New Space Marine Codex Unit Reviews - Heavy Support

We're now on to the meat and bones of the codex and over the next few days I'll be looking at each FOC slot in turn and discussing each entry. This process is always useful as it means that every single unit gets a look in and you can really start to see the combinations come to the surface. This introduction piece will stay the same every time so feel free to save yourself some time and skip it. 

Today I'm going to look at the Heavy Support section. On the face of it this is the most crowded portion of the book. A lot of the battletanks are now showing their age but other units like the Thunderfire Cannon will still be very popular (if not more so).

Devastator Squad

In line with the Dark Angels codex these guys now have the option to take flakk missiles in the always popular missile launchers. However, as I said for the DA version, flakk missiles simple aren't worth bothering with for the points. They get outclassed by a 50pt quad gun every time. With that aside little has changed for the Devastators. They're significantly cheaper than they once were though with a full unit of 4 lascannons coming in at 150pts. That's pretty good considering the number of multi-wound models that are around now. They could worry the broadside spam lists and wraithknights.

Their problem is the same as it always was, mobility. You can of course buy them a razorback but most of the time you'll pick a piece of terrain to stick them in and hope they have line of sight for the rest of the game. I don't think they're awful by any stretch of the imagination but there's no denying they're too static even if they're a lot cheaper.

Centurion Devastator Squad

If you decided to splash out on some centurions then I really hope you built them up as devastators. In their standard loadout they provide a decent amount of anti-infantry fire with the twin heavy bolter and hurricane bolter too. However, you'll never see them loaded up like that.

You can swap the hurricane bolters for a missile launcher and give them a twin-linked lascannon but that makes each model 90pts a piece and they're only slightly more mobile than the much cheaper devastators. No, what you want to take is the grav-cannon and grav-amp. It may make them 80pts each but I'm pretty certain it's worth it. Throw in an Omniscope on the sergeant too so he can target a separate unit and the whole unit isn't gimped by Night Fighting should your opponent venture into 24" range.

The grav-cannon may be short range but if you're in range then they'll be devastating. They do everything the smaller grav-gun does but they'll fire 5 shots when mounted on the centurion suit. That, combined with the grav-amp, makes for an extremely potent monstrous creature (or even vehicle) killer. A 6-man unit of centurions would set you back 500pts but they'd have no trouble making back that total if there are flying MCs, wraithknights or riptides around. The problem is your opponent knows that so they'll be a priority target. However, they should be able to weather quite a bit of fire. Broadsides are pretty tough to shift and they're only T4.

Realistically the best way to run them is probably a 3-man unit with grav-cannons for 250pts. That will be a big deterent to monstrous creatures and attract a lot of attention. Only thing to decide then is whether you can overlook their aesthetics!

Thunderfire Cannon

At first glance the thunderfire cannon seems to be the same as always. It's the same gun for the same points. You still get Bolster Defences which means, should you take three thunderfire cannons, you'll be able to shore up those terrain pieces with your objectives inside. Having 4 blasts can be great if you can catch some models bunched together and you might even take down a vehicle or two if you're lucky and they're made of paper. Tremor isn't stunning but might save a unit of yours from getting charged for a turn.

Hang on a minute though, the reason the thunderfire cannon is excellent now is the Barrage special rule they snuck in there. There aren't all that many Barrage weapons around but they're excellent in 6th edition. The reason is they can be used to snipe models out of a unit. Think about putting the Surface blast over an Ethereal. Should you hit the target then its a cover save or remove him. Obviously LoS is a factor but if you get lucky it could be devastating. The same is true of any other character that boosts a unit. Snipe that power fist before your bikes/terminators wade in and you're laughing.

Predator/Whirlwind/Vindicator

I've grouped these three together because they're probably going to be overlooked as often as each other. The whirlwind has long since been relegated to the shelf but Barrage and a tiny price tag make it a possibility in these infantry overloaded times. The vindicator suffers from no longer having Barrage on it's demolisher cannon. The problem for both tanks though is that pretty much any damage result is devastating for them. Perhaps Immobilised doesn't affect the Whirlwind as much but otherwise you only have to penetrate the armour and they'll be effectively taken out of the game. Still, whilst the vindicator is operating a full capacity it's a threat that can't be ignored. It's an equal threat to infantry, daemon princes and vehicles alike but don't expect to get many shots from it.

The predator might get more of a look in though. Like the vindicator it's helped by having AV13 and 95pts for the dakka version is criminally cheap. I'd even say 140pts for the annihilator (lascannons) variant is perhaps worth considering for upsetting broadsides and MCs. Sadly though it will only be the most die-hard of mech fans that include them in their lists. That is unless the shift back to mech that was predicted after the Eldar codex actually happens.

Hunter/Stalker

Although expensive this kit is quite an attractive one. You just need to find another cheap rhino hull and you can make both variants. Realistically the Stalker is probably more practical as it has the potential to hit two different targets. The icarus stormcannon isn't much better than a quad-gun but perhaps harder to silence. The hunter is a lot of fun with the missile chasing a flyer around all game but both variants are let down by being S7. Still Armourbane helps out the hunter at least.

There are, however, bigger problems for these tanks. Firstly they'll be public enemy number one to any opponent with flyers and an AV12 vehicle isn't that hard to kill for most armies. If you've got a suitable piece of terrain to hide the hunter/stalker behind though it might make survive long enough to shoot at a flyer (whether it will kill it or not is another matter). The biggest issue though is that they only have Skyfire and not Interceptor. Any flyer with anti-tank weaponry, like a stormraven for example, will be able to bring the stalker/hunter down before it gets to fire. Secondly, if your opponent hasn't got any flyers then you're pretty snookered having spent 70-75pts on a dud. I'm not sure their anti-air potency justifies the risk of impotence.

Land Raiders

There isn't much to say here that hasn't been said before. AV14 can be incredibly tricky for some armies to deal with and a lot of the time the land raider will have delivered it's cargo of assaulty goodness before it dies. However, other armies will make short work of them and you'll be left in the hole to the tune of 250+ pts. I can still see a place for them though and depending on the ebb and flow of the meta the land raider could become king again. We're certainly seeing a lot less melta than we once did. All three variants have their uses. The Crusader might have limited weaponry but it'll find use for it's capacity. The Redeemer is great thanks to the balance between decent capacity and Flamestorm cannons being excellent when they're in range. Even the standard land raider is useful as lascannons are having somewhat of a renaissance recently.

It's worth mentioning Chronus again here. A BS5 land raider that ignores Shaken/Stunned and gets It Will Not Die is not something to be ignored even for 300pts. Similarly Iron Hands land raiders could be annoying to anyone trying to bring them down without melta.

Stormraven Gunship

Last but not least we come to the Stormraven which is now officially part of the codex. It's essentially the same as the Blood Angels version but with AP2 rather than AP1 missiles. For me the Stormraven is still the king of flyers. The Heldrake may be more devastating against ground targets but against other flyers its nearly useless (vector strike is an option). The Stormraven on the other hand has the firepower to comfortably take down an enemy flyer with the possibility of downing two. Being able to transport 12 models and a dreadnought appears nice at first but that's a lot of points in reserve. It'd be worth bringing along some reserves manipulation but only UM players have access.

The Stormraven is easily the hardest flyer to deal with. AV12 all round and not affected by the extra melta dice. It may be expensive but you get a lot for your points. Assault Vehicle is excellent for the dreadnought or whatever else is in the hold (obviously not in the turn it arrives though). Power of the Machine Spirit keeps it going in spite of Shaken results and allows it to deal with two targets. Hover prevents it from needing to leave the table even if it does make it vulnerable for a turn. As you can tell I'm a huge fan of the Stormraven, I even like the look of it (controversial I know).

As I've said, the issue is the number of points you've got waiting in Reserve which can leave the rest of your army outnumbered. It's also got stiff competition in the Heavy Support slot.

Conclusion
I really think this FOC slot is the hardest to choose from. There are plenty of viable options here and choosing between them will be difficult. As ever in 40K you want multiples of things to make them more effective and below 2,000pts that will be difficult. Having said that the ability to ally SM with SM means you can effectively take 4 Elite, Fast or Heavy choices provided you paint them a different colour!

The stalker/hunter is a great looking kit and I'm always amazed how much mileage GW get out of the rhino hull but it's anti-air abilities are somewhat overshadowed by the flyers in this book. Obviously you can get 2-3 hunter/stalkers for the same price as a flyer but the flyer will probably serve you better.

It's irritating for me that every SM chapter except Dark Angels and Space Wolves (i.e. the two I play) gets access to the Stormraven. I can only hope that the SW book has a flyer in it but there's no hope for Dark Angels unless you take allies which I resent having to do. I've spoken before about my huge disappointment over the DA flyers but this just seals it.

That rounds up the review of the codex then. Over the weekend I'll be looking at some army lists and trying to figure out where this codex will sit in the current meta.

New Space Marine Codex Unit Reviews - Fast Attack

We're now on to the meat and bones of the codex and over the next few days I'll be looking at each FOC slot in turn and discussing each entry. This process is always useful as it means that every single unit gets a look in and you can really start to see the combinations come to the surface. This introduction piece will stay the same every time so feel free to save yourself some time and skip it. 

Today I'm going to look at the Fast Attack slot. This section is actually pretty easy to choose from. Essentially it's a toss up between bikes for grav weapons or anti-air from the Stormtalon.

Assault Squad

A ten-man unit of assault marines works out at about 10pts cheaper than the old book when you factor in the veteran sergeant. Otherwise, apart from being able to take a second special weapon at less than 10 models, they're pretty much the same. As ever they can ditch their jump packs and take a free transport.

It's a huge shame that you can't make them Troops in a Raven Guard army. It could be argued they'd be treading on the Blood Angels' toes but I think they're different enough for it not to matter. It would then make the Raven Guard chapter tactics a bit more valuable. As they are I can't see much of a call for Assault Squads in the current SM army. They mind find a role as the bullies of the book being able to pick on cheap scoring units like cultists etc. Put them up against anything decent though and they'll soon show that they're just marines with an extra attack. Sadly they're victims of the shooting focus of 40K at the moment and again it's the nicer models that suffer.

Land Speeder Squadron

There was a time when a cheeky land speeder with multi-melta and heavy flamer was a nice, cheap addition to any Space Marine army. They were great for dealing with enemy AV14 and hordes alike. Sadly with the hull point system anything with massed S4 weaponry can make short work of them. The other major blow to them was that vehicles can no longer contest objectives. This put pay to an often used tactic of swooping in on turn 5 to contest an objective and win the game.

There are potential uses for them as fire support but for my money you're better taking the more expensive stormtalon for that role. It may be double the price but I personally think it's worth it.

Stormtalon Gunship

Before the Stormraven got retconned into the Space Marine army the Stormtalon was the best option for anti-air in the SM book (well it wasn't in the book but you get my meaning). The Stormtalon has many detractors thanks to it's AV11 and pair of hull points. However, when you compare what you get for 140pts to what the Nephilim does for far more then you can start to see a benefit.

Escort Craft is of minimal use but does allow you to guarantee you get both your Stormtalon and Stormraven in the same turn to limit damage from Interceptor units. Strafing Run is a nice bonus and makes the Stormtalon a decent option for anti-infantry applications. Ceramite Plating is unlikely to save it as melta weapons are predominantly S8 but again it's a nice to have. I think the Stormtalon is often overlooked but I personally think it's the best anti-air option in the book. Not too expensive and not devastating to lose to Interceptor fire.

Bike Squad

You don't need me to tell you that bikes will be popular in the latest version of the SM codex. Everyone is talking about White Scars at the moment and for good reason. An army of scoring bikes with Scout, Hit & Run and grav weapons is a fearsome prospect. Incidentally, now's a good time to look at grav weapons and in particular the grav-gun.

What it lacks in range it makes up for in damage. Mounted on a bike it has an effective range of 30" and with the Scout rule that's extended to 42" in turn one. That means there isn't anywhere on the board that can't be touched from the off. Thanks to Relentless from the bikes the grav-gun will be firing 3 shots in each shooting phase. Against marines you're wounding and usually killing on 3s. That's great but even better is that terminators and anything else with a 2+ save (looking at you, Riptides) is being hurt on 2+. Grav-weaponry is easily the stand-out wargear in this book. Ironically you'll struggle to hurt Kroot with them but your twin-linked bolters will sort them out instead. Against vehicles you inflict Immobilised on a 6 and strip a hull point. There's a debate about whether you strip two hull points or not but there's still the potential for a grav-gun volley to down a vehicle.

What some people are overlooking I think is the Concussive special rule. This is where the synergy in the SM book appears. Your bike squad might not be that great in combat but if you've hit your target with grav weaponry then you should be able to do a decent amount of damage on the charge with your opponent now reduced to initiative 1. Obviously this is only useful against multi-wound targets but it shouldn't be ignored.

Expect to see a lot of 5 man bike squads with two grav-guns on a table near you. They'll be fantastic in White Scars armies but even in a standard force a Captain/Chapter Master will allow them to be troops. They should be selling like hot cakes for GW right now.

Attack Bike Squad
As ever these come in two flavours dakka heavy bolters or tank hunting multi-meltas. Personally I think they're pretty overpriced for both roles. Granted they have a place when you're facing AV13 or 14 but for the most part I think there are better ways to spend the points. Throwing one into a normal bike squad might be worth it to allow combat squadding but as a seperate unit I think they're less useful.

Still, with Scouts you could pack your Fast Attack slots with single attack bikes which Outflank and try to take down a tank. There's potential for excellence there at least, if you can bring down an annihilation barge with your 55pt model then great.

Scout Bike Squad

In a bike heavy army these guys might find a role. They're great for getting a deep striking unit in accurately thanks to Scouts/Infiltrators but they do of course suffer from their scout statline. They're a low cost option though and you can give them all grenade launchers to make them more useful. Cluster mines are interesting but with the way Dangerous Terrain works now you won't kill as many models as you would have in 5th. Still it could put your opponent off using a particularly useful piece of terrain. Overall I can't see them getting used a great deal though.

Conclusion
Bikes are the standout unit here thanks to their graviton weaponry. Ironic really since most of the time they'll have been made into Troops. In their abscence my favourite choice here would be the Stormtalon. It offers decent anti-air firepower for a reasonable cost. The rest of the units here will be personal preference but I probably won't be including them if I decide to start an SM army.

Tomorrow I'll look at the heavy support slot before taking a look at some ideas for army lists over the weekend. I hope you're finding these articles useful and worth reading.

New Space Marine Codex Unit Reviews - Elites

We're now on to the meat and bones of the codex and over the next few days I'll be looking at each FOC slot in turn and discussing each entry. This process is always useful as it means that every single unit gets a look in and you can really start to see the combinations come to the surface. This introduction piece will stay the same every time so feel free to save yourself some time and skip it. 

Today I'm going to look at the Elites slot. As with the rest of the codex there are a lot of options here but there are some stand-out choices, depending on your play-style of course.

Vanguard Veterans

In the previous incarnation of the SM codex, Vanguards could assault from Deep Strike. This changed when 6th edition hit and the rules stated that you couldn't assault from reserve. This rule has now been replaced with ignoring the disordered charge penalty and automatically passing the Glorious Intervention roll. That's pretty crappy to me. Firstly, when was the last time you even remembered to use the Glorious Intervention rule? Not to mention that often a challenge doesn't actually make it into a second round! Disordered Charges aren't that big of a deal either.

The problem is that with the sheer volume of fire some armies can put out, deep striking units struggle to get into combat with many (if any) models left. Let's not forget how many Riptides we see at the moment too! Do you really want to risk what will work out as a pretty expensive unit? Granted they're not that expensive when you compare them to regular assault marines with Ld9 and a extra attack for 5pts each. Alternatively you could pack out a land raider with them and charge something juicy. That's a pricey option though.

They're still die as easily as any other marines so they'll struggle to get many charges off. Perhaps I'm missing something but they just seem like a waste of points. Stunning models mind you.

Sternguard Veterans

Sternguard are pretty pricey at 22pts each, cheaper than they were though. They fulfil the same role they always have as the providers of special issue shots to deal with problematic enemy units. They'll work best with a drop pod and can take the soon to be popular grav-guns. Not to mention every model can take a combi-grav if you desire, seems a waste of special ammo though.

They'll do their job pretty reliably and will probably make an appearance in many tournament lists. Pedro Kantor allows them to be scoring too which is an interesting prospect. It's a shame that the Imperial Fists chapter tactics don't apply to their special ammo but perhaps they'd be too good then. If they're only firing their boltguns with normal ammo then you should save some points and buy a tactical squad! The tactical doctrine of the Ultramarines will also help them and can be used with their special ammo, if only for one turn. This could make a devastating turn one drop podding sternguard assault pretty potent.

Dreadnoughts

The standard and venerable dreadnoughts suffer the same problems they always have. They either attempt to walk across the field and probably get shot before doing much damage or they drop-pod in get one shot off then probably get shot down. The venerable dreadnought is significantly cheaper than it was mind you and for the BS boost and Venerable rule it feels like an automatic upgrade to me. They're still potent units if they can get into effective range but most of the time they'll struggle.

The ironclad dreadnought is a decent option for 135pts. AV13 got a lot stronger recently thanks to the shift towards infantry spam. A lot of armies traded their S8+ weaponry for anti-infantry firepower. This means the ironclad has a better chance of making it to its target. Factor in the included extra armour and they could be pretty durable. They're far from a bad option but there are probably better ways to spend the points.

As I've said earlier, an Iron Hands army with a MotF and a pile of dreadnoughts might be a lot of fun but will still come unstuck against some armies. I love dreadnoughts though so I'd be keen to give it a go at least once.

Legion of the Damned

Always a bit of a fluffy choice and pretty expensive for marines. Still they're too pricey for Fearless marines that re-roll the deep strike. Ignores cover applies to all of their weaponry too which means the special and heavy weapons become great vehicle hunters (depending on your view about the Ignores Cover rule and vehicles). Slow and Purposeful allows them to make the most of grav-guns and... oh wait they can't take them. That's a shame.

With their 3++ save and the aforementioned Fearless special rule they'll be great for holding up particularly smashy units. They'll also be pretty tricky to shift with shooting. No more so than normal marines perhaps but Fearless helps. I don't really expect we'll see them all that much as they're not especially good. They're a lot of points to stick in reserve really especially in an army with flyers etc.

Terminators
At the advent of 6th edition there was a lot of hype about terminators. This was largely due to the fact that power weapons had become AP3 meaning their 2+ saves were more effective. This joy was short lived though as each successive codex release has brought more firepower. The success of any terminator unit effectively comes down to how well you can roll those saves. In this current age of Riptides a-go-go the terminators suffer when arriving by deep strike. Land Raiders are seen as a pretty pricey option these days too.

They're the same price they ever were but TH/SS variants now cost a little more. This is a shame as they're still probably the most viable version of terminators, if only for their survivability against those dreaded Riptide pie-plates. Sadly, despite still being excellent models, they'll be overlooked in favour of other units in their price range.

Centurion Assault Squad

Probably the ugliest models in the book with their siege drills attached to their mittens and of debatable use. At 60pts a piece they really need to do something dramatic. Essentially what you're paying for is their durability. Two T5 wounds with a 2+ save is fairly good but the assault variant of the Centurions feels like a bit of an afterthought. You're probably best swapping the Ironclad Launchers for hurricane bolters as then they'll at least do something as they slowly plod towards combat. Twin-linked flamers would be great if they could deep strike but they can't.

The siege drills may be great against vehicles but I'm not convinced you'll catch them. You could give the sergeant an omniscope and a meltagun but 15pts seems a waste on an already pricey unit. Perhaps I'm being to negative about them but if you did shell out for the Centurion kit you'd be better building the Devastators in my opinion. Maybe my opinion will change but right now I'm not convinced by them at all.

Conclusion
To me the Elites section is probably the most disappointing in the book. You may have got that feeling from my negativity in this post! The clear stand-out unit are the Sternguard. This was probably true in the old book too. I can't see people taking the other options unless they're going for a themed army. What remains to be seen are the possible combinations of some of these units with the Chapter Tactics. Maybe there are some permutations that I've missed that save these units from extinction.

Terminators are a big let-down for me. I really want them to be awesome but they always seem to die too quickly and I'm left thinking about what else I could've had for the points. The vanilla variant has always been the poor cousin to all of the other terminators around and this version of the book doesn't change that. Deathwing are fearless, get split fire and twin-linked on deep strike. Wolf Guard are more flexible and have Counter-attack. Grey Knights terminators are Troops and have a disgusting array of special rules. Blood Angels may be the same points but can be given FNP fairly easily. Again, chapter tactics will have to be the saving grace for vanilla terminators.

New Space Marine Codex Unit Reviews - Troops & Transports

We're now on to the meat and bones of the codex and over the next few days I'll be looking at each FOC slot in turn and discussing each entry. This process is always useful as it means that every single unit gets a look in and you can really start to see the combinations come to the surface. This introduction piece will stay the same every time so feel free to save yourself some time and skip it. 

Today I'm going to look at the Troops slot, the core of the army and crucial in the current edition with so many objective missions. This section usually makes or breaks a codex. Remember that bikes can be made into Troops and Sternguard can become scoring.

Tactical Squad

The ever faithful tactical squad is a staple of 40K. The first models most people own are a box of tactical marines. They're decent at everything but not excellent at anything. Still they remain an obligatory choice even 25 years on. Their points cost has been steadily reducing over the years and they're now in line with the Dark Angels prices as expected. They also got the special OR heavy weapon choice that the Dark Angels did. As ever Combat Squads gives you the opportunity to double your scoring units in objective games whilst minimising unit numbers in Purge the Alien.

Like their DA counterparts they got access to flakk missiles but I've spoken before about why I think they're a waste of points. The big news from the new book is access to the excellent grav weaponry (which I'll talk about in more detail when I cover bikes). Otherwise there isn't much to say here. They won't be devastating but they'll do their bit as stoically as ever.

Scout Squad

Strangely the SM codex has slightly different points for the Scouts compared to the DA book. Each model is 11pts but a sniper rifle now costs 1pt each. That means sniper teams are the same cost but a slight decrease for regular scouts.

Scouts will still do the same thing they always did, hug objectives for dear life and use their camo cloaks to make themselves irritating to shift. They'll still die in droves to AP4 or better flamers and they'll still fold in combat but they'll often win you the game as they hang onto objectives and get overlooked. What's interesting is the comparison to kroot. They share a lot of the same rules and fulfil a similar role but they're nearly double the points. Sounds bad but they're probably twice as hard to shift as they don't succumb to bolter fire as easily. Like kroot it may be tempting to outflank cheap squads onto objectives but I suspect most will use them as cheap home objective holders.

Crusader Squad

Fatsui, Flickr

A "new" addition to the codex with the Black Templars merger these guys are only available to a BT general. I can't say I was particularly familiar with the old BT codex but a blob of 20 T4 scoring models for 240pts is interesting. I could see a lot of fun to be had with a Chaplain thrown in and the rest of the squad tooled up for a bit of slice and dice. The alternative is to throw in an Emperor's Champion to make the unit Fearless and go hunting for Challenges. A 15-man squad with a character in an aptly named Land Raider Crusader might be a lot of fun even if it's a lot of points too.

Ultimately the decision is more about whether or not you want to take Templars at all rather than whether crusader squads are worth it. If you are taking templars then by all means swap your tacticals for Crusader units but they certainly aren't worth choosing the chapter for.

Transports

The rhino was a familiar sight in 5th edition but I can't actually remember the last time I played against one at a 6th edition tournament. I wouldn't be surprised if this new codex starts a bit of a resurgence though. Being able to fire that grav-gun out of the top hatch is tempting and at 35pts they're still disgustingly cheap as transports go. They may not be all that difficult to shift but in a mech heavy Iron Hands force they could prove to be an irritation. Similarly Razorbacks are nothing stellar but are hardly pricey, the points have shifted around a bit like they did for the Dark Angels but otherwise they're what you know and perhaps love.

I can actually see Drop Pods making a bit of a come back. Of course the Tau codex and it's Interceptor shenanigans might throw a spanner in the works but Ultramarines with that first turn twin-linked volley from tactical squads are certainly worth considering. Sternguard should remain popular too and a Kantor pod list might make an appearance here and there.

Land speeders are pretty much a joke thanks to the hull points system combined with AV10 but fans of scouts might still consider them for the jamming beacon and Blind from the launcher. Great way of delivering a scoring unit in an otherwise slow foot-slogging force.

Conclusion
Nothing particularly new here. Obviously Crusader Squads are making their first appearance but they're largely similar to the BT book. Both tactical squads and scouts will get plenty of use in armies that haven't manipulated the FOC. Neither unit is going to shine but they'll do their job as reliably as ever. The humble space marine might not be the fearsome foe it once was but they're still better than most of the troops offered by the xenos forces. The tactical squads also make a bit of a mockery of their supposedly tougher CSM counterparts thanks mostly to ATSKNF.

New Space Marine Codex Unit Reviews - Generic HQs

We're now on to the meat and bones of the codex and over the next few days I'll be looking at each FOC slot in turn and discussing each entry. This process is always useful as it means that every single unit gets a look in and you can really start to see the combinations come to the surface. This introduction piece will stay the same every time so feel free to save yourself some time and skip it. 

Today I'm going to look at the rest of the HQs, which, for most people will be the units of choice over the special characters.

Chapter Master

There's basically a toss up between the Chapter Master and the Captain here. Obviously the former is more expensive but gives you an extra wound and attack. This is a boost from his previous incarnation for a measly 5pt increase. The chapter master also gets the Orbital Bombardment, which, although slightly unreliable, could be devastating if used well. The main reason to take the either the Chapter Master or Captain though is that if you shove him on a bike he can make Bike Squads into Troops. Not such a big deal if you're already taking Khan in a White Scars force but great for the other chapters.

The big deal for me is that, as someone who doesn't have much loyalty to any of the standard chapters, the Chapter Master presents a great opportunity to "build your own". The Chapter Relics are very interesting and with a bit of back story you can create fantastic characters for your DIY chapter. There are some interesting combinations floating around the internet and I think we'll see a lot of them in tournament play.

Honour Guard
These guys work out pretty pricey for them all to get a 2+ save. It could be argued that the artificier armour is actually a bargain on them though considering it's 20pts for a character. They're the only place you can get the Chapter Banner though and considering you can pack them out with power weapons you can create a pretty sturdy deathstar if you give them a land raider to charge out of.

Realistically I can't seem them making many appearances on the tournament scene as they're still just marines in 2+ armour. The sheer volume of fire power makes a 2+ save seem insignificant at time and to have sunk so many points into a unit which is a bit of a one-trick pony is probably ill-advised.

Captain/Terminator Captain

As discussed with the Chapter Master, the Captain is essentially a budget option. There aren't really compelling reasons to spend the extra 40 pts on the Chapter Master though so expect to see more Captains. There's a huge array of possible combinations on offer here but Hellfire rounds or grenade launcher are no longer part of them for some reason.

Somewhat strange that they've split the Captain and Terminator Captain into different entries as it doesn't fit with any of the other HQs. Still both offer a great statline for a pretty good price in my opinion. Both also give you the option to take a command squad which, particularly in biker armies, will be a great place to get a pile of special weapons.

Command Squad
Despite an error in the codex these guys can take Special Weapons thanks to an FAQ. This combined with the 35pt bargain price of bikes for the unit means you can create a heavy hitting support unit for your Captain. Some would argue that they come in a bit pricey for a non-scoring unit but being able to pack out the excellent grav-weapons is seriously worth consideration. Not to mention getting FNP (more useful with T5) for an already tough to kill unit.

Otherwise they have the same issues as the Honour Guard in that you end up paying out quite a bit for what is essentially an assault squad on steroids. Not awful but I think there are better units if you aren't taking bikes.

Librarian

Cheap as chips like his Dark Angels opposite number but actually cheaper for the ML2 upgrade. It's also a huge boost considering in the last book the equivalent would've cost 150pts. The big down side is that he's lost all of the powers from the previous book and doesn't get access to the ever popular Divination powers. Still if he's going to be riding around on a bike like everyone seems to be planning on then Telepathy can be excellent and Biomancy is interesting depending how you tool him up. Personally I think it's good to have some force weapons in your army as there are a lot of multi-wound things around that it'd be nice to insta-kill. Obviously a lot of them have high toughness but to my mind it's worth having the chance to take them out in one blow.

When you look at the librarian like that he'd probably do well in terminator armour with a storm shield to make him more durable. I can see a lot of people ignoring him though in favour of an allied Rune Priest who offers better powers and the best anti-psychic around for now.

Chaplain

Chaplains are nearly always overlooked as they offer bonuses to close combat in a universe dominated by shooting. They may be pretty cheap but I don't see them getting a lot of use. When you've only got two sltos to choose from they'll lose out to specials, captains and librarians nearly every time.

If you do want to run an assault deathstar then by all means attach a Chaplain to make them devastating on the charge. Mind you, do you really want to annihilate a unit on the charge and face a pile of shooting in their turn?

Master of the Forge
These guys catch my eye as they still have the ability to take tons of dreadnoughts. This screams Iron Hands to me as you have to think about the potential of 6 dreadnoughts in drop pods all with It Will Not Die and troop units in bolstered cover claiming objectives. Not sure how competitive a list like that would be but I'm determined to give it a go at least once.

Otherwise you can still stick them on a bike and give them a conversion beamer which makes for a lot of fun in any army. I think MotFs are often overlooked in favour of the other HQs but they might prove to be a sucker punch.

Techmarine/Servitors

As ever the techmarine does the same as the MotF but for 40 pts less. Obviously he suffers from having only a single wound but he still offers Bolster and Blessing of the Omnissiah. There was potential use for a techmarine on a bike in the Dark Angels book so I can see him being used in a similar way here. By the way, I know I'm droning on about bikes but I really do think we'll see a lot of them. I'm not overly sold on the idea but time will tell.

Servitors still fall short of the mark for me. They may be dirt cheap but BS3 is a let down and I simply can't see the point.

Conclusion
The standouts as ever are the Chapter Master and Captain. I think the librarian will get a look in too from time to time but with the loss of Gate and Zone he won't be as popular as before. I think it's a shame they've stripped those powers away but it does make things more standardised I suppose.

Otherwise the Master of the Forge might be a fun option but Chaplains will probably lose out in my view. Troops next.

New Space Marine Codex Unit Reviews - Special Characters (Part 2 of 2)

Continuing where I left off yesterday here are the seven remaining special characters. The vast majority of which fight their battles in black armour. Is there just me who thinks there's a bit too much black armour in this book with the addition of Templars?

Vulkan He'stan

Having artificier armour already sets He'stan apart from the other characters. Throw in a 3++ save too and he's already looking worth his price tag. If you gear your army around melta weapons and flamers (as you should for Salamanders) then you have a pretty deadly combination. His S6 AP3 weapon will be great in challenges as Master-crafter and Digital weapons makes up for two-handed. His warlord trait maybe somewhat mediocre but I think he's still potent in combat and a reasonable option all round. Twin-linked (effectively) melta weapons are going to cause a lot of armies problems, we may be in an era when vehicles are less common but forcing instant death on characters is handy. Salamanders have potential but I fear they'll be overlooked.

Shadow Captain Shrike

Big disappointment for me here. I've long been envious of Matt's Blood Angels as I've always loved the look of jump pack marines. Sadly Shrike doesn't unlock assault marines as troops. He's still good as part of an assault squad or even vanguard vets but those units themselves are of limited use so he feels a little bit of a let down. The Raven Guard chapter tactics would make for some quick and deadly assault squads but most armies are able to deal with them despite their speed. He's far from awful but I'm just not convinced he's worth his price tag and Raven Guard are likely to be least common of the SM chapters we see on the table-top.

Captain Lysander

First thing I notice about him is the combination of storm shield and iron halo. Perhaps if a vindicare takes away an invulnerable save then it'll be worth it but otherwise it seems an odd pairing! He's again got the potentially excellent Champion of Humanity and with 2+/3++ and Eternal Warrior he's going to be as tough to shift as ever. Gone are the Bolster Defences and Bolter Drill rules but Imperial Fists get a form of Bolter Drill now anyway. The standard tactic of Lysander with sternguard in a drop pod may be a thing of the past now but he's still hard as nails and an S10 AP1 hammer is pretty tempting to me. Put him up against monstrous creatures and other characters and he'll nearly always come out on top.

Pedro Kantor

Pedro is geared towards a combat orientated army which, outside of terminators, marines have never been all that effective at. A +1 bonus to attacks is potentially useful but most of the time it won't worry your opponent too much. The reason to take him though is to have Sternguard as scoring units. Whilst you may not be able to use the Chapter Tactics with their special ammo they'll still pack a hefty punch. Having another option for troops is great and we might see drop podding sternguard used in combination with Pedro.



High Marshal Helbrecht

Helbrecht has the potential to be a combat monster against the right target. He's already got 4 attacks but with the Legacy of Dorn he can potentially have 7 AP3 attacks. Giving the whole army Hatred and Fleet could make for a devastating assault phase especially combined with his warlord trait that gives Furious Charge. The question is how effective combat is at the moment. There are so many armies around with huge amounts of fire power and Tau supporting fire makes assaults difficult at best. Mind you, 180pts isn't bad considering his statline and equipment. The other question to ask is whether Black Templars are likely to be chosen over the other chapters or not.

Chaplain Grimaldus
An interesting prospect with his bodyguard of servitors. Essentially the servitors simply act as ablative wounds for Grimaldus. Combined with It Will Not Die they may make Grimaldus tricky to shift but then he's probably better joined to a normal unit to make the most of him. A 6" Zealot bubble is no bad thing I suppose but again it's a combat boost which isn't something marines do especially well. Maybe I'm missing something with the Black Templars but unless the meta changes significantly I can't see a decent way to make the most of them. I'll happily be correct though as they were one of the front-runners for which chapter I'd like to collect before the codex hit.

The Emperor's Champion

The only model to come in at under a tenner, the Emperor's Champion is also on the cheaper end of the special characters. He's actually pretty interesting too. Obviously he's geared up as a character killer so if you manage to get the Champion of Humanity trait then you're laughing. He isn't especially survivable in combat against anything with AP2 but otherwise he should be able to survive long enough to inflict some hurt thanks to the potential to be S6 or else have the potential to cause Instant Death. Realistically most of the time you'll choose the latter as, although less reliable, the potential to insta-kill something is very tempting. Don't overlook that he's Fearless too which would be conferred to a squad he joins. This could make a large Crusader squad led by him into something pretty fun.

That's it for the special characters then. With the possible exception of Tigurius and maybe Lysander, none of them particularly jump out as being must-haves. Part of the problem is the ability to build your own character with some of the relic weaponry. This has the advantage of not restricting you to a particular chapter.

New Space Marine Codex Unit Reviews - Special Characters (Part 1 of 2)

With effectively 7 codexes worth of Special Characters to get through there's quite a list so I won't be able to cover them all in as much detail as other books. Remember each character has a specific chapter now so, whilst you can combine chapters with the allies system, you'll mostly only see characters from a single chapter. The Ultramarines have 6 of them and frustratingly the Iron Hands don't get one at all so there's a bit of injustice there I think.

Marneus Calgar

By far the most expensive special character in the book at 285pts with his terminator armour, Marneus needs to contribute a lot to justify the cost. He's got the same statline as a chapter master and artificier armour as standard which accounts for 150 of those points. He's able to roll three times on the traits table but as we've discussed already they're mediocre at best so this isn't much of a boon. He's one of the few characters to get Eternal Warrior though. He's also the only way to get the old school chapter tactics back and choose to fail a morale check and allows you to use one of the combat doctines twice. Otherwise he's geared up to bring down vehicles with his power fists.

I'm not convinced he's worth the hefty price tag. In combat he'll be excellent but he's only got a 4++ save if he meets something chunky in combat like an MC. Still being able to re-roll to hit for two turns with the tactical doctrine could be effective. Personally I doubt we'll see him outside of fluffy lists.

Captain Sicarius

Cato Sicarius is a rare sight in tournament circles and despite a points drop he's unlikely to be making many more appearances. Giving a tactical squad a bonus special rule isn't going to win you many battles and a leadership bubble, whilst useful at times isn't particularly great as it only applies to Ultramarines and not lower Ld allies like Tau or Guard. What we might see him used for is his +1 to reserve rolls especially when combined with a few flyers or expensive deep striking or outflanking death stars. Combine him with Tigurious (see below) and you can all but guarantee you'll get your reserves on turn two. Despite not having Eternal Warrior, Sicarius will be hard to shift thanks to 2+/4++ and 5+ FNP. His Coup de Grace attack could be great against tyranid MCs or daemons as he'll be S7 on the charge with his warlord trait. Still, hitting on 3 and wounding on 2 or 3 followed by an invulnerable save doesn't make it all that likely to work. Worth a thought though.

Chief Librarian Tigurius

Varro Tigurius has a lot of people excited and for good reason. For his points he's probably the best psyker around. He may only have rulebook powers but with mastery 3 and the ability to re-roll on the charts he has a good chance of getting the powers you want. He's also crucially got access all of the disciplines including the excellent Divination powers. Throw in a psychic hood that allows re-rolls to psychic tests and you're near guaranteed to get your powers off whilst avoiding Perils. The ability to manipulate reserves is much sought after and Tigurius gives you a re-roll to speed up or delay those crucial reserves.

He's not without his issues though. He's not got an invulnerable save and only 3+ armour so he's not all that survivable. Delivery is an issue. He'll be great attached to a squad and handing out powers but depending on what powers you want to use getting him into range might present problems. Finally, his force weapon is a the Rod of Tigurius which is only AP4. With so many multi-wound models out there at the moment an AP3 weapon would have more utility. Still S6 with Master-crafted and Concussive has the potential to make up for it. You only need the target to fail a single save after all.

Chaplain Cassius

For starters Ortan Cassius has one of the weakest of the warlord traits as causing Fear has very little practical use and frankly gets forgotten a lot. As ever it comes down to what he offers over the standard chaplain for his points. The stand-out bonus is T6 and FNP, trouble is, most of the time he'll be victim of an average toughness of 4 when he's in a unit. Still he's likely to hold something up in a challenge even if he can't kill it that easily with the AP4 crozius. His combi-flamer is a nice addition and poisoned 2+ shots always come in handy. The important point with cassius is that he only costs 40 points more than the standard chaplain. Can't see him being a popular choice but he's probably the cheapest (as Khan will normally have a bike).

Sergeant Telion

The big news here is that he's Ultramarines only. That move will have upset a lot of SM players who popped him into their scout squads. He's only a 50pt upgrade so a good way to get a cheap character in for Blog Wars but you get a decent amount for your points. BS6 with permanent Precision Shots is nice but he's only got a two shot sniper rifle so you'll just be hoping for those rending 6s. Great to be able to use his BS6 for another weapon in the squad like a missile launcher for example. Interestingly he has both a camo cloak and Stealth which in my opinion gives him +2 to cover saves. Probably worth a go but unlikely to be a star player.

Sergeant Chronus

Another 50pt upgrade character but this time for a tank. Unlike Longstrike in the Tau book, Antaro Chronus can hop out of his tank when it blows up. This sounds good but then you have to think he's an extra kill point. Still, giving a tank BS5, ignoring Shaken and Stunned and It Will Not Die will certainly be irritating for your opponent. Often you want a land raider to survive long enough to get its contents into combat and Chronus should help with that. In other vehicles he'll probably make them worth too many points.



Kor'sarro Khan

We're finally away from the Ultramarines characters with the first and only White Scars offering. He's probably going to be a pretty common sight based on the early rumblings from the tournament blogs. There's a lot of talk about bike armies and Khan will likely play a big part of that scene. The main thing he offers is Scout but he does also have one of the few decent warlord traits in the shape of Champion of Humanity. His potential to get into a challenge with the enemy warlord and cause instant death means he might win the game for you.

I have doubts over the effectiveness of a biker army. Of course they're very mobile and tricky to handle but they'll need some decent anti-air support to prevent heldrakes from making a right old mess out of them. Still if you are wanting to spam bikes then Khan is the way to go. I'm saddened to see that the SM codex can probably make a more effective biker army than the DA one though. Dark Angels are massively let down by lack of anti-air so perhaps bike fans can find solace in the marine book.

That's half way through the special characters then. Come back tomorrow for the rest.

New Eldar Codex Unit Reviews - Heavy Support (Part 2)

War Walker Squadron
If the wave serpent is the stand out unit of the codex then War Walkers are a close second. In the old book they were widely used as a means of bringing a disgusting amount of fire power to a flank near you. In the new book their role is the same but that fire power is much better. Whilst they may struggle from the lack of Fortune they've massively benefitted from the guardian BS/WS and initiative boosts. The changes actually make them fairly decent in combat but obviously it's shooting that they excel at.

For the bargain price of 70pts you get two scatter lasers. It gave me a headache when I tried to read the laser-lock rules to figure out whether you can use one to twin-link the other but let's assume you can't. Even without you're still firing 8 shots and over a typical unit of 3 you're getting 4 more hits than you did with BS3. That's already something to be excited about if you've got a pile of these on your shelf but wait there's more.

Battle Focus applies to war walkers too and somehow they've got Fleet too. That means Outlfank, unleash 24 S6 shots and then run or, if you find yourself on the wrong flank, run to hopefully put yourself in range. Not only that but Kelly in his infinite wisdom decided to give them a 5++ save too! Not a cover save like a skimmer but a genuine invulnerable save. Seriously that's insane. Whilst I think Fire Prisms are great, I can see people filling their heavy slots with 3x3 war walkers.

There's an argument for combining a scatter laser with a shuriken cannon. That way you definitely get the Laser Lock bonus. A twin-linked shuriken cannon will score pretty much the same number of hits that a scatter laser would. Whilst it may have shorter range, Outflanking helps and it's a worthwhile sacrifice to gain Bladestorm. It also brings the squad in at 195pts which is incredibly cheap.

Wraithlord

Most will overlook the wraithlord as he's quite literally dwarfed by the wraithknight. Conveniently though he may have half the wounds but he costs half the points. It's also a hell of a lot easier to get him a 25% coverage. He can also make the most of his S8 AP2 by challenging enemy characters. However, I'm not sure that's a worthwhile trade off for losing S10, Jump, I5 and an attack. The problem with wraithlords in 5th and early 6th is still present in that they either sit back and shoot or struggle to get forward quick enough to get into combat.

If you're leaving them back shooting then you're probably better with another unit. However, in combination with their bigger brother, a couple of wraithlords can still be effective. Send the wraithknight forward to draw all the attention. Meanwhile a couple of his mates are advancing and you've still got some T8 models to try and shift. Great for a ghost themed list but most will overlook them.

Wraithknight

As seems to be the trend in recent times, the big excitement about the codex was the huge model. Easily bigger than anything else in standard 40K (including a lot of scenery!) the wraithknight is certainly going to attract some attention. It's a gorgeous model (although I wasn't sure at first) that will look truly epic on the field. It's got a strong statline but BS/WS 4 lets it down somewhat.

There are essentially two viable builds. The vanilla model has its S10 wraithcannons which will be feared by vehicles and daemon princes alike. All the while you're jumping him forward to get into combat and make the most of his S10. The suncannon and shield provide more durability and excellent anti-MEQ firepower. It's a shame it didn't get Barrage though and costing a whopping 40pts I'm not wholly convinced it's worth it. The shield and sword whilst visually appealing aren't worth bothering with. You're essentially forced to pay out another 30pts to give him some firepower and the only benefit is a 5++ save as the master-crafted weapon isn't worth it as you can't be S11 anyway!

There's some debate going about how durable the wraithknight is. Most are saying that with an armour save of 3+ it'll die far too easily. Think for a minute about T6 models in the game at the moment such as the dreadknight. Having fielded two at the doubles we know from first hand experience that some armies simply can't take them out fast enough. The wraithknight may not have the 30" shunt but is otherwise as mobile as a dreadknight. The dreadknight can be torrented down by guardsmen though. The wraightknight with T8 can totally ignore anything below S5. Even S5 and S6 weapons need 6s to wound. You'd need on average 27 BS4 S6 AP4+ shots to cause a single wound and he has 6 of them!

Look at your current army list and think about how much of your firepower is useless against it. In combat how many models are S5 or above? Sure some units can use "Our Weapons Are Useless" but that's still making them run and risking Sweeping Advance.

Of course there's always Poisoned, Force and heavy weapons. With Dark Eldar dropping massively in popularity how much ranged poisoned weaponry is there? Force weapons are normally wielded by S4 models making them useless and if you're firing heavy weapons at my wraithknight then you're ignoring my tanks. He might not be incredibly deadly but for the same cost as a land raider you're getting something which is a lot harder to take down. As with every big new unit, the internet looks at it and goes "looks great but it'll die to poisoned fire so it's not worth it". That logic is like saying "there's no point taking rock because paper exists". You can have a hell of a lot of fun smashing up scissors though.

Conclusion
This brings to an end my Eldar codex review and from what at first glanced seemed to be a mediocre book we're now talking about the latest powerhouse of 40K. Tau are meant to have the monopoly on shooting but with most of their weaponry coming in at S5 they're going to struggle to compete with Eldar. There are soo many places to find S6 weaponry at BS4 that even before psychic help the Eldar army can shoot others off the table. Eldar are the new Necrons in terms of invincible volumes of fire. Sure they don't have the flyers in droves but show me an army that can reliably deal with 6 wave serpents and 9 war walkers at 1,850pts!

There are several viable builds for Eldar too. Whether you want to field hordes of guardians, elite armies with T6 as minimum and some horrible big S8 constructs or mech spam with disgusting amounts of S6 fire. In some ways I find their power off putting. The competitive players will be all over the book and spamming the best things but if and when I eventually build up my Eldar army I'll be trying to do something more interesting but hopefully still effective.

At the end of the day, GW have done a similar thing to the Eldar book that they did with Tau. There are no huge changes. There's a scattering of new units and the existing units on the whole are better and cheaper. Die hard Eldar players will be pointing out that the old codex was capable of similar feats but this new book has taken that to a new level.

New Eldar Codex Unit Reviews - Heavy Support (Part 1)

Another packed section in this bulging codex with 8 choices for 3 slots in sub-2K lists. This is probably the most difficult section to choose from. Pretty much every option here is viable but some really stand out as excellent. I'd started this off as a single post but I've got too much to say about some of the units so I've split it into two.

Dark Reapers

Dark Reapers have always been great for dealing with MEQ with their long range S5 AP3 weapons. They're far from cheap though costing a whopping 30pts each. That's pretty high for a T3 3+ save model no matter what their damage output. They have the option to take what are essentially krak missiles too but that boosts them to 38pts a piece!

They're not awful and thanks to their rangefinders they can be the bane of skimmers and bikes alike. Sadly the suffer the same problems that Space Marine devastators do. They're far too static. Now it depends on how you build your list but it seems a shame to bring something so immobile to what can be a fast and flexible army. I'm sure some will find a role for them and will build their army around distracting attention away from them whilst they hammer targets. However, personally I can't see them making it into my army.

Vaul's Wrath Support Battery

Another unit that benefits from the BS boost that guardians received. However, they're also another unit that feels slow in an otherwise speedy codex. Once again they can be devastatingly effective. All three weapons have their uses and their significantly cheaper when not taking a D-cannon.

The D-cannon whilst short ranged benefits from the Barrage rules meaning sniping models with S10 AP2 shots. Blasts mean the opportunity to take down several tightly packed vehicles at once but that's rare in the current meta. The vibrocannon relies on several hits to be effective so when the unit has lost a couple of models it'll struggle. The shadow weaver is pretty effective against tightly packed troops but with the FAQ setting it firmly as a small blast weapon it won't be as useful when models are widely spread as any opponent with sense will do. Personally I don't think they do much that a more survivable unit couldn't do the same or better.

Fire Prism

Tanks seem to get overlooked in the latest codices as the average player seems obsessed with the idea that mech is dead. They'll get a rude awakening when we see more Eldar lists and a push back to mech. The fire prism was limited in the last book as it needed to be taken in multiples to be effective. Things have changed now though. In a mech list full of AV12 it helps add to the wall of tanks but the cool thing is it's prism cannon.

It's got great flexibility which is something any unit needs to make it into a list. Think of it as a hammerhead with less strength. It's large blast may be S5 but AP3 is a boost compared to the hammerhead. For those recently arrived terminators there's S7 AP2 small blasts and an S9 AP1 lance for tank hunting. The list of things that a good lists needs to be able to deal with includes AV13/14 vehicles. The fire prism is the Eldar answer (outside of Fire Dragons). That S9 shot will be penetrating everything AV12+ on a 4+ and then blowing it up on a further 4+. Against AV14 that's actually better than a railgun (without Longstrike). Worth paying 125pts for? I'd say so. Even with holo-fields it's only 140pts. It may have to compete with some other excellent options but if you're trying to put up an AV12 wall it can't hurt to have a couple of these.

Night Spinner

A little cheaper than the fire prism the Night Spinner is also comfortable in either a anti-tank or anti-infantry role. Monofilament isn't quite as reliable as having low AP in the first place though. Torrent weapons are always excellent and having one which is S8 against vehicles is nice. Personally I think the Fire Prism is worth the extra 10pts but the Night Spinner could be excellent.

Falcon
With the same basic cost as the Fire Prism the Falcon essentially trades a better main gun for the ability to transport a handful of troops. However, when you've got the excellent wave serpent already capably filling that role the Falcon is left on the sidelines. It doesn't compare well to the fire prism in terms of offensive power and loses out to the wave serpent as a transport. Both of the alternatives cost about the same so in this case it's a jack of all trades, master of none kind of thing.

That's it for the first part but the real stars of this section will be covered tomorrow so come back for that...

New Eldar Codex Unit Reviews - Fast Attack

Probably the weakest section of the codex but that's often the case recently. Once again the aspect warriors are still nice models but with mediocre rules they'll not see the light of day very much. However, this section does contain the only reasonable dedicated anti-air choice in the codex.

Swooping Hawks
The fun of swooping hawks in the old codex was dropping them in, pie-plating a unit then taking off again before any reprisals. They can still do that in the new book but as before it's a case of whether you think the shenanigans are worth it. They have a decent amount of firepower but it's only S3 AP5.

The most interesting thing about them is their appropriately titled special rule "Herald of Victory". With it they can deep strike without scatter. When you combine this with Skyleap they can be doing their grenade pack thing and in turn 5 drop in to contest an objective late on. They'll be an irritation to your opponent but they won't necessarily win you the game if it goes beyond turn 5.

Warp Spiders

In the old book these were pretty survivable unit but with S6 at 12" range their weapons weren't all that stunning. Monofilament is interesting as it makes 6s AP1 which is great against vehicles, especially when combined with S7 (as vehicles don't have an iniative characteristic). Sadly they're still limited to 12" range but with Battle Focus and their jump generators they should be able to stay out of trouble better than guardians.

Having a 3+ save is crucial but sadly they suffer from the same problem as fire dragons. They're effective but pay a fairly hefty price at 19pts per model. Still, Hit & Run at initiative 5 (or 6 with an Exarch) is going to keep them alive better than fire dragons. They're certainly not a bad choice and worth a look but again I think people will be put off by their hefty price tag (money not points).

Shining Spears
Shining spears are another unit that suffers from both points and £s costs. The models are £10 at GW prices (20 for 3 jetbikes and 10 for the upgrade pack). They have the benefit of Skilled Rider and Outflank giving them some survivability. The Eldar Jetbikes & Battle Focus rules will help them stay alive when shooting too. However, 6" range is particularly pathetic and having the Lance special rule is a bit pointless for an S6 weapon. Giving them an exarch with Hit & Run and Monster Hunter could make them a good anti-MC unit but the points really rack up.

For a 5-man squad with the Exarch you're paying 170pts for what is essentially 5 space marines when they're being shot at. Personally I think that's a lot and there are better ways to spend the points. It's a shame because I've always liked the idea of the unit.

Crimson Hunter

As mentioned in the title of the post. This is the only really viable anti-air option available to the Eldar. Offensively it's probably the best anti-air unit in the game. Having 4 S8 shots at BS5 (for the Exarch) that re-roll to penetrate against flyers. When you first read the Vector Dancer rule I'm sure, like me, you expected it to apply to Eldar flyers and sure enough, it does. Once of the problems with flyers is their poor manoeuvrability. Most of the time they get a couple of turns of shooting before they're left with a choice between flying off the board or doing a lap unable to shoot anything. Obviously Hovering is an option for some flyers but it makes them particularly vulnerable. Vector Dancer's extra pivot means you can do a nice zig-zag strafe along the board and hit something every turn.

Sounds pretty good then. Well to balance out all this awesome offensive power GW have made it out of paper. Realistically an army that relies on flyers, like Necrons or Guard will be taking this thing out as a priority. That means one, maybe two, turns (and probably a flyer killed per turn) before it gets brought down by whatever fires at it. It's a shame it couldn't have just been AV11 which I don't think is unreasonable for the points. With AV10 it relies on having an Autarch to manipulate reserves so that it can come on when you're sure it'll be able to kill an enemy flyer. Even against armies without much anti-air it'll still struggle to survive. When you consider a lot of flyers are cheaper, is it worth paying 180pts to take out what might be just one enemy flyer before being shot down?

Personally I love the model. I didn't at first but it's grown on me. That means I'm going to give it a go. It's a hell of a lot better than a Nephilim at least! Less said about that the better though.

Vyper Squadron

Never much use in the old codex and probably not much better now. It's got great agility as a weapons platform and plays a similar role to Tau piranhas. However, it's around 20pts more expensive than the piranha. For similar points you can have War Walkers which, as I'll discuss in the Heavy Support post, are probably a better unit.

Again, I love the models and bought one when they first came out because I always thought they were stunning. It's a shame they swapped the war walker in the battleforce for a vyper. The big issue for them is that they can't contest any more. Otherwise they might find a role. You can give them Crystal Targeting Matrices to make them durable but they just don't do enough for the points I reckon.

Hemlock Wraithfighter
The latest swathe of codices has been full of what are termed "synergy" units by the interwebs. The Hemlock is one of them. On it's own it can kill a unit with shenanigans. Basically it can cause enough wounds to force a morale check that must be re-rolled thanks to the Mindshock pod. If that fails then the Terrify power should succeed. The ability to strip Fearless and then make a unit take a test works beautifully with the Mindshock pod. It can also work well with other units by creating a coward bubble and allowing the shooting of your army to make units run in droves.

Sadly to use these things it needs to be within 12" and therefore it'll be taking a lot of rapid fire shots and even with free Spirit Stones it'll struggle to make it past a turn. It's certainly a force multiplier but the price tag is steep for an AV10 flyer. Could be enormous fun to use but it's a brief candle!

Conclusion
Realistically you can build a great Eldar army capable of taking on pretty much anything without even considering the Fast Attack section. That's a sad thing really but with the flyers on the pricey side for AV10 and the aspect warriors not really pulling their weight it's pretty true. Once again, I'm sure people will have great fun with these units and in fact none of them are diabolical (except maybe Shining Spears).

The heavy support section is next and unlike Fast Attack it has a wealth of viable units.