40K Tactics: Space Marine Heroes – Pedro Kantor
Hey guys, Learn2Eel here from Imperator Guides and today we’re going to be taking a look at a Space Marine who has become a legend in the face of unfathomable adversity. He has become one of the most celebrated heroes in the Imperium, and his name is Chapter Master Pedro Kantor. I hope you enjoy this article!
Pedro Kantor, Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists
Overview – Vote for Pedro! Anyway, Pedro is another support-oriented HQ in a very hotly contested slot filled to the brim with similarly constructed characters. What makes him one of the most valuable is not the game-changing mechanics he brings – such as Vulkan’s master-crafting of all meltas or Khan’s gift of Scout – but in the sheer number of differing abilities he has. From his equipment to the subtle way he affects your army list composition or the combat-based buffs he gives, Pedro seems very much like another junior incarnation of Marneus Calgar – at least without the pomp and scars. Though each individual ability isn’t as great as those offered by the other Space Marine characters, Pedro has so many of them that combine to make him one of the premier HQ choices in the codex; he packs value through the roof and doubles as a pretty nasty melee character to boot, as long as you protect him from monstrous creatures and crazy monsters like Abaddon. When you throw in that he is the Chapter Master of the deliciously awesome Crimson Fists, and is regarded as one of the greatest heroes of the Astartes, what’s not to like? Nothing, that’s what! I’m not biased at all…..
First up, Pedro is equipped decently well for a Chapter Master, though he hardly has what one would call an optimal configuration. He comes on foot and without Artificer Armour, a Storm Shield or Eternal Warrior, making him incredibly vulnerable to Strength 8 attacks bandied about by units such as Riptides with Ion Accelerators or any Smashing monstrous creature. His 3+ armour and 4+ invulnerable save do give him better saves than most characters of other armies, but for a Marine leader, he is a bit lacking. He can’t be used as a wound tank against the deadly Heldrakes like Vulkan or Sicarius can be, nor can he be thrown into a challenge with any sergeant or nob wielding a power klaw. This is in no small part due to his melee weapon, a power fist, that while definitely great for protecting a squad against non-character monstrous creatures, slaughtering Terminators and threatening most vehicles, leaves him very vulnerable to Unwieldy double-strength or high Initiative AP3 or AP2 attacks.
As such, despite four attacks base and four wounds, he can’t be expected to take on someone like Karandras or any similarly costed combat-oriented character; however, he can beat other Toughness 4 or lower characters without really nasty weapons into a pulp through his own Strength 8 attacks. This means you really need to pick your engagements with Pedro, and ensure that you have one or two other characters – even just a sergeant will do – in his unit to soak up those challenges and give Pedro a chance to win the main combat. Pedro himself aids in this effort even without considering his attacks, as his guaranteed Warlord Trait is Iron Resolve, giving his attached unit a +1 bonus to combat resolution provided he is alive. If you can avoid characters like a Khorne Chaos Lord on a Juggernaught, Necron Overlords with mindshackle scarabs, Phoenix Lords and others of such prowess, Pedro should comfortably help even a mere Tactical Squad to victory.
Pedro doesn’t assist in your melee efforts just through his fist or his Warlord Trait, however, as he also acts as a living Chapter Banner; he gives all of your Crimson Fist models within 12″ of him +1 attack. This turns Tactical Squads and Devastator Squads into the cheaper Loyalist equivalent of flailing Chaos Marines, and actually makes them a decent enough threat in an assault. When paired with the deadly Honour Guard or Assault Terminators, this creates a blender of devastation; Honour Guard in particular need not pay for a Chapter Banner themselves, and will each have a ridiculous five power weapon attacks on the charge. If they can’t slay whatever gives Pedro pause, then surely nothing will anyway. That it affects any Crimson Fist within 12″ increases its value two fold, allowing Pedro to provide a significant defensive boost to a friendly gunline. The popular use of this ability, and for Pedro, is sticking himself and a bunch of Sternguard squads in Drop Pods to make the most of their scoring status; add to each of them a bonus attack, and even assault oriented armies will be given pause, particularly when they have to endure Overwatch with Special Issue Ammunition. Sternguard Veterans with four attacks each on the charge, or three in subsequent rounds, can actually lead to some pretty surprising assault results.
Oh, that’s right. Scoring Sternguard. Pedro makes all Crimson Fists – this is important as it doesn’t specify units with the Chapter Tactics like other special rules, so you can’t just have scoring Imperial Fist Sternguard for example – Sternguard scoring units, but not Troops. Sternguard are already a scary enough unit, particularly with combi-meltas and drop pods; add to their repertoire the capability of capturing objectives, and you may start asking yourself if you ever need more than the bare minimum of Tactical Marines. This allows Crimson Fist armies to operate off of a deadly orbital assault in addition to a strong defensive gunline; Tactical Squads and Devastators can hold the home objectives, while the Sternguard mop up the backfield and claim the opponent’s objectives.
This will force most armies to either split their fire or focus on one side at a time, leaving both or the other to inflict as much damage as possible through a reprieve. In terms of an army list, the choice to load out on Sternguard usually comes down to points, particularly in regard to having enough Troops choices to viably compete in an objective heavy game system. Pedro is your sole source of alleviating this issue, and on top of – for example – twenty Tactical Marines as Troops, you can easily add in twenty or more Sternguard to give you a very good forty scoring bodies for games of 1500 points or more. Obviously, some players will not want to employ that many – if any – Sternguard in their army, which does limit Pedro’s usefulness; unlike some other characters who manipulate the force organization chart, whether subtly or no, I would still recommend Pedro just for his utility alone.
One of the perhaps more controversial rules Pedro has gives both he and any friendly Crimson Fist model – again, it won’t apply to Imperial Fists and the like, even if they are part of the same detachment – Preferred Enemy against Orks. The reason this is a somewhat contested rule is because these kinds of army-wide buffs against specific enemies are largely falling by the wayside in 6th Edition; Daemons hate their opposing gods, but aside from them, these rules have mostly disappeared. Farsight used to do the same for Tau as Pedro, but his ability was instead changed to only affect himself.
That Orks are a very popular army – and soon to be much more I expect in the middle of next year – doubles the issue here; giving free Preferred Enemy, or re-rolls of 1s to hit and wound with both shooting and melee attacks, for an army that focuses on Sternguard Veterans is incredibly nasty. Hellfire Rounds with re-rolls to wound? Dragonfire Bolts with boosted efficiency? Hell, Sternguard that actually get Bolter Drill with their special ammunition!? This gives Crimson Fists a very strong advantage over almost any Ork army, as even mechanized lists will be afraid of the tank-hunting, lascannon-wielding Devastators that the Crimson Fists will likely be employing. Nonetheless, whether you like it or hate it, it is a very strong buff and one that is very likely to swing any game to the Crimson Fists’ favour against their sworn enemies.
When you add up all of Pedro’s abilities, even the situational Preferred Enemy bonus against Orks, it wouldn’t be a surprise to think that he is left well enough alone. But no, he has a foot-friendly version of the Primarch’s Wrath; his special Storm Bolter, Dorn’s Arrow, fires four assault shots with a Strength of 4 and AP of 4. With his Ballistic Skill of 5 and potential precision shots, this makes him ideal for singling out heavy weapon platforms in Guardian squads or simply slaughtering Fire Warriors and Dire Avengers. Though not the best gun in the world, it is certainly one of the stronger ranged weapons wielded by any Space Marine special character; that it also fits very well into the aesthetic and theme of the Crimson (Imperial) Fists with their Bolter Drill just adds to the strength of Pedro’s current representation in the rules. On that note, this might be something to watch in an FAQ; per the rules, Dorn’s Arrow does not benefit from Bolter Drill, despite being described specifically as a modified storm bolter. While it is understandable that it might not benefit from Bolter Drill, much like special issue ammunition for Sternguard, it is nonetheless an interesting debacle that I hope is resolved in Pedro’s favour.
But aside from this, Pedro also has an Orbital Bombardment; just be aware that as he is not Relentless, he cannot move and fire it much like a terminator-armoured Marneus Calgar or a Chapter Master on a Bike. In terms of Chapter Masters, Pedro isn’t the best equipped, nor is he really the most impactful in terms of a single rule – like Calgar’s ridiculous God of War ability. However, unlike the identically costed Shrike, Pedro actually does have a very decent wargear selection that makes him a strong all-round fighter, and his wide array of special rules perfectly compliment the common Imperial Fist Chapter builds you are likely to see. He gives strong benefits to any army list, and is pretty cheap in terms of just what he brings to the table. Not to mention he has an awesome model. Did I mention vote for Pedro?
Maximising their Abilities – Pedro is great in the sense that he really works in pretty much any army list; he gives a strong melee boost to any nearby unit to him, he can ward off most aggressors for his own unit, he gives a strong army wide buff against Orks, and he provides scoring Sternguard. He is a toolbox character that is great value for points no matter where or how you employ him. However, it is a good idea to build around his strengths and weaknesses; for one, he belongs either in a sturdy ranged unit, such as Sternguard or Tacticals, to protect them from nasty melee attackers. On the other hand, he needs to stay away from characters that will slice him in half with little difficulty, such as Trygon Primes, Abaddon and the Phoenix Lords. As such, he can also do really well with my favourite new assault unit for Space Marines, Honour Guard, who can dish out so many power weapon attacks – particularly with Pedro’s bonus attack buff – to swarm such enemies in AP3 and AP2 wounds, allowing Pedro to more comfortably deny challenges.
That Pedro provides scoring Sternguard does make them an even more valuable unit for your army than usual, and also emphasises their use in drop pods; this gives Space Marines a very potent backfield objective-grabbing unit that is devastating at range with a reliable delivery system. I would build a ‘Pedro list’ around the theme of scoring Sternguard, allowing you to minimize on Tactical Squads or Scout Squads – whichever is your preference. That Sternguard themselves work best with combi-weapons – usually meltas – and drop pods really boosts the viability of a drop pod assault list, though it does still work with some ground-based elements such as Devastators and Thunderfire Cannons that are always valuable in an Imperial Fists army list.
Thanks for reading everybody and by all means chime in down in the comments. What have your experiences been thus far with the Hero of Rynn’s World?
