Kantor - the fistiest fist

Uses

Greetings all - today I just wanted to have a quick chat about that paragon of all things red-fisted - Pedro Kantor.I've long loved this miniature and have used him a few times in my first games of 8th edition, whilst I realise it'll probably be invalidated in less than a month, I figured I'd put down my thoughts on his performance in those games and how to get the best out of him in your own. So, the big headline? He's good.Down in points cost from his previous incarnation, he's a steal at 170pts in your army, though as with any special character he's now going to limit you in terms of options, because he's tied to the Crimson Fists Chapter. Now that makes little difference at the moment, but once the new codex hits at the end of July, that's going to matter, since it will inevitably tie you to their subfaction rules.What about his stats? Standard movement for a power armoured marine, he hits on 2's in both combat (kind of - see later) and at range, and has a standard strength and toughness for a marine.6 wounds puts him in the 'tougher than average' class, but hit him with anything nasty and those will disappear pretty quick even so.4 attacks base is slightly misleading, since he'll never have less than 5, but I'll come to that in a minute (be patient, I've already told you he's good, don't rush me). Leadership 9 seems a little low initially, but then you realise that Guilliman is only 10, so it's pretty fair I guess. 2+ armour save means he has little to fear from weapons that don't pierce his armour, but as with wounds, any kind of nasty lascannon equivalent pointed his way is going to give him a bad day. In terms of wargear, he's fairly basic, he comes with the standard Frag and Krak grenades common to just about all marines, a standard power fist and Dorn's Arrow. This is a special storm bolter, which is an assault 4 weapon with a -1AP and 1 damage.So, looking at that, what's actually so special about him?I told you, patience, I'm getting to it!For abilities, he comes with And They Shall Know No Fear, but that's hardly necessary as a single model unit. He also has the standard 4+ Invulnerable save that all space marine captains/chapter masters get, but then he gets interesting.He has the Chapter Master ability, allowing you to re-roll failed to hit rolls for any friendly Crimson Fists units within 6". That'sfailed to hit rolls, in both shootingcombat. As an aura ability, this also applies to himself, so not only does he hit you on 3's (see later) five times with that power fist, he also gets to re-roll the misses (in this instance, as he hits on 2's normally, misses are only the 1's)! His second ability of note is the 'Oath of Rynn', which is also a 6" aura ability, that adds 1 to the attacks characteristic of all friendly Crimson Fists models within 6".Now there's an important distinction to be made here - the re-rolls apply towithin 6", whilst the extra attack applies to. That being said, it's a great buff to the relatively lacklustre performance of marines in combat, and could certainly make a difference in some situations. This is why Kantor will never make less than five attacks in combat though, and if you take him as your warlord you can boost that up to six.Combat note - whilst on his profile Kantor has a WS of 2+, it's important to remember he has a power fist, and so you have to apply a -1 modifier to the to hit roll, meaning he actually hits you on 3's, re-rolling misses (1's).Kantor is one of those characters who can quite happily fulfill a couple of different roles in your army.First and foremost he's a really good buffer - place him at the centre of a firebase of Devastator Squads and he will allow them to re-roll all their failed hits. As you can imagine, this on its own could easily be worth the 170pt price tag. I've tried this myself and the boost in firepower over the first couple of turns was incredible.Second, he's actually remarkably tough and pretty combat-capable! In the two games where I've used him, he's survived a turn of getting stomped on by a wounded knight (he didn't survive the second turn) and taken everything a helbrute could throw at him.In exchange, he stripped several wounds off a knight, smashed a dreadnought and has also made pounded steak out of chaos sorcerors on bikes and chaos spawn. Don't get me wrong, there are some very nasty combat units and models out there and he isn't one of them, but you needn't worry about him being a lightweight in those middleweight bouts. If you can get the charge, even better! In my experience, he's best however performing a split of those roles. In the early turns his buffing abilities are second only to someone like Guilliman, and for the points you pay for him you're not likely to get anyone better value.After the first couple of turns, your own firepower might be waning a little from casualties or the enemy combat units are threatening your firebase a little too much, at which point he's absolutely worth throwing in as a counter-punch. Make him your warlord and take the trait giving him an extra attack and you've got a multi-purpose HQ who will enhance the rest of your army's performance without breaking the bank, whilst he cannot be ignored as a combat threat to many units either.Stick him in deep amongst devastator squads for best effect, it'll allow you to supercharge plasma cannons with little fear of overheats, and that's when plasma cannons get really good, because then they'll wound most things on a 3+ and the reliable 2 damage per hit and d3 shots makes a squad of plasma cannon devastators pretty nasty indeed.So there you have it - Pedro Kantor - the First Fist of the Fists and a good man to have watching your gunline.Have you used Kantor yet? Does the above assessment make you think again about using him? Drop a comment below and let me know what you think!Till next time,TBE