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~

Black Templar Unique Datasheets: Faith and Fury

As Templar’s we have five unique datasheets, and the Sword Brethren Specialist Detachment. They are for reference, Crusader Squad (Crusaders) Emperor’s Champion (EChamp), Grimaldus (Grim), Helbrecht, Cenobyte Servitors (Cenos) and then a psuedo unique unit via that is Company Veterans with the Sword Brethren Keyword. I will discuss each of these in turn.

The Crusader Squad:
Crusaders the single biggest, disappointment in the book. Games Workshop (GW) took it out to the back and shot it. They remove the Faux-Devi Configuration (Heavy-Special-Special at 5 Man), didn’t give us the point reduction to match Tacticals on Initaites (Init) and kept Neophytes (Neo) same price as Scouts. Instead we got a lackluster ability that if equal or more Init to Neo’s in a Crusader Squad, Neo’s may reroll 1 to hit in melee. 

That said, Crusaders still have a role. That role is simply now only real as Tide Crusaders or 8-9 man squads in Rhino’s or Pods. Shock Assault has made 1A Power Weapons solid and worth the price of admission, and having larger squads are important for buffs and strategems  to which will be elaborated on later.  

A Templar Force should always include 1 Tide Squad or 14 man and larger Crusader Squad. Debatably even two of those squads. Simply for how good they take our buffs. And as always to save points, you should always be taking these units with as equal Init-Neo ratio as possible. And secondly it should be noted that Sword Brothern do not count as Init’s for Equal Init-Neo ratio. Still a mediocre to good unit just not the best of its style of unit anymore.

Overall 3 out of 5.

(Marshal Laeroth -- While I would agree that it is disappointing that initiates did not get a point cost update to match tactical marines, it isn't so much of a problem to me since we're really only going to see 20-30 point differences at max in a list.  Losing the min/max weapon configuration was also a blow, but its not something I've not been expecting for several editions now.  The biggest use of our Crusader squads is to become a large block of dudes that are recipients of our new litany/warlord trait buffs.  Fully buffed and in the Assault Doctrine (or via Crusader Helm), we can put out ridiculous amounts of unsaved wounds.  Knights of Sigismund works better with higher amounts of attacks and a large Crusader squad fits the bill perfectly.  Protect them with our 5+ FNP litany and increase their offensive potential with the +1 attack litany...then you have a scary unit indeed.  But alas, the unit does not have concealed position or the ability to deep strike without a drop pod, so you will only be able to fit one or two footslogging units in your list.  3.5 stars.)

Emperor’s Champion:
A Templar player should not leave home without one. A 75 points it hits against proper targets as hard as a vanilla smash captain. Before the supplement, after the supplement? He now has a -1 to hit in melee, and another attack. 

He has three layers of “buffs”, the first layer is if he is within 1” of a character or monster add 1 to his attacks and to his strength. The second layer if he is rolling to wound Monsters or Characters he rerolls wound rolls. Third and final layer if he attacking characters he rerolls hot roll. 

With 5-6 attacks depending, strength 6-7 and potentially rerolling all or just wound. He is solid unit. And 75 points he is dirt cheap. Never leave home without him. The only downside, and it’s a significant one is his lack of a pack. 

Overall rating 4.5 out of 5.

(Marshal Laeroth -- He certainly is a close combat beast, upgraded from the previous SM 8.0 codex.  Now he can certainly take on a smash captain and win.  However, I would disagree with Schlitzaf in only having one fault besides having the jet pack.  He has another:  no auras or buffs for other units around him.  He is entirely a selfish character, even if he is good at that.  No force-multipliers in the list makes it hard for me to justify taking him, when Chaplains vastly improve the efficiency of our other units. 3.5 stars.)

High Chaplain Grimaldus:
Of our characters, empirically the big winner. He has a relic crozius now (-2 AP and 2 Damage), cast 2 Litanies, kept his additional attack aura, can deny the witch.  There is one debatable nerf he got which I’ll discuss about in the Ceno’s.

At 90 points, like the EChampion, never leave home without him. Especially given that we have a whole host of amazing litanies and he grants us two without command point (CP) investment. As with the Emperor’s Champion his primary downside is his lack of a pack. 

But unlike EChampion, he cannot utilize his abilities if you pod him. And he still has a disappointingly 3 attacks. It should be noted his mandatory warlord trait (WT) grants an additional deny and that WT adds plus 1 to any deny tests taken by the user. 

Overall 4 out of 5.

(Marshal Laeroth -- HUGE buffs for Grimaldus.  If you are running anything worthwhile on foot (i.e. not deep striking/concealed positions), you need to be taking this character. He is ridiculously good.  While he is slower than his generic jump pack chaplains, he already has several rules baked into his cost without the use of CP.  Combo Grimaldus with a large crusader squad and you're doing stupid amounts of damage, while being able to deny psychic powers.  Just remember that his litanies do not work inside of transports, so he's stuck on hoofing it. 4.5 stars.)

High Marshall Helbrecht: 
Helbrecht is a solid character, at 150 he is pricy and requires you too think.  Sense he does hit hard but costs an intercessor more than a vanilla smash captain. 

His major change has been his aura is now units within 6” vs models within 6”. He got another attack and his sword procs, on charging or HI’ing vs just him charging.  I don’t play him in my lists personally but, he is still a supremely solid character and worth the price of admission. He like our other characters suffers from the lack of a pack. 

Overall 3.5 out of 5.

(Marshal Laeroth -- Slight upgrade to the new wording on rerolling hits and another attack.  Otherwise, functionally the same as before.  He did get an improved warlord trait (+1 charge/HI) so that's awesome.  Still kind pretty good for 150 points though.  3.5 stars)

Cenobyte Servitors:
Ceno’s got a nerf and a sideways nerf. First if in same detachment as our boy Grim, they don’t take up a slot. Easily fixed but it’s an issue especially since we are almost always taking a Brigade-Battlelion with how many good stratagems we have.  

The second is now instead of battle shock immunity they improve our mortal wound save to 4+. Which is makes us go “Smite? What Smite.” At 6 points a unit, I’d never leave home without one. Ever. 

On price alone I consider them mandatory. And a amazing unit.

5 out of 5.

(Marshal Laeroth -- While I think these guys are a great filler for 6 points each, especially when they improve our mortal wound protection...they are certainly Kill Point bait for your opponent and an easy way to help them get "kill more" in ITC missions.  But, if we're being honest, we're losing 6 points of models while your opponent is spending their shooting on relatively unneeded units. 4.5 stars)

Company Veterans:
A unit that gains Sword Brethren keyword we got in Vigilus not directly affected by anything in our book. Buffed indirectly because whole host of other buffs we got. 

Notably in our codex our chapter tactic changed and the fact these models take mortal wounds when character body blocking. Means we can reduce damage they take due to body blocking for characters. This can be improved to a 4+ due to Cenos. 

The detachment itself is something I’d always take. So taking a couple units of these guys to have another target for suffer in case master swordsman marshal is unable to is biggest reason. 

Also small squads of them to fill elite slots in a brigade. Alongside Ceno’s make a Brigade easy to fill for us. Overall 3.5 out of 5.

(Marshal Laeroth -- These guys are still the most versatile unit in the whole book for us.  While they don't have access to jump packs, they can be huge first turn drop pod threats to your opponent for minimal points.  Add in their mortal wound shenanigans and excellent prowess in close combat, these guys should be a consideration in all types of lists.  Their only big downfall is the unit size maximum of 5, which limits their use of stratagems (I think may have been intentional by GW to prevent being too strong. 4.5 stars.)

*It should be noted EChampion has a power level 9, so it’s a possibility that our point values are incorrect and potentially might be rectified.  

We'll see you soon for the next part!

~Schlitzaf~

Evening all,

Been busy a lot this year but with Faith and Fury leaks, I wanted to talk about ours boys in black. First and foremost; is our overall rules.

Quite good, there are only a couple issues which I’ll dedicate to individual sections. The review will plan to cover in order;
Part 1) Chapter Tactics, Chapter Doctrine & Army Rules
Part 2) Unique Datasheets, Sword Brethren Specialist Part 1
Part 3) Litanies 
Part 4) Stratagems and Sword Brethren Specialist Part 2
Part 5) Warlord Traits & Relics
————--
Army Rules:
Just for a quick review our Chapter Tactics is Reroll Charges dice, coupled with 5++ Mortal Wound Feel No Pain. And our Super Doctrine is during Assault Doctrine, any time a BT Model rolls an unmodified 6 to hit after charging or making a heroic intervention, that hits caused an automatic hit/wound. And we get another set of 6 Litanies.

The main thing here is that, reroll charges increases our charge threat range from 7” to 9”. Mortal Wound negation allows us to endure what other armies would curl up and die too. And Doctrines increase our firepower output. The Assault Doctrine Benefit reduces the pain of variance especially for our lower attack weapon.

(Marshal Laeroth -- Our reroll charge dice is huge bonus to the style of list we're trying to build.  With a ~56% chance to make a 9" charge, we've become the premiere deep strike/concealed position assault army.  Adding in Knights of Sigismund, we've finally got that nice little oomph to push us over the edge in close combat.  It makes our basic models dangerous with Shock Assault and Assault Doctrine.  The 5+ mortal wound defense almost invalidates whole strategies as you take 1/3rd of the mortal wounds off the table right off the bat.  Awesome.)

Our other two army level rules are no librarians (or Adeptus Astartes Psykers if you want to be specific) and we may not use Chapter Champion Stratagem.*

These five rules, are two downsides and then the standard chapter tactics and super doctrine common to all codex space marine chapters. And due to a lack of witches, we get a litany table. Assault Super Doctrine is a mediocre one for a variety of reasons. 

And as a melee focused list and fact our lists will majority be pistol armed, you’d almost want to forgo combat doctrines entirely. I wouldn’t for reasons discussed in part 5 and in following section about our various unique units.

*Now as some of you might have realized by raw (rules as written) we have access to the Imperial Fist Supplement, as Scions of Dorn. It should be noted that is likely to rectified sooner rather than later.

(Marshal Laeroth -- I agree.  I don't think it would be wise to build lists around the use of Imperial Fist rules, as it is almost guaranteed that this will be something fixed in our upcoming FAQ.  Its better to start learning how to use our rules, rather than gain 2 weeks of a gimmick.)

Pardon the brevity of this section, the datasheet one is gonna be a bit longer than this one.  We will see you soon in Part 2!

~Schlitzaf~

Hello everyone!  Its been a little bit of time since my last post, but that is primarily due to the little lull while we wait for our rumored rules drop in Psychic Awakening: Book 2 late November.  However, during that time, I thought I'd touch on a topic that I'm seeing pop up a lot more frequently nowadays:  "Old" Marines vs Primaris Marines.  This isn't a new topic, but with the release of our new codex in the last couple months, the question has been getting asked with more forcefulness.  So we'll do a quick examination on some of the key points of this topic.

Wow.  So its been a decade since I officially opened Implausible Nature's doors to the world.  What a ride it has been.  As I look back, I think of all the time and effort that went into this "baby" of mine.  Its been amazing and sometimes a surprise to myself that I've been able to keep this website going.  I am hoping that I can last another 10 years and bring my new daughter into the game when she is older. 

As with most things, we need to understand our history so we can be better versions of ourselves for the future.  5th edition was just starting to hit its stride and was proving to be the most competitive version of the game yet.  As a result, a great many players turned to the internet for nuggets of information on their chosen armies, including myself.  I didn't find what I was looking for, so I started to chronicle my journey into competitive Black Templars.  Others also jumped into the competitive blogosphere and the internet exploded with websites almost overnight.  Even so much that there were dedicated blog repository websites for people to go to look for a specific blog (e.g. House of Paincakes).  I tried to tailor Implausible Nature to having repeatable, yet consistent information, that wasn't wholly reliant on a blog.  I believe that I accomplished that, especially with the success and acclaim of the Black Templars 101 guide.  While IN has always been controversial with the BT player-base, usually for my list-building, I've always strove to convey a consistent message:  competitive play with Black Templars. 

Alas, the hay-day of the Warhammer 40k blog has ended.  It seemed to start declining once 6th Edition was released and you can find the bones of once proud websites all over the internet.  The time between 2011-2013 saw (in my estimation) the death of a good 80% of the player-produced blogs, with some lingering on a little while longer.  7th Edition was not good to the players and there was a massive decline in the community.  Very few websites remained active and admittedly, it was tough to keep going here at Implausible Nature.  The game was getting stagnant for me, as there was nothing new being released for the Black Templars that impacted competitive play.  Our strategies remained the same, army lists didn't change, and you can only discuss things so many times.  And so, updates to IN came less and less.  But we survived, in no part thanks to our readers.  We got a shot in the arm with the release of 8th Edition.  Things are looking brighter for the game.  Games Workshop is finally directly listening to its player-base, putting out updates consistently, and the game is fun again.  Its still disappointing when I look around to all of the blogs I used to visit and seeing the decay out there, but we are still here.

I want to thank you all of your continued loyalty to Implausible Nature, with a special shout out to those that have donated their hard earned money to keep this site running.  I run this website for all of the Black Templars players out there.  Its you all that help motivate me to getting updates out to everyone.  Thanks for all of the comments, emails, and everything else that you do.  I appreciate it!  Here is to another decade!  :D

Hello out there!  I wanted to share a list that I have been tweaking since the codex has dropped.  I have always been drawn to fast, mobile, and/or in your face "tricksie" lists that force reactions from my opponents.  Often its a move they don't want to make or know how to deal with.  So anytime you can alter your opponent's game plan or force decisions, you're in a good place.  So that is the idea behind the list below.  Take a look!

Howdy all!  Its been a little while now since the new codex has been released and I wanted to give everyone a little bit of time to digest just what happened in our little world of the Black Templars.  Lurking around the B&C forums, it seems that there has been some early successes with our book that I'd love to explore.  This codex has obviously been a little bit of a paradigm shift for our lists, as things have been buffed or nerfed (via lack of buffs).  GW has released some hold-us-over PDF's containing our BT specific units with the Angels of Death special rule, as well as releasing a FAQ adjusting all of the Imperial Armour: Forces of the Adeptus Astartes units with AoD.  Nevertheless, it feels like GW is pushing us in the direction of primarius marines and in some cases, I am okay with that.  Let's take a look at some of the highlights (new or changed stuff) that I enjoy for our new codex.

Hello again!  Sorry about the late post, when all of the new previews are getting put out and all that good stuff.  But as of last night, my little Neophyte as joined the ranks of the Imperium!  :D  Anyway, let's take a look at a couple things that have been leaked with the review videos of the new Space Marine codex.

Hello everyone!  As you've almost certainly have seen, Games Workshop has been releasing snippet previews from the new Space Marine book that goes on pre-release soon.  All of which are extremely exciting, especially the release of all of the new Chapter Tactics.  They have also released a bunch of tidbits on the new primaris units that they are going to have with the codex, but for now, I am not going to concern with those since we are only looking at some basics of each unit.  Not enough is known about them yet.  A couple of caviets here:  First, this is a Black Templars website so I am not going to do comparisons between the new Chapter Tactics.  For the short-term analysis...the IF and CF chapter tactics got buffed, as did the Black Templars.  The others seem weaker than they were before, but not so weak as to not be viable.  All the tactics seem to DO something now.  Anyway, the second caviat is that the BT 101 guide is obviously about to become obsolete, especially the unit analysis page.  So expect this to disappear for a while after the new codex gets released so that I can update it.  With that out of the way, let's take a look shall we?