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Hey all,

Bored at work and wondering about how effective the Space Marine Chaplain could be in my Salamanders drop pod list.

How do you guys run him? What load outs? Attached to what squad?

Is he a good investment for 90 points, and how expensive is too expensive?

Thanks!

I field mine bare-bones with a jump pack. Sometimes metla bombs is I’ve got a spare 5 points. Attached to an assault squad (5 man)

If I’m sticking the AMs in a pod, I use Cassius. One of the perks of being an Ultramarine. But a normal chaplain would work here as well. Good spot for when you don’t want to sink a lot of points into your HQ, but want to get some use out of him.

Since they moved LRs back down to 10 man capacity, I’ve not fielded my TDA chappy. How he loved charging down the assault ramp with the boys. Although if you are one of those young whipper-snappers using those semi-heretical “variants”, putting a chaplain with the assault terminators into a big box-o-pain can be a lot of fun.

While the chaplain can crack some skulls together, the real advantage he brings is making his squad a lot more effective. As he comes stock with a power maul, I don’t see a lot of point in paying for a lateral upgrade. Those points would be better utilized making sure the sarge in his squad has some toys to play with.

Yeah that's what I figured, bare seems the best option to just act as a force multiplier making a decent unit far more effective

This is a tricky question, because they're less durable than Captains/Masters, and not as supportive as Librarians or even Masters Of The Forge.

Obviously one would put him in a dedicated assaulting squad. Vanguard and Assault Marines are only worth it under specific CT's or under Blood Angels, and they aren't exactly durable. Assault Terminators would be your best bet, but that's an incredibly big investment. Overall that would be the way to go I feel.
Now, he doesn't need Terminator Armor overall. The 2+ is nice when needed, but it cuts out an attack that could be useful at the same time.

So on a Power Armor Chaplain, buy the Power Fist and Teeth Of Terra. A Terminator Chaplain takes the Teeth again and replaces the Storm Bolter with Wrath because why not. I used the latter at one point and he was surprisingly cool. Otherwise you want a named Chaplain. The Minotaurs one is exceptionally cool.

One advantage they have over librarians is that they just work. Against a psyker heavy list like Eldar or demons, they are going to have nothing better to do with their power dice on your turn then shut you down. Chaplains don’t care about the vagaries of the warp, they just hate you. So while they can’t bend reality to their whim for combat advantages, you can trust that they will do their thing when you need it.

Yeah with no other psychers in my list I feel like the Libby is wasted a bit.

With Teeth of Terra giving rampage is the Power Fist actually necessary for the extra attack? With just Teeth he's coming out to 125 points.

If he was drop podding in attached to an Assault Squad with double flamers and a power weapon champ (220pts.) I feel like he makes them a legit threat even after they've dropped since they're already going to be focusing weaker infantry.

hmmmmm...

Thedecay wrote:
Yeah with no other psychers in my list I feel like the Libby is wasted a bit.

With Teeth of Terra giving rampage is the Power Fist actually necessary for the extra attack? With just Teeth he's coming out to 125 points.

If he was drop podding in attached to an Assault Squad with double flamers and a power weapon champ (220pts.) I feel like he makes them a legit threat even after they've dropped since they're already going to be focusing weaker infantry.

hmmmmm...

Extra attacks are still extra attacks. Plus S8 for instadeath and AP2 when needed. The Teeth merely help for hordes and when you don't want to strike last, which Assault Terminators are kinda lackluster against because you want a majority of TH/SS.

Jump pack with grav pistol, flying with assault squad. I add the pistol because I like grav pistols in this instance-it fills a gap that the squad can't cover (having a decent chance of hurting heavily armoured threats) without the threat of 'gets hot', and the times when it's less useful is when the rest of the squad can deal with threats anyway (I run a 2 flamer squad).

Teeth would be a good choice in this instance, but I don't know that you want the Fist. Extra attacks are handy, but really, you don't seem to be designing him for filling that heavy hitting role. I'd put the Teeth with a storm bolter or the aforementioned grav pistol-alternatively, keep the Crozius for when you need a strength boost and to slow some people down (concussive is handy). In a pinch you can fly him over to some assault terminators and adjust the odds-concussing enemies at initiative means your hammenators got a little bit more dangerous.

chaplains/interrogators are basically built for being a secondary melee hq and the sad reality is that he's horribly medicore. captains and chapter masters are better at cc and techs and libbys are better at support.

i think a good way to make them relevant would be to let them pass out fnp for 1 turn into an AOE. some kind of litany of zealous fervor and then he becomes a CC buff monster which compliments the librarians ability to be a long range buff monster.

Chaplains are great choices, especially in lower point games. I always run one, and some of my lists are based on a chaplain and his zealous rule.

The captain is a better beatstick then the chaplain.
The librarian is a better buffer then the chaplain.
But the Chaplain is a better beatstick then the librarian, and a better buffer then the captain.

His major problem is being a melee focused HQ in a shooty edition. But passing out zealotry to his squad is a significant boost, so don’t sell his buff short. And he’s enough of a beatstick to take down anything that’s not a combat monster HQ.

I don't entirely disagree; the chaplain is definitely not as survivable as the captain, and certainly cannot offer what a librarian can, but I think the librarian is a different buffer to the chaplain, rather than better.

The chaplain is focussed towards buffing whichever unit he happens to be with at the time (jetpack or bike will help keep him moving to wherever he is actually relevent) and helping them clear the section of field they are in-he's somewhat of a counter to tarpitting tactics in that he speeds up your kills when you're bogged down in low WS fights, and lets you punch above your weight class when you have to bog down someone elses strong unit. Basically, your chaplain should never be feeling safe, because he should always be running where the fight is thickest, or to the point where it's essential that you put your enemies down.

Captain is more of a combat monster, but he doesn't offer much to a unit he's with other than to give an extra few attacks. The librarian can boost units, but the boost isn't a consistent thing (specifically, given how psychic abilities work, you can't base a solid strategy around what power he will have), and you can't have him near the action because he's too easy to put down.

Great reply skolirvarden!

So drawing from the fact he needs to mobilise to where he is needed most, here's my question:

Can a chaplain joining a minimum assault squad who gave up their jump packs for a pod take a jump pack himself and still deploy inside the pod with them? All he gains is bulky and with only 5 marines there should be room, doors anything stop this from being possible?

....I think so? I seem to recall that you can shove TDA HQ units in a drop pod under similar conditions.

Alternatively, deepstrike him in using the locator beacon, though this is dicey. Not sure if the DP offers much advantage over jump packs if you're running with flamers though-you're losing hammer of wrath for essentially the same delivery method, and given your intended use (killing weak units), hammer of wrath is handy.

Gives me the 7th pod in the list for 95 points. Second wave drop to toast infantry after popping transports or even first wave if I need to fry bubble wrap

Well if they're coming in on turn 2 in your current plan then I would be even more tempted to run them with jetpacks-deepstrike them in using the locator beacons on the drop pods, which will be in suitable positions for toasting infantry. You're losing out on 5 S4 attacks at the start of any close combat you charge into, which can be quite handy when you're cleaning up after toasting. Although I see your side of things too.

Thedecay wrote:
Great reply skolirvarden!

So drawing from the fact he needs to mobilise to where he is needed most, here's my question:

Can a chaplain joining a minimum assault squad who gave up their jump packs for a pod take a jump pack himself and still deploy inside the pod with them? All he gains is bulky and with only 5 marines there should be room, doors anything stop this from being possible?

Jumppacks specifically cannot go in transports. They can go in buildings, not transports.

There's nothing I can find in the rulebook which says they cannot go into transports, just that they would count as bulky.

I roll mine with TDA, Mace of Redemptipn and a squad of Deathwing Knights.

The Interrogator is a bit of a luxury, but throw them in any squad you want to hit harder.

skolirvarden wrote:
There's nothing I can find in the rulebook which says they cannot go into transports, just that they would count as bulky.

In the small hardback rulebook, page 80, the first sentence of the second paragraph under “Transport Capacity” tells us that only infantry can embark upon transports, and specifically excludes jump/jet pack infantry from doing so.

Hardly even close to optimal, but I keep being tempted to run a biker chaplain with a bike command squad for when playing a more toned down version of my White Scars.

Not yet sure on the loadout - original plan was just four power mauls, and drown things in S6 attacks, but the lure of storm shields and meltabombs keeps rising. Another tempting option is 4 models each with lightning claw and storm shield, an apothecary and a company standard. With chaplain it's a costly unit and not that survivable, but I imagine it'd be great fun to use.

(Might be worth mixing a powerfist in there, maybe.)

Thanks for clarifying Nevelon, I knew there was some reason you couldn't put them in there.

The Kremlin wrote:
Hardly even close to optimal, but I keep being tempted to run a biker chaplain with a bike command squad for when playing a more toned down version of my White Scars.

Not yet sure on the loadout - original plan was just four power mauls, and drown things in S6 attacks, but the lure of storm shields and meltabombs keeps rising. Another tempting option is 4 models each with lightning claw and storm shield, an apothecary and a company standard. With chaplain it's a costly unit and not that survivable, but I imagine it'd be great fun to use.

(Might be worth mixing a powerfist in there, maybe.)

My biggest problem with my chaplain on a bike is fitting him into the list. If you are fielding bikes, odds are, you have a bike captain/CM to make them troops. So is it worth the second HQ slot for a bike chappy? But I can see the allure of of the CC command squad with the nutter in black leading the charge. Roll up on your turn and blast something, charge in if you have the range. If you get caught out in the open, jink, it doesn’t affect your melee abilities, just shooting. Is the unit going to be more effective then a squad of grav bikers lead by a librarian? Questionable. More awesome and fun? Pretty good odds on that.

I had planned on doing a Command Squad on bikes soon, but need an apothecary. FnP as well as zealotry?

Yes, much yes.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I used to run the RG Chaplain on bike with the Primarchs Wrath, stick him in with attack bikes and you have a surprisingly decent all rounder unit.

My gaming group aren't particularly bothered about multiple detachments so long as you don't use them to do anything too broken/spammy. I'm fairly lucky in that regard. They'd not bat an eyelid at a second detachment used to bring a chaplain+command squad.

(This said, I usually run just khan as HQ in more casual games anyway. The Chapter Master feels overkill.)

As you say, probably less effective than the command squad with librarian or chapter master, but a lot more entertaining - and a brilliant modelling opportunity. It's just overcoming the decision paralysis as to what to arm them with!

The Kremlin wrote:
My gaming group aren't particularly bothered about multiple detachments so long as you don't use them to do anything too broken/spammy. I'm fairly lucky in that regard. They'd not bat an eyelid at a second detachment used to bring a chaplain+command squad.

(This said, I usually run just khan as HQ in more casual games anyway. The Chapter Master feels overkill.)

As you say, probably less effective than the command squad with librarian or chapter master, but a lot more entertaining - and a brilliant modelling opportunity. It's just overcoming the decision paralysis as to what to arm them with!

Magnets, you arm them with magnets.