What are masters of the chapter?

[Brother Chris]

Probably a very obvious question. (We only have BA, Chaos Marines and Imperial Guard, the old SM Codex and friends with Orks and the Inquisition that we play with).

 

In the catalogue there are Masters of the Chapter, an odd set of rivet-headed baldies in the Ultramarine mould. Are these specific Ultra Marines company captains? One (Master of the Fleet) has a BA looking winged Blood-drop on his shoulder, but our fleet commander is a Brother, with the title 'Keeper of the Heaven gate'. We have a Keeper of the Arsenal' is this the same as the 'Master of the Arsenal'? And if so why isn't a techmarine in this job rather than a company commander? Master of Recruits and Master of the Watch have identical titles to us but are they the same roles? I'd have imagined the Captain of the 10th company to to a bit more scout appropriate, like Tellion, rather than tooled up with a storm bolter and full power armour as the model has it. Perhaps he is some sort of drill master/tutor rather than a scout force leader?

 

Anyway, what are they, are they anything we can use and if so has anyone got pictures of them in BA colours or with green stuff flowing locks? Follically challenged marines in my army must have standard issue toupes! (to paraphase a recent Judge Dredd, 40,000 years of genetic engineering and they still haven't managed to reverse male pattern balding?)

[Plague Angel]

Ah, the Masters of the Chapter. They're an Apocalypse formation of a Chapter Master and four captains chosen from the equivalent codex. They don't represent any characters in particular — they're only painted in Ultras colors because, well, GW always paints their minis in Ultras colors. We can use them, yes: in our case it'd be using either Dante or Seth (or Malakim Phoros), and then 4 Captains. You can equip the Captains however you want and model them however you want (I personally am not very fond of these models in particular, and we can create great looking captains with the Sanguard/DC kits).

 

If you're playing Blood Angels and not a successor, that'd mean fluff-wise you're fielding Dante, Captain Borgio, Captain Sendini, Captain Aphael, and Brother Bellerophon. If you're playing Flesh Tearers, Lamenters, or a successor of you're own devising using a counts-as, then the captains will have whatever fluff you give them.

 

EDIT: But why should you care? Well, the answer is: first of all, you have one very characterful hard-hitting unit. 5 models may not be much of a force in an Apoc game compared to Titans &c., but with that much combat power they shouldn't be underestimated either. Furthermore, each Captain will provide you an additional special rule/stratagem for your team's Apocalypse force! However, when that Captain dies (and you have to identify which Captain is which) the special rule is lost.

[Brother Nathan]

yeos just battle company captains. i love the models and they make up 4 of the 10 captain models i have. nothing chapter specific but there is a fair bit that does lend them nicely to the ba(wings etc)worth it in my opinion...

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Master of the Arsenal is responsible for the equipment that is doled out to the Chapter; he is the quartermaster basically. Techmarines are responsible for the care of those items in the Arsenal, but the Master ensures the forces recieve what they need, from my understanding.

 

Plus, in theory, the Master of the Arsenal should be pretty tooled up; he has "first dibs" on pretty much anything in the Arsenal.

[NightrawenII]

In the catalogue there are Masters of the Chapter, an odd set of rivet-headed baldies in the Ultramarine mould. Are these specific Ultra Marines company captains?

Yes and No.

The Masters of the Chapter are officers of the Chapter HQ, responsible for the administration of Chapter's assets. It is possible for the Captain(s) to be granted title of Master, but it's not requirement.