Hey Everybody, the Dak here today to talk about the new master of executions. We certainly seem to be getting lots of masters of this and that with the new codex. Today I’m going to do a quick overview of the new kid on the block and see just what he’s all about. Spoiler alert, he’s really into executing people.
The Crunch
OK, so lets take a look at his his stat line. The Master of Executions has a fairly standard character profile for an Astartes. Now, at four wounds he’s not quite as beefy as a chaos lord, but isn’t too flimsy either. however, he does not have an invulnerable save of any kind so certain things will melt him. Just two overcharged plasma shots and he’s toast. So, its going to be important to screen him until the time is right, and be smart about what he ends up fighting. Its worth mentioning that his attacks profile is respectable for a low cost HQ choice. Making him considerably more punchy than his more support oriented brethren.
Special Rules
Sweet, this is where things get a bit more spicy. He’s got two rules to help him do what he’s clearly intended to do. Hunt characters. Trophy Taker lets him re-roll one hit, wound, or damage roll when targeting a character. This doesn’t seem huge at first, but with a WS of 2+ most is not all his attacks should hit, especially with a Chaos Lord nearby. So, what its really about is that wound and Damage roll, and he hits fairly hard so most likely its going to be the damage roll. This can be a big deal, I’m sure we have all had those times when we needed to push that last wound through on a character. I can think of numerous times when I was just a single wound away from killing a character.
Secondly, you have warp-sighted butcher. What this little ability does is enhance your ability to heroically intervene against characters. If a character is within 6″ after charging you can intervene up to 6″ but you move closer towards the character. Wow, this ability is hilarious, being able to have your master of executions scoot directly into a character is great. Also, it can be a fairly strong deterrent. Nobody is going to want to get smacked by this guy and may cause an opponent to rethink his strategy. The Master of executions may not drop a Daemon Prince in a single round of combat, but can still lay on the hurt. Mainly due to his unique piece of wargear.
The Sharp Pointy Stuff
The Master of executions Comes with his Axe of Dismemberment, a power fist with no negative to hit penalty. Lets face it, the one problem with a power fist IS its -1 modifier. Having your Chaos Lord whiff his hit rolls never feels good, as it makes them hit like a run of the mill Chaos Marine. The Master of executions doesn’t have this problem and is going to actually hit on 2’s. The weapon doubles his Strength which is going to allow him to reliably wound even beefier characters like Hive Tyrants. Meanwhile, most any other character is getting wounded on 2’s. Plus, on wound rolls of six it does a mortal wound in addition to its normal damage.
But What Do I Do With Him
Mainly, your going to want him lurking around your more aggressive squads. Stuff like Cultists and Khorne Bezerkers, anything choppy really. For comparisons, he’s a lot like loyalists chapter champions, and should be used as such. The master of Executions is NOT a smash captain and is best suited to being a deterrent, and hunting support characters. Your average Daemon Prince is a bit too powerful to be charging officers, Autarchs, or Tau Commanders. The Master Of Executions is the perfect candidate however and can be a nasty surprise for someone who relies on those support character.
The Verdict
The Master of executions is a pretty cool character, and can honestly add a little muscle to any squad he accompanies. Even if he isn’t smashing characters he is still throwing out the equivalent of five reliable power fist attacks. Personally, I think he is worth it, and it makes me really want to play a chaos hero hammer list. I think its a definite buy!
If you loved this article, and can’t wait to get more awesome Nights At the Game Table Content, click here to join our Members Area!
Want to polish up your tactics, and painting? Want to know how to save money on miniatures? Come check out our FREE guide by clicking here!
A big thanks to Games workshop for the images used in our articles.
