Cadian Battle Group Tactics Part 8: Psykana Division

Hey everyone, Reecius here with another Astra Militarum review! This time: Psykana Division. For more informative articles, check out the Tactics Corner.

While the Imperium tends to fear and shun Psykers (for good reason) those strong enough to master their powers prove useful assets on the battlefield. The Psykana Division fields them en masse, where their combined psychic might allows them to crush their enemies!

• Read Part 1 in this series, here. Cadian Battle Group overview.
• Read Part 2 in this series, here. Emperor’s Shield Infantry Company and Platoon.
• Read Part 3 in this series, here. Emperor’s Talon Recon Company.
• Read Part 4 in this series, here. Emperor’s Blade Assault Company.
• Read Part 5 in this series, here. Emperor’s Wrath Artillery Company.
• Read Part 6 in this series, here. Emperor’s Fist Armoured Company.
• Read Part 7 in the series, here. Ogryn Auxilla.

Overview:

This is an exciting formation that brings some serious psychic might to the Astra Militarum player (or any Imperial player, really). It is a tad pricey, but it is very potent. You can really bring some powerful support with this formation.

Special Rules:

• Empyric Link: The Primaris Psyker knows any powers  known by the Wyrdvane within 12". For every 5 Wyrdvane Psykers within 12" of the Primaris, he adds 1 to his Mastery level until the end of the psychic phase.
• Encouraging Presence: While Wyrdvane Psykers are joined by a Commissar, they harness Warp Charge on a 2+ instead of on a 4+. If they Perils, he executes one of them randomly and they suffer no effect of the Perils. If they fail a psychic check, he executes one of them as well.

Tactics

Now this is an excellent formation! It combines a reasonable price tag with great rules and fun models that you don't see all that often. That's what formations should do, in my opinion!

So clearly, this is a psychic powerhouse. You get a ton of Warp Charge, lots of powers to choose from, increased efficiency in casting the powers and decreased risk from Perils. All of those are really solid perks.

For me, the real strength of this is the Wyrdvane Psykers. You get essentially a 5 wound psyker for a measly 60pts. With the addition of the Commissar, they'll run you 85pts per unit. The Primaris, possibly up-gunned to Mastery Level 2, is 50 to 75pts. That leaves you with a total price tag of only 305 to 330pts. You gain 9 powers and anywhere from 5 to 8 warp charge depending on how you place the models and how many Wyrdvanes are still alive. The Primaris has access to all of the powers of the Wyrdvane Psykers, too, which is fun. However, I actually see him as acting more of a Psychic Battery, himself, feeding dice to the Wyrdvanes to allow them to get their powers off more efficiently.

The main casters will be the Wyrdvanes themselves in most cases, in my opinion. With a 2+ to get a power off and no risk of Perils other than shedding an expendable Wyrdvane, you have very reliable casters. Which psychic discipline you go with will vary from game to game but I personally dig Divination, here. Automatically getting Prescience is awesome for Astra Militarum, but then the other powers, particularly Forewarning, are also solid. You could play them defensively, buffing your shooting units in the backfield, or mix them up for a multitude of different battlefield roles.

You could have some fun with powers like Biomancy, as a Iron Arm could get deadly for these units! You could even make a good case for Pyromancy with these units where the various powers could all be very useful for a unit played aggressively, charging up field going for objectives. They are flexible in what they can be kitted out to do, which is one of their strengths.

I would give this Formation an A++ if it only required 2 units of Wyrdvanes, but, 3 isn't too much. You can pair them down to save points by only including a Commissar in 1-2 units if you wanted to, but that really reduces their efficiency.

In all, I am a fan of this formation. It is fun, filled with character, effective and not too pricey. It can be played in a number of different ways from attacking the enemy to support of your other forces. And for a laugh, you could combo this with something like the Librarius Conclave to REALLY crank up the pyschic phase to an 11!

What do you all think about the Psykana Division? And as always, Frontline Gaming sells GW product at up to 25% off, everyday!