Chaplain, Librarian or Sanguinary Priest for DC?

[vahouth]

Personally I'm having a hard time with this. When it comes to who can accompany DC better, I cannot seem to find a satisfying solution.

Fluffwise, I would like to field them with a Chaplain in order to "control" them, but they only seem to benefit from the rerolls to hit when they assault, while a Sanguinary Priest can only provide them with +1 to WS.

In my eyes the Librarian adds more to the unit with all those buffs to the initiative, number of attacks etc, but somehow...it doesn't feel right. He shouldn't be amongst them, right?

So, I'm interested in seeing how the community handles this, and which are your criteria when picking who can join them from the generic ICs.

[shandwen]

Fluffwise a chaplain works, gameplay wise any character is kinda a waste in the squad. I like the SangP for the ws boost, but your paying twice for fnp, a chaplain is just about overkill, and a librarian can be useful but is probably better elsewhere (unless he rolls unleash rage).

[Chaplain Gunzhard]

If you are using BSF and no jump-packs, a Chaplain and Corbulo are the way to roll! :) ...you'll get +2 Initiative with your +1 WS, and Zealot.

 

Otherwise Lemartes seems like a solid choice. It took some convincing for me, but his high (unmodified) initiative with Concussive is quite nice.

[Golden Aegis]

I really do like Chaplain with them simply for the chance at getting more hits in. With a group of 10 depending on if you're taking fists or not that's 50+ S5 I5 attacks on the charge with rerolling to hit. That's really something anything should fear.

[Captain Caine 24th]

If you do corbulo make sure someone else is in the squad to take a challenge. I like the idea of a chaplain and corbulo. I once lost him to a powerfist that way really quickly. That WS5 bonus is actually really helpful. I suppose prescience is better, but probably unreliable.

[JamesI]

I like Librarians in this edition.  If you get the 4+ invul save power in Divination or 5+ invul in  Sanguinary powers is great for the DC.

[Karhedron]

SP wastes FNP if rolling with DC. I can see the benefits of a Librarian but the buffs are unreliable (both in terms of what you generate and what you can actually cast). The DC can do quite well on their own as they have a bucket of attacks and as many special weapons as you can spare the points for.

 

If you expect to be facing Death Stars, then a Chaplain is a good addition, particular Astorath. Rerolls to-hit and to-wound with all those attacks almost double their killing power on the charge. Even tooled-up TWC will fall to weight of attacks from a unit like that.

[vahouth]

That's the problem I'm facing, both SP & Chaplain give bonuses that DC already has and they both are more usefull IMHO in a ASM squad for example. And of course both Astorath and Corbulo are an excellent addition, but I guess I'm trying to find a justification to also use some generic characters with them instead.

[Fahlnor]

Chaplain all the way for me.  The fluff supports putting him in the unit and that's about enough of a reason for me!

 

I also prefer the reliable nature of the Chaplains rerolls as compared to the Librarian's buffs.  As for the Sanguinary Priest, if I'm taking one, he's in a unit of Sanguinary Guard!

[Father Mapple]

I know you mentioned generic characters, but Dante is pretty amazing in death company. He has eternal warrior and 4++so he can take some big shots and anything that is not ap3 he can LOS to a 3+/5+ fnp marine. Hit and run is great for mobility and getting charges even when you got charged, there's no challenge that Dante is bad at (except a few edge cases like swarm lord), and he moves at same rate as jump pack DC, helps them come on sooner, and makes a good unit point wise for a death star that can clock in at around 400 points with a fist and 6 jp death co marines.

[vahouth]

Well, yeah, Dante is almost a no brainer in bigger games, but in small 1000 points games or doubles, what can one choose?

Do you roll them with a character or use that character to buff another unit?

[Shaezus]

Personally I never run an IC with my DC. If you're taking a strong tooled-up DC, adding a chaplain just means they will likely munch their way through anything in one round of cc and thus be left in the open for the enemy's shooting phase. If you're running a small DC, it's not the safest place for an IC to go.

 

Out of the three, a libby could make the most difference but it will as often as not be a waste of points, due to the random nature of psychic powers and their casting, particularly against psyker-strong armies. 

 

Just my tuppence but strong jump units are best off starting on the board, regardless of reserve modifiers.

[vahouth]

I usually field a small unit of DC with an IC or a large one without, but when I do field a large one with IC, I strap jump packs on them, spread them out to cover a huge front and make them charge multiple targets. They won't get +1 attack on the charge but they will most likelly still be in CC in my opponent's turn.

[Golden Aegis]

Multi charging with DC will lose you 2 attacks (Due to rage) +1 str, and +1 I (If you're using BSF. I can see it working well when you are multi charging anything with def grenades because you lose your bonus attacks anyway, losing that str bonus could really hurt against some match ups though.

[Xenith]

I usually field a small unit of DC with an IC or a large one without, but when I do field a large one with IC, I strap jump packs on them, spread them out to cover a huge front and make them charge multiple targets. They won't get +1 attack on the charge but they will most likelly still be in CC in my opponent's turn.

 

Sounds like you need to make some Vanguard Vets instead ;)

[Deschenus Maximus]

ML 2 Bike Libby with Galian's Staff, rolling on Divination.

 

Just my tuppence but strong jump units are best off starting on the board, regardless of reserve modifiers.

 

Agreed.

[vahouth]

Multi charging with DC will lose you 2 attacks (Due to rage) +1 str, and +1 I (If you're using BSF. I can see it working well when you are multi charging anything with def grenades because you lose your bonus attacks anyway, losing that str bonus could really hurt against some match ups though.

But that's the point, sometimes it makes sense not to steamroll your opponent or you'll find yourself out in the open on his turn. It doesn't always work of course and it really depends on whom I'm fighting with.

[Urauloth]

If you're looking at smaller game sizes and not wanting a steamrolling deathstar, I really don't know that you want an IC in your death company at all. Librarians are a good IC choice, but they can still buff your DC (if they need it) from somewhere else in quite a lot of circumstances, and as you noted the priest's FNP would be wasted, while so many other things in the codex would benefit from it quite a lot.

[appiah4]

I feel upping the bodycount is almost always a better idea than adding an IC to Death Company with the exception of a Librarian who is an incredible utility bargain for his points.  Divination Librarian + Bolter/Jumppack DC, throw in 2 Power Fists.  Watch the enemy weep.