Basic Equipment
Like most captains and masters, Kantor wears power armor and has the very important 4+ iron halo. He's also got frag and krak grenades, a power first and an interesting side arm - Dorn's Arrow. The power fist is an interesting choice. It's fluffy, because he is the master of the "Crimson Fists" chapter, but it's also very slow. With a character that has a native Initiative of 5, I'd personally have preferred a power or relic weapon in order to take advantage of his speed. Unfortunately, because he doesn't have any other real close combat option, the power first makes Kantor a bit of a crap shoot in hand-to-hand combat. Yeah, he's going to hit hard, but will he last in order to make that hit? Your best bet is to group him with other marines so that he doesn't assault alone - which is important for other reasons as well. On the positive side, he can literally challenge anything on the battlefield with that fist, although it does mean that the krak grenades are absolutely pointless. As a support character, Kantor is great for last minute smacks on structures and vehicles, but he's probably not the best choice for leading the charge.
The other important weapon in Kantor's personal arsenal is Dorn's Arrow... or 'the magic storm bolter of 4s', as I think of it. This is an Assault 4 S4 AP4 storm bolter with a 24" range. The good thing about this weapon, instead of a fancy pistol, is that it's got the ability to really reach out and touch someone. Further, as he also has a power fist, it doesn't matter that he left his pistol at home. He can fire this puppy off at short or long range, and then charge in... to wait for the faster enemy to slap him around a bit... and then hopefully hit someone with his fist. With four shots, Kantor has essentially got the firepower of a combat squad of marines that he can fire on the move, which is pretty handy. Add in his BS of 5, and he isn't going to miss that often (although I've done it!). At S4, this means you're going to challenge most standard troops units in the game; but at AP4, it isn't going to challenge the troops choices that the native S4 takes advantage of (marines and chaos marines). Personally, I think that this little gem was meant for killing beefy ork nobs and tyrannid warriors, which he can do handily at range. Overall, not a bad weapon. Not a game winner, but still a little better than a standard bolter (or four!).
As a chapter master, Kantor also has access to a very nasty orbital bombardment. While a high strength pie plate should be a boon, it's actually kind of a 'meh'. In an odd twist, you can call in a bombardment and can then turn around and assault in the same turn, but you can't move the turn you use it. That seems a bit backwards. First, the last thing you want to do when you're actually in assault range is to drop a pie plate on the table that you can't reduce with your ballistic skill. The odds of that thing scattering back on you or your unit are just too high. And since you have to assault the thing you shot at, you're very rarely going to actually drop the plate and then assault the same target... unless you're really desperate. On the other hand, this would be the perfect weapon for softening up a target when you drop pod onto the field, or as you swoop across the field in your transport. But you can't do that. So, if you want to use the bombardment, you have to stand still and essentially do nothing for an entire turn. This is an odd choice, and kind of wasted on an assault and movement oriented character like Kantor. Unless you're in a scenario where you can waste a turn sitting on your hands, you might as well forget you have it. Oh well.
Also as a chapter master Kantor permits the use of honor guard units. Unfortunately, while honor guard units are very nasty, all running around with artificer armor, bolters, bolt pistols and power weapons, they are really pricey. Each one costs as much as a terminator, but they have no invulnerable save. At 115 points for just the first three men, this seems a bit excessive and the points would be much better spent on other units that are geared for the same battlefield role. Unless you enjoy hamstringing yourself for fun, there is really no point in throwing these guys onto the field.
Special Abilities
Kantor comes into his own because of his special abilities. First up is "Chapter Tactics" which gives your entire army the Stubborn USR. There are lots of people that feel Stubborn is wasted on marines because they're actually better off falling out of combat and shooting rather than sticking in a fight. I disagree. The most effective way for dealing with assaulting armies, in my opinion, is to tie up the other guy's nasty assault units all game long with small units of marines that just won't die or fall back. The rest of your army can then pick off the enemy's support units and bigger slower monsters trolling the battlefield. But if you're going to do that, you have to stay in the fight! Stubborn will keep you there... provided you can make a few armor saves every turn.
The next special ability is "Hold the Line". This allows all Sternguard units in the army to count as scoring. What this means is you can increase the number of scoring units in your army considerably when a lot of objectives pop up on the field of play. Given the Sternguard's reported ability to hold onto objectives with the support of their special ammo, this is supposed to be a very good option for taking forward positions. But if you want to take this ability, then you have to actually field Sternguard... duh. Now, I have personally not found Sternguard to be as strong or as effective as folks make them out to be. I've never been able to get them in a position to take advantage of their superior fire power, which is probably my fault. But I typically find that a Sternguard unit is just an expensive bullseye that the opponent takes out quickly. I don't know... it's not worked for me yet. Theoretically, you can field up to six Sternguard units using combat squads that you can throw onto the battlefield with your combat squaded tactical units for an impressive 18 scoring units. Yeah, it's fragile, but really, really hard to contain. It's an interesting theory, but seems a bit pricey to be effective in my opinion.
Finally, and most importantly, Kantor has the "Inspiring Presence" special ability. This rule essentially makes Kantor a living Chapter Banner by giving everyone within 12" an additional assault in close combat. That means Kantor is a HUGE force multiplier. I've personally seen the carnage he can inspire even when traveling alongside a humble assault squad. Throw him in or near several even nastier units, like a thunder hammer deathstar or vanguard unit, and Kantor can easily be worth his weight in gold. It is abilities like this one that make a character a TRUE supporting unit by reinforcing your army's ability to fight. In my opinion, this is exactly the way characters should be created.
Using Kantor Effectively
If you've read the previous paragraph, you can guess what I'm going to say here. Kantor may be able to dish out some impressive harm with his powerfist, but that is not his most effective role on the battlefield. Kantor has a decent sidearm with good range. Use it. If you want to make the best use of Kantor, get him in a position to grant the most units a boost. Surround him with units that are going to make good use of the extra attack, and he can follow up on his own once the armies have whittled themselves down to nothing.
Although I rarely do it myself, one of the most effective ways to use Kantor is to throw him into rhino with a combat squad (for protection once the rhino is toast. That gives you a 12" range from the hull of the vehicle to effect all flanking units. You can slowly walk him up with assault terminators (which gives your opponent a difficult target priority choice), or you can race the rhino forward with flanking assault squads. Either way, you'll be creating a very scary combat knot that your opponent will HAVE to deal with... possibly leaving your poor Sternguard combat squads alone so that they can run around taking objectives. And if you've got the points to spare, you can load him in a landraider for even better protection, and even greater support range.
Wrapping Up
Kantor is a great special character choice because he can support just about every unit in the game, which is much more than can be said about a lot of other marine characters. And at only 175 points, you can almost guarantee that he will earn his points back just because of the extra attacks he gives your tougher units. If you can imagine the carnage that an extra attack grants to a unit of thunder hammers, or even an assault squad, it is easy to see how you will quickly earn back the points you spent on him in the form of dead enemy combatants. Pedro Kantor is an absolute steal.
