Editing Warhammer 40,000/9th Edition Tactics/Space Marines (section)

======Special Characters======

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*'''Master of Sanctity [[Astorath]]:''' {{W40kKeyword|Master of Sanctity}} with {{W40kKeyword|Jump pack}}, with 1 better Sv (2+), A (4), W (5), and hilariously BS (2+) for shooting his bolt pistol and grenades. His axe is now S+2 AP-3 D3. He has the basic Chaplain aura and an additional one that makes death company auto-pass morale tests. He knows Litany of Hate plus any two Litanies, and can cast any two, like any other Master of Sanctity, but he ''also'' knows the Mass of Doom Litany, which is radically different from previous editions.  If it's inspiring, select a {{W40kKeyword|Blood Angel Core}} or {{W40kKeyword|Blood Angel Character}} (excluding vehicles) within 6" of him. No matter what happens, it gets +1 to melee hit rolls.  Roll 1D6. On a 1, a model in that unit is destroyed (which is why you should ''never'' actually use this on a character). On a 2-5, nothing else happens. On a 6, the unit also gains a 4++ invuln until your next command phase. The reason to choose this over Litany of Hate (which would otherwise be much better) is that you sling it onto the unit and let it charge off, rather than needing to keep up to maintain the bubble, so Astorath's other two Litanies should ''always'' be Canticle of Hate (if the +1 to charge rolls, since the +2 overlaps with your Chapter Tactic, is critical, which it probably is, since your target is going to run away where Litany of Hate can't reach it... and since your target will likely die, that +3 to consolidate can be clutch) and Exhortation of Rage.  Odds are basically 0 you'll want the Mass of Doom and Exhortation of Rage on the ''same'' unit, but you can't pray the same Litany twice. Note that Mass of Doom is functionally the same ability as your Sanguinary Ancients have, only worse, since it can fail and it can kill (although the chance for a 4++ isn't awful), although they do stack.
**Unfortunately, Mass of Doom's risk is better on larger, cheaper units, but its benefit is best if you're BS4+, which means your models are expensive.  There's no perfect solution, but you can hedge your bets by keeping a Sanguinary Priest (''with Jump Pack'') nearby - Mass of Doom happens before Movement, so he'll need to keep up with target unit, but with him on tap, you can Combat Revival strat the poor sucker Astorath killed at the end of Movement.  If you don't care about his blood chalice, you can even deep strike him in for the revival.
** Astorath can be overshadowed by Lemartes' ability to re-roll charges, but at least there are several ways to get charge re-rolls - that Sanguinary Priest you were just told to have on hand can be carrying the Icon of the Angel, for example.
** Unfortunately, Litanies need to be used in your command phase, but the deep strike happens at the end of the movement phase, so you can't use it on a unit that is deep striking this turn, nor can you use it while deep striking Astorath himself.  However, there is a stratagem which can get around this restriction in Codex: Space Marines called Commanding Oratory; its only flaw is that you can't use it unless Astoratch hasn't already prayed, so if he's already on the table, you can't prep Canticle of Hate, then let the Mass of Doom target Deep Strike in, then Mass of Doom them with the strat.
*'''Chief Apothecary [[Corbulo|Brother Corbulo]]:''' Corbulo is a Chief Apothecary/Sanguinary Priest. 25 points buys you +1A (4), +1W (5), hilariously +1BS (2+) for shooting his bolt pistol and grenades, and a weirdly nerfed sword - he goes from a standard SP's SU AP-1 D1 A+1 chainsword to S+1 AP-2 D1, but since he has +1A baked into his statline, his melee sees an overall buff.  He really is a Chief Apothecary, able to heal twice, which is theoretically where 15 of those 25 points went.  His chalice is both better and worse than a normal one, as his is a bubble - meaning he can deep strike/disembark and it'll work just fine, but he has to be within 6" of the unit ''at combat time'' instead of being able to slap the unit and send it packing.  The reason this is a problem is that he has no jump pack or option to take one, and his mandatory Warlord Trait is absurdly shitty on him (re-roll one hit, wound, and save per turn on a pure support dude is quite awful), and as a Character you can't give him a relic, so it can be mighty challenging making him work.  Also, his aura is ''mandatory'', so if you leave him next to something that's actually enjoying the Devastator or Tactical Doctrines, he'll tell you to go fuck yourself.
*'''[[Erasmus Tycho|Captain Tycho]]:''' Tycho changed a bit with the codex. Like usual, he is a captain with a master-crafted boltgun like other captains, but it has a meltagun strapped to it, and he has a 2+ save and doesn't like orks, gaining +1S and +1D against them. He also has an incredibly terrible melee weapon, Dead Man's Hand: S User AP-3 D1, which is a -1S power sword.
**Actually building him from a stock Captain can't be done, but he's functionally a foot-slogging Captain who got to keep his master-crafted bolter when he bought a combimelta, with a storm shield ''and'' an... ''ok'' melee weapon, all for less than an actual SS/Combi-Melta Captain would cost.  But why would you ever do that and not give the model a jump pack?  Don't field Tycho.
**'''Tycho the Lost:''' Edgy Tycho now doesn't help his friends. His re-roll aura no longer works for any non-DC units, but gains the Black Rage for a 6+++ and +1A on the charge, and he also gains Death Visions like all DC Captains, and he drops another 25 points in cost - but why would you do that?  If your goal is paying HQ taxes cheaply, you can take a Sanguinary Priest for 1 point less, a Techmarine for 8 points less, or a Lieutenant for 10 points less, all of whom provide actual utility - and the Black Rage doesn't really impress on a model carrying a weapon that shabby. Don't field Tycho.
*'''Chief Librarian [[Mephiston]]:''' The only ''named'' Primaris character for BAs, Mephiston is similar to last edition, with a bullshit statline of M7" WS2+ BS2+ S5 T5 W6 A5 Ld9 Sv2+/5+++.  On top of that, his melee weapon is a Dd3 Power Fist with no to-hit penalty, meaning, since he hits at S10 and has +1 to wound from your Chapter Tactic, he hits and wounds just about everything in the game on a 2+; that BS2+ is for his Plasma Pistol, which you'll never overcharge, and his grenades.  He has the standard Chief Librarian ability set of Cast 2 Deny 2 Know 3+Smite and +1 to Deny within 12", but he's locked to the Sanguinary discipline and can't be given any relics, so he's actually a worse Psyker than if you build a Chief Librarian yourself from a generic librarian - plus, he's locked into the WL trait for Always Strike First, so he can't take the Chief Librarian +1 to cast.  Knowing 3 Sanguinary powers is awkward, since they're in three sets of 2 (2 worse-than-Smites, 2 self-only buffs, and 2 buffs you want on something else), so what makes the most sense is either all three buffs he can legally cast on himself (Quickening, Wings, and Shield) if you just want a melee beatstick or the two he can cast on others paired with the better of the two self buffs for getting himself into position to cast (Wings, Shield, and Unleash Rage).  In either case he's in direct competition with simply making yourself a Chief Librarian Dreadnought, and he'll generally come up lacking.
*'''Chapter Master Commander [[Dante]]:''' Despite being the "I'm too old for this shit" character, Dante is still a beatstick. Coming in with the classic wargear of The Axe Mortalis (a relic blade), an Inferno Pistol, a Storm Shield, and a jump pack, Dante hasn't really changed much, but does have W6 and A6. A lucky lascannon can still kill him, but he is a whole bunch tougher against small or even medium arms fire. Dante loses out on his cool tactical and jump pack warlord rules and now has the standard Chapter Master re-roll command option, which is... alright, and retains Rites of Battle, both of which gain range due to his Warlord trait. Since he's the fucking big cheese #1 space marine of all the Imperium, he can perform a single Epic Deed stratagem free of charge per battle, and gains an additional CP if he is your warlord. Further, his Death Mask of Sanguinius is so terrifying, every attack roll against this model is reduced by 1, not just melee swings. 
**He'll pay you a CP to be your Warlord, but he's locked into the WL trait that makes his Captain and Chapter Master abilities 3" longer, and you can't give him a second Warlord Trait, so consider carefully.
**'''Primaris Dante:''' The leaks are true, Dante sold out to the Rubicon Primaris. Aside from the bump in Toughness and Wounds however, he's not any different from before.
*'''Chaplain [[Lemartes]]:''' A jump chaplain with +1A (4) and -1AP on his Crozius (-2).  He has the Black Rage, but curiously not Death Visions.  He has a 6" aura letting DC BA Core and Characters re-roll charges, and his standard chaplain aura works on BA DC instead of BA Core (meaning he can give his Ld9 to your DC Lieutenant, if that's helpful somehow).  His litanies are nerfed to only work on DC in addition to any other restrictions they have.  Like a Master of Sanctity, he knows and can recite two litanies in addition to Litany of Hate, but he has the DC keyword, not Master of Sanctity.  Mostly, he's not as useful as making your own Jump Master of Sanctity with the Icon of the Angel, but he can be taken in addition to the relic (and, in fact, in addition to a Master of Sanctity!), and having the black rage on him makes him entertaining in melee.  Since his re-roll charges aura works on himself, his biggest flaw is not carrying a power fist, as he's a poster boy for the three litanies that rely on him charging into melee to be useful (Litany of Hate for re-rolling misses, but he's WS2+; Litany of Faith for 5+++ vs Mortals, but he has Black Rage for 6+++ already, and so do his charges; and Mantra of Strength for +1 S, A, and D, but as mentioned, he's not carrying a Power Fist to double the S benefit and give him a hit penalty for Hate to fix).  Still, Litany of Hate is great for Thunder Hammer Death Company, and neither of the other two are ''useless'' on him.  Since when you DS you need to use the Commanding Oratory strat to get a Litany out, usually your best choice will be Litany of Hate for buffing BS4+ DC.  That's his best trick, since a DC Captain with Icon of the Angel only provides re-rolling of 1s to hit, and a non-DC Chapter Master has no strat for getting his ability out when he DSes.
*'''[[Sanguinor|The Sanguinor]]:''' Our special snowflake is now a very pointy snowflake. Similar to Dante for 25 points less, with -1 wound and attack, but his weapon is AP-4 vs Dante's AP-3 in exchange for only S+2 D2 compared to Dante's S+3 D2 (the extra point of AP is ''better'', of course, since we're talking about S6 vs S7 on someone who already has +1 to wound), and causes an extra mortal wound on an unmodified 6 to wound. He retains his aura of fervour, granting +1 attack to {{W40kKeyword|Blood Angels Core}} and {{W40kKeyword|Character}} units within 6" that doesn't stack with Shock Assault (which is like making Shock Assault always on, only worse if you have an ability that makes Shock Assault grant more than 1 attack, which Blood Angels don't currently have but Space Wolves do, so it might come up in the future), making him a natural fit with Sanguinary Guard/Vanguard Veterans as warlord. He may also fall back from combat and still charge that turn, has a 6" Heroic Intervention range, and is wearing a Death Mask for -1 to be hit in melee.  Perhaps his most noticeable ability is that after the enemy successfully charges you he can deep strike directly into melee with them and counts as having heroically intervened when he does so, which is a ''great'' way to ruin your opponent's day.  Don't forget, he's BS2+ with those grenades he's totally carrying in those pockets he totally has... somewhere.
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*'''Chapter Master [[Gabriel Seth]]:''' Gabriel is a Captain with +1W and +1A and the new Chapter Master ability of selecting one {{W40Kkeyword|Flesh Tearers Core}} unit or CHARACTER and allowing them to re-roll ''all'' failed hits (which doesn't matter for 2+ models, but is twice as good for 3+ models); his melee weapon is a Thunder Hammer with no inaccuracy penalty, and he carries a Bolt Pistol.  His aura also lets {{W40Kkeyword|Flesh Tearers}} CORE units within 6” to re-roll 1s. Whirlwind of Gore has been reworked and now states that at the end of the fight phase, if Seth is within engagement range of any enemy units, he may fight again. This pushes his output up to a potential 12 attacks (14 if in assault doctrine, Sup Kharn think your fucking badass??????). Lord of Slaughter has also been reworked. It is now a 6” aura that says CORE {{W40Kkeyword|Flesh Tearers}} units who roll 6’s to wound with a melee attack do an additional point of damage. He also received a point increase up to 160. Rip and Tear! No seriously, this guy is very good now. Take him alongside Chainsword armed Vets or Death Company and maximize their D1 attacks like the White Scars. Functionally, Flesh Tearers with Seth now gain more A, better AP, better S, and more D. Every component of an assault weapon is increased. 
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*'''Chapter Master [[Malakim Phoros]] (FW Legends):''' Holy fuck, how did THIS character become the most overwritten entry on this page? Yeeted into Forgeworld Legends, this guy is a 145 point Chapter Master with the usual 4++ Iron Halo, Captain Rites of Battle Aura, and updated Chapter Master ability. His statline is that of a Captains with +1A and +1W. Lord of Ruin rules lets him re-roll any wound roll of 1 and Rage Unto Death lets him fall back and charge. He has a 12" range inferno pistol, and the Glaive of Lamentation: S+3, AP-4, D3, -1 to hit rolls. 
** The Dec 2020 FAQ saw the removal of his Stealth-Armour rule, so he's no longer an angry Raven Guard wannabe. All his rules are for you to Rip and Tear, so cram him into a transport that allows him to do that.
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