Talk about a surprise. I received a package from a good buddy the other day and opened it up to find tons of models that he didn't want taking up storage space anymore. In the box was some extra Dark Angel units for my son's army, another Exorcist tank for my wife's Sisters of Battle (oh goody...), and then the biggest surprise of all-
The new Space Marine and Ultramarine codices!!! My buddy and I spend an inordinate amount of time talking about 40k and tactics and I had to advise him last week that I wouldn't be able to keep up as I'm behind on rules. If you remember my last post- I'm broke! My buddy, not one to lose one of his sounding boards, refused to allow this to happen and hooked me up. Needless to say, I can't express the gratitude for this. As soon as I win the lotto, I'm going to do something for him. But that's the personal side...More importantly, I now have the new rules for my boyz-in-blue! And I couldn't be more impressed. Now, let me be clear. I already knew everything as my buddy and the interwebs made sure that everything was more than apparent. But it's not the same when you don't have it physically in front of you. And now I have those rules in front of me.
Which all brings me to the point of this post- I'm not going to talk about tactics (I'm not very good at that anyway), I'm not going to show off the newest army lists (those change on a week-to-week pace anyway), and I'm not going to give my impressions of what I think was missed. I'm going to simply list a few things that I really like. More clearly, I'm going to list a few units that I think are going to get some attention now.
The reason this matters [to me] is because the 8th edition has become even more known for the "one army to rule them all" then even previous editions. Last edition's 'parking lot' Space Marines and 'fully-geared' Admech/Knight combos set that precedent in a way that scared many people. And this edition is even worse. If you don't have Imperial (or Chaos) Knights, Smash Captains, and Slaaneshi Obliterators in your army, you just can't win. This codex seems to address that and has made the Space Marine army bust out of that mold. I can't find an army list that is obviously better than others in this book...
The first units that I think are going to get more attention are pretty obvious and already exposed by the internets. For example- the Drop Pod. Between ignoring the Tactical Reserves rule and being a little cheaper, they now have a fantastic place on the tabletop. This makes me happy because I happen to have many of those teardrop tear-jerkers. Also included are bikers- between the White Scars supplement and the return of the Captain on bike, plus the Bolter Discipline rule, the bikers have garnered quite a bit of attention from the community. I'm not the biggest fan of bikers, but I'm happy to see them in a more front-facing role in armies now.
Beyond these, there are a number of units that I think will come out of retirement but maybe haven't been so obvious to people out there. I'll list five and why I really, really like them now.
I know, I know- they're still not great compared to other units in the book. They are more expensive than Tactical marines but have less range and less damage output. But they have greater movement (including the deep strike if you want to distract your opponent from your footsloggers) and the ability to lock units in combat. Add the Shock Assault rule, the chainsword, and maybe toss in a cast Litany and a nearby banner and these guys can absolutely wreck face! Plus, the Assault Doctrine gives those chainswords additional rend and that can make all the difference in many cases. More, use of the Hammer of Wrath strategem means these guys can pump out some damage before they even roll dice! They're not as expensive as people think if you can use them correctly. Like bringing a Chaplain with a jump pack to accompany them...
I'm not a fan of having to 'cast' the Litanies and wasn't happy when my Dark Apostles got the same treatment previously. But now there's options, and that's great. Why oh why would you bring a Chaplain to get rerolls when you can get more from a Captain? Well, now that Chaplains can buff more than assault- they can buff shooting! The Catechism of Fire and Recitation of Focus can make those nearby Devastators very, very devastating. That's right, I mentioned Chaplains hanging out with Devastators. The Dark Angels know what I'm talking about...
We're not talking about the already cheezy storm-shield terminators that can withstand stupid amounts of damage and thump a Knight to death. Oh no- we're talking the good 'ol Tactical Terminators with storm bolters. Bolter Discipline already made their firepower really strong, but there's the strategem 'Fury of the First' that makes them even more accurate with said firepower. But then, you can take the Chapter Trait 'Stalwart' and make sure that the opponent has to work extra hard at killing these beasts. Not being wounded easily by the anti-tank weapons means that Terminators will stick around just that much longer.
I'm not talking about Contemptors or Redemptors. If it's one of the shorter versions, that's what I actually mean. After all, everyone seems to use the tall-boyz every chance they get. Between Forgeworld's ridiculously unbalanced rules (even with hefty points costs) and everyone's jaded amnesia to the dreadnought of old, these poor boxes rarely see the tabletop. This is because of a combination of being slow and then becoming less effective when moving and shooting. Luckily, there's two strategems that really push these things back into the useful realm- Big Guns Never Tire and Duty Eternal. The first allows for these undead carriers to move and fire with their heavy weapons without the penalty, which completely deals with the perceived weaknesses. The second means that the enemy's big guns will have to focus much more on Dreadnoughts to kill them as they half the damage. I've even seen this matter in a batrep online and it was impressive. Of course, tossing this on a close combat monster like the Ironclad Dreadnought means that it can bring its potential 25 damage to bear on a Knight before finally getting waxed. And who doesn't love a good punching, even if it's from these awesome boxes?
Chief Librarian Tigurius
If you're not aware yet, this ever-wise psyker has been elevated to the rank of Primaris, going through the death-inducing Primaris Rubicon to gain that extra wound and attack. And here's where he really shines- he can punch stuff now! With four attacks (and another for charging) rocking a +3 Str, -3 AP, and d3 damage all hitting on 3's (a lot of threes there, which happens to be my favorite number), he can absolutely wreck some face! And having five wounds means that he can take a bit of punching back. My issue with him was that if he wasn't casting Smite and some other buff powers, he wasn't useful as getting him into combat was a terrible idea. That is done now. He's actually a beast in combat! If only there was a way to get him an invulnerable save...I could also mention Land Raiders (they went down drastically in points), Land Speeders (also much cheaper), and anything in Gravis armor (everything gained an extra wound!), but these didn't stick out to me like the five listed above. Of those, only Tigurius was getting any love before, but not for the reasons I listed (everyone loves a Smite-spamming Librarian). The new codices definitely brought out some fantastic options for otherwise ignored units and that always makes me happy. After all, I have a massive collection that would surely like to see the light of day again...
Happy Gaming!
