40K: Codex Space Marines Overview
The Space Marine Codex is out! Take a look!
C:SM is here, not to be confused with C:CSM, who’ll no doubt see their own codex soon enough–though it probably won’t be as good as the old 3.5 CCSM was, it’ll still serve those CSM who aren’t really important right now–because we’re here to talk about C:SM. And as you can see from the cover, it’s Primaris for days. There are a ton of new units, rules, stratagems, relics, and so on inside. The Primaris are a big chunk of that (literally, because of how huge they are), and they come out swinging with a whole bunch of new units, and at least a paragraph of fluff about why they’re all there.
The book actually adds a whole lot to the game. There’s a ton here to unpack–and we’ll be doing that over the next week or so. But for now, consider this your general overview to the book. The biggest thing about the codex is how it shifts the game. It’s the first codex out for a new edition, and this is GW’s chance to set the tone for what the other releases are going to be like. This is sort of that first benchmark–and it feels like they’ve done a good job of mixing things in. Units included in the Indexes are expanded upon and given new options, new units are introduced, there’s a lot going on here that really kind of adds depth to the game.
But you don’t have to take my word for it–you can see for yourself all the cool stuff here. Even if you don’t play Space Marines as your primary army, there’s still a lot you can learn from the book. Whether it’s diving into the fluff a little more and seeing how GW is advancing the overall narrative. Or taking a look at what dirty tricks your opponents are going to be unleashing upon you. And man, some of these new units hit pretty hard. You’ve no doubt seen some of them–those Aggressors can really burn something up if they want.
I guess they can shoot normal bullets too.
But it’s not just new toys that are prevalent here. What interests me the most, and makes me curious to see what the other Codices will be like is the special rules that add a ton of flavor to the army. Honestly, in the Indexes, Space Marines kinda felt generic. Everything does a little bit–but especially with the change to things like And They Shall Know No Fear, or the way their units were in this weird sort of “legacy place” where it felt like they existed in their current forms because those units have always been around and always been that way. Here it feels a little more thoughtful. You can see more of the “game” present in the rules. Units feel like they were designed with a specific goal in mind, not just “because that’s how they are.”
And nowhere is this more prevalent than in some of the rules that the whole army gets. Little things like the Defenders of Humanity rule, which will help Space Marine players take Objectives, or in the Chapter Tactics, or the Stratagems available to certain Chapters. With this Codex, the various factions within the Astartes start coming into their own. Their individual themes play out in a way that is just lost in the big book o’ datasheets.
So right out of the gate, it’s a strong offering that adds a lot to the game. Other Codexes will have a lot of work to do to keep up–and I feel like they’ll need to. The other armies may not be as important as Space Marines or the other Imperial Armies, but this is a chance to really help grow the game, and I feel like if the future releases have this same kind of care, they’ll do exactly that.
Stay tuned throughout the week for more news, views, and clues about the Codex. Assuming we can get the Ultramarines to stop licking it.
