Warhammer 40K: New Rough Riders Give Us a Massive Clue For The New Guard Codex

Let’s take a look at what the new 40K Rough Riders tell us about the upcoming Astra Militarum Codex.

Rough Riders are back baby! The crazy guys (and gals) from Attila who ride horses in a space war are back. This classic unit has been missing for some time and people, including myself, have been hoping for their return. However, the return of this unit has some bigger implications for the upcoming codex. Let’s dig into that.

via Warhammer Community

Attilan Rough Riders

I think most Guard players are pretty excited about the return of Rough Riders. However GW isn’t just bringing back Rough Riders, they are very specifically Attilan Rough Riders. From their look to their name, they’ve focused on the specific world and Regiment. It would have been pretty easy for them to make a generic Rough Rider kit/unit. In fact, in most Codices they’ve been in, they have just been generic Rough Riders. GW chose to do something different.

 Cadian Shock Troops

Now add into the pot that GW previewed the new up coming Cadian Shock Troops. These are new models, but they are not a generic Guard Infantry unit. That unit, the Infantry Squad, still seems to exist based on the previews. But alongside that, there is also going to be a separate Cadian Shock Troops unit. With these two new units, we kind of can see a pattern.

A Mix of Regiments

GW has said in their previews that new Guard armies won’t be drawn from a single regiment. Instead, you’ll be using a mix of regimental units in your force. To round this out, you’ll pick some doctrines to affect the whole army, but it won’t be as simple as saying you are playing “Cadians” or “Catachans”. Now at first, that didn’t make a ton of sense to me, but now I kind of see how it will work.

More New Units

As Adam has pointed out, there are a lot of other AM regiments out there that need rules and units. So what if alongside the generic units, GW is planning to give us specific units for each of the classic Guard Regiments? These wouldn’t just be models to fill out an Infantry Squad. If Cadian Shock Troops and Attilan Rough Riders are separate units with their own rules, why not Mordian Iron Guard or Tanith First and Only? Tanith, Catachan, and DKoK already all have some current models out there.

Picking Your Veterans

I think we can kind of see the shape of a Codex taking place here. At its core will still be the generic units. Infantry Squads, Heavy Weapon Squads, FOBs, etc.. But alongside that, you might also have a real smorgasbord of options. With rules for a large number of specialist units drawn from specific regiments. Each one with models and rules and doing something cool. 

I don’t know if this is how the Codex is going to shape out. I do worry it could lead to a very hodpodge-looking army. But it is just an interesting enough idea that I want it to be true.  

Let us know if you think this is a good idea for Guard, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.