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Who do you think is the best special character currently in the game? I will attempt to throw together a list by army. If I feel that a codex does not have a good special character then I'll just put NA beside that army. So here we go!

01) Black Templars:
Marshal Helbrandt, Chaplain Grimaldus

02) Blood Angels:
Astorath, Dante, Lemartes, Mephiston, Sanguinor

I know most will pick either Mephiston or Sanguinor but based upon my own playtesting I have to pick Dante as he is the greatest force multiplier in my opinion. Note that I would rather take a character that is a force multiplier over say a scary close combat monster.

03) Chaos Daemons:
Blue Scribes, The Changeling, Fateweaver, The Masque, Skulltaker

I think the Fateweaver is the top choice here. The others I listed are popular as well so I included them as well.

04) Chaos Space Marines:
Abbadon

I'd like to include the winged lash prince but it's obviously not a special character.

05) Dark Angels:
Belial, Sammuel

I was tempted to go with NA but there are those who still love their Deathwing & Ravenwing. I respect that too. I haven't seen anyone taking Azrael so I didn't include him.

06) Dark Eldar:
Lelith, Vect

07) Daemon Hunters:
NA

08) Eldar:
Eldrad, Maugan Ra

Eldrad is one of my top choices for best overall.

09) Imperial Guard:
Al Raheem, Creed, Sly Marbo

While I rarely ever see anyone field Creed he is pretty solid for blob IG. Marbo is obviously the most popular by far.

10) Necrons:
The Deceiver, Nightbringer

The Deceiver is another one of my top choices. Just like Eldrad his ability to redeploy is often overlooked but very powerful.

11) Orks:
Ghazkul Mad Thrakka, Snikrot

Ghaz is another top pick for me!

12) Sisters of Battle:
NA

13) Space Marines:
The Khan, Captain Lysander, Vulkan

Vulkan is another top pick for the best special character & extremely popular amongst those who love their power armor.

14) Space Wolves:
Logan Grimnar

He has to compete with the generic Wolf Lord mounted on a Thunderwolf but Logan is definitely a very strong force multiplier and a staple to many Space Wolf armies.

15) Tau:
NA

16) Tyranids:
Deathleaper, The Doom of Malanti, Swarmlord

If I missed any let me know!

G

What about the Commish?

Black Blow Fly wrote:Blood Angels:
Astorath, Dante, Mephiston, Sanguinor

I know most will pick either Mephiston or Sanguinor but based upon my own playtesting I have to pick Dante as he is the greatest force multiplier in my opinion. Note that I would rather take a character that is a force multiplier over say a scary close combat monster.

Agreed on Dante, but why in the world is Astorath on that list? He is neither an impressive beatstick, nor a particularly good force multiplier. Being able to field more Death Company is hardly a bonus, since Death Company are strictly average. Triggering the Red Thirst on a 1-3 is also not that fantastic; fearless can often be a liability compared to ATSKNF, and furious charge can easily be gained from Sanguinary Priests (along with FNP and not losing ATSKNF). And if your tactics rely on having furious charge, 50% is still not reliable enough, so you'll have those Priests along anyway.

The S6 axe is nice, but he only has three base attacks with it, so does that and artificer armor really worth 65 points (reclusiarch with jump pack being 155, another questionable HQ choice)? If you're running Death Company with jump packs, Lemartes seems a far better choice, while if you just want a guy to grant a regular unit re-rolls, a Librarian with Unleash Rage could do that in every assault phase.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Black Blow Fly wrote:
09) Imperial Guard:
Al Raheem, Creed, Sly Marbo

While I rarely ever see anyone field Creed he is pretty solid for blob IG. Marbo is obviously the most popular by far.

Straken is in many ways superior to Creed for blob IG, so he would make this list before Creed would. This is especially true if you consider that his special abilities still work on allies.

Double post!

Vect would beat ANY of these other shmucks, especially if points were even.
For pure CC killiyness and survivability (ability to use that killiyness) I would have to go with a tie between Abbadon, Bjorn (not on the list but is WS 6, str 10 and basically immune to anything not an MC) and swarmlord.
If it was for the points, Kahrn would have to be added.
Stern is pretty pro aswell.
Force Multiplier: Eldrad, Creed(!!!!!) the DA bros, and Kahn IMHO


Worst Ever: Space Pope takes the cake, with NEGATIVE(!) force multiplication (force devision?) and the combat potential worse than a grot with 3 wounds, all for 200 something points!

I am a big fan of Astorath & play BA so I decided to include him in the list. I will go back & add Lemartes. I rarely if ever see Straken... So you basically get a T3 SM, big whoop there. Sure the new mini is sweet though.

G

Vect (flying tank/dreadnought/HQ thing of no-one-knows-what-it-really-is *really a little subpar for 250+ points, but ITS A FREAKING FLYING TANK-ARCHON THING)
Both C'tan (Necrons suck? Eat T8.)
Abaddon (kicking Marneus Calgar's ass since the beginning of the Imperium)
Urien Rakarth (yes I just rolled AP1 for my destructor, now remove your squad.)
Skulltaker (oh look C'tan *NOM NOM NOM*)
Just off the top of my head.
Greetsz,
Mr. Self Destruct

Vulkan, hands down. Never has one character done so much for an army.

Ghazkul Thrakka would smack all these other posers DOWN. When he Waaagh! he's freaking invincible, and nothing can escape the reach of his boyz.

Black Blow Fly wrote:I am a big fan of Astorath & play BA so I decided to include him in the list. I will go back & add Lemartes. I rarely if ever see Straken... So you basically get a T3 SM, big whoop there. Sure the new mini is sweet though.

G

He's T4. And has five S7 I4 attacks on the charge. And rolls two dice for armor penetration. And a permanent 12" aura of Furious Charge and Counter Assault is pretty wicked.

Okay he is totally bad ass for guard. I can't deny that at all, but unless you are taking some Grey Knights for allies I don't see the Furious Charge bubble as all that awesome. For a Catachan he is the red hot sh*t.

Why I like Astorath. First from a background POV he is the head Chaplain. The mini is also top of the line so for fluff he is way up there. To me having fearless units combined with FNP & 3+ armor save is very resilient. I have always found non fearless units to be a liability, they always seem to break at the worst possible moment. Sure stubborn is the best but I am not into Pedro & his merry band of Crimson Fists. The high strength attacks from Astorath and forcing opponents to reroll invulnerable saves with rerolls to hit on the charge can be an opening game breaker.

I don't think any of the Blood Angels special characters are top of the line compared to other armies but they are good for their cost. Lemartes is really good with jump pack DC, especially if you run them in a Stormraven. That's enough about BA for now.

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Well, sad to say, but Helbrecht sucks big time when compared with other special chars skills + points tag makes him worst than a tooled up marshal.

My vote would go for Pedro Kantor xD

Seriously, out of that list, probably Abbadon, he's like the incredible Hulk. 0o

My understanding was that the purpose of the threat was simply to discuss the best characters out of each codex. If it's simply an issue of best character overall, it's probably Vulkan. Powerful, resilient, inexpensive, and a massive force multiplier.

You can discuss both. : )

G

Vulcan for overall effect on an army. Abbadon, Sanguinor or Grimnar for single up killy bad assness

Vulkan Ghaz, and Sly Marbo get my votes.

What about Marneus Calgar, Captain Sicarius or Tigurius? They all own when I play them in my Ultramarines army.

Calgar is overpriced and underkilly compared to other special characters form other armies that are meant to do the same thing, Sicarius has some really cool abilities, but is slightly overcosted, and Tigerius is cool, but not at the same level as some of the more OMGWTF special characters.

Flying Pooo wrote:What about Marneus Calgar, Captain Sicarius or Tigurius? They all own when I play them in my Ultramarines army.

lots of SC have been left out. CSM only have abbadon listed, for example.

Calgar's leadership abilities are worth noting though. Your whole army being able to choose whether to pass or fail morale checks is nothing to sneeze at. It makes your army better than fearless.

No mention of Yriel? For shame...

Always wounding on 2 power wepon and the eye?

/thread

Depends on what you mean by best.

If we are taking most useful for an army as a whole, definitely Vulcan. If you mean best as in a one on one death match, I would say Abbadon.

Logan Grimnar! He lets you take Wolf Guard as troops- Thats Some serious power!

Maugan Ra, Snikrot, and Al Raheem, don’t even come close to the same league as characters like Mephiston, Eldrad, Abbadon, and Ghazkul.

As a long time Eldar players I consider Maugan Ra woefully overpriced for his build. Snikrot sounds good until you consider he’s basically the equivalent of a “super” komando for 8.5 times the price.

Your dismissal of Snikrot seems to smack of inexperience... Have you seen him in action? He's worth it.

Monster Rain wrote:Your dismissal of Snikrot seems to smack of inexperience... Have you seen him in action? He's worth it.

I have vaporized Snikrot on more than one occasion. Perhaps my opponents are using him wrong but his M.O. seems to be thus;

1. Appear near a vulnerable unit of mine such as Fire Dragons or Guardian Defenders.
2. Charge said unit and kill it.
3. Die horribly in my shooting phase if he’s contesting an objective or be ignored if he’s off in limbo.

He seems like a “solution” unit that lacks both the staying power to stick around and the punch to hurt anything that’s costs more than half the price of him and his unit.

He’s definitely no Ghazgul or Eldard. That’s for sure.

He's also not nearly the price, and is one of the best counters to mech IG, a build I've heard might be pretty decent.

Snikrot was included Because he is such a great deal for the points.

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The same could be said for Marbo. Without knowing the missions, the point size, or my opponent, I'd rather be required to include marbo than Abaddon.

@Incarna: Snikrot's best applications usually aren't going to work against Mechanized Eldar. That's probably why you aren't too concerned with him.