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Hey guys. Was hoping to get some opinions on a good load out for my chapter master or captain. Haven't played in quite some time so not familiar with a lot of the rules and weapon changes. Was thinking combi plas power sword on foot or jump pack power sword storm shield. What do you think? Is there a better option entirely? Shoot me your thoughts. Pics of the bits I have together so far but I can field pretty much any option so shoot me a configuration you think is best. Thanks!

it depends what you want your captain to DO. generally there are two schools of thought regarding a captain/CM. the first is to make him dirt cheap, deploy him with pretty much a stock load out of bolter and chain sword (making the chain sword the teeth of terra if you have nothing better to use the relic on) and keep him back with your ranged infantry as a pure roll buffer. the other thought is to use him as the tradtional beat stick, and the norm for that these days seems to be a jump pack, a storm shield as a power weapon (often a thunder hammer) both of these have their merits.

It's been a while since I've played so never had the stratagem rules or command points (whatever theyre called). So if I go jump pack captain I should use thunder hammer storm shield instead of a sword?

The captain you want depends on what kind of captain you need. You probably want at least one captain to sit back with your shooty boys to buff them. The smashy captain option is only really good if you are blood angels due to their insanely awesome stratagems and rules that allow them to 100-0 anything short of a Primarch and even then with a touch of luck they still will.

If you are running your army out of the standard codex then I'd say go for a more supporty guy. Cheap, a power weapon and his trusty bolter will be all you need.

Hmm...things have definitely changed a bit since I've played. Thanks for the advice guys. Maybe I'll make him blood angels then and hammer shield jump pack him.

Gizmodious wrote:
Hmm...things have definitely changed a bit since I've played. Thanks for the advice guys. Maybe I'll make him blood angels then and hammer shield jump pack him.

Yeah that would be captain SLAMguinius. You give him a jump pack (likely make it the relic one) with a TH SH. Deepstrike him in then make a 3d6 charge re-rolling where you can't be overwatched, attack with 5+D3 attacks, then fight again at the end of the phase for another 5+d3 attacks. If you die before the end you can still fight again through another strat. It's INSANELY CP intensive with just about everything previously stated being through a stratagem or relic and will pretty much eat all your CPs, but is absolutely BRUTAL at taking out a single target.

even with normal vanilla Marines you can run your CM with a sheild and hammer, but the thing to keep in mind is that Captains in 8th have a new role that of squad buffers, that combined with various changes to how chars work has really resulted in a game enviroment where captains function best as your COMMANDERS, not as your "big damned heros" advancing with a squad of bullet sponges.

Magnets. Always the answer.

As others have said, it depends.

Sitting back as a buff bot, you want a low cost option. Might want a few small toys, just in case someone comes over to mess with your gunline. Stormbolter/powersword. Frankly, I’d just take whatever 5-10 points of wargear I think looked the best. This build maximizes his buff aura, but doesn’t really utilize his stats. I would invest in at least a basic power weapon (unless going for the ToT) as it’s just a few points and converts all his base attacks into much better ones. Gun is more optional.

The other option is the aggressive smashy guy. Jump pack is pretty key (unless you have other transport plans, but even then he can always DS down near the action) You can invest more in CC toys. The TH will let you smash stuff pretty well, there aren’t a lot of bad choices. Depends on how many points you want to sink into him. Storm shield is nice to keep him alive, but you can ride with just the iron halo if you need to skimp. Not as effective, but free.

Teeth of Terra is a nice relic, and free. I’ve also run the Shield Eternal, and had good results.

Personally, I've been getting great results with my Salamanders captain on bike with the shield eternal (storm shield relic) and a thunder hammer. Depending on the matchup I either go with the +1 to hit and wound versus characters warlord trait (like if facing Mortarion) or the +1 wound and ignore damage on 6s one.

People always have to put so much firepower into him that they miss everything else, and he often winds up surviving anyway. With might of heroes on him he's T6, 7 wounds with a 3++, halves all incoming damage and ignores wounds on 6s, plus he's a character.

Then if they don't kill him that's 5 attacks (with MoH) with a thunder hammer with a re roll to wound, and he moves 14'' so he will get into cc. Still pretty cheap in points too.

There is no one best loadout. It really depends on what you need and the options for the captain are quite flexible.

I have to agree with the Captain on a Bike with the Relic Shield and Thunder Hammer, +1 wound 6+++ Warlord Trait being amazing. I was running him with a Raven Guard list. The -1 to hit is just a bonus when you get some distance. The Halving Damage on a 7 wound model means that Weapons that do D6 damage will have to wound at least 3 times to get him out and that's before the 6+++. Being on a bike means if he gets stuck in a tar pit, he can retreat and turbo boost to get out of 12 in range for the -1 to hit. This has worked amazingly well.

KnightScion wrote:
I have to agree with the Captain on a Bike with the Relic Shield and Thunder Hammer, +1 wound 6+++ Warlord Trait being amazing. I was running him with a Raven Guard list. The -1 to hit is just a bonus when you get some distance. The Halving Damage on a 7 wound model means that Weapons that do D6 damage will have to wound at least 3 times to get him out and that's before the 6+++. Being on a bike means if he gets stuck in a tar pit, he can retreat and turbo boost to get out of 12 in range for the -1 to hit. This has worked amazingly well.

Yeah it's a solid load out if you have some other offensive options to back him up, though you could just keep him as a mobile buff bot that is not afraid to counter smach stuff. Just watch out for any form of 2nd floored ruin. Also you can't advance when falling back or if you get surrounded so if he is alone be wary of that happening.

If you're wanting a beatstick captain then TH/SS Jump Pack + Champion of Humanity WL trait is the way to go. Might of Heroes from a Librarian and you"re wounding T8 Knights on 2s.

Lots of good input guys. Thank you. I'm so used to the old way of running HQs straight into combat with a body guard.