Hi All,
As the first book to get crusade rules in 9th, the Space Marines had some of the worst rules out of any faction. Even with later additions, their focus was very narrow and it was hard to build a narrative around your army. How has this changed in 10th?
Oathsworn Campaigns:
The biggest, and most welcome changes come with the addition of Oathsworn Campaigns. These unlock unique requisitions and bonus agendas, and each of the three has a distinct focus.
- Unflinching bulwark – Focus on defense
- Unique Requisition: 1 RP, you are always the defender
- Bonus Agendas: Keep units out of your deployment zone, control a central objective, or kill enemy units with range of objectives
- Precision Strike – Raven Guard-y type of campaign
- Unique Requisition: 1 RP you are always the attacker
- Bonus Agendas: Kill enemy units with range of objectives in no-man’s-land or their deployment zone, have your warlord within 3″ of the enemy board edge, or designate and destroy 3 enemy targets
- Forging of Legends – supe up a character campaign
- Unique Requisition: 1 RP if your warlord wasn’t killed, a non-warlord character gains 5 exp
- Bonus Agendas: Have characters kill characters, have characters kill monsters or vehicles, have a character control an objective in no-man’s-land or the enemy deployment zone.
Winning battles in these campaigns gives you Honor Points you can spend on upgrades. You can switch campaign types at any point, but you lose any accrued Honor Points each time you do. Otherwise, the campaign will end after three battles. Many of the upgrades are honorifics like in the old rules. However, they have received a lot of buffs. Some examples include:
- Once per battle get an extra target for Oath of Moment, or +2D on all weapons
- +1 to wound 6″ aura
- Repair vehicles D3+3 each turn
- -1 to wound for a squad on attacks that have a higher strength compared to the unit’s toughness
You can also use your Honor Points to upgrade squads and move them from company to company. This is allows you to swap out certain units for more advanced options, i.e. a Scout Squad can become an Infurnus Squad. You don’t get much of a benefit from this swap, besides the opportunity to re-pick Battle Honors, and lose Scars.
Crusade Badges:
This is a fun little mechanic showing the types of symbols you can apply to your models based on the progress they have made in a campaign.
General Requisitions:
The Space Marines get some interesting options in their general requisition pool.
- A Legacy Preserved: Once a unit gets a battle scar, if you have an Apothecary, you can sacrifice that unit and get +5 Honor Points for 1 RP.
- Vaunted Triumph: Once per Oathsworn Campaign, you can mark an additional unit for greatness, 1 RP
- Enduring Duty: Get the option to play a fourth battle in the campaign. 2 RP
- Even in Death I still Serve: Turn a character with 2+ Battle Scars into a non-invictor dread 1 RP.
These are all pretty good, but have limitations in when you can use them, meaning you can save your RP for other options if you like. A Legacy Preserved is very tempting as Honor Points are super useful.
That will do it for this article! Next time we will cover the relics and Battle Traits found in the book! See you then!
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
