Blood Angels Unit of the Week series Unit of the Week: Primaris Chaplain on Bike

[Jolemai]

Welcome to part two of the Blood Angels Unit of the Week Series!

Following the release of the 9^th edition Supplement, there is no better time to discuss all the units we have access to. Each week a different unit will appear, with the idea being that we discuss how best to use that model on the battlefield. Where part one will focus on the unique BA units and part two will focus on BA units that are new to this edition of the Codex, part three will discuss how to get the best use the generic units from the past that are still with us (and that many of us have in our armies still), and part four will discuss the Legends units that we still own and love. Finally, part five will be dedicated to the reinforcements from Forge World.

Note, this isn't to lament any nerfs, etc, from previous editions; the rules are as they are so try to unlock its potential for those who wish to use them all the same. Similarly, this thread is only for using the option being discussed; it matters not if you feel something is a better choice as such comments aren't constructive to the topic and shall be removed.

Without further ado, here's this week's entry:

Primaris Chaplain on Bike

Primaris Chaplain on Bike, DistractionTacMarine

What are you thoughts here folks? How best would you use your Biker Primaris Chaplain(s)?

• To compliment a list, or to build a list around? Will the beta rules affect your list(s)?
• What Litany of Battle are you taking to compliment Litany of Hate, and how are you making use them?
• How are you buffing this unit?
• How are you making use of Spiritual Leaders and Turbo Boost on this unit?
• Stratagem synergy or note?

Over to you

Please note that the Chaplain, Chaplain in Terminator Armour, Chaplain on Bike, Chaplain Venerable Dreadnought, and Primaris Chaplain will be discussed elsewhere.

Edited October 22, 2021 by Jolemai

[Jolemai]

Should you want your model on display here (or on another thread from the series), then submit a photo here please.

[Karhedron]

This guy is a beast and a definite contender for a must-take HQ. He is fast, flexible, pretty durable and hard hitting. If you want to run a Chaplain, this is probably the best choice. For the biker Chaplain, I would always take the Master of Sanctity upgrade and the Wise Orator WLT. It just allows you to get so much more punch and reliability out of his Litanies.

 

I think there are 2 particularly strong builds. The first is the tooling him him up to make a combat monster (Smashlain ). Take the Relic Crozius and Mantra of Strength and this guy will be hitting with 4 damage on each attack. Combined with Red Thirst and he can insta-kill Death Guard Terminators with each hit. Even tough vehicles/monsters will need to be careful around him.

 

The second is a support build (Bufflain) to enhance the rest of your army. The combo of Canticle of Hate and Litany of Hate will get your units into melee and ensure they hit hard when they get there. Give him the Icon of the Angel and units like Hammernators have an 82% chance of pulling off a charge from Reserves!

 

If you make him your Warlord and buy a 2nd WLT, he is a decent candidate for Rites of War since he can bring his bubble of ObjSec to bear wherever it is needed to nab an Objective. Combine it with the Visage of Death Relic and you can turn off enemy ObjSec to really add insult to injury as well as providing some protection in melee.

 

This guys if definitely one of our best HQs and can fit into a wide range of army lists.

[Tokugawa]

The steed made it the nearly mandatory HQ in almost every marine list. More wounds, T5 and bigger base size(for an aura unit, this is pretty crucial). If GW release a "Primaris wolf priest on thunder wolf" model someday, SW player may immediately drop it and taking the new toy.

[Warhead01]

After my previous game with a Chaplin as my warlord I had to find this one to better fill that spot. The Benediction of Fury + The warlord trait The Imperium's sword At a minimum for me. I'd also add a second warlord trait from the BA supplement with Angels Exemplar for  Speed of the Primarch. And if I can stay true to form I'll again buff him with Might of Heroes. 

Although given the Chaplin's need for speed that will not be very easy to do with out a bit of planning.  

If all goes as planned this Chaplin is an monster.
In my earlier outing this Chaplin was on foot and had difficulty getting to targets until mid game and so only killed basically 2 units before he died a small knight and a regular sized knight. 
With all this speed I am starting to think he should go after ever small knight he can make contact with possibly killing 4 or more of them with ease and who knows maybe still chase down a regular sized knight as well continuing the holy slaughter. 

[Captain Caine 24th]

All good points above. Just to add on some more detail: 

 

To paraphrase the above, the chaplain is in fact a close combat monster. You can set him up alone to rival the damage output of other elite squads. He really can be a monster on his own, or just a guy handing out nice auras. 

 

And as to auras, for a close combat oriented army (see RED THIRST) it makes sense to add characters supplementing or augmenting this close combat design. This thought process does have limitations though (I certainly can easily get carried away). The problem is that characters start to get expensive, and there are diminishing returns (meaning at some point you ought to take more units instead of lots of characters). I think there is also a potential problem in getting lured into a particular play style or army build to use great units. For instance, with lots of auras the benefits available to units seems to encourage taking very large units so as to maximize benefit (like 10x man vanguard). This may not be beneficial to capturing objectives. You might also end up restricting the movement of your squads to remain within an aura, even when it's not beneficial to winning the overall game. The game can be counter intuitive at times--sometimes a close combat army doesn't want to charge. That said, the chaplain is in a very cool spot--he has a list of cool builds and tools to use. The hard decision isn't whether or not to take him, it's what strats and warlord traits to use. There are plenty of super fast armies that love to out maneuver marines, and his bike is one answer to that.

 

Spiritual Leaders Aura ability  - allows CORE to use his leadership w/in 6" (notably not "wholly within"). He has leadership 9. Bladeguard are at 8 (sergeant 9), death company are 7, sanguinary guard 8. In 9th edition the leadership game mechanic doesn't seem to offer substantial windfalls, despite combinations stacking negatives (e.g. reivers -2 aura). I'm hearing Drukhari have increased leadership shenanigans with a new codex. That may be better addressed in a separate 'know your enemy' type post. Anyway, against some enemies the chaplain's aura is a non-trivial tool to use. For death company, with low leadership, it's definitely a consideration more often.

 

Priest (litanies) ability - I like the upgrade to Master of sanctity, the warlord trait, and the strat. Hardly a controversial opinion, but it might help to discuss it in more depth.

• I like planning redundancy into army list building. If i plan on failing my charges, the chaplain is one way to help. However, litanies succeeding on a 3+ isn't all that consistent or reliable either.
  • I like the canticle of hate. Charge rolls are seldom certain. However, for me, charges are in the category of critical roles. We need to make the charge. Now, one death company marine charging an impulsor on turn 5 doesn't matter all that much, but any failure on a multi-charge or multiple charges out of reinforcements on turns 2-3 could be game deciding. The bonus movement in pile in and consolidation also can substantially change the complexion of the battlefield--lots, and lots of movement. It's too bad it doesn't stack with the RED THIRST.
  • I also like the litany of hate (not real creative in name here, but whatever) - I find that even if I make a charge, sometimes an assault is a total dud. Namely, death company with thunder hammers or fists hitting on a 4+ is not great at all. As a counter point, Death guard have some shenanigans to prevent re-rolls & auras. I'm sure other armies do as well. Ask before the game starts, you'll need to adjust your plans.
  • keep in mind these litanies are CORE or CHARACTER in application, not just CORE.
• The commanding Oratory strat (2CP) - allows you to auto recite 1 litany in a phase other than the command phase. This solves the big problem of units incoming from reserves normally being ineligible to receive chaplain support. Litanies are normally recited in the command phase, while reinforcements don't show up until the reinforcement step of the movement phase. So, with this 2 CP, being able to aid deep strikers is big. Just remember to read the whole rule--you only get to recite one, instead of the 2 that a master of sanctity can recite. Also, it's an auto pass. Sometimes that alone is reason enough. 
• The wise orator Warlord trait - getting +1 on litany roll, and -1CP on the commanding oratory strat. I like the added redundancy here, though if you use the strat it's auto pass anyway. Notably the upgrade to master of sanctity would normally allow you to recite two litanies, so the strat is in some conflict with the upgrade ability. I think the strat is very good when you need it, but not the thing you use every turn.

[Hintzy]

I've seen a few top tier tournament lists including this unit running the following setup:

Primaris Chaplain

Warlord (Angel Exemplar)

Master of Sanctity

Armour Indomitus

Gift of Foresight

Artisan of War (Adamantine Mantle)

Canticle of Hate

Mantra of Strength

 

This model seems clearly setup to be as durable as possible. I haven't had the opportunity to watch any games played with him by players like Jack Harpster (GW Orlando Open) or Kyle Malmborg (GW New Orleans Open). Can anybody provide insight into why they've chosen to go as durable as possible rather than more support with Wise Orator? They've also skipped over Dante's bonus CP to make this guy Warlord, presumably just for Angel Exemplar and Adamantine Mantle.

 

Surely they're not just using him for Angel's Sacrifice plays, especially when opponents have likely taken assassinate due to 4 characters in the list.

[DantesRevenge]

I've seen a few top tier tournament lists including this unit running the following setup:

Primaris Chaplain

Warlord (Angel Exemplar)

Master of Sanctity

Armour Indomitus

Gift of Foresight

Artisan of War (Adamantine Mantle)

Canticle of Hate

Mantra of Strength

 

This model seems clearly setup to be as durable as possible. I haven't had the opportunity to watch any games played with him by players like Jack Harpster (GW Orlando Open) or Kyle Malmborg (GW New Orleans Open). Can anybody provide insight into why they've chosen to go as durable as possible rather than more support with Wise Orator? They've also skipped over Dante's bonus CP to make this guy Warlord, presumably just for Angel Exemplar and Adamantine Mantle.

 

Surely they're not just using him for Angel's Sacrifice plays, especially when opponents have likely taken assassinate due to 4 characters in the list.

I get the impression, these lists lean in massively into lots of Sang Guard and buffing them up to do the work.  Dante is basically a cheap beat stick trading unit, whose main job is to give out Chapter Master. He then uses a combo of Angel Sacrifice and Only Death to protect the Sang Guard from charges or when charged.

 

The Chappie is also for buffing the sang guard with Heroes and a really durable unit to control the center of the board and is a terrifying prospect to charge or be charged by

[Karhedron]

That build is incredibly durable and possibly unique to Blood Angels thanks to Artisan of War. Not only do we have a unit that is extremely difficult to kill, we also have a strat forcing an opponent to waste attacks on it.

[Karhedron]

A squad of 5 Assault Terminators with Thunder Hammers could expect to put about 3-4 wounds on this guy and a squad of 5 Bladeguard Vets about the same (assuming he triggered the armour Indomitus). For a more extreme example, a Knight Gallant's stomp attacks would actually do about the same. A Thunderstrike Gauntlet or Reaper Chainsword would be a bit swingy as he could survive 1 failed save against either but probably not 2. But all these are taken before the save reroll granted by Gift of Foresight.

 

Basically there is not a lot that can one-shot this guy, even among the big heavy hitters. The only things you have to watch out for are units that can ignore Invulnerable saves (like C'tan shards) and Mortal Wounds. And even here the Adamantium Mantle will still give some protection. Even Mortarion is only looking at ~6 wounds on this guy.

 

Against opponents who don't have deathstar units, he can keep handing out buffs and even go solo late game as there will not be a lot that can threaten him and he can solo (or at least tarpit) most units.

[Paladin777]

That's insanity...

[Hintzy]

A squad of 5 Assault Terminators with Thunder Hammers could expect to put about 3-4 wounds on this guy and a squad of 5 Bladeguard Vets about the same (assuming he triggered the armour Indomitus). For a more extreme example, a Knight Gallant's stomp attacks would actually do about the same. A Thunderstrike Gauntlet or Reaper Chainsword would be a bit swingy as he could survive 1 failed save against either but probably not 2. But all these are taken before the save reroll granted by Gift of Foresight.

 

Basically there is not a lot that can one-shot this guy, even among the big heavy hitters. The only things you have to watch out for are units that can ignore Invulnerable saves (like C'tan shards) and Mortal Wounds. And even here the Adamantium Mantle will still give some protection. Even Mortarion is only looking at ~6 wounds on this guy.

 

Against opponents who don't have deathstar units, he can keep handing out buffs and even go solo late game as there will not be a lot that can threaten him and he can solo (or at least tarpit) most units.

That's much more durable than I had thought. I never ran any of that math, thanks! I thought he was trading a lot of utility for a little bit of durability, but it's seems to be quite the opposite, makes much more sense now.

[Paladin777]

Slightly off topic, but I think you can achieve similar results with a captain (chapter master specifically) on bike. If you give him the Angel Artifice (which is appropriately named...) you even get toughness 6 out of the deal. You'd have more kitting options that way, though a little less utility.

 

Taking the heroic bearing warlord trait would boost his buffing/aura out to 9", and you can still use Angel Exemplar to give him he adamantium mantle. Replace the bolt pistol with a storm bolter and enjoy your 8 shots at 24 while buffing all core units with 9," all without giving up the thunder hammer.

 

Bottom line

 

Captain on bike

Chapter master

Angel artifice (for 2+ save, T6, and 7W)

Heroic bearing

Angel exemplar for adamantiim mantle (or master crafted if you go that route)

Swap pistol with storm bolter

 

This is not intended to claim any superiority over the chaplain, only to point out another super-option. Heck, could you imagine both of them running around (one with adamantium mantle and the other with the relic storm shield that also give 5+++)!

[Karhedron]

There are several variations you could run. Replace the Storm Bolter with a Storm Shield for a 1+ save which is handy against buckets of Chainsword Attacks.

 

I would probably keep Gift of Foresight though. Reroll to Hit, Wound and Save is really good on a Character who is in the thick of it.

[Paladin777]

I was thinking more for a buff character that can shake it up and melee quite well, but if he's charging on his own then you're absolutely right!

[Xenith]

Slightly off topic, but I think you can achieve similar results with a captain (chapter master specifically) on bike. 

 

I've used the Biker CM in a good few games. I think the appeal of the chappy is that he has more wounds than the biker CM (primaris bikes give +2W, not +1 like firstborn bikes), access to transhuman, access to D3 weapon through mantra of strength, but one of the main things is that all the bonuses are either innate, or relic/trait driven, so the chaplain never costs more than that 115pts+CP - he's still essentially a throwaway missile if he has to be, while I don't think I'd throw away the ~170pts Chapter Master with THSS so recklessly. 

[Paladin777]

With the Angel Artifice it's the same wounds and T6, but I see your point. A chapter master certainly isn't ever a throw away unit.

 

I still want to get one of each though...

[Vermintide]

This guy is the single coolest model in the current 40k range. Only problem I have with him is that the units you'd want to ideally support (Outriders) him are pretty underwhelming, and quite over-costed, even with buffs.

 

He can get work done on his own, (I've taken the fancy relic crozius every time and it slays) and he can make use of the mobility to become a mobile buffer for shooting units or regular infantry charging at an opportune moment... But that just doesn't look quite as aesthetically pleasing, does it. I desperately want the Deathrider to lead a savage, glorious charge of biker boys from Baal, but on the table it's just been a bit of a let down.

 

So yeah... I want to love it, but instead I've been using Lemartes as my chaplain of choice.

[Jolemai]

Fairly recent one this, however, it's seen a revival of late for Nephilim. Where initially it was switched out due to the CP change, it's seen a mini revival as an "Objective flip" unit in combination with Shock Tactics. How else can we use it post-Nephilim?

[Karhedron]

For Objective flipping I assume it is running Deathmask and Rites of War?

[Jolemai]

Visage of Death and Rites of War, yes.

 

Of course, there are still other uses for the Primaris Chaplain on Bike. I've highlighted this one as it's one way the unit is used currently do to its inherent durability.