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Made in gb
Tough Treekin






Birmingham - England

After playing Space Marines well since i started 40k 12 years ago in 2nd ed there have been many rules changes and with me many different armies along the way, finally ive gotten bored and have decided to move onto other armies those being guard and chaos, of course i've lucked out really by picking chaos with the new "Codex:Red Corsairs" as my gaming group has named it. On my way back to uni this weekend I picked up a copy of the new Marine dex purely out of curiosity to see how my army changes and how many new space marines i've actually got to buy to make the army legal.

Sitting on the train and skipping the fluff and heading straight to the rules as i'm usually want to do with any new codex my mouth hit the floor, literally, its shocked me at how GW wrote the Chaos Marine book and well we all know many people feelings on that one (as you can see i'm an alpha legion player so i was never going to be bothered about 4 HS Slots or Siren Princes etc). Some of these rules are wrong, this is an army that can do anything, the ability to take all the special characters in your army is not new as the previous codex's since Dark Angels have shown but some of the abilities they confer to your army are truly amazing, what i will do know is break down and review each unit entry to see how they now work and there effectiveness:

Marneus Calgar: okay hes just like he always has and will be a solid HQ choice that can be used as a teleport homer now if taken in his termie armour, the gauntlets are a nice piece of kit, only 2 shots at AP2 but when running around with a terminator squad in a Land Raider will be able to do some considerable damange to infantry units before charging them and wiping them out, thanks to the Titantic Might rule, realistically anything he hits should be dead very quickly, however at 265points with Termie armour hes only going to see use in really big games as for say example the tournament scene hes just as expensive as Adbaddon but won't be able to kill an army by himself like aforementioned chaos character....6/10

Sicarius: upon glancing at him, he's awesome for 200pts you get, the ability to re-roll the initiative roll to steal the first turn off your opponent, One Tac Squad in the army can take (Infiltrate, Tank Hunter, Scout or Counter Attack for free), 4+ Invun, 2+ Armour Save, and Feel No Pain!, his weapon will see use against other space marine heroes and many of the xenos commanders (not Chaos DPs or Nids) but could be useful reducing Tau Battlesuit commanders as an example dead in one round of combat...8/10

Tigurius: Gets to have all of the new Librarian Powers (many of which are awesome will review these later), Re-Rolling Reserves Rolls, Tigurius is still going to see use in many armies even without the 24" Fear of the Darkness he can still dish out a hell of alot of damage, will need accompanying sqaud though, and prehaps 230 points is a bit expensive but i can see him still being worth his weight in gold (or points).....7/10

Cassius: Not really a great choice, he once again will not see alot of use i dont think as his only special ability is have Hellfire Bolter rounds, but lets face it you dont buy a chaplain to stand around shooting, you need them in combat where the "Litanies of Hate" rule comes into effect and with only 2 attacks on his profile, 3 on the charge he just not at all that useful, however if you are looking for a dirt cheap HQ choice for your army that does Feel No Pain for 125pts, then this is your man, however run him with a command squad and have an entire unit of feel no pain marines charging forward he might come into his own still he doesnt just quite make the grade for me compared to the other special characters.....2/10

Pedro Kantor: 175pts, not bad for a space marine chapter master, with a Power Fist and a Assault 4 Storm Bolter, not a bad weapons loadout considering the new rules for Power Fists, however the true gem of this guy is Sternguard become scoring units and because of his chapter tactics will have stubborn and all friendly units within 12" of him gain +1A can be pretty handy aswell all in all for the points you pay we will be on of the staple commanders leading space marine armies until a new codex is released.....8/10

Lysander: Guess what guys hes not dead! and hes got Bolter Drill again which when coupled with terminators or Sternguard will make him quite useful however his terminator teleport assault has gone which is a shame as it was a nice rule still he like Kantor gives your army the Stubborn ability and have a Str 10 Thunder Hammer and Eternal Warrior making him a perfect unit to take out Fex's and Wraithlords etc, also bolster defences which will be looked at later....7/10

Shrike: A Great HQ choice for assaulting armies, having him with a unit of vanguard or assault marines will prove a deadly combination as you are most certainly getting a first turn charge, that and he confers your army the fleet special rule making your foot sloggers and assault marines able to run and charge, with him 5 attacks on the charge with rending (whilst not as good as it was can still be a useful ability) another unit that will be leading marine armies for a while, i know mine will be as mines more of an assault marine army....8/10

Vulkan He'Stan: free master crafted thunder hammers and t/l famers and meltas, 3+ invun, str 6 Power Weapon and a Heavy Flamer. again for 190pts your getting a very durable and dangerous unit that can be a useful addition to any squad, prehaps more so sternguard, load them out with special/combi weapons and watch them devastate what ever they decide to shoot them assault 2 flamers rerolling wounds will still hurt even marine players just because of the amount of dice you are forcing them to roll, another great new special character.....8/10

Kor'Sarro Khan: The cheapest (without a bike) and possibly the best of the lot, if you are taking him, mount up in rhinos and watch the fun fly, as thanks to his chapter tactics they can all outflank, i would take him without a bike and out him in a unit where he can add to their combat prowess and like Sicarius has the killing blow ability, basically if you like mech armies this guy is your leading without a shadow of a doubt...8/10

Space Marine Chapter Master: got a points hike, however you do get a free iron halo and an orbital bombardment (maybe not as useful as it could be as it scatters properly, however it can be a useful ace in the hole for a unit of DS termies or that unit holding an objective out in the open that you just wont be able to get too). the options he gets however are pretty well..meh, okay relic blades are nice, artificer armour is a must, thne just give him a jump pack totalling (195pts) to make him effective and hes the same points as someone like Shrike for example who can do pretty much the same thing, but confers his chapter tactics onto the army, so the chapter master prehaps not as useful as the special characters themselves....6/10

Honour Guard: 115ppts for 3, +35pts for additional models, okay they have 2+ saves and power weapons and can be given relic blades but they are so expensive i can't see them being taken too often maybe in apoc or something but for a standard game its all your eggs in one basic i think, but let me know what you guys think on this unit im still undecided....5/10

Captain: Alot like the Chapter Master really, mounted assault is nice, but Khan has it, and the weapons options are exactly the same as the CM maybe useful but when you can take one of the Special Characters and have get an ability for the same pts cost....6/10

Command Squad: These guys were very useful last edition if playing an ultramarines force for example, now they just got better, feel no pain on marines is going to be very useful and for the same points as honour guard, you get 5 FNP marines and say for 155pts you get FNP a power weapon and a powerfist with special weapon options if you need them stick em in a transport and let em loose, shame they cant capture objectives anymore though now they would have been a useful squad last ed!...8/10

sadly thats all i have time for at the moment post your views and thoughts on the codex and soon i will get down to examining the rest of the army


When you give total control to a computer, it’s only a matter of time before it pulls a Skynet on you and you’re running for your life.

 
   
Made in gb
Been Around the Block




You are joking about Cassius, right?

There's basically no reason ever to take a foot chaplain since he's that much better.

A normal chaplain with a combi-flamer is 115pts.

A mere ten point difference for all the stuff Cassius has is totally worth it (and he keeps his bolt pistol, too).
   
Made in us
Prescient Cryptek of Eternity





Mayhem Comics in Des Moines, Iowa

I still can't decide which character to make up a counts-as to be the champion of my marines. Either Calgar for having two Power Fists, Pedro for having a Power Fist and making Sternguard better, or Vulcan for fiery goodness.

 
   
Made in gb
Tough Treekin






Birmingham - England

In regards to characters i'm having the same problem, i suppose it depends on how you are going to play your army, Pedro is great for being able to take more scoring units than your opponents (and he comes with an orbital bombardment), Shrike is great for a footslogger/assault based army, Khan great for Rhino Rush armies and Vulkan well hes just hard isnt he and all the free extra stuff you get is a big bonus, so from how i have read the codex theres no definate choice on characters its just personal preference

also to ChrisAsmadi I can see your point i personally am not a great fan of cassius sure he has feel no pain but i think you need really to stick in him a squad like the command squad to make him all the more effective, that and if you come up against power weapons your once again back to your rosarius save and thats about it still i would be interested to see how you would use him to see if you can change my opinion on him

When you give total control to a computer, it’s only a matter of time before it pulls a Skynet on you and you’re running for your life.

 
   
 
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