Cabal Star Tactics post Traitors Hate

  Hello fellow Heretics!  Beer Apostle here to discuss the Cabal Star post Traitors Hate and to help you fellow Cabalites make your stars shine a little brighter.

The Cabal Star, if you do not already know, consists of the Cyclopia Cabal and either a CAD of Khorne Daemonkin (KDK) consisting of a unit of Fleshhounds or the Gorepack from KDK.  I'm first going to run down the psychic powers that are musts for this star and then some luxury powers in my opinion.

Psychic Powers

Must Haves

1. Endurance- *THIS IS A MUST*  If you are not rolling for this power first then you need to put down this army and pick up Eldar as James Carmona put it.  This makes your entire Cabal star have eternal warrior and a 4 plus FnP.  I feel like I shouldn't have to stress the importance of this power but.....Granting that FnP and Eternal Warrior to your dogs and sorcerers keeps the star alive alot longer than expected.  This power should be rolled for first and cast first in every psychic phase.  Perils happen and you always want to have that 4 plus FnP to take when you suffer that wound from perils.  It helps keep your sorcerers alive and rocking. At Warp Charge 2, I always roll 5 dice at this power to ensure my opponent has a very hard time denying it and I have a greater chance of it being successful.  

2.  Warp Fate-  I always roll for this second because I always feel like a reroll on a 5 plus daemon save is better than just a single roll.  Whether you are in ruins with your dogs or just taking their daemon save,  I always want that reroll.  At Warp Charge 2, I usually roll 4 dice at this power to ensure I can get it off.  

3.  Sanctuary/Cursed Earth- Either of these right here will work.  Both at Warp Charge 1.  Sanctuary does make it dangerous terrain for daemons within 12 of the psyker casting but dogs being beast dont care for movement purposes.  It does make your dogs swing at initiative 1 but when you have a 4 plus invul rerolling from warp fate and a 4 plus fnp from endurance, you can afford to go last.  Cursed Earth helps if you are summoning daemons from your cabal as those daemons do not scatter. Rolling on Cursed Earth also gives you the chance of getting Hammerhand which I consider a luxury power.  At warp charge 1, I usually roll anywhere from 2 to 3 dice. 

Luxury Powers

1. Invisibility-  Some will say this is a must have but I think it is truly a luxury and I never roll for this. Because a lot of the community sees this as a popular option, I will keep this high on the list.

2. Hammerhand- Str 7 dogs on the charge is awesome.  Who doesn't want that.  Depending on how you run your sorcerers, this could also be huge.  I get alot of heat for it but I run all 4 of my sorcerers with power fist and force sword.  So that plus 2 strength really helps out either way you cut it up.

3. Shrouding- 2 plus cover could help out in a terrain heavy battlefield.  Your dogs with a 2 plus or 3 plus cover rerolling those saves from warpfate could go a long way.  Enough said.

4. Ghost Storm-  Being able to move your Cabal a full 18 inches after scouting 12 and moving 12 is huge...and sets you up for a sure fire assault turn 2.  The games that I have rolled this power and actually used it was awesome as my cabal to move across the battlefield with ease.  

5.  Soulswitch-  This is such an awesome power.  This power alone is such a threat alone that it will leave your opponent second guessing his decisions the entire time.  The ability to switch places with any friendly unit within 24 inches of the psyker is awesome.  If your opponent assaults a unit and gets locked in combat, you have the ability to swap places with that friendly unit locked in combat and take care of your opponents baddies.  Really will start making your opponent think about assaulting things or getting near your other units.  You cant assault out of this if your unit you swapped with wasn't locked in combat already.  

There are a few other powers out there that could really help the star but these are the ones you really should be leaning towards.

Builds

Many people have many builds and ways they like to run their cabal so instead of running through all of them, I will just talk about the way I have been running mine and why.

Cabal Star 1843pts

Gorepack 422 Pts

Chaos Bikers x2

Chaos Champion- Power Fist, Bolt Pistol

Chaos Bikers x2

Chaos Champion- Power Fist, Bolt Pistol

Fleshhounds x 11

Cyclopia Cabal- 700 points

Sorcerer- ML3, Bike, Force Sword, Power Fist, Spell Familiar, Veterans of the Long War

Sorcerer- ML3, Bike, Force Sword, Power Fist, Spell Familiar, Veterans of the Long War

Sorcerer- ML3, Bike, Force Sword, Power Fist, Spell Familiar, Veterans of the Long War

Sorcerer- ML3, Bike, Force Sword, Power Fist, Spell Familiar, Veterans of the Long War

Black Legion Combined Arms Detachment of Chaos Space Marines- 765 Pts

HQs

Chaos Lord- Mark of Khorne, Juggernaut of Khorne, Axe of Blind Fury, Bolt Pistol, Melta Bombs, Sigil of Corruption, Veterans of the Long War

Kharn the Betrayer

Troops

Cultist x 9

Cultist Champion

Chosen x 4 boltgun, ccw, bolt pistol, Icon of Wrath, Mark of Khorne, Veterans of the Long War

Chosen Champion- Bolt Pistol, Boltgun, Power Fist

Dedicated Transport- Dreadclaw

Fast Attack

Predator - Twin-linked Lascannon, Legacy of Ruin- Perdus Rift Anomaly

So lets start with the Gorepack.  I added the power fist to the gorepack bikers because I found that they lacked the punch needed to be effective.  I use them as a threat on the flanks as my cabal moves up the middle.  11 dogs seems to be the magic number for me.  

I get alot of flak for my Cabal.  I run all my sorcerers with power fist and force swords.  I found that I would get tied up with knights quite a bit and I didnt have enough punch to get free of them.  So to solve the problem, I spread the love around and handed out power fist to all my sorcerers.  I have had alot of success with this and the power fist have become invaluable in many of my games.  

The CAD of CSM has been great for me.  First off,  the Juggalord rides with cabal and is usually upfront somewhere taking on challenges.  The axe of blind fury is soooo nasty.  At STR 6 AP 2 with a shit load of attacks, he usually cleans up before my dogs and sorcerers get to swing.  Kharn is just awesome and I will always try to run him in any list I bring.  I have had him insta gib a knight all by himself.  I run him in the dreadclaw with the chosen.  The dreadclaw is such an awesome addition to this because I can put it in the enemy backfield and let my opponent choose their poison.  Do they get assaulted by Kharn and company turn 2 or the Cabal turn 2.  The dreadclaw being obsec as well is great for later on in the game when you gotta get on those objectives.  I take the predator because who doesn't like a twin linked lascannon.  Ok im kidding I take the predator because of the Perdus Rift Anomaly.  I found that I kept getting seized on by Eldar and Tau alike and I did not like that anymore.  The Rift Anomaly gives me the option to reroll seize and also gives me the option to have my opponent reroll his seize.  The predator must be deployed at the start of the game in order to use this.  The Lascannon is just an added touch.  

This was a short and sweet sorta how to for your cyclopia cabal.  I hope you all enjoy and please comment and critique.  Happy Hunting those loyalist! 

~Beer Apostle~