Goatboy 40k Thoughts: Which Space Marine are You?
We now have 3 brand new Space Marine variant codexes for us to choose from. Each flavor of 8 foot tall super human plays differently. So the question is what marine variant are you?
What I want to do is go over each of the variants pros and cons so you can have a better idea of what kind of Space Marine fits your play style the best. So without further ado lets start with the good old Codex Space Marine.
Codex Space Marines
Codex Space Marine is the default option for any of the “good” marine armies. This is represented by the overall massive amount of options available in the codex. They have one of the best hammer units in the game as well as a large amount of options over the entire Force Org. When you play a C:SM army you really have a lot of options in order to create your force. They might not be the best at one thing, but they sure can do a lot of things to make up for it.
PROS:
A) Marines are for the most part pretty cheap. You can field a lot of guys on the table top. This is a great advantage as they can easily have bluff, hammer, and scoring units all easily covered. A well designed list will usually always have a chance to score throughout the game.
B) Their special characters are also really good. They are cheap enough to add to any list. I know there are always “better” fighters out there but these characters create your army. We all have seen the amount of Vulkan spam lists out there but Lysander is really good too as is Calgar. Khan can create a pretty cool army too as well as most of the others.
C) Options, options, options. All the avenues of the Force Org has multiple choices in there. This lets you create an army that you want, instead of an army that is chosen for you by the rules. I know not all the options are the “best” but having those options makes this a pretty successful and super flexible codex.
CONS:
A) Not as much special stuff as some of the other codexes. You will see this as I go into Space Wolves and Blood Angels. But sometimes this mass-appeal codex can seem a little bland at times.
B) There are some things that seem to be improperly costed. I am not sure on the balancing issues within GW, but I do think the Devastators options are too expensive at this time when compared to the other codexes.
C) Being decent at everything can mean losing to something that is really good at one thing.
Conclusion:
Space Marines give you a lot of options that make for a pretty fun army. I have a full bike army that I play from time to time and I have this codex to thank to let me do that. There are also really cool Dreadnought variant lists as well as just the tried and true Vulkan builds. In fact I have seen a lot of different options just come out of the codex. If you are just starting out in the game, basic C:SM is a great starter army that will help you learn the game and all the tactical options you have available to you.
Space Wolves (Or as I call them Space Goats)
Space Wolves are an interesting codex as it brought back hero hammer as well as some of the crazier stuff we lost in some of the earlier rules. They are one of the more straight forward codexes in the Warhammer 40k universe. The design is built to crush you with these viking warriors from space. This army punishes the timid and rewards the aggressive player.
PROS:
A) We finally have the book that gives us the crazy heros from all the stories. With the option of Sagas as well as the benefit of getting a point of strength and toughness makes the heroes a good option in the game. Lucky for us, we can take four of them and thus still have some psychic defense.
B) Psychic powers have come to the forefront in this book. You mix this with one of the most interesting anti psychic options in the game you have an army that threatens more then just in the assault phase.
C) They have one of the better troop options in the game. Yes they lose the point of leadership, but they more then make up for it in the sheer amount of options they have.
CONS:
A) They are missing some of the options and abilities that regular C:SM have. The drop in a point of leadership to get 2 special weapons means they are extremely susceptible to tank shocking. I have lost a lot of guys to Eldar flying sleds.
B) The push of Hero Hammer also means you won’t have nearly as many plastic feet on the table. As we continue in the 5th edition landscape, the push of more guys > better guys is really noticeable in some of the Space Wolf builds I have seen. Focused enemy fire power often means all of a sudden your scoring troops might be gone and you are now going for the tie.
C) With the push of assault for this type of list a highly mobile army will be difficult to catch and deal with. Tau, Eldar, BA are all lists that can move extremely fast. When you are hoping for a 6 to make the flying box go away, you betting on a loss most of the time.
Conclusion:
Space Wolves are an army build that benefits a more seasoned player. They are not a finesse army, but rather an army benefits from knowing what to hit first. They are a very aggressive army and benefit the player who is willing to take risks and grin when getting into a knife fight. They are also one of the few armies that I feel lets you really play with the fluff and build designs. We all have seen my Chaos take on the list and I do wish that some of these options that are shown in this book were in the CSM book.
Blood Angels
Now we get to the new kid on the block with Blood Angels. This book really showcases some of the philosophy seen in the latest 5th edition books. You have lots of options, some crazier hero characters, as well as a ton of new and different rules. All of these things creates a different army that has all trappings of a cool force to the landscape of 5th edition.
PROS:
A) Can we say one of the best options we have had as a troop? The assault squad is pretty great as it gives you all the options rolled into one neat package. 2 special weapons? Check. 3 Attacks on the charge? Check. Point savings when taking off the gas tank on the back? Check. You can’t ask for much else in a troop option.
B) Psychic power everywhere! This book really lets you cover the field in anti psychic ability. Mix this with some pretty neat powers and you got a very cover all aspects of the game type of army. I don’t know about you, but flying dreadnoughts are pretty neat.
C) This is another army that pushed the Force Org with options all over the place. Moving a tank to FA is pretty neat as well a change from Heavy to a Troop Transport for an old standby creates a pretty neat army on the table top.
D) The biggest thing is a push for almost all the ground based vehicles in this book to fast. This is huge, as the game becomes a turn two super turn style army.
E) Army wide special rules that we haven’t seen spammed in awhile. I played CSM and I know how much FNP can be a pain in the butt.
CONS:
A) This list is very fragile. A smart player can easily break the hammer of the army and clean up the mess that is left behind.
B) The special characters are very expensive and leave a bit to be desired. They are fun, but still some of their options are just not worth it at their point level. Also some of the wargear setup is not nearly as good as you would think they would be for such expensive characters.
C) This is not a no brainer army. This army benefits from constant movement as well as control of the table top. Once false move and you watch your flank crumble pretty quickly, kinda like Eldar.
D) Some things are extremely expensive. If you had a BA army before, I am sure you had a nice sized Death Company. The changes to their load out and build design means that if you want to still field them look at spending a lot of points on the crazy Marines.
E) This is an army is not nearly as effective in assault as your best troop option would think. Watch out when you play versus an extremely effective assault army, as they will get in and just start blowing up guys pretty quickly.
~Those are some of my thoughts on the new Marine based codexes out there. Each represents a different set challenges to the player as well as benefits and options to create fun games. I am an aggressive player by nature, so I really push towards Space Wolves as my army of choice, but each army lets me try out different options and push my player skills. Comment on how you have found each codex as well as the army lists you really think represent the “heart” of the army are welcome. As usual shoot me an email to [email protected] if you have any questions.
