Chainfist

Welcome back to Forgotten Heroes, a continuing series of articles updating classic Warhammer 40,000 special characters. In this episode we're bringing one of the greatest heroes of the Blood Angels from the shadows of obscurity and into the light of 5th Edition!.

I would wager that every Blood Angels player remembers this Furioso Dreadnought special character. I certainly have memories of this beast leading Bigred's beaky Blood Angels. Few things (especially my poor Landraiders) could stand up to Moriar's terrifying tear attack!

Here's Moriar's background from the old Blood Angel's codex:

"It was upon the field of battle at Clamorga that the mighty Captain Moriar fell. Defending the ridge against the despicable Eldar. Many were his wounds and the Sanguinary Priests were at a loss to heal him. And so it was that Moriar was interned in the sarcophagus of the Furioso Dreadnought built by Brother Morleo, as were Belaphrom, Dario and Amaretto before him. Upon gaining his strength, Moriar was struck by visions of Sanguinius, his own near-death state triggering the Black Rage. Immortal now in his adamantium shell, Moriar survived the Black Rage, hungering for battle and death. The Red Thirst grips him, and the revered Brothers of the Armourium have modified his armored suit so that he may partake of the vital liquid and be restrained when not in battle."

Basically, Moriar was a Furioso Dreadnought that was almost impossible to slow down (ignoring Shaken and Stunned) and was a beast in close combat (thanks to Battle-Frenzied and Tear Attack). Since the overall power level of Furioso Dreadnoughts has moved up quite a bit since 3rd Edition, my updated rules for Moriar reflect that.

Design Notes: I wanted Moriar to land between a Furioso + Death Company Dreadnought and Bjorn the Fell-Handed - both in price and utility. I debated over dropping Venerable for an Iron Halo (tying Moriar closer to his Chapter Master roots), but in the end I felt it pushed Moriar too close to Bjorn. In all honesty, I'm still on the fence and would love some playtest feedback on this issue -- so send me some email when you've had a chance to run him on the table.


Here's how I would play him in 5th Edition.

MORIAR THE CHOSEN..........................................................200 points

Composition:	Special Rules:
* 1 (Unique)	* Battle-Frenzied	* Fleet
	* Rampage	* Furious Charge
Unit Type:	* Tear Attack	* Rage
* Vehicle (Walker)		* Venerable

Weapons: Moriar is armed with a blood fist with built-in heavy flamer and a blood fist with built-in meltagun. Moriar has smoke launchers

Note: You can include Moriar the Chosen as a Furioso Dreadnoughts.

SPECIAL RULES
Battle-Frenzied: Moriar has a random number of attacks. For each round of close combat that Moriar is fighting, roll D6+2 to determine the number of Attacks he receives. This includes the bonus attack for two blood fists, but if he charges then he gains the additional +1 Attack as normal (i.e., D6+3 Attacks).

Rampage: Moriar is impossible to stop once he is in battle, as he simply ploughs into the enemy, disregarding any danger or damage to himself. As a result, Moriar ignores all Shaken, Stunned and Immobilized results.The only way to prevent Moriar from getting into assault, is to destroy him.

Tear Attack: In close combat, Moriar can use his two close combat weapons to tear apart enemy vehicles. Moriar rolls an extra D6 for his armor penetration value.

Design Note: This gives you a fleet, venerable Dreadnought that ignores Shaken, Stunned and Immobilized results. Once he gets into close combat, he's effectively a monstrous creature with D6+3 attacks on the charge. Ouch!


>>>I'd love your thoughts and feedback on Moriar! If you actually play a game with him, please let me know what happened. You can leave comments here or email me at mkerr@chainfist.com.