Contemptor Kevin's Combat Patrol Special Issue 1 Review - Chief Librarian Tigurius

Welcome back, Combat Patrolers!

We break from our previous Chaos Space Marine Combat Patrol to review the first Special Issue of Combat Patrol: Chief Librarian Tigurius! This model is not included in the main subscription, but is instead part of their "Special Issue" collection. So while the page numbering is compatible with the rest of the subscription, it is not necessary to have the whole collection. So why would you want to get this? Well, let's read on and find out if this special character issue is worth it.

Narrative Materials

Chief Librarian Tigurius. Credit: SRM

For this issue, we do not have a lot of narrative materials and what we do have is sorted into the "Collect" section of the magazine instead of the red "Narrative" sections". We get a brief overview of Tigurius and who he is: Chief Librarian of the Ultramarines and an incredible battle psyker and precognitive. The issue notes "Time and time again, his skills have allowed the Ultramarines to secure victory or saved the life of another hero of the Chapter." We get some description of his wargear. We are told of the Rod of Tigurius, though not that legend holds it was the staff of Malcador the Sigilite. The issue also has an article of the Librarius and the five ranks of the Librarius. While this issue does not spend a significant amount of time telling Tigurius' story, it does explain Tigurius' story succinctly.

Unlike many other Ultramarines characters, Tigurius does not have a full length novel about him. Instead, the Chief Librarian tends to show up as the Ultramarines' version of Uncle Iroh from Avatar: the Last Airbender. One of the constant elements of 40K fiction is how when an Ultramarines hero is in deep trouble (physical or spiritual), Tigurius is there to provide them with some timely assistance that they need. To wit:

Roboute Guilliman: Chief Librarian Tigurius is the Ultramarine most directly responsible for the resurrection of his Gene-Father. During Rise of the Primarch, Tigurius convinced Calgar to let the Celestinian Crusade into the Temple of Hera and the Hall of Correction. Tigurius also allowed the Ynarri to sever the power feeds to Guilliman's stasis field and begin the process of restoration.

Marneus Calgar: During the Bloodborn Invasion of Ultramar, Chief Librarian Tigurius played a pivotal role in saving Calgar, Severus Agemann, and the whole world of Talassar. M'Kar the Thrice-Born lay siege of Castra Tangara, but Tigurius psychically defended the world for three weeks from invasion, nearing death. Even though they knew nothing of Astartes physiology and psychic mastery, the human defenders of Castra Tangara surrounded the weakened Tigurius to keep him warm and with company to stave off death. This gave Tigurius the strength to survive and cut off M'Kar's warp power, enabling Calgar to kill it. It was Chief Librarian Tigurius who convinced Calgar to travel to Vigilus at the start of that particular war, so he would be in a position to forge an alliance with the Aeldari against the forces of Chaos and stop Abaddon the Despoiler from conquering the world.

Credit: J.D. Reynolds

Demetrian Titus: After Titus had been captured by the Inquisition following the events of Space Marine, Tigurius and Calgar never gave up searching for their missing Captain. It was Tigurius who rescued the then-Blackshield from certain death from Hive Fleet Leviathan during the Fourth Tyrannic War, and ordered him to cross the Rubicon Primaris for rebirth. Tigurius proclaimed Titus free of any taint from Chaos, and ensured his successful return to his Chapter.

Lieutenant Titus versus Hive Fleet Behemoth Termagants. Credit: Kevin Stillman

The one short story I could find with Chief Librarian Tigurius is an old short story from the Shield of Baal era, called "In the Shadow of the Leviathan" by Josh Reynolds. There, we see Tigurius lead several bricks of Sternguard against the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan at Ghaurkal Hive on Kantipur. He notes that while Chaplain Cassius and the Blood Angels are recommending exterminatus of several worlds within the Subsector to stop Leviathan, his prescient vision says that mass exterminatus is futile and they can beat Leviathan without it. Additionally, Tigurius thinks "if they sacrificed the very people whom they were sworn to protect, then what was the point?" Tigurius "could eel the heat of every human soul still in Gharukal Hive n his mind. Each and every human - young or old, man, woman, or child - had a tiny ember of flame within the chambers of their single heart...a flame which could burn as brightly as a sun. They were changeable things, humans, and capable of greatness, if given the opportunity. And for that reason, more than any other, Tigurius intended to make his stand and deny Leviathan." While trying to find a lost squad of Sternguard and their human charges, Tigurius feels a disturbance in the warp and a new threat to face: a Maleceptor. This being represents hunger: "A hunger which would never know appeasement and would never abate, not even when the last sun had flickered and died, leaving the galaxy a cold, barren void at last." The Maleceptor uses the psychic echoes of the war against the Blood Angels against Tigurius to weaken him, but Tigurius focuses his will and bathes in the light of the Astronomican. Backed by the light of the Astronomican channeled though the Rod of Tigurius and the memory of Malcador the Sigilite, Tigurius rises to fry the Maleceptor's brain before unloading his bolter into the monster.

Maleceptor. Credit: Rockfish

From all the materials in GW's splatbooks and in the Black Library novels, we see a picture emerge of Chief Librarian Tigurius: he is a hero devoted to the well-being of all the mortals and Space Marines of the Imperium, and will face the unending maw of the Tyranid Hive Mind and skirt the very edge of death to protect them just because they are humans. He is there to give advice to his younger Ultramarines commanders, and is accordingly a great hero.

Hobby Materials

This Special Issue comes with one miniature: Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius. It's one of the older plastic Primaris resculpts, dating from late 8th Edition (summer of 2019). The construction is a little odd, with the legs not having the most solid contact points within the cloak. This is another way of saying the model has no butt or crotch. The robes and loincloth hide it, but it's there. The subassemblies I used for the model were:

The head
The body
The backpack and the back banner
The base

The included painting guide is, like the premium issues, assuming you have the whole paint range already. So it references paints that have not come out yet, such as Calgar Blue or Administratum Grey. But otherwise, it's pretty solid and points out some tricky elements of the paint scheme (the trim on the Staff, for example).

Chief Librarian Tigurius. Credit: Contemptor Kevin Stillman

Gaming Materials

The issue also has Tigurius' datasheet. It's the full 40K datasheet, and recommends that it be used in the Space Marine Combat Patrol with the permission of the other player. Tigurius replaces the Captain in Terminator Armor, which means the Ultramarines now have two Librarians. The problem is that this version of Tigurius cannot lead either the Infernus Marines nor can it lead the Terminator Squad. He also does not have Lone Operator. So using Tigurius in the combat patrol is surprisingly risky, as he's still a T4, 4W, 3+/4++ model. Furthermore, his -1 to hit ability requires him to be leading a unit, so that ability is effectively unusable in Combat Patrol. He does, however, have a 4+ Feel No Pain against Psychic attacks and mortal wounds, which is helpful if he's fighting the Psychophage.

Tigurius also has a "mainline" Combat Patrol datasheet from the new Eye of Ultramar Combat Patrol, which is different than this one. That version of Tigurius has two units he could lead: Intercessor Squad or Bladeguard Veterans for that -1 to hit. However, he loses his 4+ Feel No Pain against mortals and Psychic Attacks. That version is probably more useful in Combat Patrol because it's a leader compatible with an interesting Combat Patrol instead of being shoehorned awkwardly into the least Combat Patrol.

The Final Verdict

This Special Issue gets you a Warhammer Model for under 1/3rd the retail price. While the savings aren't as great as getting the entire Eye of Ultramar Combat Patrol (where you're getting $300 worth of models for $170), you are getting a fun and colorful Ultramarines hero for extremely cheap. Tigurius' value waxes and wanes depending on the edition, while he is not meta in late 10th (when this article is being written), he's never unplayable. Plus he offers a wide variety of textures to practice your skills on, and otherwise make look stunning. It's a good value!

Also with this, we will be taking off the week of December 29, 2025 owing to the week between Christmas and New Years's. We will be back in 2026 with a discussion of the Havocs, which I plan to paint as Sons of Perturabo.

Until next time, Combat Patrolers!

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Tags: combat patrol | Contemptor Kevin | Hachette | Magazine Review | Chief Librarian Tigurius