We at Objective Secured were very excited when this box was delivered for us to review – thanks to Games Workshop for supplying it to us. While no one in the family is a present crusading brother dressed in black this box has certainly made us think about it! Lets take a look at the Black Templars for 9th edition Warhammer 40k!
The box itself
The box is the size of a “command edition” starter set for 40k – though that is a little misleading. The slipcover for the box is clean and in line with 9th ed style but with the slip case gone we get the classic art from 3rd edition in all its glory.
Crack the box open and you get an A4 double sided piece of art (both faces are new), the new set of cards, bases for the models, the 13 models in the set and the limited-edition codex with the 3rd ed art adorning it and a set of instructions for all the models in the set. The set of transfers should also be noted here – full of options and more than enough to do the contents of this box and more.
I mention misleading in the size of the box as it has a large black plastic tray holding it all in place which takes up a lot of room. The card space also clearly has room for dice (which are absent from this set). This black tray is clearly a generic space for other sets, but it also severs as a filler for the space.
The whole set feels polished, and the artwork and tone are spot on – enough that keeping the box was discussed as it’s so nice.
Moving to the models, the sprues are packed – really packed! The Black Templars are making sure you go crusading with all the bells and whistles! The Redemptor isn’t new and helps make the value of box feel better (who doesn’t like a stompy robot!) and its worth saying this is the full mulitpart kit and not an easy build. You also get 2 sets of 2 sprues for the new primaris crusader unit as well as a half size sprue for the marshal (with a couple of options) and a smaller quarter size sprue for the champion.
I’ll admit I was surprised that the champion sprue is so small – easily a blister pack at best – so it will be interesting to see what his shelf price will be. The marshal is what I would expect sprue wise with 2 options for his head (unhelmeted and with a rebreather), 2 options for combat (sword or axe) and 2 options for his pistol (combi flamer and plasma pistol). Both characters look like they will be easy to build and are packed with details – the way the kits go together might confuse you as to why they chose the parts they did – but they also don’t seem to have much in the way of mould lines at all which is great and expected of modern kits.
When you get to the crusader sprues for the primaris things get full. Very full! While I have not (at the time of writing this) built the unit it certainly looks like every option for the unit is present. Auto Bolt Rifles, chainswords and pistols galore alongside what on casual count is 22 different heads for the 10 models present. Plenty of extra parts also adorn the sprues with crusader style purity seals, sheathed blades and holstered pistols as well as smaller trinkets to adorn the armour – easily enough to add to other units to add some extra flavour. The sword brethren also have alternate parts to make him a line intercessor which is nice – more spare parts for other models like the awesome cape!
Given how these sprues are laid out I have to wonder how they will be sold on the shelf – the box will be a thick one to get all 10 into one box and it seems counter productive to split the box into 5’s but we shall see. If you get all 10 in a box for a similar price to 10 multi part intercessors (around the $100au mark) I think value wise you are on a winner.
The Codex
Again the 3rd ed cover speaks to me as a long-term fan. I have great fond memories of 3rd ed and playing games with friends who, while I don’t get to see as often due to distance, still bring smiles to my face remembering duelling with a pretty stubborn emperors champion (thanks Jordan and Bob!).
Calling this an actual codex is also a little misleading – The Black Templars book is indeed a supplement to Codex Space Marines which you will need to use the book to its fullest. We get data sheets for High Marshal Helbrecht, Chaplain Grimaldus and the Emperors Champion – all in primaris form – Alongside the Primaris Crusader Squad, the ‘first born’ crusader squad and the newly revised Primaris Sword Brethren. Yes, that’s it.
We do get notes for the Primaris Captain (called a marshal when made black templars) and the Primaris Lieutenant (called a Castellan) which match the new models’ options for both kits they have shown. While his does mean they have a few options marines don’t get, they are pretty strictly controlled and limited in the way they can be mixed. We also get the option to put a multi melta on the top of Gladiators, Impulsors and Repulsors in place of an iron hail heavy stubber which is a nice nod back to the old codex when this option first appeared on land raiders.
The art and stories are much that you would expect from model GW codex and the minis are shown off as you would expect. Nothing to fault or see here out of the ordinary. Its interesting to note the models in the box are NOT the combat patrol box set (this set is the 10 crusader models, the marshal, 5 intercessors and an impulsor – as well as the upgrade frame from the looks).
Once we move to the Black Templars rules things start to get interesting.
Detachment abilities wise we see a return of the Black Templars vows – these are only gained if the entire army is black templars along side combat doctrines. Vows have a benefit and a hinderance now and are selected at the end of the ‘read mission briefing’ step of the pregame sequence. The names of these will be familiar to long term templars fans for sure.
Suffer not the unclean to live – unmodified 6’s to hit in melee against non-vehicles automatically wound but when you declare a charge you must charge the closest enemy (in addition to any other targets) if it’s not already engaged.
Uphold the honour of the emperor – Gain a 5+ invulnerable and unmodified wound rolls of 1-2 always fail but you never receive the benefits of cover.
Abhor the witch, destroy the witch – in the first move phase, if the enemy has psykers, add 3” to your move characteristic and for the whole battle reroll 1’s to wound in melee against psykers but while within 18” of an enemy psyker you may not perform actions.
Accept any challenge, no matter the odds – always count as in assault doctrine while in enemy engagement range and gain +1 attacks (doesn’t stack with shock assault) but you may not fall back.
All 4 of these are full of flavour and each feels like something you might pick given the enemy and mission you are presented with. Uphold the honour of the emperor feels like a good default choice to me but I could easily see the others being used.
Stratagems wise the Black Templars get 16 new to choose from and several jumped instantly up the list of fantastic as I went trough them. Devout Push (1cp) lets you make a normal move of 3” in the fight phase which must be towards the nearest enemy OR nearest objective – which is huge for board control. Abhor the witch is solid with it allowing a 4+ deny roll after rolling for any deny rolls you may have. Tenacious assault lets you lock infantry or beast units in combat with you on a 4+ (if they don’t have fly) while Heretics Pyre makes sure you get maximum returns on flamer units – attacking units of 6-10 they get a minimum 3 hits while units of 11+ automatically generate max hits!
Moving on to litanies we get a good mix of abilities and again all of them seem to have a place. The 2 I will mention are Psalm of Remorseless Persecution (select a core unit within 6” – they get unmodified 6’s to wound deal a mortal wound in addition to any other damage capped at 6) and Plea of deliverance (select a core or character within 6” – removes any enemy psychic powers AND makes them immune to enemy psychic powers!)
Warlord traits wise 5 of them directly impact charges or combat in some way while the 6th is a deny the witch option with +1 modifier. Nothing to surprising for the zealous templars.
Relics we have some awesome new options – Crusader’s helm (3” increase in auras and makes a friendly core unit count as being in assault doctrine) seems like it will see a lot of use while the Tannhausers Bones (change the damage characteristic of attacks allocated to the bearer to 1) makes some truly tanky heroes.
Alongside relics we get Relic Bearers – unlocked by including a chaplain in your army (why wouldn’t you!). These are unit upgrades for between 10 and 20 points and generally upgrade or improve one model and its gear. We find the return of the holy orb here (+15 points and does d3 mortals) while the icon of heinmann (+15 points and ignores ap -2 or lower for that model) is another tanky option.
Secondary objectives give 3 new options. Bathe your blade in the blood of your enemy is selecting an enemy character and trying to kill it in melee with your nominated hero and while flavourful it feels like getting the full 15 from this will be a tough ask. Allow not the worship of unclean idols requires you to take objectives from the enemy and hold them till the end of a battle round 4 times to max its score which feels like it might be build specific to a players list while Carry out your vows is a progressive and endgame secondary in 1. The first part is scoring up to 12 points by killing more enemy units than you lose in a battle round. The end game requires you to meet specific criteria pending the vow you select. This last vow feels like the one that might get the most use.
Pages 56 to 65 focus on Crusade format and ill skip over this part for now – it deserves a post of its own especially since the Black Templars fit the crusade format in duty!
I won’t do a full breakdown of the data sheets for now but in summary…
Helbrecht is everything a combat chapter master wants to be, and his attendants get to fight with him! He also has 8(!!!) wounds
Grimaldus knows 2 of the new litanies as well as the core litany of hate and can recite 2 per turn. He also gets in built deny the witch and can get back up on a 4+ when destroyed
The Emperor’s Champion is a solid 100 point killing machine
The Primaris Crusader squad is up to 20 total models and the neophytes get 2 wounds! The unit is 1 Sword Brother, 5-11 initiates and 4-8 Neophytes. Weapons wise this is a unit that wants to close the distance
The ‘first born’ Crusader squad is similar in size (1 Sword Brother, 4-9 initiates and 0-10 neophytes) but the neophytes stay with 1 wound. It retains a much more flexible load out like previous editions and even gains the smoke screen keyword while neophytes are alive in the unit!
The Primaris Sword Brethren are essentially walking primaris vanguard veterans – but you can’t spam any one weapon other than the power sword. Also – no option for storm shields. They also don’t suffer the negative effect from vows which is a nice buff.
Interestingly the supplement doesn’t mention the limit on not using Librarians and relies on you knowing this limit from the core Space Marine codex which feels like an oversight to me. Adding that under army rules would have been easy and clear in my mind. Page 124 of the main space marine codex is the reference if you missed it.
Wrap Up
I’m really excited to see more templars leading the charge across the table. Maybe it’s because seeing them (and my good friend Tim’s Blood Angels) charging across the table at me through most of 3rd and 4th is ingrained in my eldar psyche and nostalgia is a thing or maybe its just good to see marines being what I consider to be real marines – the crusading knights of the emperor forging their way across the stars leaving the witch, the xenos and the heretic in their wake!