Mini-Tactica: Vespero's Vendetta

Hello all, time to focus a little bit on Dogs of War as I've been neglecting them as of late.

For this mini-tactica I’ll be discussing Vespero’s Vendetta. As with many other Regiments of Renown (ROR) it is a case of cool minis that suffer from mediocre rules. Vespero’s Vendetta are both overpriced and lack any rules or stats to make them worth taking (unless it’s just a casual game or themed list), especially when compared to the superlative regular duelists which you could purchase more of for your army list instead. All of the negative aspects aside, let us take a look at what Vespero’s Vendetta can do.

The members of Vespero’s Vendetta are essentially standard duelists led by Vespero, a captain level hero who has slightly higher Weapon Skill than an average captain. The duelists of VV have two hand weapons and throwing knives as well as cloaks, giving them some small protect in combat.

As with regular duelists, VV have the skirmish special rule.

Unlike most Regiments of Renown, Vespero’s Vendetta has a magic item, although its use is rather limited. Vespero himself has a mask that causes fear. This ability is only for Vespero himself and is not conveyed to the rest of the unit. A unit strength (US) 1 fear causing model is practically useless and a clear sign of the age of this Dogs of War army list. It will only have a very limited effect if any.

If you are intent on using Vespero’s then they would be used much like regular duelists, although they are nowhere near as useful across as many situations as pistol-armed duelists. They are as fragile as regular duelists with an increased cost to boot. Even in combat, Vespero’s higher than average weapon skill will not mean much in today’s Warhammer environment as many unit champions from newer books could easily deal with Vespero.

As with regular duelists they would excel at protecting lone characters or the precious few war machines available to mercenary generals. Alternately, you could play this unit more aggressively and try to hunt down lone enemy wizards and their war machines. With as much shooting and magic as most armies currently bring to the table, the chances of survival for Vespero’s on the tabletop are rather bleak.

I could see the unit being used in a themed list and casual play but certainly not in any type of competitive list. Sadly, Vespero is best left on the shelf.