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There will be a campaign I'm participating in soon, I don't know all of my opponents, but I expect to see Tyranids and IG. I've faced IG enough with DAs to know what to expect but its the Tyranids I'm not certain about. With that in mind I have to pick an HQ for my Campaign long Warlord who'll get upgrades. I like Ezekiel, Azrael or an Interrogator Chaplain on a bike. But I'd like to read everyone's opinion on what they'd take and why? As it stands my army will be built around the Warlord choice. I'm light on Ravenwing choices (about a dozen bikes), Lots of terminators, a good amount of Tacs, plenty of Transports, Dreadnoughts and Landraiders.

Interrogator Chaplain if you're not going to spam Librarians.

They only have one less WS than a Captain, but having Zealot and the same wounds/attacks makes them entirely superior.

Not to mention Interrogator Chaplains can take a power fist in addition to their normal weapons it doesn't replace one of them. Personally i always go with an Interrogator Chaplain except when I'm forced to choose between a standard 2 wound chaplain or Company Master for running a demi company. My personal favorite character is Sammael but you already said you were low on RW models. (i bought 8 sets of dark vengeance RW bike models off Ebay for my army giving me four, six man bike squads, cheapest way to do it)

There is one reason to consider using a Company Master over an Interrogator Chaplain and that's if you want to put a storm shield on your HQ because I-Chaps can only use SS when in terminator armor. The only other wargear options you can put on a CM over an I-Chap would be Relic Blade and Artificer armor. However, I cant find any text in the book that says I-Chaps cant have Relic Blades but according to Battlescribe and Army Builder it isnt an option.

It is a bit of a toss up between ICs and CMs. The CM can take a Relic Blade(I wish they could take a Blade of Caliban instead) and a Storm Shield, which synergies quite well. The Chaplain's ability to take a Power Fis in addition to their Crozius and Bolt Pistol is nice, since it creates a very versatile CC character. The IC model is VERY nice, so that kinda tips the scales in its favor.

I'd argue for an Interrogator Chaplain, either on a bike or with some Deathwing Knights. Also, if you hace the points, absolutely give them the Mace of Redemption and take out his Stormbolter. It makes him swing at Initiative, but has S7 AP3, so it will wreck any Tyranid MCs and give him +1 Attack.

Ezekiel is interesting and could be fun, but Azzy is a waste of points unless you put him in a big IG blob of Guardsmen or Bulgryn.

Yeah, Azrael is a strange one. His weapon doesn't even have Rending to make up for the AP3. He's the only Chapter Master to be like that. Even Seth has S8 with Rending. It is simply bonkers.

Int Chaplain is fluffy, effective and very much unique to the chapter, grab one of those boys

 jreilly89 wrote:
Azzy is a waste of points unless you put him in a big IG blob of Guardsmen or Bulgryn.

I cringe every time i see someone write this, more because its not fluffy than anything else, Azrael is a great upgrade for a battle company list, while i fully agree that compared to other chapters LoW character he is lack-lustre because of his lack of AP2 melee and Eternal Warrior his strength is in the not so obvious support benefits he lends to lists with large numbers of greenwing units. Rites of Battle, Supreme Strategist and Master Tactician are all great rules and the Lion Helm conferring 4++ on a unit he joins is just gravy but not a reason to throw him in a blob guard unit in my opinion.

When i play a battle company i use him with a squad of 10 Company Veterans with Storm bolters and park them on a mid-table objective. You take Hold at all costs warlord trait, which you select not roll for. That unit is better than a guard blob with more effective shooting not to mention better armor save, better toughness and feel no pain to boot. He is not by far the best choice for all situations, but he does have his uses.

fair enough to pair him with company veterans... but storm bolters might be one of the worst guns out there

Rule of cool wise, IC is an awesome model and that's super important for a campaign. It just sucks because for WYSIWYG I always have to throw a PF on him.

Thank You all for such informative replies. I had barely considered a Chapter Master before, I guess I got used to them being a joke.

I could see Azzys passive buffs being good for a Scout based Greenwing army actually. But really he shines like a super nova in a blob squad, although it is cliche, especially with Yarrick in there and some Psykers for invis...

I for one think Company Veterans with stormbolters and Azzy is a very solid squad. 20 bolt shots and then charging for 20 or more attacks? Not much stands up to 40+ Strength 4 attacks.

I want to see if I can make a case for Ezekiel. He has a decent Warlord Trait, the book of salvation is solid, he actually has a slightly better stat line than the IC at a cost of the invul. The psychic defense would be welcome against the Tyranids and I could see having a 9 Warp Charge list.

Is there a psychic discipline that is better against Tyranids? Or should I stick to Interromancy?

Your spending 50 points for one extra shot at range (which you won't be at for long since you clearly want to use them going up the board likely going into assault) and one extra shot before charging... i reckon 50 points could be put into more effective assault weapons than stormbolters. The idea is good just the weapon isn't really

Maybe it's just me coming from from years of playing only guard and being used to never failing to be disappointed by lasguns.

So what is a better use for 50pts of assault/ranged weapons?

i mean i don't know what the rest of your army needs or even what (if anything) is transporting these guys, but you could grab 5 combi plasmas or melta gun.

Your clearly not going to spend much time sitting back but when your unit is faced against tough 2+ saves you'll get creamed, either stopping and just blasting them with plasma is both fluffier and more effective than stormbolters, you can also place the guys without guns in front so when they die you lose less of your effective firepower.

With combi plasmas you'll stop and rapid fire anything that's hardy and wait for them to charge you, with melta you'll blast them and charge.

Honestly almost anything is better than stormbolters for the cost, even plasma pistols... plus they look far better and you get mad credit for actually using plasma pistols

The Command Squad would be for anti infantry work. Combi Meltas and Plasmas are terrible at that. If as a Dark Angel player I have to deal with 2+ saves I laugh my ass off all the way to the bank as this is the codex of plasma with so many units that can bring it I'm not even slightly concerned. I still think 20 shots at 24" every turn and then assaulting is better then a one use weapon.