Hi everyone, Michael here with a review of one of the other special characters in the Black Templars army, Chaplain Grimaldus. For more reviews, analyses and battle reports, check out the Tactics Corner.
Overview:
Grimaldus is a nice blend of combat character and force multiplier. Used correctly, he can be very good although like his brother in arms, Helbricht, he is always going to be held to the standard of the generic Chapter Master he competes with. He is also not cheap at all, weighing at 150 points base. As with all other non-Eternal Warrior, toughness 4 based models, he is susceptible to getting insta-gibbed quite easily in the current meta and his foot speed is also a limiting factor.
Wargear:
Master-crafted Plasma Pistol
Crozius Arcanum
Frag and Krak Grenades
Rosarius
May take up to 5 Cenobyte Servitors
Special Rules:
Chapter Tactics (Black Templars)
Independent Character
It Will Not Die
Zealot
Unmatched Zeal- Friendly Black Templars within 6″ of Grimaldus gain Zealot.
Relics of Helsreach- Friendly Black Templars units within 6″ of one of the Cenobyte Servitors gain Feel No Pain.
Rites of War (Warlord Trait)- All models in Grimaldus’ detachment may use his leadership of 10.
Tactics:
Grimaldus is a pretty decent character with a lot to like, but it comes at a hefty points cost. I think that is really his Achilles Heel, as he is otherwise pretty good. He has a Chaplain profile with an extra attack and wound, as well as It Will Not Die, making him a good bit more durable than the regular Chaplain.
Clearly, Grimaldus is meant to be run in the Black Templars foot horde with all of his various aura abilities. He gives nearby units Zealot which is really good, but a 6″ radius is rough. While in theory you could get a lot of mileage out of this power with clever model positioning, in practice, you will be lucky to get 2 units with it. Being bunched up leaves you susceptible to the proliferation of templates and blasts that both ignore cover and are AP3 or better these days. Plus, the simple need to move to disparate sections of the board during the course of play means you will not be able to count on this ability for more than his unit in most cases. I do not think that 12″ on this ability would have been at all too much for a character that is relatively easily killed off.
You also need to purchase Cenobyte Servitors to take advantage of the Relics of Helsreach special rule. This one can be actually very effective, giving you several unit with Feel No Pain if you go for the maximum number of servitors and can chain them out to get into range of several of your units. The downside of this is that it will add to the already considerable cost of Grimaldus and the fact that the Servitors will be relatively easy to kill and prevent the Chaplain from joining other units (at least I think it does).
His Warlord Trait is actually very good, giving you army-wide Leadership 10 in your detachment. This will help keep your Marines in the fight for longer without preventing them from going to ground or choosing to flee from unfavourable combats.
Grimaldus is really expensive, as previously stated. He doesn’t really hit all that hard, though. A Crozius Arcanum is nice with high strength attacks, but is only AP4, meaning you will struggle to take out even Marine equivalents despite his Zealot re-rolls and reasonable number of attacks. Against 3+ saves or better, he will have difficulty dealing much damage. He also suffers the same vulnerability to instant death as any non-Eternal Warrior, T4 character, and that is a real liability with all of the crazy Monstrous Creatures running around the game these days. An errant Krak missile or high strength barrage weapon and he’s done for. For those reasons, his increased durability through an extra wound and It Will Not Die is nice, but really not that amazing as they are all for naught when he suffers instant death. However, if you do find yourself waist deep in Orks or something similar, that bonus will be really nice. Just watch out for the Nob’s Klaw!
In summary, I feel that Grimaldus is just too expensive for what you get and as such, is not likely to be seen at a tournament. However, that he can be fun, and a great addition to a Black Templars horde list in a casual setting, which I fear is the only place you find Black Templars these days.
