The kit is comprised of 228 plastic components, with which you can assemble Primaris Crusader Squad, containing six Primaris Initiates and four Neophytes with a choice of weapon options. Alternatively one Primaris Initiate can be built as a Sword Brother. These miniatures are supplied unpainted and require assembly – we recommend using Citadel Plastic Glue and Citadel paints. 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.

From that point on, the Initiate takes sole responsibility for his pupil's training and conduct. He swears an oath to prepare the Neophyte for his entry into the brotherhood that is the Chapter, teach him of its history, and guide him through its holy rites of worship to the Emperor. 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: This jibes with the unit’s new datasheet, which lets you take 2 of each per 10 models. You’ll also have ample chainswords and heavy bolt pistols if you want to go that route, as well as auto bolt rifles and bolt carbines. 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.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 four Neophytes have four unhelmeted head options and can be equipped with either bolt carbines or bolt pistols and Astartes chainswords. 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. When the Adeptus Astartes fight, they employ a set of combat doctrines to eliminate the enemy. After pounding the foe with heavy weapons, warriors advance to lay down a hail of bolter fire before charging forth with chainswords roaring to finish the foe.If every unit from your army has the ADEPTUS ASTARTES keyword (excluding AGENT OF THE IMPERIUM and UNALIGNED units), this unit gains a bonus (see below) depending on which Combat Doctrine is active for your army. During the first battle round, the Devastator Doctrine is active for your army. From the second battle round onwards, at the start of the battle round, you can change which Combat Doctrine is active for your army, as follows:

The only 'niche' I've found is bringing two Pyreblasters and a Pyre Pistol. This is a funky flaming setup, but it's still on S4 with AP1 which just isn't worth the 25 points to bring it imo, and also requires a delivery method.You better believe that it’s also bursting with rules, including bespoke Detachment Abilities, Stratagems, Warlord Traits, Litanies of the Devout, Relics, Crusade rules, special Characters, and six unique unit Datasheets. 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”. Alternatively, one Initiate can be built as a Sword Brother, who has a choice of helmeted and unhelmeted heads. He can be built with a power sword or power axe, and a heavy bolt pistol or pyre pistol.

Each miniature is covered with unique details, suggesting that they all have their own personal artificer to work on their equipment. “They even have nicer chains of devotion than the rest of the Chapter,” Maxime points out. 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. 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.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. For melee I'm equally confused. Assault Intercessors seem superior due to their access to Fight Again.

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 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”.

High Marshal Helbrecht

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. Everything about the Crusader Squad suggests tradition and, well, eternal crusade. Their tabards become more damaged as brothers move up the hierarchy as “a bit of a symbolism to represent that they are a fleet-based Chapter”. 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: