Goatboy’s 40k Nonsense – White Scars Review!
Goatboy here again and completing my quick review of the 2 new “supplement” armies from the newest Campaign setting.
The Lords of Chogoris
I am finishing off with the most common miscolored Marine chapter we have out there – the White Scars. You would think with how popular the army is, GW would have capitalized with some actual new White Scars biker boxed set that costs 10 more bucks, comes with more weapons and other beards, top knots, and other pseudo Space Wolf stuff. Of course they didn’t do it and just repackaged some Space Dinosaurs instead. Anyway lets get on with the review as this supplement seems pretty dang good with decent formations, a new decurion that might push people away from the gladius, and most likely one of the most powerful relics for their chapter in the game.
Their chapter tactics stayed the same. They get Hit and Run, a better hammer of wrath, and can reroll their run distance. Every one of their extra rules are decent with Hit and Run causing the power level of their Chapter to be pretty high. We all know how strong Khan is when they activate Scout as another Chapter Tactic even though you have to pay his slightly inflated Captain tax. The White Scars got some new warlord traits that feel pretty fluffy without any real abusive options. I think the one that allows you to reroll the Sweeping advance option is pretty interesting as you can have marines break and then let them get away so you can move, shoot and get around the table instead of getting stuck in a lame slap fight. I also like the ability to add or subtract 1 to your reserve rolls. Null deploy armies are a good counter to the Alpha/Beta strikes we see in competitive 40k so having more options to control your opponents damage potential is pretty strong. I can see the Monster Hunter/Tank Hunter trait being strong if you plan on having your Centurion Devastators kill whatever they are shooting against.
The real power in this supplement comes from the addition of a bunch of White Scar relics to customize your army. Just like the Raven Guard supplement you can use both sets of relics in your army – as long as the White Scar stuff is just for White Scars. Each Relic seems strong so will go over each piece in a round table of fancy items chatter.
White Scars Relics
The Banner of the Eagle
Hey here is a standard that isn’t too terrible. All White Scar groups within 12 inches gets Fleet and Furious Charge. So now your super friends units can all have fleet – guaranteeing those super awesome charges. Its a bit expensive so this could be the first thing to go as you try to fit in all your combo fun into one big fat unit.
The Glaive of Vengeance
Every time I read about a Glaive I think of the Werewolf game and how you had Silver ones to cause some damage to those pesky Super Wolves. This seems like the normal kinda meh weapon that all the relic lists have. It can be neat if you charge in but we all know a Powerfist will do you better. +3 and Ap2 on the charge is neat as you can bounce around with Hit and run – but it is too expensive to be randomly given to a character.
The Hunter’s Eye
Here we get to the good stuff. This item gives the bearer and the unit he is with the Ignore Cover Special rule. Remember how much of a pain it is when they rolled Perfect Timing? Now you can’t counter it. Coming to a Drop Pod Dealer near you – purchase any one Drop Pod for a Centurion Squad you get a Hunter’s Eye for only 20 dollars. It just means you can’t count on cover so make sure to build your armies accordingly.
Mantle of the Stormseer
Hey we made a librarian related relic? But it doesn’t like let me reroll my powers, reroll deny the witch, or give me something else cool? Oh I get another spell from Telekinesis? Wait there is a psychic discipline called Telekinesis? Does it summon stuff? No… Is the item free? No… wait it doesn’t effect my Psychic Focus powers? Its how many points? Oh I get Admantium Will? Meh… Next!
Scimitar of the Great Khan
We need something that is really fluffy for the White Scars… If you are in a challenge you get some bonuses but it is still too expensive. You can get a Fist that will do the job better and do more. Still we had to have a sword like this in any White Scars relic list just like if any future Salamanders there will have to be a Thunder Hammer thing and some kind of random flamer.
Wrath of the Heavens
We got the cool sword now we need a decent bike. This is actually an interesting bike as it only costs 5 points more and you can move like a jetbike when you turbo boost. You need to get somewhere this is the thing and if you have an extra 5 points it isn’t a bad investment on some kind of Tanky Commander.
Formations
After the Relics we get a new Decurion. The big thing is this one loses the ability to get Free Transports so I wonder if it will get used. Its powers are pretty interesting as it still has the regular Demi Company as well as a pretty strong new “Demi Company”. The Decurion has access to the Strike Force Command, Librarian Conclave, Reclusiam Command, WS and regular Battle Company, 3 other WS formations, and then all of the normal Space marine Formations. The way this is set up makes me think it was a way to try and tempt people away from Free Transports and massed Objective Secured. I don’t know if will see any changes but there is some power beyond the one auto include relic (Hunter’s Eye). The Decurion’s extra rules give it the ability to reroll hit and run rolls (Spicy!), Vehicles from this detachment move an extra d6 for for normal and 2d6 for flyers/fast if they turbo boost (Not terrible), and everyone can hammer or wrath if they charge 8 inches and if they already have hammer of wrath can reroll failed to wound rolls (not terrible). All in all the Demi company seems ok but I still think the Gladius wins out with its options for “free hammer”.
Stormlance: The new Battle Company is called the Stormlance and it gives out some pretty hefty new rules. Is it as good as Objective Secured and a Doctrine? It might be. It is a heck of a lot more interesting too but not sure if it is the best choice for a Marine player. The make up of the formation follows pretty closely to the normal Battle Company – 1 Chaplain/Captain, 0-1 Command, 3 Tactical Squads, 1 Devastator Squad and 1 unit of either Assault Squad, Bike Squada, Attack Bike Squad, or Land Speeders. The other weird thing is that it seems it isn’t restricted to just White Scars as well as a whole set of Captains are available to swap out for the Captain. This is pretty interesting as some of the extra abilities might be really strong in some of the other chapters. The other restriction is that if you don’t have a Jump Pack or a bike you have to be in a vehicle of some sort. Too bad it isn’t full of free vehicles as the normal box tax is there in full. The first rule you get is the ability to re-roll all failed hits when shooting at a unit that controls an objective. This can get pretty spicy as most tournament formats have you controlling objectives to help win the Maelstrom missions in a game. The next rule is the one that has me thinking for other chapters. Basically after any shooting by a unit – they can either make a d6 move if on foot or a 2d6 move if on a bike. If the entire unit gets within 2 inches of the transport hatch they can hop back into the vehicle. Units that move like this can’t charge int the subsequent Assault Phase. This is pretty neat for White Scars as you can move up in the scout phase – have your combat squaded Grav bros shoot out the top and then have a unit of bolters plus combi-weapon pop out and shoot at something else. Its expensive but seems pretty neat. I am not sure if it is worth it when compare to the other Battle Companies but it feels interesting at the very least.
The formations have some interesting options but again you are locked into this new Decurion if you want to get the most of it. The first Formation is the normal “All Biker formation”. It is called “Hunting Force” and it is made up of 1 Captain, 0-1 Chaplain, 0-1 Command Squad, 2-5 Bike Squads, 1-3 Attack Bike Squads, and 1-3 Scout bike squads. All models must be equipment with a Space marine Bike (duh) and you get 2 sets of extra rules if you take this. One feels fluffy and the other feels decently powerful. The first one has you pick one HQ unit and 2 other units as your secondary and tertiary targets. The Primary target is the HQ and you get to re-roll your failed to hit and wound rolls when attack this unit and get furious charge. Once it is dead this ability moves over to the secondary and then the tertiary. The next rule gives you 2 hits for every hammer of wrath hit you get if your unit numbers 5 or more models. This can be pretty exciting as you hit with Strength. If you get Misfortune off on a unit you could do some serious damage by running them over. Heck you could even kill a Knight.
The next one is the Speartip Strike. This one is made up of 1-3 Land Speeders and 2 units chosen from Bike Squads, Attack Bike Squads, and Scout Bike Squads. This one has some interesting rules as we finally see some kind of suppression based rule. I have always thought 40k could use a better system to utilize dropping people down and holding them there. The leadership of the game is so off the wall at times so it is frustrating to get rules that seem neat but in the current game might not work as well. This unit has 2 rules – one is suppression fire which when you have 2 units in this formation shoot at a target the target must take a pinning test. For each additional unit in this formation that shoots the unit takes a -2 to their leadership check. The other rule is Harassing Fire and when a unit suffers one or more unsaved wounds from this formation they can either choose to go to ground or have to move as far as possible towards the nearest unit from this formation in its next movement phase. Anything that forces your opponent to move is pretty interesting too as you can get them off of objectives. I still wish this rule was on something else more useful.
The Stormbringer Squadron is another formation. This one is made upf of 1-3 Land Speeders plus 1-3 Scout Squads. Each of the Scout squads need to have a Land Speeder Storm. The scouts gain the Objective Secured rule while it very specifically states the Land Speeder Storms do not. The Land Speeder Storms get a +1 to their jink save if they are near any of the other Land Speeder. The scouts can disembark from the speeders as long as it hasn’t moved more than 12 inches. This again is one of these cute formations that always show up in these books. I think the lack of Objective secured on the Storms is frustrating.
Thoughts and Lists
That ends the review on the White Scars. I like what is has done overall – I just really only expect to see one thing coming from this supplement in most players armies. I think too many of these formations feel a bit clunky and have a lot of taxes involved. It is hard to see how paying a tax is worth it when the other “best” thing in the marine book is a bunch of free cars. I do see some fun ideas that utilize a Decurion with a Hunter Force, some scouts and maybe a Librarian Conclave. The Hammer of wraths at Strength 5 and dealing 2 per unit might be worth it.
For the Khan – List!
Khan, Moondraken
Chaplain, Bike, Hunter’s Eye
Command Squad, The Banner of the Eagle, Apocathery, Bikes, Grav Guns X 4
Bike Squad X 8, Meltagun X 2, Combi-Melta, Attack Bike, MM
Bike Squad X 8, Meltagun X 2, Combi-Melta, Attack Bike, MM
Bike Squad X 5, Grav Gun X 2, Combi-Grav, Attack Bike, MM
Attack Bike, MM
Scout Bike Squad X 3, Grenade Launcher X 2
10th Company
Scout Bike Squad X 3, Grenade Launcher X 2
Scout Bike Squad X 3, Grenade Launcher X 2
Scout Bike Squad X 3, Grenade Launcher X 2
Librarian Council, Bike, Force Axe, Lvl 2
Librarian Council, Bike, Force Maul, Lvl 2
Librarian Council, Bike, Force Axe, Lvl 2
The lack of Objective secured seems off – but at least it is all bikes. I don’t know who in their right mind would have all those Scout bikers but this looks neat with just MSU everywhere, scouting everywhere, and all kinds of guns. I am not sure if the libbie council is needed but so you could look at getting a Chapter Master in there to join up and get some ignore cover nonsense with its orbital bombardment.
How do you think the White Scars stack up to other 1st Founding Marine Chapters?
