So the new Space Marines codex came out this weekend along with a number of other releases. It is fair to say that the Marine book was a bit outdated with no AA and lots of choices that had come down in cost after new codexes released. It was still a fair and balanced codex, but deserved some cool options.
The options were definitely increased. I’m going to provide some quick hits from my time with the new models and new codex this weekend; later on, Scott, our resident Space Marine fanboy, will hit the blog with some in-depth discussion.
The Book
The new codex is beautiful. There is quite a bit of new art and many of the more forgotten chapters are detailed with lots of panels. You can tell GW has put a lot of time into the design of the new codexes. Quotes and purity seals and stuff are everywhere. I’m not sure if it is recycled art but the ‘making of a space marine’ section is pretty awesome.
They definitely listened to feedback about the last book being ULTRAMARINES, BRO! and fixed that, providing all kinds of fluff and art for the other chapters. Still no Mantis Warriors, but I feel like they’re probably leaving that stuff to FW.
I don’t like how the new items section is laid out; you have to refer back to it for point costs for stuff instead of it being laid out in each unit section. Kinda annoying. Sure, I can just use BattleScribe or Army Builder, but I’m looking at the book and constantly have to flip back and forth.
The book is $58. I feel like a price of $40 is probably fair. The PP hardcovers are $40. At $58 you’re making it intensely hard for many people to justify purchasing the new book, not to mention the kids who you’re trying to get into your hobby.
Compare it to the RPG hobby where $59.99 gets you a beautiful Fantasy Flight RPG book that more than doubles the amount of pages and has tons of new art (not to mention new development in rules). Pretty ridiculous, but that is the direction GW is going.
Right now I’m part of the problem I suppose, but I am less and less of it because I am spending my cash elsewhere.
Options
The Forge the Narrative idea is strong with this new codex. They want you to pick out a chapter ancestry and run with it from the start. I’m going to use White Scars since the Mantis Warriors are a successor of the Marauders, who draw White Scar lineage. This will help out with bikes (not that I have any painted yet!).
The main idea I could see them drawing on a whiteboard when designing this codex is versatility. Space Marines are supposed to handle any challenge; they’re jacks of all trades but mostly masters of none. They’re not an assault force like the Blood Angels; they’re not a crazed shooting army like the Space Wolves. They draw a little from both and provide an army that can be very balanced on the tabletop.
With this new codex, new units, and new point costs, it is easier than ever to balance your force and avoid a skew. Lay down covering fire with predators or (cheaper) whirlwinds. Drop in with a drop pod to disrupt your opponent’s lines, then fly in a Storm Raven with terminators to shoot then blow things up. Throw down a line of devastator marines to shoot their big tanks.
Things I like: The land speeder storm is now a dedicated transport for scouts. Awesome. Makes sense. Even with snipers you can fly them in, land, and then blow things up with the storm.
Point cost reductions for many units. Bikes are cheaper, devastator marines are cheaper and probably usable now, sternguard are cheaper, even land speeders are cheaper.
You can make your warlord a 65 point model! This saves a ton of points that can be used to equip other units. You can also give your warlord eternal warrior with one relic, which is amazing (plus it is a storm shield). You have the choice to make a HUGE dang epic space marine hero or a cheap dude who basically runs a detachment.
You can use a tactical squad with only one special weapon! Sweet. Seems like a no-brainer.
The combat squad rules have been tightened and make sense. So much easier to use and explain to newbies.
Grav weapons are a really cool idea and a cool mechanic. I hope they remain something that only codex marines use. I am probably not going to give any to any models I have already built and painted, but centurions and sternguard models will certainly have them.
It is easy to get AA in your army with flakk missiles available across the board and a new dedicated AA tank. (The tank can be built as both variants, with the top part interchangeable!)
Terminators can select as many land raiders as they’d like as dedicated transports! Pretty cool. You could do a six LR list with terminators.
The orbital bombardment that the Chapter Master has no longer requires that he sit still from what I can tell. Chapter Masters in terminator armor moving forward blowing you up 😛
Things that could be done better: command squads can no longer take special weapons. Seems like an oversight. Many of the models in command squads through the years have been modeled with special weapons. They hardly seem worth taking now.
It is sweet the whirlwinds are cheaper by 20 points, but a bonus rule would be great – something like AP 3 if you hit straight on, or leaving smoke clouds that obscure LOS, something. They’re AV 11 and die to a stiff breeze =/
Thunder hammer / storm shield terminators probably didn’t need the points increase. I feel like they’re a signature unit for vanilla marines.
Drop pods can only carry 10 guys now. What about the characters? Argggh.
Bottom line: I don’t think this codex is going to break the game, which is great. A fair and balanced codex is the best way to make a codex. 40k is inherently not a balanced game, but we can do our best with what we’ve been given to make cool stories on the tabletop (which is all I want out of 40k).
New Models
Cerberus and I put together Centurions and the new Hunter / Stalker tanks. The centurions were much-maligned on the interwebs and I think rightfully so. The poses they’re taking does not suggest a sweet model; they look like they’re waiting to get on a bus.
 
I managed to cut up their legs a bit and re-pose them to make them look like they’re actually fighting. The bald heads do give them a fighting look as opposed to the emotionless helmets. I also left off the codpieces and I feel they look much better without them – they actually look like they might be able to move and they don’t look so tanky.
The centurions are priced downright insanely. At $78 they’re outside of most peoples’ budgets and come out to 28 cents a point if you make them devastators with grav options. Compare the unit to an Iron Fang Uhlan unit on the same size bases in pewter at $60. Sure, they don’t come with 10 different heads for each model, but do you really want to have to pay for that?
The hunter / stalker is pretty nice as far as rhino variants go but it comes in at an astonishing $65 for some extra armor panels and two new turrets. $30 extra for that. GW definitely has a problem.
I also put together some new sternguard. The models themselves are beautiful. They come with a ton of options and I can put in graviton guns. For the collector, they’re amazing. The price isn’t SO bad, but $10 a model for a space marine dude is still highway robbery. For the same price you could get 13 plastic Winter Guard.
Bottom line:Â the new models are beautiful GW plastic kits, and the centurions can be salvaged, but the prices are beyond insane and there is no justifying it. None.
Check back later for some more in-depth looks and tactics from our resident Space Marine expert, Scott.
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