Cypher – Chaos Space Marine and Fallen Dark Angel
There was one obvious omission from the 2013 Dark Angel Codex and the 2013 Chaos Space Marine Codex, and that was the character called Cypher. Cypher is considered to be one of the most wanted of the fallen Dark Angels that disappeared in to the warp during the fall of Caliban. Since then the whole of the Dark Angel army and their successor chapters have been obsessed with capturing or killing Cypher.
The last time we saw any Warhammer 40k rules for Cypher was in the 1999 Chaos Space Marine Codex. However the Games Workshop servitors have been busy and created the ‘Dataslate: Cypher‘ e-book that is available on the Black Library web site and available for most e-readers.
The Dataslate e-book is about 200 pages long (depending on the read text size) and covers a good deal of background background on Cypher and the rules needed to play him in a Warhammer 40000 game or a Warhammer Apocalypse game.
In addition to the background material and the rules, the Dataslate e-book also contains 6 new battle missions based on Cypher.
If you are looking for a compatible ebook reader, I can recommend the Caliber Ebook Reader. It’s so good I even donated some funds to the project! For Android devices the ‘ Cool Reader ‘ app works well. You can find this in the Google Play app store. Apple users are on your own as I do not have any Apple devices.
If you have the Cypher model, or you are looking to add some spice in to your Dark Angel vs Chaos battles, for example if you have the 2012 box set, then you will find that this e-book addition is well worth the £10.
Cyphers Profile Stats
There are 2 things that jump out at you as you have a first look at Cyphers Profile stats. the first is that at 190 points he does not come cheep! The second thing that jumps out at you is that there are some very high stat scores in the profile. It is these profile scores that indicate how Cypher should be used.
Cypher the Gun-slinger!
Cypher in akin to the old west gun-slinger. He has a BS score of 10 and initiative 8. This makes him fast and accurate by any measure. Add these scores to the fact that he carries two pistol weapons and then add in is ‘ Blazing Weapons ‘ special rule that allows him to use the pistols as close combat weapons and you can see that Cypher is designed to be in the thick of the action on the battle field.
How does BS10 work?
It may be that you have not seen a profile with BS10 before as they are very rare. How they work is that if you roll a 2+ to hit,then you hit ( just like a BS5 profile ). However the roll of 1’s do not automatically miss. If you roll a 1 then you re-roll that dice and on a 2+ on the 2nd roll you hit too. This means that characters with BS10 will hit 35 out of 36 tries. That is 97.22% of the time!
Basically if you manage to miss one roll in a game you are exceedingly unlucky!
How Sneaky is Cypher?
Cypher is very Sneaky. First off Cypher gets Fleet of foot so he can re-roll run and assault rolls.
Cypher also gets Hit and Run so you can try and split out of a close combat mile. I do recommend that you try this at the end of the combat in the opponents round. This gives you the chance to run off or re-assault in your following turn.
Cypher gets the infiltrate special rule. And remember that the infiltrate rule also gives Cypher the Outflank rule too. This means that you have a number of options when it comes to when and where Cypher can start the game.
Cypher also gets a couple of sneaky rules curtsey of the unsheathed sword that he carries. These are the shrouded rule that gives you a +2 to your cover save. This is good as Cypher does not get an invulrenable save. So hug any cover you can and watch out for flamer weapons.
The sword also gives Cypher the Eternal Warrior special rule. This means that Lascannons and other heavy weapons do not wipe out Cypher with one shot.