Let’s jump right in, shall we?
After reading through the new Space Marine codex, making adjustments for things like the Emperor’s Champ taking up an HQ slot, and recalculating point costs, my current Black Templars list – the one I’m working on for the Independent Characters’ Hobby Progress Challenge – looks something like this:
HQ: High Marshal Helbrecht (180 pts)
HQ: Emperor’s Champion (140 pts)
Troops: Crusader Squad (168 pts)
5 Initiates with Bolt Pistol & CCW
1 Initiate with Flamer
1 Initiate with Bolt Pistol & Power Axe
5 Neophytes with Bolt Pistol & CCW
Troops: Crusader Squad (168 pts)
5 Initiates with Bolt Pistol & CCW
1 Initiate with Flamer
1 Initiate with Bolt Pistol & Power Axe
5 Neophytes with Bolt Pistol & CCW
Troops: Crusader Squad (180 pts)
3 Initiates with Bolters
1 Initiate with Plasmagun
1 Initiate with Lascannon
1 Razorback (Twin-Linked Lascannon)
Elite: Venerable Dreadnought (150 pts)
1 Dreadnought (Venerable; Twin-Linked Lascannon)
Elite: Terminator Assault Squad (305 pts)
2 Terminators with Lightning Claws
5 Terminators with Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield
Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (75 pts)
1 Land Speeder (Typhoon Missile Launcher)
Fast Attack: Land Speeder Squadron (75 pts)
1 Land Speeder (Typhoon Missile Launcher)
Heavy Support: Land Raider Crusader (260 pts)
1 Land Raider Crusader (Multi-melta)
This comes out to 1,701 points – 149 shy of the 1,850 I had previously. I dropped the Master of Sanctity from the list, chiefly because he doesn’t exist as an option anymore, and the standard Chaplain is a bit lackluster in comparison. The question is, how do I fill up those points, while keeping in mind that this is a painting challenge that only has 2 1/2 months remaining. Well, I’ve come up with a few options:
Option 1: More Crusaders
This one is pretty obvious. Templars, as an assault-focused army, benefit from having more bodies on the table, and the obvious targets are the Crusader Squads. 12 models in a squad are okay, but 15 would be better… and this also allows me to take advantage of the new Sword Brethren in the squads. In this option, my Crusader Squads look like this:
Troops: Crusader Squad (225 pts)
8 Initiates with Bolt Pistol & CCW
1 Initiate with Meltagun
1 Sword Brother with Bolt Pistol & Power Sword
5 Neophytes with Bolt Pistol & CCW
Troops: Crusader Squad (225 pts)
8 Initiates with Bolt Pistol & CCW
1 Initiate with Meltagun
1 Sword Brother with Bolt Pistol & Power Sword
5 Neophytes with Bolt Pistol & CCW
Troops: Crusader Squad (214 pts)
3 Initiates with Bolters
1 Initiate with Plasmagun
1 Initiate with Lascannon
1 Sword Brother with Combi-Plasma
1 Razorback (Twin-Linked Lascannon)
The melee squads get more choppy, and the shooting squad gets a bit more shooty. I trade a flamer for a meltagun to crack open armor, and I pass the power weapon off to the Sword Brother. Why a power sword and not an axe? While the extra strength from the axe is nice, he’s mostly there to take challenges, and with only one wound I want him swinging at initiative, and I’ll bank on the Rending provided by the Templars’ new chapter traits. This option gets me up to 1,849 points. Not bad.
Option 2: Honor Guard
One of the benefits of running Helbrecht is that he unlocks Honor Guard, and frankly, they’re murder machines. Two attacks base (three with their bolt pistol), artificer armor, power weapons, and bolters? And they can carry a chapter banner that gives the entire unit an extra attack each? And a champion with one more attack? And they can take relic blades? And they cost less than Terminators? Sign me up. I’d be willing to swap out my Terminators for these. Sure, you lose the invulnerable saves and the thunder hammers, but instead you get a crazy number of attacks. For 10 points less, I can get this:
HQ*: Honor Guard (295 pts)
9 Honor Guard (Chapter Banner)
1 Chapter Champion (Relic Blade)
Run that squad in the Land Raider Crusader with Helbrecht and the Emperor’s Champion, and they almost assuredly kill whatever you point them at, especially if you figure in Helbrecht using his once-per-game Hatred/Fleet ability the turn they come out of the Land Raider. Spend the 10 points saved on Extra Armor for the Land Raider, and you guarantee that it’ll get where it’s going (if it doesn’t get blown up). The Emperor’s Champ gets to benefit from the banner as well, so he’s now 5 attacks on the charge (2 base + 1 pistol + 1 charge + 1 banner), making it likely that he will slay anything he challenges. The best part about this swap? I still have the points to add the Crusaders in option 1! The downside, though, is that it’s 10 models I don’t currently have, along with a banner. Painting this all up in time for the challenge might be difficult – but if I can get them assembled and primed before the end of the month, who knows?
Option 3: Another Dreadnought
This one’s an option for fast painting, mostly because I already have one built and primed, along with a drop pod. It’s not as effective as more bodies, but it would allow me to drop a big nasty in my opponent’s backfield and tear up armor. Pretty simple, really:
Elite: Dreadnought (135 pts)
1 Dreadnought
1 Drop Pod
Troops: Crusader Squad (194 pts)
4 Initiates with Bolters
1 Initiate with Plasmagun
1 Initiate with Lascannon
1 Razorback (Twin-Linked Lascannon)
The dread gets me up to 135 points, leaving me 14 more – which is perfect for padding out the shooting squad with an extra Initiate. It’s not a terrible option, and definitely the easiest to paint, but I’m not sold on it for effectiveness.
There are other options as well – a Storm Talon, maybe, or a couple of tanks, or even another small shooty Crusader squad without a transport – but these are the first three I’m looking at. They don’t require me to buy much (and even with buying a few extra models for the honor guard, I’d get a ton of extra bits to save), and the first two definitely make the army better.