Hi everyone, Michael here with a review of the third of the trio of former Command Squad members, the Chapter Champion. For more reviews and analyses, check out the Tactics Corner.
Overview:
The Chapter Champion is primarily a combat character to add to your army for quite a reasonable cost. He comes armed to take on heavily armoured foes and has some decent durability thanks to an increased save. However, it is a struggle to find which role he should be fulfilling in your army and does not provide buffs to nearby units that other characters can in a Space Marine force. The Chapter Champion costs 64 pts, including wargear.
Wargear:
- Champion’s Blade- Strength User, AP -2, 1 damage. Each time the bearer fights, he can make one additional attack with this weapon.
- Power Sword
- Frag and Krak Grenades
- 2+ armour save
Abilities:
- And They Shall Know No Fear
- Honour or Death- This model must make a Heroic Intervention if he is able to do so. You can also re-roll failed To Hit rolls in the Fight phase when targeting Characters.
- Keywords- Imperium, Adeptus Astartes, <Chapter>, Character, Infantry, Chapter Champion.
Tactics:
The Chapter Champion is a mid-level Elites choice Character with a few bonuses over a standard Marine. He has WS 2+, four wounds, four attacks, Ld 9 and a 2+ armour save.
The Champion has reasonable durability, with a 2+ armour save and four wounds, as well as being a character (and the benefits that provides). He also has some decent combat ability. He has up to 5 attacks in combat, all of which hit on a 2+. His attacks are either AP -2 or AP -3. I would recommend using at least one of his four attacks to strike with the Champion’s Blade in order to access the bonus attack. Doing this, you will have three attacks at AP-3 and two attacks at AP-2. He also gets re-rolls to hit when attacking characters in the Fight phase.
The problem that I have with the Chapter Champion is the role he is supposed to take in your army. From his armament and special rules, he is supposed to go after enemy characters in combat. However, most offensive enemy characters will be able to go through him with ease due to the lack of an invulnerable save. He is a cheap combat character to add to help support a unit, but if you want a proper combat character, why not go for a Chaplain or Captain tooled up for combat. He can provide support to a nearby unit in combat, however, there are a range of cheap characters that provide more support in the form of buffing bubbles, such as the Lieutenant, Ancients, or even an Apothecary. You can always arm many of these support characters with a Power Weapon or other combat weapon to provide assault support, as well as their inherent buffs to nearby units.
I think the best role for the Chapter Champion is to go after standard infantry. He will make a mess of most infantry, ignoring armour saves of 4+ or worse with most of his attacks, and will severely reduce the effectiveness of Power Armour and equivalent saves. If you find yourself with 54 points to spare and room in a transport to put him in, he can be a useful support character for adding a bit of combat punch to a unit. He could also have a role going after other mid-level or weak enemy characters. He is also a reasonably cheap way to fill out an Elites slot in the army if you are looking to fill out a Brigade or Vanguard Detachment.
There are a number of Chapter Tactics that would be of benefit to the Chapter Champion.
Black Templars is a useful one, giving him a greater shot of getting into combat on the charge. The White Scars Chapter Tactic would also be useful, allowing him to bounce between combats, perhaps getting into position to fall back and then assault a buffing enemy character hiding behind a screening unit. Salamanders is also of use, allowing him to maximise the number of hits and wounds in combat, and Iron Hands Chapter Tactics will be great for helping him to stay alive for longer.
Overall
The Chapter Champion is a remnant of previous editions of the game. While he may have had a role in a Command Squad, not that he is his own separate entity, I don’t think there is much use for him in a Space Marine army in most instances. There are other characters that do his job better than he does, or characters that provide powerful buffs to nearby units. I don’t think you would see much use for him in a competitive list, but he could be a fun addition to the army in a more relaxed gaming environment.
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