Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: Rating the New Space Marine Units
Those poor ignored Space Marine players have 3 new units to salivate over! Let’s go over how good they really are.
The new boxed set for this week is the Strikeforce Agastus which gives you 10 new Desolation Marines, a Brutalis Dreadnought, and a fully modifiable Primaris Lieutenant. Oh, and five more Heavy Intercessors.
Besides these new models, you do get some rules with some incorrect point costs for the existing miniatures. It makes me think this set was printed way back before the crazy Space Marine drop we saw with the update. It also makes me wonder if there was a bigger update that should have come along with this boxed set. But that is just me staring at my crystal ball and wishing I had some kind of sweet long beard to correctly ponder my way thru the cosmos. Or at least have a cool wizard van.
The 2 new units are interesting in that in the older rules they seem pretty decent. But with all the current changes both of the options feel a bit overcosted. I wonder if we will see a stealth update, especially with the boxed set having incorrect rules for the 2 “existing” units in the boxed set?
Desolation Squad – Close, But Not Quite There
Let’s start with the goofy-looking unit with the Desolation Squad. Those guns are pretty nutty as I think a simple swap to a Heavy Intercessors body would have made this a little less ridiculous. I just feel the armor doesn’t match the weapons and it is very unbalanced looking. I know Marines are supposed to be super strong and can save me from any evil dragon they come across. But these weapons just feel almost impossible to carry around. The interesting thing though is that as they are basically a heavy weapon Intercessor they could at least fit in a lot of Primaris transport options. Hmmm.
Still, the unit is basically a super missile launcher with a ton of other interesting frag options on top of it. It shoots a ton of no-LOS shots that would have been pretty devastating in the older rules. But with the balance dataslate hurting no-LOS shooting it is less exciting. Still – the Sarge can get pretty nutty with a 2+ hitting missile that doesn’t care if you are hiding behind that wall.
I do remember hearing chatter about this unit being bonkers in testing, but as the timelines to get things out and changes to their rules left, this unit just feels a bit weird. I don’t think all their rules are bad. Desolators just cost too much to be worth it in the current armies. Space Marines already have a ton of anti-tank stuff, plus the no LOS stuff is neat – not nearly as good as you need it to be. As the unit is 35 points a model, it is very expensive to get them working. I would see two 5-man units to try and increase the amount of murderous no-LOS shooting you can do with the Sarge if you feel like taking them. Or you could just take more Dark Angels options that murder stuff a heck of a lot better.
Brutalis Dreadnought is Well Named
Next meet the Brutalis Dreadnought that I secretly love. It again feels like it is very slightly over-costed with a weird 15 point per Multi-Melta choice that doesn’t feel right. I would think the dread should be 150, with each MM costing 10 points, and feel about right. It is still another Dreadnought that is set up for close combat with better shooting than the Redemptor. It has more attacks and more consistent damage with 4 MM shots, 8 Ironhail shots, and then some twin boltrifle shots. You lose the twin boltrifle shots if you go with the claws, but you also gain the ability to Reroll wounds with said murder talons.
I just love dumb giant robots, so this sits in a nice little spot in my cold dark heart. I won’t lie to ya – the thought of having a ton of Dreadnoughts running around is exciting to me and I wonder if someone will find a list that works with these. I just like having that many MM – especially with some of the heavier tanks that are showing up. It just feels like a very consistent design and build for a Space Marine army to have. Look to see these trickling in to your local tabletop in the weeks ahead.
Primaris Lieutenant – The Swiss Army Knife!
Finally, the last new kit is the Lieutenant with all the options you had to buy a separate model for from before. This is great as it just gives you everything you need. The weird thing in all of this is the points are not matching the new “free” upgrade options we currently see in the game. It’s still a nice-looking kit, and it is cool to see all the options finally in one solid piece of plastic. More of this GW – BRAVO!
Overall it is a weird little boxed set. It is similar to the Black Templar box we had out a bit over a year ago. It makes me think it might have originally envisioned with a codex in it. But with changes into what is coming out and when things are coming out it was moved to be a splash Marine release which GW loves to throw out there. With this and all the other Boarding Action options, you can quickly get an army working with a few big boxed sets.
Army Box Questions
Do you like the single army boxed sets or the battles more? I mean if both “angry” armies match up with what you want, then getting 2 for one feels like a good deal. I do like how some of these boxes combine a few things and help you fill out your army or get you started on something new. I hope we see more of these and find the Combat Patrols, Boarding Actions, and special boxes great ways to get players interested in throwing down with plastic nonsense.
For the Emperor!
