Is the Chapter Ancient for the DW worth it?

[Berzul]

Hey everyone

 

So, I have been reviewing the Chapter <insert role here>. I have to admit, at first, I did not give it much thought, aside from the Master of Sanctity for the double litanies, and the Chief Apothecary, for Selfless Healer. But, I sat down to read them more carefully and, I have to say, the Chapter Ancient looks pretty good! Giving one Core Unit within 6" a +1 to hit in melee.

 

Considering that our DWKs are WS2+ and suffer no penalty with their maces, and we have Fury of the First to get a +1 to hit anyway, perhaps a +1 to hit aura in melee could be unnecessary. But, at the same time, I figure our knights are priority targets for getting effects on them to impair their melee ability. So, perhaps a second +1 to offset other effects could be good. Or even as a way to free CP, by making us less reliant on Fury of the First.

 

Then again, what MOST made me think of this upgrade is in using regular terminators with hammers, instead of knights. The squad goes from WS2+ to WS3+, and hits at -1, which is horrible in comparison to our Knights (and rightly so, since, they are KNIGHTS). But, when you bring in the +1 to hit from the ancient and the +1 to hit from Fury of the First, you then turn this unit from hitting on 4+ to hitting on 2+. EDIT: The logic here being that you NEGATE the -1, and the ADD a +1. You are still within the +1 cap that 9th edition imposes, while improving your WS by an effective value of 2.

 

Hammers have the same strength, AP and damage than maces of absolution. The one benefit of the mace is the lack of the -1 to hit. But, if you can offset that disadvantage, and make both squads hit at 2+, then the hammer becomes quite an interesting option, doesn't it? Since the regular terminator is cheaper and has the same survivability.

 

What are your thoughts on this?

Edited December 30, 2020 by Berzul

[aura_enchanted]

I think that the ancient has always been good, I dont think he's great though, I think of the three the ancient is probably the most flat "good" of the three, hes never a bad unit just not a great one unlike the apothecary who can situationally be absolutely valuemart busted.

 

I think the ravenwing champion is also highly undervalued as a way to save another character, support a charge, or to get a highly mobile body block in place. He isnt good on paper, hes great in practice where maneuvering around your opponent can sometimes be a lot easier said then done

[Berzul]

The character that I never read about, but that I have used to great effect many times, is the Company Champion.

 

I once took down a Flying Hive Tyrant with my dear Champion. And that was back in 8th Edition, before he could be upgraded!

 

Hidden Content

That was absolutely EPIC.

Edited December 30, 2020 by Berzul