Warhammer 40,000: Psychic Power Tactics

Psychic powers are possibly one the most useful elements of the game. They can greatly enhance the abilities of a model or unit, devastate your enemies with a single dice roll and much more.

All psychic powers fall into one of a number of catergories.

Ability Enhancing - Quickening, Iron Arm, Psychic Shield, Aura of Fire, Fortune, Catalyst, Battle Fate
Defensive (without enhancing abilities) - Strength of Mind, Aura of Fortitude, Force Dome, Mental Fortress, Storm of Wrath,
Offensive (immediate, potentially fatal) - Salamander, Smite, Carmine Assassin, Lightning Arc, Scourging, Bolt of Change, Pink Fire of Tzeentch, Tzeentch's Firestorm, Plague Wind, Stream of Corruption, Hammer of Fury, Fleshy Curse, Kop Dis!, Squish, Brain Bursta, Da Krunch, Power Vomit, Mind War
Offensive (non fatal) - Aura of Decay, Assail, Machine Curse, Doom, Domination, Pavane of Slaanesh, Aquiesence, Beam of Slaanesh, Hypnotic Gaze, The Horror,
Offensive (Remains in play) - Deathwave, Hellfire, Vortex, Holocaust, Destructor, Eldritch Storm, Miasma of Pestilence
Psyker/Daemon affecting only - Purge Psyker, Destroy Daemon, Psychic Scream, 'Eadbutz,
Teleportation - Teleportation, Displacement, Gate
Misc. - Executioner, Waagh!, Guide, Scan, Prescience, Boon of Tzeentch

Ability Enhancing
Given that many psykers are very hard characters and most can take a good amount of wargear (except Primaris PSykers and Wierdboyz) many of these powers are deadly. An example is a basic Chief Librarian you has just cast Quickening and Iron Arm on himself he now has: M4 (the doubling of Quickening the halving by Iron Arm cancel each other out), WS7, BS7, S10, T10, W4, I14, A6 and Ld 10. He also has an unmodifiable 4+ save. This means that with a Force weapon as well and a Jumpack he has a 21" charge range and a S14 weapon, and either 1 or 2 wargear slots left for a field, frenzon, combat drugs etc. Psychic Shield is also good as it gives you a 3+ save and a 4+ vs psychic attacks so Mind War, Psychic Scream and the like are not as scary, but it does dissappear after a succesful psychic save, and you have to save vs each wound, so with a lascannon hit that is potentially 12 wounds you would have to save agains, On the plus side though it does only cost 1 force card to use.

Alternatively, if you are Chaos take a Khorne Exalted Champion and then cast those powers (except Psyhic Shield) on him, with his wepaons, terminator armour, wargear cards and chaos rewards he is deadly (I did this and the resulting Champion tore apart an entire army as virtually nothing was strong enough to wound him, and when it did he had Terminator armour and a 4+ save.).

Aura of Fire is very useful as it gives you a 4+ unmodifiable save and only costs 1 force to use. The most useful part of this power is that any saves you make in close combat have a chance of rebounding onto you opponent, and so your opponent could actually end up killing themself, which is never a bad thing.

The Eldar powers of Battle fate and Fortune are also very deadly as they affect an entire squad. Both of them cast on a unit of Banshees make them exceptionally lethal (2+ save and equivalent WS and BS 5), Striking Scorpions get WS and BS 5 and a 1+ save as do Fire Dragons and Dark Reapers. Fortune best advantage is that it affects EVERYTHING within 8" of the caster, so if he advances with a pair or more of close combat squads, or sits between a couple of support units, all the models within 8" suddenly become very difficult to kill except with heavy weapons or lots of fire (even Guardians get the equivalent of a power armour save)

The Tyranids are deadly when catalyst is cast. Take a squad of Tyranids Warriors with the Hardened Carapace biomorph and twin Bone Swords, then cast Catalyst on them, you get a WS6 troops, within 2 Wounds, 5 Attacks, 2 parries and a 2+ save on 2D6 (the save is better than that of Terminators and Carnifexes). They also cause Fear. Genestealers are not as good to use it on as they don't have a very good save, but even so, it means that Shuriken weapons, Heavy Bolters, Autocannon etc will no longer negate your save and they do get 8 Attacks (deadly against vehicles). Personally, I think this is an amazing power and no squads other than the Tyranid Warriors or Genestealers deserve it.

Defensive (without enhancing abilities)
It is unusual to note that all the powers that fall into this catergory are all Imperial (Inquisition, Squat and Librarian). The use of these powers can greatly bolster the survivability of any units in range. Storm of Wrath is amazing, all enemy within range (12") have to pass an Ld check to move or charge, vehicles go out of control on a 5+ and all shooting into the area suffers a -2 to hit, very useful if you put the psyker with your hardest close combat unit ot close to your command units. The other Inquisition power, Aura of Fortitude, is very good as it only costs 1 force. Any army with an Inquisitor who uses this power will notice it. The psychic save means that Lightning Arc, Hellfire. da Krunch and other powers that affect groups of models fail to be as effective and the increased Ld means that the squads will not Break, or run in Fear and Terror, this is especially useful for the IG who cannot afford a Commissar for each squad and have no other Ld 10 characters.

The Squat powers can be very effective is used correctly. As with the Aura of Fortitude above, Mental Fortress reduces the risk of damage from area of effect powers, and if used in conjunction with your characters, reduces the risk of Doom, Mind War, Squish and other powers that target individual models. Force Dome is amazing for either a Take and Hold mission, or for trapping the enemy. Even though close combat can destroy and vehicles can ram it, this means that it pulls the models awat from attacking other targets and potentially can actually wreckj a vehicles that fails to destroy the dome. This should be a highly sought after power as it only costs 2 force, has a 6" diameter area and a range of 24".

Strength of Mind has the potential to be a highly prized power in the hands of L4 psyker. As the enemy must roll higher than the Mastery level of the caster, a L4 psyker gives the equivalent of a 3+ psychic save to all models within 6" (the enemy must roll 5+ and therefore only has a 2 in 6 chance of the power working). A little over priced at 2 force cards, but still highly effective in the right hands.

Offensive (immediate and potentially fatal)
These are the powers that can kill a model org roup of models outright, and do not persist from turn to turn. The Orks have the monopoly on this catergory, with 5 of their 8 powers in it. Da Krunch and Power Vomit are both very good as they can inflict a series of hits on a group or line of models rather than single one. As a result, they are good for destroying units (and vehicles). The others only affect a single model, thugh with Kop Dis! the target can collide with further models. Squish and Brainbursta are very good character killers, and Brainbursta is especially good at killing high toughness, multiple wounds models such as Carnifexes (it has a 1 in 6 chance of an outright kill with no save possible). Kop Dis! can be useful for knockiing models out of coherency and such, though it was used in a Battle Report in White Dwarf to prevent the Deathwing completing their Take and Hold mission.

Hammer of Fury is again another incredibly potent Squat power. This hit can wipe out any model with a single wound including basic champions. As a troop killing power there is really no equal as agaist Guardians, Imperial Guardmen, Gorts and the like it wounds on a 2+ with no save allowed. Even models that survive are blasted back 3" so agaist close combat troops, terminators and the like it is very useful to prevent them attacking back.

The Eldar power Mind War is great because it has a 36" range and a variable cost. It allows you to roll 5-7 D6 and the target loses a wound (or psychic power) for each 6 you roll. This can potentially reduce ANY character (special or otherwise) except a Greater Daemon to 0 wounds (Carnifexes are not characters). Very usefull against characters as it forces them to skulk around due to its potential and its long range. This power is a real favourite of mine.

Imperial armies have a good selection of deadly offensive powers at their disposal also. Scourging may not be that great (s4 hit) but at force 1 and 24" range it isn't to bad. Additionally a daemon hit by it take S8 hit instead. As with Brainbursta above, the Carmine Assassin has the potential to kill anything so long as you roll a 6 on the dice. At force 1 and 18" range this is a very good power to have. The Slamander has a secondary effect that must not be ignored, it forces a break on any unit it injures, this means that against low Ld troops, it is very effective for 2 points and can travel up to 30". Lightning Arc is a good low level character killer as it is S6 and does D3 wounds, this also mean that it against Space Marines and vehicles it is also effective. Smite is a must against low Ld troops as the -2 penalty means that most will die. Even the Emperors Fienest only roll against Ld 6 (7 is the average roll on 2D6) so most will fail it. Against character this also has potential as the highest Ld they will be able to roll against is 8, and so many will still fail and die. Imperial forces have some very enviable and deadly powers here.

Combined the armies of chaos have more nasty offensive than even teh Orks, though in the army only the Chaos Lord could take advantage of this. Stream of Corruption is good because it can kill outright a number of models regardless of toughness and wounds. Plaguewind and Tzeentchs Firestorm both create Daemons from wounds caused and as such have great potential for damage as the daemons themselves will stay present even if the power doesn't. The Fear causing daemons mean that when used against the ranks of units such as Orks, Grots and Guardsmen it can be deadly. Fleshy Curse and Bolt of Change both require the target to roll equal or under its toughness to avoid death (Bolt of Change) or being turned into a chaos spawn (Fleshy Curse), again this makes these powers incredibly deadly as most models will find it difficult to roll equal or under their toughness on 2D6. Finally Pink Fire of Tzeentch is short ranged and cheap, but potentially can do 6 S10 on the targets, whcih means that as a last resort against closing chracters and vehicles it is quite good.

Offensive (non fatal)
These are powers that affecting the enemy but do not directly hurt it. Chso have a good range of these with powers such as the Slaanesh ones Aquiescence, Beam of Slaanesh and Pavane of Slaanesh that half chracteristics and induce stupidity, or prevent it from attacking and moving respectively. Aquiescence and Beam of Slaanesh have exactly the same effect but the Beam is ranged and Aquiescence requires you to touch the target. Aura of Decay is useful as it means the caster is immune to basic troops with only a single attack, and that more powerful models are at a disadvantage when fighting him. When used by a pack of daemons, this can be very effective even though it only affects one of them as the rest of the unit can fight within 3" of the caster and therefore their opponents still have the -1 attack penalty.

Domination is useful as even though you may not do something unrealistic i.e. commit suicide, you can do a lot of other dangerous things. If you take over a crewman, you can attack the other crew members, crash the vehicle, skid it, fire the gun at a friendly model etc. If you control a character you get access to all sorts of goodies such as Eldar weapons, special issue grenades and such for a turn which means you get get rid of them (throw grenades, use Armour Piercing Ammo etc) or use them against the target's friendly troops. A very useful power if used correctly, and only costs 1 force.

Hypnotic Gaze and The Horror both target low Ld and again, this is most effective against Orks and Imperial guard. When used in conjunction with the mission Terrorise the VPs will soon rack up. Hypnotic Gaze can be useful for preventing characters and assault troops from attacking you, or to allow you an advantage by charging them etc. Both are very useful and can easily destroy some or all or your opponents battle plan if used correctly.

Assail is good for pushing models around into vortices, stasis loops or simply in charge range of your models. If used before Displacemtn or Teleportation it allows your Librarian etc a massvie advantage. Against vehicles it can make them go out of control, which for a single force card is a good deal. Used well this power is deadly.

Offensive (Remains in play)
These are offensive powers that remain in play for a number of turns regardless of their actual effect.

Machine Curse is exceptionally useful if you can get a psyker to within 24" of terminators, dreadnoughts and heavy weapons units as the power prevents them from moving or firing at all. Against the Eldar this is especially deadly as it can send their vehicles crashing into the ground as they shut down. Hellfire is a good power to block off areas of the block and restrict access. As it stays around for a few turns you can completely block parts of the battlefield and lines of sight. The S4 hit means that any basic troops around it have to be careful lest they move into it.

Doom is a deadly power as it causes the attacks to auto wound as well as doing double damage, so lasguns, shuriken catapults and other low power weapons can etar through Greater Daemons and hard characters no problem. For a 1 force power the potential for trouble is exceptional. Another good favourite. Destructor and Eldritch Storm can be good for making enemy troops move. The fact that the Destructor keeps going means that you have to get out of the way or be hit, a a S^ no save allowed hit means even Marines are dead on a 2+. Eldritch Storm is more like Hellfire as it covers a particular area of the battlefield, however it can make vehicles go out of control and break up squad coherence very easily, so don't dismiss it due to its low S3 hit.

the Orkish Death Wave is unusual as the psyker cannot cancel the power, so the only way to get of it is to nullify it. As it works in the same way as Brainbursta, it means that a line of powerful characters have just as much to fear as a row of normal troops. As it keeps moving and can kill anything, it means that everything will move rather than risk being killed, this can be used to force your opponent to move certain units that you don't want in a particular place.

Vortex is one of the most deadly powers there is. Being able to summon a vortex and move it 3D6" in whatever direction you want means that you can auto destroy a line of characters and bodyguards, vehicles or anything else that you want dead.Really, nothing else needs to be said. Holocaust can be very effective as against basic troops its is devastating, though the loss of a wound to continue the power is a high price, as is the fact that it damages friendly troops also.

Misasma of Pestilence is really a not very good power, it inflicts a S3 on all non-Nurgle models within 6". Woow.

Psyker/Daemon Affecting Only
All of these are very good powers as each as the potential to kill a very nasty character (Greater Daemons, Hive Tyrants, Ahriman, Mephiston and normal Librarians and Sorcerers) or at least injure them. Powers like Purge Psyker and Psychic Scream are most likely to kill low level psykers with few wounds and low toughness. AS it prevents the psyker using his powers until the next turn, 'Eadbutz is very useful even though it only does a single wound. Destroy Daemon and Psychic Scream are very powerful as you can kill exceptionally hard characters easily, and having played as a Chaos player and having fought Tyranids I have seen it happen often. Remember hat the best thing about these powers is that they are all only 1 or 2 force to use, and that all bar Destroy Daemon have a 36" range (DD is 24").

Telportation
While these all have the same overall effect, each works differently. Teleportation only works on the Librarian himself and therefore is very good to escape a rather nasty death or too chrge that extra bit further into close combat, however as it is variable between 4" and 24" don't rely on getting a good score. This is very useful for Terminator Librarian who cannot ride a bike, use a jumpack etc. My most common use of Displacement (as an IG player) is to move a heavy weapons squad out of charge range of another unit before they get decimated. If taken by a Librarian then its most common use would probably be to move a unit into close combat. As with Teleportation, this power has the potential to be devastating if used in conjunction with a Terminator squad, though as before do not rely on it as you only move a variable amount. The Gate is a much better power as it allows you to move much further (up to 36") and allows you to move an infinite number of characters and units. However, as th Gate remains in play over a number of turns, it also allows the enemy to use it to close with your troops. If possible, when you use it to appear very close to the enemy, put a squad or two on overwatch pointing towards your end of the Gate just incase a bunch of close combat troops or characters pour through it to atatck you.

Misc
These are the powers that really cannot be catergorised with the others due to their strangeness or uniqueness.

Boon of Tzeencth is good if you are running low on Force cards, but otherwise can be a waste of a force card.

Scan is useful to determine which of the special warp Cards your opponent has and how many nullifies he has. The ability to see random psychic powers can also be good, but I take it for the revealing of enemy models and see my opponents hand of cards. Prescience has porbably saved the life of many a Librarian who has rerolled failed saves or wound rolls. For a force 1 power this is another great. Cast it before entering combat.

Waagh! is immensely useful to an Ork army. If you are being lead by Mr Thraka, call on his Waagh! power and cast this, then any charging Orks have WS6, and Nobz, Skarboyz etc have WS7. The re-roll for failed Ld checks also means that the Orks and Grots will stay put for longer against Tyranids and Chaos forces. The possibility of wounding any enemy psyker is a nice side effect but certainly not the main use for this power.

Finally, Guide and Executioner are very good powers. Use Guide on Prism Cannons and Pulse Lasers to great effect or on other weapons at shorter range, really though it is only worth it on big weapons. Executioner can be deadly if your Farseer is tooled up for hand to hand. Engage characters and the like and forget about any worries of losing and being damaged. Never use the additional 2 force cards though unless you are sure it is worth it.