space hulk Chaplain

[Marvel man]

I know its not really BA fluff to have a Chaplain in Terminator armour (but i love the figure) but i was wondering if anyone has any rule ideas for him ATM ive just give him +2 HTH like the Storm Hammer

[Homba]

Because holy guys are the best fighters...

I would think he would give some sort of bonus to people around him. But I have no idea how marine chaplains are represented in-game in 40K.

[Gaan Cathal]

Originally posted by Homba:

Because holy guys are the best fighters...

I would think he would give some sort of bonus to people around him. But I have no idea how marine chaplains are represented in-game in 40K.

As..uh, the best fighters, more or less. They mostly inspire by smashing the foes of the Emperor in the head with a 'holy' (entierly different to 'power') weapon.

They also very rarely, if ever, wear Terminator Armour. They have a whole set of Chaplincy shineys of their own, for a start.

[datguy13]

Mechanically, a generic Space Marine Chaplain is no different from any other Hero-class model like a Librarian or Captain. The only special bonuses they get are the ability to allow Space Marine units near them to get a second Psychology test if they fail one (which is fairly rare with Space Marines to begin with). What gives them distinction is the motif of their armor and weapons; the Crosius Arcanum that they use is a powerful Power weapon similar to a Thunder Hammer that can deal significant attacks and penetration for a melee weapon, and all Chaplains come with the Rosarius Wargear which provides them with a special forcefield that gives a +4 Save against all incoming attacks.

The Blood Angel Chaplains have a secondary purpose however. They tend to the Death Company: Blood Angels who suffer from the genetic flaw of the Chapter and who succumb to the Frenzy effect of the Black Rage. A Chaplain of the Chapter is able to focus the Death Company and allows DC units to target enemies and not suffer from the negative scatter effects of Frenzy.

Space Wolves, however, don't actually use Chaplains. They have a special, non-Codex compliant model called the Wolf Priest. This unit has the same basic effects as a Chaplain, but has slightly different stats and is much more melee-focused. Wolf Priests tend to deploy as part of a main force of Space Wolf Grey Hunters (Tactical Squads) and usually lead larger groups.

In older editions of the game, Chaplains can be used as hero models, but not as Army Commanders. In new editions, a Chaplain can either be part of, or can lead, a Command Squad.

How would this would apply to Space Hulk?

Honestly, I'd have to say it wouldn't. A Chaplain would be no more interesting or useful to a Blood Angel Terminator Extermination squad than an extra sergeant would be, and a Wolf Priest would have little to no impact on how a Wolf Guard squad operates, given the mentality of the Sons of Russ while they operate in a Hulk. If anything would be significant, it would be the Wargear they use, and there are no mechanics for force fields that wouldn't seriously overbalance the unit during melee combat with Genestealers. Basically, they would end up with a flat 50% extra chance to ignore each attack a Genestealer makes, ultimately giving them only about a 17% of being killed by Genestealers. Great for the Space Marine player who likes to Turtle; incredibly unfair to a Genestealer player under any circumstances.

Maybe in Ascension these models could prove viable and more useful since that game is supposed to have more "roleplay elements", but since Space Hulk doesn't rely at all on Psychology or Armor mechanics from Warhammer 40k, the Chaplain basically doesn't bring anything special to the game, like a Librarian or Terminator Captain would.

[Homba]

Thanks for the explanation. So the force field is a personal field only, and good against melee and ranged attacks? Also against area affects? Explosions, flamethrower? And against an attack from any direction? If you die, you get the 4+ save on a d6 to avoid the death?

Nice, but with tough scenarios would be fine in a space hulk. Just like throwing a Librarian into some scenarios would be unbalancing - for that scenario - the ones a Chaplain was involved in would have to be tough. If he has no ranged weapon he can be swamped by enough stealers. Even if he is a great frontal fighter he'll be killed by the back and side attacks and that 4+ save will only reverse a few of those at best. If his ranged support is picked off, he's eventually toast, force field or no.

[datguy13]

Yes, a personal field that supplies a 4+ Unmodified saving roll against all attacks. In Warhammer 40k, all Armor and Field saves are resolved before damage is dealt.
Yes, against Area of effect.
Yes, against Flamer, Heavy Flamer, and Hand Flamer templates.
Yes, against all directions.

No, if you die, it means you have already failed the Rosarius roll, and the Chaplain has suffered enough Wound levels to kill him. Chaplains, like all Character/hero models, have more than one Wound they can suffer before being removed from gameplay. A Mighty Champion, the highest level, could in fact suffer up to 4 total Wound levels.

You'll notice that the Wound and Toughness mechanics are not part of Space Hulk either, which further makes the model nonrelevant beyond the already mentioned issues.

Bear in mind as well, the Chaplain *does* equip a ranged weapon. He comes baseline with the Crosius and a Bolter, and can upgrade from there. In fact, they can access any available item from the Assault, Armor, Special Weapons and Grenades lists in the Army list. That means they can access Plasma weapons, Stormbolters, Terminator Armor, Jump Packs, Power Swords (although they don't actually need them) or even a flamer if they wish, and if you have the points for it.

See, part of the problem with adding character models to Space Hulk is that they become trivialized by the much more streamlined and minimized rules which guide Space Hulk play. They lose quite a bit of what makes them unique in the translation.

[Homba]

That's cool. In SH, i'd give him the force field 4+ save that any attack would have to first penetrate before the attack dice were rolled. I'd give him the crux mace with whatever stats it has (similar to hammer), and I guess an innate +1 to melee (like a Sgt), so he's swining with a +2 at least. Also a bolter. Maybe any marine within 12 spaces wins a draw in melee and/or draws a 1-point loss in melee due to inspiration. That would be the base unit. There could of course be higher ranking more powerful/differently equipped versions - like there were four levels of librarian in 1st edition.

Giving him multiple hitpoints would be easy, as would doing that for whoever else appropriate. Would not be surprised if we see this feature (multiple HP) in SH:A.

[datguy13]

I think Ascension is going to be more adaptable to stats for things like Character Models. It would be nice to see some of the extra variety in basic Space Hulk, but I'm a little concerned about how that could change the gameplay dynamics. Part of the appeal to Space Hulk is the streamlining that speeds up gameplay. It detracts from the depth of Heroes, but it also addds a layer of convenience that is just not possible in the tabletop. After all, in the tabletop, there are Character models which have so many special abilities that it can take upwards of ten minutes just to resolve a single attack made against them. It can get so involved that I've had Blood Angel vs Tyranid tabletop games that have lasted twelve consecutive hours or more just to resolve one turn. Granted that's using Company-size armies (200-300 models per side on the table), but it still takes a long time to resolve each idividual character or Hero model's various specials.

[Sentinel64]

Hi,
I made rules for this character and others, but it's french on my site, rubric "Les règles" : http://sh.chroniques.free.fr/

[Marvel man]

so i guess ill just use him a diferant looking sgt for now
until i get a new figure like i said i just like the model

[Sentinel64]

Here are the rules that I gave to this character:
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THE CHAPLAIN
The chaplain is the spiritual guide of the chapter. When accompanying a company of Space Marine on the battlefield, he pushes his brothers to perform feats even more brave. The rules of a mission you specify whether a chaplain in the forces available to the Space Marine player.

This is VETERAN
Chaplain is primarily an experienced warrior. This allows it to add +1 to his die when it beats face melee (like a Sergent).

ROSARIUS
It carries the Rosarius is an amulet creating a powerful force field, protecting the wearer to great evils, whatever the source. When attacked by a Tyranid, subtract -1 to each die of the attacker, even for the Genestealer Alpha or Ravener Brood, and the result from 1 to 0 will die. The scores are modified before they are added.

AURA
It is much feared and admired. Making its voice heard above the din of battle, he recites the liturgies of battle and its presence in a squad galvanizes his brothers. So all Space Marine located at a maximum of 3 squares around it, add a +1 combat melee front, except the brother-captain.

CROZIUS ARCANUM
The Crozius Arcanum is the symbol of power and authority Chaplains Space Marines. It is also an energy weapon, to a similar mass weapon. It follows the same rules as the sword of power. Thus, it can parry an attack, forcing the opponent to re-roll with the best result.

Of course it also has a Storm-Bolter...
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I think its balanced for Space Hulk, we can replace the Aura's range of 3 squares, by a range over an entire section, is to be defined.