Need ideas for a Slash Chapter Master

[Dracos]

Title says it all. I'm going back to Successor after my less than spectacular RTT showing. It was my stratagem mistake that I finished out of the top 10 but even without that the best I could have done was 9th out of 32. 

 

Shrike did alright but he wasn't worth exchanging having to use RG Chapter Tactics over Bolter Fusillades and Whirlwind of Rage. After some heavy playtime last three months I've decided that as a RG Successor Chaplain's are less or a "must have". 

 

Plan B:

 

Heavy Bolt Rifle Captain to use Master of Ambush on either the Bladeguard or a unit or Eradicators

 

and then there's . . .

 

Slash Chapter Master to babysit the Plasma Inceptors and have the maneuverability to play utility infielder where needed most. 

 

 

What I need help with is the build for Slash. I have 165 to spend on him after stripping the list of lesses essentials like the Heavy Bolter and Helix Gauntlets (that one hurts).  

Appreciate your thoughts.

[Alcyon]

Sorry to hear the RTT didn't work out. It's so sad that the RG CT is such a pile.

 

I don't think the Heavy Bolt Rifle Captain is good. You have a melee-oriented character (5 attacks base, most of any character) with a weapon mostly only good against MEQ and a 2-shot Heavy Bolter he can fire on the move. I've tried a Gravis Captain a few times and 5" move is a pain in the ass too. 

 

IMO Bladeguard don't need re-rolls that bad, a squad of 5 will kill 7 MEQ without them and won't even kill 5 Gravis with them so it's a weird breakpoint. If you want them anyway I'd rather run a foot-slogging Chaplain, since he has flexibility to give them full re-rolls for cheaper or +2 to charge, etc. if they need it.

 

Similarly with Eradicators I find I always deep-strike them and I never want them in combat, so my choice lately has been a Phobos Lt. since re-roll 1s to wound is statistically the exact same as re-roll 1s to hit and he can deep-strike for free. That said, re-rolls aren't as key for them either, with 3 guys including 1 MM they'll handily kill a T7 10w vehicle without them.

 

Jump pack Chapter Master with the Inceptors is a great pick I think and can be built very cheaply as firstborn. If you're already paying for that upgrade it's tempting to go for both Angel Artifice and Master of the Codex since they're both good. Only issue with the former is it takes your relic slot which you probably want to use for Teeth of Terra if you're keeping him cheap. Storm Bolter and Grav-pistol are both free so that plus a free Chainsword and Teeth is only 150pts with the jump pack.

 

Honestly with Inceptors I dunno if I'd even care to spend the extra 40 pts for full re-rolls, it almost doubles your chance of death per model from 12% to 23%, almost 1 in 4. Personally I'm just running a regular jump pack Captain with no WLT, Teeth of Terra and a combi-Grav since he's mostly just leading the Inceptors anyway.

Edited April 27, 2021 by Alcyon

[XeonDragon]

I've had some fun and success with a gravis captain + MOA + terminators or aggressors. With the right relics, very beefy. I've also had TONS of recent success with a Chief Apothecary + selfless healer + aggressors/terminators.

 

But... to answer your question, some builds I have used or would have in mind for a "slash captain" at around 165 points are as follows (edit to add: first build is an alternative to a slash captain, but still aimed at escorting plasma inceptors around the board):

 

1. Jump pack captain (chapter master) with combi-melta or plasma and storm shield. Comes to 165 points. Idea here is to have a mobile tanky shooting platform that can contribute to the plasma inceptors via shooting. You could give a relic armour for a 5+ FNP save, or a master-crafted weapon (e.g. 2 damage on plasma without over charging, always nice). Combi-melta would go well with ability of plasma inceptors to advance and shoot. Move (advance if necessary), shoot inceptors, shoot captain, target dies, move on. Rinse and Repeat. 

 

2. Jump pack captain (chapter master) with teeth of terra and storm shield, Imperium's Sword WL trait. Comes to 160 points. Idea here is volume of attacks, plus being reasonably tanky. If you really want to double down on melee, I'd consider dropping the storm shield and taking a lightning claw. The captain has 4 bases attacks, so that would be 9 with the teeth of terra on the charge, +1 for a lightning claw. With Imperium's sword as a warlord trait at a minimum, that is some serious shredding capability. You could take master of the tri-fold path and Master of Vigilance for mortal wounds on natural 6+ hit rolls. This build would, statistically speaking, stack well with whirldwind of rage as it would, on average, generate at least 1 additional hit per fight phase. So, if you went the Teeth of Terra + LC + Imperium's Sword + Master of Vigilance, against characters that would be 9 attacks with the teeth of terra (4 base +1 shock assault + 3 teeth of terra, +1 Imperium's Sword) at s6, AP-2, D2, with +1 to hit and wound, and average of 1 additional hit (11 total) and an average of 1 mortal wound, plus 1 LC attack at S5, AP-2, D1. Very nice. I'd personally go the build with the shield, but that said, there is much merit in having a character with the Teeth of Terra and LC who, on average, will generate 12 attacks at WS 2+

 

3. Jump pack captain (chapter master) with relic blade and storm shield. Comes to 170 points. Take Imperium's Sword as WL trait. Take Shield eternal. You now have 6 S8, AP-3, D2 attacks, which, with whirlwind of rage, will generate on average 1 additional attack (so 7). The captain would have a 2+, 4++ and 5+++, so tanky as well. Angel artifice for t5, extra wound could be an option, but when I mathhammered it, the 5+++ is better. MOA or Master of Vigilance might stack well.  

 

4. Jump pack captain (chapter master) with power sword and storm shield. Comes to 165 points. Take Imperium's Sword as WL trait. Take the Burning Blade. You now have 6 S8, AP-5, D2 attacks, which, with whirlwind of rage, will generate on average 1 additional attack (so 7). Downside build 4 above is much less tanky. MOA or Master of Vigilance might stack well.  

 

Those are the main builds I have personally used. Of all the above, I find build 2 with the shield the most reliable, but I also really like build 3. Build 4 is really reliable in terms of killing things, but sometimes he dies early = doesn't do enough for long enough. Otherwise, this is one I use rarely, but is very, very fun...

 

5. Gravis captain. MOA + Imperium's word. Burning Blade. 7 Attacks at s6, AP-5, D2, generating an average of 1 additional hit per phase via whirlwind of rage. Reasonably tanky. If it doesn't kill what it charges, it will almost always live long enough to have another crack

 

Hope these are some groovy ideas!

 

Also, look at a captain on a bike, pretty much all of the above builds can be put onto him for similar or lower cost   The advantage to this over a jump pack is three fold: (1) you get shooting output via the twin bolters, which also get the benefit of the bolter fusillades (2) it is t5 and extra wound and (3) costs less.

 

A captain on a bike, with a storm shield and teeth of terra is 150 points, plus you get twin bolt guns. So t5, 6 wounds, 2+ and 4++ from storm shield, take Imperium's sword and on the charge you have 9 S6, AP-2, D2 attacks, generating an average of 1 additional attack via whirlwind of rage, combine with master of vigilance for an average of 1 additional mortal wound, plus probably 4 bolter shots, hitting on 2s, rerolling 1s natively via bolter fusillades with +1 to hit and wound characters on top of all that. Tasty  But really, it already comes with a 4++, so maybe taking a second melee weapon (e.g. LC) along with the teeth of terra could turn it into a melee monster with a bit of bolter shooting to boot. 

Edited April 28, 2021 by XeonDragon

[Claws and Effect]

Yeah, I have a pillar of salt about what GW did with our Chapter Tactics.

 

"Hey, you know what would be awesome? If we made Raven Guard need to be further away for their Tactic to work. And then we can make the table size smaller!"

 

It just irritates me to an irrational degree that out of all the Chapters we are the only one whose Tactic can be nullified in the Movement phase.

[Dracos]

I've decided the Helix Gauntlets are to important, and to go with the Rule of Cool.

 

Two years ago when I came back to the game a guy traded me a pair of Terminator Lightning Claws for some other bits I had. I was going to make my Chapter's [counts as] version of Shrike.

 

Since I've decided the Captain is better as a buff for primarily the Plasma Inceptors and secondarily the Eradicators. So, until my dream comes true of Assault Inceptors, I'll be building a conversion I thought of two years ago. 

 

 

I'll post WIP pictures of Captain Kestrel in the Warhawk thread soon. But with Whirlwind of Rage and the Ebonclaws, he should have some nice bite if the opportunity provides. I'll be using a spare Inceptor body with the Terminator Lightning Claws for this build. The only thing missing as of now is a building a base that gives the Captain a thematic pose.

 

I appreciate everyone's input and looking forward to testing this tweak in the next Crusade and RTT I enter.