9th Company Captain

[Indefragable]

For some, this might be an obvious thing, but for me, it is actually a fairly new concept:  the footslogging BA Captain.

 

I actually don't often use Captains with my BA since (IMO) we have so many special characters or units that offer a different bonus that is equal to or greater than that buff a Captain provides. When I have, I have typically used him as Jump-Pack beatstick with a big weapon and storm shield to kill stuff.

 

However, the realities of 8th Edition, combined with messing around with units/types I don't typically use, plus the bonus of having a bunch of bits to make use of got me into thinking about a backline dakka-buffing Captain. Especially combined with a Primaris LT, this turned into a fun project. That led to the fun idea of a bit less stereotypical BA character: the dakka-Captain. This is in turn led to the idea of "Captain Sendroth" (as the 7th Ed Codex says his name is), commander of the Blood Angels' 9th Company where they keep their reserve Devastator squads.

 

Below you will see pics of the model I came up with (again, for others he may look fairly normal/Tactical, but for me he is a bit different.

 

What I want to throw out there is the question of what loadouts are best for a back-line/firebase Captain in 8th:

 

-how many points should be invested in him?

-do we keep him as cheap as possible since "all we want" are the buffs?

-keep him on foot to save points/stay with Devastators? Or make him mobile with a jump pack/bike to spread out the buffs?

-chiansword and bolter? Or more exotic weaponry to deter enemy harassment units?

 

My mind sees two main options:

 

A) the glorified Devastator Sgt

This build is basically bolter or storm bolter and chainsword and sits back to give the re-roll 1's To Hit for your fire base. Extremely straightforward and the goal is to keep him as relatively cheap as possible. Possibly cheap power weapon and/or a combi weapon for some extra dakka.

 

B ) the reaction force

This build would be about counter enemy units trying to assault your firebase. Jump pack or bike, and a mean cqc weapon (Lightning claw/s, thunder hammer, power fist, power weapon) and maaaaaybe a storm shield?  The idea is to directly compliment your dakka units by providing a decent counter-assault unit that can zip around to where the enemy comes in and mess them up. Some people at my club have discussed how the instinct is to give Devastator Sgts bolters or shooty weapons since their unit is so shooty. However, it actually makes sense to build a Dev sgt for melee as much as is feasible since that tiny bit extra punch could make all the difference when an enemy unit tries to take your lascannons out of action. This Captain build takes that concept to the next level. The problem is that this guy is the goalie of your army: if everything goes swimmingly, he'll never earn back his points.

 

C) the hybrid

Of course this is just the middle ground between the above two; finding the right balance based on a given list. Stormbolter + Power Sword seems quite effective for a 6pt investment. That throws out 4x S4 shots (re-rolling 1's) on Overwatch and ignores quite a bit of armor with the sword. If bringing a power weapon, I would go sword since (in my experience) most units that are sent to neutralize Dev/equiv are lighter units and not the heavy hitters. Now, a lightning claw, though a melta-bomb more expensive, would be the most self-sufficient choice here since you'd be S4 AP-2 D:1, re-rolling 1's To Hit and re-rolling all To Wound. However, if you are bringing a Primaris LT as well, then I think you can save the 5 (oh boy! big spender!) points on the LC.

 

 

My thoughts on a Saturday morning. Yours?

 

-Indy

 

 

 

How I typically use a BA Captain (if at all):

 

Hidden Content

 

 

My 9th Company Captain (Captain Sendroth?)

 

aka "Who wore it better?":

Hidden Content

 

A:

 

B:

 

C:

 

D:

 

E:

 

[Brother Captain Sirus]

Captain A gets my vote, i have used it in every game of 8th so far and it has made my las/plas dev squad and hellfire ven dread a force to be reckoned with.

 

The master crafted boltgun he comes with is good as it has ap -1 and 2 damage so overall it has a greater chance to do damage against multi-wound units that approach your gunline.

 

Last night this cheap and cheerful firebase took out an ork burna bomba in turn 1, 3 killa kans turn 2 and started picking off random bits and pieces after that, so the bare bones Cap has my vote.

[Indefragable]

Captain A gets my vote, i have used it in every game of 8th so far and it has made my las/plas dev squad and hellfire ven dread a force to be reckoned with.

 

The master crafted boltgun he comes with is good as it has ap -1 and 2 damage so overall it has a greater chance to do damage against multi-wound units that approach your gunline.

 

Last night this cheap and cheerful firebase took out an ork burna bomba in turn 1, 3 killa kans turn 2 and started picking off random bits and pieces after that, so the bare bones Cap has my vote.

 

Roger that. I may throw the power sword on him for rule-of-cool, and because Blood Angels. 

 

What's your typical firebase look like? BA don't get Ven Dreads, but I'm curious what you typically run.

[Brother Captain Sirus]

Bare bones captain, devastator with 2 lascannons and 2 plasma cannons, the sergeant just has a boltgun, and the venerable dreadnought with twin lascannon and missile launcher, as it hardly ever misses with 2+ to hit with rerolls of 1s and is also a strong anti-aircraft unit as it has the BS to still be accurate even with -1 due to the hard to hit rule for most flyers.

Depending on terrain i can sometimes position a squad of sniper scouts to benefit from the rerolls as well but not that often.

Everything else in my list is generally to go up field to secure objectives and/or cause as much devastation as possible.

[LutherMax]

It's hard not to like a model with two thunder hammers but tactically I concur with Sirus that for purpose, bare bones is probably best.

 

I only have one game's worth of experience using a Devastator-sitting Captain and I kitten him out for CC, but he never saw that kind of action. You're more likely to be dealing with those kind of threats with units that are dedicated to that purpose.

[BossSauce]

Personally I use a captain kitted out as tycho and just use his rules, very fond of the stats and loadout.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but he essentially has a chainsword since he has an extra attack base compared to a regular captain. Oh... And a 2+ save :)

[Silverson]

I think it all comes down to how many units you intend to receive the buffs from the captain.

 

If it's only one or two then bare bones captain seems ok but I'd check to see if it's more points efficient to bring another unit .

 

If you want to buff 3plus units I'd say a jump packs is a decent investment because as your game continues and units get removed your captain could potentially make better use of his buffs else where.

 

If you want a decent beat stick counter charging unit then I'd take a much closer look at Dante for the (almost) full re-rolls he provides, his ability to position himself to buff the maximum units and hit hard. I know I'm always looking at him as a up the field melee beatstick buffing my cc units but he can do an execelnt job for a shooty heavy blood angels list.

 

I have seen Abaddon the despoiler being used in the same way I have suggested for Dante and it works wonders.

[Xenith]

Storm bolter and power sword all the way. TDA if you want some more protection.

 

A bike would be better for back field than a jump pack. A bike captain with twin bolters, storm bolter and power sword gets 4 shots at 24" and 8 at 12"...

[LutherMax]

I can see the benefit of a bike or pack in some situations, but if he's baby sitting Devastators, who you really don't want moving, it seems as though it's just going to be a waste of points most of the time...

 

Maybe if he's baby sitting a tri-las Predator or something it would be more worthwhile..?

[Crimson Ghost IX]

Oh I like the 9th company idea =)

 

I went with single LC and mastercrafted bolter on my foot capt.

and (perhaps most importantly) those nice feathery wing shoulders from the SG sprue.

 

I look forward to making a cool regular LT when our codex hits as I hope we get that option like in the new SM codex.

I use the bolter primaris LT for now in my 1500 list.

 

Couple LC razorbacks, a land raider, a predator, a single dev squad (2xLasCan, 1 PlasCan).

Corbulo and counter charging / interdicting DC in my metal bawkses with a couple min company veterans in the raider. (For the BA goodies).

 

Just a fun sit and shoot chaos marines over beer with the fellas kinda list that is plenty good enough for a 2 guys on a team game we are gonna play soon. =)

 

I think foot captains are solid generally at least until we get our dex and see what is what.

Timely thread man, just painting that dude =)

Edited July 31, 2017 by Crimson Ghost IX

[Indefragable]

Personally I use a captain kitted out as tycho and just use his rules, very fond of the stats and loadout.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but he essentially has a chainsword since he has an extra attack base compared to a regular captain. Oh... And a 2+ save

 

I've never really paid attention to Tycho's rules, but now that you mention it.....

 

So he does NOT have a bonus attack...both Tycho and your typical Captain have W5 A4 and the re-rolls to 1's. But....for only two points more than a similarly equipped Captain, you get the 2+ armor and a combi-melta that has a MC bolter on top. Not bad at all.

 

The problem with Tycho, in my opinion, is that he really does not have good weapon options overall. For this build we are describing, even a chainsword would be useful to give a bonus attack.  A combi-weapon, IMO, is one of the less useful options for this build, and a melta at that.  I don't think drop-podding Dreadnoughts are a common threat these days.

[Xenith]

I can see the benefit of a bike or pack in some situations, but if he's baby sitting Devastators, who you really don't want moving, it seems as though it's just going to be a waste of points most of the time...

 

Maybe if he's baby sitting a tri-las Predator or something it would be more worthwhile..?

Doubling his shooting, plus an extra point of T and W has value. Can't think of the cost of the bike off the top of my head - YMMV.

[LutherMax]

 

I can see the benefit of a bike or pack in some situations, but if he's baby sitting Devastators, who you really don't want moving, it seems as though it's just going to be a waste of points most of the time...

Maybe if he's baby sitting a tri-las Predator or something it would be more worthwhile..?

Doubling his shooting, plus an extra point of T and W has value. Can't think of the cost of the bike off the top of my head - YMMV.

Like I said I can see how it would be useful in some situations - and the extra shooting and toughness of the bike is good for only 7 more points than a base Captain with jump pack.

 

I'll have to try a few more games and see if I ever miss the things packs, bikes, weapon upgrades etc would bring. In the one game I did play the extra mobility may have been useful for end-game objective grabbing now I come to think about it...