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Basic Chaplain Tactica

Submitted By: Date: January 16, 2007, 12:00:00 AM Views: 2864
Summary: Note: In the article, I make no difference in between Master of Sanctity and Reclusiarch, and I simply call it “Chaplain”. More on this later though. The Basics: The Chaplain has been beefed up since the third edition of Warhammer 40 000, and is now the best HQ for smaller games, at least if you have one or more squads geared for close combat. His two skills, the Litanies of Hate and the Honour of the Chapter are both very useful. Litanies of Hate really makes this little Marine shine in close combat, when attached to an Assault Squad, for example. He also gets the equivalent to an Iron Halo and a Power Weapon for free. A Captain with the same equipment weighs in at 100 points, which is much more expensive than a basic Reclusiarch.
Variants:


There are four variants of the Chaplain, with different gear – two of which I recommend, and two that I don’t recommend.



The Regular Chaplain


First of all, it’s the regular Chaplain, in power armour, with no bike, jump pack or similar gear. Give him a Bolt Pistol and Frag Grenades, and he’s a cheap HQ in lower-point games. He is slow though, and has to be attached to a squad in a transport to be of any real use. And since in fourth edition, you can’t assault out of vehicles unless they are open-topped or a Land Raider (or its variants), it’s basically a Land Raider Crusader that is needed here. A full ten-man Assault Squad with two Plasma Pistols and a Veteran Sergeant with a Power Fist all inside a Land Raider Crusader with the Chaplain attached will wreck havoc upon anything it hits, but the squad all together is very, very expensive and will lose its transport against armies like Imperial Guard and Tau shortly after it’s deployed on the table. Because of all of this, I do not recommend this Chaplain.



The Terminator Chaplain


Then there’s the Terminator Chaplain. There’s a new model for this one that is really, really cool, but that’s about it. A Terminator Chaplain needs a squad of Assault Terminators and again a Land Raider Crusader to be effective, since you don’t want to deep strike such a large squad and have it stand still and get shot to bits on the opponent’s turn after they land. As such, the Terminator Chaplain and his squad of Assault Terminators in a Land Raider Crusader is only an option in very large games.

Also, a Terminator Chaplain lacks the ability to sweep his enemies, which is one of the fundamental uses for him. The point cost and this lack of mobility is why I don’t recommend this Chaplain.



The Biker Chaplain


Now we’re getting to the good stuff. A Chaplain on a bike is of much use in an army that has selected the trait “Be Swift as the Wind”. A four-men bike squad, with a Veteran Sergeant with Power Weapon and two Flamers/Meltaguns, all with the beautiful skill Furious Charge accompanied by a Chaplain on a bike will do lots of damage. When it comes to outfitting the Chaplain, simply give him a Space Marine Bike, Bolt Pistol, Frag Grenades and if you can spare the points, he will really benefit from Terminator Honours. There are some arguing that a Space Marine on a bike can’t have two weapons, since he has to have one hand on the bars at all times. This is true for the Chaos Bikers, but not for Space Marine Bikers, since there's not a single line written on this issue either in the Warhammer 40 000 fourth edition rulebook or Codex: Space Marines. This leads to the fact that in this case, you get a Chaplain that could turbo-boost and get into close combat by turn two with almost any of the opponent’s squads, with six attacks on the charge with a bunch of bikers with him that will benefit from the higher initiative and strength due to Furious Charge and re-rolling their attacks. The option is quite expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as the other two variants I’ve discussed above. This is why I recommend this Chaplain to Biker armies, and maybe other armies as well (but he won’t be as effective).


The Jump Pack Chaplain


Finally, there’s the one Chaplain above them all. The Jump Pack Chaplain is superior to all other configurations out there. He should be given Terminator Honours, Jump Pack, Frag Grenades and Bolt Pistol and lead an 8 or 10 man Assault Squad with two Plasma Pistols and a Veteran Sergeant with a Power Fist. This configuration can be used in any army, if there’s an open Fast Attack-slot and will be able to hack through almost anything. The general rule regarding shooting the opponent’s close combat-units and assaulting their shooty units can be applied here for maximum effectiveness. This Chaplain can also be given Melta Bombs in case you run into a tough vehicle that the Assault Squad will have trouble against.



Master of Sanctity or Reclusiarch?


Generally, it doesn’t really matter which Chaplain you choose. The extra Leadership is pretty much useless, since the Honour of the Chapter skill makes the Chaplain and his squad fearless anyway. The extra wound can be useful sometimes, but generally, the Chaplain should be outfitted with everything (Jump Pack, Terminator Honours etc.) before you should upgrade him to a Master of Sanctity.



Tactics:


The Chaplain which is probably geared towards Close Combat if you have followed any of my advice above, should be deployed behind cover with his squad (be it Bikers or Assault Marines) and then he and his squad should advance carefully enough to be able to hold their own in close combat. Use cover to block line of sight, or use your tanks as moving hills for best effect. Once in range for assaulting, go all out and start counting dice.


If you plan to use the Jump Pack Chaplain with a squad of Assault Marines, I wouldn’t recommend deep striking them. They will be packed together the first turn and shot at with almost anything the opponent can muster.


If you’re using the Biker Chaplain, try and turbo-boost as much as possible before getting into CC, which should really only be one or perhaps two turns, to claim the invulnerable save.


Either way, if used correctly, the Chaplain is a tool of destruction and can be deployed to lead an assaulting army into battle, or be the spearhead of the counter assault in a shooty army.
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