Hello all!
Rawdogger here to take the edge off a bit and get your minds thinking of something other than horrible, horrible Space Elves. Today I wanted to talk about a real bro. The kind of bro that will drop anything, even a righteous fish taco from that legit Mexican café in the bad part of town to help you out of a jam. I’m talking about a bro that will move mountains, even if that means getting his Four Star hat and Tap Out shirt dirty. This bro I’m talking about? Oh just super hunk Marneus Calgar of course.
Recently I found myself looking for a tough dude with Eternal Warrior to tank wounds for my beloved Centurion squad. I also have been tending to build drop pod Ultramarine lists so why not add THE Ultramarine to the mix? Honestly, in the world that competitive 40K has become with D Slaps, re-rollable 2+ saves, 5 Hive Tyrants, etc I have really stopped even trying to build a competitive list and have started to just build lists that I think are cool and will be fun to play. Marneus Calgar is just the right mix of competitive and fun so I thought I’d share with you all just what it is about this muscly armed super hunk that I just find irresistible! (That sentence sounded better in my head)
The Stats – Homeboy is rocking the basic Space Marine Captain stats we all know and love but with an extra wound and attack because he’s buff. Unlike a regular Captain, however, he is wearing a pimp suit of artificer armor for a tasty 2+ save. As per usual he gets an Iron Halo for a 4+ Invul save. Calgar has the Eternal Warrior special rule, so those Lascannon or S10 shots won’t be troubling him none, though Strength D will still ruin his shit (along with the rest of the models in the game).
He Keeps TWO Pimp Hands Strong – Marneus is wearing the Gauntlets of Ulramar, which are 2 individual Power Fists that each fire 2 bolter shots that are AP 2. NICE ONE. This gives him 6 S8 attacks on the charge. If for some reason you don’t feel like slangin them fists he also comes with a power sword for some reason so you can use that. Also, just to add in something MORE badass he gets to re-roll armor penetration rolls or glancing hits to vehicles in close combat. Kind of situational but still nice to have in your pocket.
Warlord Trait – Though there are really no good Warlord traits in the Space Marine book, Marneus Calgar gets to roll three dice and pick whichever number he wants. If you are really lucky you might get the one that makes his unit cause Fear.
Armor of Antilochus – For 10 measly points you can upgrade his artificer armor to the Armour of Antilochus which is a suit of Terminator Armor that does not prevent sweeping advances and has a teleport homer. Really the best reason to give him this upgrade, despite the fact that GW only sells him in this kit packaged with the crappy Honor Guard, is so that he can fire his orbital bombardment when he moves. Speaking of ….
Laser of Death – Marnues, like all Chapter Masters, has access to the Orbital Bombardment. The is a one shot, unlimited range S10 AP 1 Ordinance Barrage. It’s a nasty little surprise that you can ‘forget’ to tell your opponent he has. Just kidding, you’ll most likely forget that you even have it. I try to line it up with servo skulls if I have them since that allows the scatter to just be on one D6.
God of War – As befitting such a studly hero, Marneus Calgar allows all units with the Ultramarine faction to choose either to pass or fail any morale check they are called upon to make. This is extremely beneficial. I don’t know how many times I’ve either failed a key morale check (or PASSED one) which cost me the game. Not having to worry about such trivial things makes me feel superior to my opponent, which is very important. He also allows you to use the Ultramarine Chapter Tactic twice, which in my Drop Pod/Centurion shooty heavy list a great asset since one of their Tactics is rerolling 1’s (or all hits for Tactical Marines) when shooting. Being able to do this twice is huge and really makes Marneus the better pick over a regular Chapter Master in Terminator Armor.
So let’s hear from some of you who take Marneus Calgar in your Ultramarine lists. What are some of best things he does for your army? Why is the Eldar codex so overpowered?