Warhammer 40K: The Lion’s Too Weak, Shows 9th Edition Is Too Far Gone
Players don’t think the new Primarch Lion’El Jonson rules are good enough. How on earth did 9th Edition get us here?
The Lion is returning. After 10,000 of living under a rock, the 1st Legion’s Primarch once again walks the stars. It’s a pivotal moment both for the game and the lore of Warhammer 40,000. It’s something players have been anticipating for years now and the culmination of several storylines. Of course, he has to have some crazy good rules. He is, after all a Primarch. In the lore, he can take down fellow Primarchs himself. So like… he has to be good. Right? Well, according to some he might not be. Let’s take a look.
Roaring In With New Rules
This week GW showed off some of the Lion’s new rules. He starts off with a really solid stat line, worthy of a Primarch. Nothing to sneer at here, and he’s got 9 wounds making him harder to target. That’s all good. It puts him in the top stats of any Imperial non-vehicle unit. Overall it’s what we’d expect. He’s also got a few other rules, such as the option to deep strike. This helps him get into combat (he also gets charge re-rolls when he does this).
Overall this seems pretty solid. Nothing wrong so far. When he gets into combat, however is where the magic seems to start.
The Lion Will Kill
The Lion has a brand new sword Fealty. Somehow it’s actually better than the Emperor’s sword that his brother Roboutte uses. But hey, this is a pretty dang good weapon. Without any buffs or knowing his other rules, the Lion can put out a cool 40 damage in one round of CC. With up to twenty D2 attacks he can take out TWENTY MEQs in one round! He can kill a knight. He can take down ten Terminators. That seems crazy. His attacks are accurate, strong and have good AP. There are whole editions of the game where a single model killing 20 Marines (even when they were only 1 wound) in a round was unthinkable. Yet here we are.
Somehow He’s No Good?
Despite all that crazy killing potential, it doesn’t seem like the Lion is all that good. So far, the general reaction among competitive players is that unless the Lion has some other really good rules, he’s just not that competitive. Think about that. A character than can kill 20 Marines, and will reliably kill 10, isn’t worth it. The simple fact is that right now, 9th Edition is so lethal that that kind of combat power isn’t all that remarkable. He can kill a knight. Well so what? Plenty of units can one-shot a knight now, and many do it from range. He can wipe out a bunch of Marines. So what, who can’t do that these days?
I think this feeling isn’t helped by the unfortunately underwhelming Emperor’s Shield. I mean, this is supposed to be a weapon of the Emperor. One of the most powerful artifacts in the Imperium. And its… just kind of OK. I mean a 4++ save isn’t really anything to write home about. The reflecting wounds rule is cool, but its very limited and unreliable. It’s not a bad item on its own, but it does feel very underwhelming for The Emperor’s Shield.
The Lion is Fine, It’s 9th’s Fault
The sad fact seems to be that in modern 9th Edition, being a super kill stick just isn’t enough. Despite having great stats and being able to carve up stuff, The Lion just not worth it without some really great extra rules. This is the edition of big rules and high lethality. As it stands, the Lion doesn’t (yet) bring anything new to the table. It’s this fact that a lot of tournament players are reacting to when they say he’s not competitive. It really shows how crazy 9th Edition has gotten, that a character that would be super over-powered in almost any other edition is looked at as being kind of meh. But I guess it’s not a big deal. The model is a must-own masterpiece, and these rules are only going to be around for a few months anyway.
10th Edition can’t get here fast enough – and I trust the Lion will be roaring with triumph when it does.
Let us know what you think about the Lion, and what shows about 9th Edition down in the comments!
