40k:Codex Builds to Watch Out For
6th Edition keeps cruising along, but we keep passing the same army arch-types again and again and again… What gives?
At the current time of writing this post there are five 6th ed codices; Chaos Space Marines, Dark Angels, Chaos Daemons, Tau and Eldar – Eldar is the newest book on the block. Soon Space Marines will be joining the ranks of 6th edition books.
The codices in 5th ed tend to have limited builds and in some cases become even more limited thanks to the changes 6th ed brought. Take Blood Angels for example, in 5th ed the book could give you a jumper, Dreadnought, Sanguinary Guard and Razorback list. Now in 6th ed only jumpers is truly viable and that then is still a weak list compared to others. Dark Eldar is another example which previously gave you Venom Spam, Raider spam, Webway Portal, Hellion Swarm and Wych Cult to name a few. Now Venom Spam is the most competitive build as 6th lists are turning to infantry or hybrid lists, though Venoms excel at destroying infantry.
Now the 6th ed codices are rocking about how many builds can you get from each one? Can they offer as many builds as the 5th ed codices offered in their prime? Mercer from Imperius Dominatus takes a look;
Chaos Space Marines
CSM was the first 6th ed codex to hit after the 6th ed rulebook landed and set the way for all following codices. In MY opinion this is the weakest codex out of all the 6th codices. Here’s a few builds CSM can offer:
Triple Heldrake – as the title, triple Heldrakes which are supported by triple Havocs then units of Chaos Marines bundled into Rhinos or even large units on foot.
Chaos Rhino Rush – as many Rhinos as you can cram into a list, usually min squads of troops with Chosen and Havocs also jammed into Rhinos. This is perhaps the weakest of the CSM lists.
Death Guard – Pure Nurgle army featuring a super tough Chaos Lord on a bike with a power fist & burning brand who is supported by many Chaos Spawn. Add min units of Plague Marines for troops, dual Heldrakes and as many Nurgle Oblits as you can and you’ve got a super tough Death Guard list.
Chosenwing – Abaddon makes Chosen troops, throw them into Rhinos and you’ve got many special weapons with an expensive, but extremely choppy HQ unit. Add Havocs and Heldrakes for fire and aerial support.
CSM Horde – A metric crap ton of Chaos Cultists with Dark Apostles, Chaos Lord on bike, Chaos Spawn and Obliterators for support.
Dark Angels
Second codex to be released, the D.A codex brought an update to a long outdated codex and gave the Dark Vengeance set two new codices to go with it. The Dark Angels brought two themed lists with them, both got funky new rules and points adjustments.
Deathwing – one reason why people play Dark Angels and that is for a metric ton of Terminators. Deathwing got more expensive, but certainly got better in the long run. It is an elite style of list to play due to the small amount of bodies.
Ravenwing – the second reason why people play Dark Angels; loads of bikes (I play Dark Angels for this very reason). Ravenwing offer a fast elite style army, which can put out a lot of bolter shots thanks to the standard of devastation.
Hybridwing – basically Deathwing and Ravenwing fused together.
Triple Crusader – three Land Raider Crusaders with a standard of devastation sitting in the middle. Not as good as Ravenwing, but certainly nothing to sniff at.
Greenwing – exactly what is says on the tin; loads of Tactical Marines supported by Veterans.
Chaos Daemons
The Chaos Daemon codex is the most random box of tricks on offer among the codices. Due to the various chaos gods the Chaos Daemons codex can offer the most builds out of a codex.
Flying Circus/Monster Mash – ram as many flying monstrous creatures in a list as you can, this typically is Fateweaver, Bloodthirster, Tzeentch Princes then Plaguebearers for troops along with an ADL quad gun. If you want to add flavour sprinkle with CSM and throw in a Daemon Prince and Heldrake.
Daemonic Horde – made up of fast moving units such as Daemonettes, supporting Heralds, Bloodcrushers, Flesh Hounds and Soul Grinders for aerial support – Grinders typically have mark of nurgle for shrouding saves along with phlegm bombardment.
Khorne – mono Khorne list, which is rammed Bloodletters, Bloodcrushers and Flesh Hounds. Add in dual Bloodthirsters and Khorne Princes and you have a blood list. If you do not fancy big monsters then replace with Heralds on juggernauts – join these with the Flesh Hounds and you have a nasty close combat unit which can scout.
Tzeentch – basically the Tzeentch list is the same as the flying circus minus the Bloodthirster which is replaced with a Lord of Change. Add in Pink Horrors and maybe some Screamers and there’s your pure magic list. Using powers from divination and the grimnorie you can get 2+ invulnerable saves on the Screamers.
Slaanesh – dual Keepers for ground saturation and then aerial Slaanesh Princes. Add large Daemonette units and Seekers and you have a pure Slaanesh list. The Slaanesh list offers the most options as Heralds can replace Keepers and Slaanesh chariots could be added or even take Fiends from the elite slot.
Nurgle – double Great Unclean Ones who drop down on the opponent’s table side to make a royal pain of themselves. Plaguebearers drop down for support while Beasts of Nurgle race up the board with support from Plague Drones. Nurgle Grinders hold the rear with skyfire support.
Tau Empire
You’ll have to let me off on Tau as they are not my strong point and I do not know a huge amount about them besides info in the codex. I’ll jot down some lists which I can think off, but they may not be builds commonly known.
Farsight Bomb – take one Commander Farsight, one Shadowsun and then get as many Bodyguards as you can and drop them down as a big annoying threat. Take dual Riptides for target saturation, Broadsides for anti air and maybe outflanking Kroot?
Gunline – involves one ADL with many Fire Warriors behind with an Ethereal giving bubble of goodness. Add triple units of triple Broadsides with skyfire and nothing in the air or even ground for that matter will come even close to threatening you. Kroot hide behind the ADL with sniper rounds and just shoot heads off monstrous creatures and infantry.
Suit Spam – take two Commanders, two bodyguard units, two Riptides or triple Crisis Suits and Broadsides and you have about 20 Battlesuits. Add troops to claim objectives and Pathfinders for pimpyness.
Eldar
The Eldar codex is the newest codex on the block and has been out about a month now. Here are some of the builds I can think of:
Serpent Spam – take min Dire Avengers units and Fire Dragon units and ram them into Wave Serpents – the more the better. You should be able to get nine Serpents in a 2k list. If you do not want to go max on Serpents then you can stick with the chassis and go Falcon or Fire Prism. Either way you go about it that’s a lot of vehicles!
Footdar – Avatar with a load of Guardians and supporting Warlocks. Add Dark Reapers for ranged dakka, Warp Spiders for flanking attacks and Striking Scorpions for early pressure.
Saim Hann – Saim Hann is a craftworld famed for it’s jetbike armies and in the Eldar codex you can do that extremely well; HQ choice on jetbike with mantle of the laughing god, Warlocks on bikes, Windrider Jetbike units and Shining Spears for support.
Iyanden – the Iyanden Craftworld focuses on wraith support and even has a codex supplement to compliment this build. Basically Spiritseer as HQ choice with Wraithguard as troops then triple Wraithknights or Wraithlords.
Elfzilla – Elfzilla is an old list from the previous Eldar codex and remains mostly unchanged; Avatar, troops for flavour, Wraithlords or Wraithknights with supporting fast attack of your choice.
Final Thoughts
As we can see from above, each codex can offer a variety of army lists and while some are stronger than others all lists are perfectly viable. In turn this will create more varied games and so if you play the same army several times over and over in different games there’s a chance you will be playing against something different each time. After all variety is the spice of life and the 6th codices have given us exactly that.
** I may have forgot about some builds or unaware of them i.e Tau. Be sure to shout them out if I have missed something**
Do you think the 6th ed codices offer more build options than the 5th ed ones did in their prime or did the 5th ed codices do way more? What trends are dominant in your area?
