Brent: GW Hates Goatboy, and Other Stories of the Space Marines Codex

Greetings on this fine post-release Terrible Tuesday, my name is Brent from Strictly Average and I’ll be your host.  Today’s offering isn’t an editorial or article as I tend to present them.  Typically, I try to focus on hobby topics that avoid the sometimes formulaic, “Here’s an army, here’s an army list, here’s a breakdown, here’s a review, here’s some rumors.”  

You know, our comfort food!  Heh, I like it, too, so today it’s what I’m serving up.  Here are some talking points to chew on, in no particular order.

I love this product.  It’s easy to use, easy to read, and easy to navigate.  Never have painted models leaped off a page (so to speak) and dazzled you with Heavy Metal blends and lines.  It’s inspiring.

But the best part is having the rules literally at your fingertips.  EVERY rule on EVERY page will instantly pull up the rule… and all applicable rules… and page numbers and references and a glossary.  

Genius.

For example, Chaplains now come with Zealot.  It provides the description for Zealot, then provides the description for Fear and Hatred, which are the two special rules Zealot provides.  No jumping back and forth, it’s all right there!

I love the fluff.  When I get a new book I read it front to back first, before returning to reread the rules and start thinking about combinations.  I’ll admit that I missed the tactile feel of cracking open a new, beautiful bound book… but after that, it usually sits on a shelf.  I love it and all, but having the Digital Rules on my iPad makes it a more useful, informative product. 

That’s all to the good.  Consider it!

The Hunter and Stalker are priced right and are both very, very good buys.  

What’s all this nonsense about being useless when Flyers aren’t around?  First up, have you guys missed something or what?  A model with Skyfire can fire at Flying Vehicles or Monstrous Creatures (like those haven’t been popular), but it can also take on Skimmers!  Step up, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Necrons…

…Grey Knights, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Chaos Space Marines, and Daemons of Chaos!  And haven’t Wave Serpents been flying off the shelves, huh?  

Your Hunter and Stalker are simply not going to be useless.  Ever.  Okay, assume you don’t have a Flyer or Skimmer to shoot at:  both models are front and side armor 12, so they make for a much better mobile baiter and blocker than the Rhino.  Worried about the Alpha Strike?  Set up your 6-man Devastator Centurions behind a Hunter and Stalker, turned rear to rear (heh!) and blocking line of sight that first turn.  If they get blown up, fine, step into the crater, thank you.  If not, they’ll get the heck out of your way.

Even easier, park one in front of your Razorback, providing complete cover for the front armor you’re presenting the enemy.  A completely obscured tank gets a mighty good cover save.

Forget the, “But, Brent, it costs 75-points and I might not get its points back!”  Haven’t we discussed the Myth of Points Parity before?  

Folks, Counts-As is out!  Sure, you can design your own Marine Chapter… just don’t think Tigurius is showing up in your colors to add his uber-cheap, uber-powerful self.  He’s Ultramarines only.

As is Marneus, who freaking rocks.  Ultramarines only.

As is Sicarius, who really begs to deploy forward with an infiltrating Tactical Squad so he can jump out and Furious Charge you, then surprise you with a 2+/4+ plus 5+ FnP.  Ultramarines only.

Cassius… still a rock hard ol’ bliter.  He and Sicarius can go for the FnP Superfriends routine.  Ultramarines only.

In fact, Telion is the only real argument you have, since the fluff still refers to him being loaned out to show those Chapters who aren’t Ultramarines how it’s done… 

….but the bottom line is Games Workshop hates Goatboy!  They’re putting a stop to any Space Goats Sicarius leading the Space Goats 2nd company.  You can claim to be descended from this the Ultramarines, but brother – you ain’t Ultramarines.

And Ultramarines finally brought the cool.

I’m a bit disappointed here.  Sure, Vulkan costs more points… as well he should, but if you’re running Salamanders you’re running Vulkan – and he’s providing the same Flamer and Melta combo from last edition.

It was popular for a reason.  I wouldn’t say it’s broken, but Vulkan builds in 5th Edition, which usually included Land Speeders with Heavy Flamers and a Multi-Melta, a Land Raider Redeemer, and more Melta Guns and Flamers than you could shake a stick at, were winning tournaments back then and will do so again.  It’s just that powerful – why wouldn’t you do it?

Vulcan got more expensive; everything just got cheaper!  Expect this popular Space Marine army to make a return in a big way.

This is a 5-point piece of Special Issue Wargear that I suspect will be a sleeper hit for Space Marines.  I’m a bit disappointed that a Space Marine Sergeant or Vet Sergeant can’t take advantage of it, but moving on.

This is important: read carefully.  “A model with an Auspex can use it in place of making a shooting attack.  If he does so, target an enemy unit within 12″ – this does not count as choosing a target for his unit to shoot at.”  After that, it reduces the cover save by 1.  It’s not cumulative with other Auspexes.

Ah, the humble Auspex!  Bite me, Tau!

Now, targeting units in cover is fine… but what other types of units make use of cover saves?  Say, by Turbo-Boosting?  Bikes.  Skimmers.

Flyers.  

We’ve got the Master of the Forge, of course, but I find myself taken with the idea of the individual Techmarine.  He’s an independent character with Artificer Armor and (basically) a Power Fist.  Okay, you can keep him cheap at 55 points… because you’re going to purchase the humble Auspex, right?

But why wouldn’t you spend the extra points for the Servo Harness?  You now have (basically) two Power Fists, a Flamer, and a twin-linked Plasma Pistol!  In the shooting phase, he’ll pick off a unit in passing with his Auspex, then fire off a Flamer or Plasma Pistol shot with the rest of the squad.  He’s Leadership is 8, so take those challenges for the Veteran Sergeant so you can keep a Leadership 9 model around.  With Artificer Armor, the Power Swords of the world don’t scare you that much, and with double unwieldy weapons you’re charging with 3 attacks.  

It’s something to consider.  You can have two of them, assuming you doubled up on HQ units, but points can add up fast.  Despite the preceding paragraph, he’s still a good purchase at base cost plus Auspex, then add him to a Tactical Squad and forgo upgrading the Sergeant.  Don’t forget to bolster your ruins.

Supporting the Space Marines, naturally there are a number of great allied combos to consider – but why haven’t we heard more enthusiasm for the new 40K legal Fortifications that recently hit the scene?  (Much thanks to my man Big Whit for showing these off in a recent game – I’m sold on the potential!)

Firestorm Redoubt:  200 points and a double set of double twin-linked Lascannons.  A medium building  with three access ports and a fortified upper deck for parking Marines on.  It’s big enough to split the difference between two objectives… and be afraid of the many great units that can hide completely behind it.  This is a model to plan a strategy around.

It’s downside is a low Ballistic Skill and a tendency to blast the closest thing to bits.  Still, it has Interceptor and will fire at Fliers first.  Hell Chickens, beware!

Vengeance Weapons Battery:   Again, it’s firing at the closest target with BS 5 – but it’s a Battle Cannon!  On an AV14 platform that follows the rules for buildings… meaning it’s tough to shift.  One of these is a fantastic purchase for any army, while two will rather inexpensively shore up some weaknesses some army builds have.  Much like the Firestorm Redoubt, its size is a benefit to your deployment.

That’s it, I’ve typed on enough for the week.  Your turn – I mean, it’s been a whole 24-hours?  What have you learned since posting on yesterday’s article?  Share your ideas already!  What’s powerful?  What’s over rated?