The Emperor's Champion MUST be taken in a Black Templars army even if both players have agreed not to use special characters. The Emperor's Champion does not take up a slot in the force organisation chart, but counts as an HQ choice for the purpose ot deployment.

Wargear: Artificer armour, Terminator honours (bonus included above), purity seals, iron halo, master-crafted bolt pistol, the Black Sword. The Champion cannot be bought extra equipment.

The Black Sword: All Emperor's Champions wield a mighty power sword, named after Sigismund's original blade. The Black Sword can be used with one or two hands. If used as a single-handed weapon it's treated as a power weapon with +1 Strength, and may be used in addition to the Champion's bolt pistol. If used as a double-handed weapon it counts as being a power fist.

Challenge: If the Champion is in combat, he may, before any attacks are made, issue a challenge. Your opponent must choose an enemy character who is involved in the same close combat as the Champion to fight him - the character doesn't have to be in base contact with him. A challenge must be accepted if there is an enemy character available in the combat. Move the models into base contact and fight out the close combat as normal. No other models may attack the Champion or his opponent during a challenge. The outcome of the challenge decides the outcome of the close combat that the Champion and his opponent are involved in; only the wounds they inflict on each other are used to determine which side has won. Wounds inflicted by other models in this combat are not used to work out the result of the combat.

Always an Independent Character: The Emperor's Champion always fights as an independent character and so may never be accompanied by a Command squad.