply because it competes with Tercios and you only get 3 per slot, but also because, unlike its greatest competitors in the Artillery and Armoured Tercios, it is BS3 with no way to reroll To Hit. The Aethon is a 85pt lascannon; the Vanquisher Russ is 155 points, has 2 shots and gets a co-axial weapon in the bargain, while the Laser Destroyer Rapier gets 2 shots with straight out Twin-linked at BS4, all at 60 points. The Aethon is simply not a very good way of killing things; unless you really need your heavy weapons platform to not die, you do not need to consider it. Even then, consider taking a Flare Shield Command Tank for your Vanquisher Russes.
- Rules for this unit can be found here.

Solar Auxilia Minotaur Battery^Legacies: If you thought the Armoured Battery was bad, this is even worse. 280 points and all you get for it over the Armoured Battery is AV 13/12/13 and Twin-linked, though being open-topped means that all melee attacks are targeting that AV12. Even if you needed artillery, there's not much reason to take this over the one in the Liber, let alone over a Russ or a Fortification.

Lords of War[edit]

Malcador Infernus: No longer a bomb! Also no longer AP3, so no reason to take this instead of the below. Seriously, your entire Troops and Elites slots are built for murdering light infantry. Don't waste your Lord of War slot on doing that again.

Solar Auxilia Stormhammer: Fantastic at 500 points. The Stormhammer Cannon has the old Battle Cannon statline of S8 AP3 and a 7" blast; ordinarily not spectacular, but an absolute world-beater by 2.0 standards because it can ID entire squads of MEQs through their armour, especially those that you can't just gun down with 60 Lasrifles. Can't move your Veletaris up because there's 10 Heavy Bolter Heavy Support marines waiting for them? *BLAM* Gone. 20-strong Assault Squad about to jump your gunline? *BLAM* Nope. It has upgrades but they are inconsequential since at such a perfectly rounded value, this tank is the perfect way to reduce or expand the size of your army to match that of of your opponent's. Like all Solar Auxilia kits, its quite expensive. But chances are that this unit might give returns sooner than later both on and off the table. The main cannon is absolutely disgusting against MEQ armies, and it's bristling with smaller weapons as only a superheavy can. Its BS3 isn't even that much of a concern; scattering doesn't matter too much with a 7" blast, and if you're close enough you can eliminate even that by using your co-axial weapon.
- That said, the existence of the Artificer Armour sergeant (and assorted attached characters) is a serious problem because savvy Marine players will just protect their squad by using him to tank the AP3 wounds, which the Executioner Russ avoids thanks to having conditional AP2 instead. Remedy this by taking Vindicare/Tylos Rubio/Sniper/Precision Shot allies to snipe the 2+ save models first, or take the Stormblade and get anti-TEQ in the bargain.
- The Stormhammer has Hull-mounted weapons and not Sponson-mounted ones, meaning their arc of fire is much narrower and legally can never target the same unit. Think carefully before taking 6 Lascannons.

Baneblade and derivatives^Legacies: They have all lost AV14 at the front and they are all 100-300 points more expensive and you pay the same for them as Legiones Astartes despite being BS3. On top of that almost every weapon they use has been neutered into near-uselessness or to the point it is nowhere near strong enough to be carried by a Super-heavy tank. While they have 12HP, so does the Stormhammer, which is generally a superior vehicle that comes for cheaper.

Solar Auxilia BanebladeSolar Auxilia BanehammerSolar Auxilia StormlordSolar Auxilia ShadowswordSolar Auxilia StormswordSolar Auxilia Stormblade

Oh Baneblade, what have they done to you. This tank has gone from being the reliable all-rounder to having a primary gun that is outclassed by tanks you can find in the Heavy Support section. For 750 points you get a Baneblade Chassis (duh), whose main Armament is an Ordnance 1, S8, AP4, 5" Blast with Rending (6+) and Pinning. The Baneblade cannon has been reduced to something that has the same effect as a 200 point Medusa Artillery tank (and even that is overpriced). It's still covered with guns, but the main gun was always the primary reason you brought a Baneblade and it's just not worth it, especially when the Stormhammer is 150 points cheaper and has a 7" blast S9 AP3 gun.

The same cost as the Baneblade and just as disappointing. Its Tremor Cannon is now AP4 but gained Shell Shock (2) and Pinning, so it's not killing many marines but you will Pin them. The real killer here is the fact that the GIANT ROLLING BUNKER NOW HAS A TRANSPORT CAPACITY OF 10!. Just 10. When it used to be 25... Jesus Christ man.

The Solar Auxilia Banehammer doesn't even have a transport capacity anymore, unlike the identically priced Legion version

Almost worth it. It's too expensive, but at least the gun is still decent-ish. It comes with a Vulcan Heavy Bolter which is Heavy 15, AP3 with Pinning and Shell Shock (1), but it has lost its ability to shoot twice if it stays still. Its transport capacity was also fucked, but at least it will fuck up a squad of Tactical Marines. You know, the bare minimum 750pts should do, not to mention something the 500pt Stormhammer and your Autocannon Russes can do better.

Legion Shadowsword, except BS3. However, as this list does not get the Falchion, you can assess this on its own merits. For 650 points, a Volcano Cannon is a pretty good weapon for splatting anything smaller than a Leviathan and can give even the Vanquisher Russ a run for its money, given its ability to ID everything smaller than a Leviathan and throw D3 wounds per hit into the bargain. That said, you have very little reason not to take Leman Russes thanks to the insane slot efficiency of the Armoured Tercio, so you're arguably well-stocked with AP2 already. Think about a LoW with more splash damage; the Stormhammer and Stormblade are both interesting choices.

A Stormsword that seems to have been scavenged from Epic, given that it's equipped a Hull-mounted Hellhammer Cannon. It's 650 points, and while its stolen Hellhammer cannon is actually pretty good as it shoots Large Blast AP3 shells with Brutal (3), Rending (5+) and Sunder, it is just not worth its price cost; not when a. the Armoured Tercio exists and you can take lots of Demolisher Russes and b. you can take the Shadowsword, which for the same price does more damage at a longer range.

The Stormblade's Plasma Blastgun is a S9 7" Blast AP3 Breaching (4+) Ordnance weapon and can be pretty decent at clearing out large MEQ and TEQ squads. At its current price of 650 points, it can usually outgun its equivalent in cost in Executioner Russes thanks to being able to ID MEQs and covering twice the area on its blast. It might even give the Stormhammer serious competition, as it has more or less the same gun except with Breaching (4+) (and therefore anti-TEQ ability) and sponson-mounted secondary weapons instead of hull mounts, allowing you to fire them to the front, all for 150pts. Worth considering.

Solar Auxilia Macharius Heavy Tank Squadron^Legacies: A tank that was named after Lord Solar Macharius from M41, but here it represents one of the ancient Super-heavy tanks that was in service during the Great Crusade and it simply retained the name so you know which model is supposed to represent it (the tank pattern itself was probably used during the Crusade and the STC was then lost, only to be rediscovered later in M41, so it's all good). It's far more reasonably priced at 300pts than the 650pts Space Marines pay for them, but it's still not quite worth it.
- Its choices to replace the trash-tier battlecannon are actually decent, but the problem is that they both compete with the extremely cost-efficient Strike Russ. The Macharius Vanquisher is Twin-linked... but the Vanquisher Russ has a coaxial weapon, making it basically the same thing. Likewise, the Rotary Bolt Cannon is more or less an Autocannon Russ. As you pay half the price for a Russ, this implies you can take twice the firepower by taking Russes.
- The Macharius being a Lord of War also means it exists in direct competition with the Stormhammer, which as above is an absolutely excellent choice. Take the Stormhammer, and take Russes to do whatever you intended for the Macharius to do.

Solar Auxilia Crassus Armoured Assault Transport^Legacies: 300 points nets you a 13/12/12 super heavy transport with that moves 10” and has 8 HP and 35 transport capacity. It mounts 4 heavy bolters which can be exchanged for heavy flamers for free or upgraded to Autocannons or Lascannons. Its only access point is on the rear of the vehicle, which limits its versatility somewhat. Despite its name, it's not an Assault Vehicle, though with its only access point in the rear disembarking units probably can't charge anyway.
- This is more or less a big Dracosan, but those are DTs and thus do not eat your Lord of War slot. This has a niche when you want a durable vehicle to transport 10-man units into battle but can't afford to give each squad a Dracosan (eg. full Command Tercio), but then you a. risk losing 800pts of infantry to Catastrophic Damage when the Crassus dies and b. cannot take a Lord of War with decent weaponry.

Solar Auxilia Praetor Armoured Assault Launcher^Legacies: For the low, low price of five hundred points, equal to the mega-powerful Stormhammer, you get a super-heavy with M10, BS4, 13/12/12 and 8 HP, packing two heavy bolters and a Praetor Launcher, a 72" Ordnance 1 S7 AP4 Massive Blast with Pinning/Rending (6+). This means you're spending a LoW slot to do what you could have done by taking the cheaper (and still far overpriced) Armoured Battery, or the actually reasonably priced Artillery Battery below. Do not do it.

Fortification[edit]

Solar Auxilia Artillery Battery^Legacies: Five gunners with the standard statline except for 3+, stuck with an immobile Earthshaker or Medusa Mortar, starting at 120pts and going up to 5 at 100 points per extra platform and another 5 gunners. Though this makes the squad practically unable to do anything else, you're paying a much lower price for them, and your squad can ignore Pinning so long as there are as many gunners as there are cannons on top of being Stubborn. At almost half the price of the Armoured Battery, the stock Earthshaker is almost worth it as anti-vehicle; that is, of course, assuming you didn't already have truckloads of it from your other slots. The Medusa is a harder sell, as 36" on an immobile unit is very limiting, you pay extra for it and the extra killing power is not significant.
- The Earthshaker is also a decent choice for Pinning, as it has enough range to cover basically the whole table even when placed on your own table edge. Your poor AP doesn't matter when you hit (BS4 5" blast) and wound (S9) so reliably and you only need 1 wound anyway, unless you're targeting Heavy units.

Allies[edit]

Legiones Astartes[edit]

The Legion list has some very good melee and/or fast-moving units to cover for your gunline, like Deep Striking Land Speeders to shut enemy artillery up. However, don't bother taking them for short-ranged firepower, as you already have bucketloads of that in HQ Tercios and Veletaris. This also means your compulsory Troops are likely to be Despoiler/Assault Squads; you simply don't need Tacticals/Breachers when you have Lasrifle Sections and Veletaris that do the same thing for much cheaper.

Dreadnoughts are a very good choice, as they're capable of either AA or melee, both of which the Auxilia list sorely lacks. It helps that you can take lots of them; the Allied FOC has 2 Elites slots, from each of which you can take 3 Dreadnoughts.
Legion Recon Company is good for bringing tons of sniper rifles, of which there are none in the Auxilia detachment. Use them to snipe enemy sergeants and make Pinning easier, such as with your Needle Pistol Overwatch, or just to kill Artificer Armour characters so you can blast the rest of the squad off the table with a Stormhammer.
Storm Shield Terminators make an excellent DISTRACTION CARNIFEX because 3++ makes them enormously difficult to shoot, but your opponent has to do it anyway because they're too tough and too powerful to ignore. Consider taking Legion Terminators to force the enemy to deal with them while the Auxilia blasts away at the enemy; in particular, Imperial Fists Storm Shield Terminators can Run and/or Deep Strike, so you can dispense with the Spartan DT. It may be tempting to take Legion-specifics and build a deathstar, but don't be distracted; you're playing Auxilia and not Marines, so the Terminators should support your army and not the other way around.
While you already have tons of tanks, consider taking some Neutron Blaster Sabres/Predators and/or Sicaran Venators. Shock Pulse is very useful to shut up Blast weapons on enemy vehicles, particularly if you're running Ultramar Pattern and all of your Lasrifle Auxilia are in base contact with each other. You yourself can only bring up to 3 Shock Pulse weapons (1 Valdor per Heavy Support slot) and that requires giving up your Armoured/Artillery Tercios, so taking Neutron Lasers from elsewhere can be useful.
- Consider taking Dark Angels. The Steel Fist lets them take Predators as Troops and thus gives them much greater access to Neutron Blasters than other Space Marine detachments. They don't get Line and their Line Troops don't get buffed by the Rite, but you don't care because you were taking tons of Lasrifle Sections anyway.
The Legion list has a few choices for Sniper or otherwise Precision Shot which the Auxilia do not otherwise have, short of taking a Vindicare. Spamming Scout squads is a particularly interesting proposition, as they're cheaper than Recons and you don't truly need Line on your allied Troops when the average Auxilia list has 6 Lasrifle Sections running around.
Of the 18 Legions, you get Ultramarines, Sons of Horus, Word Bearers, and Salamanders as Sworn Brothers. If you're fine with not taking Cohort Doctrines, you can skip the Legate Marshal and instead take an allied Chaplain/Praetor as your source of Ld10 for the purposes of abusing Command Vox/Vox Interlock. That said, you want a Cohort Doctrine if you're specializing your detachment into something, while if you're not specializing you should always consider taking Ultramar Pattern, which effectively have no downsides for the standard Auxilia list.
- The 3 Legions not the Ultramarines generally do better, as the Ultramarines Legion trait encourages you to take lots of ranged Ultramarines units and thus severely overlaps with what you were already doing with Auxilia.
  - The plentiful Pinning Warpfire weapons you can take as Word Bearers are useful for Auxilia because you don't want the enemy anywhere near them; the best way to ensure that, of course, is to prevent them from moving. Can be further strengthened by taking a Diabolist/Burning Lore on the compulsory Word Bearers IC for Fear. Ashen Circle are also good for this, with their Pinning Hand Flamers.
  - Use Alpha Legion Rewards of Treachery to take a unique unit from an otherwise Distrusted Allies Legion as Fellow Warriors, which you can combine with Coils of the Hydra to take up to 3 of. Your opponent will not expect 3 squads of Space Wolves Grey Stalkers accompanying your Lasrifle gunline, nor will he like the fact that they can countercharge his Assault Squads with 20 Power Lances. Alternatively, use it to take an extra psyker in the form of Sekhmet/Contemptor-Osiron, in case you don't want to take Tylos Rubio (eg. you're taking an Assassin) or can't because you're a Traitor.
    - If Rewards of Treachery shenanigans isn't your cup of tea, also consider Headhunter Leviathal to spam Headhunters and make up for the lack of anti-character tools in the Auxilia list. It removes your ability to take Alpha Legion Heavy Support, but you don't care because you can take 9 Russes from 1 slot.
- If you're OK with not taking a Rite of War, taking a Legion Centurion is currently your only way of taking Psykers as Traitor Solar Auxilia (Loyalists can take Tylos Rubio too), as the Legions are as of writing the only faction with any usable Psykers, the Navigator and Davinite Priest from the Legacies docs notwithstanding. For details, look at the Psychic 101 page.
  - Telekinesis is particularly useful, as there are tons of AP4 artillery/heavy weapons that you want an Invulnerable save against. Your Lasrifle boys are not nearly as disposable as Militia Levy because they're 5pt/model, but they're still plenty cheap compared to Tacticals, while your more expensive Command Tercio models are also 2W and have 5++, so they're not nearly as fragile. As such, you can still pretty confidently take the Psychic check to make it a 4++.

Imperialis Militia[edit]

Situational, as your Lasrifle Sections are a heck of a lot better than most infantry the Militia can bring, while you can also bring more tanks and artillery than them. However, they have a bunch of stuff that isn't foot troops, tanks and artillery, which can come in useful.

The Kalliope Mortar from the Field Gun battery is excellent at Pinning enemies, with its S5 5" Blast Shell Shock (1) attack. Sure, you have Shell Shock (1) from your Splinter shell Quad Launcher Rapiers, but it also exists in direct competition with the Laser Destroyer, which has much more raw firepower. Besides, are you complaining about having more sources of Pinning to slow down the enemy?
- Conversely, if you need more Rapiers because your Cohort Doctrine limits access to Artillery Tercios, the Militia Rapier Battery comes in up to 6 Rapiers.
Penal Pattern becomes more questionable here. The point of taking it was to let your Lasrifle sections play more like normal Imperial Guard by getting an assortment of short-range weapons, which is redundant when you have Militia Infantry/Grenadiers that already do that. Consider another Cohort Doctrine.
Militia have snipers. They're not very good compared to Space Marines, but they exist and are worth considering. Special note to the Longlas, which are excellent against other Auxilia by having AP4 to ignore Void Armour and S6 to inflict ID, so you can remove Command Voxes from enemy officers easily.
You can take some Cavalry to back up your gunline by countercharging the enemy. However, you can only take 1 without taking Clanfolk Levy, and if you take Clanfolk Levy.
As is usual with Militia allied detachments, Warrior Elite is borderline compulsory given the absence of Discipline Masters. Without it, Militia non-vehicle units are prone to running away at the first sign of trouble, and they can't contribute to the battle if they're too busy fleeing.
- Since you have Warrior Elite, take the tried and tested Armoury of Old Night to spam Assault Needler Grenadiers. They outgun all of your infantry, and come with Pinning to snare any enemy melee units to boot.
- On the other hand, Industrial Stronghold is not recommended because you can already take so many tanks as Auxilia. Even if your Cohort Doctrine limits you to one Tercio, that's still 9 tanks, which should be enough.
  - Alternatively, consider Feral Warriors for shotgun/Chainaxe Grenadiers to charge enemy units engaged with your Auxilia gunline. Charging engaged units means they won't suffer from Overwatch and they can do very serious damage with massed chainaxes. The Ogryn Boss you can take in 5-strong Ogryn Squads also become very good anti-Dreadnought tools once you give him a Thunder Hammer, so he's also worth taking. However, it again overlaps with the role of Storm Axe Veletaris, which have the benefit of actual AP2 and being available in larger numbers in a less congested slot.

Mechanicum[edit]

The Mechanicum are a very easy consideration by the mere fact that they can repair your tanks. With how many of them you can field with your tercios (and especially with the Armoured Fist pattern cohorts), such a matter is going to shoot very high on your priorities list, so an Archmagos Dominus or Magos Prime with some Techpriest Auxilia will always be welcome.

Automata are very durable weapons platforms, almost on level with the dreadnoughts. The issue is that you'll be needing someone with a Cortex Controller to keep them at their best. If you're in an Iron pattern cohort, this won't be so much of an issue since you can buy them on some of your troops as well.
Thallax are excellent for mobile firepower, being Relentless and having jump packs. Being one of the few Line Infantry squads of the army, they can very easily help you with scoring, whether in an Iron pattern cohort or in an allied detachment. The lightning guns they come with give you something that can actually harm things harder than a marine and strapping chain bayonets make them more than able to put up a fight - more than you can say about your tercios.
Thanatars can make up for a lack of descent earthshaker artillery. T8, BS4 monsters with big guns that can either bombard space marines with a 5” blast Str 8 Ap4, breaching 4+ ignores cover shots, or snipe tanks with a 3 shot STR 10 AP2 armorbane (ranged) shot. You can get 3 per HS slot, and can attach a magos Dominus to the squad to cover Cortex controller needs.

Agents of the Emperor[edit]

Legio Custodes[edit]

YES. Solar Auxilia have lots of bodies and armoured units, while lacking melee cover. Custodes are literal supermen that don't have enough bodies and firepower. Even Custodes Troops have AP2 AT INITIATIVE, perfect for counter-charging any enterprising enemy units who try to shut your gunline up by engaging them in melee. Alternatively, take some Deep Striking units (jetbikes, Venatari or just take a Coronus DT) and target dangerous ranged units that you have to shut up before they wipe out half of your infantry. However, Custodes units are EXPENSIVE; you'll be spending at the very minimum 350 points (200pt compulsory HQ, 150pt compulsory troops) and that's 4 MODELS.

If you're afraid of your opponent shooting the Custodes before coming in with the melee units on your Auxilia, take Sentinel Guard for the improved Invulnerable save; you may lose the Guardian Spear's strength bonus, but they're still S5 and you keep the AP2 at initiative on the Sentinel Warblades, so they're still very killy. Moreover, as they're technically infantry, you can use Aevos Jovan to respawn them if you lose any of them to enemy shooting. If you're still worried, take a Dreadnought or two.
The Custodes list is if anything even shorter on AA than the Solar Auxilia list, so think carefully about where you're going to get it; generally, this means Thunderbolts and/or Fortifications.

Sisters of Silence[edit]

Don't expect much aside from some skirmishers from the Sisters. The Anathema sub-type blocks them from being anywhere near the Auxilia on pain of -1Ld to an army that already has faulty Leadership (and -2Ld for any units they join), preventing you from putting melee units just behind your Auxilia to countercharge enemy units. In any case, you could have gotten better melee units if you took Marine/Custodes allies. Their list of short-ranged weapons isn't very impressive either, considering the sheer firepower Auxilia already pack. Think carefully, unless you know you're playing someone with lots of Psykers/Daemons.

Sanctioner Cadres have Sniper weapons, which Solar Auxilia have no access to. Worth considering if you want to kill some ICs (or just particular infantry/cavalry models) from very far away.
Prosecutor Cadres can all Infiltrate or Scout and they can take Assault Needlers (read: Pinning) and Snare Guns in large numbers, allowing them to deploy in No Man's Land and make life extremely difficult for enemy units trying to advance. Meanwhile, you can rain down on Pinned/slowed units with your 30" Lasrifles and various heavy ordnance. If that's not enough, you can take more Needlers/Snare weapons from other slots. Still, you can spend all these points on Sisters of Silence with their fancy weapons to slow the enemy, or you can just take more Auxilia units and blast the enemy off the table.
The Sisters list has NO AA WHATSOEVER. Make sure you have enough from somewhere else, whether by taking your own Flyers or Fortifications.

Divisio Assassinorum[edit]

Not to be overlooked among the additions of Liber Imperium is the option for Imperial Assassins. All of the Assassins, despite being Loyalist units, are all considered Distrusted Allies and thus cannot benefit from anything else your army gives, meaning that all of their value is based on what they do on their own.

Each model has Infiltrate and Scout as well as Support Squad to block them out of being mandatory HQs, but the Assassin sub-type does the rest of them, banning them from being Warlords, joining squads, or entering any HQs, all in exchange to ignoring any penalties for movement and auto-passing dangerous terrain checks. Also helping their impressive M7 is the Light sub-type boosting their running. Their lone protection is the Panoply of the Assassin, surprisingly durable spandex that gives them a 4+/4++ save. They are all 125 points.

Clade Adamus: The eldest of the assassin clades and they're kitted to kill. Fleet (2) makes them even zippier than other assassins, where they can make it into their home territory of challenges. When in a challenge, they can copy the WS and I of their enemies, forcing everyone to eat their S+1 AP3 Nemesii Blades with Rending (5+) and at risk of eating the deceptive Decapitation Strike, which might be a singular S2 AP1 attack but also has Fleshbane and Murderous Strike (2+). Also of note is their Needlespine Blaster, a super combi-pistol, the bolt part being a Pistol 3 bolt pistol while the needle bit is Poisoned (2+) with Pinning to lock someone down.
- His killing ability is limited simply by dint of base WS5 and being able to copy an opponent's WS, meaning he hits enemy ICs at 4+ with no reroll. As Decapitation Strike gives him 1 attack, he right off the bat has 1/2 chance per round of combat of not doing anything at all, while he's worse as a source of AP3 melee than the Eversor. As you're Loyalist if you can take him anyway, you can also take Nathaniel Garro instead, who is a much better duellist for 45 more points.
Clade Callidus: What you get is a true-bred assassin, with Polymorphine forbidding ALL attacks against them until they shoot first, meaning nothing can stop you from sliding one up to the opposing Praetor's backside and also forcing enemies to re-roll to seize the initiative. With WS5 and I6, they can beat many characters short of the Emperor's Children, but their Phase Sword is...swingy. See, it's statted as a S3 AP1 weapon with Rending (5+) and Phase Shift, which makes a 6+ to wound negate any saves and damage mitigation rolls. The lack of any Instant Death means that they need to kill or else get smashed by a Power Fist. Their Neuro Shredder shares a similar plan, being an S1 Template pistol with Rending (5+) and also ignores all saves on a 6+ to wound. Same problem as the Adamus; she's not good enough as a duellist (wounding on T4 and above on 5+ with no reroll is really bad) to kill ICs, and you can take Garro instead. That said, the enemy not being able to do anything to her until she strikes first means she can tie up dangerous ranged units in melee. With how susceptible Close-order makes your infantry to Blast/Templates, this can be very important.
Clade Culexus: As if you didn't know, this guy has the Anathema sub-type more familiar to the SoS, rendering them immune to all things psychic and creeping out those nearby. If that's not enough, you also get Adamantium Will (3+) to block out anything nearby and the Etherium forces all attacks into being snap shots and thus making them more survivable. The Animus Speculum provides you with an S4 AP4 template with Rending (6+) and Psy-Shock to force psykers and daemons into suffering Perils. If anyone's brave enough to try fighting in melee, not only do they have to contend with Fear (2), but they must also learn that the Coolexus has a fucking AP2 "weapon" with Fleshbane and Reaping Blow (1). That said, his WS4 severely limits his killing power in melee, while the Animus Speculum is only useful against specific armies.
Clade Eversor: Welcome to RIP AND TEAR. While having A3 is just meh, you have Counter-attack (1) and the option each turn to trigger the Frenzon and gain another three attacks at the expense of any 1s to hit dealing a wound to the Eversor themselves. The Neuro-gauntlet is no slouch either, being an AP3 weapon with Shred, Fleshbane and Rending (6+), and their Executioner Pistol gives an option between either a bolt pistol or a needle pistol. He's not terribly good at actually assassinating ICs due to his poor ability to get AP2, but you can use him against Legion lists to ambush ranged squads, counter-charge Assault squads attacking your gunline, etc. Also consider using him against Automata, as Shred negates Automata and results in Fleshbane working normally, so you can do a lot of damage. Just don't use him against Terminators, and think about how to get him into melee; T4 4+/4++ 3W isn't much for a lone character.
- Unique among the assassins is the Eversor's self-destruct ability due to being so loaded with drugs. When they die, all models within d6" suffer an S4 AP3 Fleshbane hit that counts as a flamer. As the only infantry model in the entire list with a 2+ is your Legate Marshal, make sure whatever melee units you may have (except maybe Charonites) are outside the blast radius when he dies, as they will take wounds.
Clade Vanus: Less an assassin than a living bubble of statistical fuckery, they only have protection with a pair of laspistols and a pair of decidedly neat dataspikes with S+2 AP3 with Rending (5+) and Haywire. If you're stuck in a fight, you've only got a single-use means to gain Hit & Run for a round before you end up stuck watching your nerdy assassin die.
- Now we get to the many things they can do without fighting. For starters, they have an 18" bubble that shots off any uses of Infiltrate and lets them spam the Interceptor reaction as if you had an augury scanner. You can make a Leadership check instead of shooting, with a pass allowing you to resolve Interceptor using a Defensive weapon on any vehicle (friend or foe) within 12" of the Vanus. In addition, they can make a Leadership check to hack an enemy Automata unit within 12", forcing them to suffer d3 unsaved wounds. This action does have risks though, as aside from being so close to a murder-engine like a Castellax, a failed test instead inflicts an unsaved wound on the assassin.
- Denying Infiltrate and messing with enemy Deep Strikes using Vox Disruptor Array is particularly useful for Lasrifle Section spam, as it forces your opponent to deploy normally and slog through 30" of Lasrifle fire, in addition to whatever Rapier/Leman Russ fire you can pack. Use your own Infiltrate to deploy in No Man's Land and block off as much space to enemy Infiltrators as possible, then flee back behind friendly lines by Running and Tactical Displacement.
Clade Venenum: As befits the resident poisoner, this assassin is immune to Rad-phage in its many forms and can only be wounded by Poison and Fleshbane attacks on a 5+. At range, their Toxin Ejector provides a S5 AP4 template with Poison (3+) and Rending (6+) to take care of pretty much anything they go up against while the Venom Globes they happily cribbed from the Alpha Legion (or maybe it's the other way around? Who'll know?) gives them a charge deterrent. When in a fight, their Hookfang gives them an AP3 weapon with Poison (3+) that also forces anyone hurt by it to roll a d6 on every turn afterwards, suffering an unsaved wound on a 5+. Even if you don't kill them with this attack, they still count as destroyed for the sake of VPs unless they have Eternal Warrior, so you can easily use this bastard as a cheap shot at a chance to kill the warlord and you're not fighting a Primarch.
- The Toxin Ejector is a glorified Heavy Flamer, which is very widely available in the army, while the lack of AP2 melee is a severe drawback for actual assassination when any self-respecting IC will have a 2+. This Assassin, like many of his brethren, share the problem that they're not actually good enough to kill ICs, while they're inferior as a weapon of mass destruction to the Eversor.
Clade Vindicare: The resident snipers lost out on their variant ammo, but what you have is still a masterful sniper with BS8 that negates any penalties whether it's to their BS or their range. Even Exodus needs to be careful because this guy not only ignores the Alpha Legion trait, but he also has an absurd 100" range on his Exitus rifle, an S7 AP2 shot with Murderous Strike (5+) and Rending (6+). Also present is his Exitus pistol, a lesser S6 AP4 gun with Breaching (6+), but still just as capable of popping any enemy you see. However, the rifle being 1 shot makes it very unreliable against Feel No Pain and Invulnerable saves, which combined with the lack of consistent ID makes it an unreliable tool for killing Marine/Mechanicum ICs.
- As the Solar Auxilia list has no snipers, this is your cheapest way of making sure a particular model dies because you can avoid taking a whole allied detachment. He's good against other Auxilia to kill Command Voxes/Vox Interlocks and deny Leadership shenanigans, as S7 AP2 forces them to rely on whatever Invulnerable save they have. Alternatively, shoot Cohorts Vexillas to deny Line. He's also useful as an AA gunner on Fortification emplacements, as the list is otherwise sorely lacking in AA choices. If the enemy Flyers aren't here yet, you can use the AA gun on ground targets at full BS if you don't mind losing Sniper.

Knights-Errant[edit]

Special Space Marines that all Loyalists can take as non-compulsory HQ and count them as Sworn Brothers. Have Ld10, so if you don't want Cohort Doctrines you can put them in one of the Tercio Command Sections to broadcast Ld10 to all Vox Interlock squads instead of using your Legate Marshal.

Nathaniel Garro, Former Battle-Captain of the Death Guard 7th Battle Company, The Agentia Primus, Hand of the Sigillite^(Legacies):Battle-Hardened (1), Loyalist and four attacks like a Praetor. Beyond the standard KE armament and IC rules, Garro has his personal S+1 AP2 Power Sword, Libertas, that has Two-Handed and the Edge of Truth special rule, which gives him Reach (1) and Brutal (2) during Challenges. The Aquila Imperator grants him 2+ Armour Save and a 4++ Invulnerable save, which increases to 3++ during Challenges. Losing Preferred Enemy (Traitors) makes him function solely as a beatstick, but he's a very good one. That said, he still needs to be in a squad to make it into melee, and exactly zero of your squads (except for Charonites which he cannot join, and maybe Storm Axe Veletaris) want to be anywhere near melee. Think carefully.

Tylos Rubio, Former Codicier of the Ultramarines^(Legacies): Aside from the Knights Errant armament and rules, Tylos's personal Force Sword, Polaris, is S4 AP3, with Rending (6+), Master-Crafted, and Divine Guidance, which allows him to make a Psychic Check before making any attacks. Though the game will take too long if you roll for all three during all phases of a turn. If successful it buffs his sword with S+2 and Reaping Blow (3) for the duration of the phase. If failed, Tylos suffers a Perils of the Warp roll that must be resolved. He can make his melee attacks with Polaris's standard profile if he survives. The Aegis Argentum is a Power Armour with 2+ Armour and a 4++ Invulnerable save. Finally, his Special Rule Echoes of Fate allow him to use any Psychic Powers and Psychic Weapons from either the Divination or Telepathy Disciplines. He's more reliable with Psychic checks than the average Librarian with his Ld10, so feel free to take the Psychic checks.
- Divinatory Aegis, while absolutely disgusting on Militia, is sadly less powerful with Auxilia due to the tendency to take multiple smaller units compared to Militia (eg. Artillery/Armored Tercios instead of 6-strong Rapier/Russ units, no 50-strong units) and the lack of 3-shot weapons in the Auxilia list limiting volume of fire from single units. Still, you can pull something with otherwise suboptimal 20-strong Rotor Cannon Veletaris Vanguard Sections by gunning down the squad sergeant to make Pinning Shell Shock (1) even tougher to pass. Moreover, while Auxilia Rapiers/Russes come in smaller units than Militia, Rubio can instead cast it on Command Tercio Sections to take advantage of their massed Plasma/Melta weapons and snipe enemy ICs. Diviner's Dart is also a good way of making up for not taking a Vindicare, particularly if Rubio is in range anyway because he's in a Command Tercio Section.
- Telepathy is also decent with Auxilia, as they're still prone to losing entire units to Return Fire if they try to gun down something as simple as 20-man Tactical Squads. Telepathic Fugue simply cancels the Reaction, while Telepathic Hallucinations offers Pinning, which is very valuable for this list, particularly when using Tercio mechanics to cast it on Overwatch.

Agents of the Warmaster[edit]

Infernus Abomination: A brand new daemonhost assassin. Comes with a shapeshifting melee weapon, allowing you to pick either a devastating Hammerblade (S8 AP2 with Brutal (2) and Murderous Strike (6+)), a swift Spinelash (S5 AP4 with Breaching (6+) and Reach (2)) or fierce Talon-rakes (S4 AP5 with Rampage (2), Rending (6+), and Shred). His other rules includes the assassin-standard 4+/4++, a 6" Assault 2D6 Fleshbane tooth shooter and rolling a D6 for every unsaved wound inflicted on the enemy; on a 5+, this guy gains 1 wound, up to its original of 3. Also comes with an unique reaction which works in all 3 phases letting him move 12" upon passing an Ld test (this guy is Ld10 base) whenever the standard triggers are met. If he fails the Ld test, both him and the unit triggering the reaction take D6 wounds with no saves allowed. Like Loyalist Assassins, he counts as Distrusted Allies to all Traitors.
- Actually a good Assassin unlike the frankly pretty poor choices the Loyalists get. The Hammerblade is a Thunder Hammer that hits on initiative and is thus a real threat against most ICs, while the unique Reaction can cause enormous difficulties to the enemy's attempt to kill it before it gets into melee. Still, the enemy is liable to simply fobbing off a sergeant/Chosen Warrior if you attempt to call a challenge, and if you don't call a challenge you can't target ICs specifically anyway. Moreover, being a Reaction, the unique Reaction won't help against Overwatch/Return Fire, so it's still liable to dying horribly before reaching melee range. Still, if your enemy doesn't know about them you can snipe his Praetor, while he's an enormous DISTRACTION CARNIFEX if he does, so it's a good deal regardless.

Building your army[edit]

Ironically speaking, a Solar Auxilia force is actually somewhat cheaper than its plastic equivalent, at least when talking about Militarum Tempestus (In USD, $42 x 4 Stormtrooper boxes for 20 men is S168 vs a Lasrifle section's $135, $84 for 10 vs a Storm Section's $72 (for flamers) or $79 (for Axes or Volkite); Cadians still have the advantage with $100 for 20 but of course that runs into the fact that they're not "elite" enough to serve as proxies for the Auxilia), infantry wise (with the exception of the command squads and their unreasonable $123). Lasrifle tercios are (usually) your only Troops choice now, so remember that with your listbuilding; but the same principles apply. Dracosans should be used for your Veletaris sections (including flamers) while your lasrifles should use cover. You may still need Command Sections for your respective units, but you can just use a respective normal section (at least up to 10 per) for modelling purposes. You can handle tanks any way you desire so long as you remember that Leman Russes don't get sponsons.

Other options for getting your Auxilia army:

Due to Geedubs retconing a lot of the notable units from the 30k novels, such as the Prosperine Spireguard, Selucid Thorakites and Medusan Chainveil (though they called the later the Chain Shroud), into being Solar Auxilia there's much less of an argument to be made that conversions break the usual look aren't viable. Just don't blatantly proxy a 40k army as Auxilia for waac reasons.
Unofficial models from China, Ukraine, Russia or whatnot. Saves a lot of money without losing much of a quality. When painted and mounted on official bases, not even a GW manager would be able to tell the difference.
For those who have 3D Printers there are 3rd party STLs out there for traitor Auxilia specifically.

Army Tactics[edit]

First squad, FIRE! Second squad, FIRE!: The key ingredient that separates your infantry Tercios from being harder to rout Imperialis Militia is the whole Tercio being able to React together and blast whatever sorry bastard triggered the Reaction off the table. Taking smaller squads throws away this advantage; 2 10-man sections reacting together and 1 20-man section reacting by itself is, at the end of the day, 20 guns, except you could have done the latter with 80pt Militia Infantry instead of 2 60pt Lasrifle Sections. Unless you have specific tactics in mind (eg. massed Aurox-mounted infantry, spamming Needle Pistols on characters), take full sections and fill out your Infantry Tercios.
Fire on my target!: The gamewide nerf on pie plates does not help you, as lots of them still have AP4 and can splat your infantry no questions asked, which is made worse by your reduced Coherency spacing from Close-order. Likewise, there are tons of fast firing weapons out there that will nonetheless kill your infantry handily, as Heavy Bolters ignore 4+ saves, Volkite Calivers/Culverins ID your T3 models and deny Feel No Pain, and Autocannons do both. Kill things like Heavy Support squads and Earthshaker cannons at first opportunity; the Stormhammer is excellent for this, as are Executioner Russes.
They're coming out of the goddamn walls!: You have an army of Line infantry with 30" range and tons of tanks and artillery, meaning you will usually outgun whatever army you're facing. Your opponent knows this, and will try to negate it with Deep Strikes, Flanking Assault, Infiltrate, etc. Build your army accordingly.
- Take Augury Scanners! They deny Infiltrate and let you have free Interceptor, which can be very important for Melta/Plasma HQ sections and Laser Destroyer Rapiers. This is also one of the very few circumstances when (at least on HQ sections) you may consider forgoing your massed Tercio Reaction and instead have each section fire on a separate unit, so that you can avoid overkill. As you always count as stationary when shooting on Reactions, tack on Reborn Cohorts here so you can reroll 1s to hit.
- This is also one of the few situations where Charonites and Storm Axe Veletarii are a good idea, as your lack of Assault Vehicle transports doesn't matter if you're using them defensively. Charonites are very difficult to kill with ranged fire, their S7 AP3 claws counter Deep Striking MEQs and they shrug off most Overwatch, and can even deny the enemy from using it on the Veletarii by charging in first. Even if they do not win combat, their literal inability to break means the enemy will be stuck fighting them for some time, which means they're not charging the rest of your gunline. Meanwhile, the Veletarii have AP2 weapons, and can help the Charonites against the rare Deep Striking Dreadnought/Terminators.
  - Charonites also serve as an early warning of sorts; the enemy understandably doesn't want his 20-strong Assault Squad to get charged by angry Ogryns... which indicates where he plans to Deep Strike. If he shoots the Charonites, he's Deep Striking where the Charonites are, so move your HQ Tercios there. If he isn't shooting the Charonites, he's Deep Striking elsewhere. If he's shooting the Charonites then Deep Striking elsewhere... he's wasted his firepower shooting something that is doing nothing whatsoever, instead of killing your sources of Interceptor fire. Considering how much work it takes to shoot Charonites, not bad for 120 to 140 points.
Spread your officers out: As with 1.0, avoid putting your Legate Marshal in your Tactical Command Section. If you do so, you run the risk that the enemy takes out your entire Command Vox/Vox Interlock system in one go by killing the squad or simply sniping the one Command Vox operator in that squad. In the absence of (Command Vox on) your Legate Marshal AND your Auxilia Captain, the highest Ld model in your army (and thus the Ld which everyone with an Interlock will now use) is your Ld8 Veletaris First Prime or, if you did not take Veletaris, your Ld7 Troop Masters. Needless to say, you do not want that to happen. Instead, put your Legate Marshal in the Command Section of one of your more junior Tercios, preferably some distance away from the front line. Better yet, keep him in Reserves where neither he nor his Command Vox operator can be harmed.
- Conversely, place your Tactical Command Sections in the front line. Their Cohorts Vexilla gives them Line, allowing them to take objectives, as well as giving all Solar Auxilia within 6" Ld9. This way, even if Vox operators get sniped, you still have an Ld9 bubble to steady your front line.

Warhammer 30,000 Tactics Articles
General Tactics	General (7E) Movement (7E) Psychic (7E) Fortifications (7E) Zone Mortalis (7E)
Legiones Astartes	Legiones Astartes (HH1)
Mechanicum	Mechanicum (Legio Mechanicum (HH1) • Taghmata Omnissiah (HH1)) Questoris Knights (HH1)
Imperial Army	Solar Auxilia (HH1) Imperialis Militia (HH1)
Agents of the Emperor	Legio Custodes (HH1) Sisters of Silence (HH1)
Agents of the Warmaster	Ruinstorm Daemons (HH1 • 7E Codex)