40k Editorial – Your Armor is Your Faith
40k is a changin! It appears that the meta has finally been deflowered at long last and will be more so as each new codex is released going by what we have seen so far in sixth edition.
I have a good number of friends who have quit playing 40k altogether… it’s just not working for them. As one close friend told me this edition is very unforgiving. There is a big trend towards balance – mass infantry, lots of shooting and flyers have taken precedence over everything else. This is the new meta and some of the so called experts are stumped. It was tough for me too but eventually I was finally willing to make some changes how I play.
Compare sixth edition to fifth edition… Do you remember the big three Imperial armies…
• Imperial Guard (IG)
• Space Wolves (SW)
• Grey Knights (GK)
IG has made out the best so far but even the almighty guardsmen and their plethora of tanks aren’t nearly as strong as they used to be. IG has been relegated to a role as a top allied choice – apparently you can’t go wrong with Manticores and Vendettas… Right? It will be very interested to see how they make out in when their new upcoming codex is released next year. It might not be very pretty from an IG point of view.
SW I really don’t see much at all anymore… They obviously took a really big hit. The lack of their own flyer left them out in the cold. Sure SW can take an ally to get some flyers but it is not the same as having your own. GK on the other hand are still somewhat popular compared to SW but they also took a hit as well, but not as hard… And of course GK have a flyer.
Necrons were the only non Imperial army in fifth edition to receive a truly competitive codex plus their sixth edition FAQ was a huge boost. Probably the codex was written with sixth edition specifically in mind.
Chaos Space Marines
Previous 40k editions also had there share of the uber armies such as Chaos Space Marines (CSM) back in fourth edition and it was one of the most popular armies ever. I still remember attending many tournaments where well over sixty percent of the armies fielded were some flavor of Chaos.
CSM is my favorite codex so far for sixth edition and I really like being able to field daemons as an ally again. There are some very potent synergies between the two… Funny enough I don’t see many people taking advantage of this combination but then again the new daemon codex is still quite new. For instance a daemonic unit with the Grimorie of True Names can cast the +2 invulnerable save on a CSM unit… Can you imagine Abbadon wrecking lots of havoc with a 2++ save? I think in time we will see more of these types of armies.
Some of the older veteran CSM players have unfairly labeled CSM as a non competitive army but to me they sure seem very popular right now. These veteran CSM players that are unhappy with the new codex still want one like the fourth edition version. Just look at all of the good things though… There’s lots of really good units to build a competitive army.
And Dark Angels on the other hand got their best codex ever. I hope we see a lot more of these armies and I think this direction is a positive sign for the eventual new Space Marine codex. If the new Tau codex is strong in the way of anti-flyer defense that could open the door for more Ravenwing armies.
Double FOC and Flyers
Double FOC is not nearly as evil as some people make it out to be but then again many of the major events scheduled for this year in the US have eclipsed it by electing to go with 1850 points or less for whatever reason.
One of the major criticisms in regards to double FOC is it allows players to spam units such as the newly ubiquitous Heldrake. Remember though that currently this edition is all about very balanced armies if you want to field a competitive army. Six Heldrakes might sound very nasty but it would have some serious problems versus a Deathwing army with two or more land raiders.
I often hear some players say they don’t like flyers much. Flyers are one of the big changes to the game and some armies struggle against them unless they use allies. As I said above it is possible the new Tau will have some real answers to flyers and if so we will see another major meta shift.
My approach to flyers is to field two. Most armies don’t have a lot of anti-flyer defense so if my two come in from reserve simultaneously they can only focus on one (e.g., Interceptor). If my opponent does have some serious level of dedicated anti-flyer defense then only a small portion of my army is composed of flyers which allows the rest of my army to take advantage of the mismatch. Like I said fielding a very balanced army is currently the most competitive approach to 40k… Which leads me to my final conclusion.
Rock Paper Scissors (RPS) Syndrome and the Assault Phase
A lot of my friends who have been playing for a long time have said sixth edition is very much a RPS game – more so than any other edition and I’m inclined to agree. I think what they find so frustrating is that now the paper is Teflon coated… Heh ! It seems the rock armies are finally facing some serious problems. Again this just comes right back to not fielding a balanced army. You get what you pay for in sixth edition.
Traditionally I do like to play rock armies and initially it was hard for me to adjust to sixth edition… I love my big smashy rocks! Oh well these armies are win big-lose big now in my opinion. The good news is like I said – the most balanced armies are the most competitive. We all know the assault phase took a really big kick to the groin but if you completely eschew the use of any dedicated melee units then your army is naturally unbalanced.
That’s why I love units such as Grey Knight Purifiers and Chaos Space Marine Chosen. Sure they are not cheap for the points but I think most armies can afford to invest a moderate level of points into one balanced infantry unit that is above average in melee… Even a squad of Grey Hunters or Chaos Space Marines with uber grit (i.e., boltgun, bolt pistol and close combat weapon) and the Mark of Khorne are overall very well rounded. Purifiers are really good with the combination of two base attacks, Nemesis force weapons, S5 stormbolters and psycannons… That is obvious but on the other hand I think we are seeing much less Grey Knights and Space Wolf armies. So how does it all add up?
It’s simple really… You can afford to play more aggressively with one such non scoring unit – of course Grey Hunters and Chaos Space Marines are exceptions but if you’ve got four or more scoring units you can easily afford to dedicate some more points and field one unit that is built more aggressively.
To me the assault phase is inherently more powerful now in sixth edition since a lot of players don’t field any dedicated melee units… Whatever you’ve got can usually p0wn anything else if it manages to reach base contact with the enemy. That’s not always so easy now so it requires some skill and maybe that’s why we don’t see things like this that much any longer.
Using a squad of tactical Marines to generate your melee just doesn’t cut it though as they are average at best in close combat. A squad of assault Marines are definitely better suited to this role but they are also very one dimensional compared to Purifiers or Chaos Chosen.
I have covered a few examples of power armored units but with the new rules for allies every army has access to some form of dedicated assault. Of course you might want to simply skip it and accept the challenge. This is very popular now but I think it’s not the best approach.
In Closing…
I have discussed my view on the current state of the game. My philosophy is to play very balanced armies – they shoot well, have some dedicated melee units and are very mobile. Just as in fifth edition you need a good number of scoring units. This approach has been working well for me too… Otherwise I wouldn’t advise others to consider this when building an army list. The assault phase can still be the most powerful phase but it requires more thought, effort and skill on the part of the player to achieve substantial dividends. Rock armies are win big-lose big.
It’s been almost a year and we have multiple new codices. Have you finally made that mental “jump” to 6th and put all those 5th Edition bad habits behind you?
