New Chaplain Abilities

[L30n1d4s]

Aside from the newly released Primaris Chaplain on Bike (which is awesome!), there is now the updated rules for how you can take a Master of Sanctity (i.e. costs points instead of CP to take one, unique WL Trait now lets him cast Litanies on a 2+ instead of a re-rollable 3+ and also reduces CP cost for the Commanding Oratory Strat), new rules/relic interactions for Chaplains (i.e. the Vox Esperitum relic does not increase the aura of Psychic powers, just like before, but now DOES increase the range of auras for Chaplain Litanies.... say hello to 9" auras of re-rolls to Hit in combat, 5+++ against MWs, etc.), and, what I think is one of the most important additions, the new Commanding Oratory Stratagem.

 

This Stratagem costs 2 CP (down to 1 CP if you have a Master of Sanctity with the "Wise Orator" WL Trait), can only be used if you have not already cast any Litanies in the Command Phase earlier this turn, and allows two things:

 

 

1) It allows a Chaplain to automatically cast a Litany (i.e. no roll required, no chance of failing) 

 

2) It allows the Chaplain to cast his Litany in any other phase of the game that is not the Command Phase

 

 

While being able to auto-cast a litany with no fear of failing is a really big deal, I think the option to cast a Litany "out of sequence" from the Command Phase is even more important. Specifically, this means that a Chaplain which just arrived from Reserves or dismounted from a vehicle this turn can still use a Litany, whether on himself or on a friendly unit, making all flavors of Chaplains SO much more flexible.

 

 

For example, if a Terminator Chaplain arrives from Deep Strike along with a squad of Assault Terminators, he can auto-cast the Canticle of Hate, giving himself and the Terminators +2" to their charge, thus going from a 9" charge to a 7" charge, which is way more likely to succeed.

 

 

Similarly, if a Chaplain dismounts from a Land Raider Crusader alongside a squad of TH/SS Black Templar Vanguard Veterans, he can autocast Fires of Devotion for +1A on the Vanguard (so now they have 40 Thunder Hammer attacks on the charge). 

 

 

Finally, you could have a Dark Angel Primaris Chaplain arrive via Outflank alongside a squad of 10 Hellblasters with Assault Plasma Incinerators and, in the shooting Phase, autocast the Recitation of Focus, giving them +1 to Hit for their 30 x S7 AP-4 Dmg2 shots (Dmg3 if you use "Weapons of the Dark Age" Strat on them).

 

 

As you can see, there are tons of possibilities with this ability, not only because it guarantees you the Litany you need (as long as you have the CP for it), but also because you can cast it whenever you need it.

 

I am quite excited to try this out with Chaplains as the edition goes on, as I think a Master of Sanctity will be a staple in almost all my lists!

Edited October 3, 2020 by L30n1d4s

[Riddlesworth]

Has been in all my 2k lists since psychic awakening. Super excited to roll out one on a bike supporting inceptors or outriders.

 

The changes to exhortation of rage also make it a super viable litany to pop alongside litany of hatred for a chaplain supporting a combat unit

[Ishagu]

Chaplains are very good, especially with the upgrade.

 

Am I right in saying that if you use the Strat to automatically pass a Litany, it can be done later on in the turn as long as it wasn't attempted or cast prior?

[CCE1981]

From what I understand Exhortation of Rage will be new hotness.

[Riddlesworth]

Chaplains are very good, especially with the upgrade.

Am I right in saying that if you use the Strat to automatically pass a Litany, it can be done later on in the turn as long as it wasn't attempted or cast prior?

As far as i can tell, yes. But it might be that you hadn't attempted any litanies at all previously, so I'm not sure of the benefits for a master of sanctity.

 

Re: exhortation of rage. Its super strong. The white scars chapter litany is statistically better still, but for everyone else, its the combat part of blood angels tactic on an aura.

 

I will say, I wouldn't take a chaplain that wasn't MoS and I wouldn't take an apothecary that wasn't a chief. Not all upgrades were made equal

Edited October 4, 2020 by Riddlesworth

[Ishagu]

 

Chaplains are very good, especially with the upgrade.

Am I right in saying that if you use the Strat to automatically pass a Litany, it can be done later on in the turn as long as it wasn't attempted or cast prior?

As far as i can tell, yes. But it might be that you hadn't attempted any litanies at all previously, so I'm not sure of the benefits for a master of sanctity.

 

Re: exhortation of rage. Its super strong. The white scars chapter litany is statistically better still, but for everyone else, its the combat part of blood angels tactic on an aura.

 

I will say, I wouldn't take a chaplain that wasn't MoS and I wouldn't take an apothecary that wasn't a chief. Not all upgrades were made equal

Definitely. Some of the upgrades turn what is a character with minor bonus abilities into something significantly more powerful.

[Captain Idaho]

There's some amazing benefits to be had here. Assault based teleport attacks get a real boost, Catechism of Fire becomes more precise, life is breathed into more units.

[Medicinal Carrots]

If I'm reading the strat right, it also allows the Chaplain to recite a litany that he does not know. Could be really useful for something like Canticle of Hate that you may only need once or twice per game.

 

With a Drop Pod and the Hungry for Battle or Blood Angels, you could get turn 1 6" charge (92% chance with a CP reroll).

[Ishagu]

If I'm reading the strat right, it also allows the Chaplain to recite a litany that he does not know. Could be really useful for something like Canticle of Hate that you may only need once or twice per game.

 

With a Drop Pod and the Hungry for Battle or Blood Angels, you could get turn 1 6" charge (92% chance with a CP reroll).

That Strat is amazing because it can allow a Smash bike Chaplain to reliably always gain the +1 to wound before he makes a charge, as a basic example. And we all know how good the relic Crozius is.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Ishagu

[superwill]

If I'm reading the strat right, it also allows the Chaplain to recite a litany that he does not know. Could be really useful for something like Canticle of Hate that you may only need once or twice per game.

 

With a Drop Pod and the Hungry for Battle or Blood Angels, you could get turn 1 6" charge (92% chance with a CP reroll).

 

I haven't read the rules or seen anything so could totally be wrong, but doesn't the chaplains +2" charge specifically say it doesn't stack with other bonuses? I'm assuming that would still be the case in the new dex? Awesome if it's not!

[Medicinal Carrots]

I think Exhortation of Rage works best as a second litany for a Master of Sanctity. For unit buffing, the basic Litany of Hate to reroll hits is better unless you're wounding on 5s. For self buffing, Mantra of Strength is better on oldmarines, and situationally better of worse on Primaris.

 

If I'm reading the strat right, it also allows the Chaplain to recite a litany that he does not know. Could be really useful for something like Canticle of Hate that you may only need once or twice per game.

 

With a Drop Pod and the Hungry for Battle or Blood Angels, you could get turn 1 6" charge (92% chance with a CP reroll).

 

I haven't read the rules or seen anything so could totally be wrong, but doesn't the chaplains +2" charge specifically say it doesn't stack with other bonuses? I'm assuming that would still be the case in the new dex? Awesome if it's not!

 

You're right, I forgot about that part.

[Schlitzaf]

Wait the new strategem casts a litany you don’t actually know?

[Ishagu]

Wait the new strategem casts a litany you don’t actually know?

I've only read it once so I can't quote it but the wording implies you can select a Litany and it is successful, as long as it has not been cast before.

 

Also it appears that you can cast it outside of the command phase.

Edited October 4, 2020 by Ishagu

[Debauchery101]

I've been ready for this for a couple weeks now! Ready to spread the hate and the glorious purging of all heretics and xenos

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by Debauchery101

[Ishagu]

Lol very good. I pulled the trigger and pre-ordered the Bike Chaplain model today.

[Alcyon]

Those are awesome! Sweet conversions. Who needs an official model!?

[Debauchery101]

Those are awesome! Sweet conversions. Who needs an official model!?

thanks! I like the one theyre coming out with but I don't like using the same model as everyone. Plus with Deathwatch every marine is a legendary BAMF so I love customizing them. Also with chaplains theyre even more over the top. With the BT guy I definitely wanted him to be the most Blinged out

[Medicinal Carrots]

From what I understand Exhortation of Rage will be new hotness.

I think it play's second fiddle to Litany of Hate. Having run the math, the general rule of thumb is that Litany of Hate is better if you hit on a 3+ or worse and wound on a 4+ or better. Exhortation of Rage is better if you hit on a 2+ or wound on a 5+ or worse. Exhortation of Rage also only affects a single unit which can run off on its own, while Litany of hate affects all units within 6", though it requires the Chaplain to stay near them.

 

Litany of Hate looks like the better squad buff, with Exhortation of Rage being the better buff for a single smash character.

[Alcyon]

That's an interesting new tidbit of mathhammer! I've been on autopilot thinking +1 to wound is better than re-roll all hits, but of course re-roll all is usually better than +1 if only slightly. When I think about where the rubber meets the road (literally), the Chaplain on a Bike is going to be rolling with Outriders a big percentage of the time, and the allure there was being able to make Str 4 AP-1 weapons wound marines on a 3+ but it's actually neck-in-neck against T4!

 

Like you say, it does help when the toughness of the target goes up, and I think that helps bridge the gap between the Chaplain's output (especially with Benediction of Fury) and that of his retinue.

 

I think for Crusade, and any situations where it's possible to get +1 WS or re-roll 1s through other means (like the new Born Heroes successor trait), the +1 to wound is still a major boon because it works in concert with those abilities.

 

Also interesting that Exhortation of Rage reduces the reliance on high strength weapons for characters; you're almost always hitting on a 2+ already but even a regular power sword is wounding on 3s now and 4s against most targets (T5 at best.) Your Chaplain can buff a Captain with Teeth of Terra for example and that'll be huge.

Edited October 19, 2020 by Alcyon

[Medicinal Carrots]

3+ to hit and 4+ to wound is one of the points where they're exactly equal when there are no other factors. I went with the rule of thumb I did because lightning claws break that to make the reroll hits win at that point, plus I find 3+ 4+ an easy to remember target.

 

I did not run the numbers for squads that can reroll 1's to hit. That should shift things a bit in the favor of +1 to wound by maybe a to wound point. Ran the numbers without taking rerolling 1's to hit or wound on the presumption that rerolls are more limited, and you want to spread your characters out more, so the Chaplain is likely the only buff character in the area.

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I believe power swords are S5 now so +1 to wound versus T4 is 2+.

[Alcyon]

That's true indeed, I just meant to point out that even without Exhortation of Rage, Power Swords are now wounding T4 on 3s and then on 2s with +1 to wound, like you said - meaning low Str things like Teeth of Terra get even better in a way they didn't have as much access to before. In the case of a Captain or other character with WS2, it's always better to grant them +1 to wound rather than re-roll all with Litany of Hate, because they're already hitting on 2s.

 

If you look at something like Bladeguard on the other hand with WS3, granting them re-roll all with Litany of Hate is better against anything T4 or below, whereas +1 to wound is better against T6 or better, like Carrots says.

[Mandragola]

I think the chaplain is looking better than ever. I’m not totally sure he’s going to make it into my list.

 

I’ve always seen Chaplains as kind of a “nice to have” unit rather than an essential one. The problem used to be that their signature reroll aura was the same thing a chapter master gave you, more reliably. That’s still kind of true, though now the chaplain’s aura gets everything nearby.

 

They’re better now. It’s great that the new strat lets you do canticles after disembarking and stuff. Better yet, you can do it more than once in a turn if you want (right?) - say in the psychic and shooting phases, to get multiple canticles running at once.

 

Benediction of Fury is incredible and it’s tempting to run a smashlain with that. Unfortunately you can’t have both commanding oratory and imperium’s sword on the same guy, but it might be worth some of the chapter-specific traits. Commanding oratory seems essential.

 

On the other hand it looks to me like 9th will favour using units to mash things in melee instead of characters. Characters can’t generally reroll wounds (salamanders can reroll one) and usually can’t reroll to hit - but chaplains are now the exception to that.

 

Overall I think Chaplains are better now than ever. They can do stuff chapter masters can’t and they work on units coming from reserve. The biker option lets them keep up with transports. They look pretty great for armies like white scars and blood angels. I think I’d pretty much always put mine on a bike now and I’ve got myself the model.

[Karhedron]

If I'm reading the strat right, it also allows the Chaplain to recite a litany that he does not know. Could be really useful for something like Canticle of Hate that you may only need once or twice per game.

I'm not completely sure about that. In the Litanies section of the Chaplain's datasheet, it does specify he can only chant Litanies he knows. I don't think Commanding Oratory overrules that. It only specifies that it overrules the restriction on only chanting in the Command Phase. In the absence of something specifically overruling it, I would assume any restrictions continue to apply as normal.

[Medicinal Carrots]

I'm reading it as a separate process with different requirements (any phase, can't have recited any litany earlier, no roll), that has a similar outcome. Notably, it does repeat the requirement that the litany can't have been recited by anyone, but not the requirement that the Chaplain know the litany.

 

I think it's ambiguous enough that it should be FAQ'd.