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It kind of annoyed me that there's no generic HQ priest choice for the Adeptus Ministorum. So here one is. Modeled after the difference between the Commissar and Lord Commissar. No Matched Play points because homebrew.

Ministorum Prelate
HQ
Power 4

M 6” WS 3+ BS 3+ S 3 T 3 W 5 A 3 Ld 8 Sv6+

A Ministorum Prelate is a single model armed with a laspistol, frag grenades, and krak grenades.

Wargear Options
This model may replace its laspistol with an item from the Pistols list.
This model may take an eviscerator, autogun, plasma gun, shotgun, or an item from the Melee Weapons or Ranged Weapons list.

Abilities
Zealot, Shield of Faith
Rosarius: This model has a 4+ invulnerable save.
War Hymns: You can add 1 to the Attacks characteristic of all models in ADEPTUS MINISTORUM INFANTRY and ASTRA MILITARUM INFANTRY units that are within 6” of any friendly MINISTORUM PRIESTS.

Faction Keywords
IMPERIUM, ADEPTUS MINISTORUM, ASTRA MILITARUM

Keywords
CHARACTER, INFANTRY, MINISTORUM PRIEST, MINISTORUM PRELATE

I was going to say "Wait, there isn't?", but I've updated it to "Wait, why isn't the Priest an HQ choice?"

As-is he's a Priest paying approximately 20pts (1PL) for an extra Wound and to hop slots, I'd recommend trying to differentiate him more. Possibly port over things Chaplains do ((Guard/Ministorum) units within 6" can use his Ld, (Guard/Ministorum) units within 6" can reroll to hit in melee) instead of just making it the same War Hymns the Priests give.

I'd also suggest naming the unit "Confessor" (I can't find any evidence that was ever a real generic HQ unit, but there was this dude called Kyrinov who had the rank of "Confessor" and lived in HQ, and my favourite Inquisition fandex called the generic HQ Priests "Confessors".).

Looks like a sound option to me!

 AnomanderRake wrote:

As-is he's a Priest paying approximately 20pts (1PL) for an extra Wound and to hop slots, I'd recommend trying to differentiate him more. Possibly port over things Chaplains do ((Guard/Ministorum) units within 6" can use his Ld, (Guard/Ministorum) units within 6" can reroll to hit in melee) instead of just making it the same War Hymns the Priests give.

I don't want to take things too far from what's printed. Uriah Jacobus has the same War Hymns ability as the generic priest, so I figured don't fix what ain't broke.

The Prelate also has better WS/BS and the Shield of Faith ability, which Priests do not. In that I'm following the pattern of the Commissar/Lord Commissar: some better stats and a slightly better defensive ability, but otherwise the same for +1 PL. Uriah Jacobus is the Prelate +1A, a bolt pistol, Redeemer, and his banner. I could see giving the Prelate the extra attack and have Jacobus just be the special wargear version.

I'd also suggest naming the unit "Confessor" (I can't find any evidence that was ever a real generic HQ unit, but there was this dude called Kyrinov who had the rank of "Confessor" and lived in HQ, and my favourite Inquisition fandex called the generic HQ Priests "Confessors".).

That'd work too. I went for Prelate as it's a more generic term, but it's a matter of taste.

I'm working on an 8th edition update to my own Adeptus Ministorum codex, so this is an area that interests me.

We did used to have an HQ option in the Confessors, but it was dropped when GW stopped producing Redemptor Kyrinov, which was the only Confessor model they ever released. There was a profile for Confessors in the White Dwarf Sororitas codex when Kyrinov was still available, and they existed in the 2nd edition Sisters of Battle codex, but they disappeared for a while in Codex: Witch Hunters. They were never really distinguished in any particular way though, they were usually just better priests which I always found boring.


For my own codex I'm focused more on bringing back Frateris Militia, so I have the Confessors interact with those, but there are a few other things I've considered:

In my mind Confessors wouldn't be any tougher in combat than priests, but instead give substantial area effects. So instead of War Hymns perhaps a 12" Leadership 9 bubble, which is a pretty big deal in 8th edition I think, especially if you want Astra Militarum and sororitas to be ground down a bit less from Morale. Maybe also a one-time boost to the Zealot rule granting re-rolls even when units didn't charge; basically giving a little extra boost once your forces are locked in combat.

I'd leave War Hymns to the priests personally, so it isn't just a choice of upgrading from Priest to Confessor, but a real choice of which one you take if you can't take both.

 Formerly Wu wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:

As-is he's a Priest paying approximately 20pts (1PL) for an extra Wound and to hop slots, I'd recommend trying to differentiate him more. Possibly port over things Chaplains do ((Guard/Ministorum) units within 6" can use his Ld, (Guard/Ministorum) units within 6" can reroll to hit in melee) instead of just making it the same War Hymns the Priests give.

I don't want to take things too far from what's printed. Uriah Jacobus has the same War Hymns ability as the generic priest, so I figured don't fix what ain't broke.

The Prelate also has better WS/BS and the Shield of Faith ability, which Priests do not. In that I'm following the pattern of the Commissar/Lord Commissar: some better stats and a slightly better defensive ability, but otherwise the same for +1 PL. Uriah Jacobus is the Prelate +1A, a bolt pistol, Redeemer, and his banner. I could see giving the Prelate the extra attack and have Jacobus just be the special wargear version.

Right, missed the WS/BS somehow. Also missed that Shield of Faith gives denies, I'd discounted it because the Rosarius makes the Invul redundant.

Jacobus is a weird problem; he is an HQ Priest, but from a rank/standing perspective does he need to inform what the higher-ranking Priest does? Sort of like how Lemartes exists in Blood Angels as a generic character Chaplain, but he's a character normal Chaplain as opposed to a Master of the Reclusiam, so he doesn't limit what Astorath does. Or like how there are character Captains, but Chapter Masters can still do things beyond them. I suppose I'm asking if Jacobus' rank in-lore is that of an ordinary Priest, and if you had a generic character that outranked him couldn't that character do different things?

 AnomanderRake wrote:
Jacobus is a weird problem; he is an HQ Priest, but from a rank/standing perspective does he need to inform what the higher-ranking Priest does? Sort of like how Lemartes exists in Blood Angels as a generic character Chaplain, but he's a character normal Chaplain as opposed to a Master of the Reclusiam, so he doesn't limit what Astorath does. Or like how there are character Captains, but Chapter Masters can still do things beyond them. I suppose I'm asking if Jacobus' rank in-lore is that of an ordinary Priest, and if you had a generic character that outranked him couldn't that character do different things?

Jacobus is just weird in general; he keeps getting a tremendous amount of love from GW despite being a character that was officially dead 17 years ago. He was included in the 2nd edition sisters codex for fluff purposes so you could replay past battles he fought in, but he was emphatically dead in his background, like Saint Praxedes.

I also don't know why GW keep elevating him as some kind of super-priest; he's a missionary, so shouldn't really fulfil the same role as a general purpose priest anyway, but his rules have never reflected that. I can understand why he might still have War Hymns since he's still very much about rousing others to fight, but he really should have something that reflects his actual background, rather than being elevated in rank for no apparent reason; in fact his background basically describes him as nothing more than violent and noisy, which doesn't exactly suggest leadership material (though I suppose this is the Ecclesiarchy we're talking about).

I dunno, I don't think I'd use Uriah Jacobus as a weathervane for what a Confessor/Prelate should look like; GW seem to have no idea what they want him to be, other than mysteriously somehow now being alive, and having a shotgun that is mechanically nothing like any other shotgun in the game.