Warhammer 40,000/5th Edition Tactics/Black Templar

Rawr. I Am on a mighty crusade of wikipage construction.

Why Play Black Templar

Black Templar are, for all intents and purposes, Angry Marines. That should be reason enough. But, if you need more...

• Cool models - The Black Templar conversion kit has lots of cool bitz and such to work with. They look far more hard core than your average marines.
• Chop shit up. - Black Templar are one of the best hand-to-hand combat armies in all of 40k, and tied for best hand to hand army of the Imperium with Blood Angels (But Templar don't have bitchtits on their armor).
• Bigger Metal Boxes - All your shit can drive around in Land Raiders if you so desire
• Drop Pods - Behave differently from those of standard marines and blood angels, allow for different tactical options.
• Non-Special Character HQ units are actually worth playing.
• The only marines angry enough to run FORWARD when being shot at.

Unit Analysis

HQ

• Emperor's Champion - You don't really *need* to take this guy (save for the fact that the rules require it), but you'd be retarded not to, for reasons that should become clear. He comes with pretty good gear, and Must take one of the four vows...
  • Accept Any Challenge... - Let's face it, why are there any other vows? Entire army gets to re-roll misses in close combat. For fifty goddamn points. It does have the disadvantage that you are forced to charge anything that they can charge which can be exploitable by crafty opponents. Makes your guys even more volatile than before. But then again, if you didn't intend to rush them in the first place, you're playing the wrong army.
  • Abhor The Witch... - Pointless. No army has that many psykers that this is worth taking. Has the advantage of being pretty cheap... but, seriously? Why bother? Unless you end up against someone who decided that the psychic Russian roulette army was fun, in which case you could also just wait for their heads to all asplode. The one army that this should have been a silver bullet against, the Grey Knights, are specifically protected by the Black Templar codex's statement that the Knights' psychic powers are holy and thus exempt. There is still the Eldar though, which are in fact a race of Psykers...even though it will only affect a handful of the pansies.
  • Suffer Not the Unclean... - The only other one that isn't total crap. +1 S in exchange for -1 I. Mixed bag, probably worth it over all, but nowhere near as good as Accept Any Challenge, so don't take it. While the net benefit of it may not be as impressive as Accept Any Challenge, It still allows you to have some degree of control over your units rather then having them charging off of objectives you want. The -1 I isn't exactly as bad as it seems. At worse, you're swinging after Marines, at best, you're swinging equal to guard but hit harder when you swing, allowing you to engage targets with more success then normal.
  • Uphold the Honour... -(AKA Cover Is For Pussies) Cheapest of all, also the worst. 6++ saves is not a fair trade for being able to use cover. This one is not only useless, it's negative use, It makes your army far, far worse than it would be with no vow.

• Chaplain - He's pretty cool. Lets his squad re-roll all missed to hits on the charge (which, if you took Accept Any Challenge [which you did], is worthless). His real advantage lies in being cheaper than a Commander with a Power Weapon and an Iron halo, which is what he, essentially, is. He also gives the squad he joins "Fearless" which is quite nice. His upgraded version has 1 more attack, and 1 more LD (which is worthless as he is fearless). Worth taking because of the Rosarius if you want all three characters to have a 4+ invuln.

• Commmander - This guy is cheap (though more expensive than a Chaplain when outfitted) and has access to a LOT of really good wargear. While he doesn't make his squad fearless, he allows the whole army to test on his LD, so spend the 15 points to upgrade him to his LD 10 version. Considering that Templar squads test whenever they take any wounds from shooting, and only run forward if they /pass/, he's an essential addition.

The Following are Special Characters.

• Chaplain Grimaldus - He's a 3-wound chaplain. Has the ability to not-die even when killed (handy) comes with 3 servitors that carry a big magic stick that, once per game, gives all nearby friendlies +1 attacks. Besides he has "grim" right in his fucking name!

• High Marshall Helbrecht - He's a 3-wound commander with some wargear, and a sword that gives him +d3 attacks in the first round of combat.

The Following can be taken by any of the HQs (Except the Emperor's Champion)

• Command Squad - Comes with a staggering array of options, in Terminator and non-terminator form. Can take the Furious Charge skill (Nice!) or counter-attack, or even infiltrate. Can get a few specialists, from the apothecary, to the standard bearer, to the company champion, and pretty much any model can carry some kind of special gear. See Terminator entry for more info on the options available to the Terminator command squad.

The generic Chaplain and commander characters have access to a large armory, some of the most noteworthy entries of which include:

• Adamantine Mantle. This grants your character Eternal Warrior, and is worth its weight in gold.
• Bionics. Dirt cheap. 1/6 chance your character will stand back up when otherwise dead. Lulzworthy.
• Teleport Homer. These are mad-handy for calling in the terminators in opportune locations.
• Terminator Honors. Give your guy an extra attack. 4A base? yes please.
• Holy Orb of Antioch. It's a holy hand grenade. You never know when a fucking rabbit will try to bite your goddamn head off.
• Frag Grenades. You don't get them standard. Make sure you pay the 1pt for them. Otherwise, life will be sad.

Elite

• Dreadnought - Mean, lean, walking machines. They can crush people, shoot pretty well, and can get mad-tough when upgraded with Extra Armor and venerable. Their best weapons are the Assault Cannon, and, if drop-podding, the Multi-melta. The Lascannon is a little pricey, but can also work. I do not suggest replacing the power fist with a missile launcher, as being able to punch people in the face is far more rewarding. Drop-podding them helps them make it to the enemy intact, and lets them threaten people with their fists and meltas.

• Sword Brethren Squad - I've never bothered with these guys, and I can't see why anyone would. They're more expensive initiates (that don't score) and you MUST buy a skill for at +3 points a model. They end up costing 50% more than your initiates, and aren't 50% better. They have the same options as initiates (1 special weapon, 1 heavy weapon Or special close combat weapon). Plus, can have "terminator Honors" to each gain an additional attack (but it's crazy expensive) and can have as many storm shields (FAQ'd to 3++ all the time, but got more expensive) as your little heart desires. I suggest you give them a skip.

• Sword Brethren Terminators - They're terminators. Who can take a skill (Furious charge or tank hunters) and can get 2 heavy weapons. A squad of 5 with 2x Assault Cannons is quite nice for a little bit of short range dakka. Teleporting them in is recommended, as they're not worth buying a Land Raider for, and their guns have a fairly short range.

• Sword Brethren Assault Terminators - Assault terminators. Furious Charge is a must here. Take a couple of Thunder Hammers to deal with the big things (fex's, tanks) and put them in a Land Raider Crusader. Point this unit at anything within 18 inches and watch it disappear. Don't leave home without an LRC and don't teleport or drop in--you want them on the table turn 1.

• Techmarine - *cough* has this guy ever been good? Actually, this guy isn't horrible. He is, essentially, another Commander, who doesn't have Rites of Battle, but does have 1 free power fist attack, and the ability to (occasionally) repair vehicles. If you really want to give him a go, I suggest tooling him up as you would a commander (for close combat) and just sticking him in a squad as an additional power-weapon/fist wielder. Skip the servitors and all that junk.

Troop

• Crusader Squad - This is it. This is your troop choice. You get these guys and nothing else. Rejoice. They're basically tactical marines (initiates), who can also have scouts (neophytes) in their squad. Neophytes are great, they're cheap bodies to throw onto incoming power fists, or krak missiles. The initiates can be armed with either Bolt Pistol + Close Combat Weapon, or Bolter. Neophytes can be armed with Bolt Pistol + Close Combat Weapon, or shotgun. Additionally, you can take 1 special weapon, and either 1 heavy weapon or 1 special close combat weapon. A few ways you can outfit them:
  • Small, shooting squad. 5 Initiates (with bolters). 1 Neophyte (with shotgun). 1 Lascannon. 1 Plasmagun. You can throw them in a Razorback if you so desire to add a shooting box to your army.
  • Rhino squad: 5 Initiates with BP+CCW 5 more guys (either Neophytes or Initiates) 1 Power Fist, 1 Meltagun (or flamer) frag grenades, in a rhino with extra armor. Alternatively, this squad can mount in a Drop Pod.
  • Rhino Squad Mk.II. 8 Initiates + 2 Neophytes with same loadout as above. The initiates serve as good throw away guys for that power fist or rouge lascannon shot.
  • Man mob. 10 Initiates and 10 Neophytes. Doesn't really matter how you arm them at this point, they're walking across the table, and probably want to punch things when they get there. Or, cut the squad down to 15 models, and throw them in a Land Raider Crusader (lots of points)
  • Wanna-be Tactical Squad. 10 guys with bolters. Meltagun or flamer. Power fist. Rhino with extra armor. You could also put them in a drop pod.

Fast Attack

• Attack Bike Squadron - What are you, guard? These guys aren't for hitting things so move right along. As for regular bikers, they cost twice as much and can't hold objectives. A rhino squad is a better bet every time.

• Assault Squad - Fantastic, but you need two squads to really get the most out of them and that's 500 points without the characters you need to lead them. Great fun, but you have to commit to it. Note: unlike vanilla assault squads, these guys dole out meltabombs like candy on halloween. For ~135 points you can have a 5 man tank eating suicide squad. Unfortunately, Accept Any Challenge... does not apply to grenade attacks.

• Land Speeder Squadron - Land Speeder Typhoons are worthless. They were before the new FAQs, maybe. Now they're cheap, fast, far-shooting MONSTERS at dirt's price. Tornados either anti-infantry or anti-tank, are very useful because this army does not have great anti-vehicle firepower and the assault-cannon variant is great for any army. Take two.

Heavy Support

• Land Raider - Carries 10, shoots lascannons. It doesn't really know if it wants to be a transport, or a battle tank... You're probably better off getting your Lascannons from somewhere else, and your transportation from something else as well.

• Land Raider Crusader - This is how you transport terminators (which you want to, unless you hate getting the charge every time, or surviving, or winning, or breathing) as it holds 16 models (8 terminators) it also puts out an alright volume of dakka at short range. Oh, yeah, it's also essential to the background of your chapter, and is available as a dedicated transport for your freakin' troop units. That being said, it's expensive, and you don't absolutely need it if you don't field terminators. It's fun if you want to just deploy a 16 man squad of "whack their faces in" Crusader squad too.

• Predator Destructor - Fairly expensive, costs more than the Codex: Vanilla variant. Give it Heavy Bolter sponsons for infantry hunting, or LasCannon sponsons for light tank hunting, though at that point why not just buy an Annihilator? Either way, Extra Armor is probably a good idea. Heck, just go for Power of the Machine spirit while you're at it. It's a Marine tank, so you have to take two to be effective.

• Predator Annihilator - Pretty expensive, but cheaper than the Codex: Ultramarines variant. Give it LasCannon sponsors, and possible Power of the Machine Spirit if you want it to keep on shooting. Plop it in a corner, and shoot at other metal boxes. Take two.

• Vindicator - This thing's pretty good. it draws a lot of fire, is fairly tough (AV13 to the front) and has a big, nasty cannon. Best bet, Give it Power of the Machine Spirit. And take two.

On all vehicles...

• Smoke launchers are a MUST. You will get shaken at some point in time, so even shooty tanks can benefit from a turn of cover.
• Keeping mobile is essential, always take Extra Armor (if not Power of the Machine spirit) and, if you plan on crashing through the shrubbery, a dozer blade.
• Searchlights are 1 point, so if you end up with a 998 point list, throw 'em in. They don't get used much (one turn of one scenario) but hey, you never know... and what else are you going to do with 2 points? Crusader seals? Fuck that shit.

Transports

Drop Pod-Drops. Doesn't come in all at once like our 5th edition cousins, and so plays very differently. Various good uses for them include a tank-hunter dreadnaught for mechanized armies (it will meet you on the other side of the table) and a small squad to grab objectives or back up assault marines. Not for beginners. And don't don't DON'T put your Terminators in them. They belong in an LRC, and in squads of 7.

Rhino- Your Metal Box. Either you're doing horde, in which case nobody will be in these, or you aren't, in which case nobody is in these. Smoke is about as important as the treads, extra armor won't hurt.

Land Raider Crusader-As above, this should be carrying large squads of terminators. You can put a 16-man squad in one if you really want to, I guess. Fielding an entire army mounted in LRC's and only LRC's wins you three (3) Black Templar Points, redeemable for exciting prizes.

Building Your Army

With Glue and Paint, preferably.

Seriously though... Your army is going to be focused on close combat so, the majority of your points should be in things like power weapons and power fists. However, it's generally a good idea to have 15-25% of your list be some kind of fire support id est vindicators, predators, shooty dreadnoughts et cetera.

Bolt pistols and chainswords are for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The extra attack makes Accept Any Challenge all the more deliciously deadly. The battleforce box will supply you with a pile of chainswords from the assault squad kit. If you don't have the Black Templars conversion kit: 1) You are doing it wrong. 2) You are missing out on sweet Bolt pistols and chainswords. 3) You are a dumbass and you are still doing it wrong. In total from the two boxes you'll get about 11 or 12 Chainsword and bolt pistol pairs. If your neckbeard "friends" at the FLGS don't give a fuck, you can use power weapons as CCWs in dire situations.

Tactics

CHARGE!! Every Marine Rerolls Misses In Close Combat. What Else Do You Expect?

In practical terms, don't try to play any stand-off shooty strategies, Black Templars aren't that kind of army. Try to move your infantry forward in such a way that you can always take advantage of Zeal rolls by getting close to a unit it can assault the next turn. Forgetting for a moment about this mechanic can result in units being kited away from the bulk of the enemy for the whole battle, stuck off in some corner trying to catch a couple of Guardian Jetbikes and squish them, instead of wailing on the Firedragons or Farseers.

In small to average games (around 1000 points), Stuffing your HQ in rhinos with your crusader squads isn't a bad idea. This diffuses their fire magnet propensities and gives your scoring units a powerful first strike if you're against I4 enemies. Lightning claws (You are taking a pair, right?) at I5 with re-rolls to hit and wound? Terminator Honors too? (That's 6 attacks, 7 on the charge, motherfucker.) Well... That ork mob just picked the wrong squad to mess with because, it's going to be swept like a bitch. (In case your thick skull didn't get it: this is a fantastic build for a marshal.) The Emprah's Champ is awesome in this role as well.