When rolling to wound in close combat, the Black Templars add +1 to their Strength. It takes time for them to summon their holy strength, so they strike at -1 to their Initiative (to a minimum of 1). Dreadnoughts in the army are bound by this vow, but Neophytes are not. When rolling for Sweeping Advance, the Black Templars use their normal Initiative value. This Strength bonus is not cumulative with that conferred by the Furious Charge Veteran skill.
No unit may benefit from cover for Saving throws. However, such is their faith in the Emperor and their own invulnerability that they shrug off the most severe wounds, and therefore gain a 6+ Invulnerable Saving throw at all times that they may take instead of their normal Armour save. In addition, all units are immune to the effects of Pinning and can never be pinned, except by being entangled. Vehicles are unaffected by this vow.
This vow affects all Black Templars units (including vehicles) and happens after deployment, but before Scout moves and rolling to see who takes the first turn. Models that may Infiltrate must set up with the rest of the army. If there is a psyker in the enemy army (even if the psyker is not deployed on the table), each individual unit must make a Consolidate move D6" towards the nearest visible enemy unit. Crusader seals affect this movement as normal. If the Concealment mission special rule is in effect, the army immediately ceases to benefit from it. In addition, any psychic powers targeted against any Black Templars unit of character (or which includes them in its area of effect) are nullified and will not work on a D6 roll of a 5+ (only roll once for each power, even if it affects several units). Minor psychic powers have no effect on Black Templar units or characters at all.
Any unit that can declare a charge (ie, has not fired Rapid Fire or Heavy weapons) must do so if they are in range of an enemy unit at the start of their Assault phase. In close combat, Black Templars units count as having the Preferred Enemy special rule against the enemy army. Neophytes do not benefit from this vow and hit normally. If there are only Neophytes left in the unit, they are no longer bound by this vow. Dreadnoughts in the army are bound by this vow.
No model with psychic powers may be fielded as an ally to the Black Templars, and they will not fight as allies to any army that includes any models with psychic powers, with the exception of Grey Knights Space Marines.
If a Black Templar Infantry, Jump Infantry, or Bike unit shoots in the Shooting phase, it suffers a -1 modifier to its Leadership when tested to see if it can target any enemy unit other than the closest. Vehicles are unaffected by this rule and follow the normal rules for target priority in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook.
When in an assault, all Black Templars units are Fearless.
In the Shooting phase, any Infantry unit (not Jump Infantry) that is not Pinned or Falling Back must take a Morale check if it suffers any casualties from enemy shooting, not just when it suffers 25% casualties. All other units in the Black Templars army check Morale and fall back as normal. Note that all Black Templars units take Pinning tests as normal. If an Infantry unit (including any attached characters) is called upon to make a Morale check and passes it, then the unit must move towards the nearest visible enemy unit. This is identical to a Consolidate move that has been achieved through a 'Massacre' result and follows all normal rules given in the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. Should the unit fail this Morale check, it will fall back as normal. Black Templars who pass a Last Man Standing test or are Tank Shocked and pass their test do not benefit from Righteous Zeal.
Before battle, the Emperor's Champion leads his brethren in prayer and contemplation of their sacred duty to the Emperor. Roused to incredible heights of righteous zeal, the Black Templars swear mighty oaths to bring ruin upon the foes of the Emperor. An Emperor's Champion leads the the rest of the warriors in swearing this oath and must choose one of the vows of the Black Templars at the points cost indicated. This points cost is added to the cost of the Emperor's Champion when you pick your army. Black Templars do not lose the benefits of their vow if the Emperor's Champion is slain.
It's sometimes possible for some units to have models with different Armour Saves, and in these cases the normal casualty removal and Armour Save rules are modified slightly. The attacking player rolls hits and wounds for whichever unit he is attacking with as normal. However, when the player makes his Armour Saves, he must follow this procedure: 1. Count up the number of models that have each type of armour. Only count models that could potentially be casualties. 2. Determine which armour type is in the majority - if it is a tie then the worst type is assumed to be in the majority (it can be assumed that they are picked on by the enemy). 3. Apply the wounding hits to the majority armour type first. 4. If there are still more wounding hits to allocate, you can apply them to any remaining models. It is up to the owning player to decide who will save against which weapon. The only constraint is that the majority armour type must make saves before anyone else does. 5. Incoming hits form 'sets', with a single set being all the wounds caused by the shooting of a single enemy unit, or by enemy models attacking the unit in close combat at a single initiative step. For each 'set' of wounds, every model must be allocated one wound before any of them can be allocated a second wound, all models must receive a second wound before any can take a third, and so on. Unsaved wounding hits must be applied against models with the same armour type that was used for the save. If a unit receives more wounds than it has models, then the wounds 'wrap around' and affect the majority type again. If special close combat attacks come into play against a unit with different Armour Saves, it is up to the owning player to decide which models make saves against the special attacks, subject to the rules detailed above. If any model has an Invulnerable Save they are, of course, at liberty to use it against a special attack.
