Black Templars finally got their own codex in ninth edition along with a slew of new Primaris Space Marine units such as Chaplain Grimaldus and the Primaris Crusader Squad. Black Templars can be surprisingly resilient and are a melee centric Chapter.
Why are Black Templars resilient? First, the faction has a built-in 5+++ after save versus mortal wounds and that’s amazing in the current state of the game… they can stick around while other factions just melt. Second, Black Templars have access to a vow (basically your Chapter tactics) that provides a 5++ invulnerable save for every unit (including your vehicles) plus they can never be wounded on a to wound roll of 2 or less (mini Transhuman). Ninth edition is one of the deadliest versions of the game yet so these inherent buffs are what provides them their super resilience and it makes a big difference on the table top.
Unit Analysis:
Now I’ll cover some of the new Primaris units, such as the Emperor’s Champion and the Primaris Crusader Squad.
Emperor’s Champion - Clocking in at only 100 points, this HQ is both an efficient character killer and can literally tear apart enemy infantry units. It’s common for Black Templar players to run two Chaplains along with High Marshal Helbrecht. While Chaplains are great at buffing core units, the ability to nuke a beastly enemy character can quickly turn a battle. The Emperor’s Champion has two battle stances and is -1 to hit in melee. He also rerolls all hits and wounds versus enemy characters, can heroically intervene up to 6" to reach an enemy character… and finally he also fights first versus enemy characters. One battle stance (sweeping blow) he hits on 2+, S7, AP3, 2D per attack. The other stance (thrusting strike) he hits on 3+, S8, AP4, 3D per attack. The first stance is great versus infantry units up to two wounds per model, while the second stance is perfect for most any enemy character - AP4 ignoring armor saves up to 3+! A good Warlord Trait for the Emperor’s Champion is Master of Arms, which allows him to always fight first and gain +1 attack when he charges for a total of seven attacks. I always use he thrusting strike stance versus everything.
Primaris Crusader Squad (PCS) - This troop choice can do something no other Space Marine infantry unit can do, field up to 20 models! I haven’t tried it yet and it seems the sweet spot for a large squad is 15 Marines… however the option is there. Buffing a large squad with a 5+++ after save, reroll hits and/or inflicting mortal wounds on a hit roll of 6 to wound in melee via your Chaplains turns them into a nigh unstoppable force. I find the unit to be better than assault intercessors and typically run 10 man squads. You can go shooty, choppy or a combination; however it’s best to focus on one aspect. Here are my current two builds:
(Choppy)
Sword Brother - Power Axe & Heavy Bolt Pistol
3x Initiate - Chainsword & x Heavy Bolt Pistol
2x Initiate - Powerfist & Heavy Bolt Pistol
4x Neophyte - Chainsword & Bolt Pistol
(Shooty)
Sword Brother - Power Axe & Heavy Bolt Pistol
3x Initiate - Auto Bolt Rifle
2x Initiate - Pyre Blaster
4x Neophyte - Shotgun
My army does not have a lot of shooting so the shooty unit fills quite a valuable roll, often holding an objective in my deployment zone and providing ranged firepower. The choppy unit will go forward to take objectives and tangle with enemy units… it can hit like a truck too with a lot of attacks at full strength.
In conclusion I’ve provided a brief introduction to the faction as well cover two of our more important units. My next article will go more into tactics and I’ll present more of our units for review.