Friday, October 19, 2012

Reclusiarch

The Reclusiarch is the final HQ choice to get reviewed.
From the Angels of Death codex:

The first Space Marine Chapters were founded centuries before the development of the Imperial cult and the dominion of the Adeptus Ministorum. As a result every Space Marine Chapter has its own cult practices and its own priests, known as Chaplains. Whereas the Adeptus Ministorum has gradually extended its influence over all the many thousands of individual cults that once existed throughout the galaxy, it has never been able to influence the Space Marine cults which remain as stubbornly individualistic today as they ever were. Other civilian cults are denounced as heresy, and their adherents rooted out by the Ministorum's troops, but the Space Marine Chaplains care nothing for the ravings of the Ecclesiarchy and ignore the dictates of the Imperial cult in favour of their own ancient traditions.

The Chaplains administer the rites of their Chapter, performing the ancient ceremonies of Initiation and Vindication, as well as leading their brethren through the prayers of faith and sacred psalms of the Emperor. It must not be forgotten that Space Marines are devout warriors. Their faith in the divinity of the Emperor is as vital to them as their skills at arms, and their spiritual life is deep and complex. The Chaplains accompany their brothers into war, chanting the liturgies of battle as they lead the way into the ultimate consummation of battle and death.


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Blood Angels are fortunate to have an upgraded Chaplain as an HQ option as well as regular Chaplains in the Elite section. The Reclusiarch is a small force multiplier but is mostly a legitimate close combat threat. Let's peak at the stats:

Reclusiarch WS5 BS5 W3 I5 A3  3+4+ saves
Chaplain     WS5 BS4 W2 I4 A2  3+4+ saves

Seeing that nice BS5, it is worth upgrading his gun to a storm bolter or if you have the points, a plasma or inferno pistol because you will be hitting on a 2+. Anyone using Devastator squads know how powerful that signum is when you need to hit to take out those target priorities. If you're not upgrading to a power fist, you might want to think about melta bombs to make sure you can wreck any armour you may end up against especially because your Reclusiarch may end up outlasting the rest of his unit and need to switch roles. Since the Reclusiarch only has a power maul, it might be better to keep him as flexible as possible.

The Reclusiarch's special rules include Honour of the Chapter (makes units fearless), and Liturgies of Blood (this is post FAQ):

On a turn in which he charges, a Chaplain and all members of any unit chosen from Codex: Blood Angels the he has joined re-roll failed rolls To Hit. Models in a Death Company can also re-roll failed rolls To Wound (their rage makes them particularly susceptible to the Chaplain's fiery oratory).

Mr. Black:
Reclusiarch
We all know the real Captains of the Blood Angels, and it isn't the weenie that can't take Artificer Armor.

So here we are at the Reclusiarch, who on initial impression got knocked down a peg due to having a Power Maul; but really, is that so bad? I mean, he hits like a brick, sure he doesn't auto-ignore armor, but usually the combined wrath of him and the unit he's leading (never mind Death Company) are enough to mitigate that. But that seems to be all I've heard about him from people: "Power Maul, Power Maul, Power Maul"... Did those people forget he can also take a Power Fist for almost no points?


That's honestly how I've been running him, Fist and Maul. That way he has the option of hitting with whatever he deems best while still being the excellent combatant that he's always been!

Adding onto that he still confers Fearless, which as I mentioned way way back at the start is actually slightly worse than And They Shall Know No Fear but... Well, it varies per situation. Overall, however, he is still a great addition to the army for his combat prowess, variety of weapon options (and bikes! Don't forget bikes!), and utility he adds to the army. Basically, I would take a Reclusiarch and a Librarian, sending the Reclusiarch into the thick of things to hammer down some justice while allowing the Librarian to move around the board as needed, doing his Librarian buffing and debuffing.

Jack of all trades, master of none situation here in my mind. He is a potent melee force with a good amount of variety to him, and seeing as how characters will be living longer this edition he might actually get to see use of his skills, rather than just Wham, Bam, Dead like the olden days.

Stelek:
Reclusiarch. He’s fearless and can get a power fist.

BA Devastators:
Reclusiarchs are a fine choice that is a decent second to the Librarian. If your elites are filled up and you want to buff your Death Company, then he is a nice choice if you want a different weapon loadout than what Lemartes has. However, if you are looking at the Death Company as a distraction unit, its reputation should let you get away without needing to put a chaplain in to save points and invest them elsewhere.

A Reclusiarch or chaplain can also be a nice addition to small units like Honour Guard or the Sanguinary Guard to make them fearless and add something that they don't bring in having multiple wounds and an invulnerable save.

2 comments:

  1. I find that the Reclusiarch is excellent at making the Death Company a truly terrifying force! I have a fun fluffy 500 point list that consists of:
    Reclusiarch w/ Meltabombs
    5 Death Company Marines, 2 of them armed with Power Weapons
    Death Company Dreadnought w/Heavy Flamer

    While not very competitive because of the low model count it can be a fun list to play.

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  2. Billy, that's the important thing- that you're having fun with your models.

    BTW, what size of table do you play on when you have just 500 points?

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