Vindicare Assassins practise callous, unfeeling destruction that eliminates the target with contemptuous ease. They aim to bring inglorious death to the enemies of the Emperor with a sniper's bullet, and have elevated the skills of the marksman to an art form. To complement this, the Vindicare Temple emphasises stealth and evasion techniques as well as weapons training. One of the temple's maxims is that a clean kill can only be made from an excellent firing position, and Vindicare Assassins have been known to occupy a position overlooking their target for weeks before finally taking their shot.
The skills of the Vindicare temple are commonly used to slay those who are suspected of possessing psychic powers or harbour ambitions beyond those permitted. Many a false messiah has fallen with a Vindicare's bullet through his brain as he preached his false credo. When such charismatic figures die at the hands of a faceless servant of the Emperor, their followers soon become disillusioned and fearful. In this way, many heresies have been stopped with a single shot, although there are inevitably occasions when the Vindicare is too late or the rot of dissention has spread too far, at which point the Ordo Hereticus will move into action.
Vindicare Temple Assassin
WARGEAR
Exitus Rifle: The exitus rifle is treated as a sniper rifle (range 36", hits on a 2+, wounds on a 4+) with an AP value of 2. In addition, the Vindicare has one of each of the following special rounds, which may be fired instead of a normal shot (keep a note of which special rounds have been fired). The special rounds are used one at a time and you must declare that you are using one of the special shots before you roll the dice to hit.
- Shield-Breaker: The shot ignores any Invulnerable save.
- Turbo-Penetrator: This inflicts 2 wounds on any model wounded. If fired at a vehicle, the shot has an Armour Penetration value of 3D6.
- Hellfire: The shot wounds on a 2+ instead of a 4+.
Exitus Pistol: The exitus pistol has the following profile:
| Range | Strength | AP | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12" | 5 | 2 | Pistol |
Spy Mask: The Vindicare's spy mask reduces the Cover save of his target by 1 (a 6+ save is negated, a 5+ Cover save becomes a 6+ save, and so on). In addition, the spy mask means the Vindicare rolls 2D6x5 for determining how far he can see when the Night Fighting rules are being used.
Stealth Suit: Any unit wishing to shoot at the Vindicare Assassin must test to see if he can be seen, using the Night Fighting rules as described in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook (the unit must be within 2D6x3" of the Vindicare or it must select another target). If the Night Fighting rules are being used, the Assassin can only be seen if he is within half the normal range of the unit's vision (ie, if they score an 18, they can only see the Assassin if he is within 9").
SPECIAL RULES
Marksman: You may nominate the model targeted by the Vindicare Assassin when he is shooting, such as a Sergeant or a heavy weapons trooper. This means you get to choose which model is taken off, not the enemy. In addition, the Vindicare can target any model in range and line of sight, regardless of any targeting restrictions (such as independent characters within 6" of another unit).
Errata — Chapter Approved: Codex: Assassins Q&A (v2.0): Marksman's disregard for targeting restrictions does let the Vindicare shoot into close combat — he still needs line of sight, which will usually be hard to get against a target locked in melee. The Shield-Breaker round does negate a Terminator's Invulnerable save (or any other Invulnerable save).