Equipping HQ and Elite Characters...

[Ferrum_Sanguinis]

So I'm wondering what would be the best melee and possibly special weapons to give the GK characters like the GM, Brother-Captain, Librarian, and the Elites like the Apothecary and Ancients.

 

For the GM and BC, I would think that the hammer would be the default option, to make the best use of both their 5/6 attacks and 2+ WS. I know that when it comes to GMs the GMDK is almost always better but I'm just thinking about the hypothetical scenario where you take a regular termie GM.

 

Anyway, the only problem is that I wonder if it is ever worth it to give the GM/BC a psycannon. I really don't want to waste that 2+ BS on a character that will for the most part be babysitting other units anyway, so giving some more firepower to protect other units with seems good on paper. Problem is that Psycannon and hammer both would be 20 points would feels like it might be put to better use else where. 

 

I was thinking perhaps of a GM/GB with a Halberd and Psycannon. If needed I can make the Halberd into the Soul Glaive to boost its AP and Damage. Are special weapons worth it on either of these?

 

Then there is the libby. Warding staves are kinda crap now, especially on characters where the 2 CP just doesn't feel worth it. Hammers are also kinda bad on libby since they only have a 3 + WS. So I'm torn between giving them a sword or a halberd instead. Since they are better off taking Dominus powers rather than Hammerhand, I would think that the Halberd would be the best weapon for them since the +2 strength is more useful since they can't reroll wounds. Same logic also applies to the Apothecary I would think.

 

Then finally there are the Anicents. For the Brotherhood, Falchion seems like a given since he needs something to protect himself with. For the Paladin one, I wonder if I should give him either the Falchion or a special weapon. 

[librisrouge]

As far as the foot Grandmaster and Brother Captains, I'm fond of the hammer and storm bolter.

 

The added damage of the hammer is worth the hit penalty, but I don't think it is necessarily a give in. The halberd, particularly when replaced with the soul glave, is a particularly fine weapon and I suppose the sword is reasonably good as well, particularly if paired with the +1 damage power. I'd advise against falchion, unless you're confident you can use that power every time or have some other synergy ready to go; that synergy is typically better off on squads however. 

 

The clear winner in the weapon debate is the master crafted storm bolter. I'm suddenly disappointed that I'd setup my brocap model with a psycannon. The storm bolter has the same range, AP, and damage, but one more shot. The psycannon gains +3 strength, which is great, but also gains the move/shoot penalty. I think the only redeeming feature of the psycannon (and psilencer, I suppose) is the bonuses from Tide, strats, and such, but most of those are best saved for squads. The incinerator has some chance, since it at least gains the autohit rule.