How do you use your sanguinary priests?

[Nickos]

Hi everyone,

 

Im a new BA player. Just got my army, can't wait to play.

 

My question is:

 

How do you use your sanguinary priests??

 

Do you attach them to squads or do you let them run behind your squads or keep them in vehicles.

 

And how many do you usually run?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Nick

[AbusePuppy]

Never have them run around alone- all it takes is one Lascannon, Missile, or Plasma shot (and a failed cover save) to suddenly make all your other guys twice as easy to kill. They have the Independent Character rule for a reason.

 

Where possible, being in a transport is probably your best option- not only does it render them literally invulnerable, but it also extends the range of their aura (since you can measure from any point on the tank hull.) If you haven't souped them up with a Power Weapon or such, there may be very little reason for them to disembark, even when the rest of the squad does so.

 

Running them with a Jump Pack or Terminator armor, accompanying a squad, is also perfectly acceptable and will probably be the only option for a lot of jump armies. Try and keep them attached to the largest squad possible while still granting their aura to as many squads as you can reach; leaving them with two or three other models to protect them means that they can easily be torrented out or have the rest of the squad wiped out and they themselves killed once that is over with.

 

As for how many you need, that will vary greatly with the list you are running. Pure jumper lists will usually want approximately two at 1500, three no later than 1850, and four by 2250. (Remember that Honor Guard squads also contain a Priest and should be counted towards this number.) If you are mixing in additional elements, such as Devastators, to such a list, you may want one additional Priest to cover them as well. Mechanized assault-focused lists will want somewhere between one and three Priests, depending on how focused on winning via close combat they are and how big the army is; due to the nature of how they deploy and move, you can probably get away with three at 2000pts and as few as one at 1500. Some lists may only want a single Priest to benefit one or two units- such as Assault Terminators; some lists won't even want them at all, especially mechanized shooting lists like Razorspam.

[Brother Nathan]

i run one with jumppack atached to one of my assault squads and i keep my 2 squads closeenough so that both benifit from his cup. they are to easy to kill to be left on their own. either have them in a squad or a veichle and if you can keep another squad close enough to benifit from him too. and try not to put them too close to the front in cc as rember anything that can kill a marine can kill him and as hes an ic he can be singled out in cc...

[JamesI]

I run 2 at 1850 in a nearly pure jumper list. I don't generally go higher than 2, unless I play a really large game and add in an honor guard.

[Jolemai]

Just for future information, where is the information that says that the aura works while in a transport (and to the same degree, the Librarian's Shield)? Was it FAQ'd, or is in somewhere in the rulebook (Sorry, I don't have one on me currently)?

[AustonT]

I believe it was FAQed but it could be in the BRB.

[Morticon]

Nickos- there are generally two differing opinions surrounding the priests, and they will essentially depend on your play style.

 

The first thought is to keep your priest way at the back of the fight, either in a vehicle or right at the far end so he doesnt see combat.

This way, you continually get FNP and FC until his vehicle is taken out. This tactic is even stronger if you're playing a land raider!

 

The other thought is that for 15points you can get yourself a PW or LC which hits on 3s vs. most marine equivalents (MEq) and then wounds on 3s on the charge. For an init5, WS5 and 4 attack guy on the charge, for me, thats too good to not have in combat.

 

That being said, if I do field a walking priest, I will almost always field Corbulo. His usefulness is just too good, and hes pretty kick ass in combat. With smart placement and movement by you, (and then smart charging) you can avoid a lot of PF and PW models in HTH and ensure that he just soaks up any hits directed at him with his 3+/2+.

 

 

I have seen "naked" jumpy priests, and that is something that astounds me since I think if you're giving him a jump pack, hes going to make it into combat anyway.

 

So, instead of paying a 75point, 1 KillPoint "tax" for FNP and FC, rather throw in an extra 15points and make it a tax that kicks back!!

 

The other alternative here, if you prefer the protected style (in vehicles) is of course to go with Honour Guard. Benefit here is the priest cant be singled out!

 

Theyre a good unit in themselves as veteran marines and can dish it out nicely. They work really well in Razors. The danger here is you need to dedicate that entire squad and all of its ability to the area that the OTHER marines need to be in. So, you may find yourself with less points to spread around in other areas.

 

Hope that helps a bit!

[AbusePuppy]

Just for future information, where is the information that says that the aura works while in a transport (and to the same degree, the Librarian's Shield)? Was it FAQ'd, or is in somewhere in the rulebook (Sorry, I don't have one on me currently)?

 

p.66, Embarking: "If players need to measure a range to the embarked unit (except for shooting), this range is measured to or from the vehicle's hull."

 

Since the ability does not require him to draw LOS or otherwise need any specific action or circumstances, it works normally from inside of a transport, just like all other auras.

 

@Morticon

 

It's a good buy, but there are a couple reasons not to. First, you simply might not have the points- there are lots of other important things to buy. Second, it can often be redundant with the ASM they are escorting due to wound allocation- since they are not higher initiative than normal Marines, when piling a large number of attacks onto a unit, it is very possible for the enemy to minimize or even trivialize the effect of a Power Weapon by assigning the wounds to a model that is going to die anyways. Finally, it is usually possible to keep a Priest out of a fight for at least the first turn of combat, even when his squad is engaged; this is a "safer" option that increases the chances that nearby units will continue to benefit from his aura in the second and ensuing turns, which is sometimes more important than getting a couple WS5 attacks in.

[Astorath the Grim]

I don't, I run an all dc list...but if I did I'd probably give all my assault squads their own attached sang priest...no need to worry about bubbles then

[Champion Cards & Games]

I ran a Sanguinary Priest today for the first time in my list. Since I didn't have my assault squad finished I stuck him with my Tactical Squad. The Feel No Pain save kept me from losing 5 models on the day, and I finished the game with each of my 10 man squad in tact.

 

On another note: My Death Company took out 2 Termies before his remaining 8 termies took them down. My 5 man Termie Squad moved in and with my sanguinor helping out finished his Termies off.

[Redo]

Big fan of two style of Sang.Priests. The first is to give him a PW and stick him in a Razorback with an RAS. With the 5 man squad and the RB he is quite durable and throws out a good aura. The second is the HG. A solid HG is a great asset to jumpy marines and he cannot be singled out. I have found that the Independent Character Sang.Priest quipped with Jump Pack and Power Weapon is obviously expensive and not that durable; as pointed out he is likely to get into the thick of things. Rather have that HG.

[Brother_Byhlli]

On another note: My Death Company took out 2 Termies before his remaining 8 termies took them down. My 5 man Termie Squad moved in and with my sanguinor helping out finished his Termies off.

 

How did you field the Death Company? Death Company are undeniably more killy than Terminators, given the right set-up.

[Rune_Priest_Rhapsody]

I run two at 1500 through 2000. On with a Jumper and one in TDA. Like everybody else, I attach the jumper priest to an assault squad and the TDA priest goes with the Termi assault squad. I really like the 2+3+ FNP, is it overkill?? Probably.

 

End of Line

[Morticon]

Abusepuppy,

 

100% there. And very good points to consider.

 

However, just some other things to consider.

 

A 5man RAS charge with 1 special and no PW sarge will net you 5 wounding hits with FC vs MEq.

With the priest PW you're lookin at another 1.8 wounds. So, only a chance to save those wounds on a squad of 5/6.

 

A 10man RAS charge with 2 specials and a PF sarge will net you 8.3 wounding hits with FC vs MEq.

 

So, if you're charging chunky squads, you have nothing to worry about at all. If you're charging smaller squads, you're still managing to stack, and youre taking away his special/unique models.

 

A model dead is still a model dead.

Not a wrong or right, but just the other side of the coin for that argument.

[Champion Cards & Games]

On another note: My Death Company took out 2 Termies before his remaining 8 termies took them down. My 5 man Termie Squad moved in and with my sanguinor helping out finished his Termies off.

 

How did you field the Death Company? Death Company are undeniably more killy than Terminators, given the right set-up.

 

5 Death Company with Bolt Pistols, Chainswords & Jump Packs

1 Chaplain in Jump Pack

 

I'll be adding 5 more Death Company models after I'm done putting together my Assault Squads.

[Atlantic]

I'm thinking about putting a priest on a bike, and sticking him with a bare bones bike squad. That way he gets some extra toughness and can theoretically have no issues moving around to support different units on the table.

 

 

Any thoughts on Sang Priest on a bike?

[Crynn]

It's always been an honour guard if I want a jumpy priest, the fact that his jump pack is 15 points cheaper than the IC one and he can't be picked out is a huge benefit. The honour guard are also a fnatastic unit in their won right.

If I am going on foot I always try to take corbulo as his utility is amazign and if you can find a unit without a power weapon or fist he will just wade thorugh it taking everything on the chin.

Failing that I rarely give my priests upgrades if i take them individually as I rarely put them in harms way.

 

Regards,

Crynn

[knife&fork]

Any thoughts on Sang Priest on a bike?

 

A very costly way to make your bikers more resistant to small arms fire. If you can co-ordinate the bike squads movement with the rest of your forces, that's great. Otherwise it will be a waste of points.