Special Characters more prevalent?

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**Sarigar**

First off, I'm one of the offenders. I've been using Eldrad for a few years now and giggled when I saw him in the new Eldar codex. Yes, he's pretty much a standard in every game I play.

Having said that, does it seem to be GW writing rules that favor you wanting to take a Special Character? I remember for many years, the Special Characters were neat models, but we could design more effective characters. Nowadays, I'm seeing some really decent characters coming out of the newer codexes.

The army builds now remind me in a wierd way of Warmachine. The Warcaster/Special Character really gets tailored into the army eg. Eldrad with a foot slogging style Eldar.

With the newer codexes, it seems special characters are becoming more commonplace in people's armies.

Is this the going on in your local gaming areas?

**H.B.M.C.**

The new 'dexes won't really have the ability to design characters. Options are being taken away, so the special characters are becoming a little less special, and a little more mandatory.

Another brillient idea by Jervis...

BYE

**Asmodai**

Yes. 4th edition has been all about the return of special characters.

Meh. I don't mind it that much.

**mauleed**

Fantasy has gone the same way with 'special' characters now just named characters, and legal by default (though some tournaments still outlaw them.

I always take gorbad ironclaw for my greenskins.

**Voodoo Boyz**

I don't get the *female dog*ing with Special Characters, honestly.

Like it's any different from the normal HQ's or Generals you can make. Oh noes, here comes Mephiston or Eldrad!

Like it was much different from saying "Oh look, it's another Flying Tyrant with Warp Field, WS, S, and I biomorphs, 2x Scything Talons, Flesh Hooks, and Implant Attack". Or "Another DP with Stature, Strength, Dark Blade, CCW, and Flight". Or any of the other "good combo's" that will always exist.

Competitive players will pick the best options available, and others will pick whatever they want. The only difference now is that some special characters are worth fielding over the combo's you can otherwise make.

It's still just a problem relating to game balance that GW has everywhere. It's not like anyone ever really complains about armies using Chaplain Cassius or Calgar.

**Mannahnin**

I?m not a big fan. There are three problems I see:

1. The ?special? character becomes commonplace (and dull).
2. The special character is poorly-designed and/or undercosted, becoming a no-brainer choice, like Eldrad and Lemartes.
3. The special character is required in order to access certain organizations of the larger list. Is there any good reason why a Death Wing or Ravenwing army should require a special character to be fielded in order to use their unit type as Troops?

Point 1, the change to the ?feel? of the game is subjectively good or bad. Apparently lots of people who play Warmachine enjoy the fact that you have to use named characters with their own fluff instead of creating your own. Personally, while I enjoy that game, this particular aspect actually hinders me in really enjoying the fluff part of the game. My Eldar, Dark Angel, and Slaaneshi armies all have original fluff, unique backgrounds, and named characters of my creation. My Cryx have nothing of the kind.

But points 2 and 3 are just poor design. Shoddy work. There?s no good reason for them.

**Da Boss**

2 and 3 do help sell the models though. I'm not in favour of it either though.
Though it might make them actually make models for the ork special characters bar Grotsnik and Ghaz.
Where is Nazdreg, Wazzdakka, Snikrot, Zagstrukk?
Eh?
EH?
Woah. Became unreasonably angry there for a second. Calm now.

**stonefox**

What Voodoo said. Instead of saying "Flying DP" or "Flyrant", you just say "Eldrad" or "That DA guy whose name I forgot, but he's a master of some sort" instead. Personally, I don't really care. If the future Tau list requires O'Shovah in Tau lists, I'll be the first to turn my FW O'Rmyr model to an O'Shovah. It'll still be a mechanized Gundam list in either case.

**Asmodai**

That, and with the restrictions on characters in new codexes like Dark Angels, Belial isn't really any different than you could build yourself anyway if given the option.

It boils down to choose a melee weapon (almost always a Power Weapon), choose whether you want to upgrade the Bolt Pistol for a Plasma or swap for a Stormbolter, choose whether you want Meltabombs. That's pretty much the limit of the options.

**Delephont**

I don't get it! Does the inclusion of Special Characters in the game mean you can't create your own characters? What happens when you create your own SM army / chapter ( for example )....

**malfred**

You call him Gelial instead of Belial.

**Hellfury**

Posted By Mannahnin on 07/16/2007 8:50 AM
I’m not a big fan. There are three problems I see:

1. The “special” character becomes commonplace (and dull).
2. The special character is poorly-designed and/or undercosted, becoming a no-brainer choice, like Eldrad and Lemartes.
3. The special character is required in order to access certain organizations of the larger list. Is there any good reason why a Death Wing or Ravenwing army should require a special character to be fielded in order to use their unit type as Troops?

Point 1, the change to the “feel” of the game is subjectively good or bad. Apparently lots of people who play Warmachine enjoy the fact that you have to use named characters with their own fluff instead of creating your own. Personally, while I enjoy that game, this particular aspect actually hinders me in really enjoying the fluff part of the game. My Eldar, Dark Angel, and Slaaneshi armies all have original fluff, unique backgrounds, and named characters of my creation. My Cryx have nothing of the kind.

But points 2 and 3 are just poor design. Shoddy work. There’s no good reason for them.

Agreed. While encountering a deathwing army should be rare, encountering a deathwing company led by the deathwing master should be ultra rare.

As for becoming commonplace. yeah, its sad. But then again, I dont use an eldrad model for eldrad, nor do I use a lysander model for lysander.

Atleast I can mix it up a bit as to how I rep the rules for the model. Most opponents seem to appreciate that. Special chars being so common is boring enough as it already is. No need to choke them to death with the same damned model.

**yakface**

I happen to agree with Jervis that a good special character can really highlight an army's distinctiveness in a great way.

That said, I don't think special characters should be a mandatory choice to field an army type unless it really is fluffy.

Personally I think I like the trend, even if it is wierd to see Eldard in every single Eldar army. But really how much more wierd is it than seeing marines on 50% of the tables when there are only 100,000 of them in the whole galaxy.

**grimshawl**

It bores me to tears to walk in and find the same special character on three tables during a gaming event or to see a suposidly legendary leader more frequently across the tabletop than I might see an entire 40k race. It really just takes the special out of special character, maybe they should be called unspecial characterless's from now on.
Anyway making your own characters or once in a while fielding a special character was alot better in my opinion than the prolific and almost mandatory special characters we seem to be moving to today.

**Hellfury**

Posted By yakface on 07/16/2007 8:16 PM

Personally I think I like the trend, even if it is wierd to see Eldard in every single Eldar army. But really how much more wierd is it than seeing marines on 50% of the tables when there are only 100,000 of them in the whole galaxy.

I'd say about 100,000% more weird since there is one Eldrad, and there are 100,000 marines.

I say marine armies should be penalized for playing marines. if a marine dies, it should be melted down and the player forced to paint another marine to replace it.

**Pariah Press**

Hey there are a million marines! And they cloned Eldrad back when they cloned Horus. It was in the third Realm of Chaos book!

**Polonius**

Hey, do you think it's easy to sell a $17 model that was released over a decade ago?

I suppose we'll all simply start painting, converting, and renaming the special characters if we want the rules or battlefield role that only a special character can provide (most notably mephiston, Eldrad, and Sammeal).

**yakface**

Posted By Hellfury on 07/17/2007 1:02 PM

I say marine armies should be penalized for playing marines. if a marine dies, it should be melted down and the player forced to paint another marine to replace it.

Have you crept inside my head and read my mind? I totally think that should be true; written right into the codex.

Y'know I was thinking about the Ravenwing and the Deathwing from a fluff point of view and with only roughly 100 marines per Company and many of those elements often off fighting with other companies it really isn't that unbelievable that the Master of the Deathwing/Ravenwing are the only people that lead a force made up primarily of Ravenwing/Deathwing, IMHO.

So in the case of those two special characters I guess I really don't mind that you have to take them to field the army that way.

**Broon**

When I used to play (early-mid nineties??) every army was lead by a special character. It was quite common to see SW armies with Ragnar, Ulric, and Njal.

**Lazarus**

I have no problems whatsoever with "special" characters. At the NECRO (this last weekend) I faced Magan Ra twice, the Night Bringer, Captain Stern and boss zagstruck - all special characters and each game was stil fun.

I normally field Eldrad becasue I'm playing Ulthwe but not for anything he actually does - I field him for what he doesn't do. He doesn't explode from perils of the warp. I would be more than happy to return to my mech roots w/ a bike seer but I manage to "blow him op" at least once every two games which is unacceptable to me.

Many times before GW made it so that a "custom built" character was better than a special character. Now, it seems to be reversed in some cases....what's the difference? Power is power. Call the character something else. "counts as" still works as far as I know....

Lazarus.

**Green Bloater**

Eldrad is certainly special. I plan on using Mephiston and Lemartes in my new BA build... not because of their rules but because those models are dead seksay!

- G

**beef**

I am glad you dont need opponenets permission to use them any more. For years I had the models for ragnar ulriuc etc but never got to use them.

**H.B.M.C.**

In 2nd Ed Marneus Calgar was always at the front of my Ultramarines, and Yarrick hardly missed a skirmish.

BYE

**Asmodai**

Posted By yakface on 07/18/2007 2:42 AM

Posted By Hellfury on 07/17/2007 1:02 PM

I say marine armies should be penalized for playing marines. if a marine dies, it should be melted down and the player forced to paint another marine to replace it.

Have you crept inside my head and read my mind? I totally think that should be true; written right into the codex.

Y'know I was thinking about the Ravenwing and the Deathwing from a fluff point of view and with only roughly 100 marines per Company and many of those elements often off fighting with other companies it really isn't that unbelievable that the Master of the Deathwing/Ravenwing are the only people that lead a force made up primarily of Ravenwing/Deathwing, IMHO.

So in the case of those two special characters I guess I really don't mind that you have to take them to field the army that way.

Wasn't the Deathwing led by a Librarian in their most famous piece of fluff?

Just saying.