Marching from Macragge: Meh, why not Sicarius

Greetings fellow malcontents. IG here with my Sicarius model, and a short run down of what he can do in games. Yes, I know I went on about how he wasn't that great last post, but point-for-point, he's better then anything else the Ultramarines have going (except Tigurius; but he's just going to be too popular  with other UM players for my tastes).

Here's my Captain Cato Sicarius:

I'm not the best painter or photographer, but you get the idea. I'm happy with how he came out. The only thing I added was his sword. It's a Grey Knight terminator sword, so its taller then he is! One thing I've noticed; he is a good head taller then a plastic marine.

The Rules:

Sicarius has the basic captain stat line, and the normal wargear you'd expect a Marine to have: grenades, Iron Halo, and he comes with a stock standard plasma pistol. I would have preferred he come with a bolt pistol and 15 points cheaper, but oh well. A plasma pistol at BS 5 is pretty good, I guess.

He also comes with two pieces of unique wargear: The Mantle of Suzerain, and the Talassarian Tempest Blade. The mantle gives Sicarius a 2+ armor save, and Feel No Pain (5+). Pretty decent, although like his plasma pistol, I feel like your paying points for something you could choose or not choose to get from another source. He's got about as much protection as any captain can have outside of a storm shield. The Tempest Blade is really just a power sword. However, during any combat, Sicarius can exchange all his attacks to make a single attack. This attack is made at +2 strength and causes instant death. I could see this having its uses; chiefly against foes with multiple wounds that can't breach his 2+ save. Its a mighty big risk, though. I plan to always challenge and always use this ability against ANYTHING with a save of 3+ or worse. It'll be fun to see how many duels he can win.

Sicarius has a host of special rules. I won't really go through them all by name, but suffice to say he has the following abilities: if he's on the board, you get +1 to your reserve rolls and all Ultramarines can use his leadership for pinning and morale checks. He of course has the standard ATSKNF that makes Space Marines what they are, is an Independent Character, and has Chapter Tactics (Ultramarines). His Warlord trait is always The Imperium's Sword. This gives him (and any unit he has joined) a one-use Furious Charge ability. Meh. Might be useful to make his one shot super swing strength 7.

Battle-forged Heroes: This is the real reason to take Captain Sicarius. One of your Tactical Squads (they must be in Sicarius's detachment) gains one of the following USRs, chosen during deployment: Counter-attack, Infiltrate, Scout, or Tank Hunters. CA is pretty shitty. Tank Hunters is sort of wasted on a Tactical squad, theres just no real application that I can see once you see these next two. Infiltrate and Scout. Infiltrate is the clear winner, although wanting to outflank could work with Scout.

Heres the set-up I'm seeing. 10-man Tactical squad. Heavy Bolter and special weapon of choice (I'm still undecided here, probably a Plasmagun. Feel free to comment below on your opinion). Infiltrate into a ruin or other suitable terrain feature mid-field. Proceed to be a huge pain the rest of the game. Also, you could infiltrate directly onto the Relic, and sieze it turn 1. A full strength Tactical squad can be incredibly hard to shift. Another idea is load them up into a rhino or 6-strong into a razorback, and outflank. When you play Hammer and Anvil, this could be ideal.

Well, that's it Sicarius. Tune in next time for a look at Ultramarines Chapter Tactics.