Crusader Squad
SWORD: what Crusader Squad kills
Damage for its points
per 100 pts spent
Its 160 pts kill ~82 pts in one activation.Typical melee unit: 55 per 100
Best against hordes, weakest against heavy vehicles and monsters
Into each enemy type
Units near it by SWORD
Across the game· melee units
SHIELD: how hard Crusader Squad is to kill for its points
Toughness for its points
per 100 pts spent
Its 160 pts take ~497 pts of enemy units to kill.Typical melee unit: 307 per 100
Units near it by SHIELD
Across the game· melee units
What reviewers say
7 reviewers- A 20-man block is a strong objective brick 4 of 7
- Surge onto objectives with the Fist detachment 4 of 7
- Neophytes soak wounds first 3 of 7
- Back in a recent placing list 1 of 7
- A 10-man is outclassed by Assault Intercessors 1 of 7
- Lose the easy bonus to wound 1 of 7
- Not in the winning list 1 of 7
Compare
| Unit | Letter | SWORD | SHIELD | Lists |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crusader Squad160 pts | B | Bottom 42% | Top 49% | 23of 50 |
| High Marshal Helbrecht125 pts | S | Top 14% | Bottom 9% | 39of 50 |
| Chaplain Grimaldus120 pts | A | Bottom 26% | Top 29% | 26of 50 |
With a leader
| Solo | Led | |
|---|---|---|
| SWORD | 95 | 120 |
| SHIELD | 311 | 351 |
| Solo | Led | |
|---|---|---|
| SWORD | 95 | 111 |
| SHIELD | 311 | 311 |
Per 100 pts: on its own, then with the leader joined.
How we got these numbers
What we ran
Crusader Squad, 10 models, 160 pts, with 1 Master-crafted Power Weapon, 1 Hand flamer, 9 Initiate Chainsword, 9 Heavy Bolt Pistol, 9 Bolt pistol. On its own: no leader, no stratagems, no other units' auras.
SWORD
Enemy points it kills in one activation, per 100 pts of its own, against a mix of targets weighted like top tournament lists.
160 pts → kills ~82 pts → 51 per 100SHIELD
Enemy points it takes to kill it, per 100 pts of its own: the points of the cheapest units from top lists that kill it 80% of the time. It's per point, so a costly unit has to be much tougher to score the same.
~497 pts → 311 per 100Top and bottom %
Where each number ranks among the game's 566 melee units. How we score.
The letter
The average of 8 reviewers' newest Black Templars tier lists: Implausible Nature (Black Templar channel: three detachment deep dives and the rules preview) (13 Oct), Auspex Tactics (every BT datasheet with the dataslate's points; codex unit tier list for the generic units) (16 Oct), TacticalRock40K (character board and vehicle board, after the codex) (21 Oct), Art of War 40k (BT supplement review before points; generic units from its 20 Oct datasheet ranking) (20 Oct), Vanguard Tactics (BT index review from the preview copy, before points) (24 Sep), Griffin's Crusade (casual BT channel: post-codex options and three theory lists) (24 Oct), Goonhammer / Tabletop Battles (Competitive Innovations: four post-codex BT lists, one in full) (23 Oct), TacticalTortoise 40k (The Best Armies in 40k: one undefeated BT list) (12 Oct). A reviewer who would rather not be counted: tell us.
Lists
50 public Black Templars tournament lists, September – November 2026, from grimstat-corpus (CC BY 4.0). Also from Listhammer. Organisers and players: ask us and we'll take a list or an event down. Numbers run 6 Nov.