After two years of running Righteous Crusaders and a couple months with a middling Grotmas detachment, the Black Templars can finally come into their own with a hot new Codex Supplement. With new detachments, new units, and fresh updates on old favorites, there’s never been a better time to scream across the battlefield and hit an alien in the face with a chainsaw.
We would like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with a preview copy of the Codex for review purposes.
Army Overview
Of all the various flavors of melee-centric Marine armies, Black Templars are without a doubt the most zealous and least subtle. These aren’t the precise, surgical strikes of the Blood Angels or the heroic sagas of the Space Wolves, these are a horde of idiots with chainswords who really don’t like psykers, ready to surge forward en masse and flood the board in fire and violence. Templars have a heavy emphasis on large units of melee Marines, either on foot or in Land Raiders, leaning on Characters to get the most out of them. Do you want 20-strong blobs of Crusaders surging up the field every turn they get shot? You got it. How about an armored corps of Land Raiders, packed to the brim with Sword Brethren ready to cut the enemy to ribbons? Easily done. How about a suite of unique characters, just as capable of buffing your boys as they are of trashing an elite unit all on their lonesome? Boy howdy, do we have several characters for you.
Unlike the Space Wolves book, the unique units in here can still be led by Codex characters. That means that if you still want to run a Lieutenant and a Captain with your Crusaders, you absolutely still can, which is kind of unexpected. Most of the Templar characters can still pal around with Codex units too, so while this book does a good job of capturing that non-codex-compliant feel, it’s still got a load of options for you, without invalidating much that came before.
We think the following are five standout features of this book:
- No More Oath of Moment. In a first for a Codex Supplement, Templars lose access completely to Oath of Moment. But…
- They Might Not Miss It. Oath was an easy to use ability, windmill slamming it onto another priority target every turn, but between a versatile new army rule and ample access to re-rolls and bonuses to hit, you probably won’t miss it.
- Great New Characters. In a rare move, somebody might actually want to take a Space Marine model holding a flag. Both the new Crusade Ancient and Execrator models have distinct use cases and will find their way into a load of armies.
- Melee Sidegrades. Basically every unit lost an attack with their melee weapons, but gained Sustained Hits on Chainswords or Lethal Hits and a point of Damage on Power Weapons.
- The Emperor’s Champion. The champ finally lives up to his title, and is going to be an absolute menace on the tabletop.
Wings: I would add an honourable mention of:
- The Repulsor Executioner, which is Just Plain Better than the regular Marine one, in what I can only assume is a running bit at this point. Also, there’s a whole Detachment about running big tanks, so Campbell is in heaven.
The Video Version
If you’d rather watch a video version of this review than read it, we’ve got you covered. Check out the video below:
Army Rules
In a first for Marine supplements, Black Templars completely replace the Oath of Moment rule, instead getting…
Templar Vows
Black Templars essentially get a modified version of their old Righteous Crusaders Detachment rule baked-in, letting them pick from four Vows at the start of the first battle round. These are:
- Abhor the Witch, Destroy the Witch. Re-roll charges against Psyker units, and melee weapons have Precision against Psyker units. This is obviously a nasty pick against Thousand Sons or Grey Knights if they’ve turned up with a Leader-heavy build.
- Accept Any Challenge, No Matter the Odds. If the Strength of your melee attacks are equal to or lesser than the opponent’s Toughness, your attacks gain +1 to wound. If you’re going into Orks, Votann, or Death Guard, this is a good shout to keep your Strength 4 Chainswords hitting, or just to wound other Marines on 3+, and perhaps more importantly in a Knight-heavy metagame it means your units are always live to do some real damage.
- Suffer Not the Unclean to Live. Units can fall back and charge, and their consolidation and pile-in moves don’t have to be towards the closest model, just the closest unit. This opens up some maneuvering options for the tricksier players out there.
- Uphold the Honour of the Emperor. All infantry units gain sticky objectives and can perform actions after advancing. This one is situational, but army-wide sticky is pretty great.
Wings: Now, it’s fair to say that there is some huge sticker shock when you first read this, because although one of these (Accept Any Challenge) is very broadly strong, losing access to Oath’s hit re-rolls is a big deal. Luckily, this book has been written with the lack of Oath in mind, and there are lots of ways to get built-in re-rolls in the Datasheets, meaning that if you focus in on Templar units, you can end up with both re-rolls and boosts to your Wound rolls, making you a serious melee force. It does mean that the fewer Templar units you take, the more you’ll find yourself missing Oath, which is this book’s version of the Wolves-style incentives for going hard on the specific units.
Accept is so powerful for most normal plans that it’ll almost always be the pick, but there’s presumably some world in which an Uphold scoring build exists, and it’s a solid thing to have in your back pocket more generally, because the few games where Accept is dead (T3 hordes) almost always reward anything that helps you score.
Heirs of Sigismund
Just as important as what Templars gained is what they lost. You also lose access to the 1st Company Task Force detachment, understandable given its emphasis on Oath of Moment. Templars also can’t include any Adeptus Astartes Psyker models, as is tradition, and can’t include Chapter-specific units from other Chapters. They also can’t take the Codex versions of Gladiators, Impulsors, Repulsors, Repulsor Executioners, Land Raider Crusaders, Sternguard, or Terminators, but we’ll get to those later.
Detachments
There are three Detachments in the Codex, plus the Grotmas Detachment if you want to do that to yourself. Templars also have access to the Space Marine Detachments, with the exception of the 1st Company Task Force. As written, you could take the Librarius Task Force even though you can’t take Librarians, in case you’ve got some ideas for the next Blunderdome. We’ll have Detachment Focus articles for each of these, but here’s the short versions:
This lets your whole army re-roll advance and charge rolls; a beautifully simple and straightforward ability that everything in your army will love. It has enhancements and stratagems to help your Chaplain and Judiciar-led units hit that much harder as well.
This Detachment focuses heavily on infantry, namely those led by Ancients. It generally boosts your ability to nab objectives, hold your ground, and survive enemy attacks.
The Goonhammer Godhammer Assault Force is a beefed up take on the transport-centric Detachments we saw with the Chaos Cult Legions. This rewards loading up on transports and jumping out of them – preferably down an assault ramp and right into some bozo you want to cut up with a chainsword.
Wrathful Procession, the Grotmas Detachment, is still technically here. You can take it if you’d like, but we weren’t so hot on this one, as what it gained in versatility it lost in damage output. Companions of Vehemence seems like a better bet for an infantry-heavy Templar army.
Datasheets
The datasheets are, for the most part, straight fire. For every rule that got removed or weapon that lost an attack, that unit gained two new bonuses, and even the lower end datasheets are at least worth some consideration.
Departing Datasheets
It shouldn’t be surprising that the Firstborn Crusader Squad finally went to Legends. Don’t worry, they’re going off to a penitent crusade upstate, where they’ll have plenty of room to run around and make new friends.
New Datasheets
In addition to the pair of shiny new character models, some Marine units with abilities that relied on Oath got retooled into Templar-specific flavors.
- The Execrator, despite his Poopsmith-esque title, is actually a fantastic melee buff unit. He can only join Crusader and Sword Brethren units, but crucially gives them access to Advance and Charge. If their unit destroys an enemy unit in melee, they also force a battle-shock test on every enemy unit within 6”, which is just a fun little bonus. You can give them a Master-Crafted Power Weapon and an Absolvor Bolt Pistol, or drop the sword and pistol for a Pyre pistol, which you’ll never, ever do. The extra attacks from the power weapon are going to do a lot more than a few piddly flamer shots.
- The Crusade Ancient is the second new character, a banner bearer who can also only join Crusader and Sword Brethren squads. Fortunately, he can also join a squad with a Captain, Chapter Master, Execrator, or Lieutenant in it, and keywords mean that includes Castellans and Marshals too if you wanted to stay Templar-specific. The Ancient has 5 swings with a Master-Crafted Power Weapon, going from OC1 to OC6 when his unit destroys an enemy unit in melee. More importantly, he brings the old Vicious Riposte back into the picture, giving models in his unit a fight on death ability on a 4+ in melee. This is a hugely useful ability, letting your slightly squishier Crusaders swing away before getting picked up, or making sure you actually get to use those expensive Sword Brethren.
- There are Templar versions of Sternguard Veterans and Terminators, both of which lose their Oath-centric special abilities in favor of new Templar ones. Sternguard lose their wound re-rolls against Oath targets in favor of +1 to Wound when shooting the closest target. Terminators force Desperate Escape tests at -1 against all non-MONSTER or VEHICLE enemies that fall back from them. You’re gaining some flexibility with the Sternguard but losing the ability to fish for Devastating Wounds, while the Terminator ability is far more situational than the Codex version’s +1 to Hit against Oath targets.
- Surprisingly, the Land Raider Crusader gets a slight Templar-flavored update. If it shoots an enemy unit, any unit that disembarked from your Crusader gets +1 to hit and wound against that unit in the Fight phase. It’s cute but you’ve already got a few ways to get bonuses like this, and it’s still up against the Land Raider Redeemer for a very similar role.
Updated Datasheets
Almost every Templar-specific datasheet got a significant overhaul, with a few surprise additions in there to boot.
- High Marshal Helbrecht gained a wound and a point of OC, and the wording of his Sword of the High Marshals changed slightly. Instead of a one-handed attack and a two-handed attack, it now just has the more standard sweep and strike options, otherwise remaining the same. He still gives his unit +1 Strength and can cause some mortal wounds at the start of the Fight phase, but lost the ability to let his unit crit on 5+. He’s still a fantastic buff piece and a combat monster in his own right.
- Chaplain Grimaldus hasn’t changed much, gaining an attack on his Artificer Crozius but with an otherwise unchanged profile. What has changed are his Temple Relics, which now can grant +1 to Advance and Charge rolls, +1 Toughness, or +1 AP to melee weapons in his unit. These feel like a bit of a downgrade from the old rules, where handing out a 5+ Feel No Pain could make your Crusaders a brick wall. We don’t miss the Advance and Charge ability as much since that’s more readily available in the new book, but it still feels like a bit of a downgrade.
Wings: Worth saying that while losing the Feel No Pain is bad, the boost to AP gets contextually better with access to +1 to Wound. - The Emperor’s Champion went from a fun novelty unit to a cruise missile that walks like a man. He now has 8” of movement, Lone Operative, and saw a suite of upgrades to make him a monster. The Armour of Faith can now blank an attack on him once per phase, instead of just melee attacks. Sigismund’s Heir now gives him +2 on Charge rolls into Character units, and once per game can turn on Devastating Wounds. That’s already good, but where it gets gnarlier is with the Black Sword, still hitting at a brutal 6 Attacks at Strength 8, AP-3, and Damage 3, but gaining Anti-Character 5+ and Precision as well. Lastly, and most curiously, he lost Epic Hero, but gained a new rule, Chosen of the Emperor, which only permits one Emperor’s Champion in your army. This weird loophole (assumedly made for Crusade) means that the Champ can take Enhancements, which makes for some genuinely buckwild possibilities. Deep strike the Champ with the Orb of the Emperor’s Aegis in the Vindication Task Force and enjoy that 7” charge out of Deep Strike, or Zealous Vanguard in Companions of Vehemence for a 6” Scout move. We’re wondering if this was intentional or not, because it opens up some wild possibilities.
- Marshals of the lower variety gain Helbrecht’s old crit on 5+ ability, which still only applies to melee attacks, where you want them anyway. They lose the old Finest Hour ability that all Captains had, instead gaining an attack for each enemy unit within 6”, to a max of 3. They also got Lethal Hits on their Master-Crafted Power Weapon, just for kicks. Marshals are going to be right at home maxing out Lethal and Sustained hits on Crusader and Sword Brethren squads.
- Castellans also got the Lethal Hits treatment on their own Power Weapon, with special rules far more involved than the old Lethal Hits bonus. They can have their own unit take a Leadership Test in the Fight phase, letting them re-roll all hit rolls if they pass, or just re-roll 1s if they fail. If their unit destroys another in melee, on a 4+ you get a Command Point. They’ve finally got a distinct identity from standard Lieutenants, and can still join in on the fun with a unit already led by a Captain or Chapter Master. Combo their potential full re-rolls with the Marshal’s 5+ crit ability and go fishing for crits.
Wings: It was around this datasheet that we stopped worrying about Oath going away – these are really good now. - Sword Brethren no longer get to choose between +1 Attack or +1 Damage – instead their Power Weapons all got a bump up to Damage 2, knocked down to just 3 Attacks, but gaining Lethal Hits in the process, and they can now all take the power weapons if they want. This is kind of a sidegrade on paper (I’m sure Hammer of Math can figure it out) but when combined with a Marshal for 5+ crits, likely comes out ahead. Their Thunder Hammers also hit on 3+ so they might actually do something once in a while, but they lose the Castellan weapon options, weirdly. Your squad leader can’t take a Combi-Weapon anymore, which feels somewhat arbitrary. Lastly, they can make a normal move after a unit falls back from them. This isn’t limited by anything save being outside engagement range, so you can happily just pop them behind a wall to get some cover, jump back into a transport, hop on an objective, or otherwise position yourself to use them in the following turn. It’s a load of little tweaks that might see their general damage output drop (if only slightly) but gain a bit of utility on the table.
Wings: These are a little less outright murderous than they were but I think you’ll see one unit as a powerful bully piece thanks to the Fall Back reaction, and they’re priced to move. As you’ll see in my list for Vindication Task Force, I think Helbrecht and five of these plus some sort of Transport is a really strong troubleshooting piece. - Crusader Squads saw about as significant a change. While their Chainswords all lost an attack, they also gained Sustained Hits 1, which absolutely comes out in the wash – or better if you have a Marshal for those crits on 5+. The Sword Brother’s power sword also got a bump up to Damage 2 and gained Lethal Hits, as is now customary, and the squad lost its Scout 6” ability. This didn’t come up a ton before as no characters with Scout could join them. They also lost their re-roll to charge distance, instead gaining a surge move. Now when they lose a model to shooting, they can move D6+2” towards the closest enemy unit – including into engagement range. It doesn’t work when they’re battle-shocked, expectedly, but potentially rushing forward up to 8” into combat is absolutely terrifying. They can only do this once per phase, but they also don’t have to do it unless you really want to. Between this wild surge move and the melee attack changes, this feels like a straight upgrade to the old datasheet.
- Repulsors gain the typical Templar Multi-Melta option, but also a slightly different special rule. Stabilised Disembarkation lets a unit inside your Repulsor disembark within 6” after an enemy unit shoots at it. You can’t set up in engagement range, but if your Repulsor is about to get blasted by a few units, it could keep your guys safe from getting battle-shocked, or just get them further up the board. It’s like the inverse of the existing Emergency Combat Embarkation rule, where a squad can pile back into the vehicle if they get charged.
- Repulsor Executioners lose the Executioner rule, and now instead of getting +1 to hit enemy units below half strength, now full hit re-rolls at targets within 12” of one of your own units. Seeing how your guys are gonna be trying to get as close as possible to the enemy to begin with, this feels far more reliable, and rewards the aggressive playstyle Templars are known for. It’s also good to note that this is any friendly Adeptus Astartes unit, so your Executioner also gets this bonus if it’s within 12” of its target.
Wings: Like any ability that grants full hit re-rolls, this also significantly boosts their Overwatch threat. - There are still Templar-specific versions of Impulsors and all three flavors of Gladiator, all of which are identical to their Codex motorpool options save for the addition of a Multi-Melta option.
How They Will Play
They’re going to hit you in the goddamn face, that’s how they’ll play. Expect the Emperor’s Champion to show up in a load of lists, as his printed points make him an absolutely insane character assassin who can also get your charges off more reliably. Crusaders and Sword Brethren with support from Templar Characters should all be staples, and the challenge with list construction will just be fitting all this stuff in there. As good as the Epic Heroes of this book are, Execrators, Marshals and the like will actually give them competition for utility. With ample access to crits on 5+, you likely won’t miss Oath of Moment too much, especially with the sundry bonuses to hit and wound that are scattered around. The army will struggle at range to a degree, but with the Repulsor Executioner gaining a better special rule, plus self-sufficient units like Ballistus Dreadnoughts and Gladiator Lancers, your long-range anti-armor should be handled. Punching up with Accept any Challenge will be a pretty safe bet for your Vow, but don’t overlook the others.
Final Thoughts
As Goonhammer’s resident Templar Guy, you could have fooled me into thinking today was my birthday. There’s a detachment in here that fits my exact stupid playstyle to a tee, and the only reason the other two detachments have less lustre is because I went through the effort of painting three Lands Raider.
Wings: This Codex feels like a huge success – it’s both very flavourful and very strong, and really captures the fact that the Templars are very distinct from the regular Chapters. It’s also in the hallowed category of books that felt better and better the more times we went through the rules, which is generally a very promising sign for its potential. Look for the Templars to start making a serious splash as soon as they’re legal.
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