Part 3: Black Templar and Codex Marine Litanies
Likely the most exciting part for any of our boys in black; new litanies. Now we have the standard six litanies, which have several notable ones.
Those are mostly tied to shooting, so I’m only gonna focus on three of those the six litanies; Canticles of Hate and Mantra of Strength especially. You also have Exhortation of Rage which is also solid.
Mantra of Strength, is a +1 damage, strength, and attack on a Chappy. That is one of the two components of the Smash Chappy build, using Crozius Relic, Benediction of Fury. But in fairness, between EChampion, and Master Swordsman we have two Marine Smash level characters on the onset of any build. Making a third a questionable worth. Especially given our limited number of litany counts.
Canticle of Hate; gives an additional 2" charge range to any unit in the 6" aura range, makes all pile-in and consolidations 6” instead of 3". Not stackable with other buffs. Now there is some minor anti-synergy elsewhere. But by and large this is an amazing trait. And one regardless of striking build, concealing or footslogging mandatory. Given its an essentially an extra 12” movement for all of our units in combat.
Exhortation of Rage: Select a friendly <CHAPTER> unit within 6". Their unmodified 6s to hit in melee generate another attack with that weapon, which cannot proc extra attacks itself. This is Grimaldus static ability as a litany. As with Grimaldus it’s a solid ability, and as anyone who played with our Vigilus WT can attest more reliable than it seems. Or anyone playing with or more hopefully against death to false Emperor. Main issue is it competes with all the other solid litanies we have.
(Marshal Laeroth -- So yeah. Our generic SM litanies are pretty decent. The real big go-to though will be Canticle of Hate, as this will all but guarantee that we're going to make our charges and ensure all of our models get to fight. Mantra of Strength helps create a cheaper smash captain. Just remember that the Chaplain has to be on the board at the start of the turn when they are using it, so more than likely you are slogging your Chaplains. A good way to increase their speed is via jump packs or bikes.)
Black Templar Litanies: We have six. Two amazing, two average and two that leave much to be desired. The two amazing ones, are Litany of Divine Protection and Fires of Devotion.
Each of those litanies are pick one unit within 6” for both and that unit gains a 5+ Feel No Pain (Divine Protection) or +1 attack when it charges or heroic intervenes (Fires of Devotion). The latter can be used to buff smash characters. But it alongside divine protection are best used on large squads. Like Crusader Squads.
These two litanies alone make running one or two tide Crusader worth the price of admission.
(Marshal Laeroth -- These two are going to be your bread and butter litanies for one of your chaplains. The 5+ FNP litany can help preserve the integrity of larger Crusader squads, Vanguard Veterans, or even Terminators. It also works on vehicles, so this can help keep your LRC alive to drop off its load. Between this litany and our mortal wound defense, we've potentially have some of the most durable units out there. Then the Fires of Devotion is a huge offensive buff for units, especially larger squads. The higher number of attacks helps activate our super doctrine and a huge number of auto-wounds. Things of note is that we need to choose that unit right away in the turn, so plan accordingly. You should ALWAYS have at least one Chaplain in your list with these two litanies...they are that good.)
The average litanies are Fervent Acclamation and Oath of Glory. Each of those are basically for niche builds. Acclamation adds 3” to any aura for BT Units (NOT just BT Characters) within 6”. Meaning you can easily get 12” auras one something like a Marshall or other character w/ Helm. Or 9” aura for named character auras and for non-Helm aura litanies. Oath of Glory is choose one unit and it always fight first.
It’s a solid choice but one you’d one to use with the always fight first warlord trait. I would not discount it just keep in mind it’s for a more niche build.
The other litanies are (Vow of Retribution) a minus -2 leadership within 6” to enemy units and (Psalm of Remorseless Persecution) which is a re-roll wound rolls of 1. Basically like taking a lieutenant (Castallen). Neither of them are pointless just mostly superfluous, leadership modifiers are underrated. Killing 2 marines and stacking -2 aura means they now fail leadership on a 5 or 6. For an MSU Squad that is notable. Psalm gives you a Castallen with a solid relic for cheaper.
The final litany is our basic Chappy Litany. Chappy can recite it and al BT Units 6” can reroll hit rolls in melee. We have Marshall’s, Helbrecht, CP-Chapter Masters I never feel a desire to use this ability but it is one we have.
Overall rating for Litanies: 4.5 out 5. I only don’t give a 5 because I dislike giving perfect scores for anything. But this makes us taking multiple chaplains viable and useful. Were pre-v2 Marines we often ran into redundant HQ’s after the 3rd or 4th.
~Schlitzaf~
Likely the most exciting part for any of our boys in black; new litanies. Now we have the standard six litanies, which have several notable ones.
Those are mostly tied to shooting, so I’m only gonna focus on three of those the six litanies; Canticles of Hate and Mantra of Strength especially. You also have Exhortation of Rage which is also solid.
Mantra of Strength, is a +1 damage, strength, and attack on a Chappy. That is one of the two components of the Smash Chappy build, using Crozius Relic, Benediction of Fury. But in fairness, between EChampion, and Master Swordsman we have two Marine Smash level characters on the onset of any build. Making a third a questionable worth. Especially given our limited number of litany counts.
Canticle of Hate; gives an additional 2" charge range to any unit in the 6" aura range, makes all pile-in and consolidations 6” instead of 3". Not stackable with other buffs. Now there is some minor anti-synergy elsewhere. But by and large this is an amazing trait. And one regardless of striking build, concealing or footslogging mandatory. Given its an essentially an extra 12” movement for all of our units in combat.
Exhortation of Rage: Select a friendly <CHAPTER> unit within 6". Their unmodified 6s to hit in melee generate another attack with that weapon, which cannot proc extra attacks itself. This is Grimaldus static ability as a litany. As with Grimaldus it’s a solid ability, and as anyone who played with our Vigilus WT can attest more reliable than it seems. Or anyone playing with or more hopefully against death to false Emperor. Main issue is it competes with all the other solid litanies we have.
(Marshal Laeroth -- So yeah. Our generic SM litanies are pretty decent. The real big go-to though will be Canticle of Hate, as this will all but guarantee that we're going to make our charges and ensure all of our models get to fight. Mantra of Strength helps create a cheaper smash captain. Just remember that the Chaplain has to be on the board at the start of the turn when they are using it, so more than likely you are slogging your Chaplains. A good way to increase their speed is via jump packs or bikes.)
Black Templar Litanies: We have six. Two amazing, two average and two that leave much to be desired. The two amazing ones, are Litany of Divine Protection and Fires of Devotion.
Each of those litanies are pick one unit within 6” for both and that unit gains a 5+ Feel No Pain (Divine Protection) or +1 attack when it charges or heroic intervenes (Fires of Devotion). The latter can be used to buff smash characters. But it alongside divine protection are best used on large squads. Like Crusader Squads.
These two litanies alone make running one or two tide Crusader worth the price of admission.
(Marshal Laeroth -- These two are going to be your bread and butter litanies for one of your chaplains. The 5+ FNP litany can help preserve the integrity of larger Crusader squads, Vanguard Veterans, or even Terminators. It also works on vehicles, so this can help keep your LRC alive to drop off its load. Between this litany and our mortal wound defense, we've potentially have some of the most durable units out there. Then the Fires of Devotion is a huge offensive buff for units, especially larger squads. The higher number of attacks helps activate our super doctrine and a huge number of auto-wounds. Things of note is that we need to choose that unit right away in the turn, so plan accordingly. You should ALWAYS have at least one Chaplain in your list with these two litanies...they are that good.)
The average litanies are Fervent Acclamation and Oath of Glory. Each of those are basically for niche builds. Acclamation adds 3” to any aura for BT Units (NOT just BT Characters) within 6”. Meaning you can easily get 12” auras one something like a Marshall or other character w/ Helm. Or 9” aura for named character auras and for non-Helm aura litanies. Oath of Glory is choose one unit and it always fight first.
It’s a solid choice but one you’d one to use with the always fight first warlord trait. I would not discount it just keep in mind it’s for a more niche build.
The other litanies are (Vow of Retribution) a minus -2 leadership within 6” to enemy units and (Psalm of Remorseless Persecution) which is a re-roll wound rolls of 1. Basically like taking a lieutenant (Castallen). Neither of them are pointless just mostly superfluous, leadership modifiers are underrated. Killing 2 marines and stacking -2 aura means they now fail leadership on a 5 or 6. For an MSU Squad that is notable. Psalm gives you a Castallen with a solid relic for cheaper.
The final litany is our basic Chappy Litany. Chappy can recite it and al BT Units 6” can reroll hit rolls in melee. We have Marshall’s, Helbrecht, CP-Chapter Masters I never feel a desire to use this ability but it is one we have.
Overall rating for Litanies: 4.5 out 5. I only don’t give a 5 because I dislike giving perfect scores for anything. But this makes us taking multiple chaplains viable and useful. Were pre-v2 Marines we often ran into redundant HQ’s after the 3rd or 4th.
~Schlitzaf~
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