The Good:
Possibly the most exciting change for a lot of players will be the option for using a Leman Russ tank (of any variety) as a Commander. As well as granting BS4 and potentially giving you an AV14 Warlord, you also get access to Tank Orders, which are given on a pseudo-Leadership test (2d6 must roll under 9). The options are giving his Squadron the ability to move 6+d6" in the Shooting Phase in place of firing, to grant Split Fire to himself, or to make a shooting attack and then use Smoke Launchers. The only downside here is that you do have to take at least 2 tanks in the squadron, but Split Fire mitigates this most of the time.
Furthermore, Knight Commander Pask is now an upgrade to a Command Tank, and adds even more nastiness to the already-good option. He now gets preferred enemy against a codex of your choice, and a particular upgrade depending on which variant of the Russ he's riding in. Rending Punisher, anyone?
Russes are, in general, cheaper across the board, the Exterminator and Vanquisher now at 130 and 135 points respectively. Sponsons are also a little cheaper. Strangely, the Leman Russ Battle Tank and Demolisher remained expensive, despite Ordnance severely crippling them. Maybe a sign of things to come in the rumoured 7th Edition out this summer (although I am sceptical of this myself), or just GW missing the obvious. On the whole, though, these changes make Russes the go-to for firepower.
Stormtroopers, a personal favourite of mine, also got a major increase in effectiveness (along with an annoying, but palatable, renaming to the Militarium Tempestus). The most obvious change is that they can now be taken in platoons, and have access to Command Squads, giving you up to 35 in a single Elite Slot, or a massive, if excessive, 105 in an army. They also dropped to 12 points per model, down from 16, making them more affordable. They did lose the Special Operations rules, but the cheaper cost and greater access makes this a win in my opinion.
The Stormtrooper's ground-based cousins, the Veteran Squad, is also a clear winner here, dropping in cost by 10 points a squad (although losing the hardly-used Krak grenades) and getting access to much cheaper Doctrines. With Forward Sentries giving Camo Cloaks and Defensive Grenades for only 10 points, and Carapace Armour clocking in at 15 points a squad, it's now far cheaper to customise Veterans for several roles.
Another interesting addition is an expansion of the auxiliary HQ choices, which take up no Force Organisation slot. The Priest gets a huge cost reduction and a greater set of abilities, granting re-rolls to hit in the first round of any combat, Fearless, and War Hymns that allow you to (on passing a Ld test) re-roll failed wounds or saves, or give the Priest the Smash ability. He can also take a Plasma Gun, adding firepower to a squad.
The Primaris Psyker now gets cheaper and access to Divination, allowing re-rolls to any unit which can massively boost the effectiveness of anything from an infantry platoon to a Russ squadron. With cheap upgrades to Mastery Level 2, you can also get some other useful powers as well.
The third 'extra' HQ choice is the Techpriest, which has gained some utility from the last codex, with the addition of Independent Character and the ability to grant Power of the Machine Spirit to a nearby vehicle, which could be useful for those not taking a Tank Commander.
The other new unit is the Wyvern, which, while it's existence is cause for concern (see below), is effective in and of itself, comparable to a Thunderfire Cannon or Thudd Gun. 4 blasts and a re-roll to wound make it fearsome to infantry unit, even those in cover.
Orders also gained some variety, with new options giving Pinning, Split Fire, allowing a unit to Shoot and Run or granting them Precision shots. This gives a huge boost to the effectiveness of infantry, which, while never truly weak, were often outclassed by mechanised units towards the end of the last codex.
The Bad
There are a few things about this codex rules-wise that are a real loss from the last codex.
Most notable is the change to the Chimera, namely the loss of a 3 Fire Points in place of 2 Lasgun Arrays (essentially 3 Lasguns) that can be fired at BS3 separate to other weapons. The effect of this is to relegate the Chimera from a vehicle a unit could effectively fight from to a primarily transport role, akin to the Space Marine Rhino. The worst part, however, is the cost, which increased by 10 points. While, with the Veteran cost reduction makes it a wash for mounted Veteran squads, for mechanised infantry platoons it's a plain loss.
Other than that, the main issue is the fact that some units that could really benefit from a cost reduction or utility increase did not get them. Rough Riders remained poor, Ogryn did not get their (not essential but hoped-for) price drop, and of the 4 new units introduced, the Bullgryn and Taurox are sadly lacklustre.
The Ugly
By far the worst aspect of this codex is the baseless removal of several units, and the invalidation of several playstyles.
A large portion of the Artillery was removed, with the Griffon, Medusa and Colossus all vanishing without a trace. Penal Legion are gone, and several special characters too, with Marbo, Bastonne, Chenkov and Al'Rahem now Missing In Action.
All in-codex outflanking options are gone; Creed and Harker lost their ability to confer Outflank, and Al'Rahem no longer exists, so the rather fun plan of bringing in a horde of Guardsmen from a flank is now not possible. Conscripts are cheaper, but the loss of Send in the Next Wave makes the 'infinite Guardsmen' list impossible as well.
Russes are, in general, cheaper across the board, the Exterminator and Vanquisher now at 130 and 135 points respectively. Sponsons are also a little cheaper. Strangely, the Leman Russ Battle Tank and Demolisher remained expensive, despite Ordnance severely crippling them. Maybe a sign of things to come in the rumoured 7th Edition out this summer (although I am sceptical of this myself), or just GW missing the obvious. On the whole, though, these changes make Russes the go-to for firepower.
Stormtroopers, a personal favourite of mine, also got a major increase in effectiveness (along with an annoying, but palatable, renaming to the Militarium Tempestus). The most obvious change is that they can now be taken in platoons, and have access to Command Squads, giving you up to 35 in a single Elite Slot, or a massive, if excessive, 105 in an army. They also dropped to 12 points per model, down from 16, making them more affordable. They did lose the Special Operations rules, but the cheaper cost and greater access makes this a win in my opinion.
The Stormtrooper's ground-based cousins, the Veteran Squad, is also a clear winner here, dropping in cost by 10 points a squad (although losing the hardly-used Krak grenades) and getting access to much cheaper Doctrines. With Forward Sentries giving Camo Cloaks and Defensive Grenades for only 10 points, and Carapace Armour clocking in at 15 points a squad, it's now far cheaper to customise Veterans for several roles.
Another interesting addition is an expansion of the auxiliary HQ choices, which take up no Force Organisation slot. The Priest gets a huge cost reduction and a greater set of abilities, granting re-rolls to hit in the first round of any combat, Fearless, and War Hymns that allow you to (on passing a Ld test) re-roll failed wounds or saves, or give the Priest the Smash ability. He can also take a Plasma Gun, adding firepower to a squad.
The Primaris Psyker now gets cheaper and access to Divination, allowing re-rolls to any unit which can massively boost the effectiveness of anything from an infantry platoon to a Russ squadron. With cheap upgrades to Mastery Level 2, you can also get some other useful powers as well.
The third 'extra' HQ choice is the Techpriest, which has gained some utility from the last codex, with the addition of Independent Character and the ability to grant Power of the Machine Spirit to a nearby vehicle, which could be useful for those not taking a Tank Commander.
The other new unit is the Wyvern, which, while it's existence is cause for concern (see below), is effective in and of itself, comparable to a Thunderfire Cannon or Thudd Gun. 4 blasts and a re-roll to wound make it fearsome to infantry unit, even those in cover.
Orders also gained some variety, with new options giving Pinning, Split Fire, allowing a unit to Shoot and Run or granting them Precision shots. This gives a huge boost to the effectiveness of infantry, which, while never truly weak, were often outclassed by mechanised units towards the end of the last codex.
The Bad
There are a few things about this codex rules-wise that are a real loss from the last codex.
Most notable is the change to the Chimera, namely the loss of a 3 Fire Points in place of 2 Lasgun Arrays (essentially 3 Lasguns) that can be fired at BS3 separate to other weapons. The effect of this is to relegate the Chimera from a vehicle a unit could effectively fight from to a primarily transport role, akin to the Space Marine Rhino. The worst part, however, is the cost, which increased by 10 points. While, with the Veteran cost reduction makes it a wash for mounted Veteran squads, for mechanised infantry platoons it's a plain loss.
Other than that, the main issue is the fact that some units that could really benefit from a cost reduction or utility increase did not get them. Rough Riders remained poor, Ogryn did not get their (not essential but hoped-for) price drop, and of the 4 new units introduced, the Bullgryn and Taurox are sadly lacklustre.
The Ugly
By far the worst aspect of this codex is the baseless removal of several units, and the invalidation of several playstyles.
A large portion of the Artillery was removed, with the Griffon, Medusa and Colossus all vanishing without a trace. Penal Legion are gone, and several special characters too, with Marbo, Bastonne, Chenkov and Al'Rahem now Missing In Action.
All in-codex outflanking options are gone; Creed and Harker lost their ability to confer Outflank, and Al'Rahem no longer exists, so the rather fun plan of bringing in a horde of Guardsmen from a flank is now not possible. Conscripts are cheaper, but the loss of Send in the Next Wave makes the 'infinite Guardsmen' list impossible as well.
Summary
Overall, I expect good things from this codex. The loss of some options is doubtless a blow, and not one that seemed entirely necessary, but overall, the changes are either neutral for the better. I'm particularly looking forward to experimenting with even more Stormtroopers and Russ Commanders.
Bullgryns are not lacklustre. They are quite good actually. T5, 3 Wounds, 3+ armor saves and 4+ cover for everything behind them is already good. And then if you attach a priest to them they are more or less fearless, re-roll ALL failed hits at the first round of each combat, and last but not least their 3+ saves can be re-rolled if the priest passes his LD7 check.
ReplyDeleteThe issue with Bullgryn is this:
DeleteYou pay for good close combat stats, such as T5, and A3, but also for the Slab Shields that are most effective when spent hanging back and providing additional cover for static infantry or tanks. This means that if you're charging them forward, you're not getting the benefit of the shields as much, and if you hold them back, you're wasting the close combat stats. As you paid for both and can only really use one, they are 'wasting' points in one place or the other
This would seem to be mitigated by the option to upgrade, for 15 points, to a Power Maul and and shield giving a 5+ invulnerable. However, this already puts them at 60 points per model (in other words, the cost of a Platoon Infantry Squad with an autocannon). There's also the fact that you lose the Slab Shields if you take this option, so the total cost of the upgrade is 15+whatever value you assign to the Slab Shields.
Ogryn are far less confused in their role, and although they lack either the defensive or offensive power of the two Bullgryn configurations, they are much more effective at what they can do. Yes, they can only function in a short-range firefight and melee, but everything they have contributes to that; the high stats, the ripper guns, and the Hammer of Wrath rule all help in that situation. Unlike the Bullgryn, they are not losing effectiveness by sticking to one role, so for my money, they outshine the Bulls in every regard.