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I'm about to have some Celestial Lions commissioned and would like to know the best way to equip a space marine captain. I was looking at getting the commander set and run a storm bolter / chainsword and attach him to a command squad. Thoughts? I'm looking to play 500-1500 point casual games with friends. Or would chapter master be better?

Thanks.

I like a Captain with Shield Eternal, Power fist, and Jump Pack. A little pricey, but dead killy and very resilient. I send him against WraithKnights.

Cheap and cheerful: Power Sword, Artificer Armour

Tank/MC killer: Storm Shield (or Shield Eternal), Thunder Hammer, Artificer Armour

Beatstick: Artificer Armour, Burning Blade, Shield Eternal

Horde-killer: Artificer Armour, Storm Shield, Teeth of Terra

Over-The-Top-Awesomeness: Armour Indomitus, Primarch's Wrath, Teeth of Terra/Burning Blade

If you have a Storm Bolter, then add a Power Fist or Lightning Claw because it takes away the 2 CCW bonus anyway and can still charge in with an Assault type weapon. May as well throw a shield on there too because again, no downside other than points. Toss on some Artificer Armor.

Chapter Masters belong on bikes to really utilize their durability in close combat. Artificer Armor and Shield Eternal again. If you don't have a bike, honestly, I wouldn't bother with a Chapter Master. A Captain has less wasted points and options and the lack of a Command Squad with a Chapter Master is a pretty big hit.

Answer is don't run a captain, run a master.

But, I'd do artificer, shield eternal, thunder hammer (or burning blade, if your meta allows doubling up on relics). If a bike or jet pack works with your other units, then take one.

Curious, which chapter tactics are you thinking here? Black Templar or IF? Or is there an Armageddon release somewhere giving them their own? Also, what forces do you normally face and what mission types are the norm?

I would suggest Artificer armour, storm shield, relic blade cheap and effective.

Luckily, there is no model difference between a captain and a chapter master. Regardless, you'll want a storm shield, which you can call the shield eternal, and to be honest just magnetize the other hand. Then you can swap out for a fist, burning blade, or thunderhammer as you so desire. That'll cover you pretty well.

As much as I like the looks of stormbolters, the rules/cost of them are just not worth it. If you want to take a shooting option, a combi melta/plasma would probably be your best bet. But I’d stick with the CC options if I were you. If you do take a gun or storm shield, be sure to take a specialist weapons. Relic blades are good jack-of-all-trades ones, but don’t really excel at anything. Teeth of Terra is a nice relic++ if you have the points. Lighting claw is you budget option.

Thunderhammer/lightning claw is a nice, if pricy all-offense option. Good on a jump pack. The budget version is a power sword/axe combo. You have one weapon for shredding MEQ at initiative, and another for taking down 2+ saves.

Can you take two power weapons at once? How would they do in a command squad that's cc based?


The thread said I shouldn't comment but this basically a question I have had. If I should of started a new thread then I apologize and I will

Righteousrob wrote:
Can you take two power weapons at once? How would they do in a command squad that's cc based?


The thread said I shouldn't comment but this basically a question I have had. If I should of started a new thread then I apologize and I will

I think anything over a month is technically thread necromancy, but it’s not like you are digging up an advice thread from 5th edition.

You can take two power weapons, but can only use one at a time. So if you take an axe/sword, you can use the sword to cut up MEQ and save the axe for things with a 2+ save.

Command squads can be geared up for CC. I’ve not crunched the numbers, but they should do OK (if expensive). You might consider upgrading the captain to a chapter master and going for honor guard. They are a bit nastier, and each come with AA and a power weapon. Less flexible though.

The best way to run a captain is to get a Librarian instead

In all seriousness, if you're running him with a command squad and you give them shields you can give him dual lightning claws, which is dead killy against large squads.

Otherwise I recommend powerfists with shields to take out tanks.

Or a bunch of plasma pistols and power weapons for MEQ

Artificer armor and Relic Blade would be my choice. Storm Bolter wouldn't be a waste and it looks cool
He's cheap and offers good CC abilities to your command squad.
Especially in games of 500-1500 you don't want to waste hundreds of points in him.

 soomemafia wrote:
Artificer armor and Relic Blade would be my choice. Storm Bolter wouldn't be a waste and it looks cool
He's cheap and offers good CC abilities to your command squad.
Especially in games of 500-1500 you don't want to waste hundreds of points in him.

I disagree on the stormbolter. Well, halfway, I agree that it looks cool. But it is IMHO one of the “trap” choices in the codex. You pay points to make yourself worse. I’d much rather have the extra attack in CC then two more shots at range. If it was a free swap, I’d still take the CC option. But you pay for the luxury. If you want to shoot, you have a normal bolter for free. The advantages of a stormbolter over a normal one are pathetic these days. You get one extra shot at over half range, and the ability to assault. If you are planning to assault, you are going to want a CC option in the first place. If you want to shoot, take a combi, or the relic bolter. Both of which will let you contribute something a little more meaningful. But the points you spend upgrading to a stormbolter could be spent better elsewhere. Like getting a stormshield. Which also pairs well with specialist and two handed weapons.

Stormbolters, like plasma pistols, are one of those things I want to like, because they are iconic and cool looking. I just have trouble justifying including them in a list due to the points/rules at the moment. I still do from time to time, as I’m a WYSWYG guy. But I cringe when I do.

Well, I was defending the Storm Bolter mainly because Relic Blade is two-handed so you won't get the extra attack anyway.
With a regular melee weapon I wouldn't even look at it tbh.

No one mention about the "smashbane" built? That delicious TH, Shield Eternal, Artificer Armor, biker mount. Then give him command squad on bikes with 4 grav gun (and 1 or 2 optional storm shield) and one apothercary to accompany him.

Neophyte2012 wrote:
No one mention about the "smashbane" built? That delicious TH, Shield Eternal, Artificer Armor, biker mount. Then give him command squad on bikes with 4 grav gun (and 1 or 2 optional storm shield) and one apothercary to accompany him.

Well, the OP was asking about low/mid point casual games. But yes, if you want to pay land raider prices, you can break out all the whistles and bells and make a nice sledgehammer.

 Nevelon wrote:

Neophyte2012 wrote:
No one mention about the "smashbane" built? That delicious TH, Shield Eternal, Artificer Armor, biker mount. Then give him command squad on bikes with 4 grav gun (and 1 or 2 optional storm shield) and one apothercary to accompany him.

Well, the OP was asking about low/mid point casual games. But yes, if you want to pay land raider prices, you can break out all the whistles and bells and make a nice sledgehammer.

Ok, ok. In the sense of lower points built. Imho it may be good consider the Terminator Captain, Teeth of Terra and a powerfist, that should be around 170pts total. Let him baby-sit some shooty like Grav Cents or Devastator or Sternguards to scare off enemy assualt or help the squad to break through tarpit. Of course, they WILL still die quickly to Genestealers brood that numbered more than 10 or something similar, or TH/SS Terminator, or TWC with PF and SS.

The best way to run a Captain is to run a Chapter Master instead.

 Storm Shadow wrote:
I was looking at getting the commander set and run a storm bolter / chainsword and attach him to a command squad. Thoughts? I'm looking to play 500-1500 point casual games with friends. Or would chapter master be better?

If you intend to run a melee squad with an embedded captain, then you're really much better off using a Chapter Master and Honor Guard. It will actually come out to about the same price as an equivalent Captain+Command Squad, due to the way melee weapons are priced in command squads.

As a minimum, a Captain/CM needs artificer armor and better melee weapon to be an effective fighter. If you like chainswords, then the Teeth of Terra is a useful relic weapon that you can run. As a two-handed weapon, it combos well with a Storm Bolter, Combiweapon or Storm Shield. Storm Bolters and Combiweapons are pretty meh, but they're inexpensive upgrades.

If you must be cheap, you can use a regular power weapon, but it's worthwhile to spend a few more points to upgrade to a Relic Blade / Power Fist / Thunder Hammer / Teeth of Terra / Burning Blade. Your damage output will be hugely improved.

For defensive options, a Storm Shield will improve your Captain's survivability against AP2 weapons, but you can get away with just relying on your Iron Halo's invul save. The Shield Eternal is one of the best CM upgrades, as it allows him to tank S8+ AP2 weapons without being instagibbed, but once you start going down that route you end up with a 200+ pt model (which gets a little silly in small point games).

Whatever you do, think about how you're going to transport these guys into combat. Rhinos and Razorbacks are an iffy choice, as they're not assault transports and have a tendency to get blown up on turn 1 (leaving your squad stranded in the middle of the board). A Drop Pods are cheap, and will deliver you right into the thick of the enemy, but you'll have to stand around awkwardly for a turn getting shot at. Land Raiders are really the way to go, but are hugely expensive (you can't fit a LR+CM+HG into a battle-forged list at 500pts).

Ya I'm trying to avoid the usual smasher on a bike. I like fluffy over ultra competitive.

You either take Chapter Master S.E.T.H or you're just mucking around and taking the model because it looks or sounds cool. None of the other configurations are worth it because S.E.T.H can handle basically any melee threat in the game quite well and is only very rarely prone to being something that flushes 200+ pts down the sink after a quick death. I still use my Captains as Chapter Masters since I think the better, not awful statline is one of the best changes GW did to Space Marines.

I don't run SETH with the Bike, but if you want the absolute best, that's how you'll do it.

Choose one thing you want him to do, and make him do it well. There is no "best" way. Do you want him to be a CC monster? A shooty distraction? Hard hitter? It all depends on your intent.

I would recommend artificer armor, Relic blade or power fist, and a storm bolter or storm shield. SS for more survivability and if you want to focus on CC.

Combi weapon is a good option too.

Captain, bike, artificer, storm shield, thunder hammer.

Put him in a bike squad and lay down the pain.