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Hi guys. I'm about to start a BA successor chapter army, and was wondering your opinions on some of the special characters. Originally I wasn't going to take any (with the exception of Lemartes) and instead just take a terminator captain or normal librarian to lead the army. I had a really cool idea for the Term Cptn model using GK and Lord Zhufor parts, but seems like ordinary captains might be a bit rubbish compared with guys like Mephiston or Tycho and not really worth having. BA don't have any Terminator armoured special characters that I could use the GK/Zhufor build as an equivalent for, so I was thinking I might just have to make him just a sergeant for the terminator squad.

So, who to lead the army?
I've got the Sevrin Loth model which I think I could turn into a pretty cool Mephiston equiv?
My troops are all JP based, so would Mephiston be kinda left behind a bit? So should I just make Loth a regular Lib so that I can stick a JP on him?
Are ordinary captains worth the points and HQ allowence they take up?

Any advice would be appreciated. I'm a new returnee to 40k and haven't played since 2nd Ed so I'm not too sure yet how certain characters/special rules/attributes play out on the table.

Many thanks

Sanguinor works great in a jump inf BA army but he is SPENSIVE. In the end I think he is worth a try *at least!*

I like terminator librarians with a storm shield attahed to a shooty terminator squad, with 2 chain fists and 2 cyclone missile launchers. They deep strike down turn 2 (hopefully) and provide fire support for my jump troops and drop pod DC that came down on the previous turn.

Ran it last night to great effect and the Librarian also picked up FNP for himself and his squad from the warlord traits table, VERY useful.

I have tried jump and bike librarians and I just find they die too easily. I like a lot of the BA special characters I just think they are pricey. I would probably take Mephiston to ride in a stormraven and I would take Dante to deep strike an all infernus pistol Sanguinary guard squad.

I do plan on a terminator squad with a cyclone missile launcher but probably not until the battles get up to towards 2000pts. Every list under that will be pretty much all jump infantry, which is why I would look at guys like the Sanguinor and astorath, but can you really justify their expense in 1000-1500pt games? So then I just find myself back at the librarian with a jump pack.

Will I be at a distinct disadvantage if I just dispense with the librarian altogether in the smaller games and use a jp reclusiarch or try find the points for astorath or someone instead?

I would use Dante over Astorath.

 TheLionOfTheForest wrote:
I would use Dante over Astorath.

Agreed. I have run Dante for 7 years now and he is worth it. He makes a squad of sanguinary guard troops, and gives the entire squad hit and run. He's squad will also not scatter and dont forget his death mask. That alone has won me many a game.

So if Dante and Sanguinary Guard are 450pts, Still worth it, even in smaller battles? Better than 8 DC with Lemartes? Counting as troops would be handy right enough.

I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Tycho yet. He's not the huge OTT powerhouse like Mephiston or Sanguinor, but he does give good benefits to the army. Leadership benefits for your whole army, good stats and weapons (especially as Dead Man's Hand now just ignores *all* armour saves instead of being an unusual Power Weapon).

 Valkyrie wrote:
I'm surprised no-one's mentioned Tycho yet. He's not the huge OTT powerhouse like Mephiston or Sanguinor, but he does give good benefits to the army. Leadership benefits for your whole army, good stats and weapons (especially as Dead Man's Hand now just ignores *all* armour saves instead of being an unusual Power Weapon).

The only reason I haven't really considered him is that, as I said, the army is gonna be mostly JP based and were I to take Tycho, I'd probably have to take an honour guard or something too just to support him a bit. And while that may not be a bad thing, I just get the feeling it would kinda slow down the whole assaultiness of the force. But, like I also said, I haven't played 40k since 2nd ed, so I don't really know even if 100% assault works that well. It's just the kinda direction I was intending on going. But, thanks, I welcome all opinions.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Btw Buffalo. Dante making sanguinary guard troops. Does this make them scoring units too, or do they only count as troops in reguard to your force organisation?

He moves sanguinary guards from elite to troops, meaning you can have up to 6 units and that they are scoring

lol @ 6 units of sanguinary guard. Thats a lot of points.

granted ive only run BA allies so far, but the 2 best HQs IMO are Tycho and Dante.

Tycho fits perfectly in a squad of Sternguard, hes relatively cheap and hes great in CC since hes one of the few things that AP2 or better that still strikes at initiative, he got a big bump for that in 6th ed.

Dante, ive only run him in the "Dante Bomb", but hes really good. his death mask is huge, i always use it on the enemy warlord. he causes ur unit not to scatter, has hit and run, and while hes now initiave 1, hes still really good in CC wth AP2 and +2 strength.... His downsides are that he does cost a good amount and he can be IDed.

I plan on using dante and a sanguinary guard unit as an ally for my guard and since money is an issue i would like to try and run dante and as many sanguinary guard as i can in one army list and just surround my opponent with angels! lol

Meph is kinda crappy, being ap3 really hurts him as most terminator units can just have their way with him.

Id recommed a plain librarian as the best choice in the codex.

LValx wrote:
Meph is kinda crappy, being ap3 really hurts him as most terminator units can just have their way with him.

Id recommed a plain librarian as the best choice in the codex.

Blasphamy!

Meph is anything but crappy - he has the mobility to avoid almost any 2+ unit out there (Sanguinary Guard excepted of course). You just have to be careful about picking your target, but given he can blenderise most units anyway, this isn't difficult.
Dante is good to have for the precision drop, if you're using the melta/plasma Honour Guard tactic. He's also good for Hit and Run, to keep that unit shooting if they do get charged - but he's expensive, so not really valid for smaller games.
Astorath is very good. Not amazing, but not "just" good either. Given he's a bit more expensive than a normal Chaplain/Reclusiarch though, he's only really worth taking if you want to run multiple DC units (which is no bad thing).

As for your Terminator character... hopefully with a simple paintjob change, you could use him as a Terminator Librarian, Chaplain or even Sanguinary Priest - all of which are useful.
Librarians benefit from the increased survivability, and having Unleash Rage on an accompanying Termie unit is very handy.
Chaplains give the same To Hit rerolls on the charge, and a Reclusiarch is the toughest option to put down.
Sanguinary Priests make Termies even tougher to get rid of with FNP - their main weakness, plasma, doesn't negate it - and S5 Lightning Claws are useful for Monstrous Creatures and tougher troops like Plague Marines.

 Super Ready wrote:

As for your Terminator character... hopefully with a simple paintjob change, you could use him as a Terminator Librarian, Chaplain or even Sanguinary Priest - all of which are useful.

He's just bits at the moment so i can really do whatever with him. Maybe a Reclusiarch. Though I have that old metal terminator chaplain model from my 2nd ed stuff which I was gonna use for that. Dunno, I'll have a think about that. The Lord Zhufor stuff is just too cool not to use.

Maybe I'll give the sevrin loth model a plasma pistol and make him Mephiston. I imagine he'd be pretty handy in a squad of terminators (shooty or assault). For smaller games I can perhaps build up another normal librarian and give him a JP, or just go without a librarian at all.

I'll definitely think about Dante and a squad of Sang guard.

You all seem to agree that He and the guard are worth the 450pts?

Hi all,

I love Dante and his bomb but unless you intend to play 2k or more I wouldn't bother and in an ally even less so.

I fully expect them to get the same ruling as the CSM marked characters ie in primary detachments only.

I now run tycho and I cant fault him 1 bit. I run him with 8-10 sternguard in a raven and they bring me endless joy.

Why in a raven? Would drop pod bring them to where you need them quicker? I have been meaning to try Tycho out as I really like him now in 6th.

Mephiston............

I have lost many Templars and CSM under his spell flinging badassery

Tycho must be considered because no army can now focus solely on one phase. Shooting-only can work of done well, but the best armies are mobile and have assault as well. He is great with sternguard (i feel like that was on purpose...) and in a DP they kill alot.
Mephy is... meh... you have to know how to use him well and pick your fights well, otherwise he is simply not worth it.
Astorath is good only if you want lots of DC. He is not otherwise worth the points.
Dante is similar: If you take him, take lots of SG and use them well. His death mask is fun too...
The sanguinor isn't bad, but suffers from lack of IC (like mephy...) and while he cannot be ID, he must be played smartly. Send him up behind an RAS squad that has a priest (or even two squads if you want) and then unleash him.

All of the characters need smart playing. I would honestly just stick with a Libby, as they are extremely versatile. You can take a character, but I generally stay away.

Random question, figured it kind of fit in this thread..

Is the Sanguinor's sword AP2 (or ignores armor saves)? I haven't fought against him yet in 6th, so I just don't know. I fought him last edition and I know he used to ignore armor saves, but I'm not sure if he has a power sword or something different. I checked the FAQ and didn't see anything so I'm assuming it's either clearly a power sword, or he has some other rule to make him ignore armor saves.

Honestly a 100 point libby with 2 divination rolls one of them being presceince is the best IC in the book.

Works great in a ten man shooty termie squad. But unless you plan on deepstriking then there is no need to waste the points on terminator armor and a storm sheild for him. You get a 2+ look out sir. Then a 2+ terminator armor save. Take chalenges with the termie sarg and your golden.

Also if you are try to have a good time LeMartes is fun, but if you are trying to eek everybit of power out of the points you spend then he is way too expensive. I'd drop him and grab 2 more DC and add 5 power axes. Way less points nearly as killy.