You are here: Home / New Miniature / 28mm / How to Use Ultramarines Chief Librarian Tigurius

How to Use Ultramarines Chief Librarian Tigurius

2 Comments

Tigurius

Chief Librarian Tigurius returned to Warhammer 40K 6th Edition with a vengeance. He’s arguably the character who gained the most from the updated 6th Edition Space Marines Codex, once again living up to his name as one of the greatest Pykers in the galaxy.

I’ve been a fan of Tigurius in 5th Edition too, but he used to be clearly outclassed by a lot of other characters. Not any longer. That said, he’s still a complex character with lots of things going on.

#1 – Tigurius on the Battlefield

Writing about Psykers in Warhammer 40K is never easy. They can take many roles, perform many functions, depending on which powers they (can) get and the units they pair up with. That is doubly true for Tigurius, who is easily among the most versatile Psykers out there.

That said, here’re a few points about Tigurius worth noting:

  • Divination – Tigurius has access to the Discipline of Divination, arguably one of the best and most popular disciplines in the game, not because of the Prescience Primaris Power. It’s a power that works wonders for Eldar Farseers, and it works the same wonders for Tigurius supporting units such as Sternguard or Devastators. Regular Space Marine Librarians do not gain Divination powers. Even beyond Prescience, there are few Divination powers that are not useful.
  • Mastery Level 3 & Master Psyker – Tigurius is a level 3 Psyker! What more could anyone want? That’s right, a level 3 Psyker that gets to re-roll the dice to see which powers he knows when generating powers: a Master Psyker. Between 3 powers and re-rolls, it’s next to impossible, that Tigurius will ever not have a power or two available that is useful.
  • Hood of Hellfire –  The bane of all Psykers, of course, are Perils of the Warp. Thanks to his unique Chapter Relic, Tigurius can re-roll failed Psychic tests (making double-sixes a non-issue). Admittedly, there’s still double-1s (which aren’t technically a failed psychic test). Still, Tigurius will encounter Perils far less often than other Psykers. He will also “normally” fail his tests less often.
  • Storm of Fire - If Tigurius is the Warlord of your army, his Warlord Trait is Storm of Fire, arguably one of the most useful traits in the Codex. Though the rules differ slightly, it’s essentially another (psychic-test-free) use of Prescience, which really helps to drive home the “support-Psyker” theme of Tigurius.
  • Gift of Prescience – Tigurius allows grants re-rolls to reserve rolls for units from his own detachment (!). Not as useful as it once was, but still a neat ability to have, for example to time the entry of Flyers.

Looking at the above, it is clear that Tigurius natural talents are with supporting and buffing nearby units. He will (almost) always have Prescience, which is brutal with units such as Sternguard (especially in Drop Pods), and a fair chance to cherry pick other useful abilities (Forewarning being another that fits his support role exceedingly well).

That said, Tigurius is not made from Mephiston-grade close-combat material. His master-crafted force weapon (which comes with Soul Blaze) might get him out of a tight spot, if he’s lucky. Normally, Tigurius does not want to fight challenges or close-combat specialists in the front row.

#2 – How to Use Tigurius on the Table?

Generally speaking, I feel Tigurius is one of the more popular Space Marines Special Characters in Warhammer 40K 6th Edition because he really complements the “6th-Edition game-play” (outside Grav-Bike-lists) of Flyers, Drop Pods and hard-hitting (or, shooting, rather) Infantry.

Sure, Tigurius can support … say … a Land Raider Deathstar unit.

However, his natural home, so to speak, is probably in a Drop Pod Assault with Sternguard and similar units, where he can use his abilities to maximize their already impressive firepower. His Gift of Prescience ability also makes a Stormraven, Storm Talons or Land Speeders in reserve a more viable option than it usually is (especially if the aforementioned Drop Pod Assault can disable the worst of your opponents anti-aircraft-capabilities).

#3 – Your Thoughts?

Have you tried to put Tigurius onto the battlefield in 6th Edition.

Have you faced him across the table?

Leave a comment and let me know your take on the Ultramarine’s Chief Librarian in 6th Edition!

Z.

Image: Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius painted by aryncrinn.
Zweischneid

Zweischneid

I am Zweischneid. Wargame Addict. Hopeless painter and founder of Pins of War. I hope you enjoyed this article. Don't forget to share your favourite miniature pictures and wargaming videos at www.pinsofwar.net.
Zweischneid

@pinsofwar

@Thee_Other_Matt @DaSkwire Ok. Three times, really quickly. No cheating ;) - 2 days ago
Follow @pinsofwar
Zweischneid

+Zweischneid

  • Phil

    I haven’t been playing long but I thought he couldn’t cast psychic powers in the movement phase when he’d just arrived via reserves, decreasing his drop pod effeciveness?

    • Modi

      Well technically in the rules it states that both Psychic Powers and Reserves occur at the start of the TURN. It is up to the controlling player to determine in what order these would occur as a player can not do everything at once. After which the players movement phase then occurs and you can move your other units. Reserves do not occur in the movement phase, albeit they do move on the table but this is to “deploy” not a movement.

      I will admit it is some what debated often however there have been noted sections in the FAQ’s (rules book i believe) that states the choice of, what occurs first at the start of the turn is up to the player.

      But if someone argues this then think of it like this: argue that at the start of the game both players “DEPLOY” forces and so this is considered moving onto the board from off the board edge. Your movement phase is then conducted after deploying. Same is said for Deep Striking as well, as it states you cannot move after deep striking, but may shoot/run, but cannot charge. That should be a clear understanding in my opinion.

      However, I have seen situations of models arriving in the shooting phase that are psykers. I would state that they do not have ‘warp charge’ because this occurred after the start of the turn. Such as daemons appearing mid battle (most notably Tzeentch) in the shooting phase or assault phase.

      If people agree great! If not I would say it’s up to you and your opponent to discuss this before playing.