Codex Grey Knights 7th Edition full review

August 20, 2014, 3:22 am

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The Book itself:

Pretty hot damn gorgeous. One of my favourite covers so far - on par with the Eldar one. It's only 96 pages mind and due to the small army list section there's plenty of room for background, artwork and information on heraldry and the organisational structure of the chapter, right down to each and every brotherhood (of which there are 8) and it's specialty, grand master and brother captain. Plus there's 2 pages on each of the special characters as with the additional sections in the Space Wolf book and a whole host of fluff around campaigns, the forming of the Chapter etc. The cards are also very nice and pretty much what we are used to seeing now. Also note that the sanctic cards are different to the ones that come in the main psychic power deck. I know it's not got a model release and it's less pages for your money (and effectively less content than the old book) but it's still a quality piece of work. 

Major Ommissions:

As per GW policy, gone are the two special characters Mordrak and Thawn (sucks for anyone who converted Ghost knights) which is a shame. Having said that Mordrak is mentioned and one of the Warlord traits still represents him well enough. As to be expected, all the Inquisition and Assassin elements have been removed. IMO this is a good thing so now Grey Knights really is all about the Grey Knights and the other elements can be added to other Imperial armies independently. All other changes and ommissions will be covered in the relevant sections below.

Additions:

None quite frankly. When I say compact BTW I really mean compact at just over 20 entries the GK codex has less than half as many as the Space Wolf codex, hopefully meaning more rules for fluff etc. There are no new additions or models and the datacards are the standard 1.1-1.6 GK specific ones with duplicates of sanctic thrown in. More on those later.

Army-wide rules:

ATSKNF, combat squads and brotherhood of psykers are retained as they now appear in the main rulebook. (subtly different but this was already FAQd) Psychic pilot also, but it is now dreadnoughts only. Mastery levels are obviously now widespread. Preferred enemy: Daemons is now simply listed under units rather than under the main rules. Purity of spirit is effectively just restating how sanctic is special for Grey Knights as per the rulebook. Really the only big change is the aegis, which instead of penalising enemy psykers now allows rerolls on deny the witch rolls of 1.

Wargear:

The weapon costs and stats got pretty shaken up. For power armoured troops the costs of ranged weapons are now equivalent to flamer/melta/plasma (incinerator/psilencer/psycannon), with terminators paying the same plus 5 per weapon. This makes life a lot easier when list building that's for sure. Special issue wargear is basically melta bombs, digital weapons, a teleport homer and master crafting one weapon and is limited to characters. Personal teleports are pretty much the same but much cheaper for dreadknights. Brotherhood banner is simply a 12" Ld reroll and +1 attacks for the unit and is Paladins only. Dreadnoughts have the same standard weapon options as other marine codexes as do vehicles. Melee weapons are pretty cheap with most models coming with swords as standard, with halberds the cheapest upgrade, followed by a pair of falchions, a stave and a hammer. This pricing makes much more sense than the old pricing and several of these items have changed in their abilities.

Now, before I cover the new stats for weapons I'll talk about the elephants in the room. Several pieces of wargear are now gone and this leads to a somewhat bland book. Servo skulls and special grenades are now limited to inquisition only. Grey knights retain psyk-out grenades which changed a lot. They can now be thrown 8" and are s2 blast with psishock, meaning that a random psyker in the unit suffers a perils if the unit is hit. In an assault they are effectively defensive grenades that work on psykers. So no more initiative lowering on daemons. Psy-bolts and Psy-flame no longer exist, which is a shame as although I thought they could be spammed by certain units it was nice to at least acknowledge the fluff in game terms. No more orbital strike relay either, yet again marking the death of another bit of great fluff.

Nemesis weapons have also changed. They are all force weapons with the daemonbane rule, which now grants rerolls to wound/pen. Swords are now simply AP3 and no longer grant +1 to saves. Falchions are just a pair of swords for the extra attack. Hammers are just thunder hammers with the 2 rules mentioned above. Staves are where the real difference occurs. They are now much cheaper and more readily available, but the 2++ in combat is replaced by them being effectively force mauls with daemonbane and ward, giving the unit admantium will. Worth throwing one in per unit I reckon for that alone. Doomfists have been replaced by bog standard power fists, with dreadknights able to upgrade to daemon hammers or a greatsword. More on them later.  

Ranged weapons have also changed a little. I'll say it again - no more psy-bolts or psy-flame. Incinerators and heavy ones remain the same except for gaining soul blaze. Psilencers are also mostly the same except rather than wounding daemons on a 4+ they now have force! Ouch! A much needed improvement and makes them more effective against different armies. Now if you're charging your force weapons anyway you'll be able to doubly benefit. Psycannons predictably gained the salvo rule and the heavy psycannon gained a second fire mode with a salvo 3/6 profile instead of large blast. This makes the humble psycannon a lot less effective and justifies the price drop on power armour but not (relentless) terminator armour. It should also be noted that the techmarine retained his conversion beamer option - glad as I spent a while converting one!

Vehicles:

It should be noted that all vehicles save for dreadnoughts are now simply standard Space marine vehicles. Yep, no more fortitude, no more aegis and costs in line with other space marines codexes. All vehicles save for dreadnoughts have lost psychic pilot, so no more warp charge spam with transports. The vehicle armoury has lost the warp stabilisation field and truesilver armour, which I always thought were nice touches. As mentioned above, Psy-bolts and Psy-flame are just plain gone. No more rifleman dread spam, no more hurricane bolters of awesome. Just plain gone. The entries in Imperial armour 2 for the GK dreadnought, land raider and razorback now make sense as does their costing. Of note with the stormraven is that weapon entries are not present - an errata issue I'm sure as the picture even shows a multi-melta. Mindstrike missiles are gone and replaced with stormstrikes also. Ouch.

Psychic powers:

Before I summarise the powers (same as the rulebook) I will quickly run down which powers have been lost from the previous book, not including those that still exist even if slightly different. All powers except for those of the Librarian are pre-defined for units now so no need to roll. (I'll note which have access to each)

The sanctic powers are as follows:

Pri - banishment (3) - malediction - daemon unit in 24" gets -1 to ++ save (all)

1 - Gate of infinity (1) - blessing target psyker - remove target and unit and deep strike them (Draigo)

2 - Hammerhand (1) - blessing targets psyker - him and unit have +2 strength (All except dreadknights/dreadnoughts)

3 - Sanctuary (1) - blessing targets psyker - +1 to ++ save for him and unit. (daemons treat terrain in 12" as dangerous) (Stern, dreadknight, dreadnought)

4 - Purge soul (1) - focussed witchfire (24") roll off and add Ld - if GK wins, target suffers wound (Draigo)

5 - Cleansing flame (2) - nova 9" - s5ap4 assault 2D6, soul blaze, ignores cover (Crowe, purifiers)

6 - Vortex of doom (3) - witchfire 12" - SDap1 assault 1 blast vortex

To make a bit more sense of that, basically all units have banishment as it's the primaris. Almost all units have hammerhand except for dreadnoughts and dreadknights (like they need it!) who have sanctuary instead. Purifiers and Crowe have cleansing flame and the special characters have a couple of extras. Brother Captains, Grand masters and librarians can generate powers from sanctic, diviniation, pyromancy, telepathy and telekinesis as normal.  

The lost powers are might of titan (although hammerhand is now +2S), dark excommunication, quicksilver, shrouding, summoning (effectively gate), warp rift, warp quake, astral aim, holocaust, reconstruction, fortitiude, sanctified flame (Draigo), zone of banishment (though it still exists as a rule not power), heroic sacrifice (still exists as a rule not power) and psychic communion. Wow, when you list them like that the Grey Knights really lost a lot of powers! I'll look at specifics when I get onto unit entries.

Relics:

None are particularly expensive and range from 10 to 25 points. I'll list them in point order:

1 - Bone shard of Solor - 3++ if within 12" of a daemon. 2++ if they're Khorne and also gain hatred:Khorne

2 - Fury of deimos - 36" assault 3 stormbolter - master crafted, precision shots

3 - Cuirass of sacrifice - terminator armour with FnP and IWND.

4 - Soul Glaive - effectively a 2-handed halberd that rerolls to activate force and can reroll to hit/wound/pen when activated against all enemies.

5 - Domina Liber Daemonica - bearer gets one extra sanctic power. units in 6" reroll 1s when casting sanctic powers (!)

6 - Nemesis banner (paladins only) all units in 12" fearless, unit gains +1 attack, daemons in 12" treat open ground as dangerous terrain

Warlord traits:

1 - Daemon slayer - warlord has hatred daemons and rolls 2+ to cast banishment. (Draigo)

2 - hammer of righteousness - warlord and unit have hammer of wrath (Crowe)

3 - unyielding anvil - warlord and all units in 12" are stubborn. (Stern)

4 - First to the fray - warlord and unit auto arrive from deep strike in turn one and only D6 scatter.

5 - Perfect timing - warlord and unit have counter attack

6 - Lore master - warlord knows one more sanctic power than normal for his ML.

Missions:

1 - destroy the daemon - VP accumulator depending how many daemon units killed

2 - psychic communion - psychic power casting accumulator

3 - no witnesses - 1VP if all enemy ICs dead

4 - deeds of legend - 1vp if win a challenge, D3 if it was an IC or MC.

5 - teleport attack - 1 vp if 1 unit arrives by deep strike or if you teleport shunt / gate of infinity

6 - rites of exorcism - opponent picks an objective. D3 VPs if you control it that turn, 1 VP any subsequent turn

Detachment:

The Grey Knights Nemesis strike force detachment limits your troops to 4 slots and ups your elites to 4 also, with  2 HQs, 2 heavy and 2 fast (as well as a LoW and fort). Only 1 HQ and 1 troops are compulsory. Command benefits are the usual reroll to warlord traits from the GK book. Rites of teleportation is the perk which grants reserve rolls from turn one if deep striking on a 3+. These models can run and shoot (any order) the turn they arrive. Pretty handy TBH - I can't see anyone not wanting to take the detachment unless they particularly want to load up on heavy/FA slots.

The army list:

On to individual units now. I'm going to omit the rhino, razorback, land raiders and stormraven from this as they're now effectively the same as their codex counterparts.

Draigo is now a Lord of war and so doesn't count against your HQ slots. He no longer makes Paladins troops and has had his stats reduced to WS6, S4 and T4. His points have reduced accordingly though. He knows 4 psychic powers (mentioned above) and has daemon slayer as his trait. The titansword is now a S7 ap2 MC nemesis weapon and so may be less effective against daemons (no more instakilling the big chaps) but is overall more effective against most other things. He retains fearless and eternal warrior. He may no longer be the heart carving badass he once was but he can still go toe to toe with the likes of Lysander. Plus don't forget he can use hammerhand to get S9 as well as having hatred: daemons and being able to cast banishment on a 2+. Still the man for the most part.   

Brother Captain/Grand Master got rolled into one unit entry. base cost and stats for a BHC are the same except they now no longer have psychic communion and have lost half their wargear options as discussed above. The grand master is a slightly more expensive upgrade than before but for that you get an extra attack (no BS6) and automatically become ML2, so a net cost reduction. They both get access to relics and special issue wargear, ranged weapons and melee weapons which with the exception of the hammer and psilencer all got significantly cheaper. These chaps also benefit from being the only units except the Librarian which can choose from different disciplines now and don't have preset powers. They also lost their grand strategy rules but these are now rolled into warlord traits and less relevant in 7th.

Stern has changed a bit. He's a power weapon cheaper and he has unyeilding anvil as his warlord trait. Zone of banishment is replaced by a pimped version of banishment, which targets all models in 24" rather than a single one in 12". (-1 to all invulnerable saves on daemons - yes please!)He is otherwise pretty much the same with ML2 and his strands of fate rule. By no means a bad choice for only 10 pts more than a grand master and Vs daemons he's certainly worth deep striking in.

Librarian stats stayed the same but he got a significant price drop and is now 135 points when upgraded to ML3 as opposed to the 200 points he used to be! He also got access to combi-weapons as well as usual range of weapons, thought he begins with a stave and needs upgrading for a ranged weapon and other melee weapons. He also lost a lot of wargear options same as the BHC/GM sadly but still benefits from being able to choose powers same as they do. A solid choice for a bolstering unit.

Crowe is a power fist more expensive now and retains his stats except for attacks which, like the brotherhood champion, are now standard at 3. his warlord trait is hammer of righteousness and he is pretty much a mix between a brotherhood champ and a purifier. He no longer makes purifiers troops or has master swordsman (no rending on a 4+), but on the plus side the blade of antwyr no longer grants enemies a boost against him and he can finally join other units as an IC. Potentially devastating in a group of purifiers but as always getting them to the fight is key. Otherwise he's a bit lackluster.  

Brotherhood Champions got a big overhaul. They now cost 50% more though. The anointed blade changed to a master crafted nemesis force sword, so no net change there. He lost a point of weapon skill but gained a much needed extra wound and a base attack level of 2. Speaking of which, the old herald of titan rules are gone and replaced with blade shield (reroll all saves) or sword strike (gains smash), both of which are improvements IMO. Heroic sacrifice is no longer a psychic power and is nowehere near as good as before in that it is simply a normal attack that doesn't remove the opponent. I never saw them used before and with that points cost doubt we will see them now. Had they stayed the same points or got a minor increase they would have been a viable choice, but when you can get a ML3 librarian for cheaper or a brother captain for the same points I'm not sure they're worth it.

Techmarine - these chaps may have lost a power in the form of reconstruction and cost the same as before. In fact, very little has changed about them save for access to no longer existent upgrades. Thankfully thought they retained access to the conversion beamer and now can be taken one for each HQ instead of taking up an elite slot.

Dreadnought - now a single elite entry with venerable as an upgrade in line with costs in codex marine books. They got a bit more expensive base but cheaper overall as a venerable dreadnought. Psyflame and Psybolts are now gone so they are less devastating than they used to be and also lost reinforced aegis in favour of the new aegis rule. Their powers are preset and they are the only vehicle in the book to come with the psychic pilot rule now. I can still see a place for the humble dreadnought in army lists, especially being a source of banishment to keep those pesky daemons at bay.

Paladins have also changed very little except for getting access to land raiders as dedicated transports. They now come with a minimum of 3 models and have lost holocaust in favour of banishment. The apothecary is now almost a quarter of the old cost making them much more favourable an option. Access to ranged weapons is the same (2/5) and any model can take melee or special issue wargear, meaning you can load them up with melta bombs and master crafted weapons if you choose. They are the only unit to get access to banners in the army now. Still a solid choice, but no longer made troops by Draigo.

Purifiers are still IMO one of the best units in the book, if not the game. They cost a power fist each but are definitely worth it. For that extra 5 points over strike squads you gain access to an extra ranged weapon (2/5), an extra attack, fearless, soul blaze on all CC attacks and ML2 (plus automatic access to cleansing flame, arguably one of the better psychic powers). Despite the melee weapon costs all being the same now, I can't see a good reason not to include these chaps over a regular strike squad, especially now they've lost warp quake. Definitely one of the stand out units for me.

Terminators got significantly cheaper making them a viable choice when compared to both paladins and purifiers now. Not much else changed aside from the addition of land raiders as dedicated transports and the loss of access to banners.

Strike squads lost warp quake and have to pay a premium for the Justicar now but otherwise stayed the same. Not much else to say really. Aside from delivery they pale in comparison to purifiers veen more so now.

Interceptors got a hair cheaper and retain their warp jump ability. Same as strike squads, they have to pay a premium for then justicar and also lost warp quake. Again, good for mobility, poor compared to purifiers.

Purgators lost astral aim and gained night vision (not very useful when your maximum range is 24") but otherwise are the same. They may not be able to deep strike but can still take 4 weapons for every 5 men which is good to min-max a squad as even purifiers require 10 men for 4 ranged weapons. You pay a premium for the justicar as with the other squads.  

Dreadknights are one of the winners in this book. Their base cost is slightly higher but the teleporter is 40% of the old cost. Plus all the weapon upgrades got cheaper. With doomfists gone there's now a real reason to upgrade the CCW to either a hammer or a greatsword, which is the same as a hammer but swaps concussive for master crafted. Very tasty in the old book, near mandatory now.  

Formation - Grey Knight brotherhood - allows teleport strikes the same as the detachment, but crucially also allows for all psychic tests to be passed on a 3+ so long as the grand master is still alive! As with several company sized formations, the biggest problem is going to be squeezing them all in to a game as even the bare minimum is likely to cost you 1750 pts. 

Conclusion

Much more streamlined and easy to build a list from, but the book lost a lot of flavour in the process. So many psychic powers have gone with little to replace them. Instead of being fixed, wargear has just been removed. Overall on the surface it appears to be a nerf, although arguably one that was needed. No new models doesn't help the cause either, and removing the two special characters that added a bit of flavour seems like a kick in the teeth. A simple conversion pic would have sufficed to keep them in and would still mean selling more terminator kits for GW.

Terminators and dreadnoughts got a points reduction as did the majority of vehicles, but they lost a lot for that reduction. Power armour took a beating with the exception of purifiers. My conclusion is that purifiers and dreadknights will be more popular than ever with more librarians making it into lists too. Grey Knights will remain competitive but sadly they may become a mono-build army.  I haven't had a chance to examine all the potential combos and psychic shennaigans - this is just my knee jerk so please feel free to disagree and comment. Cheers. 

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Hobby update - Iron Hands, Blood Ravens and a bit of retro

August 23, 2014, 1:14 pm

≫ Next: Space Wolves army assembled and basecoated

≪ Previous: Codex Grey Knights 7th Edition full review

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Hi folks, 

Now that I'm getting back into the swing of things hobby wise I've a few projects sitting on the painting desk that I'm wading through. Nothing really  to assemble at the moment but I will be grabbing a few Ork bits and some of the new Space Wolves in a week or so. In the meantime, however, I'm trying to make some headway painting these.

First up are the characters from my Blood Ravens army which I wanted to get at least tabletop ready. This is just the independent character mostly - If I'd included the sergeants then I'd have twice as many models to sort out. Techmarine Martellus, Captain and Chapter master Angelos, Librarian Orion, Captain Diomedes, Chaplain Mikelus and an Apothecary. 

Next are the outstanding incomplete models from my Iron Hands army. Effectively a third Venerable dreadnought, Terminators captain (just needed some touching up), Chaplain (again, mostly touch ups), 2 techmarines, 2 masters of the forge with different loadouts, a third master of the forge on a trike, the stalker and hyperios AA turrets, Terminator librarian, 5 honour guard and 6 devastators which are from a recent space crusade purchase. Once this little lot is done I hope to add the last finishing touches to the army - a bike command squad, drop pod and making the devastators and honour guard up to 10 man squads. 

As an aside, I recently bought a Space crusade mission dreadnought set. Out of it I got a chaos dreadnought (remarkably decent scale considering the age), some androids (necron warriors), 3 tarantulas, 6 heavy weapons marines (now iron hands) as well as some spare heavy weapons, including 3 conversion beamers 1 of which I've already used on the Iron Hands Master of the forge. A good little purchase and actually these models have aged pretty well considering.

Cheers

Space Wolves army assembled and basecoated

September 11, 2014, 12:43 pm

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Hi folks,

So the wolves have got an update and accordingly I've been trying to update my army over the past month to reflect this. When I first put the army together (5th edition) it was effectively a couple of Grey Hunter squads in Rhinos, a landraider full of blood claws and 3-4 smaller squads. Since then I've added some thunderwolves and fenrisian wolves as I opted to go for Harald Deathwolfs great company. With the recent release I added in a couple more thunderwolves and characters, Logan, a Stormwolf/fang and a couple of dreadnoughts.

full army shot

wulfen and wolf guard in the foreground. note the converted Iron priest on thunderwolf

grey hunters and their rides

characters, including converted ragnar, ltd wolf priest and Krom

long fangs and dreadnoughts

Terminators and more wolves

blood claws and slightly converted land raider

examples of some finished models.

So that's it. Thanks to a spraycan of 'the fang' they're now all basecoated too. They're complete at around 4500 points and so nothing left but to gradually wade through painting them. I'm hoping to add a nice scenic base to the flyer sometime before Xmas too. Cheers.

Deathwatch squad complete

October 7, 2014, 1:48 am

≫ Next: Crimson Fists army WIP plus deathwatch and Loken now properly photographed

≪ Previous: Space Wolves army assembled and basecoated

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Hi folks,

It dawned on me a few weeks back that blog wars 8 was less than 2 months away and that I had done very little towards it. Despite my love for my Iron Hands army I had promised myself I wouldn't be taking them this time around for several reasons. Firstly I'd like a change of scene and playstyle; secondly It would give me the incentive to paint up an army that would otherwise be sitting half finished in a cupboard somewhere. After much deliberation I narrowed it down to either Blood Ravens or Crimson Fists, with the fists ultimately winning the toss. However, to keep things interesting I built the list with a twist - a sternguard squad made from deathwatch marines and an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor would also be joining in the fun.

I made these chaps a long time ago and have made a few minor modifications to them since then. In fact, it was that long ago that the Space wolf is made up from older space wolf parts and the blood Angel only had the sword and head added later and thus sports regular marine armour and backpack. The theme was simple: one marine for every first founding chapter and Black Templars thrown in to make up the 10 (probably my favourite TBH). There are still a few missing elements in that their drop pod needs finishing and I have a couple of ICs (Blood Ravens Librarian and Crimson Fists Captain) also to paint up. Plus if this damn rain ever stops they need a coat of varnish. Between them and a few other models I've got off to  decent start with the Blog Wars army and although it will be quite the feat I'm hopeful I can get them done over the next month if I focus my hobby time into them exclusively. Updates to follow. Cheers. 

Crimson Fists army WIP plus deathwatch and Loken now properly photographed

October 12, 2014, 9:55 am

≫ Next: Crimson Fists Army Showcase plus extras

≪ Previous: Deathwatch squad complete

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Hi Guys,

As I mentioned on my other blog, I've now got ahold of some decent lighting for photographing finished models. I've been aware for some time that the photos I've been taking up til now were distinctly sup-par. These latest photos are of some models, some of which are newly painted, others older, taken with the new lighting. Hopefully they will be noticeably improved from my previous efforts and will do the finished paint-jobs much more justice now. I'm still very much the amateur at this and so feedback and suggestions much welcomed. Cheers.

Crimson Fists Army Showcase plus extras

November 16, 2014, 6:41 am

≫ Next: Finished model gallery updated

≪ Previous: Crimson Fists army WIP plus deathwatch and Loken now properly photographed

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The crimson Fists have returned from Blog Wars 8, alas with no prizes in two this time around. All 3 games resulted in losses and the painting competition had some stunning entrants as always, but in my opinion perhaps the most stunning army we've had on display to date in the form of a Dark Eldar army that deservedly won both best army and best character. Still, the Fists are now over half done in their entirety with two tactical squads, five terminators, a stormtalon, three characters and a pair of drop pods still outstanding to be painted. They were a joy to paint and quite the achievement in only 6 weeks. Here they are with a couple of other models that I've either painted or photographed lately thrown in too:

Deathwatch allies

And some random oldies and a new Iron Father just to practice with the camera

Current Space Marine Projects include wading through this pile of painting (not as bad as it looks though, most things are at least halfway there) in between other assembly projects. Blood Angels soon folks - time to get the red power armour dusted off!

Finished model gallery updated

November 19, 2014, 2:50 am

≫ Next: Novamarine test shot and more hobby photos

≪ Previous: Crimson Fists Army Showcase plus extras

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Hi guys,

Brief update just to say I've taken some better photos of some of my finished pieces with the new studio setup. I've added them to the gallery on the left and also updated both the Crimson Fists showcase from the weekend and Crimson fists page with them. Cheers

Novamarine test shot and more hobby photos

November 19, 2014, 2:49 pm

≫ Next: Novamarines test piece plus Iron Hands gallery

≪ Previous: Finished model gallery updated

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Hi chaps,

This is a test model for my Novamarine contingent of the Heroes of Badab project which I'm hoping to get on top of over the next 6 months. He just needs a little more work to be finished. As a recap it is a project with one unit from each of the loyalist factions from the Badab war in. I have about half the models needing varying degrees of work and unified bases and am hoping to get them all purchased and finished by next Summer - work and release dependent of course.

And of course some more photos of past projects to add to the site as I start to update things:

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Novamarines test piece plus Iron Hands gallery

November 23, 2014, 6:44 am

≫ Next: The Armorium - expanded wargear rules for Codex:space Marines.

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Hi chaps,

Quick update, I've finished the Novamarines Terminator test piece which has turned out beautifully. I've also taken some decent shots of my Iron Hands army which is probably my most finished army with only a few pieces unpainted. As a bonus there's a Sergeant Centurius piece at the end also. Cheers.

The Armorium - expanded wargear rules for Codex:space Marines.

November 23, 2014, 1:45 pm

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Hi folks,

This project has been at the back of my mind for a while now as I find the new style armouries and relics (and supplements) to be a great step in the right direction but still lacking somewhat when it comes to customising your army. Where things seem to be really let down is with the Sergeants, who these days seem to be little more than token additions to squads rather than mighty heroes of the chapter. In fact, more often than not these chaps don't even get upgraded to veteran sergeants any more, much less take upgrades. The Armorium project tries to address this and I would love any feedback on the rules / point costs below. Some of it is borrowed from 30K and other areas of 40K (including 2nd edition), but effectively what I've tried to do is come up with 30 new options for Sergeants: 6 ranged, 6 melee, 6 wargear, 6 traits and 6 whole squad specialties. The last two categories are the most interesting IMO and are based on addressing some shortcomings in armies such as Iron Hands, Salamanders and Imperial Fists. Other inspirations have come from models I have built and fan fiction I have written, as well as games such as Space Marine and Dawn of War. I am still lacking one ranged option, 1 melee, 1 relic and 1 squad option so please chip in with ideas and feedback on the rules / costs I have so far. Cheers.

ARMORIUM

The Armourium is designed to be used with a Codex: Space Marines army list. It is a means of further customising the heroes of the Chapter and is solely intended for use with veteran Sergeant within the army list. This includes the following models: Tactical squad veteran Sergeants, Scout squad veteran Sergeants, Crusader squad Sword Brothers, Vanguard squad veteran Sergeants, Sternguard squad veteran Sergeants, Terminator squad veteran Sergeants, Terminator assault squad veteran Sergeants, Assault squad veteran Sergeants, Centurion assault squad veteran Sergeants, Bike squad veteran Sergeants, Scout bike squad veteran Sergeants, Devastator squad veteran Sergeants, Centurion devastator squad veteran Sergeants and also includes both Company and Chapter champions (all such references to Sergeant below should be taken to apply to them also)  

Ranged weapons - any Sergeant may exchange his ranged weapon for one of the following. Only one may be taken per detachment and each Sergeant may not take more than one weapon.

Stalker pattern boltgun (5 points)

The model is armed with a stalker pattern boltgun which is identical to that carried by Sergeant Telion. As per entry in Codex: Space Marines

Auxillary grenade launcher (10 points)

Mounted beneath their boltgun, on their forearm or sometimes on the back of a suit of terminator armour, some Sergeant carry an auxillary grenade launcher. This weapon is taken in addition to the regular ranged weapon and can be fired as an alternative, in which case it fires as an assault 1 astartes grenade launcher.

Web-pistol (15 points)

An ancient and rare weapon, the web-pistol fires strands of a glue-like substance which, if it comes into contact with an enemy, will quickly solidify and serves to ensnare and incapacitate them. When firing a web pistol, use the blast template and roll to hit as normal. If the enemy is hit, it must take a strength test. If the test is passed, the unit takes no damage. If it is failed, the unit has -1 to its strength, initiative and attacks (to a minimum of 1) for the remainder of that player turn.

Vengeance pattern Heavy bolter (15 points)

Much the same as a standard heavy bolter except it incorporates both a suspensor web (granting the model the relentless universal special rule) and comes armed with hellfire shells.  

Wrath and fury (20 points)

Some Sergeants prefer to dispense with melee weapons altogether in favour of a pair of relic pistols in close combat. This entry replaces both the ranged and melee weapons carried by the Sergeant. One weapon can be either a plasma pistol or infernus pistol (6" range, S8, AP1, melta, pistol) and the other can be either a master crafted bolt pistol or hand flamer (template, S3, AP6, flamer). 

Melee weapons - any Sergeant may exchange his melee weapon for one of the following. Only one may be taken per detachment and each Sergeant may not take more than one weapon.

Chainaxe/heavy chainsword (5 points)

S user, melee, AP4

Charnabal sabre (10 points)

S user, AP-, melee, rending, +1I in challenges.

Justice and retribution (20 points)

Be they ulaks, falchions or any other matching pair of blades, some warriors prefer the dynamic of a pair of smaller weapons over that of a single larger one.  This entry replaces both the ranged and melee weapons wielded by the Sergeant.

2 specialist weapons, S user, AP3, melee, rending.

Relic blade (25 points)

As per entry in Codex: Space Marines

Paragon blade (30 points)

S+1, AP2, melee, specialist weapon, instant death on roll of 6 to wound.

Equipment - any Sergeant may take one of the following items of equipment. Only one of each may be taken per detachment and each Sergeant may not take more than one.

Signum (3 points)

As per entry in Codex: Space Marines

Auspex (5 points)

As per entry in Codex: Space Marines

Digital weapons (10 points)

As per entry in Codex: Space Marines

Artificer armour (15 points)

As per entry in Codex: Space Marines

Refractor field (15 points)

Grants a 5+ invulnerable save to the bearer

Squads of renown - One squad per detachment may be upgraded to a squad of renown using the rules below. Only one of each may be taken per army.

Incinerators (1 pt per model)

Some Chapters make extensive use of flame weapons as part of their doctrine, where others have simply adopted use of such weapons for pragmatic reasons. A single devastator squad may gain access to the heavy flamer entry of the heavy weapons section of the wargear list.

Catephractii (3 points per model)

Revered relics of the great crusade, suits of catephractii armour are few and far between. Those Chapters fortunate enough to have them usually field them all together  as a squad for the greatest synergy. A single unit of terminators or assault terminators may upgrade to Catephractii armour, exchanging relentless for slow and purposeful and increasing their invulnerable save to 4+.

Scout special ops (3 points per model)

The scouts in question are the best and brightest in the chapter and are but a stones throw away from becoming fully fledged battle brothers. Every member of the squad may increase their weapon and ballistic skill to 4. In addition, instead of taking a heavy weapon, the squad may instead be equipped with up to 2 weapons from the special weapons list in codex: space marines.

Deathwatch kill team (5 points per model)

In desperate times a squad of the deathwatch may be called in to aid their brother marines. A tactical squad may be upgraded to a deathwatch kill-team. The squad composition is derived from the tactical squad entry except that every model gains special issue ammunition and may select its wargear from the sternguard entry. In addition, the squad gains the Chapter tactics: deathwatch rule. All models in the unit gain the preferred enemy: xenos universal special rule.

Siege specialists (Assault squads 7 points per model, tactical squads 4 points per model)

Some Space Marine Chapters train specialist squads for breaking through sieges. These squads can either be outfitted for close combat assaults or for slow, purposeful advances. A single assault or tactical squad can be outfitted for siege duties. If an assault squad is chosen they all gain combat shields and melta bombs as well as their normal options. If a tactical squad is chosen then they gain siege mantlets, which allow all armour saves to be rerolled against shooting attacks only,  although they gain the bulky special rule, may not take dedicated transports and cannot run or make sweeping advances. Independent characters who join the squad are bound by these benefits and restrictions.  

Specialist role - the Sergeant in question has received augmentation or training to make him particularly adept within a certain battlefield role. Only one of each specialist may be taken per army.

Tech-adept (10 points)

The sergeant has trained to the level of tech-adept and has a particular affinity with the machine spirits of the Adeptus Astartes vehicles. The sergeant has the blessing of the Omnissiah special rule.

Med-adept (10 points)

The Sergeant has received additional training from the Chapters apothecarion and carries a medkit with him. The Sergeants entire squad has the feel no pain (6+) universal special rule as long as the Sergeant is alive.  

Extensive bionics (15 points)

The Sergeant in question has an extensive amount of bionics throughout and is more machine than man. The Sergeant has strength and toughness 5 and adds +1 to any feel no pain roll he is required to make. (note, this means that under normal circumstances he will have feel no pain (6+) but, for example, if he has chapter tactics: Iron Hands, he will have feel no pain (5+).

Tactical Dreadnought (20 points)

A few notable Chapters make use of suits of Terminator armour for the Sergeants leading the squads. The Sergeant in question exchanges all equipment for Terminator armour, a storm bolter and a power sword and may select further items of wargear from the terminator weapons lists. Note that by wearing terminator armour the transport options available to the Squad and the ability to make sweeping advances will be limited.

Sharpshooter (20 points)

The sergeant has a particular skill with ranged weaponry for which he has won renown throughout the Chapter. He has a targetter hardwired into his occipital lobe, making every ranged attack made by the Sergeant has the twin-linked universal special rule. In addition, the Sergeant has access to both the special and heavy weapon lists from which he may swap out his boltgun for a single weapon.  

Lieutenant (25 points)

The Sergeant is second in Command only to the Company Captain and often acts in his stead. The Sergeant has +1 attacks (max 3 base), +1 Ld (10 max), +1 WS and +1 W but otherwise remains the same.

Painting reflection - my top 10 tips to pass on.

December 1, 2014, 12:43 am

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Hi guys,

This is a bit of an unusual post. Basically I've been rooting through my blood angels in preparation for a clear out / update. Seeing a host of models which I've painted both recently, 5 years ago when I got back into 40k (blood Angels have always been my favourite army) and the odd one from some 20 years ago when I very first discovered 40k put things into perspective for me as to how my painting has improved over time. I've never really followed any painting tutorials as such and so what I've learned I've picked up through experience, trial and error. However, I decided to type up a rundown those things I've found most beneficial in the hope they may be of use to others hoping to improve their painting techniques.

10: Preparation is key

In more ways than one. Having the correct paints, tools, brushes, clean water, a palette and a well lit place to paint is vital. Setting aside a reasonable amount of time (half hour minimum) is also important to actually progress. Music often helps to keep things interesting, and of course having your model prepared so that it is trimmed, based and primed properly is essential. If not, any hard work you put in after that will fall short.

9: Do a test model

If you're starting a new army then forget about batch painting to start with, that can come later. Spend the time doing a test model through to completion and be sure you're happy with the result. Make notes of which paints you used in which order and that way you can always come back to the project later and not forget, thus leaving yourself with models that don't match.

8: Set realistic goals

Slightly ironic tip this one seeing how many models I still have to paint. There's nothing more soul destroying, however, than never seeming to make progress with a project. Organisation, time management and commitment feature heavily in this, but so does being realistic with what you can achieve. Decide on your priorities then take it from there. I for example prefer to tackle a whole army at once, get it all assembled, undercoated then base coated. I will then leave it a while and revisit later knowing in the meantime I can still stick it on a table and game with it. If instead you do a single unit to perfection then you have a gorgeous set of minis but can't use them to game with until they have some buddies.

7: Right tools for the job

This mostly pertains to brushes. Get plenty and treat them well. Cheaper brushes are fine for base coating and drybryshing but for the detail work you need good, fine tipped brushes. At least 3 sizes. Even if you're having a batch painting session, wash the brush out completely every minute at least and redefine the point. Change water frequently, thin the paints with water or thinner and use a mixing palette.

6: Basecoat

Once the model is appropriately primed of course. Mostly I use army painter black spray and touch up any missed areas with abaddon black. Sometimes white priming is better, such as with yellow. The new base paints (especially in spray format) are ideal for any colour. Best to start with a couple of thinned coats and add any other colour layer to that after. It's vital to get the base coat correct - too thin and every painting step from then onward will suffer for it. Too thick and the mini will be doomed from the start also.

5: Highlights

The difference between average and great minis often comes down to highlights. With the ranges available now this is much easier than it used to be as you don't often have to mix colours. I generally use 2 highlights. Move on from your base colour with the next lightest. Sometimes this may only be subtle but make sure you cover all the edges to be highlighted with it. Then I pick the final highlight, a colour which if used as the first highlight would have looked too gaudy and bright. However, by just applying it to the highest raised areas and sharpest corners you can give the impression that light is catching that a little bit more and make your mini stand out. Don't be afraid to invent your own highlight on curved surfaces either. Use a fine brush for all highlights.

4: Shading

Equally as important as highlighting is shading. Some areas will call for being drenched in shade, where others simply call for a delicate application with the detail brush. Consistency is key also, as you want to leave some of the wash behind without drowning the area. Glazes are a bit trickier but can be great for thinning the veil between super bright highlights and dark shading.

3: Batch painting

To tie everything together nicely you can now try doing all of the above to a squad all in one go. Generally you'll apply each stage of each colour to all models at the same time. This allows not only better time efficiency but also saves on paint wastage and allows your unit to develop equally over time. For example you may spend a couple of hours doing all the base colours on a unit of tactical marines then wash at the end. By the time you're done they're tabletops ready. Next time you may do all the highlights. The time after that touch things up, base and varnish.

2: Finishing touches

Speaking of which, time to talk about finishing touches. Depending how you've chosen to do things your model may not even be armed / based by the time it's finished. A good basing theme can make an average army into a great one. Conversely, a poor base can make a great mini look bland. Details such as scrollwork, lenses and decals add to the beauty and interest if the model. Battle damage and weathering are more advanced techniques which can turn a beautiful yet pristine mini into one that really looks like it has fought on the battlefield. Finally, varnish should never be forgotten as without it your poor mini is just asking to be chipped and damaged. I use matt spray (careful to use the right distance and temperature) then touch up shiny areas with a blob of gloss.

1: Learn and grow

I learn new techniques and tricks all the time by either reading blogs or just experimenting. Just because you reach one level doesn't mean you can't be happy with that, but there's always more scope to grow and progress. Set new challenges, find inspiration in wd, try out a new army or expand / ally in an existing one. Without a new challenge things will stagnate and that's when the hobby becomes boring. Things can always be revisited later after a break and there's nothing like an upcoming event or a project log to motivate you to pick up the brush. Share your work, take on compliments and advice and never look upon it as a chore as that's the moment it ceases to be a pleasure.

That's all folks, I hope it's been useful. Cheers.

Blood Angels are almost here - pre-release thoughts

December 2, 2014, 6:35 am

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≪ Previous: Painting reflection - my top 10 tips to pass on.

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Well here we are folks. It's hard to imagine it's been almost 5 years since the Angels got an update. For anyone who doesn't know, Blood Angels are my first love in 40k and have been for about 20 years now. They are my largest army and I have around 200 models including a battle company. I love everything about them: the background, colour scheme, heraldry, unique equipment, fighting style, Primarch, noble/savage and tragic curse. So expect plenty of posts over the next few weeks as things start to take shape.

Last time around saw some great additions to the ranks. The armoury got expanded with various pistols and blades, veteran assault squads got hit with the codex bat and split down the middle, sanguinary priests got a unique entry and awesome area effect power, a few new special characters were introduced along with a new psychic power list, Dreadnoughts got some new variants and toys, death company got even meaner, land raiders became dedicated transports and could deep strike (!), we got the first marine flyer, sanguinary guard, a new chaplain, the Sanguinor etc etc. I could go on. Basically, I thought it was a great release at the time, and it has stood the test relatively well. But now it's looking dated and an update is definitely welcomed with open arms.

In terms of models they were pretty much split into 2 waves, with the sanguinary guard, Baal and death company arriving with the codex, sanguinor, astorath and lemartes and the second wave bringing along the (soon to not be) unique Stormraven flyer and a plastic dreadnought kit. These kits were all pretty much faultless and gave the Blood Angels a comprehensive range to be proud of. In addition, the beauty of Blood Angels is they've benefitted from subsequent codex marine updates too in the form of the plastic veteran, tactical and character kits.

Shield of Baal was our first solid inkling that a Blood Angel release was on the horizon. The moment I spotted what they did with Sanctus reach I would have put money on the same being true for Blood Angels and I'm thrilled that turned out to be the case. I may get ahold of the campaign books once they are reprinted and the model/codex releases are out of the way as my regular gaming partner plays Tyranids so it makes sense. As for Deathstorm, the same formula was used as for Stormclaw - older models boxed with a pair of limited character figures  - both of which are beautiful. New base sizes came as a surprise but I can firmly say my models will be staying 25mm - I cannot begin to fathom rebasing my entire collection but will likely treat any new collections to the larger bases.

So what do we know so far. We have a very shiny new hardback codex which will hopefully bring us up to scratch with both codex space marines and 7th edition. We retained unique psychic powers, which was likely given the background but still gave pause for thought when wolves/orks/BAs lost their powers through FAQ earlier in the year. We've been granted a unique tactical squad kit - an unprecedented but far from unwelcome move, especially as it adds heavy flamers (Sorry Sallie players), grav weapons (Sorry DA players) and a host of beautiful new bits to play with. We also have  a new sanguinary priest model, which although a dramatic departure from what we're used to is a beautiful addition to the army - mine shall certainly be used as Corbulo.

What remains to be seen is which other rumours turn out to be true. Apparantly Blood talons and magna grapples will change and the primaris psychic power will be quickening. While the bog standard marine wargear/rules and certain Blood Angel specific items (infernus pistols etc) are sure to stay the same, there are a great many things with potential to change. Points costs, red thirst, priests, descent of Angels etc etc etc all have potential to change. Other rumours pointed to two new kits to be released the week after the codex wave. The first was a new terminator kit which would allow normal, death company and honour guard terminators to be built. The other model was an update (Logan Style) for Mephiston like a mini-Nagash. Wishlisting; probably. Would it be welcomed; hell yes. We won't have to wait long to find out.

What is for sure is that 5th Edition was a huge push for certain armies to drag them to a better place. Whole armies got drastic updates / revamps - namely Necrons, Dark Eldar and Blood Angels. This left several 6th edition armies needing similar treatment but not quite on the same scale. When we came to 7th, the impact of 6th has become clear with GW in fact over-reaching in some cases and having to trim back on the gaming content of the codexes or slim down the releases, most notably with Dark Eldar and Grey Knights. Once Blood Angels are done (and Necrons are sure to follow shortly) 40k will be in a really good place to turn another corner and say 'OK, so we have really comprehensive model ranges and shiny books, what can we achieve now?' This hopefully will turn their attention to other things such as model wave releases (More plastic Chaos please!), campaigns, other fringe armies (Sororitas, Mechanicus), more supplements and fixing some of the odd one out books in terms of power levels (Dark Angels and Eldar being opposite ends of the spectrum here). I suspect the Codex release schedule will crank down a few notches from what it has been. Exciting times are hopefully ahead in 2015 as we step into the relative unknown.  Cheers.

Blood angels release overview

December 15, 2014, 9:29 am

≫ Next: Blood angels codex review - overall army impressions

≪ Previous: Blood Angels are almost here - pre-release thoughts

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Well it's finally here. The Blood Angel Codex has deep struck into the world of 40k leaving (a sure to be imminent ) Necron Codex as the only non-hardback. I'm really intrigued to see where they go after that given the emphasis on supplements and campaigns recently. 

Anyway, back to the main event: Blood Angels. My first love in 40K has finally got an update after 5 years. I remember all the hype with the previous codex and all that it introduced to them. (covered in my previous post) With the inevitable nerf bat hitting them though, will the Blood Angels come out better or worse for 7th. This is the first article which will be a general overview of the release. Every day this week I'll post up an article on the individual FOC sections comparing old and new and giving a few first impressions. Although the interwebz initially showed some scepticism to the codex, I'll try to remain optimistic and positive as always.   

THE BOOK:

Glorious, as with all of the hardbacks. The cover is beautiful, not my favourite but beautiful still. The first thing that strikes you is the name change; codex Adeptus Astartes is the new things apparantly. Why Space Wolves didn't follow the same convention I don't know but if there's one thing GW have demonstrated lately it's that consistency loses out to pace. We are treated to 20 pages of background and art on the Blood Angels - my favourite art piece being on page 17 depicting the initiation of new recruits. Gorgeous presentation as we have come to expect in the past couple of years. A short section deals with successors with some gorgeous artwork and introduces us to a long-lost cousin in the form of the Carmine Blades - nice bit of background for them. 

After the obligatory timeline (culminating with Shield of Baal) we are treated to a fantastic model gallery showing off the entire new range. There are some fantastic group shots and conversions in here. I was a particular fan of the Flesh Tearers two-page spread. After that the book takes the same convention as others with an armoury section followed by a whopping 40-50 pages of datasheets. It's obvious from most of the sheets that GW steers clear of kitbashes in this section showing simply the plain Captain model and assault squad. (Though the bikes and Command squad are mixed) After that is a wargear section and summary. 

THE MODELS:

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect with this release as the Angels had a pretty comprehensive collection already. If I had to put money on it a few months ago I would have said a sanguinary priest, revamped character model, new flyer and updated generic kit (i.e assault squad). In addition, I was 100% sure they would tie them in with a campaign set and exclusive model like with Stormclaw. As it happens, I was about 50% right. Character-wise we got a Lovely new priest model which has a completely new design aesthetic, Terminator Captain Karlaen from the campaign box and a Terminator Librarian. Boxed sets were similarly unpredictable. A brand new and exclusive tactical squad which is basically a digital mash-up of the Codex tactical squad and death company sets. Just. Plain. Gorgeous. Lastly, an exclusive Terminator assault squad, which while a bit static pose wise, puts the regular kit to shame. A bit stingy on the parts but it also includes a banner. These releases have been very Terminator-heavy - bit of a gamble considering how many people have Space Hulk terminators already .Oh well, one can never have too many terminators......

OTHER:

As with the Space Wolf release, blood Angels have been tied in to part of a campaign. The first shield of Baal book focussed mainly on the Tyranids, while the second part (Deathstorm) gave us super cheap minis and a couple of limited models. This was a great way for people to get a cheap bolster to their collection and a few extra units and rules (I will cover in the FOC reviews) to add in. Lastly, and I have pre-ordered the hardback, we have Exterminatus to look forward to. I am hopeful that the contents of this supplement will contain all we need to fill any missing blanks in the codex, such as all jump armies. Dan and I are hoping to play the whole campaign in the new year time allowing. 

The other ancillary releases include the obligatory cards and painting guide, both welcomed as they are excellent little supplements for die-hard fans. Also worth a mention are the Blood Angels dice - a nice little collectors set, although 10 dice hardly cuts it practically with all those death company rolls!!

CONCLUSION:

Well, that's the run through finished. Overall a pretty stereotypical release content wise. The book and models are stunning and the rules I will cover in subsequent posts. Tying in with Shield of Baal has been nice as it has added a lot of extra hype and content. I'm pretty darn chuffed and looking forward to updating my collection over the next month then getting some games in.  

Blood angels codex review - overall army impressions

December 16, 2014, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Blood Angels codexc review - HQ

≪ Previous: Blood angels release overview

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Overall I am pretty impressed with the release. Obviously new codex means change and some people are very resistant to change, usually when it involves an overpowered unit they've been exploiting being toned down and made more reasonable. I for one welcome change as thesedays it usually means balance and progression. Over the week I will be reviewing the codex and highlighting what's new and what the implications may be. 

CODEX ADHERENT OR NOT?

One thing that struck me about the new book is that in terms of slot placement and organisation, the Blood Angels are now more codex adherent. They also pack grav weapons and relic blades in addition to their own armoury weapons. However (and this is a good thing), they did not get any of the new toys available to codex marines and actually gained next to nothing overall much like Dark Eldar and Grey Knights (except we didn't lose much either). Many people were hoping for stormtalons and the like, but that would take away from the space marine codex too much in my opinion. We have our toys, they have theirs. We probably only got grav and relic blades as they were present in the sternguard and vanguard sets. Other people were disappointed with assault squads not being as abundantly available and all drop armies not being viable. We may well get a detachment or formation in Exterminatus so all is not lost. In any case, we should be happy with things as they are. For everything else there's unbound, formations, multiple detachments and allies.

ARMY RULES

Red thirst, being fluffy but a bit tedious, is no more. Universal furious charge lives on in its place! I can live without the fearless (ATSKNF is good enough most of the time) to ensure 100% rather than 16.6% or my army has furious charge. Descent of Angels is also sadly gone and lives on as a warlord trait instead. There may well be a detachment further down the line that brings it back however.

WARGEAR

Frag cannon - same

Angelus boltgun - same

Stormstrike missiles replace bloodstrike

Blood talons become specialist weapons that are Sx2, AP2, shred and are a power fist upgrade.

The Librarian dreadnought gained the furioso force halberd, a Sx2 Ap2 force weapon!

Glaives encarmine remained the same but are cleanly divided into axe and sword now.

Relic blades became available for captains and vanguard sergeants.

Blood chalice - adds +1 to the weapon skill of that unit.

Death mask - unit gains fear.

Overcharged engines - vehicle gains fast unit type.

(all else same as codex space marines / rulebook / previous edition)

PSYCHIC POWERS

We only lost smite and shackle soul from the old powers and only Mephiston retained Sanguine Sword.

Primaris - Quickening (WC1) - blessing targetting the psyker or unit in 12" - gain fleet and D3 I + A. This could be huge on characters such as Mephiston and Dante. Effectively a better version of the old might of heroes.

1 - Fear of the Darkness (WC1) - malediction targetting enemy in 12" - morale check with -2 Ld. Again, could be a great power under the right circumstances for making otherwise tough units run of the board edge or an objective. Similar to before but with less range.

2 - Unleash rage (WC1) - blessing on a friendly unit in 18" - gives the unit rage or if they have rage gives them +1 attack. Great for making already devastating assault units unstoppable.

3 - Shield of Sanguinius (WC1) - Psyker and unit have 5++. Great if cast on say sanguinary guard and a vast improvement on the old 5+ cover save.

4 - Blood boil (WC2) - focussed witchfire 18" target takes 2 toughness tests and each failed loses a wound (no saves allowed) and if removed, place a large blast s4/AP5 ignore cover over. An improvement on the old one in my opinion, which already incorporated the focussed witchfire mechanic.

5. Blood lance (WC2) - 12" beam, S8 AP1 lance. Pretty much same as before and still nasty!

6 - Wings of sanguinius (WC2) - blessing on friendly unit in 12". Move unit 12" immediately - cannot then assault. Better and worse than before. It now targets a whole unit in the psychic phase which could be useful in objective missions or to get in/out of range of a target or harm. On the other hand, no more jump pack Mephiston. 

WARLORD TRAITS

1 - Red rampage (Tycho; Tycho the lost; Seth) - Warlord has rage.

2 - Speed of the Primarch (Corbulo) - Warlord has +1 I.

3 - Artisan of war - one Warlord weapon (non-relic) is master-crafted.

4 - Soulwarden (Astorath; Mephiston) - Warlord has admantium will

5 - Descent of Angels (Dante) - Jump/flyer/skimmer can reroll reserve rolls and scatter D6" less than 

normal.

6 - Heroic bearing (Sanguinor) - Imperial armies in 12" have fearless

RELICS

Angels wing (25) - jump pack can reroll deep strike scatter dice and mishap rolls. Interceptors can only snap shot against the model and its unit. Potentially great Vs Tau Riptide interceptor large blasts.

Crown Angelic (10) - Has fear and enemy takes Ld test at -2. Potentially good against non-fearless/ATSKNF armies such as Orks CSM and Eldar.

Veritas Vitae (15) - Warlord generates additional strategic warlord trait.

Gallian's staff (10 - Librarian only) - same as a force staff but can reroll 1s on psychic test - if reroll is a 1 take a wound with no saves.

Fury of Baal (25) - Master-crafted plasma pistol that doesn't get hot

Valour's edge (20) - AP2 power sword - very nice considering the S and I bonuses in the army.

 

TACTICAL OBJECTIVES

1 - valour of the Angels - score 1VP if you issued a challenge

2 - Aerial assault - score 1VP if a BA skimmer, jump or flyer unit destroys an enemy unit (D3 if it 

was the turn the BA unit arrived)

3 - Purity through bloodshed - score 1VP if if an enemy unit destroyed in you assault phase (3-5 = D3, 6+ = D3+3).

4 - Decapitating strike - score 1VP if enemy warlord slain.

5 - Swift advance - opponent selects 2 objectives - 1VP if you control 1 at end of turn, D3 if both.

6 - Noble self-sacrifice - 1VP if your warlord removed as a casualty. Discard if your Warlord refuses a challenge.

DETACHMENT

Baal strike force - same as CAD except Elites 1-4. Can reroll warlord trait and all models add 1 to their initiative when they charge unless it was disordered (in other words, old furious charge is back!).

Blood Angels codexc review - HQ

December 17, 2014, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Blood Angels Codex review - Troops

≪ Previous: Blood angels codex review - overall army impressions

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HQ:

Some gains and losses here. Seth and Dante (more on them later) have become Lords of war, the Sanguinary priests / Corbulo have been moved to HQ (as have techmarines and Librarian Dreads) and The Honour Guard (now rechristened Command Squad) have, in a bizarre move, ended up as elites. The Reclusiarch is sadly, but predictably gone, with the standard Chaplain reclaiming its place in HQ. I'll cover the individual entries here:

Captain:

A 10% points drop in line with codex Marines and finally being granted access to artificer armour has seen the Captain become a viable choice again. He would be good tooled up with some mobility and some CC potential. He also gained access to relic blades (as did Vanguard Sergeants) striking a good balance between them being codex adherent and the Sanguinary Guard retaining some unique wargear. Sadly, despite this, the Captain will almost always lose out to other more favourable HQ choices.

Captain Karlaen:

Not in the Codex but very much usable given how datasheets work now. Captain Karl is actually pretty darn good. Regular Captain stats with terminator armour and a master-crafted Thunder hammer, Captain Karl comes in as a power fist more expensive than a DIY build. Aside from the master-crafted, he also brings counter attack and his Warlord trait to the mix. Strategic genius is, in my opinion, a huge boost to the army and, depending on your build, a great asset to have. The ability to reroll reserve rolls can make all the difference between your flyer being able to shoot down enemy flyers or getting your army where and when you want it to be. (drop pod list will likely be popular, but more on that later) As an extra perk you add +1 to seize the initiative rolls. Overall I think Karlaen is a fairly rounded character who strikes a good balance between being a beatstick and bolstering the army as a whole. His counter attack also makes him a good squad bolstering unit.

Librarian:

A new model and a hefty points drop have made Librarians one of the stand-out HQ choices in the Codex, not least because of the Sanguinary discipline. at 35 points cheaper for a level 1 and 60 points cheaper for a level 2, it would be rude not to bring one along for the ride. They retain pretty much the same options as before and gain access to one of the relics, Gallian's staff, covered earlier. Overall a very solid choice for reasons stated in my review of the psychic powers and still relatively cheap even when tooled up.

Captain Tycho:

There are always winners and losers in codex updates, and sadly Tycho was the biggest loser. He may be 45 points cheaper, but went from being a viable choice in certain lists to an almost certain leave at home. He has artificer armour and normal Captain stats and his Warlord trait grants him rampage. Bloodsong is a master-crafted combi-melta with 50% greater melta range now, but in turn Tycho lost access to special issue ammunition. So far so good, except that in place of the dead man's hand he got digital weapons. Preferred-enemy Orks is the same. Now, Tycho reeks of a character who is well rounded but ill-thought out - he has no close combat weapon to make the digital weapons, rampage and preferred enemy actually count for anything. Although he is generously costed compared to an equivalent Captain, the problem lies in that you would never arm a captain in that manner as he's not fit for purpose. A real sad oversight considering I actually used to take Tycho. Even rending might have made him a usable choice, but in his current format he's pretty useless.

Tycho the lost:

Has identical issues to Captain Tycho and costs 15 points more. However, he can now join Death Company units (only) which is a vast improvement. in addition he gains rage, relentless, feel no pain and fearless. A good 15 point improvement, but still hindered by the lack of close-combat weapon. Even in a death company heavy army you would want Chaplains/Astorath/Priests at the fore so sorry Tycho, get used to shelf warming til next time.

Librarian Dreadnought:

Now an HQ rather than an upgrade to the elite Furiosos, Librarian Dreadnoughts may well be a popular choice for a couple of reasons. Firstly, It now costs 25 points less but you can pay that same amount to upgrade to mastery level 2. Secondly, A number of wargear tweaks make him much more viable. He can now upgrade his storm bolter to a heavy flamer / meltagun and also the force halberd got pimped to a strength 10 AP2 force weapon! With all the initiative bolstering available in the book monstrous creature beware!! A pretty good HQ option suffering from the same problems that dreadnoughts have in general, though it is still AV13 on the front.

Mephiston:

Controvery inbound. The Lord of death is no longer so much of a Lord of death. A lot has changed with Mephiston so this may take some time. First, the good news. He is 75 points cheaper and is now an independent character, meaning he can hide in squads once more. He retains all his wargear, fleet, furious charge and mastery level 3. Transfixing gaze now means you can hit on a 2+ if you roll equal to or greater than your opponents leadership in a challenge. His unique power, sanguine sword, remains the same and grants you s10 - a s10 force sword is nothing to be sniffed at. His warlord trait grants admantine will.

Now for the bad. His force sword is still AP3, hindering him greatly against hammer units. He has to roll for all of his powers except sanguine sword. The biggest change is of course to his stat line, which has seen him go from a mini-monstrous creature to a pimped Chief Librarian. He lost a point of strength, toughness and weapons skill, two wounds and two points of initiative. Plus he still has no invulnerable save, though this is less of an issue given hi new IC status and the bolstering abilities granted in the army.

In conclusion, I think the changes are a good thing. Mephiston was ridiculous before, yet now is exactly what he should be - a souped up combat Librarian. Psychic power and army rule bolstering can still grant him a decent amount of immortality and he will still butcher his way through any characters and squads in power armour or less. He has changed and will likely no longer be an auto-include, but I welcome any changes that encourage diversity in lists.

The Sanguinor:

The Sanguinor has also changed somewhat. He lost an attack and dropped a whopping 75 points. Avenging Angel got better in that he can now reroll to hit and wound in all challenges not just against a nominated HQ. His blessing is now gone though, so no pimped Sergeants anymore. His 3++ got knocked down to a 4++ Iron halo. Aura of fervour remained the same granting +1 attacks to Blood Angel units in 6". Eternal warrior, fearless and furious charge remain, and courtesy of his death mask he causes fear. His warlord trait grants all Imperial units in 12" fearless which is nice. It's hard to judge this one to be honest. He seems to have been rebalanced accordingly and despite being much cheaper still doesn't seem to be the best choice. One on one he is a pretty solid HQ slayer against anything that isn't 2+ save, and he certainly has more speed than Mephiston. His bolstering abilities are also good for units around him, but a Librarian (or Mephy) can still do pretty much the same and stay hidden within a squad. Tough call really. I'd still use him but he wouldn't be top choice.

Astorath:

This chap is now top dog with the loss of the Reclusiarch. The question remains, how does he measure up. The only times I've ever used him he has underperformed. As with the others he took a points drop down by 65 points while largely remaining unchanged. He is now unique in that he is the only unit to offer rerolls to wound on Death Company. Zealot now covers the other parts of his rules. Shadow of the Primarch, while fluffy, is now no longer valid due to the loss of the red thirst rule. The executioners axe in now effectively a 2-handed power axe which auto-wounds and causes instant death rather than forcing invulnerable rerolls as it used to. His warlord trait grants admantine will. I think Astorath is pretty solid and a must-have in death company lists. The 2+ and 4++ makes him pretty survivable in a challenge and his axe (still s6 on the charge) is brutal enough to humble most opponents. The points drop also adds to making him a solid choice, although as mentioned he needs to be with jump death company to get the most out of him.

Sanguinary Priest:

OK, I'm going to have a bit of a moan about this one. I welcome the move to HQ, and as with Haemunculi they are now no longer a 1-3 choice. I also welcome upping their status to Chaplain/Librarian stats given their standing in the Chapter. What I'm unhappy about is that they lack the option for terminator armour limiting their use with deep-striking terminators and, more importantly, invalidating the two conversions I spent a chunk of time making. They can't even be passed up as artificer armoured as they don't have that option either.

Right, rant over. Beautiful new model (I'll use him as Corbulo) and changes abound. As mentioned he now has better stats for the extra 10 points. The Narthicium is now a standard one as with Codex Marines, granting feel no pain to the squad. The Priests (unlike the Novitiates in the command squad) carry the Blood Chalice, which now don't give the Feel no pain and furious charge 6"bubble (all squads have furious charge anyway) but instead grant +1 weapon skill to that unit. This is pretty darn huge to be honest as they'll allow units to strike against equivalent marines on a 3+. Just one of the army perks available to the Angels which will give them the edge in combat against their peers, this is a decent change which allows you to get the WS5 death company of old back should you wish. It also makes more sense from a fluff perspective. Adding in a jump priest to a unit of sanguinary guard or death company will allow a brutal full on assault at S5, WS5 and feel no pain. A solid HQ choice for bolstering if not combat itself, though the wargear lists are there if you choose to tool him up.

Brother Corbulo:

A power weapon more expensive than before and no longer an Elite slot choice, Corbulo is also now pretty badass like his priest Bretheren. Corbs gained a wound and a point of Leadership, as well as having a warlord trait which adds an extra one to his initiative. His all seeing eye allows one reroll per battle but is restricted as to what it can be used for - still very handy to have at game-changing points (unless you forget you have it like I do). Heavens teeth remains pretty much the same being +1 strength and rending, except that you can now stack the furious charge with it for s6 potentially on the charge. What's more, the red grail is pretty much the same as a normal chalice except you add +1 to initiative also. This is huge, as it allows you to strike better, faster and harder in combat than any other marine army. It isn't cumulative with the Blood chalice of course, but with his own perks will grant Corbulo alone 5 S6, I7 WS6 rending attacks on the charge. Obviously he carries a narthcium too and thus has FnP. His biggest drawbacks are a lack of mobility, low AP weaponry and survivability as he has power armour and no ++ save. Still, pretty solid in a squad and grants some excellent perks to those around him. Double the price of a basic priest but worth considering as an alternative if mobility isn't an issue.

Techmarine:

Not much to say here. They remain pretty much the same with things brought in line with codex Marines. Useful if you run a Dreadnought heavy list or want to keep land raiders ticking over. The double edged sword depends on what list you want to run. They're a cheap HQ if that's all you want (though I'd probably take a priest) but hard to squeeze in with all the HQ competition unless they're vital to your list, such as in the aforementioned dreadnought list.

Chaplain:

Again, not much to say here as points and options have been brought in line with the Space Marine codex. They have moved from elites to HQ and Reclusiarchs have disappeared. Liturgies of blood have now been replaced with zealot, meaning they no longer double bolster rerolls on death company. May still be useful if you want the rerolls on the charge with a particular unit though. 

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Blood Angels Codex review - Troops

December 18, 2014, 9:00 am

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TROOPS

Just a short section here, with most things simply brought in line with codex space marines. Biggest change, and not entirely unexpected given the way FOC slots work these-days, is that assault squads, death company and death company dreads have disappeared. Well, almost anyway as we'll see in a moment.

Tactical squad:

Now cost exactly the same as their codex counterparts except that they obviously have furious charge instead of chapter tactics. They now also boast access to grav weapons (Dark Angel player envy) and heavy flamers (Salamanders player envy) making them arguably better than Codex marines in terms of their flexibility. One other thing is that sergeants can access double pistols should they wish, making them a force to contend with in the firepower department. Solid

Scout squad:

Very little to say as they are now basically codex marines. Furious charge instead of chapter tactics of course and now the option for hellfire shells on the heavy bolter. Plus double pistols on the Sergeant, although this is probably not as useful as on the other squads. A great, cheap choice though if you want to load up on other things.

Cassor the Damned:

Cassor is actually 10 points cheaper than an equivalently armed Death company dreadnought. A bit of a shame he isn't Moriar, but if you want a troops choice DC dread to free up an Elite slot and gain objective secured, he's your man. A decent choice that I'll probably take quite often. Bear in mind he doesn't have a drop pod option so you'll need to run him, use a fast attack drop pod or use a stormraven to deliver him.

Raphen's death company:

Again, they are identical in points to the equivalently armed death company squad but would benefit from being troops (obsec) and not taking up an elite slot. Where Cassor outshines them is that he is equipped nicely, whereas a 5-man DC squad won't last long in the open and there is very little in terms of ablative wounds before you start to lose special weapons and points. Worth considering, but a proper death company squad is much more likely to fill the role you need it to.

Blood Angels Codex review - Elites

December 19, 2014, 9:00 am

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ELITES

This may take some time as there are so many options to cover in this slot. Thankfully the Baal Strike Force detachment gives you one more slot to play with. Dreadnoughts are now all in this slot (except Cassor and Librarians) making them crowded but it makes sense. All veterans, death company, Lemartes and sanguinary guard also reside here now, although 3 of the specialist marines moved to HQ and in return the command squad moved to elites so there's a net gain to the slot.

Command squad:

OK, so this is a weird one. Honour Guard are now called Command squads and they are an Elite slot rather than a slotless HQ choice. On the plus side the Sanguinary novitiate and champion are included for free in the base cost. Jump packs for the squad cost a power fist and you can tool up the 3 veterans with storm shields and melee/ranged weapons. If you have the points and a slot spare they may make for a decent melta or plasma unit to accompany a character. I like the fact the novitiate is distinguished from the Sanguinary priest now by being a lesser statline and having no chalice. They're a reasonable unit that will most likely lose out to other Slots, but the free feel no pain for the unit and ability to wield multiple special weapons may make them tempting. I feel assault squads will still perform that role better though.

Death company squad:

We are in the company of death brothers. They're back and better than ever. No longer limited to one per army, they are available in squads of 5-15 rather than 3-30 now. They are not a troops choice any more but, on the plus side, they can score just like every other unit which is huge. Jump packs cost 20% of their previous cost and any model can have melee weapons or pistols. They disd however lose a point of weapon skill. That's about all that changed to be honest. They are still the same base cost and retain rage, feel no pain, furious charge, rage and relentless. Stick a priest with them and take a Baal strike force detachment and they are nigh upon unstoppable and more mobile for a fraction of the cost. I usually run most with bolters just to give them more flexibility if your opponent decides to try and evade you. Never leave home without them!

Lemartes:

Now his own Elite slot, old Lemmy is back. Regular Chaplain stats and abilities for 40 points more save for the following. The blood crozius is master crafted and Lemmy has an initiative of 6. He is a zealot but also has the same feel no pain, rage, furious charge and relentless as other death company. Like Tycho the lost he can only join death company and his fury unbound rule now means he only adds one strength and attacks when wounded. On the plus side 20 points cheaper, but on the downside he no longer grants death company rerolls to wound and doesn't gain those extra two attacks when wounded. Plus he takes up a precious slot now and can't hide in the squad like before. A reasonable choice if you have the slot free and HQ already taken up but he wouldn't be my first choice.

Sanguinary Guard:

The unit everyone seems excited about, Sanguinary Guard have undergone some subtle but important changes. Their weapon options remain the same and death masks now cost only 1pt each and cause fear. Encarmine blades and axes can be freely exchanged for versatility. The Chapter banner is also a bit cheaper now and will grant an extra attack. They're still fearless and gain furious charge as standard. Descent of Angels is gone, however, so you'll need Dante or a model with descent of angels attached to get more accurate deep striking now. Most importantly, they got 7 points cheaper each and also can now be taken in 10-man squads, but no combat squads. These guys will be one of the stand out units of the codex now especially when paired with say Dante and a priest in a Baal strike force to grant them massive potential on the charge. I hope to add 5 more to my squad at some point.

Dreadnought:

They get furious charge which is of limited use unless you charge a vehicle with a damaged/shooty dreadnought. With the initiative boost from the formation they could be great in one-on-one dreadnought fights though. Pretty much the same points and role as a codex Marine dreadnought now and have been shifted to the elites slot from heavy support. Can't generally see them being taken over a furioso or death company dread to be fair with slots being so in demand.

Death company Dreadnought:

The same base cost with the same rules more or less, except you no longer have to take a unit of death company to take one. Main changes are to wargear in that blood talons are now a 10 point upgrade which gains them shred and the magna grapple has changed to grant move through cover and rerolls to charge range against vehicles. They also replace the smoke launchers now. They did however lose fleet and a point of weapon skill (as did regular death company), though they can still benefit from the army wide bolstering rules. Oh, and free searchlights! I'd still consider taking them but to be honest Cassor is a much better choice as he's cheaper and has objective secured. I use a stormraven to get them to where they need to go but if you prefer drop pods, it's worth noting Cassor has no pod option and the DC dread does.

Furioso Dreadnought:

Same cost as a death company dreadnought with one less attack but one higher front AV and WS. The furioso is the only model with access to my beloved frag cannon, which in 7th needs careful consideration when shooting a squad with it and a heavy flamer lest you remove all your targets too soon. You are limited to either 2 power fists, a power fist and frag cannon (5pts) or two blood talons (10pts). In addition to a magna grapple you can also select extra armour unlike the death company dreadnought. Still a solid choice and deadly in a drop pod with the frag cannon/heavy flamer combo.

Terminator squad:

Same as the codex except for furious charge which will only really influence the Sergeant in practical terms. Despite owning the beautiful Space Hulk set, I have a hard time justifying using these chaps over Assault terminators. Doubt they'll see much usage to be honest.

Squad Alpheus:

A shield of Baal unit, they are practically identical to the equivalently armed terminator squad, the only differences being that they have a set number of marines / weapons loadout and that Sergeant Alpheus has preferred enemy: Tyranids. Meh.

Terminator assault squad:

I was always a fan of these chaps and little has changed in that regard. With the combat perks available to the army they are a natural choice. Only real change is that they all get furious charge as standard, which combined with the option to get +1 initiative for the formation makes lightning claws a more valid option. With a priest added that gets even better (why oh why no terminators armour option). Lastly, you can add in a company banner to one terminator, which although pretty is rarely that useful. Verdict: they;ll be a decent choice for rounded armies that rely less on mobility. Mixed squads are a decent option with Blood Angels.

Vanguard veteran squad:

Hmm, a tricky one this as Vanguard are one point shy of death company but seem to be inferior to them in almost every way. The only benefits I can see are access to a relic blade (yay), heroic intervention, which now ignores disordered charges (quite useful actually) and allows automatic glorious interventions and the ability to combat squad. One major benefit is being able to equip some squad members with storm shields to tank those shots on approach to combat, which actually makes them more survivable than sanguinary guard vs low AP but not against everything else (like sanguinary guard they'll almost need a mandatory priest). Not a bad choice but I just can't see anyone choosing them over death company or sanguinary guard.

Sternguard veteran squad:

The same as the codex equivalent now aside from having furious charge and the sergeant having more weapon options to choose from. I won't get into sternguard tactics as we'll be here all day aside to say that I don't think they'll see much use in Blood Angels lists as they don't have as much of a role to play in a Blood Angel army. The tactical/assault squads can handle the firepower while the other specialist squad outcompete them in this slot for the assaulting side of things.

Blood Angels Codex review - Fast Attack

December 20, 2014, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Blood Angels Codex review - Heavy Support

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FAST ATTACK:

Vanguard moved to elites and assault squads and dedicated transports moved to the fast attack slot, while Baal predators moved to heavy support.

Rhino:

Dropped 5 points and retained overcharged engines to be a fast vehicle. As solid as ever, though I suspect drop pod lists may be more favourable this edition. Like with space wolves, the rhino is now a fast choice and the dedicated transport slot has disappeared.

Razorback:

Net drop in points as although the base cost went up 10, the upgrades became cheaper. The Razorback is still a decent halfway between transport and tank and with smaller squads will be worth considering. Note that assault squads can no longer swap out their jump packs for a razorback, only a rhino or drop pod.

Drop pod:

Same as the codex equivalent and now a fast choice. I think pods will be popular either for allies, terminators or small squads of marines with melta / flamer weapons.

Land Speeder:

No change from before and points in line with codex marines. These chaps will probably struggle when competing with the other fast attack slots sadly

Assault squad:

The humble assault squad had now been relegated to fast attack. losing obsec isn't such a big deal but the inability to run an all jump pack list is a huge change and a sad one to be honest. I'm keeping fingers crossed that Exterminatus will provide datasheets / detachments to rectify this. With furious charge as standard now, large jump squads are a reasonable choice. they retain access to meltaguns unlike their codex friends, as well as plasma guns and their special pistols. Not grav pistols though. They may remove jump packs for a free rhino or drop pod, but no longer a razorback. Importantly, minimum squads can take 2 special weapons and sergeants can take dual pistols. I can see drop pods with 5 marines packing 4 melta or flamer weapons being a popular choice here.

Bike squad:

Points are now costed in-line with code marines and they also gain access to grav weapons. I think small bike squads tooled up with grav or melta (and or course being relentless with furious charge) will be the other dominant FA slot choice.

Attack bike squad:

Same as before aside from furious charge of course. I have a soft spot for my pair of multi-melta attack bikes and will continue to use them for tank hunting. However, there are probably much better choices for that in the FA slot now so I doubt attack bikes will get much of a look in.

Scout bike squad:

Once again, all points are now in line with codex marines and the only real difference is the availability of ranged weapons Blood Angels have and furious charge.   

Blood Angels Codex review - Heavy Support

December 21, 2014, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Blood Angels Codex review - Lords of war, formations and supplements

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HEAVY SUPPORT

Mostly the same except that we lost Dreadnoughts to Elites and gained the Baal predator.

Stormraven:

Not such a novelty now that codex marines have universal access. Also, we got no access to stormtalons making a mockery of our former mastery of the heavens. Still, second perhaps to the space wolf flyers the Stormraven is arguably the best flyer in the game and plays well with Blood Angels due to the ability to carry dreadnoughts and infantry straight into an assault. Points and options remain the same (costs 1 point for a searchlight!) and sadly bloodstrike missiles are a thing of the past, replaced with the uniform stormstrike AP2 concussive ones. Still a solid choice (the only choice really) for AA and works well as an anti-tank platform and assault delivery system.

Devastator squad:

Now the same as their codex equivalents, I'm not sure the devastators will see much tabletop action still to be honest. They can't take heavy flamers and their nature makes them less useful for double pistol sergeants and furious charge. All of their weapons loadouts can arguably be acheived better by other units for better value. They do have flakk missiles now, however, but I find that the best AA is usually another flyer. Plus being in a crowded slot means they will likely be outcompeted.

Baal Predator:

Lost scout but retained overcharged engines and moved to heavy support. Base cost remains the same but sponsons went down to 20 points each pair. The flamestorm variety will still suffer from the same snap shot hindrance as before but the shooty version is still solid for anti-infantry and light vehicles despite losing scout. Heavy support is a more suitable slot for a tank and now it won't compete with other fast choices. All the slots are looking pretty crowded to be honest but that's what multiple detachments are for.

Predator:

Now costed the same as the same as the Marine codex, the predator has to buy the upgrade to overcharged engines (fast) for 10 points. A bit of flexibility is good to be honest. No net points cost change here and I feel the predator will lose out to the Baal for anti-light vehicle and anti-infantry and the vindicator for all else. Still, a fast las-predator has a good chance of getting 2 hits while retaining manoeuvrability, if you're of the opinion that lascannons are of any use in 7th.

Vindicator:
 

Got 25 points but needs to buy the fast upgrade for 10 points now, which is a bargain to be fair. Still solid and a decent choice in most lists that will inspire fear in most opponents.

Whirlwind:

Got cheaper and can buy fast upgrade also (!). Not much else to add. I like them for a cheap anti-infantry unit that can hide and still shoot cheap troop choices off of objectives. I would consider it if I had points to spare and a free slot but would never upgrade it to fast. 

Land raiders:

I decided to group these guys together as the resounding messages are the same for all 3. No dozer blades, points in line with codex Marines, can no longer deepstrike and are not dedicated transports anymore. This all sits well with me as it never made sense before. Deep striking land raiders was an awful concept and making it that the Blood Angels suddenly had hundreds of the bloody things for everyone to take a spin in was just as bad. Balance and fluff have been restored once more.

Blood Angels Codex review - Lords of war, formations and supplements

December 22, 2014, 9:00 am

≫ Next: Shield of Baal Exterminatus rules and review

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This last section deals with the lords of war and the formation in the book, but also with the extra formations and detachments added in shield of Baal and White Dwarf.

LORDS OF WAR

Dante:

The man everyone is talking about, Dante is now truly worth of the title 'Lord of war'. Where to begin? He is now an eternal warrior as he always should have been making him much more survivable. The axe mortalis is no longer unwieldy and is +2S, AP2, master crafted. Dante also packs I6. Dante has descent of Angels, arguably the best Warlord trait in the book, and also can take a tactical trait in addition when using tactical objectives for free. He retains his inferno pistol, furious charge, hit and run and his death mask of sanguinius now grants him both fear as standard and all enemy units in 6" at the start of the fight sub phase must also take a fear test. So some subtle changes, but the most notable are the axe mortalis and eternal warrior. For 5 points less we now have an awesome character to lead our army who is not only a beast in combat, but also a tank hunter, squad bolsterer and army bolsterer. Almost an auto-include at higher points levels.

Seth:

Not really Lord of war material in terms of cost or ability but poor Seth wasn't a Chapter Master to be left out  of the trend. Now 5 points cheaper, Seth has the rampage warlord trait and blood reaver remains much the same as a S8 AP4 rending two-handed weapon. Seth has rage as standard as well as fearless and furious charge. Ferocious instincts is gone and whirlwind of gore now scores an additional hit on the target for every 6 to hit. I think he's about the same as before to be honest and is obviously a gorgeous model that can be taken outside the FOC chart without being too costly. He's good against vehicles but hardly game changing due to the AP4. Maybe worth it for that one challenge where you rend with S8+ and inst-kill a terminator captain though!

DETACHMENTS

(I suspect there are more to come with Exterminatus and WD and will add them here) 

Strike force Deathstorm

All the chaps from the set basically - all gain fearless (if already fearless gain counter-attack) and once per game all units can reroll to wound in one phase.

Blood Angels battle company

A battle company + Chaplain, dreadnought, furioso, death company - warlord can reroll trait, all troops have objective secured and all units have red thirst as with the detachment (+1 I on the charge unless disordered). This is the best of all worlds if you are playing a large enough game or use minimum sized squads.

Archangels Strikeforce

Bascially, 1-2 HQs in Terminator armour chosen from Captain/Karlaen/Librarian/Chaplain, supported by 2-12 elite units in any combination of sternguard, vanguard, terminators and terminator assault squads (max 10 of any one) and up to 6 furiosos. Storm of angels allow you to reroll reserve rolls for any deep strikers (so anything teleporting, jump packing or drop podding in) and scatter D6 less. Lord of the host is the bog standard reroll to warlord traits if this is your primary detachment. A fun little detachment that I'd actually like to try out sometime (should be able to field 2000 points) due to its fluffiness. No objective secured, but not really an issue when your enemy is dead!

FORMATIONS

Flesh Tearers formation2

Flesh Tearers Blood rain strike force

This formation consists of one of each of a death company squad, vanguard squad, assault squad, stormraven and furioso - all of which must have jump packs of start embarked on the stormraven. All models gain the crusader rule and the following. Crimson thunderbolt means you can reroll charge ranges and gain rage if your unit charges on the turn they disembark from the stormraven. Poised to strike is the standard all units arrive from reserve at the same time type rule, though note all jump packers must be placed in deep strike reserve. Rain of blood grants these units fearless and counter attack the turn they arrive from deep strike. This is a nice formation with useful units and when all of them arrive from reserve at the same time with these perks it will be a lot of pain in your opponents face in one go. Of course the stormraven and jump packers have to survive that turn until they can charge, but I think a good way to go may be putting the death company in the stormraven without jump packs at 12 strong, place the vanguard in such a way that storm shields protect them then take a small melta heavy assault squad to get some use out of them before they die (ideally killing any AA that will target the stormraven. Then next turn you should still have enough models to bring the pain!

Angel's wrath intervention force

Basically, 1 vanguard veteran squad and 2 Assault squads which must have jump packs. Guided drop means they must be placed in deep strike reserve and a single reserve roll for the entire formation. If they arrive, all vanguard veterans must be placed first and units of assault marines do not scatter so long as the first model is placed within 6" of the vanguard veterans unit. Meteoric impact means that immediately after deploying, any enemy units within 6" of any units from this formation suffer a strength 4 AP- hit for each of their models which is within 6" of a model from the formation. In addition, these enemy units must move as if they are in difficult terrain until the end of their next turn. This is a reasonably decent formation which allows you to get good use out of assault troops which are not taking up fast/elite slots in your army and also can arrive as a single force. The units can be any size also, so this would be a good alternative to a drop pod assault squad list that are all guaranteed to turn up at the same time and cause extra disruption to enemy squads. Good placement of storm shields and meltas could make this a devastating and relatively affordable/durable shock unit.

Angels fury spearhead force

This formation consists of 3 tactical squads (10-man) and 3 stormraven gunships. The sergeant of each tactical squad in this formation must take a teleport homer as a free upgrade. Augur triangulation allows a friendly unit with the Blood angels faction to arrive from deep strike reserve without scatter and can charge the turn it arrives so long as it is within 12" of at least two models from the formation equipped with teleport homers! The tactical squads also have objective secured and you only need to make a single reserve roll for the entire formation. It gets better - this can be rolled from turn 1 and rerolled if unsuccesful. Essentially, an expensive formation that gives you the ability to assault from reserve and arrive in force in turn one. These formations just keep getting better and better!