As I get more Warhammer 40K under my belt, I realise one of the more useful abilities for a melee-based army is to have an ability or equipment that confers Invulnerable saves is crucial.
The weakness of a melee based army is that they are largely unable to shoot and your goal is to get your units to charge distance then to enter the Fight Phase as soon as possible.
What is an Invulnerable Save?
In Warhammer 40K, every unit has a Save characteristic that allows them to roll a D6 in order to avoid taking damage. This Save characteristic can be affected by Weapons that have high Armour Penetration (AP) which increases the value required in order to Save against an attack.
Some weapons can result in impossible rolls which is where Invulnerable Saves come in. An Invulnerable Save is a static value that can be used to counteract the effects of weapons with high AP.
For a -4AP weapon would require a unit with a 3+ Save to roll a 7 on a D6 which is impossible. In this instance, you would then opt to use the Invulnerable Save value to roll against!
my Definition of Invulnerable saves
Invulnerable Saves are also super important if you’re going against a HQ or enemy unit that has weapons with high (AP). Conversely when you’re picking a target it’s best to sometimes save your high AP shots for targets with no Invulnerable Save in order to gain more dominance on the table top. There is always that chance that your shots are wasted should a target success on their Invulnerable Save roll.
I’ve tabled my Skorpekh Destroyers twice so far and they really are not that great when they come under fire. In the two games where I’ve fielded them it would appear that they are better used in reserve and under cover to hold objectives and such.
Trying to make your way to an opponent’s units with a melee based unit seems futile even if they have a high Move characteristic which is why I’ve equipped my Lychguard with Dispersion Shields that gives them a 4+ Invulnerable Save!
I’ll try to use my Lychguards in my next 40K game to move an HQ to an objective or to make an attempt at destroying an enemy unit. Or maybe I’ll just see how far I can get them to an enemy under fire as opposed to using them in their bodyguard roll.
Till next time, happy gaming!
Storm Gate Games 