12 thoughts on “Warhammer 40,000 Faction Focus: Non-Codex Marines”
Will be very interested to see how my Deathwatch perform in 8th edition. One downside is that Frag Cannons in Drop Pods aren’t as potent an alpha strike option, as the “flamer” shot can fire from the Pod the turn they arrive.
On the plus side, no more killing myself with special issue ammunition!
Death Company sound brutal now. All armed with power swords and backed up by some really powerful characters.
If only there was some way to put them all in one big unit for more protection and to overlap all the special rules. That would make the game a whole lot better…………. 😉
I’m most curious about what the FW Marines are going to get, and when.
Each FW Chapter Master having an entire page devoted to them in FW Indexes gives me a sneaking suspicion they’re going to come with more rules than the average bear.
I appreciate these articles that you have created and the time it took to make them. I also enjoy the numerous videos you have put out as it has helped me better understand this new edition.
When I read your article regarding the Blood Angels I had to laugh. “You too can make them almost as good as the last edition, just by adding multiple characters to them!” Last I checked all those special characters cost a ton. Try comparing the DC with same cost Khorne berserkers or Wolven. The DC are one of the few signature units that separate us from other marines, they need to make them more appealing.
As someone else mentioned “BAs were bad in 7th, DC were not a good unit in 7th. Keeping a unit bad after supposed 2 years of testing either points at GW not knowing how to design rules or not carrying about BA rules” I do not feel that strongly, I tend to believe that some armies were rushed more than others.
I only hope that the codex or whatever you want to call it can fix the issues.
So true. It is very costly to make the DC look remotely familiar. It gets worse for BA when you start looking at the pistols, and then the Dreadnoughts… I started this for my own sanity:
1) Dreadnoughts – how do you factor that a Close-combat Dread should cost more than a Shooty or Mixed Dread? The former has highly situational usage (primarily against Hoards) and a few turns of just eating face before a possible contribution. You can add more cost (Forgeworld drop-pod or Stormraven) to make them more useful but a Shooty Dread is contributing each turn, against any foe, without any added cost.
2) Furioso versus the Ironclad. Both were once AV13, and now the IronClad is T8, while the Furioso is T7. Take the IronClad with Dread Chainfist and DCCW and he hits with better AP modifier and higher Damage, also re-rolling everything but 2’s. He costs less than the Furioso. The Furioso can move 2 additional inches though, ok.
3) Furioso versus the Contemptor. The Contemptor can move 3 additional inches, has 10 wounds and a 5++ Invulnerable save. He hits and shoots better than the Furioso until he’s lost 5 wounds – at which point he hits and shoots just as well as the Furioso. Once he’s down to 2 wounds he still fighting while the Furioso is long dead. He also has nasty 24″ range weapons he can fire en route to assault or not assault at all and still be very useful. He costs less than the Furioso. The Contemptor doesn’t come with a re-roll, ok – but he is a Space Marine, where aura bubble re-rolls are incredibly easy to come by, he also hits on 2+ right out of the box whereas the Furioso is a 3+.
4) Furioso versus any other shooty variety Dread. The Frag Cannon is really nice, especially being able to shoot after Advancing. But it’s still very short range, meaning you won’t contribute much early in the game. Any other shooty dread is already winning back points and doesn’t need to leave cover to be effective – they are also all cheaper than the Furioso.
Conclusion: Close-combat dreads, and especially the Furioso Dreadnought, have their uses but they are greatly over-costed.
Mild pet peeve here, but the article lumping in the Blood Angels with the “astartes who don’t follow the codex” is annoying. Their own fluff states that they’re almost perfectionist in following it.
Their fluff has never stated that, not in any edition. They were always ‘mostly adherent’ to the Codex at best. Going back to the first BA/DA (2nd edition codex) book they were already quite a bit divergent, back when most of the codex were still very homogeneous.
Further, while their chapter is mostly adherent to the formal Codex structure in general organization – the Blood Angels fighting forces are rarely a reflection of standard Codex battle doctrine.
Will be very interested to see how my Deathwatch perform in 8th edition. One downside is that Frag Cannons in Drop Pods aren’t as potent an alpha strike option, as the “flamer” shot can fire from the Pod the turn they arrive.
On the plus side, no more killing myself with special issue ammunition!
Glass half full kind of guy, I dig it!
Death Company sound brutal now. All armed with power swords and backed up by some really powerful characters.
If only there was some way to put them all in one big unit for more protection and to overlap all the special rules. That would make the game a whole lot better…………. 😉
I’m most curious about what the FW Marines are going to get, and when.
Each FW Chapter Master having an entire page devoted to them in FW Indexes gives me a sneaking suspicion they’re going to come with more rules than the average bear.
Don’t all the chapter characters have at least two pages devoted to them in the index?
My Carcharodons eagerly await what will happen with Tyberos. Do you think FW will issue their “Chapter Tactics” before GW gets around to it?
I appreciate these articles that you have created and the time it took to make them. I also enjoy the numerous videos you have put out as it has helped me better understand this new edition.
When I read your article regarding the Blood Angels I had to laugh. “You too can make them almost as good as the last edition, just by adding multiple characters to them!” Last I checked all those special characters cost a ton. Try comparing the DC with same cost Khorne berserkers or Wolven. The DC are one of the few signature units that separate us from other marines, they need to make them more appealing.
As someone else mentioned “BAs were bad in 7th, DC were not a good unit in 7th. Keeping a unit bad after supposed 2 years of testing either points at GW not knowing how to design rules or not carrying about BA rules” I do not feel that strongly, I tend to believe that some armies were rushed more than others.
I only hope that the codex or whatever you want to call it can fix the issues.
So true. It is very costly to make the DC look remotely familiar. It gets worse for BA when you start looking at the pistols, and then the Dreadnoughts… I started this for my own sanity:
1) Dreadnoughts – how do you factor that a Close-combat Dread should cost more than a Shooty or Mixed Dread? The former has highly situational usage (primarily against Hoards) and a few turns of just eating face before a possible contribution. You can add more cost (Forgeworld drop-pod or Stormraven) to make them more useful but a Shooty Dread is contributing each turn, against any foe, without any added cost.
2) Furioso versus the Ironclad. Both were once AV13, and now the IronClad is T8, while the Furioso is T7. Take the IronClad with Dread Chainfist and DCCW and he hits with better AP modifier and higher Damage, also re-rolling everything but 2’s. He costs less than the Furioso. The Furioso can move 2 additional inches though, ok.
3) Furioso versus the Contemptor. The Contemptor can move 3 additional inches, has 10 wounds and a 5++ Invulnerable save. He hits and shoots better than the Furioso until he’s lost 5 wounds – at which point he hits and shoots just as well as the Furioso. Once he’s down to 2 wounds he still fighting while the Furioso is long dead. He also has nasty 24″ range weapons he can fire en route to assault or not assault at all and still be very useful. He costs less than the Furioso. The Contemptor doesn’t come with a re-roll, ok – but he is a Space Marine, where aura bubble re-rolls are incredibly easy to come by, he also hits on 2+ right out of the box whereas the Furioso is a 3+.
4) Furioso versus any other shooty variety Dread. The Frag Cannon is really nice, especially being able to shoot after Advancing. But it’s still very short range, meaning you won’t contribute much early in the game. Any other shooty dread is already winning back points and doesn’t need to leave cover to be effective – they are also all cheaper than the Furioso.
Conclusion: Close-combat dreads, and especially the Furioso Dreadnought, have their uses but they are greatly over-costed.
Mild pet peeve here, but the article lumping in the Blood Angels with the “astartes who don’t follow the codex” is annoying. Their own fluff states that they’re almost perfectionist in following it.
Their fluff has never stated that, not in any edition. They were always ‘mostly adherent’ to the Codex at best. Going back to the first BA/DA (2nd edition codex) book they were already quite a bit divergent, back when most of the codex were still very homogeneous.
Further, while their chapter is mostly adherent to the formal Codex structure in general organization – the Blood Angels fighting forces are rarely a reflection of standard Codex battle doctrine.
Agreed. If Blood Angels followed the Codex Astartes they wouldn’t have their own book after all.
Yeah they have tons on non-codex units, making them a divergent chapter.