Guess what? The brand-spanking new FAQs for every army have been released for the brand-spanking new 6th Edition 40K rulebook.
GW in their infinite wisdom, have decided that the unit entries for Grey Knights Paladins, Space Wolf Wolfguard, and Ork Nobs are in fact, WRONG, and thus have to be corrected. Read on!
Page 2 of the new Rulebook FAQ v 1.0 (link here) demonstrates this in the Errata section as follows, and I quote:
Page 410
– Reference, Profile, Codex: Grey Knights, Paladins.
Change unit type to Infantry.
Page 411
– Reference, Profile, Codex: Space Wolves, Wolf Guard.
Change unit type to Infantry.
Page 413
– Reference, Profile, Codex: Orks, Nob.
Change unit type to Infantry and add the following Designer’s
Note:
Reaction from respective units, as follows:
After all, those elite of elite units needed to be taken down a peg or two, I mean come on! 4+ LOS saves, Precision Shots & Precision Strikes for the most Uber of units. Surely ridiculous right?
So in order to rectify this, GW have decided with a sweeping statement that in units of Paladins, Wolfguard, and Nobs, they are merely Infantry, not Characters.
So effectively these highly elite units have no 'Sergeants / Characters' to carry out them funky new rules making them bodies designed specifically for providing a retinue for a budding Warlord, so make sure you attach your Independent Characters to them anyhoo. After all, Draigo will go with his crew, as will any budding Wolf Lord and Ork Warboss.
Just don't bother putting a 2++ invulnerable save Warding Stave on a Paladin, as he can no longer accept a Challenge. D'Oh!
Wait, are you telling me that with this new Errata, an Imperial Guard Sergeant can carry out Precision Strikes / Shots and Challenges, but a highly elite best of the best kingo del kingo Grey Knight Paladin cannot?
I understood the need to re-balance out the potential OTT shenanigans these units provided (e.g. Multiple Psycannons each having Precision Shots), but said units were rightly the highest costed and highly regarded and therefore should've benefitted from said Rules, or so I would've thought!
Oh well, it was fun while it lasted...