As we revealed last weekend, the Space Marines are about to re-enter the Era Indomitus with renewed vigour and boltguns blazing! As well as some shiny new miniatures, the Adeptus Astartes will be freshly augmented by additional rules and abilities thanks to the most awesome edition of Codex: Space Marines to date. We’ll be taking a closer look at what lies within its hallowed pages every day this week. First up, it’s the new Chapter Tactics…
This article was originally published on the Warhammer-community site.
Before we focus on some of the changes to the existing Chapter Tactics, it’s worth mentioning the Crimson Fists – fresh from their recent appearance in White Dwarf’s Index Astartes – are also in the new codex! That’s right, Pedro Kantor’s famously stoic Chapter now joins their fellow Imperial Fists successors, the Black Templars, as one of the eight featured Chapters in the book, complete with their own tactics…
To make the most of this powerful Chapter Tactic, fielding multiple small units of Crimson Fists is the way to go. Units of five Intercessors equipped with your bolt rifle of choice will do you especially proud. With careful target priority, many of your Crimson Fists units will be hitting on a 2+, which is a massive deal – especially if you have a Captain nearby for those handy re-rolls to hit, making their precision even more lethal.
The chance of an additional hit on a roll of 6 is a nice perk too – especially when firing the new and improved stalker bolt rifle.
That’s a potential 4 wounds from a single shot! Next up, we have their fellow Imperial Fists successors, the Black Templars.
The subtle change to their ability to re-roll failed charge rolls – namely the freedom to re-roll just one of the dice if desired – will have a significant effect on the average charge distance rolled. Furthermore, the ability to ignore mortal wounds, be it from psychic powers or deadly weaponry, is a welcome new addition to their Chapter Tactics and indicative of their fiery determination. Successful charges in your second turn, after disembarking from a Rhino or Land Raider Crusader, should be no problem at all!
We’ve seen the Imperial Fists’ two legendary successors, now we’ll look at the First Founding Chapter itself…
As you can see, the Imperial Fists still deny the enemy the effects of cover, but they can also score additional hits with bolt weapons. Centurion Devastators or Aggressors with boltstorm gauntlets are therefore excellent choices to bolster your mighty Sons of Dorn. The enemies of the Imperial Fists can expect to face punishing salvos with nowhere to hide.
It’s time to see the archetypal adepts of the Codex Astartes…
The Ultramarines Chapter Tactic remains as versatile as ever, bolstering the effectiveness of And They Shall Know No Fear with an extra pip of Leadership, and granting them the powerful ability to Fall Back and still gun down their foes. However, a crucial change to all Chapter Tactics in the codex is that they now apply not merely to Infantry, Bikers and Dreadnoughts, but to ALL UNITS in a Space Marines Detachment!* This means that even Ultramarines vehicles engaged in melee can simply pull back from combat and blow the offending assailants away! This strategy is especially useful with a flamer-toting vehicle, such as a Land Raider Redeemer, as they won’t even suffer the penalty to hit! That’s a pretty sneaky “practical” trick for an Ultramarine…
The Chogorian Sons of the Great Khan are up next.
If you thought the White Scars were swift as the wind before, now they’re EVEN FASTER! The ability to Advance and charge grants them the equivalent of a 3D6 charge range. White Scars Bikers are also now free to stay on the move, all the while firing their Heavy weapons with no penalties to their hit rolls. They take mobile warfare to a whole new level, just as you imagine they would!
We’ve covered speed, now for some stealth…
At ranges of over 12”, Raven Guard essentially always count as being in cover, and if they’re already in cover they’ll also be harder to hit, unless they’re a vehicle. This gives the Raven Guard a huge advantage in the early stages of the battle by heavily restricting anything but the closest incoming firepower. Of course, vehicle smoke launchers and the smoke grenades used by Infiltrators can hamper the aim of enemy units further still! With the right combination of units, you’ll be able to control the game, forcing your opponent to engage you at close range – right where you want them!
The Sons of Vulkan already had a powerful Chapter Tactic on account of the re-rolls offered by their masterwork wargear, so how that it possibly get any better?
Well, in addition to their vehicles now benefitting from those incredibly handy re-rolls to hit and wound, the saving throws of Salamanders units will be unimpeded by those pesky -1 AP weapons… nasty! Five-man Tactical Squads armed with a single special or heavy weapon are great options here, both for re-rolls to their hardest-hitting weapon and their increased survivability.
Last, but by no means least, are the cybernetically enhanced Iron Hands…
In addition to effectively ignoring a sixth of their wounds lost, the Iron Hands are deadly accurate when firing Overwatch and their vehicles will fight at full capacity until they’re all but destroyed. If your opponent is trying to pick off your Repulsor Executioner before it can wreak havoc on their army with its murderous main gun, they’re in for quite a challenge!
With their augmented Chapter Tactics and the additional Attacks generated by the new Shock Assault ability,** the Space Marines are set to become a dominant force on the gaming table once again. Be sure to check back every day this week as we continue our previews of what awesome new rules content lies within the new codex, and grab yourself a Start Collecting! Space Marines set to help kick-off or bolster your Adeptus Astartes collection. If you haven’t already signed up to our newsletter, do it now to make sure your finger is on the pulse with all the latest news.
* OK, so not Servitors. Being essentially braindead, they don’t really understand battlefield tactics, bless ’em!
** If you’re a fan of the Blood Angels, Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Grey Knights or Deathwatch, don’t worry – you can look forward to official rules updates coming soon via free PDF download. And remember, you Heretic Astartes players out there will also be gaining Shock Assault for your units in a similar update!
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