Today I want to talk about the new kid on the block codex wise – the Imperial Astra Militarium Fists of the Emperor aka Tanks and Friends!
Goatboy here again with another lovely 40k Monday morning. With Adepticon out of the way it is back to the normal schedule of competitive discussions, hobby nonsense, and probably some kind of crazy Daemon/Knight conversion I am planning for the next few weeks. I am also thinking of a new question/answer discussion with some of the artists I like. 10 Questions with People that Kick Ass with Modeling. So look for that coming soon.
Today I want to talk about the new kid on the block codex wise – the Imperial Astra Militarium Fists of the Emperor aka Tanks and Friends! Yup we got a new book and today I want to do a quick run through it. I am sure I will dump on some units that people might love but this is just a quick look through based on what I might play. I feel they will make my new Slaanesh Knights work so I am excited to pull off the plastic and give this book a read through.
Starting at the top – let’s look at the things I like from the book.
Commands are back with some strong options in the book. They follow what we have seen in other books with different rules and abilities that cause their shooting to be a big pile of Pain in the Arse. I am kind of tired of seeing ignore cover abilities especially with terrain in a lot of events not helping with giving area cover instead of no LOS cover. But hey that is another rant for a different day.
Commands Take Aim! Basic Command (everyone can do it) – Order unit has Precision Shot special rule. Yeah – that is pretty good as you can hopefully pinpoint and cause lots of wounds on specific jerks. That 2++ guy in front well – I will put the pain on the guy behind him. Look for your Grim Herald to get lots of lasers in the eyes.
Rating – 3.5 out of 5 – maybe 4 – very close.
Smite at Will! Basic Command – Ordered unit can split fire. This is pretty interesting as I think you have to give the command then the unit then has to make a leadership test again to split fire? Still this can help when you blob up and you need your Lascannons shooting at something that Lascannons need to shoot at while your lasguns light up the night.
Rating – 3 out of 5.
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First Rank, Fire! Second Rank, Fire! Basic Command – Adding a second shot to Lasguns and Hot Shot Lasguns. Yeah this is the same as before and just as strong when you get into range. Roll those’s saves hot shots.
Rating – 4 out of 5 – would be higher but really how often are you getting in range with all these shots now a days.
Forwards, for the Emperor! Basic Command – So kind of like Battlefocus but you have to shoot first. I bet they use this to run away a lot haha. But interesting for shooting then getting to an objective.
Rating – 3 out of 5.
Move! Move! Move! Basic Command – Roll 3 dice pick the highest for running. Meh…
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Rating – 2 out of 5
Suppressive Fire! Basic Command – Shooting causes Pinning. If you got Terrify this might be interesting but right now things just don’t care about pinning that much. But heck if you pin a Riptide that could be fun.
Rating – 2 out of 5.
Bring it Down! Senior Officer Only – You get Tank Hunter and Monster Hunter on the unit it was told to do that. This is good. This will happen a lot as FMC is around and shooting at stupid Wave Serpents will be important.
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Fire of my Target! Senior Officer Only – Unit ignores cover. Sweet monkey Jesus! – Vehicles hiding won’t last. This is another sweet command. Again we just hate cover. I think if 5th edition had all of these ignore cover options – it might not have been so Grey Knight heavy eh?
Rating – 5 out of 5.
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Get Back in the Fight!
Senior Officer Only – So basically if you have gone to ground you stand back up. If you are running our regroup automatically but can’t have the 3″ consolidation move. The unit can also then act normally after that. I think this is one of those ones that will just sometimes win you the game as you need to score an objective. This type of power works with Daemons and other assault based options as Mental Fortitude will pop you back up after going to ground. Good players will use this to win – other players will just forget about this command.
Rating – 4 out of 5.
I think the commands are pretty strong and will be a big factor in causing the AM/IG/JB’s to win games. So far so good on their “special” rule with orders. It is like psychic powers so having the army have access to mind bullets makes them really strong.
AM have access to a bunch of awesome unit upgrades. These all follow the same flavors you have seen in the other Imperium armies out there with Priests, Psykers, and other upgrade options. I just want to hit on the things I think will see in my armies as well as others.
Advisors/Add On’s/Specialisits
Astropath
Upgrade to the Company Command Squad
Level 1 Psyker with Telepathy
This guy is interesting as he gives you some options with Terrify and Mental Fortitude if you need a unit to get up or stay. This frees up some commands you might need to do and helps give you as many options as you can to do things. His Leadership is only 7 so that hurts him but still he is cheap.
Rating – 3 out of 5.
Commissars/Lord Commissar
These guys are similar to what was before. I think with Priests around we might not need these guys. Yarrick is the exception as he is a Senior Officer so can issue orders. Still these guys can help keep your army staying put. Lord Commissar is an IC so remember for look out sir rolls. Also killing your guys becomes a lot more interesting as you roll a d6 and on a 1 or 2 your opponent picks who gets killed.
Rating 3 out of 5.
Regimental Specialists
Wow these guys will be the sweetness for any army. Really I can see uses for all of them and this is one of the reasons I will probably add AM/IG to my Knight army I am planning. You get 0-3 choices for each of the specialists in an AM detachment. I can see all of them getting used in almost every army.
Ministorum Priests
This guy acts the same as the other Priests in the Sisters and Inquisition book with out all the options. It is interesting they added a Plasma gun option. Still these guys give you fearless to your blobs as well as those neat Hymms. Remember you roll on his Leadership of 7 to get the Hymms off. Still this guy is so dirt cheap just expect them to run around in your blob units. He has a Rosarius too so that is great as well.
Rating 5 out of 5.
Primarius Psyker
Holy crap – I guess a level 2 psyker is pretty cheap eh? Who needs allies when you can get 3 of these jerks. If you plan on taking these guys don’t take a Commissar because if you fail a psychic check watch this guy explode. Oh he has decent leadership at 9 and has access to lots of spells – Biomancy, Divination, Pyromancy, and Telekinesis. I see 2 of these in most units especially as you will get a +1 to your Deny the Witch at minimum. Oh he randomly has a Refractor Field too and a force weapon. Huzzah – get that Staff.
Rating 5 out of 5
Enginseer
I think with Knights these guys will see lots of use. If you plan on running tanks their ability to add Machine Spirit to a friendly vehicle is pretty great too. I can see a squad or two running with Knights to ensure they keep fixed and happy. You can get Servitors to make it really easy to fix that model up on that 5+ you need.
Rating 4 out of 5.
Man after this the army kind of rolls into the same sections it had before. In fact most of the units seem to follow the same point costs, options, and set up as before. Blobs are still there, and with the extra upgrades from above they become pretty dang scary now. Most of the special Characters have jumped up to be pretty expensive so I don’t expect to see them much as you can do the same sorts of things with all the extra characters you can add to the units. Let’s look at the changes.
Quick Changes
Vendettas went up in price and now can only hold 6 guys. So no more Vets in a Vendetta and all those people with squadrons of them are going to look elsewhere. Look for the original OP flyer to get regulated to the side as other options just seem better for anti air/flyer.
Scions are the Storm Troopers. I think they are pretty strong as Deep strike is pretty powerful. Might be worth it to add AG with the Militarium to get some Deep Striking troops. They come in with awesome weapons, kill something you need too and then your opponent will have to get rid of them or they continue to be a nuisance.
Leman Russ tanks got a nice boost with cheaper point costs and some upgrade character options with Pask. Look for rending Punisher Gatling cannons and Pask to hit the table top. Heck Pask is looking great too as a locked in pain in the butt HQ choice.
The Chimera only allows two people to shoot out now and the lasguns on top are shot as lasguns but use the Chimera’s BS if you have 6 extra guys ready to fire the flashlights. It also went up in point cost as well but they are still decent as command bubble vehicles.
The Manticore took a hit with a min range of 24″ as well as mixed with not being able to fire directly. Still getting Puppet Master’ed is not nearly as bad now. The book lost a lot of other tanks too so those converted/FW/Chinacast Medusas and Colossus’s are going to have to be used with FW rules. The new Wyverns is kind of bad too. It at least looks cool.
The Deathstrike missile brings big explosions to the battle top again. It has a min range and can never get a weapon destroyed. You can’t shoot it turn 1 but after turn two roll a d6 and either add a +1 for each turn it hasn’t moved or a -1 for every shaken/stunned result. On a 4+ it shoots. Now if I steal with with Daemons and shoot it off – I owe that person a dinner haha. Hooray for Puppet Master heh.
I am sure there are more things and the Special Characters to look through. I just have run out of time to push into that and I still want to throw out a list for everyone to look at. I plan on making the Slaanesh corrupted Knights in the coming weeks. So with that in mind I wanted to find an Ally that will give me some Anti Flyer options and hopefully better scoring options. I plan on my Knights to be rolling into your army so I don’t need them holding an objective in the back. So with that in mind – I wanted to show some thoughts on my Carnival of Hate – aka Count’s As for Life!
Goatboy’s Obligatory List Knights Primary – AG Ally – Aka The Truth
Knights of Pleasure
Knight Paladin – Warlord – Idol of the Prince
Knight Paladin – Right Hand of Discipline
Knight Errant – The Burning Fervor
AG Ally – Carnival Of Pain
Commissar Yarrick – Aka the Sultan of Pain
Primaris Psyker, Lvl 2 – Dark Apostle of Delights
Ministorum Priest – Acolyte of Desire
Infantry Platoon – True Believers of Spite
Platoon Command – Deacon of Spite
Infantry Squad, Auto Cannon, Plasmagun, Meltabombs – Believers of Might
Infantry Squad, Auto Cannon, Plasmagun, Meltabombs – Believers of Angst
Infantry Squad, Auto Cannon, Meltabombs – Little Deaths
Special Weapon Squad, Meltagun X 3 – The Sacrifice
Vendetta – Bringer of the Broken
Basically I tried to cover most basics and have enough room for neat conversions and ideas. Who knows if this list will work but it has guns which is always good. Plus I can make creepy stuff. I went with Yarrick as I think I could do a cool conversion with the Power Klaw and the warping nature of Chaos. Yarrick joins the blob with one Priest. The Psyker joins the Command squad so he can fail a Psychic check and not eat it. The Special Weapon team joins the Vendetta and gives me some ability to fly around and some Anti Air. I didn’t want to run vehicles because it just didn’t feel right to not see a flowing sea of pink and purple flesh that is Slaanesh.
Overall the book looks good. I don’t think it kills some of the stars that well – but with the mixture of Knights and other options it might kick some armies in the dingus. The crazy thing is at least it feels like 40k with just the sea of Guardsmen standing tall against the evils of the universe.
Thomas Reidy, aka Goatboy, the ever-evil member of BoLS. I do arts, play 40k, and even paint a lot of stuff. I have been playing Warhammer 40K since the 1990s, and have won multiple national events including Adepticon and GW GTs. I've been writing for BoLS for 15 years. Look at my Instagram to see what I am working on - or working on for someone. I am always doing something hobby related.
