The following has been blatantly stolen from BOLS, who got it from Warseer
Begin quote:
ghost21 says:-relic dreadnaughts, like a mobile requiary bearer... is what i had heard
-expect bt to be the landraider spam army
via Marshal Laeroth
-there's going to be a named emperors champion, who's old by BT standards, and has been EC for a while. long enough to be better than the standard one.
-initiates will be cheaper, around 11 points, and neotyphes around 6pts. still, expect some drawbacks to this.
-there'll be a new named character on a bike with eternal warrior, and also eternal warrior killer.
-and possibly some dreadnought/knight style thing that fits with the rest of the army, in line with the big stuff from GK and BA.
-oh, last thing, possibly some upgrade that lets land raiders be destroyed by the enemy, but still 'live' for a turn. final shoot and move, the explode in a last ditch suicide run or someut.
via BloodCrusade
1)Helbrecht(Cheaper with rules to make Sword Brethren either Scoring or Troops)
2)Grimaldus(Rules update)
3)Special Champion
4)Draco(Will be making the transfer from White Dwarf to Codex with rule amendments)
These are the *guaranteed* Special Characters with rumors of:
1) Marshal/Castellan for drop pod armies(Reminiscent of one of our own's Custom Codex, believe it was Sigismund Himself?)
2)Terminator HQ(Allows for termies as scoring or as Troops for 'BlackWing')
Haven't heard anything of being allowed to bring Bikes as Troops if your 'Captain' rides one, which I'm thankful for. There's a Chapter for that and it's White Scars.
Special Units being brought to the Codex:
1)Chaplain Dreadnought(Same reroll hits on charge, probably fealess to all units with-in 6" like Grimaldus)
2)Durandal Dreadnought(Being brought from White Dwarf into the Codex, haven't heard the rules will change- maybe one more base attack?)
3)Assault Rhino Chassis(Been rumored/hoped for a long time, whether from the Rhino or a new vehicle on it's chassis)
End Quote.
Now, it's a well known fact that I've played Black Templars since I got back into the hobby. My regular opponents also know that I have been dreading a new codex. Why? Mainly because I don't trust GW to keep any of the rules I've become accustomed to, nor do I expect them to keep any of the BT flavor that I adore. My fears were reinforced recently with the Sisters of Battle WD codex. The way they stripped any and all association with the Inquisition rankled me to no end.
But I digress.
When it comes to my Templars I'm very possessive. I don't win with them very often (or with any other army for that matter), but I LIKE the way they play. I like the idea of a bunch of borderline heretics ("Codex? We don't need your stupid codex!") plying the space lanes in unfathomable numbers doing right by the Emperor in spite of his "loyal" servants wishes. I love that they hate psykers and want to rip their aberrant heads from their shoulders on sight (unless they're wearing shiny silver armor. Then they're okay.) I like the idea of a power armor wearing horde running screaming with pistols and chain swords while an impressive wall of Land Raider variants come rolling along carrying unlimited troops in Tactical Dreadnought Armor. If it sounds like I revel in the spam side of things, that's no accident. I should be allowed to wallow in greasy spam since my W/L/D record proves that it's not really all that spammy (at least in my hands).
So, what do I think of the above rumors? First, they're rumors. I concede that and, more importantly, I am not holding any semblance of breath regarding them. I am, however, hopeful that they are at least in part semi-accurate. Do they sound a little spammy? Of course. More so than, say, Space Wolves or Blood Angels? Nope. Not even close.
I hope the Land Raider rumor is true. It fits the flavor of Templars and it gives me the chance to build and paint more of the glorious tanks. They are my favorite because they are massive slabs of plastic, offering large tracts of flat surface upon which I can work my creativity. With a new air brush on the way (more on that once it arrives) I am imagining some serious murals and other gaudy bits of imagery.
I also find the idea of an "assault Rhino" intriguing. Hell, they can even charge me the extra points I've been spending on bare-bones Rhinos since the SM Codex came out. I'll even pony up the 3 points for the same smoke launchers every other army gets standard.
The hint that my currently useless and overpriced character models might actually find a place in my army makes me happy. Helbrecht is a model that I have both in metal and Finecast. Neither are painted. If these rumors are true that may change. If not, they may continue to collect dust on my "someday" shelf. The addition of other characters will please me, too. I love painting center pieces and that aspect has been lacking in the BT codex of editions past.
The cheaper infantry aspect works for me, too. The idea of those raving hordes of enhanced humanity screaming across the battlefield just does it for me. Throwing the lightly armored fodder in front appeases the Darwinist in me, too. Survive to the end of the game and you get power armor, Jimbo!
In closing, I freely admit that I'm anxious about a new codex. This latest batch of rumors, though, has soothed my nerves a tad. At the very least it tells me that someone somewhere is giving the ambiance of the army some consideration. That, in a nutshell, gives me hope.