CRUSADE: THE INQUISITION
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Crusade/Holy warriors (2 A.P.): Before every Tactical Roll one Griffin can be chosen for every even incomplete 100 A.P. of Griffins still present on the battlefield. Until the end of the round their hand-to-hand weapons are sacred.
This Crusade is the most expensive: paying extra 2AP for each non-Inquisition fighter is a huge disadvantage for the low-cost troops. Fighters that don't pay these 2AP are Sisters of the Inquisition, Klayne and Saphon the Purifier, but Sisters are too fragile, and Klayne is inferior to Eschelius the Ardent that has slightly lower INI, STR and RES, but more than compensates for it with his magic.
Saphon the Purifier with Absolution is very, very good - he's probably the best shooter in the whole game. For 105 AP you get two STR 10 shots per turn at range up to 60 cm that needs only 2+/3+ to hit, and at close range "1" is not a failure - even a Culverin cannot provide such results! Saphon costs more than a Culverin with its crew, though, but he's a good leader (DIS 8 and Authority), his mobility is much better, and he can perform some miracles.
One relic is reserved to Inquisition Characters: Phylactery of Cremation (found in Saphon blister). Your faithful gets +1 Alteration aspect - extremely useful for Saphon who has no Alteration and needs +1 to learn a second Fervor 2 miracle. The Phylactery allows you to exchange T.F. of the faithful to gems of Fire for the magician within aura of faith and vice versa. This enables some very interesting possibilities: give Melkion tons of mana to launch a lot of spells, or give Priestess of Steel a lot of T.F. to perform Burning of the Infidels. Unfortunately, you cannot have Saphon and Melkion in 400AP army!
How good is the Crusade capacity? At the beginning of the game you get 4 fighters with sacred weapons per round. Sacred weapons mean 1/6 chance of killing outright (instead of just 1/36), so it works best for minis with high INI and ATT, but low STR: with low INI/ATT it's going to miss or be attacked first and lose some efficiency; and with high STR do you need sacred weapons against most typical enemies? According to xysing, sacred weapon has a psychological effect on your enemy, because even a weakest Spearman has a decent chance to kill a mighty warrior with it. I don't think that sacred weapons are going to scare the competent opponent or force him to make mistakes, though.
Sacred weapons are very good, but you'll have to pay for them, and, more importantly, they work only in melee, so your advantage will be minimal or nonexistant until you engage in hand-to-hand combat involving multiple fighters. This may be difficult to achieve, if your enemy tries to avoid melee, since Griffins aren't very fast, and this may be too dangerous against melee armies who can be stronger than you. Taking losses, you will lose the number of sacred weapons, but the weapons aren't attached to certain minis, as are artifacts, and your opponent cannot just get rid of several minis to disable the sacred weapons.
The most advantageous candidates for sacred weapons are assassins (Executioners/Shanys the Shadow), Inquisitors with Incandescent Chastiment and scouts (Thallions). If you roll three dice for Damage roll and select any two of them, your chance of Kill Outright is 44.44%, which is pretty high. You still need to hit, but in case of Incandescent Chastiment EACH blow has the same properties, which assures almost inevitable slaughter - unless your enemy has sacred armor, of course. If you give sacred weapon to a scout, you can assassinate some weak, but important target - and Thallions have decent INI and ATT to succeed.
Note that Inquisitors and Templar of the Inquisition are NOT bound to Inquisition, so you will have to pay 2AP for each of them. Though this fact is probably good (It would be impossible to use them in other themes otherwise), it doesn't make these troops "default" for the Inquisition, as Templar Brothers are "default" for all Temples. The only good combo here is sacred weapons + Incandescent Chastiment, but Chastiment has Frequency 1, so I don't think that you HAVE to use Inquisitors here. On the other hand, Praetorians already have sacred weapons when Master-Striking, so I guess you have to use Inquisitors just due to the lack of other good melee troops
Solo/Exorcist (4 A.P.): A fighter with POW acquires the magical path of exorcism. If he already has it on his card, then he gets a +1 in POW.
I have absolutely nothing to add to xysing's analysis here, though my conclusion is much less enthusiastic. Exorcism has just few good spells to spend 4AP for gaining access to them. One of these spells is Inquisition's Grace, but it affects only Inquisitors, Darkness Hunters and Templars of the Inquisition, so there is little sense of giving this spell to Melkion or other mages outside this list.
The only mage having Exorcism so far is Darkness Hunter, and getting +1 POW for 4AP is outstanding. Unfortunately, the Hunter costs 34 AP, and if you add crusade cost and this Solo, you will get 40 AP. Who is going to waste 40 AP for a mage with DEF 4 and RES 3 with very limited spell selection, even if he has POW 3?
Sadly, we have absolutely useless Solo here. With a few extra good Exorcism spells and even one extra decent mage with Exorcism, it could be very popular
Solo/Dogmatic (5 A.P.): A faithful can absorb enemy spell once per round. To do so, he spends T.F. points instead of mana gems. These points can neutralize any category of gem except those used to cast instinctive magic spells.
This ability is often overlooked, though it's actually very powerful and can easily make a difference between victory and loss. Griffins have several good faithful with a lot of T.F. and without any good ways to spend it - especially Warrior-Monks that simply cannot learn enough miracles to spend all T.F.
Saphon is the best example here: being a Zealot, he gains 2 T.F + one T.F. for each even incomplete group of two believers each round. He can learn just one miracle - so, he almost always has unused T.F. to absorb enemy spells. He needs to see the caster and be within the spell range, but there are lot of long-ranged spells, and your ability to counter one of them each round may force your opponent to abandon his plan of killing Saphon with magic, providing immense advantage. You can absorb Tower of Destruction, Fireball, Chimerical Glaive - virtually any damage-dealing spell, and if the spell has Frequency 1, enemy mage will be unable to cast it again. Saphon with Absolution already costs 105 AP, so extra 5 AP won't be too meaningful. With a bit of luck, your Saphon can even absorb Elemental Summoning - will you refuse to pay 5AP for this?
Solo/Tormentor (5 A.P.): A mage can censure an enemy faithful once per round. To do so, he spends gems of Fire instead of T.F. points.
This effect is much less likely to be useful than Dogmatic for three reasons: faithful aren't as popular as mages; many popular miracles are short-ranged, and your mage has to be in miracle's range to censure; mages almost never have "unused" gems, and if they have some surplus, you may wish to keep it as an insurance from a bad recovery roll.
On the other hand, censuring miracles is much simpler than countering or absorbing spells. Each gem will lower the result of Divination roll, and in most cases 2-3 gems will be enough to foil any miracle. For instance, Sentence of the Condemned has Difficulty 6, and Magistrate needs to roll 4+ to succeed. Spend two gems, and he will need 6+, which is very unlikely (though he's Illuminated and rerolls 5, so his chances with several dice are still pretty high).
I don't expect this Solo to be very popular. Casting your own spells is almost always better than spending gems on censure and paying 5 AP for that privilege.
****** ARMY INQ-1: The Celestial Inquisition (Saphon the Purifier+Priestess of Steel)
Currently most common Inquisition armies are build without Saphon, but, IMHO, this is a huge mistake. Without the ranged threats your army will easily lose to the shooters/casters, and what ranged threat can be better than Saphon with Absolution? Inquisition can't afford a lot of Fusiliers (paying 2 AP for each is very painful), while one Culverin is less effective than a well-buffed Saphon, and its crew is more fragile.
Saphon the Purifier [95+10+5=110]
+ Absolution [10]
+ Solo/Dogmatic [5]
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Avenging Arm (2) Diff 7, +1 d6 on counter-attacks
Priestess of Steel 2nd Inc/HW [65+13=78]
+ Aegis of Lahn [13]
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Angel of Light Summoning (2) Diff 6
Summary Execution (?) Diff 7
Celestial Inspiration (2) Target's COU (6)
Miraculous Reprieve (2-4) Diff 7
Celestial Promise (2) Diff 7 -1 INI/ATT/DEF, range 30 cm, can perform several times!
Griffin Inquisitor/HW [34]
+ Inquisition's Grace (1) Diff 6, Freq 2, to Inquisitor/Templar of Inq/Darkness Hunter
Griffin Inquisitor/HW [34]
+ Incandescent Chastiment (2) Diff 6, Freq 1, roll 3 die for damage & select any two
Templar of the Inquisition/HW *2 [62]
Griffin Executioner/HW [22]
Griffin Thallions/HW * 2 [60]
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400 AP for 9 minis/7 cards
This army uses the traditional Griffin "firebase" approach: use Saphon to force enemies to engage you, then use your sacred weapons to overcome in melee. The only non-melee miniature here is Priestess of Steel: Saphon is quite able to kill average troops in melee, especially with sacred weapon, so you have 322 AP of melee fighters that should easily cut any "melee monsters" into pieces. Besides Saphon, you have two sets of "assassination combo" - Executioner and Inquisitor with Incandescent Chastiment, two charges of Inquisition's Grace per round and very serious divination support.
As usual, Saphon uses Avenging Arm to get additional dice for counterattacks. Weapon of Angels is just the best miracle for 1 Fervor - though I'm not sure whether you need Master Strike if you already have sacred weapons. Celestial Inspiration is a very good buff, and Saphon should have enough T.F to power it. You'll probably get the best results from pumping the Inquisitor with Incandescent Chastiment, not Saphon, since Saphon cannot roll 3 dice for damage. You have some decent healing (Angels of Light + Miraculous Reprieve), and, finally, you have Aegis of Lahn that can provide additional Defence die to Saphon. The Aegis also allows Priestess to perform Celestial Promise - a very effective miracle against super-monsters like Aberration Prime, Wolves, Drunes and so on.
Is one Saphon enough to represent a serious ranged threat? Definitely. Using Rapid Reloading, you get two STR 10 shots per round - if needed, with Bull's Eye provided by Summary Execution. That's enough to kill any mage in 1-2 turns, or eliminate cannon servants, and so on. As long as Saphon has Harassment and his Medium range is 60 cm, he can easily overcome even Azure Hunters: run, shoot and move back. One hit is enough to turn a Hunter into a sitting duck in this duel, even if he survives.
****** ARMY INQ-2: Judging with Blades (Eschelius the Ardent)
You don't have to play Inquisition to use Escheluis. But as long as he is alive, you will have at least two sacred weapons, and in the following army one extra Inquisitor is enough to have more than 200 AP and at least three sacred weapons. I must admit that this army differs from the traditional Eschelius armies (with Guardian Angel), but I simply don't believe in armies with MOV 10 and without any serious ranged threats. That's why my Eschelius launches Fireballs!
Eschelius the Ardent/HW [151+21=172]
+ Blade of Last Judgement [21]
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Witches' Stake (0) 1 Fire Diff=POW, Freq 1, after countering/absorbing spell inflict STR 10 dmg to caster
Inquisition's Grace (1) 2 Fire Diff=6, Freq 2, cancel one dmg roll to Inquisitor/Templar of Inq/Darkness Hunter
Merin's Justice (2) 2 Fire Diff=8, Freq 1, set victim's wounds = inquisitor's, reduces own wounds 1 level.
Fireball (4) 3+(1-3) Fire Diff 11, Freq 1, range 25 cm, STR 11-15 hit
Griffin Inquisitor/HW [34]
+ Incandescent Chastiment (2) Diff 6, Freq 1, roll 3 die for damage & select any two
Griffin Inquisitor/HW [34]
+ Forced March (2) Diff 7, Freq 2, target makes additional move
Templar of the Inquisition/HW *2 [62]
Templar of the Inquisition/HW *2 [62]
Darkness Hunter 1/HW [36]
+ Immolation (2) 1 Fire, Diff 6, Freq unlimited, +1 ATT or STR until target suffers a wound.
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400 AP for 8 minis/6 cards
You need two other Inquisitors to give Eschelius +2 to POW rolls that he really needs for his Fireballs. Why Fireball? Because Scourge is not a "spell of Fire", and Blade will not return any gems for it, as well as for Ball of Flames or Arrows of Hecate that have Unlimited frequency, and, unfortunately, Eschelius cannot cast Chimerical Glaive. Why the mana is so important? Because you will need to cast Grace two times per turn, and that's 4 mana. If you're getting 2 mana back from each Fireball, it becomes the cheapest destruction spell!
Inquisition's Grace should belong to Eschelius, since you cannot afford losing it with another Inquisitor. In this army, you can fight and win even without both Inquisitors. Besides, a POW 2 Inquisitor will have problems with casting it twice per turn. Witches' Stake is free, so you should take it "just in case"; Eschelius really can counter opposing spells and STR 10 hit for 1 mana is very cool!
Merin's Justice, IMHO, is a spell that should belong to every Eschelius build. Who else is mighty enough to cast such spells in contact with the enemy? Oh, and who else is able to cast a Redemption/Exorcism spell with Diff 8? Merin's Justice is incredibly powerful, it inflicts wounds regardless to the enemy DEF or RES, so you can easily turn a mighty monster into a wounded weakling. When the victim's INI, ATT and DEF are lowered, inflicting 1-2 final wounds should be easy enough.
The rest of the army is pretty clear: two Inquisitors, a lot of resilient Templars and Darkness Hunter - just because he fit into the remaining points Nevertheless, Immolation is a good spell, especially if you have sacred weapons and need only high ATT to deliver the blow. Forced March is a wonderful trick here: your Eschelius can walk 10 cm, then activate, cast Fireball and charge the selected target up to 20 cm away.
****** ARMY INQ-3: Melkion's Spell Storm (Melkion + Priestess)
This army was created by tiger and discussed here:
http://en-forum.confrontation.fr/viewtopic.php?t=30926. As described by the creator, the idea of this army is simple: Melkion casts damaging spells, and when he needs more mana, he just takes T.F. from the Priestess. I've replaced one Thallion and Tower of Destruction with two Consecrated Fusiliers that should enforce the long-range capabilities and provide more T.F. I've also reworked spells and miracles lists: if you have Melkion, you should want Fire Elemental, especially in the "bizarre" army that lacks really good melee fighters.
Melkion the Flaming/HW [80+15=95]
+ The Magician 15
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Summoning of Fire (3), No Diff, 5 Fire, Freq unique
Celestial Scourge (4) Diff 10, 1-2 Light + X, Freq 2
Mystical Galvanization (1) 3 Diff 7, Freq 2, INI/ATT/DEF/AIM/POW/DIV rolls+1 until end of round
Forced March (2) 2 Diff 7, Freq 2, target makes additional move
Priestess of Steel/HW [45+14+12=71]
+ Phylactery of cremation 14
+ Inspiration (+1 creation) 12
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+ Angel summoning (2)
+ Miraculous reprieve (2-4)
+ Celestial Inspiration (2)
+ Renouncement (3)
+ Weapon of Angels (1)
Griffin Inquisitor/HW [34]
+ Incandescent Chastiment Diff 6, Freq 1, roll 3 die for damage & select any two
Thallions/HW * 3 [90]
Thallions/HW * 2 [60]
Fusilier/HW/Consecrated * 2 [48]
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398 AP for 10 minis/6 cards
Don't expect tournament victories from this army: after all, it was inteded just to demonstrate the power of Arcanum I and Phylactery. But it's rather flexible, and your ranged support may be good enough to diminish the enemies while they're dealing with the elemental. Renouncement should help against giant and fast beasties like Aberration Prime. Mystical Galvanization is good for Fusiliers while enemies are outside Scourge's range, for Melkion himself to help casting Scourge and to fight (with a sacred weapon, Melkion suddenly becomes quite dangerous in melee!), and for Inquisitor to deliver his judgement strike.
And don't forget that you have 5 good scouts that can assassinate AND you can give these scouts sacred weapons! Another trick is "launching" the Inquisitor or Thallions towards the important target with Forced March. This is probably the strongest possible assassination Griffin army except for the dedicated Lodge of Hod armies.
--------------------- OVERALL:
Surpringly, during writing this review I realized that I don't like Inquisition, though it's considered one of the best Griffin themes. The major weakness is lack of ranged support: this theme has absolutely nothing for Fusiliers and Culverins, the most popular Griffin shooters. Moreover, it's even negative for them, since you have to pay extra 2AP for each, which is very much for Fusiliers, and these troops don't need sacred weapons. Without the ranged support, Griffins are sluggish ironclads with MOV 10, and you will be very limited in tactics despite any melee advantages. You can compensate for this with Saphon or Melkion, but one miniature won't replace a good squad of Fusiliers, and you spend too much AP on non-melee minis. Yes, sacred weapons are good - but there are other ways to get them. Praetorians have sacred weapons during their Master Strikes, and there is a miracle with a very low Difficulty 5, Avenging Arm of Merin, that makes melee weapon sacred.
In larger formats, Inquisition becomes even worse, since you still have one Incandescent Chastiment with Freq 1 and one Inquisition's Grace with Freq 2, but you have much more troops. You also have one Saphon and one Melkion, though adding them together enables really good ranged support. In 1000 AP, Inquisition will definitely be much weaker than Imperial Army with Aerth or than Lodge of Hod with a battery of Culverins, or than Temple of the South led by Sered.
ADVANTAGES OF THE TEMPLES
Some of the best Griffin tricks are reserved to the "Temple" troops or Templars. Fluff-wise, there is no surprise: Griffins are extremely religious, and Temples represent their best elite troops. Some of them are so good that almost every Temple army uses them as a "core fighters", so I decided to discuss them prior to moving to advantages and tactics of different Temples - to avoid repeating the same things over and over again. As long as you can't use the "Temple" troops outside the Temple, their availability is alone a huge advantage of the Temples that's often overlooked. You also don't have to pay Crusade costs for the "Temple" troops, which makes them even more attractive for all Temples (except Temple of the South that has no crusade cost).
Templar Brother (25 AP). MOV 10, INI 3, ATT/STR 4/6, DEF/RES 4/9, COU 4, DIS 5.
Fanaticism. Bravery. War Fury. Temple.
This is the most popular Griffin fighter. Open any Temple list, and you will find some Templar Brothers (TB). They aren't "amazing" or "overpowered", but Griffins simply don't have better troops in this point range. TBs have average Griffin's MOV and low INI which is compensated by high RES and decent DIS.
Templar Brothers have a good punch (4/6) which is quite rare for such points: even the low-end Griffin Warrior Characters (Abel and Severian) have only 4/7! But the actual performance of TBs is much higher, since all its abilities have the great synergy in "berserking" (placing all dice to attack). Use War Fury to get +1 die, and all dice would be automatically placed to attack. Bravery will provide +1 ATT, Fanaticism - +1 to Damage rolls. Finally, you will get 5/7 "berserker" with an extra attack die, but without any defense. 25 AP is a very good price for this beastie, and most Temples even add some additional powers for free!
Things aren't that great, though. Templar Brothers are NOT "broken" by any means, and, actually, they are even difficult to use properly. They aren't good harassers due to the low MOV, and they are poor "blockers" due to the "berserker" stance - if you try to defend, you will lose all TB's advantages. Opponent knows that you are going to place all dice to attack, so his strikes will hit unless he would roll "1". RES 9 is very good for a 25AP soldier, but it alone wouldn't keep TB alive for long. The worst thing is the tactical disanvantage: Griffins have low INI, and they are more likely to be charged than to charge themselves (due to low MOV) that's going to incur charge penalties to INI/ATT/DEF. With lower INI your TB is going to strike last, and each suffered wound will lower his INI/ATT/DEF even further, so the enemy will be able to defend against his attacks.
Comparing Templar Brother to the "pure assault" troops like Drune Karnagh (28AP) is very interesting. Karnagh has MOV 12.5, INI 4, ATT/STR 4/8, DEF/RES 4/5, COU 5 and DIS 3, he is Brutal and Possessed. In one-to-one battle Drune is going to charge due to higher MOV, so he's going to win Initiative roll and strike first. Yes, he will have only two dice against Brother's three, but his STR 8 is quite enough to inflict at least light wound against RES 9. Your TB is going to hit in return, and his STR will also be enough against RES 5, even with wound penalties, but Karnagh is Possessed, so he treats wounds as they were one level lower. If your TB would survive the second blow, he will hit two times more and is likely to get an advantage in this fight, though he is cheaper and was charged! Note, however, the word "if"... unfortunately, in the real life Drunes will pump their troops much better than you will be able to pump yours. Karnagh is a "light cavalry" - it's good for fast and deadly strikes at the weak points, but completely unsuitable for the defense. Following this analogy, Templar Brothers is an "armored maceman": it can hit more frequently with a good strength, but it is going to strike last, and it also isn't suitable for parrying. If I had a choice, I would prefer "swordsman": balanced soldiers that could attack and defend. Unlike light cavalry, armored macemen were never considered good troops for the war, and Karnagh can perform important missions like harassing weak mages/faithful that are impossible for TB.
Another interesting comparison is Cynwall Truth Warrior (TW) for 20 AP. He has same INI and MOV, ATT/STR 4/8, DEF/RES 3/7, Concentration/1 and Ruthless (always incurs charge penalties to the enemy). The lower DEF doesn't matter, as they both aren't going to defend, while the lower RES is compensated by higher STR. This is a focused "kamikaze", and you may be surprised to see that against TB he isn't going to perform much worse than Karnagh. The difference between 20 and 25 AP is huge: for 100AP you will have 5 TWs, but only 4 TBs. In a battle between these two forces, though, Elves are going to have 10 combat dice, while Griffins will have 13 (+1 for the lower numbers), and if they found a way to use these dice effectively, they are going to win.
Are Templar Brothers good or bad, then? The answer is: this depends on your playing skill and luck. TBs cannot harass enemy mages/commanders/shooters and cannot protect yours from shooting and spells. They can screen your troops against slow chargers, but faster ones will find a way unless the map is filled with obstacles. Thus, in the traditional "firebase" armies your TBs have just one task: counter-charging. They serve as a threat (come in range and I'll charge you) and "avengers" for the weaker troops (come charge my Fusilier and I'll charge you). [Yes, I know about the "pure melee" armies (something like Sered + a lot of TBs), but I don't like them for their slowness and lack of tactical options. You will easily lose most missions with such army: opponent will capture objectives and inflict you wounds at range.]
To get the most from your TBs, you should do your best to avoid charge penalties (charge yourself if you can!) and to win Initiative. Here are some examples of such tactics:
1). Renouncement is a *great* miracle for Griffins not only since it saves your fighter, but due to the fact that your Templar Brothers (and other slow troops) can charge the renounced enemy. Ideally, your Fusiliers will also shoot at the enemy prior to charging
2). All troops with high INI make a good support for Templar Brothers (or vice versa). Thallion is a good example: if opponent charged your TB, Thallion can counter-charge (even with Assault Fire!) and help you to win the tactical roll. This really makes a huge difference: your TB was charged by Karnagh and had INI 2 against 4, but after Thallion's charge Karnagh will have INI 3, and your base INI will be 5 (Thallion's 4 + 1 for the second fighter), even if Thallion's shot will miss. Sometimes you have an important character with high INI that is guarded by Templars who make a well use of that INI. Melkion has INI 6, and even if somebody charges him, you will still have great chances to win the Iniative roll after you counter-charge with the TBs.
3). If you have a way to use attack dice of your TBs faster than one per round, you should consider these possibilities, since your TBs can be killed before they will have a chance of using the last die. TBs have an additional attack die that can be easily sacrificed to inflict more serious wounds in the first round of combat rather than waiting for the third one. Vengeance of the Temple provides Master Strike that can "eat" the extra die to provide you somewhat better chances. If you're splitting the fray, you can make two enemy fighters to fight with a single TB and attack both enemies twice.
You should remember that Templar Brothers are very bad against well-defended monsters with Ambidexterity: they simply cannot penetrate the defense and cannot survive the resulting attacks. I remember the horrible battle of my Templars against Cynwall Quasar (ATT/STR 6/11, DEF/RES 5/11, Add.Limb, Ambidexterity, Born Killer, Master Strike/0): my opponent simply put all his dice to Defense and parried all attacks, then wounded/killed my TBs. Quasar costs as three TBs, but if you try to engage it with three TBs, you are likely to suffer much more wounds than you will inflict. Use magic, shooting or your own monster against such beasts.
What to do with the beast if you have only TBs as the melee troops? Sometimes you have to sacrifice some fighters to win, and this is such case. Try to defend with a single TB and hope that your martyr will survive for a turn. Yes, you can try to defend with TB, even losing advantages of Fanaticism, Bravery and War Fury. Sometimes you simply cannot win the combat and should just struggle to avoid the pursuit movement of the beast. Sometimes you have to shoot into the fray, even risking to kill your wounded TB, since 4-5 Fusiliers really can stun Quasar and even inflict a Light Wound - such serious penalties are going to allow your TBs to charge and kill the beast.
Templar War-Staff (23 AP*2). MOV 10, INI 3, ATT/STR 3/4, DEF/RES 4/7, COU 4, DIS 5.
Fanaticism. Bravery. War Fury. Leadership/10. Temple.
This is the best war-staff Griffins have, and it's much better than war-staffs of most other factions, since it's quite durable and can inflict some damage if needed. Both Musician and Standard-Bearer are the downgraded versions of Temple Brother: -1 ATT, -2 STR and RES. Unfortunately, all these stats are the most important for TBs, so you can't expect great combat performance of them. Still, they will get +1 ATT/STR and extra attack dice when War Furying, so they can easily kill a cheap fighter or archer if needed.
If you're using the war-staff, then you should direly need to win the Tactical roll without a commander or with a low-DIS commander: you don't need it if you have Arkhos. Winning the Tactical roll is the most important for the "firebase" armies that need to shoot after enemy movement or charge prior to the movement. You always risk to lose the war-staff if your opponent decide to deny the +2 DIS bonus, but the Templar war-staff can defend no worse than TB, though its RES is lower, so it's going to perform its job.
War-staff is ideal for Consecration, if you need extra Faith. It isn't meant to engage in serious fight, so it can both guard your Priestess of Steel and provide Faith to her.
Chaplain of the Temple (35 AP). Templar Brother + Warrior-Monk (Devout) 1/0/1 and Faithful of Merin/10.
Provides Implacable/1 to himself and all Templars/Templar Brothers in aura of faith
If you need a cheap supporting warrior-monk that could do something in melee, Chaplain is the only choice. He isn't very cheap, but he is strictly better than TB, and that's outstanding. He can take only one miracle, but his T.F. reserve isn't limited and can be quite high, so he's going to have spare T.F that can be used to pump Celestial Inspiration or for other purposes. The miracle can also require a lot of T.F. - for instance, Summary Execution takes 1 T.F. for each affected marksman.
Implacable/1 is good only if you have a LOT of TBs, since one TB will rarely manage to kill two enemies in one turn to use Implacable. But if you have 5-6 TBs, then your squads can metodically kill even the stronger enemies one by one.
You have to pay 10 AP over the regular Templar Brother for the additional abilities: one miracle, accumulating T.F. for other purposes and Implacable/1 for all TBs. If you really need all this, it will be well worth 10 AP. The most obvious miracles for Chaplain are the mentioned Summary Execution or Celestial Inspiration: both "eat" a lot of T.F. and provide the great results, so 10 AP is a good price for them, especially if you have no other Faithful in your army. You may also need Chaplains to accumulate T.F. in Temple of the East... but we'll talk about that later. Chaplain can also summon Angels of Light (even one Angel is worth extra 10 AP) and perform other interesting things. If you have 10 AP, converting one of your TBs to Chaplain can be a very good idea.
Vengeance of the Temple (Miracle, 1/1/1, Fervour 3, Diff 7) All friendly Templars (and fighters "of the Temple" except for Templars of the Inquisition) have Master Strike/1 as long as they are in the aura of faith.
This miracle is very powerful, since it can pump half of your army or even more. Master Strike/1 is very good for TBs, since they have an additional attack die that can be happily traded to deal more damage in the first round of combat. At maximum, Master Strike will provide +5 STR, which is very solid. When such boon affects a lot of fighters at once, it can make a difference between a victory and a loss.
Vengeance doesn't grant "sure victory", though: your TBs still need to hit, and their ATT isn't very high. If you suspect that enemy is likely to defend against the attack, it would probably better to avoid Master Strikes and hope to outnumber the enemy with your dice. My greatest mistake was an attempt to use Master Strike against Quasar: I just lost the dice, since all attacks were parried. Vengeance highlights the major rule of TBs: try to win Initiative and attack first. With Master Strike you will have base STR 11 (12 with Fanaticism bonus), so you can hope to inflict at least serious wound against average enemies. If you can increase ATT of your TBs (or decrease DEF of your enemies), do it!
Vengeance is hard to use: only Sered and Priestess of Steel (2nd Inc.) can perform it. It's probably the second greatest trump in the Griffin divination arsenal after Renouncement.