Unit Review: Sternguard Veterans

 

Hello battle brethren! I've been geeking out about Sternguard Veterans lately, so I thought I'd do a quick review of them to bring them to the attention of the community as a whole. 

So why am I so excited about Sternguard? Aren't they just fancy Intercessors? That's true to an extent. They have the same basic profile as Intercessors, with the exception of having 1 more attack on their close combat weapons. That includes the weapon upgrades the sergeant can take, so they get 4 attacks with a power fist if you take one. 

They start to differ in their ranged weapon profiles. The Sternguard bolt rifle takes the Intercessor's bolt rifle and adds Rapid Fire 1 and Devastating Wounds. They have the option of side-grading to Combi-weapons, which are 1 shot S4 Rapid Fire 1 with Anti-infantry 4+ and Devastating Wounds. One in five Veterans can take a Sternguard heavy bolter, which adds Devastating Wounds to the profile. Even the Sternguard bolt pistols have Devastating Wounds.

Perhaps you're noticing a trend here.

Devastating Wounds bolters are nice and all, but where the unit really starts to get spicy is with their datasheet ability, Sternguard Focus. Sternguard Focus grants full To Wound rerolls against the Oath of Moment target. Prior to the December 2024 Balance Dataslate, the rule had been they rerolled 1's To Wound, which is why people were sleeping on them. The current rule definitely makes them work looking at. 

Doing the math, if you can put 10 bolt rifle Sternguard into a target within 12", you'll generate 8 Devastating Wounds on anything, from Gretchen to Titanic Knights - not counting upgrading two of the Veterans to heavy bolters. Combi-weapons drop the output against the overall range of targets to 5 or so, but up to a whopping 13 against Infantry targets! 

Objectively speaking, bolt rifles are the better choice because they'll do consistent damage to anything in the game. However, there is an argument to be made for Combi-weapon Sternguard. There are a lot of elite heavy infantry units with stacked defenses that Combi-weapon Sternguard can rip the heart out of - Exalted Eightbound, Genestealer Aberrants, Meganobz in the Waagh turn, Wraiths with an attached Technomancer, maybe even Deathwing Knights in a mirror match. Having an answer to those units is a good tool to have in the kit.

Another nice thing about Sternguard is they make a nice unit to attach Azrael to. If you think about it, Azrael is basically what Sternguard Veterans want to be when they grow up. His gun has the best elements of both the Sternie bolt rifle and the Combi-weapon, while also being Strength 8 AP-4 and Damage 2. A unit like Sternguard gain obvious benefit from the Sustained Hits and 4++ Azrael conveys. Plus, Sternguard's datasheet ability applies in the Fight phase, which is of great benefit to Azrael's close combat attacks. 

Homie with a combi-grav on the left!

Also, if you've been playing long enough, you might have a bunch of robed Veterans kicking around. I used to use robed Veterans as squad sergeants to give my units a little First Legion flair. I still do, only I've ordered Primaris-sized robed bodies from Kromlech. That left me with a bunch of Firstborn robed veterans with combi-weapons that make a very credible Dark Angels Sternguard unit. It's nice to be able to pull them guys out of the storage case and put them on the table again. 

A unit of 10 Sternguard is 200 points, which is cheaper than Hellblasters, and they don't kill themselves with their own weapon like Hellblasters do. I also like that I don't feel compelled to attach any other characters to Sternguard. With Hellblasters, I always want to attach a Lieutenant to the squad for the Lethal Hits. With Sternguard, I want to roll all the To Wound rolls to get the Devastating Wounds.

Sternguard aren't necessarily going to be right for every army, but it would be hard to go too far wrong with them. Bolt rifle Sternies can freely Advance and Shoot, so they're pretty free to act however you want. The one thing you might want a detachment rule to confer is Fall Back and Shoot. Combi-weapon Sternguard are more limited, so you really want to have an Advance and Shoot mechanic from the detachment in addition to Fall Back and Shoot. The Gladius is an obvious detachment for them. The Stormlance's Blitzing Fusillade strat grants Advance and Shoot. The Unforgiven Task Force has strats that allow both Advance and Shoot and Fall Back and Shoot. Interestingly, the detachment that I think Sternies get the most benefit out of is the Company of Hunters, because the detachment rule allows everything in the army to Shoot after Advancing or Falling Back. That grants Sternguard full freedom to do what they're designed to do without having to spend any additional resources to make it happen. 

Sternguard are perfect for taking a chunk out of those pesky units with layered defenses that are so hard for everything else to pick up. There's very little protection against massed Damage 1 Devastating Wounds. Instead of having to commit your whole army to picking up, say, a C'Tan, you can put a unit of Sternguard into them and get you most of the way there, and finish it off with Grenades and a Tank Shock. That essentially gives you your whole army back that turn.

That, battle brethren, is what I have for you today. Maybe now you're at least a little bit excited about Sternguard. I certainly am. If you enjoy my articles, smite that Follow button like it's a heretic! Check out Dank List Wargaming for some fun Dark Angels YouTube commentary. May your Sternguard vaporize all your most formidable foes. For the Lion!