See that dude? The badass with the pistol in one hand, a mace in the other and a metric fuckton of badassery emanating from his eyes? That's a Chaplain. More specifically, Chaplain Grimaldus of the Black Templars, a particularly zealous chapter of Warhammer 40,000's trademark Space Marines (If you know nothing of Warhammer, a rough idea of the Black Templars would be to imagine extremely well-equipped, fanatically religous Space-Nazis with lashings of the Catholic Crusaders thrown in for good measure. They hate everything. They express that hate with gunfire and blades.).
These guys, basically priests with GUNZ in SPEHSS, are one of my favourite things in 40k if we're talking background and lore, but are consistently shite on the tabletop. In the fluff, Chaplains are warriors so full of cold hatred that they will think nothing of charging enemy positions on their own, screaming prayers as they manically hack apart anything that gets within half a mile. They posess a willpower so strong that they can supress the pain of something as trifling as losing a limb, fighting on as if nothing happened at all. They are uncompromising in their faith and loyalty, some of the greatest champions of the greatest warriors in the galaxy. In a word; badass.
Why then, on the tabletop, do they have one of the most underwhelming profiles of any model in the Space Marine roster, especially when compared to their image in the wider lore? They only have 2 attacks on their profile, as well as two wounds and a +4 invulnerable save. Apart from the mediocre invulnerable save and extra wound, chaplains don't really have much to separate them from a veteran sergeant in close combat.
In addition, chaplains suffer from a primary weapon that becomes deadweight when facing any kind of enemy in power armour, their Crozius Arcanums having a middling armour piercing value of 4. Back in earlier editions of 40k, all power weapons were capable of tearing Terminator armour apart, now a Chaplain's Crozius is relegated to smooshing weakling Eldar or Tau.
Where Chaplains do bring something to the game (and something that's consistent with the bakground) is in their ability to make friendly units that they join Zealous with their fiery oratory, granting them considerable buffs when charging into melee. That's cool. That's an example of how to make a model consistent with fluff, without making it overpowered.
So how would I improve Chaplains? Well it'd involve a fair hike in points cost but bring pretty good buffs in return. I would represent the fury and zeal of these warrior-monks by giving them extra attack for one thing, possibly even throwing the Rage special rule into the bargain (or Furious Charge or even Hammer of Wrath). Sorry, but for what are supposed to be rage-fuelled slaughter-machines, two attacks isn't enough. I'd also give them Feel No Pain (+6). This wouldn't be hugely useful, but it would at least represent their well-documented ability to shrug off otherwise debilitating injuries. Finally (and this is the most important addition if we want Chaplains that are actually useful), I'd give the Crozius the same profile as a power sword. Yes, we'd lose the large bonus to strength that we currently have, but that's a worthy trade for a weapon that actually does stuff against Chaos Space Marines. You'd definitely have to raise the basic cost of a Chaplain for all this (perhaps to around 120-130pts), but it would certainly make the choice between them and a far-superior yet equally-priced Captain a lot less easy.
What do you guys think? Am I just wishlisting here or do you agree that Chaplains are in dire need of a boost?
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