The Primaris Crusader Squad is literally just the same sprue twice. That means it comes with double the weapon options for the unit, letting you give your Neophytes all bolt pistol and chainsword or bolter, and giving you a ton of additional weapon options for your Initiates. In addition, this means you’ll have two sets of upgrade options for the Sword Brother – his bits are all add-ons to an Initiate model – and that’ll mean you have a lot of extra bits left over to upgrade other models. The old-school influences don’t stop there. The Marshal’s head and the axe are direct nods to the 1998 Captain who was originally introduced in the limited edition of the starter set that was released for the third edition of the game. You can also theoretically build two Sword Brothers from these sprues, although you can only have one in a Primaris Crusader Squad. There’s potentially value in doing this if you’re looking to get extra Sword Brethren and only need 9 models to add to an existing squad; Primaris Crusader Squads go 5-11 on Initiates and 4-8 on Neophytes, which is exactly what two boxes would theoretically get you, though you could buy two boxes and go 1 Sword Brother, 8 Neophytes, and 10 Initiates, using the remaining two models for Sword Brothers in another unit, provided you had an extra 40mm base.

Grav-cannon or Heavy Bolter or Lascannon or Missile Launcher or Multi-Melta or Plasma Cannon (1 Initiate in the squad only) These units are tasked with infiltrating enemy positions or fulfilling some other critical mission. For a neophyte to be trusted so speaks volumes of his Initiate’s faith in his abilities, and the neophyte fights all the harder, lest they show such trust to be misplaced. The Marshal shows his status in fully personalised artificer armour, with layering, rivets, and cables to give him a brutal and archaic look. His left pauldron and the cloak are a reminder that all Marshals are selected from the Sword Brethren (as are the Castellans). The Sword Brethren come armed with heavy bolt pistols and either chainswords or power swords, and a mix of the unit's members can upgrade to other weapons. Not all of the units can take the same weapons though, and most are limited to one member in a four-man unit. The box provides enough for two pyre pistols, and one of each plasma pistol, power maul, power axe, a set of paired lightning claws, or a thunder hammer.A lot of thought has gone into the kit, which allows you to build every model with a chainsword and pistol or with a bolt carbine or rifle. “The latter option leaves enough leftover parts to upgrade a regular box of Intercessors or Assault Intercessors with chained weapons,” says Maxime. As such, the design team went all-in with the medieval look on these miniatures, from the now-classic tabard and leather belts to bowl cuts. The armour has been updated with Primaris details too – “it’s a kind of Mk III Scout armour designed by Cawl himself”. Some weapons have ‘Blast’ listed in their profile’s abilities. These are referred to as Blast weapons. In addition to the normal rules, the following rules apply to Blast weapons: In return, the Neophyte pledges obedience to his master and vows never to bring dishonour to his name. Neophytes also act as servants to their mentors, waiting on them at the great banquets and seeing to their day-to-day requirements. 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.

The Combat Patrol has 445 points before you start adding equipment and offers a slightly different force option to that in the Army Set, with more troops and transport rather than the Dreadnought. The Emperor's Champion from the Army Set can be bought separately, but not including him in this set allows you to reinforce your Army Set with the units from this one without doubling up on them. All three squads are kitted out with as many pyreflamers as possible, as well as (heavy) bolt pistols and Astartes chainswords for close-range dominance. 40 angry Space Marines running at you at full speed, supported by a Marshal with the Crusader’s Helm (to ensure they’re all in range of his Rites of Battle aura ability), and a Primaris Ancient to keep them fighting to the last, is certainly an intimidating prospect. The Castellan is based closely on the iconic cover art by John Blanche from the third edition of Warhammer 40,000. Designing this miniature came with its own challenges as “he doesn’t follow the modern design language of the rest of the range”. If the Tactical Doctrine was active for your army during the previous battle round, you can change it so that the Assault Doctrine is now active.In a first for an upgrade sprue, you’ll also be able to equip the Relics you collect in your Crusade missions on your Heroes for that fervent narrative touch. The Sword Brethren are the elites at the top of the Chapter, and they have earned the right to fight however they like, Maxime explains. The galaxy is the Emperor's, and anyone or anything who challenges that claim is an enemy who must be destroyed." You then make a Charge roll for the charging unit by rolling 2D6. The result is the maximum number of inches each model in that unit can be moved if a Charge move is possible. For a Charge move to be possible, the Charge roll must be sufficient to enable the charging unit to end that move: All three are core units, while the first two are troops and count as objective secured. The PCS is the most versatile and can be kitted for ranged shooting, melee or a combination of both. I would argue that PCS is always a better choice over AIS since it’s much more flexible and better at melee since you can take multiple powerfists. The one advantage AIS has is it can fight twice using a stratagem, which can be quite situational and not always advantageous. PCS offers everything desired for Veteran Intercessors, costs less points, is objective secured and again is more flexible. Remember that PCS get most of their wargear for free, such as the powerfists.