New Primris Captain vs. Captain Tor Garadon

[Brother Macius]

Are there any binifits of taking the new Primaris Captain with the storm shield over Tor Garadon? I like the look of 5th company but I like lore of 3rd comany. Can you Please help me figure things out?

[Rizara]

well, Tor garadon is a special character, that means he comes as he is.  You don't get to change his warlord trait and can't give him relics.  Not that he needs it.  He is also more of a siege captain/support captain.  He does extra dmg against buildings and vehicles as well as has a better chance to wound them due to the warlord trait he has.  They both have the same invunerable save and both come with rites of battle.  Tor has the best power fist in the game right now, with it being effectively str 12 and dmg 3.   So in melee they both have the same rend, but being a power fist tor will be hitting on 3's.   Tor also has effective toughness 5, and 1 extra wound making him harder to kill.   He also has the ability to pic a model close buy and make them BS 2 due to his signum array.  He supports some shooting for sure but is no slouch in melee. 

 

The new blade guard primaris captain is generic, that means he can be from any company you want. He can also be given a relic (not sure if any suit him), and he can pick or roll for a warlord trait and effectively have the same warlord trait as Tor, but wont be quite as effective as him at taking down a vehicle or building.  He comes with a pistol, while it is the same range as the gravis cannon tor has, it is no where near as effective being lower str and lower AP.  So shooting wise he is sub par.  Melee wise he has a master crafted power sword, while he may still hit easier, it isn't as much dmg as the power fist for sure, but both have the same AP value.  Still Tor will be wounding easier due to him being str 12, and the blade guard captain only being str 4 in combat.    As for survivability, the captain does get a 2+ armor save which is only slightly better but since he does have less toughess and wounds than tor he isn't that much more survivable just might get his save against rend, but at that point you will likely be rolling the invunerable anyways.    He does have a chance to ignore mortal wounds which is handy, but it is still a chance and makes him better for taking on those space wizards.  

 

So over all, it comes down to a personal choice.  If you are fielding 3rd company you might as well take Tor garadon, but if you want to field any other company take the blade guard one or which other captain you want.   I myself have like 5 captains but they wont be painted up as 3rd company other than Tor.   When i get around to painting the blade guard guy, i might end up making him 8th company, in charge of the Assault Reserves.  He is melee focused and i can't see putting him as a first company due to that being Lysanders spot.   I already have the Phobos one I am making 10th company, and then I have the Gravis captain to assemble and then I got the GW anniversary one with the power fist and plasma pistol that I may assign to the 6th company.   Sorry I can't help you to truly decide between the two, but they do serve different roles really.  

 

However, if you are fielding a bunch of melee units, like the assault intercessors, and blade guard and other melee guys, you might be better off taking the blade guard captain and put him in the mix.  Other wise, Tor might just be better overall in a general fist mixxed list.  

[Mandragola]

Tor Garadon is solid. I think he's definitely a decent option in 9th.

 

The thing I like about the new captain is that the gear he comes with is already pretty decent, without needing to take a relic or something. This means he's able to use his relic slot on something else. I think it might be good to go for the eye of hypnoth and the warlord trait for 9" auras. That way he can do all the reroll buffing you need. He'd be a candidate for upgrading to Chapter Master, I think.

 

This is useful because HQ choices are a bit harder to come by in this edition. You only get 3 in a battalion or 2 in a patrol. It's quite nice to be able to take a single guy who does the job of both Captain and Lieutenant (except that the eye of hypnoth doesn't work in melee). You can then take a couple of other HQs, like maybe the new biker chaplain with the relic Crozuis and a Librarian.

 

That said, the new Lieutenant with storm shield and master crafted power sword is also a nice option. He's a better fighter than either the Librarian or Chaplain before you add relics and stuff.

 

For my Crimson Fists I think my go to HQs are likely to be Pedro, a Libarian with Eye of Hypnoth and a Bike Chaplain with the relic Crozuis and Imperium's Sword warlord trait. Pedro is way better than the captain with shield, due to coming with full rerolls and a +1 attack aura. I'm actually considering using the new model for a new Pedro conversion. My current one is based on Calgar, but he's wearing Gravis armour which isn't quite right. I think you could swap Tor in for Pedro if playing Imperial Fists.

[Brother Macius]

Thanks Brothers. I'll definitely take Tor Graradon. The icing on the cake looks way more cooler. I like the idea of feilding 3rd company. I plan to recreate the the 3rd company to look almost identically as in the codex. Edited August 1, 2020 by Brother Macius