Blade Champion

The golden boy's direct equivalent of the Black Templars' Emperor's Champion.

The Blade Champion is a fucking femboy piece of shit broken motherfucking model a Custodian that decided he liked to larp as Zorro waaay too much and doesn't carry a gun. These guys like to seek out enemy leaders and behead them with their giant two-handed, throbbing Vaultswords.

Overview

Blade Champions are reserved for the most tryhards of tryhards in the Adeptus Custodes. These guys are given the honour of having their many names etched within the Tome Eternal, which sits in the Emperor's own Throne Room after achieving many great deeds. Wait, this is just a rip off version of the Emperor's champion! Fucking bana-- BLAM HERESY! His Custodians would never steal, saying such is blasphemy.

In terms of hierarchy, they sit just below Shield-Captains in rank and serve as the second-in-command in Shield Companies where they act as leaders of smaller Adeptus Custodes forces. In battle Blade Champions act as hunters of the highest calibre, seeking out and slaying key enemy commanders and champions in duels. While many in /tg/ wonder how fuckstupid a duel is given the nature of warfare as well as the myriad of enemies who couldn't be half-assed to duel an idiot when they can just blast him with artillery or swarm him through sheer numbers; given the sheer valley of morons inhabiting this galaxy, the amount of people falling for a duel in a middle of a battlefield against a mega duper god protected demigod soldier is, unfortunately, quite high.

Blade Champions often accrue unofficial bands of companions from within the Custodes and Sisters of Silence, leading them into battle. When not in battle, the Blade Champions practice the Custodes' Martial Ka'tah in the Imperial Palace's Colosseia Auris. Some of these fighting styles are only specifically used by the Champions' order.

Known Blade Champion Ka'tah Fighting Styles

• Behemor - Its clinical strikes, prevent even the toughest hide or armoured hull to withstand the Champions' blows.
• Hurricanis - It lets the Champions carve their way through enemy ranks in a blur of blade and blood.
• Victus - Its execution techniques have been used by Champions to claim the lives of countless tyrants and warlords.

On the Tabletop

On the tabletop, the Blade Champion is listed as even more of a beatstick than the shield captain and with 6 attacks, he's more than ready for the job. Melee is his stomping ground, as he not only has an expanded intervention range like the Emperor's Champion but also a hyper-tanky +1 to saves when fighting in melee and can't be hit on a 1-3 at any point. He also helps fellow <SHIELD HOST> units by giving them +1 to charge rolls if they target the same unit as the champion. Each one comes with a vaultsword he can use in one of three different styles tailor-made to kill whomever he faces, more info about this can be read in the Vaultsword section of power weapons. His one weakness is at range: not only is he not issued a gun with his sword, but he gains nothing against shooting. You absolutely 100% need to get him a transport (or a badass, thundering arrival from golden light DS) so he can approach whoever he's needed to kill.