We received some pictures today of all sorts of new content you’re not going to want to miss. Empyric Storm event cards are here!
Let’s take a look at the new Saintly Blessings, Empyric Storms event cards, and Castellan How to Man Your Armies.
First we had the early rules breakdown for Celestine via Gothmog yesterday here on the site, and now we have the rest of the puzzle pieces for you as well!
Empyric Storms Mission Cards and Special Rule:
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Now for the living Saint herself!
200 points for her AND her 2 bodyguards, the Geminae Superia. Her statline WS7, BS7, S3, T3, W5, I7, A5, LD 10, Sv 2+/4++ (from her Armour of Saint Katherine). Geminae: WS 5, BS 4, S 3, T 3, W 2, I 4, A 2, Ld 10, Sv 3+ (not bad IMO)
They all have Frag and Krak grenades and the Geminae have Power Swords and Bolt Pistols. The also all have Adamantium Will, Fearless, Hit and Run, and Saintly Blessings. Celestine have Eternal Warrior and Independent Character. They are all Jump Infantry Characters, so her bodyguards can dive on challenges for you.
So the Geminae are the ULTIMATE body guards. They have a 3+/4++ due to their Divine Guardians rule. BUT this also makes your opponent resolve ALL WOUNDS vs them before Celestine. Automatically. No need to roll for Look Out Sir. This alone makes her worth 200 points IMO. They also DO NOT prevent her from joining units as an IC and just join and leave with her. They are the infantry equivalent of a Void Shield Generator.
If you think that is good enough, there is also Healing Tears. This makes you, at the start of each of your turns AUTOMATICALLY set up 1 slain Geminae anywhere within 2″ of Celestine. No restrictions. This pretty much means the only way to kill her is with Stomps, D or Vortex as she will nearly always have an ablative shielding of Geminae. Then, IF by some chance (a HUGE IF) you manage to kill her, all models with the Faith special rule auto pass LD checks for the rest of the turn due to Martyrdom (if she is your warlord).
However, now when she is slain, take an LD check for her. If you fail, nothing happens, but with a pass, leave a marker. At the start of your next turn, place her within 1″ of that marker, fully restored. She can then use healing tears to ALSO bring back 1 slain Geminae. The Martyrdom bonus AND the enemy gaining Slay the Warlord ONLY take effect if she fails. This can only be used once, and if the game ends before she comes back she is slain for victory point purposes. However, this pretty much means she will end virtually every game on the table IMO. Just a super tough unit to kill.
She also allows all friendly units within 12″ to use her LD for Faith and War Hymns checks.
Now for her weapons. First off, she has an Orbital Bombardment with unlimited range, S 8, AP 3, Assault 1, Barrage Large Blast. However you never subtract her BS from this (to be fair, it is coming from orbit). BUT her Sword is where it is at. The Ardent Blade has 2 profiles, a Template and Close Combat (so it is an awesome flaming blade)
The Template is S5, AP4 Assault 1, so just a heavy flamer, but that is with her orbital bombardment already. The melee weapon is S+2 (so she is S5) AP3, Master-Crafted and Armourbane. Basically point her at MEQ squads and watch them die and fail to ultimately do anything in return. The AP3 limits her ability to truly take on Death Stars, however her durability will likely tarpit a death star, especially if she is joined to a squad like Seraphim.
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Saintly Blessings: Celestine can give a 12″ radius buff to friendly non-vehicle Army of the Imperium units at the start of each of your turns. Each buff can only be used once per game, and affect units based on their Battlefield Role (independent chars get affected as long as they stay in the unit):
- HQ Units: Zealot until the start of the next turn
- Troops: FNP 6+ until the start of next turn. If models already have FNP, they get a +1 bonus to FNP instead…
- Elites: Counter-Attack and Furious Charge until start of next turn
- Fast Attack: Crusader and Fleet until start of next turn
- Heavy Support: Relentless until start of next turn
- Lord of War: It Will Not Die for the rest of the game.
Full Fall of Caida Rules Gallery Courtesy of Scanner,
In addition to all that, any army that contains Celestine (or is from a Wrathful Crusade formation or Castallens of the Imperium detachment) lets characters take items from the new Ecclesiarchy Relics list. Choices include a 35pt Eternal Warrior relic, 15pt S4 AP2 pistol that ignores invulnerable saves, a 35pt relic that gives a 4+ invuln save and stops Deep Strikes within 12″ (if they scatter within 12″, auto mishap!) and a 30pt Power Sword that on a pass Ld Test becomes S+2, AP2.”
To me, these last rules seem like a great addition to an army like Grey Knights, and at a bargain price. Plus, is she is an HQ for all armies of the Imperium, you don’t even need to worry about separate detachments.
How to make your Castellan Army:
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There was a lot of information brought to light today, so what do you think of the new rules for the Celestine now?
Fall of Cadia
About the Author: James Rodriguez
