NKDS

Because Dorn’s boys are so much cooler than Girlyman’s.

So dodgethis_sg, Hakuro and Julius_Firefocht have conspired to bring you a review and analysis of the 5th Edition Space Marine Codex. Yes, the rumour that there are Warhammer 40K (GRIMDARK) players on Nakadashi is not a rumour after all.

Brother Hakuro will be involved with a write-up on the new fluff and stories featured in the Space Marine Codex, while dodgethis_sg and I will be responsible for a Rules and unit-by-unit analysis. Note that special characters will not be touched on for now, since those would require practically an entire article to themselves, so great is their impact on any Marine army.

It would be simple to summarize the entire Marine Codex in a sentence. It is ultra-flexible, fast and lethal, but expensive. And when we say expensive, we mean it. A nicely tooled-up but extremely destructive Vanguard Marines squad can set you back by more than twice the points cost of two full Tactical Squads, both equipped with a standard configuration of flamer and missile launcher. This situation nicely sums up the Marine Codex in a nutshell; you want the power, you pay for it.

Of course, we will not be listing out every single nuances of each unit, instead aiming to provide a summary that point out important changes and significant features that we feel the average player should pay attention to.

With that said, we shall start off with the Special Rules that Space Marine armies have access to. In the words of the delicious Matsu from Sekirei, let’s go desu!

Special Rules
Written by Julius_Firefocht

And They Shall Know No Fear
Commonly known as ATSKNF, this rule is the trademark ability of a Space Marine army. Marine squads will never break from losing combat, taking wounds instead of breaking like any other army, and they will always auto-rally at the start of their turn. Long time players will be familiar with how this rule works, while new players will appreciate how ATSKNF makes Marines so much more forgiving compared to a low leadership army.

ATSKNF has become a lot more potent compared to its previous incarnation, mainly due to the introduction of a new rule called Combat Tactics, something which I shall elaborate on below.

Combat Tactics
Combat Tactics….this is the rule that had everyone all hot and bothered over the “new Marines”. In essence it allows you to choose to fail any morale check. Now, that does not sound like a big deal, but trust us, it is.

Imagine this scenario, if you will. It is your opponent’s assault phase, and your Tactical squad has just lost combat by two wounds against a horde of Gaunts, meaning it has to make a morale check. Instead of rolling for that leadership test, you decide to fail the test and get out of the fight. The Gaunts manage to sweeping advance that squad and you take two wounds which you save. You thank the Emperor for power armour and note that the squad has retreated seven inches away from the Gaunts. The next turn is yours.

On your turn, the Tactical squad auto-rally thanks to ATSKNF, and they stand their ground, shooting the Gaunts to death during the shooting phase using rapid-firing bolters. It’s a beautiful image, yes?

That is but one example of how Combat Tactics can work together with ATSKNF for some devastating tactics. Taking a morale test during the shooting phase due to casualties? No problem, fall back into cover or out of range of the enemy guns, auto-rally and blaze back at them on your turn.

Needless to say, this rule is a very powerful tool that all Marine players, new and old, should seek to master.

Combat Squads
This rule had a rather interesting origin. It first debuted with the 4th Ed Dark Angels codex, before making its way to the Blood Angels Codex. And now the Vanilla Marines have it too, though unfortunately the same can’t be said for Combat Tactics. Damnation.

Anyway, this rule allows you to take a 10-man squad of Marines, and split them up in two 5-man squads. Under the 5th Edition rule set, where victory is determined by the number of objectives taken or by determining kill points, this ability can be a double-edged sword, especially since the two halves of the unit will now count as separate units for all intents and purposes, including kill point calculations.

Take a full Tactical squad for example. You split the squad up, meaning that the half with a missile launcher can hang back and fire its weapons at targets while securing its own objective. In the meantime, the other half with a power weapon and a flamer can go forward in a Rhino and capture objectives. Sounds good on paper….until you realize that the 5-man squad with the missile launcher will be wiped out in a single battle cannon shot, while the 5-man squad with the flamer and power weapon simply does not have the numbers required to pull off an effective assault.

So what does this mean? It means that you can potentially give up two kill points to an opponent relatively easily, as compared to one kill point that your opponent will have to really work to get at. In exchange, you get the ability to hold an objective, while forging ahead for another objective at the same time.

Make of that as you will, just remember that you do not HAVE to split squads into combat squads in every game, instead it would be more advisable to adjust and adapt your army as needed, just as this rule intended.

With that, we have covered the Special Rules section of the Codex. Next up is the analysis of the army list itself, which will be jointly written by dodgethis_sg and me. Dodgethis_sg shall start the ball rolling with the most essential part of any army: HQs!

In SOVIET IMPERIUM, CHAPTER MASTER IS YOU.

HQ
Written by dodgethis_sg

HQ choices, can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em. A standard 40k game requires you to take a minimum of one choice you’re pretty much stuck with one. The question is: Do you want to take a powerfully equipped monster or do you want to take a low cost one so that you can spend on other stuff?

Chapter Master/ Company Captain
I am putting these two under the same entry. Everything else about these two guys are pretty much the same, stats and weapon options wise. However, the Chapter Master costs 25% more for the opportunity to take a single-shot orbital bombardment. Not worth it IMHO. In addition, the Chapter Master gives you the opportunity to take an Honour Guard, in place of a normal Command Squad. Note that only these two characters may take a retinue, in addition to special characters that hold the same rank.

Honour Guard
These guys come in a basic three man squad of a Chapter Champion and two Honour Guard. The Chapter Champion allows you to direct all wound to an enemy IC with the advantage of rerolls. This small but elite squad also give you the chance to equip them all with Relic Blades aka Swords of Secrets. However, at their initiative and wounds, the chances of them dying before getting the chance to hit back is very high. Add that to a high point cost. Sure, they have artificer armour but against dedicated assault troops that may have power weapons or larger numbers than your squad, you’re going to get overwhelmed in double quick time. But, if you’re going to take them, you have to choose your assaults properly. Your choices of assault targets are going to be very limited.

Command Squad
Now this is the one worth taking. For the same point cost you get more warm bodies and an apothecary. You may ask why in the world would you take one? Well, he now gives the squad Feel no Pain. Yes, in effect, the Command Squad is now a quasi Blood Angel Death Company, with their hardiness. Sure, they may not have access to the Swords.. I mean, Relic Blades, but their ability to not die easily and large basic squad size more than make up for it.

Librarian/Epistolary
Now Marine players can choose two out of six powers for their psyker, paying more if you want to cast two powers per turn by buying a Epistolary. The cost of a force weapon is now built in but with the nerfing it got in 5th ed and the prevalence of eternal warrior in new codices may see the librarian being not used in an assault role as much. Add to the fact that his initiative has been reduced as well. However, the raised leadership makes the Psychic Hood more usable than before.

Onto the powers. It’s a mixed bag of powers with various uses. The shooting powers are useful for wiping out heavily armoured infantry. The deep strike power is great for repositioning him and a unit for a better shot. Giving and taking invul saves seems interesting. Null Zone spells doom for a Daemon army, while Might of Ancients will be very useful with the new vehicle facing in assault rules.

Chaplain
The Chaplain has suffered what was perhaps the biggest nerf to ever happen to any one Marine HQ. It now has the average initiative of the common Marine, 2 wounds and as much attacks as a Veteran Sergeant. The Litanies of Hate has been renamed to Liturgies of Battle, something that made little to no sense. Game play-wise, it still confers the squad it joins the reroll to hit on a charge, and Fearless. This means the Chaplain is now more of a support character than the close combat monster it used to be. Use with caution!

Master of the Forge (MotF)
SUPAH TECHMARINE! That’s what the MotF is! He gets a ranged weapon that increases in strength as the range increases, culminating in a very effective anti-tank blast template. Add to the fact that he can take Dreadnoughts in Heavy Support and Elite FOC slots, the MotF is a very interesting choice to take.

Common notes
All have the option to take jump packs or bikes to increase their mobility, the Captain allowing you to take sufficiently sized bike squads as troops choices. All of them are still susceptible to instant death and certain races’ power fists. Termie armour is open to all except the MotF.

Conclusion
All have their strengths and weaknesses, with various abilities adding flavour to your army. But in the end, do *you* think it’s worth it for what you pay?

The real Marine production line

Troops
Written by Julius_Firefocht

Troops are now arguably the most important component of the FOC chart, since they are the only scoring units capable of capturing objectives under 5th Ed rules. Also, since they score right down to the last man, a single Space Marine at the right place at the right time can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Luckily, the basic Tactical Marine is one of the best troop choices in the game, so this is a situation that benefits Marine players more than most other races.

Tactical Squad
The meat and potatoes of any Codex Marine army, the Tactical Squad now offers great value for points, with the addition of the Frag and Krak Grenade and a Bolt Pistol for a measly one point per Marine compared to the previous codex. Their most outstanding “new” feature must be the Flamer and Missile Launcher that a full 10-man squad will receive for free. Yes, you read that right. Free.

Players who relied on Tactical Squads heavily in the last codex will feel right at home here, since the addition of the Bolt Pistol allows your Tactical Squad to pop off a single bolter shot before charging into close combat. They can take dedicated transports such as Rhinos and Razorbacks, but this is not the place to discuss about them, since they will be covered in a separate section by itself.

It is interesting to note that while the squads can be purchased in variable sizes, players may not purchase special or heavy weapons until the squad reaches a full strength of 10 men. An attempt by GW to curb the min-max 6-man Lasplas combo that was so prevalent in the old codex? Perhaps!

Scouts
The first thing an old gamer would notice would be the reduced BS and WS. Yes, Scouts are no longer Space Marines in carapace armour. But hey, they have been given a variety of upgrades to make up for it.

First and foremost would be the ability to outflank. Refer to the 40K rulebook for full details, but this ability potentially allows you to harass an enemy behind his lines. With some luck, you could destroy a fire-support tank with a powerfist or meltabomb, or tie down a firebase in close combat. It’s a threat not to be taken lightly, that’s for sure.

Coming a close second would be the camo cloak. These nifty pieces of cloth allow the Scouts to gain a +1 to cover save, meaning a 4+ cover save becomes 3+. Very nasty when a bunch of Scouts with camo cloaks hide in cover and goes to ground. We are looking at a 2+ cover save here. Beware of enemy Whirlwinds though; those could ruin your day if you are relying on such a strategy.

Since Scouts are scoring, it is not a bad idea to give a bunch of them camo cloaks, put them down on an objective and just go to ground or shoot with rending sniper rifles every turn. Alternatively, use their outflank ability to capture unguarded enemy objectives. The Scout Sergeant can carry a teleport homer too, so feel free to use them to bring in Terminators, Deathwing style.

Conclusion
And that’s it for troops. Sweet and simple, with only two units to choose from. I am still waiting to see if anyone would do up a full Scout army from the 10th Company. Who knows, maybe someone out there is already embarking on such a project?

METAL BOXES!

Dedicated Transports
Written by dodgethis_sg

With the new dedicated transport rules in 5th Ed, these vehicles can now be viewed on a whole new dimension. I won’t be covering the Land Raiders here even though they can be taken as transports for Termies. Those will come later under Heavy Support.

Rhino
The ubiqitious Marine transport. They’ve made it the same cost as the BA and DA codices, making it quite worthwhile to mechanize your entire army with these METAL BOXES. In fact, most vehicles in this codex have been given free searchlights and smoke launchers. Cost of taking extra armour has gone up though. You may argue that with that option the Rhino becomes the same price as the previous codex. But honestly, I’d rather the transport be as cheap as possible because at the AV it comes in, it’s going to die fast to enemy fire.

Razorback
FINALLY, THEY BROUGHT BACK THE LAS PLAS TURRET FOR THIS BAD BOY. Along with this relic comes a new turret with twin-linked assault cannons. Yes, they’ve given the Baal Pred’s turret to the Razorback. Now, vanilla players can have their very own Baal Pred wannabe.

Drop pod
Ever wanted to make your Marines the Angels of Death? NOW YOU CAN. GW, in their infinite wisdom and generosity, have decided to make to the drop pod in plastic, superceding the Forgeworld one. With a generous transport capacity, you can have some of the pods in your force coming in on your first turn while the rest come in as per standard in reserve units. HOWEVER, since they are not open-topped, assaulting from them is a no go.

Disembarking is the same as well so you’re better off having a very shooty unit come out of it. I do NOT recommend Vanguard Vets in them unless you think are that AWESOME. So what are you waiting for? BUY BUY BUY! So it can convince the powers that be to make more plastic kits out of Forgeworld stuff. Maybe like the Thunderhawk? Or a Tigershark?

Conclusion
So cheap and good, you can’t go wrong with them. In the case of the Razorback, deadly too, if you’re willing to fork out the points for the different turrets.

The finest reward for His finest

Elites
Written by Julius Firefocht

Interesting fact: According to GW, Elite units are supposed to destroy enemy forces around an objective and move on to new targets, while troops are supposed to be the ones holding the objective. That explains why Troops are scoring down to the last man while all other units are only contesting units.

So…what makes a Deathwing Terminator squad so different that it can be down to one last man and yet still capture objectives while normal Terminators can’t? The same issue arises for Blood Angel/Dark Angel Scouts vs Codex Marine Scouts, and Blood Angel Assault Squads vs Codex Assault Marines.

On that note, let us get on with the program.

Terminators
You know them, you either love them or hate them. Some see them as overpriced Plasma Cannon fodder, some see them as a versatile unit that is well worth the price. Well, players would be happy to know that nothing much has changed then, other than the fact that you now need to have a full 10-man squad to use two heavy weapons.

Oh…and I almost forgot. The Cyclone Missile Launchers now fires two shots. Yes, two missile launcher shots on the move. And it is as expensive as the Assault Cannon. Whether this change will induce players to tear off the assault cannon on their Terminators and rummage around for the spare storm bolter arm and Cyclone Missile Launcher remains to be seen.

Terminator Assault Squad
You know them, you probably hated them with a vengeance. Don’t worry, you are in the majority. The new Codex does not promise to change your opinions of this much maligned unit, but it just might persuade you to head out and buy the first box of Assault Terminators you see.

Assault Terminators remained pretty much unchanged from the last edition in terms of weapon options. However, since Stormshields now provide a 3+ Invul save, the Assault Terminator has been catapulted from its former status as one of the most unpopular Elite choice to superstardom, literally with a stroke of a pen. Now, monstrous creatures, plasma cannons, heck Tau RAILGUNS, all these can be flicked away with a good throw of the die. Also, since the advent of the option to run in 5th Ed, Assault Terminators are no longer as slow as before.

Now you know them again, and you probably ran out of words to express your love for them, instead preferring to buy that shiny new box of Assault Terminators in your local game store. Don’t worry, you are still in the majority.

Sternguard
This is perhaps the unit that evoked the most discussion and controversy amongst the Warhammer 40K community. For good reason too, since this is hands down the most versatile unit in the entire Marine codex.

Sternguard Marines have access to variety of bolter rounds that allows them to do practically anything from extending the range of their bolters to denying cover saves, denying even a Marine his armour save and wounding targets easily regardless of toughness.

That is still considered fine by itself…the kicker here is that the Sternguard unit is capable of switching their bolter rounds every single turn. In tactical terms, that means a Sternguard unit right out of the box is already equipped to take on anything from a Carnifex to hordes of Orks to Chaos Space Marines. This ability is literally priceless, especially considering that army lists commonly have inherent weaknesses that certain races may be optimized to exploit. The Sternguard Marines plug up those weaknesses for all intents and purposes.

Add in access to a whole slew of tasty combi-weapons and above-average close combat capabilities and you can see why the Sternguard is practically a shoo-in for any competitive Space Marine army list.

The only drawback? It is expensive, costing slightly under two Marines per Sternguard. It is up to the individual player to decide if such power and versatility is worth it, but no doubt most players have already made up their minds concerning this issue.

Dreadnought
No great changes here, except that the basic configuration of Assault Cannon/Dreadnought CCW has been changed to Multimelta/Dreadnought CCW. Also, it is now possible to make a Mortis Dreadnought with 2 Twin-linked Autocannons, one on each arm. That option had Dark Angel players howling with despair, last I checked.

Also, the “Venerable” option from the previous codex has been removed, with the Venerable Dreadnought, which will be covered following this, now an Elite entry all by itself.

Venerable Dreadnought
A Dreadnought that is older and therefore meaner and tougher. WS5 and BS5 on a Dreadnought is no joke, and can be extremely destructive when combined its sheer staying power. Not much to say here, just use it like how you would use a normal Dreadnought and you would do fine. As a matter of note, a Venerable Dreadnought is actually more durable against melta weapons as compared to the Ironclad Dreadnought. The ability to reroll damage results counts for more compared to increased armour against weapons specifically designed to bust heavy armour.

Ironclad Dreadnought
This is the ultimate close-combat Dreadnought that the vanilla Marines have access to, a mechanical monster that moves through cover and comes equipped with two Dreadnought CCW. Just about the only Dreadnought that can even compare with the Ironclad in close combat violence is the Venerable Furioso Dreadnought from the Blood Angels. Thankfully, there is no way to make a Venerable Ironclad Dreadnought, but its inherently high armour should make it all but unstoppable in close combat.

Until it runs into the first chainfist it sees, that is.

Techmarine
I have never used or seen a Techmarine been used in my entire 40K career before. As far as I can see these Marine cogboys fixes stuff and…well, there are some things that you can do with it. Fortifying an appropriate piece of terrain for example, to add one to the cover save that the terrain normally confers. Extremely useful when paired with Scouts using camo cloaks. Who is going to argue against a 2+ cover save without going to ground?

You can also have you very own mini-Devastator squad using the servitor-mounted heavy weapons. Though I must question…if you are going to make that kind of investment, please for the love of the Emperor, dig out a bit more points from elsewhere and get a proper Marine Devastator squad.

Beyond that I really do not know what else to say about cogboys…lets move on a juicier unit.

Legion of the Damned
3+ invul save. Deepstrikes. Fires on the move thanks to Slow and Purposeful. Fearless. Two attacks each. Did I mention the 3+ invul save?

The Legion of the Damned is truly an enigma within the Marine codex, much like how they are within the 40K universe. Each Damned Legionnaire costs twice as much as a normal Tactical Marine, are able to shrug off heavy weapon fire with ease yet die like MEQs when they are subjected to small arms fire. Any opponent would pump anti-infantry fire into them just for the pleasure of taking out such an exorbitant model with the same ease with which you take out normal Marines.

On the other hand, the Damned Legionnaires do offer some intriguing possibilities. Having an invul save means they would excel in tarpitting monstrous creatures, while access to a powerfist means that they can fight back against said MCs effectively. Slow and Purposeful would let them fire heavy weapons on the move. Ever fancied having your Marines moving and firing a plasma cannon? Now you can.

Honestly I do not know what to make of this unit. Unlike other Elite units, the LotD has a very conflicted design that makes a player wonder exactly what their role should be on a battlefield. Each Damned Legionnaire has two attacks each but is hamstrung by Slow and Purposeful. They can shoot well but being forced to deepstrike means they cannot start shooting right from turn 1 or even turn 2 if you are unlucky. They are so expensive, are as vulnerable against small-arms fire as MEQs, yet laughs at a Carnifex, Bloodthirster or a Tau Railgun in the face.

Finally, it is disturbing how the LotD turns into psycannon or incinerator fodder so easily. Bear that in mind if you ever decide to bring this unit.

Conclusion
The Elite units of this codex offer all the hitting power you will ever need in a regular game, spearheaded by the Sternguard, Assault Terminators and the Ironclad Dreadnought. For all their effectiveness, they are still none-scoring, and a player who invests too much into Elite units may find himself getting outmanoeuvred by more numerous or heavily Troop-based armies.

Damned Cameron ripoffs.

Fast Attack
Written by dodgethis_sg

Ah, yes, the Fast Attack choices. When you want something dead in close combat or a highly mobile attack option.

Assault Squad
There’s one big reason why this option is now very viable. They have gotten an approximate point reduction of about 20% per Marine. Removing their jump packs gives them a free Rhino, making them even cheaper than a Tactical Squad with the same transport. They may have lost their plasma gun and melta gun options but still get up to two flamers for a full squad of ten. Either that or plasma pistols. One may be tempted to take three full squads of these guys but remember the new 5th ed objective rules. One should be more than enough to do what they have to do.

Vanguard Veteran Squad
Useless. Useless. Useless. And did I mention useless? IMHO anyway. Reminds me of the Honour Guard. Sure, they get options to take power weapons but in order to give them that and the mobility of an assault squad to use it effectively, you can almost take three Tactical Marines. Heroic Intervention? Relies too much on other units and luck to be effective. Only good for fluffy reasons. Other than that, avoid like the plaque for being a point sink. Doesn’t take much for it to become ‘Stupid Intervention that became a Heroic Sacrifice’ if it all goes wrong.

Landspeeder Squad
Unified both the Tornado and Typhoon options together. The Typhoon missile option is effectively a highly mobile Cyclone missile launcher. The other options are great for harassing enemy troops. Pretty much the same IMHO.

Space Marine Bike Squad
Turbocharging rules, ’nuff said. Or to borrow a meme, VTEC JUST KICKED IN YO! Troop choice if Captain rides one and is five man strong. Combat Squads are applicable if you so wish a large enough squad.

Attack Bike Squad
The Attack Bikes also benefit from the Turbocharging rules. For the points, you can get a very mobile multimelta that can always fire if it doesn’t turbocharge. Being Relentless makes them better at shooting the side car weapons. Can be taken as of a normal bike squad if they’re taken as Troops.

Land Speeder Storm
New addition to the army list. Stripped down version of the heavier Landspeeder. Five man open-topped transport for Scouts. Has a funky rule that screws around with deep striking units. Also gives advantages to the combat resolution for Scouts that charge out of the vehicle.

Scout Bike Squad
Awesome addition to the new codex. Comes with Outflank for the added surprise punch to your army. The new Astartes grenade launchers you can buy for them are magnificent. Great for both anti-infantry and light anti-tank work because of the rapid fire rules they get. Can get a Locator Beacon to ensure your deep striking units come in near them accurately.

Conclusion
Decent enough units with one exception. Most of the older stuff got cheaper to field, giving you points to play around with.

Because deep down, the Dark Angels are fruitcakes.

Heavy Support
Written by Julius_Firefocht

Rumour had it that the Heavy Support section of the codex was written after consultations with Captain Takamachi Nanoha, a gifted military commander who specialized in long-range combat tactics. Her feedback apparently caused GW to modify the Space Marines’ Heavy Support choices to be cheaper, more accurate and generally more effective than the previous codex.

I hope she is pleased now, wherever she is. Though in my darkest moments I still wonder what in the Emperor’s name possessed GW to make the Predator Destructor so…cheap.

Finally, all Space Marine vehicles now come with smoke launcher and searchlights for free.

Devastators
Arguably one of the more famous examples of the Heavy Support category, the Devastator squads combine Marine infantry power with heavy weapons normally found on tanks. Yes, certain heavy weapons are now cheaper compared to the previous codex, making an 8-man Devastator squad an appealing idea for pure infantry armies in need of firepower.

The Devastator sergeant also comes with an interesting piece of equipment called a Signum. This in effect grants BS5 to any one member of the Devastator squad every turn. This is a significant upgrade, and may be one of the reasons why a player might choose a Devastator squad over El Cheapo Predator tanks.

Thunderfire Cannon
A new addition to the Codex, this weapon is an answer to the prayers of Marine players who craved for yet more methods to cause widespread destruction among the ranks of armies that heavily outnumber them. The Cannon itself is considered a wargear to the cogboy accompanying it, though I must admit it seems to be the other way round more often than not.

The Thunderfire Cannon has 3 modes of fire. The first two modes operate along the same lines as the Whirlwind Missile Launcher. It is the third mode that is most noteworthy; a subterranean blast that forces the unit it hits to take a difficult terrain test on its next movement phase, with additional penalties if the unit is already in difficult terrain. Now you can potentially delay an incoming enemy charge by a turn or more, giving your forces more time to shoot at targets. How cool is that?

Since each shot of the Thunderfire Cannon is Heavy 4 Blast template, between itself, a Whirlwind and an appropriately armed Devastator Squad, a Marine player can really lay on the hurt on horde armies such as Nids and Orks, all for a relatively modest investment in points. I don’t really like cogboys, but if you ever need a convincing reason to take a cogboy in your army, the Thunderfire Cannon is it.

Land Raider/Land Raider Crusader/Land Raider Redeemer
I am combining all three Land Raider variants into one entry, since I do not see the need to write three separate entries for the same chassis.

Long story short, nothing much has changed for the base model. The Machine Spirit is now more powerful, allowing a Land Raider to fire one more main weapon on the move, at normal BS no less. The basic Land Raider capacity has also been boosted to 12 men. Of all the changes in the codex, this has to be one of those mired in the most controversy right from day 1. Did the Ultramarines learn yoga, which is how they contorted themselves to fit 12 Marines into a tank that only has a capacity of 10 in other Marine codices? The Blood Angels explain that situation by unconditionally stating how they are so awesome that their awesomeness fills up the extra two seats for them. I have no idea how the other Chapters think.

The Land Raider Crusader? The only difference is a lack of the extra armor that it came with in the previous edition, and a missing Multimelta. As a matter of note, the Multimelta is now a pintle mounted option that all Land Raider variants can purchase. And no, the increased capacity in the basic Land Raider did not translate into increased capacity for the Crusader variant.

The Land Raider Redeemer is a new variant set to become one of the most violent assault tank in the history of the game, competing with the Crusader variant for the title of “Best Line-breaker Tank”. A twin-linked Assault Cannon and two sponson-mounted S6 AP3 flamers promise to make life miserable for any enemies facing this machine, horde or otherwise. When combined with the new Power of the Machine Spirit, the weapon systems make the basic transport capacity of 12 models seem almost like an afterthought.

All in all, I must say that GW did a pretty good job with the Land Raiders in this edition. Even the basic Land Raider is attractive now, able to fire up to twin-linked Lascannons accurately on the move while benefiting from increased model capacity. With how tough vehicles generally are in 5th Ed and the nature of vehicle assault rules, it is easy to see that Land Raiders and its variants will become more popular than ever. GW seems to agree, since they will be releasing an all plastic Land Raider kit that can make either the Crusader or Redeemer variant.

Predator
Cheap, cheap, cheap. And cheap. That is the only way to describe the Predator Destructor now. You thought the Pred Destructor with heavy bolter sponsons in the Dark Angels and Blood Angels codex offered good value for points? The one in this Codex will knock your socks off when you see it for yourself. Let’s just say three of these babies are comparable in point costs to a 10-man Devastator squad armed with 4 Heavy Bolters. 3 tanks, 6 Heavy Bolters and 3 Autocannons or 10 Marines with 4 Heavy Bolters? You decide.

The Predator Annihilator on the other hand, is expensive for what it does. As a rough idea, a Pred Annihilator with sponson Lascannons is only slightly cheaper than two Pred Destructors with sponson heavy bolters.

Our advice would be to leave the tank hunting for the multimelta attack bikes that are described elsewhere in this article. Those are a far more efficient way of tank-hunting, as compared to the Pred Annihilators. By all means stock up on the Destructor variants for sheer El Cheapo power, but leave the tank hunting to units better suited to do it.

Whirlwind
Not much changes here, except for the disappearance of the mine-laying Castellan Missiles in the old codex. In place of that, the Whirlwind now have the cover-save denying Incendiary Castellan Missile that debuted in the Dark Angels codex. As an added bonus, the Whirlwind can now choose to switch between firing modes every turn, making it a versatile weapon much like the Sternguard. It is as cheap as the Predator Destructor with heavy bolters, so it might be worth it to bring one just for kicks.

Vindicator
The Vindicator has surprisingly become cheaper compared to its previous incarnation, and now has access to an upgrade called the Siege Shield. The shield allows the Vindicator to automatically pass dangerous terrain tests, making it a reliable weapon platform capable of advancing until immobilized, stunned, or destroyed. Looks like the giant dozer blade on the Vindicator model kit is not for show after all.

Otherwise, there is little difference between this and the previous version. Use it like how you normally do and it will serve you as well as before.

Conclusion
The Heavy Support section now feels more refined and versatile, largely due to the upgrades to the Land Raiders and the multiple firing modes of the Thunderfire Cannon and Whirlwind. On the other hand, I still find it hard to justify the cost of the Predator Destructor, and that may be the one sore point in an otherwise well-designed category.

This is the end of our Space Marine Codex discussion. We hope you have enjoyed reading it alongside the actual Marine codex itself. Already, we are reading battle reports of how the new Marines play very much like the previous codex, with a few notable exceptions, like how we kept seeing the words “Khan” and “Out-flanking Land Raider Crusaders”. It should also be interesting to see how the other races react to the Marine Codex.

The Special Characters will get their own article…maybe. That depends heavily upon our schedule, and whether we feel the need to write such an article. We might reconsider if the response to this article is good enough, but it’s hard to say for now.

This is Julius Firefocht and dodgethis_sg, signing off from the Imperial Palace on Terra!

UMA UMA UMA UMA