Several legions have unique units with the character tag. For some reason everyone only remembers it on the Cenobium. Even I thought they were the only ones to have it for the longest time. Suzerains and Pheonix Terminators also have it as well as units in the pdfs that plenty of people play. I agree it's awkward because the only conceivable benefit is to pass around wounds which doesn't feel good for anyone. However it's likely factored into their cost so in friendly games we've house ruled the non pdf units that have this to get FnP 5+ and be treated as chosen warriors rather than characters.
I think their reaction isn't bad - the issue is we need more assault troops. Right now, everyone is using Tactical Marines but if you had a big unit of Tactical Marines charged by a large Despoiler Squad, the Reaction giving you Fearless and Fear(2) makes sure your unit stays in the fight and allows you to regroup your forces on your turn for a counter charge as the effects stay in play until the end of your turn, not the end of your opponent's turn. It takes more work to be more powerful.
The Dark Angels are the "Jack of all trades, master of none." Their RoWs are not as great but they do offer other ways to play. My suggestion is to try playing either the Eskaton Imperitive or the Firewing Rite. Both of them drastically alter the way the army plays. Either your army wades through massive destruction or infiltrates large units into the enemy with major bonuses to kill big things. The Iron Wing, Storm Wing, Raven Wing, and Death Wing are a bit "meh" when compared to their generic versions of the RoW.
Several legions have unique units with the character tag. For some reason everyone only remembers it on the Cenobium. Even I thought they were the only ones to have it for the longest time. Suzerains and Pheonix Terminators also have it as well as units in the pdfs that plenty of people play.
I agree it's awkward because the only conceivable benefit is to pass around wounds which doesn't feel good for anyone. However it's likely factored into their cost so in friendly games we've house ruled the non pdf units that have this to get FnP 5+ and be treated as chosen warriors rather than characters.
I think their reaction isn't bad - the issue is we need more assault troops. Right now, everyone is using Tactical Marines but if you had a big unit of Tactical Marines charged by a large Despoiler Squad, the Reaction giving you Fearless and Fear(2) makes sure your unit stays in the fight and allows you to regroup your forces on your turn for a counter charge as the effects stay in play until the end of your turn, not the end of your opponent's turn. It takes more work to be more powerful.
The Dark Angels are the "Jack of all trades, master of none." Their RoWs are not as great but they do offer other ways to play. My suggestion is to try playing either the Eskaton Imperitive or the Firewing Rite. Both of them drastically alter the way the army plays. Either your army wades through massive destruction or infiltrates large units into the enemy with major bonuses to kill big things. The Iron Wing, Storm Wing, Raven Wing, and Death Wing are a bit "meh" when compared to their generic versions of the RoW.