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Just out of curiosity how are they played, whats they're story. I think the models looks really cool, but I heard they are a bottom tier army. Please enlighten me.

They are a bunch of froth-at-the-mouth, crazy, emperor loving space marines that love close combat and are on an eternal crusade to bring the light of the Emperor to everyone.

Put simply?

They are superhuman space crusaders who chain weapons to their arms whilst beating the living gak out of...well, anything they take a passing dislike to.

Passing dislike is the techical term for holy crusade in a Black Templars army. It was first started being during the crusade of passing dislike which started when a Black Templar Marshall accused a Tau Etheral of "looking at him funny".

SuperMcFly wrote:Just out of curiosity how are they played, whats they're story.

The other guys covered that quite well.

SuperMcFly wrote:but I heard they are a bottom tier army. Please enlighten me.

They are by no means bottom tier, they fall somewhere in the middle. They basically just need refreshing to bring them inline with 5th edition rule/points trends. Barring that, locally I still own pretty well with my templars. Pretty sure I've only lost 4-5 times of the last 2 years I have been playing at my LGS. Went to 'Ard Boys Round 2 finished 14/30, and again in the middle of the pack at an Indy GT.

Some examples of cons:
Rules - We have the old storm shields, PotMS, Drop Pods, only one Venerable Dread, lack equivalents to many of the new models, commander doesnt have orbital bombardment, commanders have low WS compared to other SM commanders, our chapter master (special character) may only be taken in 1500 or more, and has low WS and no option changes as compared to other chapter masters, only one troop option, Independent character cannot start the game in the dedicated transport of another unit (drop pod).
Points - Rhinos 50pt, Razorbacks 70pt, basic troops dont come with grenades and seals but still cost the same as codex Marines with them, weapon costs aren't included in the price of a full strength squad.

Some examples of pros:
Accept any challenge no matter the odds vow (preferred enemy), Old chaplains and techmarines, full armory, certain units have access to USRs for small cost, Emperor's champion is awesome for his cost, may have up to 20 man troop squads, our commander gives his leadership to the army.

Opinions:
Very cool fluff, sharp looking models, can still hold their own against top tier armies, lack in the anti-vehicle department, super fun army to play, have a few super hard hitting combos.

Edit: fixed my finger fudge that Xca|iber pointed out.

tekk_45 wrote:Independent character cannot start the game in the dedicated transport of another unit (drop pod).
Points - Rhinos 55pt, Razorbacks 70pt, basic troops dont come with grenades and seals but still cost the same as codex Marines with them, weapon costs aren't included in the price of a full strength squad.

Most people won't even ask if you drop IC's in with normal troops. Very few people I've met will prevent you from doing this, in any case.

Rhino is actually 5 points cheaper than that, but still, none of our vehicles come with Smoke/Searchlight, although our Smoke Launchers are better than the current edition.

Some other cons: We have an old 'dex. Best to only play against reasonable people, as by even generous RAW our army has some annoying rule-issues. Also, pathetic psychic defense (which makes no sense for an army that hates psykers). On that note, BT have no Librarians so don't play them if you want SM psykers.

Other pros: BT have aged much better than Dark Angels (who are almost as old) and Necrons (which are older). Still moderately competitive and has some unique flair that's not too OTT.

Also, Templars take leadership tests whenever someone gets shot dead, if we pass we get a D6 consolidate move called "Righteous Zeal". Chaplains can improve this with a Chaplain-specific upgrade. Also, without Chaplains, you can't use this move to go in any direction you want (well, you can't with a Chaplain either, but you can't decide at all without the Chappie). By having squads with 10 marines, 10 scouts and a Chaplain, you use the scouts as fodder to get closer to the enemy.

Xca|iber wrote:Most people won't even ask if you drop IC's in with normal troops. Very few people I've met will prevent you from doing this, in any case.

This is the case most times, but if you get used to it and get caught at a tournament; you may be labled a cheater and a major point of your army rendered invalid. I dont do it because it's not like one of those rules where it is different with 5th but originally worked, they were never intended to go in as an attachment because it is specifically stated in the codex. Doing that is using only the rules you want and ignoring the inconvenient ones. (no offense/my opinion). If that's a house rule that's accepted at your LGS then I understand; as long as your opposing players know you are contradicting something that is specifically stated in the codex.

Edit: corrected for clarity

tekk_45 wrote:

Xca|iber wrote:Most people won't even ask if you drop IC's in with normal troops. Very few people I've met will prevent you from doing this, in any case.

This is the case most times, but if you get used to it and get caught at a tournament; you may be labled a cheater and a major point of your army rendered invalid. I dont do it because it's not like one of those rules where it is different with 5th but originally worked, they were never intended to go in as an attachment because it is specifically stated in the codex. Doing that is using only the rules you want and ignoring the inconvenient ones. (no offense/my opinion). If that's a house rule that's accepted at your LGS then I understand; as long as your opposing players know you are contradicting something that is specifically stated in the codex.

Edit: corrected for clarity

Where is that specifically stated?

If you're talking about the area where Dedicated Transports may only carry the unit they were purchased for, that's arguable, since attached ICs are part of the unit. Same logic as why Ghazzy can Ambush with Snikrot.

EDIT: Nevermind. I found the "on deployment" caveat.

Xca|iber wrote:If you're talking about the area where Dedicated Transports may only carry the unit they were purchased for, that's arguable, since attached ICs are part of the unit. Same logic as why Ghazzy can Ambush with Snikrot.

Yes that is what I was talking about and I agree that it is one of those grey areas where it is largely up to interpretation. But I dont want to take this thread further off track than we already have taken, so I will refrain from debating the issue any further.

I'd argue, however, that it's not very clearly written in the rules.

It's prohibited on a level of specificity along the lines of "Well, ICs cannot be attached to units pre-deployment, and thus they cannot become part of the unit using the drop pod," as opposed to "Drop Pods may not carry ICs."

EDIT: Ninja'd.

I find them to be a very effective army, they work a lot differently than a lot of the other space marine armies out there right now, but they've still got a lot of tricks up their chained sleeves, you just cannot play them like a regular space marine army, they're just too different.

Their Codex is cheaper than most does that mean it'll change soon?

Don't know about soon, but it should, being the oldest SM chapter specific 'dex out there. DA are only a year newer.