Hi everyone, Michael here with an review update on the Emperor’s Champion. For more reviews, analyses and battle reports, check out the Tactics Corner.
The Emperor’s Champion is a cool concept: a Black Templar whom upon the eve of battle prays to the Emperor and receives a holy vision, becoming empowered with divine strength and given sacred weapons and armour. Does he back this up on the table top?
Overview:
The Emperor’s Champion is well armoured and a decent fighter but he has a HUGE drawback: he suffers from Chaos syndrome: having to go into challenges whenever possible. This coupled with his somewhat squishy nature and he is asking to get chewed up in combat. That said, he does pack a punch and can be good fun to use. If you couldn’t guess, this is a combat character first and last. He does provide a leadership buff to his unit, but due to his nature don’t expect him to stick around for long to keep his unit buffed. He has a Chaplain stats with +1WS and +1I. He weighs in at twice the cost of a tactical squad, which is rather pricey for what you get.
Wargear:
- Bolt Pistol
- Frag Grenades
- Krak Grenades
- Armour of Faith- 2+/4++
- Black Sword- A power sword that is +2S, AP2 and Master-Crafted
Special Rules:
- Chapter Tactics (Black Templars)
- Fearless
- Independent Character
- Honour or Death- Must issue and accept challenges where possible. May select which model with this rule accepts or issues challenges.
- Slayer of Champions- When in a challenge, the Emperor’s Champion may re-roll failed To Hit rolls, and any To Wound roll of a 6 has Instant Death.
Tactics:
The Emperor’s Champion is a special character built for combat and challenges. Unfortunately, against most Independent Characters built for combat, he will die and die quickly. So, ignoring the fact that he is going to die in terrible challenges more often than not, and ignoring how annoying it is to not have control over your own models, let’s take a look at the Emperor’s Champion.
He is actually not too bad stats wise. Weapon Skill 6 and Initiative 5 are actually pretty good on a combat character. He does only have 2 attacks base, but the Black Sword is not a specialist weapon, so gets 3 attacks in combat (4 on the charge) with a Master-Crafted re-roll (or full re-rolls in a challenge). The fact that the Black Sword strikes at S6 and AP2 at initiative 5 is actually pretty damn great. Now that challenge wounds are no longer restricted to only those fighting in a challenge, the Emperor’s Champion should actually be quite good at taking out squad Sergeants and MEQ in combat. Instant Death on a to wound roll of a 6 is a nice bonus, but don’t count on it to happen to often.
He is decently resilient with a 2+ and 4++, that is solid and will help to keep him alive a little longer than normal. 2 wounds is nothing to jump up and down about, but with his very good armour it certainly does help. That 2+ is the best thing he’s got going as it gives him a chance against anyone with an AP3 weapon. However, as I have stated multiple times, MCs are so prevalent these days that a 2+ isn’t all that hot and one strength 8+ bump to the noggin and the Emperor’s Chump can kiss his ass goodbye. The kicker is that often, these big nasties will swing first, too. It’s Kharn syndrome but not hitting as hard as Kharn.
To mitigate the “Honour or Death” special rule, you can include another model with this special rule to take challenges for the Emperor’s Champion, but this limits you to either a Company or Chapter Champion in a Command Squad or Honour Guard, respectively. This means adding an expensive squad to an already expensive special character. Fearless is a nice bonus for a single unit, but can be achieved much cheaper using a Chaplain, as well as getting the Hatred bonuses from this model.
The Black Templar Chapter Tactics are arguably one of the worst available to the Space Marines. Adamantium Will gives a slight boost when you are targeted by psychic powers. Crusader is useful for the additional Sweeping Advance bonus. On a model already at initiative 5, this should help you catch and wipe out any unit you beat in combat (assuming they are not Fearless or have ATSKNF). Righteous Zeal is ok, especially on a unit that is designed for combat, but generally, if your opponent is charging such a unit, they are likely to be pretty confident about destroying it or tying it up for several rounds.
Let’s take a look at the many downsides of the Emperor’s Champion.
Mobility. A combat character on foot is always going to struggle. If he could take a bike or jump pack, I would actually consider giving him a go. As it is, you will need to put him in a transport vehicle. This means either paying for a Land Raider so he can assault out of it, or going for a Drop Pod or Rhino and having to risk a turn of enemy shooting before he can assault.
Black Templars. As I said above, arguably one of the worst Chapter Tactics available. You could always use him as an ally in another army, but that means taking a separate CAD of Black Templars and losing any Chapter Tactics from a unit he joins.
Expense. The Emperor’s Champion is far too expensive for what he brings to an army. You could take a Captain with Artificer Armour and a Relic Blade for 5 points less than the Emperor’s Champion. The Captain loses AP2 but gains a wound, an attack, a better ballistic skill and doesn’t have to make challenges. In addition, the Emperor’s Champion cannot be taken as a part of any formations from the Codex.
So in short, this guy is a D- character. In competitive play, he is a liability that will more often than not be points wasted and potentially game losing. While he has the potential for a glorious kill shot with his Instant Death Black Sword in a challenge, math says he gets squished more often than not. For casual play? Yeah, he’s great fun and I can see him leading a fluffy Black Templars army. Competitively? A total waste of time.
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