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New Edition Codex Space Marines

Mike Adams
14/11/04

This is my analysis of what’s new and cool in the new edition Codex Space Marines (released Nov 2004). It also incorporates changes in the recent 4th edition of Warhammer 40,000 which are relevant to Space Marines armies.

Assault Cannons

One of the most significant changes that Games Workshop didn’t mention is the changes to the stats for Assault Cannons. These used to be real killer weapons in 2nd edition, then in 3rd edition they were watered down. Well, they’re back up there as being the Space Marine weapon to be feared.

Assault Cannons used to be 3 shots with the Jam Rule, now they are 4 shots with the Rending rule. If you’re trying to maximise number of shots, this is the baby to go for. How many other weapons fire 4 shots? But what makes the new stats particularly deadly is the combination of the number of shots and the Rending rule, which gives an extra D6 against tanks on a to-penetrate roll of a 6.

Do the sums and you will realise that this is better than a lascannon. The statistical average number of successful hits against an AV14 target is something like 0.37 for an assault cannon or 0.22 for a lascannon.

Of course 0.37 is still a low number if you’re looking for a guaranteed kill, so Land Raiders and Leman Russes are still relatively hard to kill, as they should be. But imagine what an assault cannon will do to a fleet of light vehicles like Ork buggies.

And of course what is unique about this weapon is the fact that you get fantastic anti-tank capability against the heaviest tanks plus fantastic anti-personnel capability in the same weapon!

Have they made the weapon too powerful? I’m not sure, but what they have done is shake up Space Marine armies and restored the respect I think should be due to such a weapon. You have to remember that it’s range is only 24” so you have to get close, and there are relatively few platforms for it, and all expensive.

The platforms for the assault cannon are:

  • Terminators
  • Land Raider Crusader (twin-linked)
  • Dreadnought
  • Land Speeder Tornado
  • Blood Angels Baal Predator (twin-linked)

The most attractive of these, points-wise and in terms of general availability, is the Land Speeder Tornado. And you can have quite a few of these! In fact, see the Raven Guard army at the back of the Codex book which has no less than 5! Bear in mind these pups pack a Heavy Bolter as well, and with the 4th edition rules it’s much easier to fire off all weapons on a vehicle. So, between them, this little lot are likely to put out 15 S5 and 20 S6 (Rending) shots per turn!

Now, it just so happens that I have Blood Angels and Dark Angels. Before the Codex was released, I was planning to add a second Land Speeder with multi-melta to my Blood Angels and was thinking about Land Speeder Tornados for my Dark Angels. I didn’t really want Land Speeders in both, because I try and keep them very different in composition and playing style. Well, now I am instead adding a second Baal Predator to my Blood Angels, but will definitely go ahead and add two Land Speeder Tornados to the Dark Angels.

Drop Pods

The next big thing in the new Codex is Drop Pods. In fact for me, Drop Pods and also Techmarines are probably the only really exciting things about what is otherwise a fairly bland new Codex.

Previously, in line with the background, Space Marine armies could deploy via Drop Pods, but who used it? It really meant Deep Striking the whole army and probably losing one of your units as a casualty in the process. Smart not to bother. In any case, it was a bit sterile just saying that the army was deploying using Drop Pods. We want to see them! That’s why we play with miniatures in the first place.

Now, Drop Pods are much more effective, because they are never destroyed or damaged on landing. They are just moved to within 1” of enemy or terrain if they would otherwise land on top. Plus, they are now bought for individual squads like a Rhino transport, costing 30p.

A couple of photos in the new Codex show fantastic new models of Drop Pods, rather box-like similar to a Rhino, with doors and ramps at the front and presumably the back as well. So far, like Assault Cannons, Games Workshop have been quiet on this subject. I don’t really understand that, because Drop Pods is THE coolest thing about the new Codex, and I CAN’T WAIT to know what their model plans. What I do know is I can’t afford / won’t pay for the Forge World models, lovely as they are.

What’s great about them is that they combine a cool modelling project with evocative imagery and background with game-effective rules.

With 3rd edition, Space Marine armies were a little dominated by assault squads in Rhinos (using the so-called “Rhino Rush” tactic). With 4th edition, Rhinos will no longer be assault transports and I think we’ll see far less of them and far less non Jump Pack equipped assault squads. However… consider the Drop Pod.

The Drop Pod can be deployed slap bang in the middle of the enemy. It’s still subject to scatter, but even so you can choose anywhere on the battlefield to deploy. The handicap, like with Rhinos, is that in 4th edition rules you can’t assault on the turn you deploy, and of course you count as having moved when shooting. But consider rapid fire weapons which can now shoot twice even after moving, if within 12” of the enemy. You should be within 12” of the enemy, if you deploy by Drop Pod! Hence my new Dark Angels list includes a squad of 10 designed specifically to be deployed by Drop Pod.

What you can also do with a Drop Pod which you can’t do with a Rhino is deploy Terminators and Dreadnoughts. These can shoot as soon as the doors open, and of course they will be armed with assault cannons, won’t they?

Tech-Marines

It goes without saying that new Techmarine model with full servo-harness is one of the most awesome Space Marine miniatures ever made. And we’ve all got to have one. It needs putting on a larger base though. Add a few servitors and put it in a Razorback and you’ve got a lovely little unit.

However, there are already so many elite units in an elite army, is there room for one more? And you are in danger of spending a lot of points and not getting the return on it. Is it going to be combat-oriented, shooting-oriented, repair-oriented or general-purpose? This is the biggest problem, because I have learnt that each unit should have a specific mission, possibly with a secondary mission. But if you buy 4 Heavy Bolter servitors, the points invested in all the Techmarine’s powered attacks is wasted.

In practise, I think there is limited scope for a Techmarine in the smaller games I play (1000p or 1500p), unless the army is organised around him completely.

Now that’s where it gets interesting, in my humble opinion. Thinking of starting a new army? Consider an Iron Hands army with the “Scions of Mars” Chapter Trait. Make a tooled up Techmarine your army commander, with his own retinue of servitors. Add a Dreadnought or two and have your squads commanded by Sergeants in Terminator armour. Throw in lots of bionics (now only 5p). And probably a second, junior Techmarine without the full servo-harness. That would be a very characterful army to do. Perfect for the upcoming Summer 2005 W40K campaign (if rumours are true). If the Techmarine had to choose between Emperor and Machine God, where would his loyalties lie? Repeat after me… C…O…O…L.

Dark Angels

I mention this only because I have a Dark Angels army, and I have just gone through the (painful) process of rebuilding my 1000p and 1500p army lists in light of the new edition of Codex Space Marines.

My conclusion is, don’t build a list from Codex Dark Angels until the new book is released. For a start, it’s hard work, because you have (1) the Codex Dark Angels; (2) plus the amendments published in White Dwarf and later in one of the Warhammer 40,000 Compendiums; (3) plus the new Codex Space Marines; (4) plus the Chapter Approved Dark Angels FAQ V4.1 (downloaded from the GW website).

If that wasn’t enough, the combined Dark Angels list really isn’t that good, and is not as good a regular army chosen from Codex Space Marines. Consequently, my new list is chosen only from Codex Space Marines, with a minor divergence “Sombre” Chapter Trait to give some flavour of the Dark Angels. I chose the trait advantage “Cleanse And Purify” to get a second plasma gun in one of my tactical squads, and chose the trait drawback “We Stand Alone” which means the army cannot take allies, which is 100% consistent with the Dark Angels.

Specifically, my complaints about Dark Angels are as follows: First off, it’s well known that the original list was poor and gave too many disadvantages and not enough advantages, hence the update published in White Dwarf which added more options, decreased the points cost of some items like Terminators, and for a bonus added the unique ability to carry plasma cannons.

However, the new Codex Space Marines includes these benefits as standard in all Space Marines armies, so now Dark Angels are left only with the disadvantages.

As an example, I thought one nice thing about the Dark Angels was that I could use the Standard of Devastation in conjunction with Drop Pods and the new rules for transports and rapid fire weapons. But whereas previously I could spend 35p to have this standard (which I think is reasonable), now I must spend 25p just to have the Standard Bearer (comes with the useless Company Banner), before I pay for the 35p banner on top. However, it’s much worse than that. You can’t give the Standard Bearer wargear unless he has Terminator Honours, but you can’t even give him Terminator Honours without giving them to the Sergeant and the entire squad! That means you have to spend a total of 15p + 6x10p + 25p + 35p = 135p.

Now, to be fair I think GW have actually corrected the balance here, and made sure that only a squad of veterans in a large army can carry a chapter banner. If you think about it, that’s only reasonable. Why should my 1000p detachment with an ordinary Space Marine be entrusted with the Dark Angels Standard of Devastation?!

OK, Plan B was to have my army led by a Deathwing Captain and a Deathwing Command Squad. That’s very characterful for the Dark Angels and I would put up with the Stubborn rule that I have to pay for at 5p each even though I don’t want it or need it, and accept the drawback of the Intractable rule… but hold on, that’s not allowed. You can’t have a Deathwing Command Squad except in an all-Deathwing army. But that’s ridiculous, because ordinary Space Marine armies can have Terminator Command Squads and they don’t have any of the drawbacks. At this point I gave up. Either I was going to have to build a seriously constrained army that was going to get beaten every time it went to battle, or else I can build my own (perfectly legal) Dark Angels army using Codex Space Marines alone. Now I’m sure that GW will fix this when they get around to re-doing the Codex Dark Angels, but in the meantime I don’t recommend using the current version.

OK, that’s my rant over. I feel better now.

The Rest

  • Bionics are cheaper (5p instead of 10p) – go for it Iron Hands!
  • Librarians and Chaplains can fight with other character’s command squads – fair enough, but not in small games
  • Combat Shield – nice new wargear, expect to see a lot of these
  • Familiar (Librarian) – very nice, increases the Librarian’s Initiative by 1, expect to see a lot of servo-skulls and the like floating around combat Librarians
  • Holy relic 30p not 40p
  • Reductors, force weapons, etc. now mandatory for characters, the same as Chaplains get Rosarius, etc. – this and other changes to characters makes them a lot more powerful than previously, and more expensive of course
  • Adamantine mantle – new wargear, sounds like Salamanders
  • New Librarian powers – to be honest, I haven’t really looked at these in detail yet, but be sure Librarians are now a lot more potent than previously
  • Lots of elite squads can now have veteran skills like Tank Hunters and Infiltrate (also ordinary squads through Chapter Traits), but not as many as Chaos Space Marines
  • Command squad, assault squad and terminators are all cheaper than previously
  • Dreadnoughts can be venerable, and venerable dreadnoughts can have veteran skills
  • Anti-tank grenades are cheaper for assault squads
  • Bikes are cheaper
  • Attack bikes now W2 Sv 3+ instead of W1 Sv 2+ (much easier to administer)
  • Land Speeders can now Deep Strike (and Tornados are slightly cheaper – huh?)
  • Whirlwind is a little more expensive, and now has the option of mine-laying “Castellan” missiles
  • Terminator Command Squad can be 4, so can fit Commander and his squad inside a Land Raider! Duh!

I’ve probably missed stuff. This is all very personal opinion of course. We’ll see how many of my predictions come true in the kinds of armies we see “on the circuit”.

Conclusion

Although the Space Marines have not been changed massively and still have the same basic troops choices, as we would expect, I think GW have done a good job in enlivening the whole subject and getting people buying, building and playing with new Space Marine armies.

I have a slight concern that overall they have made Space Marines more powerful, and this is a trend with new army lists. I don’t know whether it is deliberate or accidental, but every time a new list is published the armies get more powerful and also more complicated. It is not until a clean sweep is made simplicity and balance is restored, as happened with 3rd edition. To me that was a “golden period” when they went back to basics and you could actually remember all the rules!

Be honest, how many games have you played where you never forgot any rules, whether it was scenario special rules, game mechanics, weapon rules or special rules pertaining to your own army. If there’s one thing I have learnt about rule-writing, it is to make rules simpler than you think they should be, because in the heat of battle they are always more complicated. And at the end of the day, the tactical situation and rules of engagement should be the things uppermost in your mind as a general, not the actual mechanics of the battle.