Named character

[pnkfld7892]

When you use a named character is your army is it considered to be that exact character, or can it be considered to be your army's equivalent of that named character.

I.E. I have a fast attack based C:SM army and I want to use Shrike but I don't want to call him Shrike, I want him to be my own chapter's equivalent to a stealthy close combat master. Is this kosher?

[Nabterayl]

Yes, absolutely. This is precisely how we're supposed to represent successor chapters to the Raven Guard, Imperial Fists, White Scars, etc. In 5th edition, Games Workshop had a definite shift in philosophy towards named characters, away from having them represent literally only the named character and towards having them represent anybody the player felt fit with their rules.

[Learn2Eel]

Yes, that's perfectly fine. Codex: Space Marines even encourages you to openly use the rules for the special characters and make them your own 'unique' character with their own identity and traits. I have a converted Chaos Lord that I use as Abaddon - I modeled him to have a Slaaneshi-Daemon Blade and a special lightning claw with an attached bolter. Aside from that, he's very much my own creation and looks far more imposing than GW's model - he's the leader of my Faithless warband, and is supposed to be 'Arkos reborn'. Come up with your own interesting fluff/model to justify using those rules, and all should be a-ok!