New gravis captain

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

I’m torn.

Should I give him the ToT and make him a real melee menace?

Or

Give my SP the ToT, so he can do something besides just healing people?

[Karhedron]

I do like ToT on the SP. The problem here is that the SP is kinda squishy which means I usually use Artificer of War to give him Artificer Armour so at least he has a 2+/5++ save. Then of course you need to give him Selfless Healer so that is 2 WLTs and a Relic out of the gate which makes him pricey in terms of CPs.

 

ToT is good but putting it on a Gravis Captain wastes his Gauntlet. I would rather but the Relic on someone who does not normally have a high damage output.

[Warhead01]

I'm in the same boat. I did give a chain sword to my SP to use as the ToT. I do plan to give the ToT to the Gravis Captain. I was trying to decide if I just wanted to do a weapon swap on the older Gravis Captain but the new model looks a little better so I guess I am getting the new one. 
What I found with the ToT on the SP, is that matchups really matter. He is a little squishy if the odds aren't stacked in his favor. 

[Karhedron]

What I found with the ToT on the SP, is that matchups really matter. He is a little squishy if the odds aren't stacked in his favor.

I like to run my SP with Sanguinary Guard. Since he has 2 WLTs, he has ot be the Warlord so will trigger "Heirs of Azkellon". The Sanguinary Guard provide muscle for the heavy melee lifting, protection from dangerous enemies and valuable models to resurrect via Combat Revival.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

I do like ToT on the SP. The problem here is that the SP is kinda squishy which means I usually use Artificer of War to give him Artificer Armour so at least he has a 2+/5++ save. Then of course you need to give him Selfless Healer so that is 2 WLTs and a Relic out of the gate which makes him pricey in terms of CPs.

 

ToT is good but putting it on a Gravis Captain wastes his Gauntlet. I would rather but the Relic on someone who does not normally have a high damage output.

how does it waste his gauntlet? Doesn’t it provide extra attacks with the chainsword?

 

Even a normal chainsword provides +1 attack with it, so as far as I can tell the other two melee weapons options are kinda pointless.

Edited December 23, 2021 by Inquisitor_Lensoven

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

 

What I found with the ToT on the SP, is that matchups really matter. He is a little squishy if the odds aren't stacked in his favor.

I like to run my SP with Sanguinary Guard. Since he has 2 WLTs, he has ot be the Warlord so will trigger "Heirs of Azkellon". The Sanguinary Guard provide muscle for the heavy melee lifting, protection from dangerous enemies and valuable models to resurrect via Combat Revival.

I’ll try that in my next game.

 

Unfortunately I’ve only had one game where any models in a unit he was close to survived long enough to be resurrected or healed lol

[Warhead01]

 

What I found with the ToT on the SP, is that matchups really matter. He is a little squishy if the odds aren't stacked in his favor.

I like to run my SP with Sanguinary Guard. Since he has 2 WLTs, he has ot be the Warlord so will trigger "Heirs of Azkellon". The Sanguinary Guard provide muscle for the heavy melee lifting, protection from dangerous enemies and valuable models to resurrect via Combat Revival.

 

I've had lots of misplays in my games. Some times it's mostly that I had a plan and then had to throw it out because at the time something else seems more important but I blame a lot of that on my lack of understanding of 9th, bad dice rolls and bad positioning. I'll see about those SG when I can next year! 

[Blindhamster]

Gravis captains are one of my favourite HQs honestly, they look awesome and have pretty great rules, the update they're presumably getting to add some new options is very welcome :D

Personally I prefer the sword option and in friendly games with my friends I opt for the crusade encarmine warblade (because its cool and belonged to my favourite BA of the HH), otherwise usually the burning blade. That said, the teeth of terra is tempting for sure as it gives the mix of blender and heavy hitter for a gravis captain.

[Karhedron]

I've had lots of misplays in my games. Some times it's mostly that I had a plan and then had to throw it out because at the time something else seems more important but I blame a lot of that on my lack of understanding of 9th, bad dice rolls and bad positioning. I'll see about those SG when I can next year!

There are quite a lot of moving parts in a game that has lots of Objectives to consider. Even experienced players often fail to stick to their plans in the face of an enemy who has plans of their own.

[Karhedron]

how does it waste his gauntlet? Doesn’t it provide extra attacks with the chainsword?

 

Even a normal chainsword provides +1 attack with it, so as far as I can tell the other two melee weapons options are kinda pointless.

I guess "waste" is too strong a word. I just feel that is a model has a decent melee weapon like a power fist, investing a separate relic seems like overkill when it might be better spreading the killing power around. I do take your point that you get the 3 ToT attacks, even if you are swinging the fist. Maybe I need to be more imaginative.

Edited December 23, 2021 by Karhedron

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

 

how does it waste his gauntlet? Doesn’t it provide extra attacks with the chainsword?

 

Even a normal chainsword provides +1 attack with it, so as far as I can tell the other two melee weapons options are kinda pointless.

I guess "waste" is too strong a word. I just feel that is a model has a decent melee weapon like a power fist, investing a separate relic seems like overkill when it might be better spreading the killing power around. I do take your point that you get the 3 ToT attacks, even if you are swinging the fist. Maybe I need to be more imaginative.

ya now you see my conundrum!

Gravis captain w/ ToT will mince basically everything, but that’s a lot of investment in 1 small little unit.

When I could make another HQ pretty darn choppy as well.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

I think I’ve solved it.

Keep the captain with his basic chainsword for the extra attack, but give him the armor indomitus and leave ToT with my priest.

 

My captain gets a slight boost to melee, and a big boost to durability.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Well the new rules released makes it much less of a difficult decision.

Basic CS for the gravis captain and ToT of the priest.

[Karhedron]

Yup, against a horde of critters, he can get up to 10 attacks with the chainsword loadout I think although some of them will need to be with the Bolstorm Gauntlet since the CS is capped at +3A maximum.

[CCE1981]

Chainsword is capped at +3 ADDITIONAL attacks. Says nothing about your regular attacks. Edited January 30, 2022 by CCE1981

[Blindhamster]

For me the new gravis captain rules made him a downgrade vis the old ones as a blood angel. Previously he was cheaper and his secondary weapon was a very good fit for us as BA, the fist was useful for popping tanks and he didn’t require a relic be used. My go-to for him was typically to master craft the gauntlet as it affected both the fist and gun, the sword was ideal for killing marines as he hit on 2s and still generally wounded on 2s, killing them in one hit and generally killing them with no save, then the fist as a more deadly enemy and/or vehicle crusher.

 

On top of that, the sword in the box really can’t be assumed as anything less than master crafted as it’s way more ornate than the other master crafted swords available.

 

Dumb. Personally I’ll probably switch to the rifle version with master crafted sword as he is cheaper and his melee weapon better suits our rules and he can have the relic rifle if desired

[Paladin777]

Honestly, after running the numbers I think you're better off with the power sword than the chainsword vs most targets. The chainswords is better against Orks (on the charge only, otherwise it's even) and guard, but not by a substantial amount, and the power sword get much better as the target's armor save goes up even though the CS gets the extra attack.

 

I agree with blindhamster though. If I was to get a gravis captain (which I probably will eventually because I love chonky infantry) I'd probably also go with the Rifle version too.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Paladin777

[Blindhamster]

Makes me sad as I love my model but he won’t see use with the rule change

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Makes me sad as I love my model but he won’t see use with the rule change

I also love the model. I think a lot of it depends on how you want to play him. In narrative, campaign type games, he seems really good, especially with all the rank/experience he can get. In a competitive, gamey format he needs help to get what he needs.

 

Sub 1500 point games is the sweet spot to me.

[Paladin777]

He'd probably be a good pick to run with eradicators/aggressors as a counter-charge/buffing unit if you're running any of those. With the sheer number of attacks he gets he'd likely make pretty quick work of tarpits.

 

His ranged loadout synergizes well with the bolter aggressors in particular.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

Makes me sad as I love my model but he won’t see use with the rule change

I also love the model. I think a lot of it depends on how you want to play him. In narrative, campaign type games, he seems really good, especially with all the rank/experience he can get. In a competitive, gamey format he needs help to get what he needs.

 

Sub 1500 point games is the sweet spot to me.

[Blindhamster]

I meant my custom one but the new official one is nice too lol

[Dont-Be-Haten]

I meant my custom one but the new official one is nice too lol

Oooooh yeah dude. I need an Alistair inspired BA Carmine Blade. Your Alphael is still one of my favorites.

 

I'm still holding out hope we get our very own BA centric captain grasping a traitor skull / looking beast mode!

[Paladin777]

I just noticed that the bolt storm gauntlet is a pistol... I completely forgot about that. That makes it quite a bit more useful in the late game.

 

I know I said earlier that I'd likely go with the rifle version, but I could also see myself running one with a power sword.

 

This is just theorycrafting (and probably not even worth it, but hey it's fun to think about!), but you could make him nigh unkillable by making him a chapter master with the Angel Artifice and Iron Resolve (T6, 9W, 2+/4+/6+++), then add some extra punchiness with Angel Exemplar to MC his gauntlet for S8/D3 melee and D2 shooting in CC! That would be one character I'd make sure to avoid! Now you'd just have to figure out how to deliver him to the enemy!

Edited January 30, 2022 by Paladin777

[Paladin777]

I was looking at the sprue on GW's website and it looks like you might be able to give him a left pauldron other than the one that comes in the kit. That would be cool, and a nice touch.