Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I'm wondering what people consider the best cheap Captain loadout to be?

I'm attaching mine to an assault squad meatshield and can't spend over 120, while I know I won't be able to make a full on beatstick out of him, I was hoping to get him geared to earn his points back mulching through weaker things like tactical marines, ect.

I've essentially got 30pts for wargear. I was thinking dual lightning claws, axe and storm shield, powerfist and auspex, axe or claw and combimelta or at a stretch, claw or axe and artificer.

I usually try to keep my Captains cheap because I just don't feel that it's always worth it to invest all these points into one lonely model, even if he's decked out to dish it and take it. I'm a fan of The Primarch's Wrath, being the cheapest relic and letting out 5 shots at a 12" range that re-roll wounds. I like to stick him in with a Tac squad or Sternguard for some support and call it good. Sometimes I'll consider a power weapon, but personally I tend to keep my Captain out of CC if it can be helped.

I think most people play their captains exactly the opposite of me, and that being said, I'm no expert. So you might be better off listening to their advice instead. I think dual lightning claws in your case would be a great idea though, especially if he's going with an Assault Squad. It might be worth it to go the extra mile and get some Artificer Armor on him as well, but then you're starting to get expensive with him.

I would at a minimum give him artificer armor and a power axe, as well as attaching him to a unit that's riding in on an assault vehicle (land raider or stormraven). In a pinch, you can use a unit of assault marines or bikes to slingshot him into close combat.

If he isn't riding in an assault vehicle, then mobility equipment (Jump Pack or Bike) will make him much more useful. It's pretty easy to kitbash a captain with a jump pack, and if you must keep him under 120pts you could just give him an axe and a jump pack. Artificer Armor is pretty important, though, so I would spend 140pts as a bare minimum on a captain.

Why not run a librarian at this cost? You'll get more benefits from ml2 force-weapon guy rather than a semi-beatstick captain.

Or even chaplain to buff the attached squad.

Even so, if you want a captain and nothing else, his loadout mostly depends on the unit he's running with. If those are tacticals, probably a relic bolter or combi-plasma/melta and a lightning claw/power axe. If he's running with assaulters - the gear you've listed is good. If he's running with deepstriking termies - get extra 10 points and obtain termie armor or you could get a jumppack to deepstrike. However, it's not gona be quite logical from a background point of view. As termies us warp-devices while jumppackers just drop from the sky. You could probably say that your cap had some sort of teleportation device too.

Yeah, a librarian might be a good choice. For 125pts, you can run him at lvl 2 with terminator armor and a storm shield. You can deep strike him with a terminator squad, or even with an assault marine squad. He still only has 2 wounds, but with a Force Axe and a Storm Shield you can fight and kill MCs that cost way more than he does. A beastick captain really only starts being good once he's 170+ pts (with a bike/jump pack, PF, artificer armor and storm shield).

I use a super lean 80pt librarian when I'm playing low point games. I just leave him at lvl 1 and give him a jump pack - he can jump, use psychic shriek, then run back into cover. If you want to embed an HQ in a gaggle of assault marines, then consider using a jump chaplain - his unit buff is fairly substantial, and can help you get a few extra wounds so that you can sweep the unit you're fighting.

I think the lowest I would go for a captain would be a power weapon and artificer armor. If you are aiming to fight troops, a sword or maul is probably the best choice.

For low point HQs I do think the chaplain and librarian do much better. They come with free power weapons and nice buffs. The captain is a pure beatstick. He doesn’t boost the unit he’s with, so needs to kill to get his points back. And needs to live long enough to do so. So I’d not field one without one piece of offensive and one defensive bit of wargear.

 Nevelon wrote:
For low point HQs I do think the chaplain and librarian do much better. They come with free power weapons and nice buffs. The captain is a pure beatstick. He doesn’t boost the unit he’s with, so needs to kill to get his points back. And needs to live long enough to do so. So I’d not field one without one piece of offensive and one defensive bit of wargear.

Definately. The way I see it, a captain's base price is not a reflection if his stats and gear. What's telling is this: a Captain with default equipment can't hold his own against the other Space Marine HQ's in a fight. Librarians will ignore his armor and ID him with a force weapon. The MoF's artificer armor makes him almost immune to the captain's melee attacks, and he can ID him with his servo arm. The Chaplain is fairly evenly matched (he does about 50% more wounds per round, but also needs to cause 50% more wounds to win), but as soon as some buddies join in the fight the chaplain's support buffs skew the results in his favor.

With a Captain, what you're paying for is total flexibility in wargear selection. To not take advantage of the ability to stack tons of awesome equipment onto this guy is basically to waste 90pts that would be better spent on an HQ who can support the rest of your army (as a Chaplain, Librarian, or MoF could).

I keep on forgetting about the MotF for a low cost option. Probably because the only techmarine with a servo harness I own spends his time minding my TFC. But bare-bones you get artificer armor, TL plasma pistol, flamer, and a powerfist for wargear. Then the repair/bolster rules. The only major drawback is the lack of an invuln save.