Sanguinary Priest: Gear load out discussion.

Hey all. I've decided to post this thread, do in part to surfing the inter-webs and not really finding a good in depth discussion on how to kit out your Blood Angels Sanguinary Priest with the new codex.

So to start off let me give my general thoughts on how I play my priests.

Unfortunately their gear options are rather lacking in terms of war gear now. Losing TDA was a big disappointment, no invulnerable save options, and high chances of being insta-gibbed, really take a lot away from an HQ slot. Thus you are left wondering, what is best for this supporting character, and what makes its utility on the tabletop?

My first thought was, like most people, put him on a bike. T5 really helps with all the primary melta shots out there and give him some relatively good endurance, but that adds up very quickly via points, and in this build, he is best suited for a grav-gun bike squad which can be very powerful but doesn't really have a ton of synergy unless you play bike squads, which is outclassed by Vanilla Marines anyways.

My second thought was, just play him with little to no options. Take a bolt pistol for +1 attack and then an Auspex and put him in a unit of sternguard with a drop pod. This makes a fantastic support character, making a very strong unit better.

Next I started thinking of really cool combos for him. If you were looking to play Dante, with Guard, or just Assault Marines, you could kit him out a little more with some really good utility. A Jump pack and Inferno Pistol is less than 100 points. He gives the unit an additional melta-shot when they deep strike in. I thought about the angry plasma gun, but for the points costs, it really isn't really worth it when he's only BS 4 plus an Inferno pistol is 10 points cheaper.

I also thought about simple item-switches depending on which unit you bring, Death Company with/out JPs, Assault Marines, Sanguinary Guard, Vanguard, or stern guard, or terminators shooty or assault. Each make all a whole different role for the priest. A Lightning Claw, or Power sword, a Combi-gun or an Auspex.

I've come to the conclusion that the Priest should only be ran as a cheap support role. With minimal investments in wargear. Personally I would not take any Relics of Baal with a priest, nor would take the bike option, power fist, or T-Hammer. But experimenting is always fun and highly encouraged. What are some of your favorite options when you bring the Priest?

The load out really depends with what unit it goes with and how the army composition all hangs together as you have suggested.

But certainly it is a mighty good option in a DC, and avoiding a load out that would reduce the priests I would be beneficial.

I think as a general rule "buffing" models are always best to be lightly costed, especially marines.

Loving that people are talking functionally about Blood Angels in 7th edition. Not enough of this on other forums from what I've seen.

A Priest with a Lightning Claw and a Jump Pack stuck in with my Sanguinary Guard has been a go-to since the new Codex came out. The guy is WS6 thanks to the Chalice and it seems like a real waste to not give him some sort of CCW to capitalize on that, but I resent that we have to pay one point for a Bolt Pistol. Shred combined with a Chapter Banner in the SG unit usually get results for my games, not to mention if you get Speed of the Primarch as a Trait now you're WS6/S5/I6 on the charge which is pretty solid for a 90 point marine HQ. I've seen a lot of lists that incorporate Valour's Edge into his kit and see why people spend the points to make him AP2 in CC but haven't personally gone down that road.

As for what unit to run him with, I honestly think he's a waste leading DC. Don't get me wrong WS5 is great for DC to have, but the other half of his value buffing units is wasted when they have FnP natually. My DC didn't change in functionality one bit when I moved my Priest from them over to my SG, but my SG definitely improved. In my experience FnP is just crucial for them to make it through the game and given that they have less attacks than the DC on the charge the WS bonus is arguably better used on the boys in gold despite their Master-Crafted re-rolls. I do also like the idea of running one with an Auspex in a Sternguard squad and have in a few games run an 8 man squad with a Priest and a Libby, and was even lucky enough to get and cast Wings of Sanguinius on them once they Drop Pod'd in. Really helped keep a slow unit in Rapid Fire range (6" movement, 12" psychic jump, 12" RF range = 30" of 'oh, you thought you were safe?!'), though any tactic that relies on you getting one specific WC2 power with a ML2 psyker and casting it consistently is pretty silly even if it was fun those times it worked. Another unit I have enjoyed using a Priest in conjunction with is a standard Assault squad. Given our army and Detachment bonuses combined with those of a Priest you're looking at WS5/S5/I5 on the charge with 4 attacks per model barring weapon upgrades. They're pretty much the Death Company of our last Codex at this point but without Rage (which can be mitigated via the Sanguinary Discipline if you're interested) and they're pretty darn cheap for 10 models compared to anything else we've been talking about matching our Priests with.

Hope this gets some thoughts moving!

Personally I'm running my priest with Jump pack, Inferno Pistol, and Power Weapon as a support role for Dante and a unit of 5 Sanguinary guard. I DS them and get off several melta shots which wreck vehicles or kill high toughness/multiple wound models.

I like to run him with the relic jp, a power sword and bolt pistol with a unit of vanguard vets and Dante. Really good against intercepting Tau riptide pie plates that nuke a unit like that upon arrival.

I run mine in a unit of 10 pistol/sword SG and Sanguinor - they're my go to unit in every game. I feel as though SG need the FnP due to they're lack of invulnerable save and +1 WS doesn't harm either, especially with a CC based unit.

I give the Priest Angels' Wings and a chainsword which bring him to a cost of 85 points, which I feel is pretty cheap to bolster an anti-infantry unit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Will Dutton

I run mine in a unit of 10 pistol/sword SG and Sanguinor

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Sanguinor's gotta roll by himself, no?

Do you just have him hanging out beside the Sanguinary Guard?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by son_of_volmer

Sanguinor's gotta roll by himself, no?

Do you just have him hanging out beside the Sanguinary Guard?

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He gives the unit that he's in re-rolls to Hit and Wound, including the Priest. I'm not sure how this effects master-crafted weapons though.

But it basically creates a unit of death as long as they can get in to combat, and I've had Sanguinor destroy a few tanks by himself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Will Dutton

He gives the unit that he's in re-rolls to Hit and Wound, including the Priest. I'm not sure how this effects master-crafted weapons though.

But it basically creates a unit of death as long as they can get in to combat, and I've had Sanguinor destroy a few tanks by himself.

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the snaguinor isnt an idependent character and i thought that means hes a solo model? Only the sang rerolls his hits and stuff. I could be wrong i just came back to 40k after a 4 year break. Needless to say alot has changed. I run the sang priest in a squad with terms and the lamenter chapter master or mephiston. pretty powerful unit either way but with the chapter master giving hatred the terms with LC are rerolling hits and wounds with weapon skill 5 and strength 5 on a charge. not a bad gig.

The Sanguinor cannot attach to other units because he lacks the Independent Character rule. His Aura of Fervor rules gives all units within 6" +1 attack which is nice, and in a challenge he re-rolls all to hit and wound, but that is all.

Will Dutton, I don't know where you're getting your rules from but it isn't the current or previous Codex.