Best SM Unique HQs!

[Forteller]

If you would have to rate from the least used to the most used Space Marine Unique HQs how would you go?

Discuss the fluffy ones,the powerhouse ones,the expensive and useless ones, and those that you think that could work in a right build :)

Personally? I wonder if Sicarius is worth his points,hell i 'd go as far as to say that for 265 points Magneus Calgar is semi-useless, but then i am a noob so what do i know :)

Discuss Away!

[EmperorEternalXIX]

In the grim darkness of the far future there is only Vulkan and Pedro.

[Forteller]

Really? Almost everyone in my local game shop swears by Captain Lysander and nothing else,well ok maybe except Vulkan but thats unfair,Vulkan is a broken unit...........

[Brosef Stalin]

Honestly, I think they're all decent. But, out of what I've seen.

Khan is pretty diesel. Stick him with a beefed up Command squad and that's a nightmare in CC.

Vulkan, for obvious reasons.

I gotta also give it to Calgar, if only because the player I've seen use him wrecks house on the table.

I've heard good things about Pedro, but I've still not seen anyone use him yet.

[Forteller]

Can someone explain how would Calgar actually work? I mean its 260 pounds of flesh roaming the battlefield,please elaborate :)

[RocketRollRebel]

Can someone explain how would Calgar actually work? I mean its 260 pounds of flesh roaming the battlefield,please elaborate :)

He's kinda a points sink and doesn't do much for your army as a whole, Lysander is a cheaper and better choice with his bolster defenses, bolter drill, stubborn for your army and he is a CC monster to boot for about 60pts less than big papa smurf!.

I voted Vulkan tho. He is really the hands down obvious best choice. He has a decent statline and some nice wargear on his own. He is well priced and he makes some of the best weapons in the game (meltas and flamers) and one of the best units in the game(TH/SS termies) even better. I'd say Lysander 2nd then Pedro Cantor 3rd and someone like Khan 4th.

[lobster-overlord]

Lemartes!


BLOOD ANGELS RULE!!!!!

John M>now back to your un-hijacked thread....

[entendre_entendre]

telion. why?
he's a mini vindicare assassin and is cheap (comparatively). he can earn his points back by shooting out tooled up aspiring champs or sergeants or w/e.

[DarkLink]

telion. why?
he's a mini vindicare assassin and is cheap (comparatively). he can earn his points back by shooting out tooled up aspiring champs or sergeants or w/e.

While he might only cost 1/2 half as much as a vindicare assassin, he is also much less deadly. A vindicare will only cause 2-3 wounds over the course of a game. Against MEQ, Telion will be lucky to do one. Pretty useful against horde ork though, I'd imagine. Pick nobz out of 30 man mobz.

[RocketRollRebel]

Telion isnt bad, neither is cassious but not my top picks. They fall in the middle range for me. :p

[DarkLink]

I'd go with Vulkan, Lysander or Kantor (but only if I was taking lots of Sternguard).

[eagleboy7259]

Non-smurf characters all seem to be worth their points, Vulkan especially.

[Lerra]

It depends a lot on the army build. Some characters are amazing with certain builds (Kantor with Sternguard, for example) but if you toss Kantor into a random SM army, he is mediocre.

The overall MVPs seem to be Khan, He'stan, Lysander, and Kantor, though.

I like the idea of Telion but I think he is a bit overcosted. I've seen Chronus do very well, but with all of the anti-tank running around lately, he seems to die pretty quickly. He makes his tank a big target, for better and for worse. Chronus in a predator is fun.

[Forteller]

Personally i 'd use telion to pick off heavy weapon specialists from a 10 man tactical squad, as for Chronus,isn't the obvious choice to pop him inside a LR?

[Pi666]

My vote goes for Calgar.

Come on, he can reroll to wound, has an ap2 strombolter, (with rerolls to wound), has 2 powerfists, a handy power weapon in case you need to take advantadge with his initiative, and he and his army can choose to pass or fail any morale check...and you like Lysander because gives stubborn?

[Forteller]

Hes a taaaaad expensive,i am guessing Lysander is a cheaper version of Calgar, i dunno my heart's with you,i love using unique expensive units,its just that i get flamed a lot for doing so :P

Edit: Appearantly good ol' Sicarius is getting the good ol' shaft

[Pi666]

He's "only" 65 points more, this points include eternal warrior, orbital bombardment, iron halo, 1 attack more...

For me, they're well expended points, if you think he's expensive, compare him with Logan Grimnar, or Azrael, and you'll realize how "cheap" is he.

[mercer]

I've gone with vulcan as re-roll to hit with meltas, flamers and thunder hammers is just pure awesomeness.

[Forteller]

Listen,i am an SM player,and i love them beyond everything else,but still i think that "gulp" Vulkan is cheesy and should be banned from tournaments /Flame retardant activated

[DarkLink]

He's "only" 65 points more, this points include eternal warrior, orbital bombardment, iron halo, 1 attack more...

For me, they're well expended points, if you think he's expensive, compare him with Logan Grimnar, or Azrael, and you'll realize how "cheap" is he.

Lysander has Eternal Warrior, too. And a 3+ Invulnerable. And a Str10 Thunderhammer (much better than a pair of power fists), which also grants bonuses to vehicle damage rolls. And he lets his entire squad reroll to hit with their bolter weapons. Those extra 65pts really aren't worth it.

[Gotthammer]

I've seen Chronus do very well, but with all of the anti-tank running around lately, he seems to die pretty quickly. He makes his tank a big target, for better and for worse. Chronus in a predator is fun.

I loves me Chronus in a Ac/Hvy Blt predator. Ignoring Shaken and Stunned is very, very useful. With the 2+ to hit you can wipe out most of a squad of guardsmen a turn.
I've only lost the tank in two battles- both times in assault, once to a bloodthirster, the other to a wraithlord. Chronus survived the Bloodthirster's attack, then went on to servo arm a hellhound to death. Not bad for 70pts.

[Cryl]

Edit: Appearantly good ol' Sicarius is getting the good ol' shaft

Mostly because he's just not all that great compared to some other options. I'd much rather have a commander who improves my army as a whole rather than just being effective solo (yeah I know sicarius has special rule abilities for squads etc but he's just not all that for me). Vulkan, Calgar, Tigurius (to an extent) and Khan all do that much more effectively than Sicarius and still have decent abilities of their own.

EDIT: Just thought Shrike is a little weak for me as well, sure fleet is nice for your TH/SS or LC termies but marines aren't the greatest CC army and using shrike makes you into a one trick pony almost. There are certainly RG players who would teach me serious lessons on the table but for most vanilla marine players there are better options.

[RocketRollRebel]

Lysander has Eternal Warrior, too. And a 3+ Invulnerable. And a Str10 Thunderhammer (much better than a pair of power fists), which also grants bonuses to vehicle damage rolls. And he lets his entire squad reroll to hit with their bolter weapons. Those extra 65pts really aren't worth it.

Hence why he is the man. Roll him with stern guard for some real fun haha

[mercer]

Listen,i am an SM player,and i love them beyond everything else,but still i think that "gulp" Vulkan is cheesy and should be banned from tournaments /Flame retardant activated

Vlukan isn't cheesy. You need to talior your entire list around him to get the full benefits. Be liking saying ban Kharn from tournaments because he can outflank..

[RocketRollRebel]

Vlukan isn't cheesy. You need to talior your entire list around him to get the full benefits. Be liking saying ban Kharn from tournaments because he can outflank..

Yeah but it is a very nasty army that you build around him. But the idea of banning any of the SM (or any 40k character) from a tournament is silly. Yeah you may see a fair number of them over and over again but they are by no means game breaking.

[mercer]

Aye, very nasty army. But my point is it isn't cheesy, and shouldn't be banned as other characters i.e kharn allow the entire army to outflank. Just nasty combos which deal a huge amount of damage thats all.

[person person]

In the grim darkness of the far future there is only Vulkan and Pedro.

Thanks for keepin' it short.


Really? Almost everyone in my local game shop swears by Captain Lysander and nothing else,well ok maybe except Vulkan but thats unfair,Vulkan is a broken unit...........

I think Lysander as the ultimate tough guy kick a$$ unit.

Pedro is a great "support unit" for the Sternguard and everyone within 12"

Shrike, infiltrating assault marines is awesome. Fleet, kinda. A bit gimmicky though.

Chronus, Marneus, and sometimes Tigurius is a points sink to me.

I chose Lysnader 'cause of his fluff.

[Just_Me]

Calgar gives you near complete control over your already reliable Marines, so as far as global bonuses go, it's hard to top him.

Although, as a loyal son of Dorn I think Lysander deserves an honorable mention; he is wicked hard to kill and a beast in CC. In fact as far as one-on-one punch goes, I would call him among the nastiest HQs out there...

[DarkLink]

Calgar gives you near complete control over your already reliable Marines, so as far as global bonuses go, it's hard to top him.

Although, as a loyal son of Dorn I think Lysander deserves an honorable mention; he is wicked hard to kill and a beast in CC. In fact as far as one-on-one punch goes, I would call him among the nastiest HQs out there...

As you said, Marines are "already reliable". The minor bonus you get from Calgar is of questionable worth, considering how much Calgar costs.