Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K Hot Mess – Space Marine Outriders
Goatboy here. Let me tell you those Space Marine Outrider models just never had a chance did they? Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work.
From an awesome leaked set of pics to lackluster rules – the Marine Outriders just never felt like they had it all together for a show on the tabletop. I must confess – when they first came out I converted a sarge to have a sweet weapon as I thought – “there is no way we won’t see a real kit with cool weapons right?” Right?
Marine Outriders – A Missed Opportunity
Sadly we never saw a kit and these models sat silently on spruces, in boxes, and on desktops as something that could be cool. They had super awesome bikes, giant chain swords, and a ton of misplaced attitude. So why not sit back, pull up a chair, and let’s see how we could make these guys better.
Let’s look at the actual rules for the model. Alright pulling it up – it looks like it is a bike with an extra wound. It can turbo boost. It has a chainsword and a better bolter-like gun. So it really doesn’t have any extra rules on it? I guess the whole idea of removing old bikes and just letting any bike be an Outrider is ok since the rules are just… just… vanilla?
So how would I spice these guys up a bit? Well, sit back and let me wax poetic about making Bikers better than they were with a few small tweaks and rule changes.
Devastating Charges
Hey why not let these guys throw out some mortal wounds on the charge? Wouldn’t that be cool for the army to do? Do something like if the unit charges it can do 2d3 mortal wounds to a unit it picks? Is that too many mortal wounds? Who cares it would be awesome and if you don’t like – it you aren’t awesome!
Give Outriders Cool Equipment!
Let’s give this unit some cool options and, heck make cool options for each different marine armies. The basic ones could have Powerfists, Thunder Hammers, and maybe a cooler Chainsword thing. Each of the different armies could get something neat and unique to like Frost Blades, Angel Blades, Plasma Blades, Honor Blades, Master-crafted Blades, and weird Death Watch blades. Just give them sweet new toys to actually be useful.
Give Outriders Cool Stratagems!
These guys need some sweet extra rules or some kind of neat detachment that lets them do all kinds of sweet bike stuff. Things like cool dodge saving throws, better movement, and awesome damage potential. I just can see so many cool things with these badass bikes. Marine Outriders just need to be better.
This is just one of the coolest models released a few years ago and just never had a chance to be good. It sorta got better by having more models and an attack bike replacemen. But they are just not nearly as cool as they should be. What do you think?
Are these simple changes good enough to save Marine Outriders?
