Goatboy’s 40K: The Good Guys 2 Wound Winners
Goatboy here to talk about who the other Imperial Marines make out like bandits with two wounds.
The biggest thing we are all chatting about is the new data sheets coming out of updated Games Workshop Marine boxes. So far while we see some weirdness happening (what is up with the Devastators incorrect weapon profiles) we do have distinct proof that good ole fashioned hating on Chaos marines get 2 wounds. I still believe for regular Marines the extra wound on basic bros isn’t the best as it will continue to push armies into smaller and more elite forces – it does do well for some of the other Marine factions. In fact – those other Factions with a plethora of old style marine units really seem to shine with the tacked on wound they will be getting.
Blood Angels – Winner!
The biggest winner I feel is the good ole Blood Angels. Here is an army full of the old style marines with a ton of extra rules added on top. Remember how amazing the Death Company were when the first book came out? Well how about a tougher Death company? There will be armies of a ton of DC crazy idiots running down the field, jumping into the fray, and throwing out a crazy number of attacks. Heck beyond the extra wound the extra AP on the chainsword makes that unit become a buzzsaw of death. Also – think about just a unit of expensive Thunder Hammers coming to town? I also wonder if the Sanguinary guard get an extra wound on top of it as well. I would think so – but if that is the case look for those guys to reach Custodes level of points – unless they really want to sell a whole new type of Golden Boy. I also think beyond all of this stuff – the basic Vanguard Vets squad becomes extra spicy in Blood Angels. Keep them in orbit, have them deep strike near a chanting Priest, and watch a 3d6 +2″ charge become a deadly avalanche of pinpoint death. It weirdly feels like the Blood Angels will look like an older army before the “bigger” Cawl Marines came to town.
Custodes
I spoke a bit about Custodes earlier – but it feels like they should get an extra wound on top of some kind of “bolter discipline” or “Might of the Emperor” option to dump an extra attack or extra shots. I think they work well in the new edition just due to their nature of always controlling an objective most of the time – but they still feel like they need something more to make them feel special. That is just my opinion as I look at this and think about how Marine are most likely going to change.
Codex Marines
That is still the biggest thing right now with this new Marine book. All the chatter I have been a part of seems to be on the thought to tone down and tweak them from their current – way to fresh version. I expect a lot of units to change in the book as while we have seen some data slates we are not seeing the full set of rules for them. I don’t expect Doctrines to go away – but they might just tweak them a bit to make them less of an issue. I don’t know how they will do it – but heck they might have fixed the Heavy Bolter with a single tweak on a stat which is something I never thought about doing.
Weapon Damage & Rerolls
This slight tweak to damage is such an interesting change in the rules. I think we all are pretty locked into what things so do damage wise in that no matter what we do – we look for things that either lock in damage or can guarantee types of results we want. A d6 damage gun is looked at is kind of bad as you can always roll that 1 instead of that 6 – especially when you need the 6 to get something in your favor. It’s why the whole update to Melta to a more guaranteed basic damage set is a very interesting thing. What would you think of a Lascannon that was just 3+d6? It would still kill a mook most of the time – but it would also just do a basic amount of damage. How many times have you been disappointed rolling that 1 when you shot some kind of crazy monster and watched as it didn’t care it failed its invulnerable save. Its these types of things I think the game needs more of instead of the constant reroll hits/wounds mechanics that show up too much. I think the idea of misses and not wounding is important to the game and would rather have more locked in damage as a result. It makes getting those hits feel more important instead of just throwing out a sea of dice and looking to bend math to your will with the rerolls.
Speaking of rerolls – in some ways this virus has kept us from a summer of Salamander dominance in the meta game right now. Instead of an army you can’t kill it is an army that just kills you. It is a good thing we are toning that reroll ability down in the new book as I am tired of hearing the Salamander reroll throughout a game. Or heck just reroll in general.
Space Wolves
On the other side of the Imperial Space Marine front – it feels like Space Wolves might like the extra wound 2 as they have a large amount of tactical style units that love to have an extra wound. The Wolf Guard can become a pretty interesting unit with multiple options, weapons, and with being an old tactical unit – access to the good ole cheap Rhino. Heck the Blood Claws, Sky Claws, Swift Claws, and your Mom Claws all are excited to get that extra wound and the special chain sword on top of it. I don’t know how much this will end up changing in the army as the current Impulsor build with Ragnar seems good – it still leaves some thoughts to think about as soon as we get the new book.
Dark Angels
I think the Dark Angels don’t get nearly as much beyond just making the Deathwing Terminators a heck of a lot more interesting. It really depends on if their Bikers get an extra wound as well to truly determine how much they get from this update. If they had more troop options it could be something interesting but as is they felt similar enough to Marines to not warrant a ton of extra awesome choices. Still it could be helpful depending on how much the new “main book” changes things and when they get a supplement.
Supplementals
Speaking of Supplements – you would think GW would need to dump out the Blood Angel, Space Wolves, and Dark Angels pretty quickly as their codexes will be so out of wack. Between Psychic Awakening, FAQs, a new main book, and just their old book a player of those armies is going to have a tough time bringing it all together. Is the main book just going to have the units that are common between all the armies or are they going to give some of the more distinct units their own section in the book? I would love if the book was just a super fat one that had all the rules in it but we know that most likely won’t happen. Let alone make for a crazy sized monster codex.
What are you guys excited about? What do you think will end up working in the new books? Are you ready to paint some more Marines?
