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Friday, January 22, 2010

Champions of the Game: Daemonhunters

Well, it has been a while since I have done a Champions of the Game post, so I figured I'd continue in my quest for the best with one of the Inquisition codices this week.

Daemonhunters first.

Inquisitor Lord Torquemada Coteaz:
As an older codex, he still has a pts restriction on him of 1500 pts in the army to be use able. Putting that aside, lets get to the meat of the matter.
He has a bolt pistol and an anointed daemonhammer. This is a thunder hammer that fights daemons at normal initiative order, and can re-roll to hit and wound. It does use up the 0-1 restriction on daemonhammers in the army though.
Daemons within 6" of him are -1 LD. This doesn't matter to much though as they are all fearless and only effects them when they use a psychic power really.
He is allowed a Retinue of 15 people, which is more than a normal inquisitor, and is allowed to take 4 of any one type rather than just 3.
His Glovodan Eagle gives him +1 I and +1 A, so against daemons he has 4 WS4 S8, I5 Thunderhammer attacks, which can possibly incur an initiative penalty. Keep in mind his Grimoire of True Names halves any daemons WS (rounding down). This makes his WS4 competitive against them.
Unfortunately, when it comes to psychic powers, Banishment no longer works, as daemons no longer roll for instability.
Fortunately, his other power is the scourging. This is an 18" S5 AP5 assault d6 shooting attack that allows no Inv Saves. And he can still charge after using it since it is an assault attack.
Finish up with 3 T3 wounds is like a guard character, but Coteaz here has a 2+/4+, so that definitely compensates. All this for a whopping 185 pts.
My suggestion, only use him against Chaos Daemons.

Brother Captain Stern:
Once again, the army needs to be 1,500 pts to use him, but setting that aside.
First he is a terminator, allowing him to deep strike. As well, he can take a terminator retinue, which is definitely one of the most powerful units there is in the game.
His psychic powers hammerhand and holocaust are definitely nicer than what Torquemada had. The first makes him S8 and give +1 attacks, essentially allowing him to attack vehicles. The latter is to wipe out the enemy remaining at the end of combat, especially hordes, with S5 on the roll of a 4+.
His nemesis force weapon is like a normal force weapon, but makes him S6 in combat. So typically you are looking at 3 S6 I5 force weapon attacks at WS5. Against Daemons this is better, as he too has a grimoire of true names.
Finish up his stats with 2 T4 wounds with a 2+/5+ save and he is respectable.
The last of his rules are interesting. Well actually, only one is. Since CSM no longer has a Lord of Change in it, the Daemonic Nemesis rule is no longer in effect. I think this is fair and makes up for the many other disadvantages in the current DH codex.
The other rule, the strands of fate, allows Stern to re-roll 1 dice per phase per player turn. But for every die stern re-rolls, his opponent gets to re-roll that many regardless of the situation, so use this one warily.

So which guy do you like more. The poll is over to the right for your voting pleasure. -->

Which character is better?
Inquisitor Torquemada 8 (20%)
Brother Captain Stern 31 (79%)