The Emperor's Champion is now in a Warhammer 40,000 video game
Faith no more.
I'm going to be honest with you, dear reader: I'm writing about the addition of a character from the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop into a Warhammer 40,000 video game not because it's particularly newsworthy. I admit it! I am writing about this because I'm a sucker for Warhammer 40,000 lore, and I suspect there are a few of you out there who are too.
With all that said, on to the good stuff: The Emperor's Champion is now in a Warhammer 40,000 video game.
The video game in question is Warhammer 40,000 Lost Crusade, a free-to-play multiplayer strategy game that began life on mobile phones early this year but is now also on Mac. You're a Primaris Space Marine commander in charge of a battle barge circa the Indomitus Crusade. You get to train troops, recruit heroes and fight against Chaos. It's very much a Warhammer 40,000-themed mobile strategy game in the popular mobile strategy game vein.
But! Warhammer 40,000 Lost Crusade is also the first Warhammer video game to feature The Emperor's Champion, a character who has been knocking about the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop and lore for years, but recently got a new model as part of the revitalised Black Templars chapter of Space Marines.
Okay, here's the setup: every now and then, a seemingly random Black Templar starts receiving visions from the Emperor, whether they like it or not. Once the visions are confirmed legit by the Chapter's Chaplains, the Black Templar becomes the Emperor's Champion, and levels up.
Levels up doesn't do what happens to this Space Marine justice. They receive a whole chapel's worth of relics and raiments to play with. They get a Black Sword, which is a rare power weapon, fancy new armour and even an Iron Halo. The Emperor's Champion is considered one of the most powerful warriors of the Imperium, and with good reason.
Back to the game - Warhammer 40,000 Lost Crusade gets Avar, the Emperor's Champion as part of its PvE mode, as well as other heroes such as Kayvaan Shrike, Marneus Calgar and Cato Sicarius, on 1st November. There's some prep players need to do to unlock the Emperor's Champion ahead of time. It's outlined in the image below:
That's it! Like I said, not the biggest news in the world. But as a Black Templars fan, and with the release of the chapter's new, 9th Edition codex coming out next month, I found it pretty exciting.