Expanding 40k Armies and Index/Codex

[wargamingCalligrapher]

I currently have for my crimson fists set-up a captain, one sniper scout squad, and one primaries intercessors combat squad. This brings me to just over 300 points. I want to expand my army, but I have no idea as to what I should get. I was leaning away from tactical squads, as my good friend who is leaving for the summer is gifting me two (very) well-loved 10-man squads. I wanted to stay within the bounds of the Adeptus Astartes, so I would not need to buy another codex. If anyone can help, that would be peachy keen. 

 

 

On another note, I want to get either an index or codex for my army, to help with extra bits and bobs for reference mid-battle. I noticed that the first imperium index contained space marines, and was only ~25$, while the strictly space marines codex was ~50$. Which is better in your opinion, or what is the better option to go with?

[WestRider]

The Codex is an update and expansion of the basic SM elements of the Index. It leaves out all the really unusual Chapters (BA/DA/SW/GK/DW/etc.), and a number of Units that are not currently made by GW, but it adds a ton of extra Stratagems, Warlord Traits, Relics, Chapter Tactics, and Psychic Powers. Since you don't seem to have any of those old OOP Models, the Codex really is the one you should got for.

Adding on: More Scouts are hard to go wrong with. Close combat or Bolters, usually. Probably at least one Devastator Squad. Whether in a Dev or Tac Squad, it's good to have at least one Heavy Bolter and one Missile Launcher on Infantry dudes in your Army, as those are required for the Hellfire Shells and Flakk Missile Stratagems respectively, which are very handy.

You need 2 HQ to unlock the next Detachment up from a Patrol, the Battalion. I like either a Captain with Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, and Storm Shield, or a Librarian with Jump Pack, Force Sword or Axe, and Plasma Pistol. A cheap Lieutenant to sit next to your Devs and let them re-roll 1s to Wound is a solid option as well. I usually go with Chainsword/Plasma Pistol as that unlocks the option to take the Teeth of Terra on him, which is a good Relic if you need someone in your backfield who can fend off Units coming for your firebase.

Rhinos and Razorbacks are worth having one or two around. Don't buy the Rhino kit, tho. Get a Razorback and leave the top plate/top doors unglued and you can swap it between the two options no problem, and it's way cheaper than buying one of each. The best option for the Razorback is Twin Assault Cannon, which unfortunately requires some conversion work. The two options that come in the box (Heavy Bolters or Lascannon) aren't bad to start off with, tho. Always take an extra Storm Bolter unless you're just going to sit it in your backfield for extra Lascannon shots; for 2 Points, it's really hard to beat the increase in firepower a second Storm Bolter adds to a Rhino. Don't bother with Drop Pods. They got nerfed too hard in the transition from 7th to 8th.

Dreadnoughts are pretty cool, and you're spoiled for choice, with regular, Venerable, Ironclad, Contemptor, and Redemptor variants, even before considering the options from FW and such. The Ironclad is the best for added CC punch, while the others are more firepower focused. Hard to go wrong with the weapon options that come in the various boxes, but I wouldn't add a Heavy Flamer to them. Storm Bolter is less impressive, but more reliable and much cheaper.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with the Primaris stuff yet, but it all seems at least decent, from what I can see. For Intercessors and Hellblasters, the basic option is the best in most situations. Inceptors can work well with either of their options, but the Plasma is a lot more expensive and specialized. Aggressors are easier to use with Boltstorm Gauntlets, but when you do manage get a Squad in range with the Flamestorm Gauntlets, it's awesome. Not really sure about Reivers, except that Grapple Launchers are excellent. Being able to ignore vertical distance when moving is awesome.

I hope some of this helps!

[VonVilkee]

On the primaris their points got updated in chapter approved 2017... as did the force weapons librarians use. 

[wargamingCalligrapher]

7 hours ago, WestRider said:

The Codex is an update and expansion of the basic SM elements of the Index. It leaves out all the really unusual Chapters (BA/DA/SW/GK/DW/etc.), and a number of Units that are not currently made by GW, but it adds a ton of extra Stratagems, Warlord Traits, Relics, Chapter Tactics, and Psychic Powers. Since you don't seem to have any of those old OOP Models, the Codex really is the one you should got for.

Adding on: More Scouts are hard to go wrong with. Close combat or Bolters, usually. Probably at least one Devastator Squad. Whether in a Dev or Tac Squad, it's good to have at least one Heavy Bolter and one Missile Launcher on Infantry dudes in your Army, as those are required for the Hellfire Shells and Flakk Missile Stratagems respectively, which are very handy.

You need 2 HQ to unlock the next Detachment up from a Patrol, the Battalion. I like either a Captain with Jump Pack, Thunder Hammer, and Storm Shield, or a Librarian with Jump Pack, Force Sword or Axe, and Plasma Pistol. A cheap Lieutenant to sit next to your Devs and let them re-roll 1s to Wound is a solid option as well. I usually go with Chainsword/Plasma Pistol as that unlocks the option to take the Teeth of Terra on him, which is a good Relic if you need someone in your backfield who can fend off Units coming for your firebase.

Rhinos and Razorbacks are worth having one or two around. Don't buy the Rhino kit, tho. Get a Razorback and leave the top plate/top doors unglued and you can swap it between the two options no problem, and it's way cheaper than buying one of each. The best option for the Razorback is Twin Assault Cannon, which unfortunately requires some conversion work. The two options that come in the box (Heavy Bolters or Lascannon) aren't bad to start off with, tho. Always take an extra Storm Bolter unless you're just going to sit it in your backfield for extra Lascannon shots; for 2 Points, it's really hard to beat the increase in firepower a second Storm Bolter adds to a Rhino. Don't bother with Drop Pods. They got nerfed too hard in the transition from 7th to 8th.

Dreadnoughts are pretty cool, and you're spoiled for choice, with regular, Venerable, Ironclad, Contemptor, and Redemptor variants, even before considering the options from FW and such. The Ironclad is the best for added CC punch, while the others are more firepower focused. Hard to go wrong with the weapon options that come in the various boxes, but I wouldn't add a Heavy Flamer to them. Storm Bolter is less impressive, but more reliable and much cheaper.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with the Primaris stuff yet, but it all seems at least decent, from what I can see. For Intercessors and Hellblasters, the basic option is the best in most situations. Inceptors can work well with either of their options, but the Plasma is a lot more expensive and specialized. Aggressors are easier to use with Boltstorm Gauntlets, but when you do manage get a Squad in range with the Flamestorm Gauntlets, it's awesome. Not really sure about Reivers, except that Grapple Launchers are excellent. Being able to ignore vertical distance when moving is awesome.

I hope some of this helps!

How good is the load out on the easy to build redemptor dreadnought. It’s cheaper than the regular, but maybe that’s due to having no load out choices. Also, how good are chaplains? I was thinking of making one be High Chaplain Tomasi

[VonVilkee]

Chaplains do not add much over a captain while lieutenants give an additional edge in wounding. 

[wargamingCalligrapher]

I was looking around, and I found one of the old build+paint sets with paint, a brush, five terminators and a dreadnought. Is that any good, Or should I avoid older models? I think for troops I might get a close combat Scout Squad and a squad of Devastators. I am not completely set on my next HQ units, but I was leaning towards either  Pedro Kantor (As I play Crimson Fists) or the Space Marines Heroes set (With the Cataphractii Captain and a Chaplain).

[Guest]

1 hour ago, wargamingCalligrapher said:

I was looking around, and I found one of the old build+paint sets with paint, a brush, five terminators and a dreadnought. Is that any good, Or should I avoid older models? I think for troops I might get a close combat Scout Squad and a squad of Devastators. I am not completely set on my next HQ units, but I was leaning towards either  Pedro Kantor (As I play Crimson Fists) or the Space Marines Heroes set (With the Cataphractii Captain and a Chaplain).

If buying older models, consider buying used older models.

[wargamingCalligrapher]

25 minutes ago, paxmiles said:

If buying older models, consider buying used older models.

The set I was looking at was roughly 25 USD, which seemed good for the amount within.

[pretre]

Even with starter, used or older models, $25 for a Terminator Squad and Dreadnought is a good deal.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, wargamingCalligrapher said:

 the Space Marines Heroes set (With the Cataphractii Captain and a Chaplain).

So this hero set is part of the Betrayal at Calth box set. If you can afford it, definitely worth the cost compared to buying the set in pieces.

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/The-Horus-Heresy-Betrayal-at-Calth-Book

The Burning of Prospero set is also a really good deal, but you end up with sisters of silence and custodes that aren't really part of your army. For those, you can use them as trade stock, sell them, take them as allies, or convert them into crimson fists.

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Burning-of-Prospero-ENG

On the other hand, if you want mainly newer models (as in primaris marines), the Dark Imperium box set remains a very impressive deal: https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Warhammer-40000-dark-imperium-eng-2017

Even if you discard the deathguard content, it's still an impressive deal for the models. Deathguard minis are unlikely to be converted into crimson fists or taken as allies, but they'd still give you good trade stock.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, pretre said:

stuff

You live in Washington. New guy here says he's in Camas and needs a local store to play at and local players to play with. Suggestions?

From another thread, but can't recall how to "tag" you to get your attention.

[WestRider]

10 hours ago, VonVilkee said:

On the primaris their points got updated in chapter approved 2017... as did the force weapons librarians use. 

Good catch. I forgot about that. Lots of improvements from CA.

8 hours ago, wargamingCalligrapher said:

How good is the load out on the easy to build redemptor dreadnought. It’s cheaper than the regular, but maybe that’s due to having no load out choices.

I prefer the Plasma main gun, because Primaris have better availability of Anti-Infantry than Anti-Tank, but if you're running them mixed with regular Marines, that becomes less of an issue, and the Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon is a serious street sweeper. I would rather have Storm Bolters than the Fragstorm Launchers, but that's just because the random number of shots from the Fragstorms adds another step to shooting with the thing, and since that weapon is rarely going to do a whole lot, I'd rather it get resolved quickly. For similar reasons, I really do like that the ETB Redemptor doesn't come with the Icarus Launcher.

A big chunk of the extra price for the full kit only really matters if you want to do something fancy with it. The full kit is ridiculously poseable, while the ETB doesn't have much in the way of options there.

6 hours ago, wargamingCalligrapher said:

I was looking around, and I found one of the old build+paint sets with paint, a brush, five terminators and a dreadnought. Is that any good, Or should I avoid older models? I think for troops I might get a close combat Scout Squad and a squad of Devastators. I am not completely set on my next HQ units, but I was leaning towards either  Pedro Kantor (As I play Crimson Fists) or the Space Marines Heroes set (With the Cataphractii Captain and a Chaplain).

It's a good price, but be aware that A) those are the really old plastic Terminators, and the detail on them isn't great (this actually has its advantages as well as disadvantages, as they're somewhat less intimidating if you're new to painting) and B) as far as I can tell, they come with the old 25mm bases, so you'd want to hunt up a handful of 40mm bases for them or else they're going to look really dinky next to the rest of your dudes.

[wargamingCalligrapher]

2 hours ago, WestRider said:

i It's a good price, but be aware that A) those are the really old plastic Terminators, and the detail on them isn't great (this actually has its advantages as well as disadvantages, as they're somewhat less intimidating if you're new to painting) and B) as far as I can tell, they come with the old 25mm bases, so you'd want to hunt up a handful of 40mm bases for them or else they're going to look really dinky next to the rest of your dudes.

I think I will most likely end on a redemptor (ETB) because I like the long and close range of it, one Pedro Kantor, and maybe either a close combat scout squad, or a squad of devastators. Because of the long range as well as pricing, I think I will lean towards the scout squad, and get either Kantor or the dreadnought later, by the end of the summer.

[pretre]

6 hours ago, paxmiles said:

You live in Washington. New guy here says he's in Camas and needs a local store to play at and local players to play with. Suggestions?

From another thread, but can't recall how to "tag" you to get your attention.

@paxmiles

You type

@paxmiles

and click the pop up of their name.

To answer your question, we don't have a local store in Camas. Closest would be Fate and Fury, Dice Age, Guardian or Mythic Realms, in that order. Each one is about 20-30 minutes away.

I am here, and awesome, but don't play very much anymore.

[Guest]

Thank you.

Does Camas have place you could play with the new guy? He's only got 300pts, not a long game. Could gain a friend....

[PumpkinHead]

Or scar him for life...

[wargamingCalligrapher]

29 minutes ago, PumpkinHead said:

Or scar him for life...

True