What Do You Want Out of A Codex?

5 Minute Read

May 20 2016

Pimpcron lays down the long-and-short of it. In case GW is listening.

Howdy Ho internet neighbors! I couldn’t help but notice how you were in a hurry to get to your car because you’re running late for work and I thought to myself, “They won’t mind if I hold them up for just a moment.”

So it happens to all of us eventually: we hear a wave of new rumors slowly build on the internet about our favorite codex. One of two waves wash over us as the impending codex debut approaches: either dread at the things we fear they will ruin about what we love, or hopes that somebody competent was actually put in charge of making it better. If you’re feeling a bit optimistic, these are some of the things you’d be looking for:

New Ways To Use The Things

So you’ve played dozens of games with your codex, and if you take the time to play it in different ways you probably know your codex well. All of the units have their strengths and weaknesses in your head, and all of them have a role in any list that you make. Okay, I’ll take these in case I run into armor, while these guys will tar pit their melee units, etc.

There’s only one way to use these: don’t.

But with a new codex comes the chance for a new beginning; new wargear options, artifacts, and formations. I’m always excited to see changes to the units as long they are at least as good as they were in the last book. Obviously I’m hoping for better, but different with equal effectiveness is fun too. I see so many of us players want them to completely leave all of the good units alone and only fix the bad ones. Which I obviously understand to a point, but I think it’s fun when a new book forces us out of comfort zone and makes us change the way we think with our units. Plus, sometimes units do need a bit of change for the worse. It’s no secret that I think that Wraith Knights are way under-costed. They could easily be 50-100 points higher and people would still take them. Just like Annihilation Barges got a point bump due to being ridiculously cheap last book.

New Units

Man! Nothing gets me excited like seeing new models and units added to a codex. If you are like me and enjoy changing the way you use your existing units, you’ve gotta be really jazzed to see whole new units being added! Many times these new units fill gaps in power that our old book had. I think it is awesome, until I see the new sticker price that inevitably comes with the new models. As much as I love the new Wulfen models (I know some of you don’t), the sticker shock sent me into the hospital. It was touch and go there for a while, but I’m fine now.

“Don’t touch me, giant!”

If I am being positive about it, at least the Wulfen models have nice stat lines and wargear options for that cost. If I’m being negative about it, of course they have nice stats to justify their price or otherwise they would just not sell.

New Options For List Building

One new thing that I’ve enjoyed about the new codices is the inclusion of formations. I honestly could do without the Decurion-style organization due to the uber-cheese that it brings. But single formations don’t usually overpower the other player too much in my opinion. I love the way that formations have been brought into the “regular 40k” in recent years because it brings new options to the table and new ways to play with your models.

Army-wide 4+ FNP? It makes me feel guilty playing with them.

New Synergies Between Units

One of my favorite new changes in a book is the Webway Portal changes they made in the Dark Eldar book. Not only did they make it effective and fix its old flaws, but it is down-right scary when teamed up with the right units. A Webway Archon attached to a bunch of Scourges can take out an Imperial Knight in one turn by dropping behind it. What about if he attaches to Wraithguard?

And don’t get me started on the Khorne Daemonkin book. That literally combines two different codices and blends them in awesome fashion. The new synergies in the book make it feel like a new army even though it clearly uses models from other books. But I think all of this is exciting and brings more variation to the game.

But as you can see, it’s the same old models as before and even if they didn’t get a stat or price change, there is a whole new synergy between them. This is the constant change of dynamics that a living game needs to keep people interested and gives you a new arsenal of options.

Expansion of The Fluff/New Art Work

Another great thing I always look forward to in new books is the artwork they put in there. Some of the paintings in the Harlequin Codex are mind-blowing. The Wulfen book has some cool pictures as well; and new stories for us to sink our teeth into and keep us hooked in the army and the background. I think many people underestimate how much the backstory of this game keep us interested and I think it’s why so many people may have quit 40k years ago for various reasons, but still haunt BoLS, Lexicanum and other websites to talk about 40k. Plus the novels are something that many people pick up that don’t even play 40k.

This book has some of the best artwork.