Picked up the new codex and after reading it over, I'm a bit underwhelmed. Don't get me wrong, there are some nice goodies in there, it seems fairly well balanced and has the potential for some nasty builds, but that gets offset by the selection of models & pricing of them from GW. Waaay too much Failcast and Waaay too much overpriced plastic for models with cosmetic differences from existing models.
Fluff comes first, it is the fairly standard DA fare, which is always a bit cool since they are one of the Chapters that are circumventing the dispersal of the Legions (along with BT & SW, I suspect the Imperial Fists to some extent ("Sons of Dorn"), and I bet the Ultramarines have their own network set up, being the "sons of the politician"). There are a few new tidbits about the conditioning, levels of internal secrecy and arcane tech, including the one I find increasingly annoying...that all the "good" tech is gone and nobody can figure it out anymore anywhere in the Imperium. If true, then there would be no more TDA after 10,000 years, let alone Dreadnoughts, Rhinos, Land Speeders, etc. Probably no power armor either. Now I don't mind the relics bit that are difficult to repair and the need to handcraft replacements while much is actually lost (small & cheap antigrav for jetbikes and Guard speeders), but the entire early "all Marines are fighting with 10kyr old gear" line is getting a bit old. The 10k stuff is the things like artificer armor and master crafted weapons that have been worked over for centuries.
Think about it....20 legions of up to 10,000 Marines = 200,000 bodies roughly. 1000 Chapters of 1000 Marines = 1,000,000 bodies. If they are using ancient wargear, then the story isn't how Horus turned to Chaos and betrayed the Emperor, it is the monumental stupidity of the Traitor Legions, Renegade Imperial Army and various xenos didn't destroy the mega stockpiles of gear lying around the galaxy during the Heresy and Scouring.
Fluff comes first, it is the fairly standard DA fare, which is always a bit cool since they are one of the Chapters that are circumventing the dispersal of the Legions (along with BT & SW, I suspect the Imperial Fists to some extent ("Sons of Dorn"), and I bet the Ultramarines have their own network set up, being the "sons of the politician"). There are a few new tidbits about the conditioning, levels of internal secrecy and arcane tech, including the one I find increasingly annoying...that all the "good" tech is gone and nobody can figure it out anymore anywhere in the Imperium. If true, then there would be no more TDA after 10,000 years, let alone Dreadnoughts, Rhinos, Land Speeders, etc. Probably no power armor either. Now I don't mind the relics bit that are difficult to repair and the need to handcraft replacements while much is actually lost (small & cheap antigrav for jetbikes and Guard speeders), but the entire early "all Marines are fighting with 10kyr old gear" line is getting a bit old. The 10k stuff is the things like artificer armor and master crafted weapons that have been worked over for centuries.
Think about it....20 legions of up to 10,000 Marines = 200,000 bodies roughly. 1000 Chapters of 1000 Marines = 1,000,000 bodies. If they are using ancient wargear, then the story isn't how Horus turned to Chaos and betrayed the Emperor, it is the monumental stupidity of the Traitor Legions, Renegade Imperial Army and various xenos didn't destroy the mega stockpiles of gear lying around the galaxy during the Heresy and Scouring.
Special Rules:
Combat Squads: normal, available to Tactical, Scout, Company Veteran (Elite), Assault (FA) and Devastator (HS) squads. NOT available to Deathwing (DW) squads. Regular Ravenwing (RW) squads get a variant of it with the Attack Bike and Speeder splitting off normally and if the RW squad is maxed at six bikes it can break into a pair of three bike combat squads.
Grim Resolve: Stubborn + the inability to voluntarily fail a moral check. Almost everything with a morale check gets this one or Inner Circle, but not both. Oddly enough, the plain Chaplain gets neither one, although IMO that will probably get errata to get this since the text specifically notes that only Interrogator Chaplains get Inner Circle. I'd disagree as given a Chaplain's job, he needs to be vetted at least as well as a DW Terminator, but whatever works.
Inner Circle: Fearless + Preferred Enemy (Chaos SM). Everyone else that doesn't get Grim Resolve (except the poor Chaplains).
DW Vehicle: PE(CSM) + can call for a reroll on penetrating hits suffered but must accept the second. Must be bought for all Vehicles used by the DW (Land Raiders) for 30 points. Included in the 25 point cost to make Dreadnoughts Venerable.
Warlord Traits:
Rapid Maneuver: Warlord & unit get 2d6 drop lowest run, +d6" to turboboost or flat out (Sammael's Speeder).
The Hunt: +1 VP if the DA Warlord (or his unit) slay the enemy Warlord (he is assumed to be one of the Fallen).
Courage of Lion: Warlord & all friendly units (not just C:DA) within 12" roll 3d6 drop highest for Ld tests
For the Lion: Warlord & unit get Furious Charge
Brilliant Planning: While Warlord lives, after making your reserve roll, you can choose to add or subtract 1 from the roll.
Hold At All Costs: Warlord & unit get FNP within 3" of objective.
Cute & useful. I actually like the way this list was put together. The named characters get fixed Warlord Traits except for Azrael who gets to pick the one he wants.
HQ:
The named HQs all have nifty items and skills. Belial & Sammael both make DW/RW Troops. Azrael makes both DW/RW Troop choices. Ezekiel gets is a Psyker 3 and gets his own personal psychic power (S4 AP2 12" Assault d3) that reduces WS, BS, I & Ld by 3 per unsaved wound for the rest of the game. The biggest complaint is the lack of AP2 melee weapons. Only Sammael gets one and Belial can get it by going TH/SS. Azrael is expensive as heck at 215, but he gives his unit a 4++ save as well as other goodies. I'd actually think he might be useful.
Azrael gets to choose his Warlord Trait, Sammael gets Rapid Maneuver, Belial, Ezekiel and Asmodai get The Hunt.
NOTE: DW/RW only become troops if DA are the primary detachment.
The regular HQs are similar to C:SM in cost, but come with Inner Circle and although don't have access to SS, they do get some other nifty options, including the ability (for 25 points) to give every model within 3" a 4++. I expect the Psyker to be a go to HQ choice for DA as Allies since he comes with Divination as an option.
Troops:
Tactical squads and Scouts. Nominally a bit cheaper than C:SM, but you have to pay extra for the Vet Sgt (+1A & Ld, i.e. Terminator Honors) and buy all the special/heavy weapons available instead of getting a free second one when the squad reaches 10 Marines.. Scouts are Scouts, with the option for Camo cloaks & sniper rifles. Both can take missile launchers with Flakk for 10 points extra.
Elites:
Nothing fancy here. Company Vets are elite PA units that look like they can get expensive real quickly. DW squads are pricey at 44 points per model & +5 points for TH/SS, but could still be built as 4xTH/SS, 1xTLC and a Cyclone on one of the TH/SS guys at 265 points, although that might not be the best option. DW does gain Split Fire which could be interesting for a shooting build and Vengeful Strike makes it tempting to try Deep Strike (all shooting TL the turn they DS). DW Knights at 46 points each seem more like the choice for melee Termies with +1WS and 3++. Dreadnoughts are about the same.
DW Assault is now an automatic drop at the beginning of the DA turn 1 or turn 2. It gets written down and put to the side to be revealed to the opponent.
Fast Attack:
RW looks the same, but a bit cheaper. RW Support (Speeders) is cleaned up and a bit cheaper (LS-Typhoon still 75 points). RW Black Knights are expensive, but with the Plasma Talon guns (S7 AP2 18" TL, RF, Gets Hot) and the specialty ammo available to the free GL upgrade on every third bike, plus the S+1 rending melee weapons, they might be worth buying in some builds. Assault squads look fairly standard, but here is where some of the new toys really start showing up...
RW Darkshroud Speeder that gives Stealth to all units within 6" (including itself) and +1 to assault results for all units within 12". Okay, it is cheap and it might be useful. I'm not real sure on what to do with this right now, it is fairly cheap, but how useful, I don't know. The biggest issue: the kit for the Darkshroud (& Vengeance) cost $65, which is more than twice the $30 Land Speeder kit, which is paying a lot for some bling bits scavenged from other kits. Of course, the good part is that it looks like a conversion is doable. I'm going to do the same rant for the flyers here since at $75 vs the $49.50 of the Stormtalon they are obviously based off of, this is nothing but over the top gouging, but again, it looks like it can be converted. In fact, I saw a Stormtalon that looked similar to these 2-3 months ago that a guy made up because he thought the Stormtalon model stank and wanted it to look better, so he added wings and move weapons onto them...
As for the Nephilim & Dark Talon flyers themselves....I'm a bit underwhelmed by what you get for the points. Let alone the time and/or cost of modeling them mentioned above. I might be wrong here, but for the cost, get some Guard and bring a Valkyrie.
Heavy Support:
The vehicles look about the same, the Devastators are a bit cheaper base cost, but you have to pay for the Vet Sgt again (if you want him). The vehicles in general are the same as normal with some minor price changes and adjustments.
The last of the DA specialty vehicles, the LS Vengeance. A tricky unit. Plasma Storm battery is nice and upgrading from a heavy bolter to an assault cannon could make that even nicer, but... It's pricy, short ranged and fragile. Not good combinations and the last kills most of its value as a bullet sponge.
Conclusions:
Solid codex, with the DW/RW specialty twist giving it some kick. The new vehicles aren't exciting me, not even to the point the little Stormtalon did as a double cost Typhoon Speeder in 5th Edition. Heh, I'm tempted to pull this out for our 1000 point 4v4 game Sunday for a bit of Inner Circle love for the resident CSM player.
Combat Squads: normal, available to Tactical, Scout, Company Veteran (Elite), Assault (FA) and Devastator (HS) squads. NOT available to Deathwing (DW) squads. Regular Ravenwing (RW) squads get a variant of it with the Attack Bike and Speeder splitting off normally and if the RW squad is maxed at six bikes it can break into a pair of three bike combat squads.
Grim Resolve: Stubborn + the inability to voluntarily fail a moral check. Almost everything with a morale check gets this one or Inner Circle, but not both. Oddly enough, the plain Chaplain gets neither one, although IMO that will probably get errata to get this since the text specifically notes that only Interrogator Chaplains get Inner Circle. I'd disagree as given a Chaplain's job, he needs to be vetted at least as well as a DW Terminator, but whatever works.
Inner Circle: Fearless + Preferred Enemy (Chaos SM). Everyone else that doesn't get Grim Resolve (except the poor Chaplains).
DW Vehicle: PE(CSM) + can call for a reroll on penetrating hits suffered but must accept the second. Must be bought for all Vehicles used by the DW (Land Raiders) for 30 points. Included in the 25 point cost to make Dreadnoughts Venerable.
Warlord Traits:
Rapid Maneuver: Warlord & unit get 2d6 drop lowest run, +d6" to turboboost or flat out (Sammael's Speeder).
The Hunt: +1 VP if the DA Warlord (or his unit) slay the enemy Warlord (he is assumed to be one of the Fallen).
Courage of Lion: Warlord & all friendly units (not just C:DA) within 12" roll 3d6 drop highest for Ld tests
For the Lion: Warlord & unit get Furious Charge
Brilliant Planning: While Warlord lives, after making your reserve roll, you can choose to add or subtract 1 from the roll.
Hold At All Costs: Warlord & unit get FNP within 3" of objective.
Cute & useful. I actually like the way this list was put together. The named characters get fixed Warlord Traits except for Azrael who gets to pick the one he wants.
HQ:
The named HQs all have nifty items and skills. Belial & Sammael both make DW/RW Troops. Azrael makes both DW/RW Troop choices. Ezekiel gets is a Psyker 3 and gets his own personal psychic power (S4 AP2 12" Assault d3) that reduces WS, BS, I & Ld by 3 per unsaved wound for the rest of the game. The biggest complaint is the lack of AP2 melee weapons. Only Sammael gets one and Belial can get it by going TH/SS. Azrael is expensive as heck at 215, but he gives his unit a 4++ save as well as other goodies. I'd actually think he might be useful.
Azrael gets to choose his Warlord Trait, Sammael gets Rapid Maneuver, Belial, Ezekiel and Asmodai get The Hunt.
NOTE: DW/RW only become troops if DA are the primary detachment.
The regular HQs are similar to C:SM in cost, but come with Inner Circle and although don't have access to SS, they do get some other nifty options, including the ability (for 25 points) to give every model within 3" a 4++. I expect the Psyker to be a go to HQ choice for DA as Allies since he comes with Divination as an option.
Troops:
Tactical squads and Scouts. Nominally a bit cheaper than C:SM, but you have to pay extra for the Vet Sgt (+1A & Ld, i.e. Terminator Honors) and buy all the special/heavy weapons available instead of getting a free second one when the squad reaches 10 Marines.. Scouts are Scouts, with the option for Camo cloaks & sniper rifles. Both can take missile launchers with Flakk for 10 points extra.
Elites:
Nothing fancy here. Company Vets are elite PA units that look like they can get expensive real quickly. DW squads are pricey at 44 points per model & +5 points for TH/SS, but could still be built as 4xTH/SS, 1xTLC and a Cyclone on one of the TH/SS guys at 265 points, although that might not be the best option. DW does gain Split Fire which could be interesting for a shooting build and Vengeful Strike makes it tempting to try Deep Strike (all shooting TL the turn they DS). DW Knights at 46 points each seem more like the choice for melee Termies with +1WS and 3++. Dreadnoughts are about the same.
DW Assault is now an automatic drop at the beginning of the DA turn 1 or turn 2. It gets written down and put to the side to be revealed to the opponent.
Fast Attack:
RW looks the same, but a bit cheaper. RW Support (Speeders) is cleaned up and a bit cheaper (LS-Typhoon still 75 points). RW Black Knights are expensive, but with the Plasma Talon guns (S7 AP2 18" TL, RF, Gets Hot) and the specialty ammo available to the free GL upgrade on every third bike, plus the S+1 rending melee weapons, they might be worth buying in some builds. Assault squads look fairly standard, but here is where some of the new toys really start showing up...
RW Darkshroud Speeder that gives Stealth to all units within 6" (including itself) and +1 to assault results for all units within 12". Okay, it is cheap and it might be useful. I'm not real sure on what to do with this right now, it is fairly cheap, but how useful, I don't know. The biggest issue: the kit for the Darkshroud (& Vengeance) cost $65, which is more than twice the $30 Land Speeder kit, which is paying a lot for some bling bits scavenged from other kits. Of course, the good part is that it looks like a conversion is doable. I'm going to do the same rant for the flyers here since at $75 vs the $49.50 of the Stormtalon they are obviously based off of, this is nothing but over the top gouging, but again, it looks like it can be converted. In fact, I saw a Stormtalon that looked similar to these 2-3 months ago that a guy made up because he thought the Stormtalon model stank and wanted it to look better, so he added wings and move weapons onto them...
As for the Nephilim & Dark Talon flyers themselves....I'm a bit underwhelmed by what you get for the points. Let alone the time and/or cost of modeling them mentioned above. I might be wrong here, but for the cost, get some Guard and bring a Valkyrie.
Heavy Support:
The vehicles look about the same, the Devastators are a bit cheaper base cost, but you have to pay for the Vet Sgt again (if you want him). The vehicles in general are the same as normal with some minor price changes and adjustments.
The last of the DA specialty vehicles, the LS Vengeance. A tricky unit. Plasma Storm battery is nice and upgrading from a heavy bolter to an assault cannon could make that even nicer, but... It's pricy, short ranged and fragile. Not good combinations and the last kills most of its value as a bullet sponge.
Conclusions:
Solid codex, with the DW/RW specialty twist giving it some kick. The new vehicles aren't exciting me, not even to the point the little Stormtalon did as a double cost Typhoon Speeder in 5th Edition. Heh, I'm tempted to pull this out for our 1000 point 4v4 game Sunday for a bit of Inner Circle love for the resident CSM player.
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