Next up we have all the generic HQ units. There are no
issues around fielding these units with successor chapters, unlike the names
characters, although there are some units that I will not be fielding with my
Eagle Knights army as I feel that they do not fit the fluff of my army. I will
again go through them all, concentrating on the ones that I will be fielding.
Sanguinary Priest
First in the book and so first on the list, the generic
Sanguinary Priest. In my army I have one of these guys. Why only one? Simple,
Sanguinary Novitiates are cheaper for most of the same stuff. Ok, they don’t
have the strength bonus, but with the loss of jump packs from the Sanguinary
options list means that the number of units that I run that can actually take
advantage of this is significantly reduced, as the Death Company, Vanguard Vets
and Assault Marines are all jump pack equipped. I still think that having one
around is worth it, even if they just hand around with the Captain and
Lieutenant to give them a boost if they get in to combat. Stats wise, they are
just a regular marine with a few extra attacks, so nothing to note there.
Librarian Dreadnought
A very curious Blood Angle specific unit. I have often thought about this unit and now
with the rules in 8th making it actually worth while taking, as
opposed to 7th when it would just die instantly. In many respects
this is just a very big and durable librarian, as with only 8 wounds and a
character it can effectively hide in your troops and cast away. However, this
is also one of its biggest downsides. Yes it is far more heavily armed then a
regular librarian, and can be a monster in close combat it is a lot more
expensive than a regular librarian and if your taking it for its psychic
potential, its is not better. If you want one because it looks cool or you want
to put your opponent on edge, then go for it, but I really cant see ay other
reason for taking one over a standard librarian.
Librarian (+Terminator Armour)
Taking of the standard Librarian, here it is. I have
included the Terminator armour equipped version here as well, as the stats
don’t really change. There are minor changes, an extra wound and 2+ save being
the big ones, plus I suppose the option for an invulnerable save. I still don’t
get why Librarian don’t have an invulnerable save, even a 5 or 6+ would be
better than nothing! In terms of psychic ability there are the same and that’s
what really matters as most of the time they are going to be in amongst your
troops and not exposed. I have always favoured the standard librarian over the
terminator version for the simple fact that it can take a jump pack. This is so
that it can get around a lot quicker once its on the board. Both units can deep
strike to get them where the need to be initially but after than the terminator
version will have to foot slog it around the board at a maximum 11 inches a
turn, where as the jump pack equipped version will be moving a min 12 inches
and potentially up to 18. This means that getting him in to position to smite
the right target, or even get him out of the way of a smite attack is a lot
easier. Its for this reason that I’ve got a jump pack libby in my force, I will
be adding a non-jump pack version as well, just to give me options mostly.
Primaris Librarian, Primaris Chaplain, Primaris Lieutenants
and Primaris Captain (+ Gravis Armour)
These are the first of the Primaris units in the codex and
as with all the Primaris units, I’ll be skipping over them. While I am not a
fan of them in general, I do appreciate that they are effective units, I just
can’t get pass the stupidity of the lore behind them. If I do get any Primaris units, then they
will be going in to a different army, as in my fluff, although the chapter has
accepted them, they are fielded as separate forces and not combined into the
existing chapters. As such I would be taking any Primaris hq units in my army
and to save me repeating myself, I have lumped them all in together.
Chaplain (+Terminator Armour)
I currently have two chaplains in my army and both are painted
up as Death Company Chaplains. This is something that I do need to rectify as I
would like to have the option to run a Chaplain with my Vanguard Vets or
Assault Marines. I like Chaplains, however, much like the Librarian, I will be
running these as regular armoured, jump pack equipped Chaplains, rather than
their Terminator clad brethren. Again, this is most because the army is all
about speed and mobility and so the Chaplains need to keep up, plus there are
not terminator armoured units in the force at all. The re-rolls to hit can be a
great bonus to units like Death Company and Vanguard Vets but come in to there
own with the Assault Marines as they get so few attacks that they really need
the extra hits that the re-rolls can grant. I feel there is little reason to
alter the standard weapons options for these guys as they are not there to be
heavy hitters but for the aura ability, although taking a power fist or plasma
pistol won’t break the bank in most cases.
Captain (+Terminator Armour, Cataphracii armour)
The Captain now come in three different forms but again, I
will only consider the standard captain, as the other forms reduce mobility,
which with the main point of the Captain being the aura ability to buff units,
reduced movement is not something I think is worth losing for extra durability.
I currently have two Captains, one with jump pack and one without, meaning that
I can cover all options with keeping the Captain with the assault elements or
hanging out with the support elements of the army. There is also the option to
equip these models with storm shields, thus bringing up their durability to the
same level as the more heavily armoured versions. I think that there really is
no reason not to take a Captain in a marine force, the abilities that they
bring, the re-rolls, mean that there will always be a place for them in a
force.
Lieutenants
The Lieutenant is an essential a part of a marine list these
days as a Captain. The big difference is that these guys only come in one form,
with no option to be up armoured. They
are also able to be take in “units” of two, although they operate separately on
the table top. Again, the main reason that you take Lieutenants if for the aura
ability and for that reason one of the two Lieutenants that I run has a jump
pack to keep up with the assault element and the jump pack equipped Captain.
Techmarine
The last of the HQ units we will look at is the Techmarine.
Now, I kind of understand why this is a HQ option, but I don’t really see it
being a very good one. For me, I don’t plan on running many vehicles, a handful
of Rhinos or Razorbacks, and maybe a Baal Predator, but that’s it, so a
Techmarine would have limited use. I think it has limited use anyway, repairing
D3 wounds to a vehicle is not exceptional in my opinion, there are times when
it could be useful, like taking it back up a bracket for better shooting, but
that’s about it. The only reason I can see to take a Techmarine is if your
taking a Thunderfire Cannon, which Blood Angles don’t have access to!
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