Editing Warhammer 40,000/8th Edition Tactics/Space Marines (section)

==={{W40Kkeyword|Black Templars}}===
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[[File:Black_Templars_Livery.png|100px|left|]]In the grim darkness of the far future, there will be only war. Actual quote by Sigismund, he called it first.<br>
The Great Crusade never ended for these guys. Not confined to a sector like other chapters, the Black Templars fight the enemies of mankind wherever they are.

On the tabletop, these guys are no-nonsense marines, geared to fight the enemy in honest melee with daring charges and skilled swordplay. There's the enemy, go kill it. Shrug off their psychic tricks, bolter and blade will carry out the day. What deals more damage than just shooting? Shooting AND fighting, and you can chain the two better than other Chapters. So good at it that even charging right out of orbit can be a tactic - skip movement and psychic phases, shooting and fighting is where it's at.

''[[Armageddon#Third_War_for_Armageddon|Are all orks dead?]] [[Great_Rift|Has chaos been defeated?]] Then chain your weapons to your gauntlets and <b>take the fight to them</b>
. No [[Tau|pity]], no [[Chaos_Space_Marines|remorse]], no [[Eldar|fear]]!''
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====Special Rules====
*'''The Lost Librarius:''' {{W40Kkeyword|Adeptus Astartes Psykers}} cannot be from the {{W40Kkeyword|Black Templars}} Chapter, if you needed reminding. Doesn't affect non-Templar {{W40Kkeyword|Psykers}} in allied detachments.
*'''Chosen Champion:''' You also can't use the Chapter Champion stratagem. But that's because you have the Emperor's Champion, so you don't care.

*'''Chapter Tactics - Righteous Zeal:''' Units with this tactic can re-roll failed charge rolls, '''''either one or both dice'''''. They also get a 5+++ FNP vs mortal wounds.
**All mortal wounds, not just those from psychic powers; this is basically Armour of Contempt but always active, all the time and not restricte to vehicles. A character about to die can fail to save a regular wound, and pass it onto a Company Vet as a mortal wound to try to save it again. A vehicle that fails a plasma roll has a chance to not lose a wound. What tries to counter TH/SS? Mortal Wounds SPAM. Well now your TH/SS are 2+/3++/5+++, simple as. 
**'''Imperial 'Ere We Go!''' Simple yet effective, this and Shock Attack are your incentives for melee. With an individual 56.9% of making the charge, a massed deepstrike is less of a coinflip ― the probability of ''at least one of two units'' making a 9" charge is 0.569+(1-0.569)*0.569 = '''81.4%'''. And you have a ton such units: ''Anything'' {{W40Kkeyword|Jump Pack}}, Reivers, {{W40Kkeyword|Terminators}}; Cataphractii's transport issue is all but solved! Even melee Dreadnoughts will improve, as it makes charges vastly more reliable. But <u>MSU everything</u>: one of two 5-man units making the charge is better than 10 dudes standing around doing nothing. It also doubles the grenades they can use (especially Reiver Shock Grenades), and the unit left behind can prevent any characters that didn't make the charge from being sniped when the others do get into melee.
***Of course, it's not restricted to a melee drop: a Rhino/Razor/Impulsor rush or a Land Raider Crusader boosted with Shock and Awe works too, and the Assault Doctrine doesn't work until turn 3. Just doing the math so you don't need to cogitate it mid-charge.

*'''Combat Doctrine - Knights of Sigismund:''' When the Assault Doctrine is active, units that charge/Heroically Intervene against non-Vehicles that roll an unmodified 6 to hit in melee auto-hit and auto-wound.
**It's alright. Believe it or not, ((WS-1)*(To Wound)+(1/6)) is actually equal or ''better than the Blood Angels''' +1A when wounding on 4+/5+/6+, since BA gain +1 attack (+25% on 2+1 A Intercessors), while you get +25%/+50%/+125% on any attacks you have. And compared to the WS, you get your bonus while they get nothing against single wound models. ''So, are BT better at melee than BA & WS?'' '''No.''' Especially not compared to the BA <s>snowflake</s> exclusive units. This bonus also suffers from being better against only the most secific of targets: [[Plague Marines|high toughness single wound models]]. Fight hordes and you'll wish you had +1A. Fight anything T8 and you'll see it has more than one wound, so WS do double damage to it. Not to mention why are you punching a vehicle with your S4?
**If you're fishing for exploding 6s, remember there's '''Exhortation of Rage''', '''Gene Wrought Might''' and Grimaldus, as well as '''Death to the Traitors''' when fighting CSM. So does Incursor melee, although you also have Crusader squads and Veteran Intercessors as melee Troop choices too - after all, more attacks = more 6s.

====Warlord Traits====
#'''Oathkeeper:''' Warlord can do 6" Heroic Interventions. Eh, it's ok. You certainly don't want your warlord to leave his squad unsupported when they get charged, but you should be the one who charges anyway. Emperor Champion's trait.
#'''Epitome of Piety:''' The Warlord can deny one power in the Psychic Phase, and gains a +1 on his roll to do so. Just in case you need a little more protection than what Righteous Zeal provides you with. Chaplain Grimaldus' trait.
#'''Paragon of Fury:''' After the warlord makes a charge move, roll 1d6 for each enemy unit within 1” of the warlord; on a 2+ that model takes a mortal wound.  Ok, but you can do better.
#'''Master of Arms:'''  The Warlord Always Fights First.  Black Templars don't do fall back feints, and fighting first means the enemy cannot kill you because you killed them first. Though if you can't get stuck in because you're killing everything in the charge then pick something else.
#'''Inspirational Fighter:''' When friendly {{W40Kkeyword|Black Templars}} units within 6” of this warlord roll an unmodified 6 to wound for melee weapon attacks, improve the weapon’s AP by 1.
#*Biggest issue with this is that the AP boost cannot stack with the Assault Doctrine's, meaning you'll be lucky if you even manage to fight under this effect for at least one round.
#'''Front-Line Commander:''' Add 1 to the Advance and Charge distances of friendly Black Templars units within 6”. High Marshal Helbrecht's trait.
#*Remember it doesn't stack with '''Canticle of Hate''', which doesn't affect advances and doesn't work if the user was in a transport, but does increase Pile In moves by +3". Which is like the '''Devout Push''' stratagem, but as an aura. Up to you to use a Front-Line Commander to do a turn 1 drop pod assault or be patient and wait for turn 2 with Chaplain support.

====Relics and Special-Issue Wargear====
*'''Ancient Breviary:''' Chaplain only. When you roll for a litany for the bearer, you can roll 2D6 and discard either result. Equivalent to being able to re-roll, except that you can use both this ''and'' a tactical re-roll. Can give 97.55% reliability to Litany combos for a Master of Sanctity.
*'''Aurillian Shroud:''' Once per battle at the start of the battle round, a model with this relic can activate it. If they do, until the end of the battle round, models in friendly {{W40Kkeyword|Black Templars}} units have a 4++ invulnerable save while within 3” of the relic bearer.
*'''Crusader's Helm''': Increase the range of the model's aura abilities by 3", to a maximum of 12". Also, at the start of your Movement phase (so it doesn't work in deepstrike/transports), pick a friendly {{W40Kkeyword|Black Templars}} unit with the Combat Doctrines ability within 6" of this model. Until your next Movement phase, the Assault Doctrine is active for that unit, replacing the current doctrine.
*'''Skull of the Cacodominus:''' Once per battle, after a psychic power is manifested within 12" of the bearer, roll 1d6; on a 2+, the caster suffers 1d3 mortal wounds after the power is resolved. ''Alas, poor Cacodominus, I knew your psychic death screams well.''
*'''Sword of Judgment''': Replaces a power sword or master-crafted power sword. S+1 AP-3 3D. Compared to a Thunder Hammer, hitting on a 2+ but wounding on 3+ is the same as hitting on a 3+ but wounding on a 2+.
**Despite this is using a relic slot (1CP) to do what a regular Thunder Hammer does, this relic sword costs TEN TIMES LESS points, and can be wielded by Primaris characters, who can't use hammers. And Knights of Sigismund makes 6A with this relic deal similar damage to 5A with a relic hammer.
*'''Witchseeker Bolts:''' Goes with a bolt weapon and you can shoot these instead of its normal ammo. You only get one attack, but the attack can target a {{W40Kkeyword|PSYKER CHARACTER}} even if it’s not the closest model. Also, a hit on a {{W40Kkeyword|Psyker}} causes an extra 1d3 mortal wounds. ''Put it on a Master-crafted Stalker bolt rifle for D3+1d3 to witches. So does a Master-crafted Instigator bolt carbine, but the RG FAQ confirms a '''Marksman's Honorus''' warlord does get +1D when shooting relic ammo''.

====Litanies of the Devout====
To compensate for their lack of a Psychic Discipline, the Black Templars gain six unique Litanies for their Chaplains to use instead of the usual one. You are sooooo bringing a Master of Sanctity for them- good thing you can just take Grimaldus instead of using the CP for the Master of Sanctity Stratagem.
#'''Litany of Divine Protection''': Target friendly {{W40Kkeyword|black templars}} unit within 6" gets a 5+++ FNP without being restricted to mortal wounds. ''Good, but suffers from not being a bubble''.
#'''Psalm of Remorseless Persecution''': Re-roll melee wound rolls of 1 for {{W40Kkeyword|black templars}} units within 6". ''Like having a lieutenant around, but worse''.
#*Then again, the Lieutenant may be somewhere else. It would take both a Chapter Master and a Lieutenant (or Guilliman) to give the rerolls that a Master of Sanctity gives you in melee.
#*White Scars get full wound re-rolls for units within 6". On top of more and better stratagems, relics and Librarians with their own spells. Just play your BT as WS and you'll be a happier man.
#'''Vow of Retribution''': -2 leadership to enemy units within 6". ''Just don't. You're not a leadership bomb based army, and you should usually be trying to keep your chaplain near your own units more than the enemy.''
#*But hear me out! '''Fear Made Manifest''' Master of Sanctity + Phobos Lieutenant with the {{W40kKeyword|Reiver}} keyword. That's -4Ld on top of rerolling all melee and wounds of 1.
#'''Fires of Devotion''': Target a friendly {{W40Kkeyword|black templars}} unit within 6". It gains +1A if it charges or makes a Heroic Intervention until the end of the turn. ''So, if you go first, it's not active during your enemy's half of the battle round unlike other litanies''.
#*Black Templars are already great at making charges, and of course this stacks with Shock Assault.  The only downside is that it's not a bubble, so you want to put it on a melee deathstar of some sort.  It's much better than (and will stack with) Exhortation of Rage in practice, not that Exhortation of Rage was a great Litany to begin with.  Since this one only works offensively, you want it on a faster Chaplain - the Litany does nothing when you are charged.
#'''Fervent Acclamation''': +3" to aura abilities of {{W40Kkeyword|black templars}} units within 6" (which applies to the chaplain, so really 9").
#*BELLOWING VOICE! Crusader Helm Captain, Vox Espiritum Lieutenant, TWELVE-INCHER Auras. Oh and it helps Helbrecht's, Grimaldus', and Cenobyte Servitor's auras too. As well as Standard bearers and the Aurillian Shroud. Positioning made simple, it allows Black Templars to footslogg like they used to.
#'''Oath of Glory''': Target one friendly {{W40Kkeyword|black templars}} unit within 6" to always fights first.
#*Terrible utility. Good for ongoing combats (which you should not count on your opponent giving you); combine it with '''Canticle of Hate''' or '''Devout Push''' to charge and get stuck in. More importantly, you can try to keep them in place with '''Tenacious Assault'''. That way, you deny your enemy their shooting phase, and you still get to fight first on their turn.

====Stratagems====
*'''Abhor the Witch (1 CP)''': Roll 1d6 when an enemy psyker manifests a power within 24". roll a d6. On a 4+, the psychic power is resisted. ''Doesn't even have to target you, you could deny an enemy boost.''
*'''Crusader Relics (1 CP)''': Differently from other Sergeant (or "Sword Brother") Relics stratagems, you can hand out only three: Witchseeker bolts (better fired by a Primaris character's Master-crafted gun), Sword of Judgement (better wielded by someone with more WS and Attacks), and the Skull of the Cacodominus, which merely needs to be held. Your choice.
*'''Devout Push (1 CP)''': Use at the start of the fight phase. +3" to the Pile in move. You'll need a big unit, since there's only so much ground a 5-man unit can cover. ''Doesn't stack with Canticle of Hate per se, but use it on a unit outside litany range and pile onto everything''.
*'''Oaths of Honour (1 CP)''': Use during the fight phase. select one Black Templar Scout Unit that charged or was charged. They can reroll the wound roll of their melee weapons.
*'''Shock and Awe (1 CP)''': When an Infantry unit disembarks from a Land Raider Crusader, they become immune to Overwatch and force attacks against them to be made at -1 to hit. Take big Crusader units geared for melee to exploit the Crusader's improved transport capacity, since this only affects one unit at a time.
**Alongside Devout Push they are basically the only reason to use Crusader squads, since you cannot pile in onto anything you didn't declare a charge against, and Shock & Awe cancels any overwatch. Ferry a 15-man Crusader unit into range, declare a charge against the target and everyone around it, and not even Tau can prevent you from tying up anything nearby.
*'''Tenacious Assault (2 CP)''': roll a d6 when an enemy infantry unit without the FLYER BATTLEFIELD ROLE tries to fall back from your black templars. On a 2+, they can't fall back. ''What the Emperor ties up in melee, let no man separate!''.
*'''The Emperor's Will (1 CP)''': Use when a Black Templar Infantry Unit advances. They can still shoot pistols and charge. 
*'''Vicious Riposte (1 CP)''': Use during the fight phase. Select one Black Templar infantry unit. Until the end of the phase, when they roll an unmodified save roll of 6, their attacker suffers a mortal wound. ''More useful against big units, as more saves mean more chances to roll a 6, but then again, more chances to fail a save too.''

====Specialist Detachment - Sword Brethren====
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="100%"> {{W40kKeyword|High Marshall Helbrecht,}} the {{W40kKeyword|Emperor's Champion, Company Champion}}, {{W40kKeyword|Captains}} (all flavours) and {{W40kKeyword|Company Veterans}} in this detachment gain the {{W40kKeyword|SWORD BRETHREN}} keyword, so you can do a mighty crusade! [[Derp|Neither Grimaldus, Crusader squads, Terminator squads nor Vanguard Vets are affected, btw]].
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*This is the ONLY specialist detachment that affects a Chapter Master, a named one at that, as well as the Emperor's Champion unique character. Named characters still can't take this detachment's warlord trait, though.
*You ''can'' use it on Company Veterans on Bikes, since they too have the {{W40kKeyword|Company veterans}} keyword, same as the Captain on Bike...buuut they are overcosted. Even more so than before, as in CA2018 they retained their old price while everything else got a discount.

'''Stratagems'''
*'''Uphold the Honour of the Emperor (1CP):''' At the start of the Fight phase, pick a {{W40kKeyword|SWORD BRETHREN}} unit. Roll a D6 each time one of the models in that unit loses a wound, on a 5+ that model does not lose that wound.
*'''Suffer Not the Unclean to Live (2CP):''' At the start of the Fight phase, pick a {{W40kKeyword|SWORD BRETHREN}} unit. All models in the unit get an extra attack and may reroll failed wound rolls.

'''Warlord Trait'''
*'''Master Swordsman:''' +1A. Each time your warlord rolls an unmodified 6 to hit in the fight phase, the attack inflicts 2 hits instead of 1. ''Come my foes, get closer. I shall teach you to fear the Emperor!''
**Regular Captain WS2+ 4A+1 wielding a Thunder Hammer hitting a T4 4++ enemy becomes 5*(4/6+4/36)*(5/6)*(1/2)*(3)+5*(1/6+1/36)*(5/6)*(1/2)*(3) = 6.07 unsaved wounds. You can add the Teeth of Terra to get more attacks, and swap the hammer for a Relic Blade to combine it with Grimaldus and unleash a hurricane of attacks.

'''Artifact'''
*'''The Holy Orb:''' The Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch finally returns. Once per battle, in your Shooting phase you can choose for the bearer to throw the Holy Orb instead of making a normal shooting attack. If you do so, pick a visible enemy unit within 6" of the bearer and roll a D6 for every 10 models in that unit (rounding up). For each roll of 2+ that unit suffers D3 mortal wounds. Eh.
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====Special Units====

'''HQ'''
*'''[[Helbrecht|High Marshal Helbrecht]]:''' The big boss of the Black Templars. All Black Templar units around him reroll all hit rolls and gain +1 strength — and Str 5 is a sweet spot in this edition. So when this guy rolls up in a Land Raider Crusader and then charges you with his strength 5 rerolling to hit homeboys...you're dead. End of discussion. He himself is no slouch in combat, roasting things with a combi melta, and gains d3 attacks on the charge using what is effectively a Relic Blade.
**It almost goes without saying, but this makes Power Swords and Lightning Claws the superior weapon vs MEQ, and Power Axes wound on 2+ vs GEQ. He also makes Power Fists S10, but only Plague Marines or Land Raiders would notice, so leave those TH/SS at home, and use the increased space for Ancients and Apothecaries instead.

*'''Emperor's Champion:''' This guy will brutally murder any enemy character, SM2.0 and PA:F&F making him live up to Sigismund's legacy. This guy is basically a better Chapter Champion, triply so in the way that he costs no CP, is better equipped and is an actual HQ instead of being in the overpopulated Elites slot. He can hand out punishment as well as take it: With 5A base, +1A on the charge, +1A +1S vs {{W40kKeyword|Characters}} wielding what is basically a Relic Blade (S+2 AP-3 D1d3), and re-rolling hits and wounds against {{W40kKeyword|characters}} he hits above his points cost, especially when a thunder hammers cost 40 pts to his Black Sword's 0 pts. Like the Chapter Champion he is, he inflicts a -1 to be hit penalty in melee, but with a 2+/4++ base where a the regular version would need to spend 1CP for the relic armour. ''*Against {{W40kKeyword|monsters}} he just rerolls the wound roll''.
**Being entirely dedicated to be a beatstick, he needs support, most notably a transport. Furthermore, his retinue will need support because he lacks an aura himself, and you both lack Librarians and cannot use Litanies out of a transport. Helbrecht is a great choice since he turns him Str8 against characters, his Chapter Master aura would override a Captain's, and also helps him get to melee. These two characters would make any transport a high value target, so either put him in a one that is hard to kill (Land Raider (Crusader) / Stormraven), one that cannot be intercepted (Drop Pod), or just put him in a separate Rhino.

*'''[[Grimaldus|Chaplain Grimaldus]]:''' THE guy for Black Templar's Black Tide lists, now a Master of Sanctity with two litanies ([[Fail|but only Ld9]]). '''Unmatched Zeal''' is basically the Exhortation of Rage litany (unmodified 6s generate an additional attack with that weapon (which can miss)) but in aura mode, so it [[Awesome|always affects everyone within 6"]] instead of only a single unit a turn after disembarking. Furthermore he can deny one power, meaning he gets two Deny the Witch at +1 when he's the warlord. Suffer not the witch!
**He's got a plasma pistol you should never supercharge, but now he wields the Artificer Crozius (S+2 AP-2 D2). So, if you bring Helbrecht and use '''Mantra of Strength''', you could have 4 S8 D3 WS2+ attacks, which is basically a Thunder Hammer without unwieldy. Since that'd prevent him from using Litanies of the Devout, you could have his second litany be either '''Canticle of Hate''' to consolidate into everyone, or '''Exhortation of Rage''' (stacks with Unmatched Zeal, but for a single unit). '''Fervent Acclamation''' helps with the lot of auras you can bring, but since the other litanies are okish you can have some other Chaplain sing it, if you want to.

'''Troops'''
*'''Crusader Squad:''' RIP vestigial limb. Initiates (marines) cost 13 pts instead of the normal 12 for, idk, the privilege of being able to swap their boltguns (and lose Bolt Discipline) for chainswords, and one of them can take a power weapon/fist. Neophytes (scouts) can replace their bolter for either a shotgun or knife. When there's at least as many Initiates (marines) as Neophytes (scouts), the later can re-roll 1s to hit in melee. Now they need to number 10 members to get both a Special and Heavy (or power) weapon.
**Crusader squads only make sense (barely) when taken at 11-20 size and boosted with stratagems or litanies that target a single unit. But that squad size makes them vulnerable to morale as well. Chaplains (especially Grimaldus) help their morale at the same time they increase their lethality. So do Captains(Helbrecht)/Lieutenants/Ancients, and the Standard of the Emperor Ascendant/Rites of War Warlords make them immune to morale, so 20-man Crusader squads love them, as they can't fit inside most transports.
**On the opposite side they can actually be extremely useful in low point games even taken as five man squads! Give the captain and a Initiate power fists, pop two squads inside a drop pod and watch them tear apart the usual single tank most players bring to a 500 point army. The chainswords are even useful for either causing some chaos from the rear after their job is done or slicing through the cannon fodder your opponent uses to separate your squads from their targets (gretchin anyone?). Basically they're useless when taken on foot unless in huge numbers, but if you focus on mobility and need that sweet Battalion CP they can cause a surprising amount of pain with all your melee bonuses.

'''Elite'''
*'''Cenobyte Servitors:''' Provide FnP 4+ for Mortal Wounds to Black Templar units within 6". They're cheap and don't take an Elites slot if you also took Grimaldus, but they're frail and not a character, meaning they can be easily removed. Furthermore, Black Templars already have a natural FnP 5+ vs MW so, if you use them, avoid giving up First Blood and hide them behind a Rhino.
**Or just have them as decorative non-models, like Azrael's Helmet bearer.

====Tactics====
''"I have slain many enemies, and won many battles and I tell you there is no great secret to success in war, no subtle trick of strategy that has saved my foes -- I seek out the enemy, attack as soon as I am able and with all the force at my command, rend his soldiers and smash his fortresses, leave only corpses behind me and then move on -- thus my Primarch has taught me, and I find his wisdom has proved worthy on a hundred battlefields"'' -- t. Kharn the <s>Betrayer</s> Bloody
*'''MSU Spam:''' Black Templars aren't the best melee chapter (especially not when BA and WS exist), but they can reliably get lots of models stuck in, even right out of a deepstrike, which often needs special tricks to accomplish. Multiple small units mean more rolls and more sarges, but be sure to support them, with ranged weapons killing keepaway units and dealing with targets your melee could struggle with, like vehicles. Suppressors can be useful, their mobile firepower shutting down overwatch from far away.

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