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Since High Marshal Ludoldus is my favourite character from Black Templars fluff I decided to make some rules for him.

High Marshal Ludoldus: 250 points

Unit type: Infantry (Character)

Unit composition: 1 (unique)

WS:7 BS:5 S:4 T:4 W:4 I:5 A:4 Ld:10 Sv:2+

Wargear:
Artificier Armour
Iron Halo
Frag Grenades
Krak Grenades

Chapter Relics:
Sword of the High Marshals
Holy Orbs of Antioch

Special Rules:
And They Shall Know No Fear
Chapter Tactics (Black Templars)
Independent Character
Orbital Bombardment
Fire and Blood
Eternal Warrior

High Marshal Ludoldus, brilliant tactician and unfailing warrior of the God-Emperor, was High Marshal of the Black Templars for at least two thousand years, although only the Templars themselves know exactly how long he ruled. From the bloody conquest of Jerulas in M.39 that saw the creation of the Land Raider Crusader to the Vinculus Crusade and its culmination in the Battle of Fire and Blood in M.41, Ludoldus led his Chapter with unending zeal. When Commander Dante, the now oldest living Space Marine outside of a Dreadnought, came to power Ludoldus had already reigned as High Marshal for roughly 900 years. At his passing the Bell of Lost Souls on Holy Terra rang out for a full ten minutes, for his like has not been seen in the Imperium since.

High Marshal Ludoldus is an HQ choice in Codex: Space Marines. If you choose him your list cannot include High Marshal Helbrecht (there can be only one!). Ludoldus counts as a Chapter Master for the purpouses of unlocking a squad of Honour Guard.

Chapter Relics:
Sword of the High Marshals: See Helbrecht's entry in Codex: Space Marines (pg. 116)
Holy Orbs of Antioch: These Orbs, filled with high explosives and sacred oils, were first created by Artificier Antioch. Though hard and time-consuming to craft, the result is well worth the effort, as the powerful blast unleashed by these grenades when used is strong enough to tear through even Power Armour with ease. During the Battle of Fire and Blood it was one of these, flung by Ludoldus himself, that ended the combat against the daemon-posessed Inquisitor Vinculus.
The Holy Orbs of Antioch gives High Marshal Ludoldus a shooting attack, with the following profile:

Range:12" S:3 AP:3 Type: Ranged, Small Blast, Fleshbane, Armourbane

Special Rules:
Fire and Blood: In what was arguably one of the finest moments of the Black Templars Chapter, High Marshal Ludoldus and his Sword Brethren led the charge against the charge against the Chaos cult on Peleregon IV, eventually fighting the daemon-posessed Inquisitor Vinculus alongside Emperor's Champion Ulricus and Canoness Jasmine of the Order of the Bloody Rose. Both Grimaldus, then a Sword Brother in Ludoldus's household, and Helbrecht, then a mere Neophyte, fought in the battle.
In a detachment including High Marshal Ludoldus, Vanguard Veterans may be taken as Troops. Furthermroe, all models with Chapter Tactics (Black Templars), as well as any Dreadnoughts chosen from a detachment using Chapter Tactics (Black Templars), may reroll failed to-hit rolls in close combat.

Looks pretty good, not overpowered and it's nice to see the Holy Orbs brought back.

Ehh, I preferred the days back when every character and his dog *didn't* get Eternal Warrior.

Also constant hatred on all models is a bit much

 Dakkamite wrote:
Ehh, I preferred the days back when every character and his dog *didn't* get Eternal Warrior.

This. Instant death is supposed to be a relevant rule. If you can't justify why your character is one of the 2-3 most powerful people in the entire 40k universe then you don't get EW.

Also, I'd make vanguard vets count as scoring units, not troops. You don't get sternguard as troops with their character so it should work the same way with vanguard.

 Peregrine wrote:

 Dakkamite wrote:
Ehh, I preferred the days back when every character and his dog *didn't* get Eternal Warrior.

This. Instant death is supposed to be a relevant rule. If you can't justify why your character is one of the 2-3 most powerful people in the entire 40k universe then you don't get EW.

I thought about it, but came to the conclusion that if you've managed to survive as High Marshal of the Black Templars for 2 millennia you ought to qualify as Eternal Warrior, certainly more so than Logan and Calgar.

 Dakkamite wrote:
Ehh, I preferred the days back when every character and his dog *didn't* get Eternal Warrior.

Also constant hatred on all models is a bit much

Constant Hatred was fine in 5th edition. Sure, it's a new Codex now, but it's still a buff that only works in CC. If you're paying 250 points for a Character with an AP3 sword there has to be something to make him worth taking other than his melee potential.