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C:SM Previews or I, for one, welcome our new Ultramarine overlords


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Chapter Focus: Iron Hands

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Among the Space Marines, few are as relentless or as ruthless as the Iron Hands. Where others see gene-crafted physical perfection, the Iron Hands see only the weakness of the flesh, augmenting their bodies with cybernetics and making heavy use of tanks. The ultimate fate for an Iron Hand is interment in a Dreadnought and an eternity of war as a living machine.

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The Iron Hands Chapter Tactic, The Flesh Is Weak, reflects both the relentless spirit and augmented bodies of these hardy warriors, allowing them to shrug off wounds and making them exceptionally difficult to kill. Multi-wound models like Terminators are going to be nigh-impossible to shift, while, appropriate to their background, Iron Hands Dreadnoughts of all types are going to be unstoppable. One of the deadliest units available to the Iron Hands is the Venerable Dreadnought, who can combine The Flesh Is Weak with Unyielding Ancient to wade through even the heaviest of fire.

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While Chapter Tactics don’t usually apply to Vehicles, Iron Hands armies will be able to take full advantage of their chapter armoury thanks to Stratagems. As well as stratagems available to all Space Marine armies like Killshot and Armour of Contempt, the Iron Hands’ Machine Empathy lets vehicles move and shoot without penalties to hit on their Heavy weapons and even advance and shoot without penalties for their Assault weapons. Even the humble Razorback can be transformed into a deadly forward assault tank, although the biggest beneficiary of this tactic will again likely be Dreadnoughts. An Iron Hands Redemptor Dreadnought armed with a heavy onslaught gatling cannon will be able to move on the foe with terrifying speed while maintaining a steady rate of accurate fire – a perfect demonstration of the weakness of flesh!

It’s not all about machines though. In the last edition, melee Iron Hands characters were some of the best in the game, and that’s still true, as their Warlord Trait and Relic allow you to make some really lethal combatants, gaining extra attacks from Merciless Logic and cutting down the foe with The Axe of Medusa.

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The Iron Hands are the chapter for commanders who want to demonstrate the power of the machine with unstoppable columns of tanks, troops and Dreadnoughts. Make sure to come back tomorrow for our final Chapter previews, where we’ll be looking at the dauntless descendants of Dorn with the Imperial Fists, Crimson Fists and Black Templars.

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Chapter Focus: The Imperial Fists, Crimson Fists and Black Templars

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The Imperial Fists and their successors are renowned and feared across the Imperium, and while they may differ in tactics they are all stubborn, indomitable warriors, infused with bitter pride and martial prowess. The Imperial Fists are masters of the close-ranged firefight, making maximum use of bolt weaponry, while the Black Templars are zealous crusaders famed for their fighting spirit and expertise in melee combat. The Crimson Fists, too, are renowned warriors, having escaped destruction at the hands of the Orks through sheer tenacity and recently been given a new lease on life thanks to reinforcements from the Ultima Founding.

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The Imperial Fists Chapter Tactic allows them to ignore cover with their shooting attacks; this is an incredibly powerful bonus that’ll be punishing for enemy tanks and infantry alike. There’s no hiding from the masters of siegecraft! This Chapter Tactic benefits infantry, bikers and Dreadnoughts, and you’ll be free to build your own Imperial Fists however you choose, whether you’re using massed Tactical Marines or taking advantage of your Devastators. Naturally, the Imperial Fists are a great Chapter if you want to focus on using bolt weapons – their unique Stratagem, Bolter Drill, allows for you to drown enemies in devastatingly accurate fusillades of bolter fire, while even their unique relic, The Spartean, is a bolt pistol. 

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Finally, your Imperial Fists will be indomitable in defense thanks to their unique Warlord Trait:

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Crimson Fists armies use the bolter-based and cover-ignoring tactics of their brethren, but have a few distinguishing features that make them worthy of a closer look. Firstly, Pedro Kantor is back, and is a superb force multiplier, offering his brethren additional attacks and rerolls to hit – Emperor protect anyone who tries to charge a gunline with him in it.

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Perhaps one of the most exciting additions to the Crimson Fists is a literal Crimson Fist to equip your characters with. Combined with their Warlord Trait, which allows an outnumbered general to increase his number of attacks, this is going to be a fun and thematic addition to your army.

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In stark contrast to their brethren, the Black Templars are an assault army first and foremost. Every unit with the Black Templars Chapter Tactics can re-roll failed charges; this is an enormous bonus, and one that will make the Black Templars one of the most powerful assault armies not just for the Space Marines but in the entire game. Deep-strikers like Assault Terminators and Inceptors, in particular, are going to be very dangerous in the Black Templars army. As well as the new units, Black Templars retain access to old favourites like the Crusader Squad and the Emperor’s Champion, and there are some great combinations to be unlocked by combining characters like High Marshal Helbrecht with new assault units like the Reivers.

While the Black Templars have no Psykers of their own, their unique Stratagem, Abhor the Witch, allows Black Templars units to negate psychic powers through sheer force of will – this doesn’t just apply to the shooting powers but to auras and support powers too. The Black Templars are a distinctive and powerful force, and one that’ll be able to make great use of the new codex.

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The Imperial Fists and their Successors are the Chapters you’ll want to pick if you like facing your enemy head on, whether you’re cutting them down at range with hails of fire or charging to meet them in brutal melee. You’ll be able to bring powerful Chapter Tactics to your games very, very soon – Codex: Space Marines is available to pre-order tomorrow, alongside the Redemptor Dreadnought and some other new units we can’t wait to show you.

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Review – Codex: Space Marines & Datacards

July 21, 2017 — altsain

I’ve got the new Codex: Space Marines and you haven’t!

Ahem.

So, the 8th edition Codex: Space Marines has plopped onto my desk and, as we have done so many times before, we must ask ourselves the deep, moral question – is it any good?

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First things first – this book is jam-packed full of stuff. Jam-packed. Rules, datasheets, background… you name it, they probably squeezed it in.

Second, the artwork is continuing in GW’s current rise in quality and is fairly fantastic.

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So, this Codex: Space Marines covers all the ‘general’ chapters (Ultramarines and their successors), along with some of the more esoteric ones, including the White Scars, Imperial Fists, Crimson Fists, Black Templars, Salamanders, Raven Guard, and Iron Hands – and their successors. If you are a die-hard Dark Angels Blood Angels, or Space Woofs player, I am afraid you are going to have to wait your turn, but there is still plenty of new things to get your teeth into (which we will get to soon enough!

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This book assumes only base-level knowledge, so you have an introduction to the Space Marines themselves, how they are built (with differences for the new Primaris guys),  chapter organisation, and the Indomitus Crusade.

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Take a closer look at the Ultramarines 2nd company above – at first glance, it is the same organisation as we have seen before, but on closer inspection, you can see the Primaris Marines are riddling the company, and there are now 12 squads.

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The Ultramarines get a fair few pages to themselves (of course), but the other chapters get a whack at the Grot too, with squad markings, banners, major battles, and successors.

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There is even a section for ‘other’. It is good to see the Mentor Legion back and representing (yes, I am old enough to remember when they first appeared in White Dwarf), though there is no mention of their special gear (I have a feeling GW does not really know what to do with them yet – there were discussions about revisiting them during the Paul Sawyer-era of White Dwarf, but nothing came of it then either).

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As is usual for Codexes (and Battletomes, for that matter), each unit gets its own write up to place it within the context of the army, starting with heroes, and going through to squads and vehicles. You will notice that squads are now grouped together, such as with the Close Support squads above – Inceptors, Reivers, Assault, Centurion Assault, Bikers, Attack Bikes, Land Speeders, and Land Speeder Storms… all Close Support now. Other squads are divided into Battleline, Fire Support, and Veteran.

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All the special characters are also covered, from Mr Guillman himself to Chaplain Grimaldus, who proceeds the Black Templars specific Emperor’s Champion and Crusader Squads.

IMG_9180There are plenty of photographs of Space Marines in the ‘hobby’ section, as you would expect and while I have not yet gone over all of them with a magnifying glass to spot new models, there are some that leap to the eye, such as the Primaris Chaplain and Apothecary.

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You will also notice some new equipment fits as you flick… OMG, Inceptors with Plasma Exterminators, Inceptors with frigging plasma weapons!!!

Ahem. Do excuse me. But I think I have spotted a new favourite unit for some people…

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All those goodies aside, it is the rules you want to know about, eh? Just what does the army list have that is new and exciting?

Well, for a start, little has changed in the ‘core’ army rules. And They Shall Know No Fear is the same as the Index, and Black Templars don’t get psykers. Of course.

Once again, I have not gone through the Datasheets yet with a fine toothcomb but, oh my, some things have already leapt out at me.

Aggressors and Reivers get lots of new options. Of course they do, the three-pack of Reivers was only ever going to be representative of the unit. The Flamestorm option on the Aggressors could be a lot of fun, though I suspect the Auto Boltsorm Gauntlets and Fragstorm Grenade Launcher (sorry, they are not Krak Missiles!) combo will be the preferred option. Unless you play Salamanders.

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The Redemptor Dreadnought is looking sweet, with the Heavy Onslaught Gatling Cannon (Heavy 12) or the Macro Plasma Incinerator (Heavy D6 and can be supercharged) leading the way for me at the moment.

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Inceptors, as we saw earlier, can be equipped with dual (two of ’em!) Plasma Exterminators, each Assault D3 with normal plasma damage which can, naturally, be supercharged.

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And the Hellblasters are not forgotten either, and they very much retain the plasma theme – you have seen the Plasma Incinerator already, but has Sir considered the merits of the Assault Plasma Incinerator? Not enough oomph for Sir? Then might I suggest the Heavy Plasma Incinerator? For the entire squad?

Suits you.

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And there is what may soon become everyone’s favourite new tank, the Repulsor, which is… just bedecked with weapons. It is a fairly short-ranged attack and, once you move beyond the twin-Lascannon, the longest ranged weapon is only 36″ and that is a heavy stubber designed to take down flyers. You’ll be closer and more personal with this tank which, considering it deducts from enemy charge rolls against it, may not be a huge issue (it has the same Wounds as a Land Raider anyway).

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Beyond the Datasheets, we have the reference section, which includes all weapon stats, and Stratagems unique to Space Marines and a few for specific chapters. White Scars, for example, can spend 1 CP for Born in the Saddle, which lets a Biker unit shoot and charge in the turn. Minor things, but very characterful, and way better than formation rules hat kick in all the time.

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Relics are back, again with some chapter-specific choices, to be given to any Space Marine Warlord.

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A nice surprise was an expanded Librarius Discipline, now bumped up to six powers. You get the three from the Index, plus Psychic Scourge (roll off against an enemy unit to deal mortal wounds), Fury of the Ancients (mortals wounds to every enemy unit in a straight line), and Psychic Fortress (auto pass Morale tests, and save against mortal wounds from psychic sources).

 

Conclusion

At the start of this review, I asked whether the book was any good. In a sense, that is irrelevant, because if you play 40k and have Space Marines, you are going to buy this book anyway (I presume you are only here to get a peek at it before it appears on shop shelves proper). This is one of the easiest sells GW has on their hands.

However, ignoring any rules issues that will need some games on the table to unearth, my opinion is a good one. The art and layout is top notch, the background comprehensive, and there were enough surprise ‘goodies’ to get the attention of even a hoary old veteran like myself.

If I absolutely had to level a criticism or two… well, all the points values are separated from the unit entries as they are in the Index. However, a) this is not an issue for me as I am one of those freaks using Power Levels (!) and b) I would be amazed if GW did not change this format in Codexes down the road – they have been very responsive to this kind of thing with the Age of Sigmar Battletomes, which now look very different from their first appearance, though I think the four already-announced Codexes will all follow the current pattern.

Second, there is no real hobby section, which is a shame. They have gradually been adding hobbiest bits and pieces to the Battletomes, and the latest (Kharadron Overlords) had full painting guides and even a little conversion section. It would have been nice to see that here but, on the other hand, they did have a lot of ground to cover with this book.

 

Datacards

So, I picked up the new Datacards as well.

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First impressions – this is a very ‘deep’ box, meaning it has a lot of cards inside. Second, while the box itself is not as durable as the (frankly bullet-proof) sets we had in the last edition, the ‘cigarette packet’ format somehow feels a bit more upmarket. Your mileage may vary on that one.

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Inside, there are three types of cards – the Tactical Objectives (which I never use – never really got round to that style of play), Stratagems (useful, because they are just the thing that can be forgotten during a game), and all six of the new psychic powers, plus Smite.

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Overall assessment – there is nothing wrong with these cards which, for a game accessory like this, is going to be all you can ask for. They are not going to shake your games to their foundations, just make playing a little bit easier.

Job accomplished on that one.

Now… where is my Codex: Death Guard, eh?

 

https://ttgamingdiary.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/review-codex-space-marines-datacards/

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Zooming on the stratagems:

Linebreaker for Vind and the Pred thing are Stratagems.
1cp for a White Scar unit to advance and charge.
Orbital Bomb is a Stratagem.
looks like Chapter Relics might cost CP.
Flamecraft looks to be add 1 to all wound rolls for flame weapons.
Machine empathy removes penalties for moving and shooting.
add 2 to psychic test?
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Null Zone: Enemies can't take invlus and halve psychic tests within 6"
Shield Eternal: 3+ invul and half all damage.
 
Repulson carries 10 primaris. Gravis take 2 slots.
16 wounds, 3+.

 

Heavy something gatling cannon, twin heavy bolter, something icarus stubber,
Some kind of grenade launchers.
Some storm bolters and autolaunchers.
Gatling cannon is 36" Heavy 12 S8 or 9, AP -1 D 1
Icarus Rocket Pod, Heavy 3, S7, AP-1? D1 standard fly wording.
Power 16
Fragstorm and krakstorm grenade launchers?
 
There are assault and heavy plasma incinerators for hellblasters.
Assault is 24 6 -4? 1 or OC 7 -4 1
Heavy is 36 Heavy 1 , S8 -4 1 or S9 -4 2
Assault one is assault 2 for shots.
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Strike from the Shadows is 1 CP, applies only to infantry (which includes Dreadnaughts, no?). Fair enough! I can't tell how it interacts with Tactical Reserves, though. It appears to be separate, opening up the possibility for some close-to-null deployment armies if folks wanted to burn through the CP. I could see folks arguing the other way too, though.

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20 minutes ago, WestRider said:

From what I've seen, they seem to be getting added into the existing Companies, a couple of Primaris Squads tacked on to the standard 6/2/2 organization.

But how are the new "All Primaris" Chapters organized? I mean, I know that I can always invoke Rule Zero and say "My army, my fluff." and make it up... But I like to  know how things are "supposed to work."

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