Editing Warhammer 40,000/6th Edition Tactics/Space Marines (section)

====Special Characters====
Space Marine players also have access to a variety of special characters, most of which change how the whole army works. They're all fairly expensive, and, as such, should be viewed as force multipliers rather than stand-alone units.

'''Ultramarines'''
*'''Marneus Augustus Calgar''' -  Aka "Big Papa Smurf", is the most expensive character in the codex, and also the most powerful in hand-to-hand, other than Lysander. He's a Chapter Master with double power-fists, an ''AP 2'' storm bolter , Eternal Warrior, Titanic Might gives him Tank Hunters in CC and His main power is "God of War" which lets you use a Combat Doctrine twice. He can also swap-out his artificer armour for Terminator armor (allowing him to deepstrike) and even gets a free teleport homer, it should be noted he can still Sweeping Advance in terminator armour. He also has a power sword, you know, in case you don't want to hit at Initiative 1, <s>but nobody ever uses it.</s> It's worth noting that his powerfists are NOT specialist weapons, meaning that if some dickish Eldar player tries to disarm him to reduce his attacks, use the sword and a powerfist and keep on fisting that Avatar. He also has the most useless rule that lets him take 3 Honour Guard units which is pointless outside of Apocalypse games, if only because ''no one'' has that many spare points lying around. If you've noticed, pretty much his entire arsenal makes a mockery out of armor saves, even his ranged weapons. Also lets you choose to pass or fail any and all Morale checks (great if someone charge your devastator centurions).  Still, the Papa is horribly expensive for what he does and the new codex upped his cost.
** That said he does have a few new bluffs to make up for the points raise, namely the fact he can allow you to use an Ultramarine power twice and you roll the warlord traits three times picking one.  Meaning you could have twinlink everything for THREE TURNS.
**'''Alternate Take:'''  Calgar should be seriously considered for any Ultramarine player out there.  Trying to make a similar Chapter Master will end up costing about the same without Calgar's exceptional special rules.  Being able to pass or fail any morale check combined with ATSKNF is one of the best abilities in the game.  Need to make sure that one marine stays on that objective last turn?  Don't want to run off the board turn one since 2 marines died in shooting?  Calgar stares them down and makes them stay.  If you are clever, you can even use it to get squads out of sticky situations without penalty by failing clutch leadership rolls such as a morale check after taking 25% casualties after going to ground.  Pretend your Imperial Guard for a bit.  Hell, his Honour Guard rule can even be used to take 3 minimum size squads and give them options to either attack the 3 man squad and ignore your scoring units or get assaulted by a fairly nasty cheap CC squad.  Using a combat doctrine twice allows for you to deal with threats you army may not have the best tools to deal with.  Flying circus?  Devastor doctrine twice.  Fighting Tau?  Assault doctrine twice.  General fire fight?  Pop tactical doctrine again.  And you don't have to choose which you need until you use it the second time.  Calgar relies on clever usage to be effective, just like he should be.  Yes, he's expensive, don't forget that, but he is costed right for all the buffs he gives your army unlike other special characters.  (Looking at you Khan...)
**One argument made against Calgar is his price, especially when you consider that you have to put him in a land raider for him to be effective. However, remember that as long as you win the game, whether or not the opponents shiny vindicator/carnifex/whatever kills you guys doesn't matter, and essentially nothing can compete with Marneus Calgar and an assault terminator squad in a land raider redeemer. Rush them onto a contested objective late game, destroy the opposition, and then next turn hop back in the ride. That objective is yours, whether they like it or not.
*'''Cato Sicarius''' - A somewhat expensive Captain. He allows one *tactical* squad to take either Counter-Attack, Infiltrate, Scout, or Tank Hunters, and gives you a +1 to Reserve Rolls. He's stuck with the crappy one-use Furious Charge warlord trait. Cato is pretty average in hand-to-hand combat. Being a bit tougher than most Space Marine characters (2+ armor, Feel No Pain) and having the option to make a single attack that causes Instant Death. But other than that, he's just got 4 power-weapon attacks. He's got a nice laundry list of utility, great durability, and fair combat prowess, though it comes at a fairly high price. He also has the benefit of being the Captain of the 2nd Company so 99% of Smurf players are already using his Company Heraldry on their models and therefore he should be taken in all Ultramarine armies, unless its one of the 3 Ultramarine armies that isn't 2nd Company. By the way, his loadout is the default loadout for 4th Edition Captains, so he is somewhat nostalgic. And he is a glory whore, really.

*'''Varro Tigurius''' - Tigurius has gotten cheaper in the 6th edition codex while retaining the ability to re-roll reserves. He has access to all the BRB disciplines including the much vaunted Divination and can also re-roll psychic powers which makes him much more likely to get a set of powers that you want. He's still your only option for Mastery Level 3 from the base Codex, and his exclusive Psychic Hood lets him re-roll failed psychic tests. If you make him your warlord then his warlord power also lets him grant one unit re-rolls to hit in the shooting phase once per game which isn't amazing, but always useful. It may be best to keep him behind the lines where he can place numerous blessings on your units and improve reserve rolls as his baseline stats are relatively fragile. A good supporting HQ.

*'''Ortan Cassius''' -  Special character Chaplain. He's pretty much a normal, power-armored Chaplain, but at T6 with feel no pain and a master-crafted combi-flamer with the boltgun having the "poisoned (2+)" special rule, though it's only S1. If you're planning on taking a Chaplain in power armor (or even terminator armor), it might as well be this guy, he's only 10 points more expensive than a stock Chaplain with Terminator, and a lot more survivable. He and his unit now cause Fear thanks to his Warlord Trait.  Make a squad with him and Calgar for some majority toughness dickery. 

'''Imperial Fists'''
*'''Darnath Lysander''' - One of the toughest kids on the block. Lysander is a Space Marine Captain, but has Eternal Warrior, 4 wounds, Terminator armor, a Storm Shield and a S10 Thunder Hammer. His utility has mostly been lost from the previous edition, and his price has been increased by 30 points, but the destructive power of Lysander is undeniable as very few units in the space marine codex can deliver strength 10 close combat attacks and take the equivalent in return. It is worth noting that Lysander also allows all friendly Imperial fists within 12" to reroll morale and pinning checks, including himself, which ensures your battleline remains intact and friendly units are always on hand to respond to any changes in the field. Seriously though, his unwieldy initiative and 4 attacks mean he won't be clearing tarpits very well, but in a challenge, he has been proven one of the greatest character slayers in the game. He can go toe-to-toe with Calgar, Moloc, the Swarmlord, or Abaddon with a good chance of winning.   

*'''Pedro Kantor''' - While Pedro boasts the same statline as a regular chapter master, his viability is assured in the numerous support special rules he carries, including the ability to treat sternguard veterans as scoring units, which allows these flexible units a greater degree of use on the field, holding down any objectives they might have cleared rather than waiting on a troops choice to move in and pick it up. In addition, all friendly units in his detachment have the Preferred Enemy (Orks) special rule, and all models within 12" gain +1 attack, amplifying the combat potential of your specialists, such as vanguard vets, terminators and honor guard. In terms of equipment, Pedro suffers from the lack of artificer armour and eternal warrior, making the character rather squishy in comparison to other special characters out there, this of course is evident in close combat, where his powerfist is more of a hindrance than a boon. Alternatively, Pedro can sit just outside of close combat, as one of his main strengths is his storm bolter, a 4 shot weapon with an AP of 4 which allows Pedro to suppress light units and deal quite a few casualties to any unit in the open, this is topped by his orbital bombardment, allowing him to deliver a high explosive payload on any unit you see fit.      

'''Black Templars'''
*'''High Marshal Helbrecht''' - New to the Vanilla Marines codex, Helbrecht is the High Marshal(Chapter Master) of the Black Templars. He has the stats of a regular chapter master with artificer armor, a combi-melta, a master-crafted power sword that gives him d3 bonus attacks on the charge, and the Imperium's Sword Warlord trait. However he lacks an Orbital Bombardment. His wargear isn't anything special, but he's pretty point efficient for what you get. With the bonus from his sword he can get an ungodly [[eversor|seven attacks on a charge]], meaning he's likely to [[Rip and Tear|eat most of a squad]] if someone doesn't accept his challenge. His special rule Crusader of Wrath, grants him and all other space marines hatred and fleet for one assault phase, making for a [[WAAAGH|truly horrific army-wide charge]]. His sword is only AP3 so he'll still get bogged down by 2+ saves outside of challenges where he'll have rending. Also, due to the rules for Hatred units already locked in close combat will not get the bonus from it when he uses Crusade of Wrath, so don't expect it to break your units out of tar pits they're already stuck in.

*'''Chaplian Grimaldus''' - Another Black Templars character.  He's gotten slightly cheaper, has another wound, and has It Will Not Die which replaces his previous Only in Death Does Duty End rule.  He also has the Zealot rule and projects it to any Black Templar units within 6" of him.  His servitors also project a 6+ invulnerable save to any Black Tempar within 6" of him.  He's not a frontline dueling character but he works well if used with Helbrecht to make your Crusader Squads enter BEAST MODE.

*'''Emperor's Champion''' - The third Black Templars character. He retains most of his original stats and has all the same wargear. The Black Sword is AP2 Master crafted, and his armor gives him 2+4++. He is no longer mandatory for lists over 750 and isn't restricted to joining troop squads, but you no longer get to take vows. He always issues and accepts challenges, and can now choose between two stances when in challenges. One makes the black sword a Relic Blade with unwieldy, the second makes him cause instant death on a roll of 6 to wound. For 140 points he's essentially a nerfed Captain, with -1 to BS, W, and A. '''Except that he comes with an AP2 sword and he doesn't need BS, he's not going to be shooting.'''He's a good choice if you want a substitute to handle an assault that the Captain is too busy to, but in most cases he's too expensive to justify that. You're only gonna take him if you wanna play a fluffy list.

'''Raven Guard'''
*'''Kayvaan Shrike''' - A Space Marine Captain with a Jump Pack, and two Master-Crafted Lightning Claws (which also have Rending, so he won't be stuck fighting a Dreadnought). Shrike himself has Stealth and Infiltrate, but can only join Jump Infantry units before deploying. A captain with the same wargear (and artificer armor) costs less, so you must carefully consider how valuable the special rules he lends (to himself and one squad) are.
** <b>NOTE:</b> Shrike has a Jump Pack but a Command Squad cannot take Jump Packs, either put him in an Assault Squad for mediocrity or a Vanguard Squad for Awesome <s>But Impracticality</S>. While taking biker command squad retinue sound good at first glance, bikers get a 5+ jink save, and Shrike does not - so he would be blasted off the table in a single volley of focus-fire, and as previously stated, Shrike may only join with Jump Infantry before deploying, meaning that you will need to join during the course of the game, so good luck pulling that off.
**For people who can think for more than 5 seconds: Shrike is about subversion and misdirection. He can infiltrate a Vanguard Vet squad near an opponents weak point in their front line or on a flank to wreak havoc in their back field. He is not designed to go toe-to-toe with Abaddon. He exploits weakness in the true Raven Guard way. Go hunt some skimmers, Long Fangs or the like then cut back in and slaughter their front line from behind the moment your line connects. Shrike requires more prowess than a player starting out to use properly.
*'''Shadow Captain Korvydae''': One of the few non-Badab War Forgeworld characters, he is a Captain with TH+Jump Pack+BP+IH, and he and his squad have hit and run. On top of this, he makes assault marines troops so long as you have a squad of scouts in the army. Not a bad choice, all things considered. Pair him with shrike if you want an entire army of fleet, troops ASM.

'''Salamanders'''
*'''Vulkan He'Stan''' -  Previously one of the most commonly used special characters, Vulkan is now Salamanders-only. Vulkan has the same stat-line as a Captain (while not actually *being* a Captain currently in the fluff, he was one before becoming Forgefather, so he does have access to a Command Squad). Vulkan is tricked out for up-close-and-dirty face-bashing with essentially the best gear possible (Artificer armor, 3+ Invulnerable Save, Master-crafted Relic Blade, and a Heavy Flamer). Use him to kill any and all infantry short of TEQ. His Warlord Trait, Iron Resolve, adds +1 to combat results for his unit, further enhancing his effectiveness. He adds onto the "Chapter Tactics (Salamanders)" rule by making meltaguns, combi-meltas, and multi-meltas master-crafted. Enemy vehicle crews will shit themselves at the very thought of drop podding melta squads. Taking him results in a chain reaction — he is only worth it if you ''really'' focus on melta weapons, which are short-ranged. Being short-ranged means your army is open to assault, thus you need combat units (read: Assault Terminators) yourself to defend. So, Vulkan drastically changes the way you approach list building, even more so than the base Salamander Chapter Tactics rule does. 
:*There is also an exploit using RAW concerning the master-crafting of combi-meltas.  If you take He'Stan and Sternguard and give them combi-meltas then the special ammunition portion of the boltgun part of the combi-weapon is also technically master-crafted as well.   
*'''Pellas Mir’San (Forgeworld)''': Captain with WS 7, artificer armor, an AP2 Power Weapon and combi-flamer. He has some interesting tricks in close combat, and can do some Calgar-like morale magick with his squad. For 40 points less than He'stan, he could be a rather good choice.
*'''Harath Shen (Forgeworld)''': Master apothecary with artificer armor, plasma pistol and power weapon. For 135 pts. Shen allow you to put FNP 4+ to the squad you need it. While he has no invuln, you get to reroll Look Out Sir rolls. If you ever want 2+/3++ FNP assault terminators (and who doesn’t?), this guy delivers. Also has a really unique warlord trait where you can get victory points back for destroyed units within 6" on a 5+, but he's unlikely to ever be your warlord with Ld9.
*'''Bray’Arth Ashmatle (Forgeworld)''': Dreadnought HQ, forged by primarch Vulkan himself! Bray’Arth is a hell of a monster: with his front armor 13, 4 HP, venerable and immune to ALL extra dice roll to armor penetration (melta, armourbane, rending, Kharn, fucking Vindicare turbopenetrator shot, etc.) he is almost impossible to kill, without [[Railgun|S10 weapon]] or some weird shit like haywire or gauss. He is armed with two DCCW’s with inbuilt heavy flamers, which also can count as single twin-linked meltagun, and he can forgo one close combat attack to auto hit anything in BtB contact with S5 AP4, so he can fuck up near anything, from tanks and monsters (though not as much now do to the Smash attacks monsters can do now, even stuff that couldn't scratch him before can now do a S10 attack on him, though it does half their attacks), to the big tarpit blobs. Of course, he is extremely expensive at both points and pounds, but he totally worth every point and penny. Put him into Lucius pattern drop pod. Drop him in to the middle of enemy gunline. Laugh maniacally. Field him against [[Bjorn]] and make compensating jokes. Beware DE Witches, Swooping Hawks and... Fire Warriors in melee - sure, his burning wrath could kill a lot of them, but at initiative of 1, which might be too late after he got haywired.

'''White Scars'''
*'''Kor'Sarro Khan''' - This crazy Mongol adds onto "Chapter Tactics (White Scars)" by giving every '''bike squad''' and '''squad with a dedicated transport''' scout, which in turn allows for outflanking, allowing them to come in from the side of the table; additionally, he has Furious Charge, ''(does not confer to is unit)'' Other than that, he's an average Captain (who can be upgraded to ride a bike) whose power weapon just so happens to cause Instant Death on a roll of 6. He's an awesome character for a White Scars army. Outflanking is also a gamble if you take Kor'Sarro Khan in a No Bikes Mech army, screwing up the outflank rolls can put all your scoring units on one side and anti-tank fire will make them all footslog. But goddammit, an outflanking squad of Assault Terminators in a Land Raider? Hell yeah.