New 40k Black Templars Sword Brethren & Upgrade Kits

By Travis Pasch | October 8th, 2021 | Categories: Black Templars, Games Workshop, Games Workshop Previews, Space Marines, Tabletop Gaming News & Rumors, Warhammer 40k

GW just revealed new Black Templars Sword Brethren, Castellan, and an upgrade kit to turn your normal Marines into true crusaders!

We’ve seen a ton of minis already for the chapter but with the launch box hitting pre-order, there are even more minis to drool over. This also looks like the final reveal of minis as GW released a video (we’ll have it below) called full army reveal.

At this point, we’d be surprised by more minis. We’ve been expecting the Sword Brethren to get a rework for a while now, and we’re happy the kit got a rework. The main reason we thought they were coming is the artwork on the supplement cover itself, you know GW doesn’t like to put pretty pictures of any units you can’t actually buy!

Warhammer Community just unveiled a ton of new minis and upgrades kits, so if you were praying for the releases to continue, your prayers have been answered. Let’s check out the new minis!

Black Templars Full 40k Army Reveal

Overall we have to say this update is pretty awesome and just full of really cool minis. Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of new BT armies out there soon!

Here we have the Castellan – effectively a fancy-pants Black Templars lieutenant – based on an inimitable piece of Black Templars art, providing a radically different look to your average Space Marine thanks to his skeletal pauldrons, all that piping, and the unconventional armour design.

We really like that they’ve been using the older artwork to base new characters on, as the old art is just so Grimdark! With him being a fancy lieutenant, we don’t expect the rules to be too crazy for him but who knows.

New Black Templars Sword Brethren

The Sword Brethren have also had an almighty glow-up. This elite squad can wield a diverse array of melee weapons, including thunder hammers and lightning claws, to beat and slash some faith into the most formidable opponents.

This looks like a really big upgrade compared to the old set and the with the number of different bits they show, we expect this to be a beefy kit, and probably expensive.

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These guys look like they are ready for some serious crusading and with so many options, this kit will be super fun to build and paint up. That’s not everything either, they’ve also released an upgrade kit to make your normal marines look more the part.

Black Templars Upgrade Kit

To represent this look across all of your army, you can get your hands on an upgrade frame packed full of details you can add to your regular Primaris Space Marines.

Outfit any Adeptus Astartes squad with custom pauldrons, cover your Assault Intercessors with honorific ribbons, and equip a Repulsor with a multi-melta – a weapon that the Templars favour for its ferocity.

Honestly, this is a pretty decent upgrade kit, you can even use it to turn marines into Neophytes. With all the heads, shoulder pads, and weapons, this can take your existing force pretty easily into the new book.

Let’s just hope it’s not too expensive because you might have to grab a few of them. If you’re curious about the contents and value of the new Army box we have that for you below as well!

New 40k Black Templars Army Box: Pricing & Value

The Army Set contains 13 miniatures, including 12 new Black Templars – a Marshal, the Emperor’s Champion, and a 10-man Primaris Crusader Squad with a ton of build options. You’ll also get a Redemptor Dreadnought, for targets that require a more forceful elimination.

These could all change, but we think the values below are pretty spot-on:

Primaris Crusader Squad $60 (Based on other Space Marine Intercessors)
Redemptor Dreadnought $65 (existing kit)
Emperor’s Champion $40 (based on recent character releases)
Marshal $35 (this could be on the low end, might go up to $40)
Codex: $30 (supplement)
Datacards: $25

Total MSRP: $255

Estimated Value: $55

The new box will cost $200, and the value is basically identical to the Orks Beast Snagga box minus $20 for a supplement codex book instead of the main one at $50 (you still need the Space Marine codex book to use).

Looks like GW likes that price point for both value and pricing.

It’s not the craziest box ever, but you do save some money, get the rules early and grab a bunch of new minis. However a key takeaway here for us is that you get about the same value from this as any of the combat patrol boxes, but end up paying $60 more at the register for the Army box configuration.

Upgrade Your Redemptor for Less!

Regardless, if it has value to you, then get it. If it doesn’t, then don’t! Don’t let the FOMO get the best of you if you really aren’t sure about the minis.