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OK so I have Calgar in my 2500 point army right now and am wondering if any characters (not named vulkan) are even close to him in the Sm codex, as I am a noob I thought I'd ask the experts before going out and buying any of the $15 models.

If you don't like Vulkan, vote for Pedro. I've seen Pedro with lightning claw assault terminators (5 attacks on the charge!) do some big damage.

Shrike's good too if you have assault terminators, moreso if you have a land raider. Stick Lysander ( or marneus ) with the assault termies and you have an obscenely fast, hard-hitting unit.

It's not that I don't like vulkan its that he just seems so cheese.

Kor'Sarro gives all dedicated transports flanking ability (LRC + TH/SS terms + flanking = fun), and the unit he is joined with Furious Charge, and Hit & Run (GK Terms hitting at I5 S7 is handy for wiping things out, not to mention the GM being I6)

They are all really good. Tigirus is costly, but he has all of the SM psychic powers and can use 3 a turn. Shrike gives you fleet at no cost. Lysander is a hauss and takes punishment. Vulcan is...well, there's a reason everyone takes him ( ) Caligar is pretty powerful but mostly for high point games. Pedro is cost effective and good. I don't see why more people don't take the toughness 6 FNP chaplin who is only 125 points. That guy is a steal.

In closing, you can't go wrong with any.

Vulkan is no more cheese then 2 lashes, 7 big bugs, blob squads with Commissars and Priests near Straken, Eldrad, Deff rollas that work during ramming, fortuned jet bike seer councils, 9 broadsides on an unreachable hill, Blood Crushers with Fate weaver, Nob Bikers, 9 Oblitorators Melta Vets in a Vendetta, Dark Lance spam, or 3 exorcists.

Yes, Vulkan is cheese, but he brings flamers and meltas with him so he is bubbly cheese perfect for Nachos!

I agree, he is no more cheese than other cheesy stuff. I don't like that stuff either. I extremely dislike having to take chapter masters to unlock a chapter's specific rules. Also, by making this one guy the "point cost" it eliminates any penalty for over loading on these items. If one is to load up on meltas, flamers, and thunder hammers they should be costed per item that gets master crafted, not a flat fee. This way 2500 and 1000 point lists pay the same (the cost of Vulcan) for their insane upgrade. Not only that they get Vulcan, who isn't bad by any means. Just make Salamanders a chapter that can master craft these items for an additional 3 points per. Still a steal but not quite as cheesy or generic.

I kind of like the special character conferring benefits to the army deal, although I have to say I use them in a "counts-as" deal... since my army isn't Salamanders.

For my Red Hunters using Vulkan, I figured my captain (that counts as Vulkan), relies a lot of righteous flame to purge their enemies daemonic taint (Red Hunters have close ties to the Inquisition), and because of that kind of fluff connection, I figured it was fine to use a "counts-as" Vulkan in my army.

For people that don't care for that sort of thing, I think the special models conferring benefits is alright still, but I'm sure their army isn't going to be painted around that special character (although it could be).

When doing count-as characters, they must keep all the same rules correct?

As in if I took vulkan as a count as captain I couldn't take a command squad because the "actual" vulcan can't.

Titan1987 wrote:When doing count-as characters, they must keep all the same rules correct?

As in if I took vulkan as a count as captain I couldn't take a command squad because the "actual" vulcan can't.

Correct

Okay, I wish they had kept the 4th edition army customization options that seemed much better

Pedro for the win! He adds a lot to the army for a very reasonable cost. Especially if you like sternguard. Plus you can use him to make a fluffy Deathwatch Army!

Pedro is definitely awesome; You need to gear your army somewhat to take advantage but seriously you cannot be havign Sternguard in your force that score.