Have you seen this unit? part 10



Captain Cato Sicarius is the Second Company Captain of the Ultramarines. Among his titles are Master of the Watch, Knight Champion of Macragge, Grand Duke of Talassar, and High Suzerain of Ultramar. Sicarius's most famous battle to date stands as the Assault on Black Reach against the Ork Warlord Zanzag. The whole of the 2nd Company stood against ten thousand Orks. As their ammunition ran dry the Ultramarines fought with knife and chain sword until the last Ork fell. That is pretty hardcore, or just a regular Tuesday for the Ultramarines. He also fought a bunch of other battles and won all sorts of accolades. We get it he is a good leader and warrior. Yet, for as great as he sounds he sure doesn’t lead many Astartes into tabletop battle.

This way to the tabletop men! Seriously they're gonna use me this time!

He has the typical Marine HQ stats; WS 6, BS 5, strength and toughness 4, 3 attacks and wounds, initiative 5, leadership 10 and a 2+/4++ save. He is armed with a plasma pistol, frag / krak grenades, the Talassarian Tempest Blade, Iron Halo and the Mantle of Suzerain. He has the regular Marine rules along with Surprise Attack, Battle Forged Heroes, and Rites of Battle. He costs a double hundred in points, but is it worth it? Well let us just look and see.

Surprise Attack- allows you to re-roll the dice when you seize the initiative. Sure it might work, but I would put no hope into that roll or the re-roll.

Rites of Battle- gives all your Marines on the table Sicarius’s leadership for morale and pinning tests. This old chestnut, that was pretty much on all Marine HQ last codex.

Battle Forged Heroes- lets you pick one tactical squad pre-game to receive one universal special rule. Well one rule from the list of: counter-attack, scout, infiltrate or tank hunter. Handy to have too bad it is only one tactical squad that gets this ability.

The Mantle of Suzerain- grants Sicarius Feel No Pain and a 2+ armor save.

Talassarian Tempest Blade- is a power weapon. You can also forfeit all your attacks for one strength 6 attack. This attack, if it hits, will cause Instant Death. It is the coup de grace ability of the sword. That is a handy situational ability to have.

Ok, so far Sicarius doesn't look to awful. He has a solid Marine HQ stat-line, he gives his guys leadership 10 and he has descent gear. Why is he a no-show?

I'm guessing that the main reason is competition. The interweb loves the Librarian. He is cheap and gives a chance of psychic defense and shenanigans. Since it seems like everyone and their sister is bringing psy power Marines of some flavor to battle these days. The humble Librarian is in greater demand than the guy who looks to follow Calgar as the Chapter Master.

He also competes with the other super cool HQ's of Vulcan and Kantor. These two bring some descent buffs to the table. Having melta, flamer and thunder hammers twin linked army-wide is really awesome, and so is the ability to make Sternguard a scoring unit. Sicarius can buff one tactical sqaud, and that is it. Now I'm not poo-pooing what he can give that squad, it is just too bad it is only one squad, and pales in comparison to what these to jokers bring to battle.

Other than that, I don't see a real big reason why people pass up Sicarius. Heck, after really writing this I think my next "vanilla" Marine game I'll use Sicarius. I like his options, rules and gear. Having leadership 10 across the board is great, since leadership tests are not my forte. Also 3 base power weapon attacks (5 on charge) is descent. I don't dislike Feel No Pain (just wish it wasn't shoe horned in everywhere). A 2+/4++ save is a nice bit of ok as well. I am also a fan of the tactical squad. I know they are lame compared to their Blood and Wolf brothers, but I have always had a soft spot for them. If you saw the army I gave to the guys for a house army you'd understand. I think having a squad with scout or infiltrate could be pretty fun.

So, maybe someday they'll spice up Sicarius and get people interested in him. Heck if he could give his Battle Forged Hero rule to D3 tactical squads, then he might get another look. I think Sicarius looks pretty soild for a Marine HQ besides that.