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I never use Special Characters in my Guard army. I just picked up Commissar Yarrick, though - I figure he's probably getting a boost in the 5th Edition Guard Codex, and I'm getting ready for it.

I use Snikrot in my Ork army, but no one else.

In my upcoming Space Marine army, I plan to bring Vulcan He'Stan to almost all of my games. His twin-linkery and master-crafting makes him a must for my Salamanders.

The only Special Characters I'd use are:

Ghazghkull Thraka
Boss Snikrot
Abbadon the Despoiler
Kharne the Betrayer
Typhus
And possibly Lucius the Eternal, but I'd have to try him out first (strangely, I actually DO want to try him)

Ghaz, Snikrot, and Grotsnik are well worth the points in an army built to utilize their special characteristics.

Ghaz is - well - Ghaz. He is da big boss and rightfully so.
Snikrot can bring 15 Kommandos in the back door and drop 2 flame templates on you before you have a chance to react.
Grotsnik gives FNP. Powerful. Cybork bodies for ANY unit for 5 pts.
Grotsnik in an army with snikrot is sick. 15 cyborked kommandos are just beyond nasty.

I plan on using Ghaz and Snikrot in my orks, although, I'll be fluffing them up as different characters. I don't mind special characters, but I don't like to put them in my army unless I have fluff for why they're in there. For that reason, they'll be different characters for fluff purposes.

The idea behind my Ghaz equivalent is that he wears one of Ghaz' old suits of Mega Armour that was destroyed during the second War on Armageddeon. Not sure about my Snikrot Equivalent yet.

As for my Grey Knights, I don't use special characters. Mainly because Coteaz sucks ass, and because the Grand Master is better then BC Stern.