There is a very good chance that Games Workshop will be releasing more Marine Kits thanks to the Black Templars – but which kits, exactly? Let’s take a closer look.
A new codex, a few new characters and a whole lot of new Primaris are going to be crusading for the Black Templars very soon. We got a look at the GenCon reveal for the new Army box and it got us asking some questions about the range. How many new units are they getting now? How many characters? And what does this mean for the future of Space Marine models? Let’s start with the easy stuff first.
New Characters
So far, Games Workshop has announced three new characters for the Black Templars.
Black Templar Marshal
First up is the “generic” Black Templar Marshal. This is the equivalent of a Captain from other chapters. This model will first be released within the upcoming Army Starter box.
Emperor’s Champion
The Re-vamped Champ will be showing up alongside the Marshal in the upcoming Black Templar Army box. This was the first character that was revealed and it showcased the new Primaris-look of the Black Templars.
High Marshal Helbrecht
Games Workshop just showed off the new High Marshal Helbrecht model and this marks the third character that the Black Templars are getting with this update thus far. We talked more about this model in detail already. To sum it up, it’s a great nod to the previous version and artwork for High Marshal Helbrecht.
New Units
One other big reveal was the new Primaris Crusader Squad for the Black Templars. Not only will this squad feature the new pyreblaster, it’s also got new Primaris Initiates and Neophtyes.
Initiates are the fully-fledged members of the Black Templars. They are wearing the new Primaris Armor and certainly look like Primaris veterans with the chains and tabards they are rocking. All of those are classic callouts to the previous version of the Black Templars.
The Neophytes are the “Not-Scouts” of the unit. This is a mixed unit – you’ll be taking both Neophytes along with the Intiaties in the unit. It’s going to be interesting to see how GW includes these models in the unit. Are we going to have a mixed armor rule again? Are they all just going to be 3+ saves? Are they going to have different stat profiles? We’ll have to see what Games Workshop does in the new book for this unique mix of Power Armor and new Primaris ‘Not-Scout’ armor.
Future-Proof
Speaking of the ‘Not-Scout’ armor, this certainly puts a new spin on things for Space Marines. Not only do the Black Templar Intercessor equivalents look like veterans thanks to their tabards, but the Neophytes also look like Primaris-enhanced Scouts.
This raises some questions about their armor save and why they aren’t wearing Reiver armor. But is also raises some questions about what GW will do with the old school scout squads, too. The Black Templars are getting “new-scouts” so how long do you think it will be until regular Space Marines also get these same Primaris Scouts?
So far – that’s all the new models we’ve seen for the Black Templar Army update. There is still some room for GW to add more units to the range. Sword Brethren are another unit that could get a Primaris refresh, too. We already see one of them leading the Crusader Squad now…Anyone want to guess as to what other units could get an update?
How many more units do you think GW will put out for the Black Templar army this time around?
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
