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 never really like taking named characters for some reason. They just seem a little too mainstream, some of the stuff they have are a little to restricting, and I like the narrative of a lowly commander fighting and leading armies.

Thats why I lean more towards the Vanilla guys, and I can honestly say that the Company master is one of the things I turned to first. The Mace of redemption made me drool, and all the options I could take made me so excited. plus, he could be pretty cheap points wise!

For a tournament, I built my captain up to have the Mace of Redemption, artificer armor, displacer field and plasma pistol. He held his own against a daemon prince for lot of turns, and didn't stop until he got turned into a spawn. He also would have killed the Prince if it wasn't for fateweaver

What do you think?

The mace of redemption is quite nice, you strike pretty hard, so even against 2+ armor you're basically wounding all the time, and with enough attacks some will get through. Also blind is funny when it goes off. Your loadout does look good for a generic company master, although I'd probably lose the plasma pistol. You're paying 15 points for something you're only going to be firing once or twice a game. Converting it to the Lion's Roar would be cool, but I don't think a single character can have more than one relic at a time.

The biggest problem with combat HQs like the company master/captain/etc. that aren't complete combat monsters is that they're a lot of points tied up in one dude who doesn't really do anything for the rest of your army. Company Masters have it better than vanilla SM captains at least, with their points decrease to match a chaos lord + sigil of Corruption(4++).

If I were to pick a generic HQ, I'd personally pick either an Interrogator Chaplain or a Librarian over the Company Master, with the Chaplain being more awesome but the Librarian probably being more effective. Both of these are still generic and provide good buffs for your units. An Interrogator-Chaplain can make a unit of Deathwing Knights extra-hitty on their 'feat' turn, and the Librarian is just awesomesauce for all your shooting. However, I do see the allure of the narrative of the Company Master, and they look awesome too.

they do, don't they? I plan on getting rid of the displacer field, as it has the option to screw me over hard in a game. think it would be good to keep it? I could also go for power field so I don't have the scatter.

yea, I thought about the interrogator chappy, but I don't like paying more for that awesome 2+ save in the form of terminator armor. plus, Potentially 1 less Attack, and stuck with a 4++ save.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hmmmm, I suppose I could keep the crozius and the mace for +1 attack, and my guy may have to lump some attacks.

You do realize that your Company Master can get a Storm Shield?

yes, but I want him to have more attacks

 Tiger9gamer wrote:
yes, but I want him to have more attacks

Don't even bother, then, he already has a 4++.

yea, it would make him cheaper, but I roll like crap and need as much of an edge as I can in challenges.

Honestly, now that I thought about it, the more I like the interrogator-chaplain. I can still have him use 5 attacks (mace & crozius) and he could arguably do more for a squad.

tell me honestly, is the Weapon skill 5 going to hamstring him though?

In challenges, he will get hit an extra ~16% more, which would offset the difference between 3++ and 4++. However, with rerolls he would actually hit more often (88% versus 66% against WS4 and 75% versus 50% vs WS5/6)

Rather than keeping the Crozius, you should keep the Pistol and switch the Crozius out for the Mace. The Crozius is flat out worse and all you need is the pistol for the extra attack (see CCW+Pistol in BRB).

I'm actually rather dubious personally about AP3 Independent Characters in the first place. One Power Fist attack and you're done. You don't have eternal warrior and you only have AP3, so if you get into combat with an Abaddon, a Megaboss, pretty much anything with a 2+ save and a Power Fist, your IC is going to be sitting on the sidelines. The only thing he's going to be good for is adding punch against MEQ squads, and even then, he can be a liability if he can just get challenged. If you have 5 AP3 attacks, what good is it if a Bolter+Chainsword Sergeant challenges your IC? You kill him before he swings but the other 3-4 attacks are wasted. Against ICs with a 2+, you can't do anything.

Personally I would prefer a good ranged IC, but that doesn't exist in this dex, unfortunately.

I'm talking about a Terminator chappy Replacing his storm bolter for the mace gives him 5 attacks. I think I'll challenge first with some sergeant, and use my IC to help kill everything in the enemy squad. If I have to, I get to switch out the sergeant for him to finish it up on my opponent's turn.

so the WS diffrence really hurt him? (i'm not good with percents)

 Tiger9gamer wrote:
I'm talking about a Terminator chappy Replacing his storm bolter for the mace gives him 5 attacks. I think I'll challenge first with some sergeant, and use my IC to help kill everything in the enemy squad. If I have to, I get to switch out the sergeant for him to finish it up on my opponent's turn.

Ohh, that's makes sense. Really expensive though. The Mace and the Terminator Armor are going to take him way up, and if you get a Displacer Field you're talking about almost 2 Chapter Masters with Power Swords+Pistol and a 4+ Invul, which I think is a better value.

Also, the Terminator Armor gives him DW Assault and Vengeful Strike (rerolls), and he's BS5. So personally I think a better way to kit the Termie Chap would be to get Terminator Armor and keep the Storm Bolter, upgrade it to Combi-Melta/Plas. That way you get a rerollable Combi-Melta the turn you Deep Strike at BS5. Put him in a unit of Terminators so that they can all Deep Strike together, and let 'er loose. The entire unit of Terminators now have rerollable shooting attacks the turn they deep strike and rerollable hits the first turn of combat.

 Tiger9gamer wrote:

so the WS diffrence really hurt him? (i'm not good with percents)

Not unless you're challenged.

The Chaplain is most useful for the benefits he brings from rerolls to the Squad, so put him in a powerful unit and let them do the heavy lifting.

I'm planning on taking either the Company master or the Chaplain in a DW knights squad. both builds I have imagined are 170pts, but I think there pretty good for what they could do.

DWK are a good match for a couple reasons, one, they can't ever be scoring, two, they could really benefit from the Initiative 5 AP3 that the Company Master and Chaplain bring. They also complement nicely because they can switch to AP2 Facesmash mode.

You could also put one in a Land Raider and put your Company Master in Artificer Armor with a Power Sword. DWK don't benefit from Vengeance Strike, so there's not as much reason to Deep Strike them.

Exactly. kinda my plan all along, plus makes a very scary, Resiliant, and killy unit (doubly so for chaos marines. Thank you bane of traitors!! )

That Mace would also be AP2 against Chaos. Ouch.

Yup! not to bad for about the same amount of points as a relic blade.

Tried a game today with the chappy and knights, and I must say they are vicious. Wiped out a honor guard squad (not that amazing of a feat, sure, but still pretty good!) in one turn, and I'd say they made thier points back with the kill, slay the warlord, and linebreaker!