Hello everyone !!!

Today goes on pre-order Phoenix rising the first chapter of Psychic Awakening.
Psychic Awakening is the Warhammer 40000 campaign dealing with the aftermath of the Great Rift cutting the galaxy in two. This review will first look at the fluff and then the rules added to the differents Eldar Factions.

Introduction

Phoenix rising book is 80 pages long with hardcover. The quality is normal GW so nothing bad to say. There is a lot of illustration in it (old and new) making it a very good looking object! The rule section cover both Eldars and Dark Eldars only Harlequins are left out.

Fluff

To me, the fluff is the most interesting part of the book and Games Workshop hyped it quite a lot. I don't want to copy all the story in the book but here are the juicy info, skim down if you don't want to be spoiled

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• Book confirm that you need the 5 Crones sword from morai heg or kill all Eldars to revive Ynnead


• Last (5th) Crone sword has been stolen by Slaanesh and stocked in his palace


• Yvraine admit the mass suicide is now the only way (i am not sure yet)


• 5 or 6 pages of details on what are doing famous Craftworlds


• Shalaxi Helbane and Syll lead a Slaanesh Hunter party to kill Yvraine and the Avatar


• Dark Eldar are close to civil war as a lot of them join Yvraine


• Vect sent Drahzar to kill Yvraine and was very very close to succeeding but Jain Zar saved her


• 1 harlequin exiled from Cegorath join the band, accompagnied by a Human Female Psyker in Black power armour (and white hairs). The human has super strong psychic power, they also warn Yvraine of a new foe



• Yvraine group is now 5 Champions: Jain zar, Visarch, mysterious exiled solitaire, Lelith Hesperax


• Multiple fights happen on Exodite Worlds to save them from chaos (3 Phoenix Lord fight together there)


• Lots of Eldars are gaining more psychic power since the big rift


• Dino riders are mentioned multiple time


• Exodite ride to wars with the Eldars now



• the Last Stand happen on Iathglas a Hexodite world with a lot of spiritual power


• Big fight Dnd fight happen, the 5 champions vs Hellbane, while a bunch of other Eldars sacrifice themself to hold the Slaanesh horde


• Jain Zar start using the power of the dead to buff her now


• , In the end, Shalaxi Helbane is banished but it was only a shard of his power and he was only having fun.
  Wtf? he was super close to winning vs Jain zar, Vizarch, avatar, Lilith, solitaire (KIA) and Yvraine and it was only a "glamour of his real self". Yea sure, why not just coming for real and delete reality


• Story close on Eldars factions blaming each other

Fluff Conclusion
The story was nice even if the ending was a bit of a letdown, still not sure about the Title "Phoenix Rising". Still It gives a good idea of what Eldars have to do now. Also, I am pretty sure that the mission "Save the last Crone Sword from the Slaanesh Palace is happening onde day"
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Rules

3 parts here, Craftworlds, Dark Eldars and Ynnari

Craftworlds rules

• Updated Datasheet for Jain zar and the Banshee

Banshee are 13 points , jain is 115
• Each sort of Aspect Warrior Exarchs get to choose new powers. You can exchange the standard power against a different one from a list of 6. All temple also have stratagem to stack 2 Exarch power .
• Rune of Power: New Psychic Discipline representing Eldars getting new minor powers that are easier to manifest
• Create your own Craftworld with these new attributes. Choose 2 from a list of 22 and build the one you like the most



• Runes of Fortune

Instead of Smite, you can choose one from the table below :
-Reroll one roll
-add 2 Dmg to one psyker weapon (oO)
- Bonus + 2 charge rolls (hello Banshee !)
-Roll 3 dices on a 5+ deal one mortal wound (characters only)
-Bonus 2 for unbind spell
-Force one enemy unit to shoot at closest target unless the target is within 18" (trash^^)

Drukhari rules

Dark Eldars get updated Datasheet for Drahzar and Incubi. Like the Craftworlds cousins, they get traits to customise their: Kabals, Cults, Covens.

• Drazhar and Incubi

They are now at 16pts and 120pts. Drazhar was already spoiled and he's a beast in melee if he can connect.

The master of Blade power is super strong allowing Incubi (and Drazhar as well) to wounds more reliably

• Obsessions

There are 3 lists of 8 Obsessions to choose from and you select 2. One list for Kabals, one for Covens and one for Cults.

A bit of everything in these lists, still i think you'll be able to customize your force to your liking.

Ynnari rules

Children of Ynnead allow you to field a mixed force of Eldar under the banner of the God of Death! Or mix the Trio into a Craftworlds, Harlequins, Drukhari army!
The rule is so complex that I prefer to post a full image of it (have fun ^^)

Good luck with that one ^^

Also you gain :

• Objective Secured for troops


• Strength from the death : +1 to hit and fight first in a turn you lost an unit.


• 6 Ynnari Warlords traits

*Fnp5+ and heal 1 each turn
*+1A & +1S while Strenght from death is active (yvraine)
*5+ cashback on CP spent and 1 rr per turn
*-1 or -2 to LD within 6" (Ycarne)
*pile in 6"
*6 to hit score 2 hits (visarch)

Decent list, Fnp5+ is interesting or maybe warden of soul to 1 A and 1 S on your general (Solitaire ?)

• Revenant Discipline, all psyker in this army must select from this list

Gaze of Ynead : 1 , 1D3 or 1D6 mortal wounds
Storm : 3d6 per enemy psyker around on a 6+ 1mw
Word or the Phoenix: Heal D3 or revive one model on a 4+
Unbind Souls : Debuff one target unit, reroll wounds against it for friendly Ynnari
Shield of Ynnead 5++ for units within 6" (ho yea!)
Grace : Buff, target friendly unit reroll 1 to hit.

Gaze, Shield and Unbind souls are very strong and will help a lot.

• 2 pages of stratagems

The Ynnari army looks interesting but to be honest, my Eldar List Building is quite weak. I have no idea on how to build an Eldar army (except Flyers spam of course ^^)

That's all for the review of this small campaign book. It is a must-buy if you play Eldar and still quite a good read if you are interested in the fluff.

ps: There is very little fluff in this book about Drazhar and Jain Fight. So I don't know if she was raised from dead by Yvraine if she won or if the fight was interrupted and the fluff didn't progress (like usual ^^)

ps2 : I'll complete the review tonight with more infos, (running late right now)

/Cheers.
Bob.

Psychic Awakening Navigation :

Psychic Awakening: The Second Prophecy Klaivex
Psychic Awakening: The First Prophecy Banshee Exarch
Psychic Awakening - Phoenix Rises
Jain Zar is Back !
Drazhar Master of Blades
Psychic Awakening - Harlequin enter the dance
Psychic Awakening - Blood of the Phoenix
Psychic Awakening - Blood of the Phoenix box price

Hello everyone !!

Today we are going to do a quick review of Cities of Sigmar Battletome for Age Of Sigmar. I know it's a bit late but as you maybe know I was at the WTC this weekend and came home Monday morning.

Introduction

Cities of Sigmar is the latest Order Battletome. It covers all the Order units from Warhammer Battle that Games Workshop wants to keep in Age of Sigmar. Of course, that doesn't include units from Chaos, Death or Destruction. In more details, you can find warscrolls from Empire, Wood Elves, Dwarfs, High Elves, Dark Elves all mixed/Classed by Theme (or City)

The Battletome offer a very Large choice and you can build an immensity of Army with it. Not only you can use a large number of old units from Warhammer, but you can include Stormcast, Sylvaneth, and Kharadron Overlord.

The book is incredibly thick with options and choices. After examining the Allegiance Abilities and the unit roster, the review will be articulated around each city.

Free Cities Allegiance Abilities

All the cities in the book get a few general rules :

• Amplified Sorcery :

Endless Spells cast by Cities of Sigmar Wizard always benefit from the Realm bonus! This is insane, the different movement spells get huge benefit from the Realm improvement (Bridge with 24" range^^). Emerald Lifeswarm bumped to healing or resurrecting 1d6 wounds. Also Geminid and Burning head benefit a lot from this ability.

Overall it's very cool!

• Honored Retinue

If you play a general with less than 7 wounds you can pick up a retinue. On a 4+ the general can allocate the wound or mortal wound he suffers on the retinue. Handy to keep the frail Old World heroes alive ^^
• General Adjutant

If you play a general with less than 7 wounds you can pick up a hero as a lieutenant.
At the start of the turn, if the hero is within 3" of the general you can a command point on a 4+
• Fixed Realm

Each city comes from a specific realm and you can't change it.




• Stormcast

One every 4 units can be a Stormcast Note that the SCE is getting the cities of Sigmar keyword and the specific city keyword.

Including the full Stormcast roster to the very large Cities of Sigmar army is remarkably fun, imagine the number of combination you could do ^^ It makes my head spin.

Free Cities Unit Roster

While Cities Of Sigmar regroup many armies from the Old World. A lot of units were not included, i don't know what does it mean for them but i guess it can't be good ^^ Also remark a notable points reduction across the board on a large number of units.

See the number of Battleline entries, nearly half the Warscrolls can be made Battleline if you have the corresponding: City/General.

Hurray for the Steam Tank Army!

The Sigmar Seven

7 Cities of Sigmar are described in the book, for each of them you get a fluff page at least and the usual: Rules / Traits / Relics / Spells

Hammerhal : the Twin-Tailed City

This is the most described city in the book. The City is dual realm so you can choose Aqshy or Ghyran as a realm (from the sorcery book).
Rule wise they are super solid, not skewed on a particular strategy with a very strong command Ability. Standard strat would be, get some extra commands points and spam the Hammerhal command for value.

Rest of the rules are very good as well, for example, a trait gives +1 to hit when charging for unit wholly within 12".

Also check the twinstone :

Another +1 to hit.

Edit: Strong incentive to Bring a big pack of Desolator !! you can bring them to 2+ to hit, they gain extra attack from their number and you can use the Command Ability to make them attack again !

Desolator Warscroll

The Living City

The city from the realm of life. Can include Sylvaneth and Stormcast units (1/4). I am sure some incredible combos are possibles ^^

The different powers are decent, nothing groundbreaking but the real value is, I think, having Sylvaneth/Cities/Stormcast all mixed in one army.

Having multiple wounds unit is very valuable in this army as you can heal from Attuned to nature. Also the Lifesurge spell allow your wizard to heal 1d6 wounds. The Endless spell Emerald Swarm heal/rez 1d6 also. Maybe you can set up a nice Attrition / Ranged attack list.

Greywater Fastness

Sad :(, that the dwarf canon is not included in the Battletome, but if you plan to field Artillery and Steam Tank, Greywater have you covered.

The Rune prayer is awesome if you stack it with Lord ordinator +1 to hit. That means, Hellfire hitting on 2+ rerolling one if shooting at one target ^^ (need lord ordinator, Cogsmith aand rune lord package) but you can apply aura from Ordinator and Cogsmith to multiple Artillery unit.

You can also combine it with this Battalion (120pt) ^^

So 4 Hellfire Battery shooting 6 times hitting on 3+ (2+) with reroll wounding on 3+ with -2 rend and d3 dmg ^^ 39" Range + 3" move for 42" threat. That just First turn ^^and it's only 30% of your points.

I really think this combo is going to be meta bending. If you have a way to mitigate the first turn Barrage you can play the game, if you don't, you lose turn 1. Greywater Fastness armies are maybe the iron hands of AOS, strong and the First Turn Alpha is maybe a bit much. Will see ^^

The Phoenicium

The City of Elves and Pheonix, rules are ok but not great. Phoenix got a nice points reduction so maybe that's enough to make them good. I am not sure ^^

Again, the best strategy is focusing on healing I think. with a 4+ FNP on your battleline and an endless spell returning 1d6 Phoenix Guard to life, it's super-efficient. Also, the Phoenicium Spell list includes a very good healing spell: healing 1d3 wounds to all friendly units within 12" of the caster. Off course Anointed are extraordinarily useful if you plan to focus on healing attrition strategy.

The Living Idols Command ability is especially powerful, I'd love to try some Flaggellant jank or Some Freeguild Greatswords accompanying the Phoenix Squadron ^^ Even Some GyroCopters could be handy to harass, provide the +1 +1 when they die.
Outside the fact that Pheonix is incredible models, I am quite convinced you can build some very interesting Pheonicium armies!

AnvilGard

The dark port city in the land of Aqshy. The theme here is Monster and Dark Elves Mix. A bit of everything and War hydra as Battleline. I am not sure what do do with this city, I guess spamming dark dragon hydra and Dino rider would work just fine.

One novelty is the Drakeblood Curses, 3 different abilities that you can give to your monsters.

Hallowheart , the Radiant City

This City is from Aqshy as well and is the home of the most powerful spell caster.

See for yourself :

And the innate Spell list :

Each wizard get 2 spells from the list!

This city is a Very good meta drop against Death spell spam with the Eldritch Attunement rule that can get buffed to 4+ !! Honestly, the spell list is very very good.

The Sacrifice ability is fun too if you have a few hard to cast spells or strong magic opposition!

With the Amount of Spellcaster you can choose from in this Battletome or from the Stormcast Battletome, plus the number of endless spells or Realm Spell lists, the variations are endless ^^

A very exciting type of list!

Tempest Eyes : The Aetherguard !

At last the seventh city, Still from Aqshy and the one including Kharadron Overlord!

Not much to say about this one, just run/shoot or charge I guess ^^.

Still, one of their spell "Aura of Glory" give +1 melee attack to units wholly within 12". This is huge, so maybe there is something to do with some Demygriff cavalry or a pack of Stormcast Concussor.

I am sure someone shall make something super cool out of the Tempest Eyes city!

That's it for the quick review of the different cities.

Conclusion

To be honest I never expected Cities of Sigmar Battletome to be this enjoyable. It's hard to predict what type of army (if any) are going to be strong. There is so many choices, options, benefits, battlelines. And I didn't even talk about the traits, relics and the alliance between cities. It's mind-blowing to imagine the different armies you can build with this Battletome! I'll try to complete the review at a later time but that will have to do for now.

Yea, the Free Cities make you Freeeee !

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

Today go on pre-order the season 3 starter for the excellent Warhammer Underworlds game: Beastgrave! Third season and the games have become a staple for competitive play in the Warhammer Franchise.

To review this box we are going to look at the content of the box, the Backstory of Beastgrave, the models, the rules changes and the cards.

Beastgrave Content

The starter provides everything you need to start playing right away. 2 warbands, 3 sheets of tokens, 2 double-sided board, Rules, assembly instruction and a learn to play mini-book. Everything is of good quality and well made.

Beastgrave Fluff

The fluff is: A mystic mountain in Ghur got infected with the Katophrane curse and call different warbands and bind them into an eternal fight ( until season 4^^ )

Some mysterious shadows are hanging around, Also one of the board sides is named after them.

Silent People

Interesting and could serve the development of realm fluff in the future. Sadly there is no page showing all the different warbands.

But there is 2 fluff snippet for Rippa's and Grymwatch

Also are mentionned :

• Ogor of Voracia (Hungering gullet)


• Athmora of the Fanged steppes (follower of the one that lurk below


• Fushola (no more info)


• StoneSpeaker peoples


• Ghanua

I guess that next 2 warbands are Rippa and Watchgrave and the rest will come after.

Beastgrave Models

Excellent quality, easy to build a bit smaller than I imagined but that's me. The Beastmen models are so damn good, I want my fingers to be like them now (and good).
Centaur is also great and I can't wait for the centaur army! ;)
note: Now that I have the model in hand, I think, that, satyrs are a lot better than on the pics.

Beastgrave Boards

Beastgrave Rules Changes

This was already covered but :

• Guard action buffed, now prevent push


• Both player get to place a lethal hex before the game start


• Feature hex : Now objectives counter are double sided with Lethal on the other side, some card transform them


• Hunters/Quarries keywords : Cards can give you one of the two keywords for exemple this card



It's a good themed mechanism in Beastgrave and allow to threaten the super buffed character the opponent plan to build.

• Superaction / Charge nerf



Now the combination of two actions is called a superaction and are treated as a single block! For checking is the Inspire condition is met or not.

• Surge Objective

It's not in the book but if you play tournament format the Surge Objectives are getting limited to 6 per deck.

Note: A surge objective is one that you score immediately when the conditions are met.

• The Stack in underworld

The stack is a priority management concept used in Magic the Gathering and other good cards game. Beastgrave have some lines on it in the Reactions section. Good first step
• Combat sequence

Gw included an amasing flow chart for resolving actions :

Beastgrave Cards

The different online deck builders are already updated and the all of the Beastgrave cards are here

https://warhammerunderworlds.com/deck-builder/

Conclusion

Solid core set, love the Ghur Theme and I'm eager to see more info on the realm and is habitant.
The Season 3 comes with a rotation on all the common seasons 1 cards( they chose to keep the season 1 warbands) so for sure it's going to create some interesting meta.

The game is great and it's a good time to play it!

/Cheers
Bob.

Beastgrave navigation :

Beastgrave : Card Rotation on Release
Beastgrave announcement at nova
Learn to Play Baestgrave with Becca Scott
Goblins riders warbands for Beastgrave
Beastgrave pre orders
Beastgrave pre orders
Ogre Warbands underworlds season 3 beastgrave
Daugther of kaine Warbands underworlds beastgrave
Complete warhammer underworlds beastgrave cards list
Beastgrave : The Grymwatch Flesh Eaters courts
Beastgrave age of sigmar warscrolls
Warhammer underworld Beastgrave review

Hello everyone !!

Today on pre-orders are 2 new codex supplements for Warhammer 40000 Space Marines Armies. Raven Guard and Iron Hands, this post is about the Raven Guards. I mean who doesn't love Space Ninja?

Introduction

This codex is a thin(80 pages) hardcover book. It's standard GW quality so there is nothing wrong about it.
The 3 main parts of the book are The fluff, the model's pics and the rules!
If iron Hands codex was the hammer this one would be a scalpel ^^

fluff

The first 40 pages of the book are dedicated to the Chapter presentation. It's quite complete with a lot of details on the different companies and units. There are also details on the what happened at isstvan V, Ravenfall, the Genetic Manipulation Corax tried to do and some other stuff. Decent fluff.

Oops

Yea sure Precognition

It's always hard to swallow that Near Precog Primarch were at Isstvan 5 ^^

An army of Heroes !

In this section, we are shown different Space Marines Models Painted in black ^^

Rules

One new general ability, a few warlords traits, some relics, more stratagems, and 6 psychics powers.

Surgical Strike

This power is at the Heart of a Raven Guard game plan ! Snipe/take out Aura & buff bot and then clear the rest of the army. it's a sound plan considering the amount of popular buff combo. Still, I am not sure that +1 to hit and wound is enough to allow this plan. But it' a good start !

Warlord Traits

There are 6 extra Traits that you can choose from.

• No overwatch on the warlord (it's Shrike one)


• Redeploy one inf unit and infiltrate


• Buff bubble : Run and Charge within 6"


• Unmodified 6 deal 1 additional mortal wound


• Fly when falling back, charge and shoot after fall back


• Teleport your warlord once per game 9" from ennemy

Off course the Run and Charge is strong but the No overwatch is super handy to tie in strong firebase

Relics

2 list here, one for Raven Guards: Relics of Ravenspire and one for Successor & Raven Guards: Special Issue Wargear.

Relics Of Ravenspire

• Ebonclaws : ap-3 d3, reroll wounds and one extra attack (replace 2 LC)


• Shadow armor : Ignore ap if ap is -1 and unmodified hit rolls of 1 2 3 always fails


• Raven Skulls : One reroll per turn


• Raven Fury : Jump Pack, run and charge, reroll charge and Mw on 4+ during a charge


• Ex tenebris : Assault 3 stalker bolter, can snipe, +1 hit, ignore cover


• Super Knife : s+1 ap-2 d1, 1 extra attack, Damage 3 vs Characters

Yea nothing crazy. Still, Ex tenebris is decent to snipe frail target.

Special Issue Wargears

Mantle : 5+ FNP
Artificer armour : 2+/5++
MCW : +1dmg to one weapon
Digital weapon: one extra attack dealing 1mw if hit
Magic Cloack : 3+ invul in terrain ^^

Stratagems

Raven Guard have a good selection of Stratagem ! you are going to need CP a lot I think.

2 pages of Stratagem, most interesting are :

• Infiltrators 1cp : before first round, free move but must end more than 9"


• Raven Blade 1cp : Choose one ennemy unit, reroll charge on it


• Lay Low the Tyrants 1cp : +1 to wounds against Characters or Non vehicule with 4 wounds or more


• Remain unseen 1cp : Choose one unit, If you didn't shoot with the unit, it get -1 to hit. Kind of cool to hold an objective


• Ambush 1cp : Infiltrate at the end of the movement phase


• Strike from the skies1cp : One jump pack unit can run and charge and +1 to charge distance

As you can see you have a large selection of Infiltration and Movement tricks. Can you pull off assassination and stuff with them? it's all about your skill to play the game so in a sense it's interesting.

This Stratagem is going to be great with Smash Captain or JP units going after sturdy target.

let check the Umbramancy Psychic table now

Umbramancy Psychic

There is one effective combo here: Envelloping Darkness. Prevent Overwatch and minus 1 to hit roll. Then use Shadowstep to Teleport back to safety, or charge, or do something cool. It's vital if you plan to charge into an Iron Hands bastion waiting for you with a 3+ reroll 1 overwatch salvo.

That's it for the Raven Guard rules lets check the unit now!

Unit

Kayvaan Shrike

He's a quite strong actually, very good pistol sniping and dealing extra mortal wounds on 6+ (so 5+ against characters). Powerful charge potential, 7 attacks on charge with +1 +1 to hit and wounds vs characters, stack nicely with lay low the tyrant for another extra +1 on wound rolls. As the claw allow wound reroll at worse it's 3+ with reroll.

Chapter Master bubble and Charge reroll bubble help as well.

Conclusion, good stuff & Combo

Target Sighted Stratagem from the Space Marines codex is vital, it will cost 3CP but allow Stalker Intercessor to snipe and deal extra mortal wounds on 6+ (so 5+). It's expensive but with the new Stalker bolt rifle, you will get a lot of value out of it. Don't forget to split shooting if you need to.

Scout Squad with sniper rifles and camo cloak they are not very expensive, they infiltrate, shoot at 36", Snipe, deal mortal wound on 6+, get a 2+save in cover and -1 to hit. If Dev doctrine is up you also get Ap -1

Eliminator Squad Off course Eliminator are awesome with Raven Guards. They are Amped up scout ! At 63 points only per unit they are always a good investment.

To conclude, the game plan for Raven Guards is removing Characters asap and charge in with: Smash Captain, Vanguards, Phobos ....

Any question ? ask away !

/Cheers.
Bob.

Space Marines Review Navigation
Warhammer 40000 Space Marines Codex 2019 Review
Warhammer 40000 Ultramarines Codex review

Warhammer 40000 White Scars supplement codex review

Warhammer 40000 Iron Hands Codex Review
Warhammer 40000 Iron Raven Guard Review

Hello everyone !!

Today on pre-orders are 2 new codex supplements for Warhammer 40000 Space Marines Armies. Raven Guard and Iron Hands, this post is about the Iron Hands, aka the Big Indestructible Gun Line ^^

Introduction

This codex is a thin(80 pages) hardcover book. It's standard GW quality so there is nothing wrong about it.
The 3 main parts of the book are The fluff, the model's pics and the rules!

fluff

The first 40 pages of the book are dedicated to the Chapter presentation. It's quite complete with a lot of details on the different companies and units. There are also details on the demise of Mannus, His friendship with Fulgrim...To be honest I learned a lot of stuff on the sons of the Gorgon in this book. Interesting!

An army of Heroes !

In this section we are shown different Space Marines Models Painted in black ^^ This part was better than the rest of the codex because of all the cyber hands that are looking so nice on these Primaris Marines !!

Rules

The codex have , One new general ability, a few warlords traits, some relics, more stratagems, and 6 psychics powers.

Calculated Fury

This on is Powerfull and was revealed in the Iron hands preview.

Reroll 1 and ignore move penalty for Heavy weapons when the Devastator Doctrine is active!

Rerolling one is already good when you hit on 4+ but the combination of both bonuses allow to move forward a still get a 3+ with reroll 1, it's an incredible safety net!

Remember that it stacks with the Iron hands Chapter Tactics from the Space Marines Codex, so each unit in the army have

• Fnp 6+


• Overwatch on 5+


• Vehicle count double life for wounds chart


• Ignore malus from moving for Heavy weapons during Devastator Doctrine


• Reroll 1 with Heavy Weapons with Devastator Doctrine

Wow ! what a list ^^

Warlord Traits

There are 6 extra Traits that you can choose from.

1) repair 1 dmg each turn on a vehicle or buff your repair to 1d3+1
2) Deny the Witch 24"
3) Fnp 5+
4) Consolidate 6'' (Feirros have this one)
5) 6 give extra attack on the same target with the same weapon
6)Target Protocol: One friendly unit can: reroll 1 hit, 1 wound and 1 damage roll.

Warlord trait are ok for the most part.

The last one is very strong if you are shooting with one super big gun like a Repulsor Executioner with a Heavy Laser. ie : 4 Shots, rerolling 1, and one free reroll, Strength 10 rerolling one wound roll and Ap -5 ,rerolling one damage roll (D6). It feels this warlord trait was written for this tank lol.

Relics

2 list here, one for Iron Hands: Relics of Medusas and one for Successors & Iron Hands: Special Issue Wargear.

Relics Of Medusas

• Axe :Replace a power axe : S+3 ap -3 D3


• Primaris only: +1T, reduce wound by 1 to a minimum of 1 (stack nicely with the warlord trait granting fnp on a 5+ for some super tanking ^^)


• Mind forge : Replace a force weaopn : S*2, ap-3, d3


• Combi Melta with assault 2 melta


• Ironstone : Already leaked, reduce dmg by 1 (minimum 1) targeting vehicle in a 3" bubble


• Gorgon chain : 4+ inv and -1 to wound rolls


• Helm : 5+ cashback on command point

The ironstone is bonker is you want to play the tank bubble! and you want, but more on this later ^^

Special Issue Wargears

Mantle : 5+ FNP
Artificer armour : 2+/5++
MCW : +1dmg to one weapon
Digital weapon: one extra attack dealing 1mw if hit
Teeth of Mars : Chainsword with S*2 against vehicle (ap -2 dmg2)
Haywire bolt : mortal wound when shooting
Data Spike : Techmarines only, Roll 2 when repairing keep best

Yea better ignore these for the moment ^^

Stratagems

2 pages of them like in any other codex , Lot of good choice here most interesting are :

• 1cp Double hit on a 6 to wounds


• 1cp Fnp goes to 5+ on one infantry unit. Choose , when the unit is targeted


• Machine Empaty 1cp : use it after repairing, you can repair again even the same vehicle (WTF)


• Overwatch on 4+, and you still reroll 1 ^^ with heavy weapons

So using the Named Forge Father Techmarines you can heal 6 wounds on a Repulsor each turn, interesting ^^

let check the Technomancy Psychic table now

Technomancy Discipline

Maybe my favourite Psychic table of the Different Marines Codex !
The 3 super good one are :

1) Blessing: until the next psychic phase target vehicle model get +1 to hit. Last the opponent turn so bring overwatch to 4+ or 3+ rr1 with the Stratagem (Do you see where this is going ?)
2) Psy Armor: Select one unit, +1 armour save (doesn't work on invulnerable save) but stack with cover
3) Reforge: Charge value 5, heal d3 dmg on a vehicle ^^

One tank can be repaired 3 times? ho and he get fnp 6+, and can reduce damage by 1 with the relic and he counts double life for the damage chart. I hope that is all ? (this isn't ^^)

lets check the one unit in the book !

Unit : Iron Father Feirros

Good news Iron Father Feirros is completely BONKERS !

A bit more than hundred points, decent stats, sturdy enough with a 2+/5+ T5 7wounds and fnp 5+ & 6+ (i guess both doesn't stack ?). The buff he grant are very good :

• Signum array : BS 2+ to one friendly unit


• Repair at 3wounds


• 5+ invulnerable at 6''

What happen if Feirros and a Techmarines are hiding behind 2 Repulsor :

• 5++


• Reduce dmg by 1 with the stone relic


• 2 repairs, +1 extra repairs with stratagem


• 6+ fnp


• Count double wounds


• reroll 1


• overwatch on 5+


• one of them can get BS 2+


• Warlord trait granting 1 hit/wound/dmg reroll

Already Impressive but maybe add a Psyker for funsy ^^

• One extra Repair spell


• +1 save spell


• +1 to hit spell ! Also not it's also working with melee attack ^^ Hello DREADNOUGHT !

Honestly, i'll also park nearby a Devastator or Primaris with Heavy Plasma to benefit from the 5+inv getting a BS2+ and reroll 1 for extra fun. Also there is a stratagem that allow nearby infantry unit to shield Charaters that take damage so it's good to have Bodies around.

Don't forget to mix a Chaplain even if it's already overkill ^^ check the Space Marines Codex review for what Chaplain can now do.

Conclusion

It's a strong codex!
Stack buff on tanks, heavy weapons infantry, snipers, Intercessor with Stalkers bolters and watch the enemy Melt ^^
Also from a Meta point of view, if your opponents are preparing for killing Primaris infantry (so good ap and Dmg2) and you spam tanks, yours are nearly invulnerable thanks to the Stone Relic droping Plasma damage from 2 to 1 ^^

Also maybe having 1 or 2 drop pods with Multi Melta devastator inside for removing the biggest threat for your tank is good too ^^

I know I only talked about the Tank Bubble, but there is a lot of room for refining. This is a very strong codex granting a very effective firebase, a lot of tanking and even some melee power-ups.

As usual, any question ? ask away !

Space Marines Review Navigation
Warhammer 40000 Space Marines Codex 2019 Review
Warhammer 40000 Ultramarines Codex review

Warhammer 40000 White Scars supplement codex review

Warhammer 40000 Iron Hands Codex Review

Starting on the Raven Guards review right now !

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

Today is the review of Aeronautica Imperialis Core set, Wings of Vengeance! This review will be articulated around: The content of the box, the models, and the rules.

Pre order on Goblin Gaming if you wish

Content of the Wings of Vengeance Box

While content of the box was already revealed some days ago in Wings of Vengeance Content , after listing what's inside I want to give my impressions.

Wings of Vengeance Content

-2x Imperial Navy Thunderbolt Fighters (can be assembled as - 2x - 2x - -2x Thunderbolt Fighters or Thunderbolt Fury Fighters)
- 2x Imperial Navy Marauder Bombers
- 3x Ork Air Waaagh! Dakkajets
- 2x Ork Air Waaagh! Fighta Bommers
- 1x double-sided card Area of Engagement game board (depicting two aerial war zones)
- 1x double-sided card token sheet (70 tokens to help you keep track of all the action)
- 8x Six-sided dice (white with black pips)
- 1x Transfer sheet (for the Imperial Navy and Ork Air Waaagh! aircraft included in the set)
- 2x Quick reference cards (containing the key game rules)

Decent for 70€ as you get a very nice discount on the plane prices (around 82€) and get the stuff you need to play for free. Still, the quality of the elements are not so great so let's talk about the quality of the accessories and rules content.

Wings of Vengeance quality/content (issue)

The Area of Engagement is in gloss paper with very pronounced folding mark. To be honest playing on it is not a fine experience at all. yea i even say pretty shitty for a 70€ game :/ . My first extra buy would be the Rynn Area of Engagement or some mouse pad hex terrain (2") made by a third party.

Tokens
The tokens are really basic, made of very light cardboard they are not as heavy as usual. And yea they look cheap.
Not great, i need acrylic/Metal/Plastic

Bases

Very well made, heavy enough to be stable, the front, rear, right and left are explicitly marked. The wheels for speed and altitude are sturdy and got a hard friction preventing the wheel to spin alone.

My only doubt is not painting the base or painting it without screwing the wheels :/

Flystand

Excellent ! hold the plan very well and are repositionable !

Maneuvre sheet

Good Quality, the 8 Maneuvre are represented. The sheet feels sturdy and lightly laminated with a glossy varnish. I would have liked a small card format to be included for ease of use.

Rulesbook

Only 34 pages of rules. While it's enough to explain how the game is played. It's the bare minimum, the games modes are absent, the list building is super limited with only a few options per side. But that's not all, there is only ONE scenario in the book: Dog Fight! (simple fight. ). Yea it's light on content for once.

Ok, I understand that I need Rynn World to have the full experience, but a small extra book (5-10 pages) with a mini-campaign rules and a few missions would have been a more honest package.

Accessories review conclusion

This all feels very cheap and minimalist if you exclude the planes and bases. From the get-go, you have to Buy Rynn Campaign and the Area of Engagement to have a nice experience. Still, the Plane deal is good with value for the imperial at 48€ and 36€ for the orcs.

Now that the extra stuff is reviewed let's get to the planes !!!

Aeronautica Imperialis Fighters

If I had some grief for the accessories I only have praise for the Fighters included in the core set: Wings of Vengeance.

The small planes are so cute, full of details and a pleasure to assemble. Also, there are a lot of little missiles/bombs to customize your Fighters. Also, I did found the assembling very clever and well designed. This morning I glued a Thunderbolt and was pleased to discover that Both variants had separate pieces making it very easy to Magnetize.

Details Pictures

Details are crisp and make painting a lot easier. Wings, hulls, tails have a lot of details like : line & armour plate. I am not sure how I am going to paint them, but a mix of airbrush and contrast should look very good for the time spent.

Finished model

Seeing them in picture and having them in hand is quite different. They look so cute and cool, they are my new favorites models in all the the GW line. 10 secondes after finishing it was flying it shooting pew pew pew ^^ Sinceriously it's even better than i expected and the Navy Bomber are looking super big !! Can't wait to assemble and paint more !!!

I magnetized the plane so I can change the nose/weapons loadout.

As you can see I glued the magnet inside. I don't know if I'll do it for all the planes but for the Thunderbolt/fury, it was easy enough. I'll do a post later on how to magnetise it.

In the end, the Planes models are incredibly detailed, cute, and the positionable stand is even better.

Gameplay

Now that we checked the accessories and the planes
The game is divided in phase: we both resolve one phase before going to the next.

1 choose manoeuvres
2 Roll initiative
3 Resolve Tail fire
4 Move
5 shoot
6 End phase.

If you want a detailed "how to play video" you can check the Aeronautica Imperialis Rules video . With the explaining of the rules done by Becca, I am just going to focus on some mechanism that I liked.

Generality

The gameplay is quite simple but also very deep. In a nutshell, we both secretly plan our move orders and resolve them in sequence. If you did good you can shoot with your main weapons (nose-mounted shooting in front of you) . If not you have to fall back on secondary weaponry like a turret or rear gun.

Movement Fun

The manoeuvre mechanism really suits the Dog Fight feeling of the game. Positioning your plane is not that hard at range but when you are very close it's a lot harder ! Plane can change position and altitude all the time.

Always engage heavier ship at super close range you can easily stay out of their Las Canon.

The golden goose in the game is Tailing the enemy. That mean you are on his six and at short range (1-4/ 5-7/8-10 Hex). Tailing grant you a free shooting phase next turn before movement phase. But as it's in next turn you still have a chance to be saved if another plane shoots your pursuer.

The initiative is a fun dilemma because first allowing you to shoot first but moving second give better positioning. I'd say it's better to be the first player during engagement and be second during intense dog fight!

Altitude: Always try to change altitude when defending because it's a -1 to the attack roll for each level difference.

Dakka Dakka Dakka

Shooting in this game is like any other GW games. you roll a number of dice equal to the Firepower at the target range. You hit on 5+ most of the time and then do a wound rolls depending on the weapon.

Firepower represents the numbers of dice/attacks a weapon make depending on the range. It changes the effectiveness of the Jet depending on where is the enemy and what weapon is on board

If you compare both ships you'll notice that the Dakkajet have 8 attacks at short range (1-4 hex) that hit on 5+ wounds on 5+. While it's strong at short range it loose half of this dakka at medium.
On the other side the Fury only has 3 dices at short range (5+ / 4+) but with double damage on 6+. But at medium, he rolls 7d + 2d for the Boltcanon and Lascano. Notice how the las canon has 0 dice at short range but wounds on 2+ !!!

List building and Fight

Having only received Wings of Vengeance as material I don't have much to review here. To play a game you have to agree on a point level and play. Each side has a few options to customise their Jet.

As you can see the list is quite short and the effects are limited, the Orc side is very similar but with more offensive options.

Each Plan can equip missiles and bombs. Bombs have no use while you don't have a mission with ground objectives. On the other hand, missiles / Rookit are awesome to add extra Dakka on the important turn! Each shot is 2 dices and one munition! (2pts)

Conclusion

Aeronautica Imperialis is a very interesting game. My testing is limited by the core box but I had a lot of fun playing (3 games). There is a lot of room for mastering manoeuvres and ruling the Sky like the Red Baron!

Even if some components of the core box are a bit lacking it's still good value. I am enthusiastic to try campaign mode, Pilot cards and ground target interaction!

I am Hyped !!! I enjoyed doing this warhammer 40000 : Aeronautica Imperialis review a lot. I hope the game is a success (and i am sure it will be !!)

Pre order on Goblin Gaming if you wish

Any questions ? Ask away !! :D

Aeronautica Imperialis navigation :

Aeronautica Imperialis Gencon reveal video
Aeronautica Imperialis Prices
Aeronautica Imperialis Wings of Vengeance starter set
Aeronautica Imperialis Open the box
Aeronautica Imperialis Models details
Aeronautica Imperialis How to play & website
Aeronautica Imperialis Eldar and chaos teased
Aeronautica Imperialis Pre orders
Aeronautica Imperialis Eavy Bommer
Warhammer 40000 : Aeronautica Imperialis review
Eavy Bommer preview
Aeronautica Imperialis twitch transcript with Andy Hoare teasing 5 factions in the game
Aeronautica Imperialis : How to magnetize a Thunderbolt Tutorial !! (Like an Ace)

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

Following the review of the huge space marines codex (link), here come the white scars supplement.

Introduction

This codex is a thin(70 pages) hardcover book. It's standard GW quality so there is nothing wrong about it.
The 3 main parts of the book are The fluff, the model's pics and the rules!
I book is very small even smaller than the Ultramarines supplement. (https://war-of-sigmar.herokuapp.com/bloggings/4081)

fluff

The first 30 pages of the book are dedicated to the Chapter presentation. It's quite complete with a lot of details on the different companies and units. There are also details on Chogoris, the Khan is disappearance. Some fight between Scares and Red Corsairs. It's interesting but I didn't find any big reveal or anything.

Note: Lots of amazing artworks !!!

An army of Heroes !

10-12 pages of Painted models.
White Marines are beautiful but none of the new Primaris supports the White Scars style! so it's a bit sad :/

Rules

One new general ability, a few warlords traits, some relics, more stratagems, and 6 psychics powers.

Devastating Charge

Devastating Charge is a new rule that is added to your army if it has the White Scars keywords.

The rule is strong for sure, one more damage per attack on the charge. When Marines already gain 1 attack for charging and White Scars can run and charge you are guaranteed to hit like a truck.

One Marine with a Chainsword with the doctrine up and charging is :
3 attacks, with AP -1, dmg 2.

Best way to maximise this buff? A large number of models generating free attack and extra wounds on the charge. One assault squad with 2 Eviscerators is 172 points only ! and that brings a lot of pain but in turn 3 :/

The main problem will be reaching Assault doctrine while benefiting from Devastator and Tactical doctrine on the previous turn.

Warlord Traits

There are 6 extra Traits that you can choose from.
honestly, they are not that great :/
I think I would always choose Imperium sword from the marines dex (reroll charge dice.s, +1 S&A on a charge) or maybe Master of snares (prevent Fall back on a 4+)

Relics

2 list here, one for White Scars and one for Successors Chapter Special Issue Wargear.

Relics Of Chogoris
Mantle: +1 casting spell
eyes: One friendly white scar unit ignore cover
Banner: +1S while withing 6''
Wrath of the Heavens: Move 16" bike with "fly"
Scimitar : +1 -3 dmg2 on a 6 +1dmg
Plume of the runner: +1 run and charge within 6 of the bearer
Khan lance (only for khan on a bike): S*2, ap-3, Dmg d3

Special Issue Wargear

Same as ultramarines with a few difference :
Cyber eagle helm: Overwatch on 5+ within 6
Bolts: one attack S7 ap1 dmg 1d6

Stratagems

There is no stratagem that allows getting faster to Assault Doctrine :/

From the Space marines codex :
Big guns never tire will be useful if you want to do a first turn rush with a Speeder unit (ignore malus to a heavy weapon)

Chapter Master
There is no chapter master option the White Scars codex so you'll need 2Cp if you want one.

2 pages of them and some of them are quite good :

-Born in the Saddle: Run and shoot with bikers
-Wind swift: Move twice (but can't do anything after)
-Hunters Fusillade: Transform heavy weapons and rapid-fire weapon into assault weapons. (very good on Speeder units)

So, in a nutshell, you can first turn transform 2 speeder unit in rush bomb to swoop 20" and shoot without malus.
Then on turn 2, you can transform heavy weapons into assault weapons for benefiting Tactical doctrine on heavy weapons.

let check the White Scars Psychic table now

Psychic Discipline

Some cute spell-like Blasting gale (no run and charge with one dice), Storm wreathed protect one unit from Overwatch and deal a few Mortal wounds (with luck),
ride the winds is a bit overkill but allow some super far charge, move 14 run 6 +2 and charge 2d6+2 = for 31" average threat range ^^ (White go Faster now !)

Units

Only 2 units present in the book, no chapter master, no bike squad as troops or some interesting twist on units.

Kor'sarro Khan

Primaris, Not on a bike, Not a chapter master :/

Cool "for the Khan" rule but with a 6" move and 6" aura it's pretty hard to apply. Maybe tuck him in an IMPULSOR with 5 intercessors and support real White Scars unit

cost 105 pts

Khan on Bike

Interesting take it's a captain with a spear on a bike. There is no option but the basic setup is nice, +1 SV vs melee, with the right warlord trait and chapter master he should be 7 attacks on charge! '(Nice smash captain !)
100pts

Bike

I don't understand why there are no White Scars bikes units in the codex, they could have a different one (with special rules), or in troop or Elites?
It feels very bland.

Looking at the Space Marines Codex, one bike is 23pts and Assault Bike is 49pts. I am not sure yet what is the best set up but I think you want bikes

White Scars conclusion

I'll be honest this codex feels super lazy, there is nearly nothing in this book :/. It's been a long time since GW made such an obvious (to me) cash Grab.
The codex premise is this Assault Doctrine but there is no option to use it earlier than the third turn, now way to apply it on a unit as Ultramarines do. You are going to need loads of CP but have no good compo to have them.

Maybe I am too hard but I am not impressed by this book at all :/

That's it for the white scars !!
As usual, ask a question here!

Be sure to check The 2019 Space Marines Codex review or the The Ultramarines Supplement codex

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

Following the review of the huge space marines codex (https://war-of-sigmar.herokuapp.com/bloggings/4077), here come the Ultramarines supplement.

Introduction

This codex is a thin(80 pages) hardcover book. It's standard GW quality so there is nothing wrong about it.
The 3 main parts of the book are The fluff, the model's pics and the rules!

fluff

The first 40 pages of the book are dedicated to the Chapter presentation. It's quite complete with a lot of details on the different companies and units. There is also details on the how did Reboute fall and some other portions of his awakening (nothing really new).
Tragically the timeline stops at the start of Vigilus when Calgar is on his way. Was the codex delayed? maybe I don't know but no new stuff here.

An army of Heroes !

10-12 pages of blue Painted marines nothing insane ^^

Rules

One new general ability, a few warlords traits, some relics, more stratagems, and 6 psychics powers.

Scion of Guilliman

Scion of Guilliman is a new rule that is added to your army if it has the Ultramarines keywords.

In a nutshell, this ability allow Heavy weapons to move and shoot without the -1 but also give Agressor the double shot, let you double-tap rapid-fire weapons at max range after moving...Yea it's super good.

Sure you have to cycle the Devastator Doctrine but the Rend -1 lost is gained back on the -1 to hit and allow you to move and shoot.

Warlord Traits

There are 6 extra Traits that you can choose from.

One of them feel incredible but has a big drawback.

Wow !! That means, once per turn you can choose one unit that going to benefit from the Tactical doctrine even if the rest of the army is in Devastator Doctrine.

ie: You have one unit of 3 Landspeeders or 10 Heavy Blaster Incinerator, you warlord is going to use his trait to make them affected by the Tactical doctrine but the Devastator doctrine is still in effect.
Thx to Scion of Guilliman the unit can move (not run or fall back) and shoot without BS penalty and still get the -1 rend from the Devastator Doctrine.

The problem is : This Warlord trait is not available for Guilliman or Reboute only for generic Warlords Telion and Tigurius. Other traits are fine but nothing special.
-Cp point refunded on a 5+ (Calgar trait)
-Fallback and fire without -1 to hit. Doesn't work with Scions so meh !
-6 to hit deal 1 extra MW (Sicarius)
-Inf and Biker can perform Heroic Intervention within 6" (Guilliman trait)
-Heroic Intervention get range 6" (Cassius)

Relics

2 list here, one for Ultramarines: Relics of Macragge and one for Successor & ultramarines: Special Issue Wargear.

Relics Of Macragge

Soldier Blade : s+1 ap-4 d2
Halo : 3++ and deny one per turn
Banner : +1A within 6" and auto pass morale within 12"
note : this one doesn't replace the normal ancient banner so both effect stack (strong !!!)
Terminator Armour : 4++ and halve damage (round up)
Helm : Reroll 1 to wound and hit, add 1 to hit and wound vs CSM and SM (sexy)
Storm bolter: Rapid fire 4 and reroll wounds
Clock : 5++ and regen 1d3 each turn

A few very strong option, the banner, the terminator armour are quite cool

Relics Of Macragge

Mantle : 5+ FNP
Artificer armour : 2+/5++
MCW : +1dmg to one weapon
Digital weapon: one extra attack dealing 1mw if hit
Reliquary: +1A within 6 once per battle (not restricted to ancient)
Seal of Oath: select one enemy at the start, reroll wound and hit against it while within 6" of the seal.
Hellfury bolts: one bolt weapon deal MW on hit
Sunwrath pistol: range 12, pistol 2, S8, Ap3, dmg2

Seal of Oath can be very good against army bringing one super strong lynchpin or Boss. Master crafted weapons is a cute addition to your smash captain hammer.

Stratagems

2 pages of them, most interesting are :

Cycle of war : 1cp reset the doctrine Cycle from assault to devastator again.
Exemplar of the Chapter : Give an extra trait to your unamed warlord. (1cp) , cute combo if you want to do the fall back and shoot each turn.
Squad doctrine : 1cp, select one inf or bike unit and apply one doctrine INSTEAD of the active one. Very versatile but have to use it during the move phase. It's super nice to give an assault unit extra AP
Fall back and re-engage: allow to charge after a fall back for 1 cp. Stack with all the other fall-back buff.

let check the Ultra Psychic table now

Indomitus Discipline

The gaze is a good CP machine and that's it.

That's it for the Ultramarines rules lets check the units now!

Units

Let's take a look at the 10 units in the book.

Guilliman

350 pts, improved reroll hit (not only miss) but nerf to wound aura to reroll 1 only. Give Heroic intervention to friendly if he's the warlord.
benefit from the extra attack on charge as well and can use the Doctrine Stratagem on himself to bring hand to Ap-4 (like the sword).
for 7 attacks on a charge 2+ 12strengh ap 4 dmg 4, reroll hit and 1 to wounds. Nasty !!!!!

Calgar

No change but like Guilliman he benefits greatly from the extra attack on a charge.

Victrix honour guard

No change, -5 points and benefit from the angel of death as well. Great Deal!

Chief Librarian Tigurius

130 pt with equipment, grant a -1to hit to a friendly unit (awesome on Guilli or a big tank).
Spell selection is 3 from one list or the other, no mixing from what I can read :(
His hood grant +1 psychic so is a good candidate to Telepathic assault especially if the ancient is near. for a Manifest on 7+ with +1 and 2d6 + 13 - LD mortal wounds on the unit.

Bonus as a warlord he gets the awesome Trait granting Tactical Doctrine to one unit !!

For the price, he is good value but needs a bodyguard in case of sniping attack ^^

Cassius

85, combi flamer , better Crozius (+2-2 2D) and can cast 2 prayers per turn !!!
Transform nearby Ultra in MW bomb: on death roll a dice on a 6+ deal one MW.

Hell yea

Sicarius

100 pts , ap3 sword, grant defender of humanity to one unit per turn.

Telion

65pts, ok-ish character sniper, buff scout (small marines only)
plz, come back when you are Vanguard ^^

Quietus : h2 36'' S4 ap2 d2

Chronus

30 pts, give his BS (2+) to none Primaris tank.
BS NOT AFFECTED BY DMG, regen 1 lives per round

Auto includes with a Land Raider or a Lascanon Predator.
The land raider combo is quite good 4 las canon shoot hitting on 2+ with AP4 on a super sturdy body and can benefit from chaplain buff. Super expensive but do the job and can transport stuff.

Chapter Ancient

Same as any ancient but his banner aura is 9" for Ultra

Chapter Champion

Company Champion with +1A, swap combat shield vs -1 to hit.

Honour Guard

2 body, intercept wound, Power axe.

Tyrannic War Veterans

16pts, Sternguard with reroll hit and wounds vs Nids.
No extra stuff options :(
Very good in a team tournament if you can choose your target.

That's it for the Ultramarines !!
As usual ask question here !

Be sure to check The 2019 Space Marines Codex review or the The White Scars Supplement codex

/Cheers.
Bob.

Hello everyone !!

This morning I had the pleasant surprise to see UPS deliver the new Space Marine codex 2019 to my doorstep. To be honest, I mostly focused on the Rules part of the book and will do an update with the fluff later if i have the chance (after I have reviewed the White Scars and Ultramarines Codex).

General Rules

The new Space Marines codex introduce a large number of special rules affecting all units.

Angels of Death

And they shall not know the fear
Reroll morale dice, nothing new here.

Bolter Discipline
Started as a test rule and now it's part of the codex. The rule allows bolt rapid-fire weapon to make the double number of attack if: Target at half range, Up to max range if shooter not moved, the firing model is a bike, terminator, centurion or dread.
So bikes always get 4 shots now, same as Terminator, or Stormbolter on a dread. Also, note that each centurion have 12 hurricane bolter shots ^^
It's a good rule that helps marines a lot and will have even greater effect with the new doctrine, the Ultramarines mini dex and some other stuff we will look later in the review.

Shock Assault
+1 attack when charging, charged, heroïc intervention. It's good for the Smash Captain and a bunch other of melee units. Again, Shock assault in combo with Doctrines, Chapter traits and stratagem is going to help a lot.

Let's talk about these doctrines then!

Combat doctrines

in our wildest dream, we couldn't have imagined an army-wide buff like this ^^

So with careful preparation (or list building), your weapons get -1 AP when you need it. Off course starting the games with the Devastator Doctrine incite to build an army with loads of heavy weapons to use the Combat Doctrine from the start. Combined with the New Stalker Bolt Rifle (36''/h1/s4/ ap2/ Dmg2) on a very good troop choice it's quite powerful ^^ (did I mention eliminator yet?)

But don't discard the other 2. With bolter discipline and Tactical Doctrine, the amount of Ap -2 dakka that intercessor can do is interesting. Even the Special Issue Boltgun reaching AP3 is great for double-tapping !! Combined with new Chapelain prayers granting +1 to wounds rolls and the sternguard veteran stratagem granting the same it's 3+ to hit 2+ to wounds and -3 save.

The assault Doctrine applies to melee weapon and pistol, I am not sure it's enough, but intercessor charging or being charged are 3 attacks with -1 rend and one extra bolt pistol attack with -1 rend in latter turns. 30 3+/4+ ap-1 are somewhat interesting if you can pull it off (i mean having the doctrine up at the right time). Off course again, the big combo is going to be with the White Scars getting +1Damage on melee attacks if this doctrine is active.

In a nutshell, The Doctrines are awesome!! I really think it going to help get Space Marines army back on the meta with more than a Static Gun line.

Chapter Tactics

Another great improvement is that Chapter tactics apply to everything but servitor if you are battle forged. (even vehicle)

A lot of good stuff here, Salamander looks strong as well as White Scars and Imperial Fist.

Let's take a second to look at the IF Chapter Tactic, you ignore cover and score an extra hit on bolt weapons. With the devastator Doctrine, it's a 33% swing in your favour if your target is in cover. A barrage of Heavy weapons negates so much of the opponent's deployment. Stacking it with Chaplain buff (+1 to wounds or +1 to hit), reroll aura, and stratagem it gets bonker good.

On the Paper the UM feel a bit weak but I guess it's because the ultramarines mini codex is super good ^^

Hot units

Off course this codex brings new rules and new units, so who is a hero now? I am not going to describe each unit in the book (there are too many) but select a few that get interesting in this new dex.

Eliminator

18 per model, las fusil at 15 or bolt sniper at 3 (heavy support).

Las fusil is 36'', s8, ap -3, dmg 3. For 99pts you get 3 of them. Also, you can equip the sergeant with a bolt sniper or carbin to reduce cost and use him as a spotter for +1hit and +1 wound (87points or 89pts with a carbine).
Even the low-cost setup with 3 bolt sniper is good at 63 points. 3 forms of ammo the option to lose one-shot for +1 +1.
Did I mention they get to infiltrate and have camo cloak for a 1+ in cover ^ ^?

Chaplain
No change to his stats
This codex introduces Prayers in the form of a 3+ roll you can make at the start of each battle round. Each Chaplain knows the good old Litany of Hate (so it's a nerf because now you have to roll to use it) + 1 from a list of 6 :
+1 to hit with ranged weapons (one unit)
+1 to wound with ranged weapons if the target is the closest (one unit)
5+ FNP against mortal within 6''
Extra attack on a 6 in melee (aura 6'')
+1 attack, strength, dmg (self-buff)
+2 charge roll within 6'' and pile in / consolidate 6''

it's good because give some buffing to range attack, works on a tank. An HellBlaster Squad with HeavyPlasma incinerator on overcharge during Devastator Doctrine

Troops

Do you remember the time we only had Tac squad and Scouts in troops?
Now there are 5 choices, intercessors are awesome with the Doctrine and the new Stalker riffle.

Infiltrator and Incursor have standard Primaris stat but they bring tech piece that you could need. They also are both Infiltrators that can start on objectives from the start and give serious mobility if you play a static gun line.

Incursor can get one mine for 10pts that deal 1d3 MW and 1d3+1 on a vehicle it's one per unit max. ignore cover when firing and hit roll modifier or BS modifier.

Infiltrator didn't change much, but you can have a comm array instead of a Helix adept. Comm array makes the unit always in the range of aura from Phobos Captain and Lieutenant.

Drop Pods

Still, no Primaris inside, no terminator or dread version but they can drop turn1 in matched play and ignore tactical reserve rule. You have to disembark 9" from enemy now so not in range for a half range Melta shot.
I am not sure it's still good but at least it's an option.

Impulsor

It moves fast, fly, can transport 6 Primaris( no Gravis armour) and allow to disembark and shoot. Price is 79 before options. (options are 18pts).
One of the options is a shield dome granting a 4++. That's a tough nut to crack ^^ (t7 / 11 wounds 3+/4+).
A bit sad you can't transport 10 marines or Gravis but heh :/

Repulsor Excecutioner

Ok, it's expensive(around 300 full fitted). But with Devastator Doctrine nearly all his weapon gain -1 rend. It can transport Gravis armour so it's extra value.
It can move half and shoot twice his main weapon and this is crazy. With support (chaplain, CM, Lieut..) you can get super reliable fire-base that removes threats from very far ^^

Cowboy Dread

90 + 41 for flamer set up or 90 + 46 for autocannons (6shots). For the price it's good, each turn you get 3 heavy bolter shot, 6 stubbers shot, D6 Fragstorm and 6 auto-cannon or 2d6 flamer. With a golden first turn thanks to Concealed Position and Devastator Doctrine.
He gets 5 attacks on the charge S14 Ap -3 D3! move 10" and can start the game 9" away from you.

Thunderfire Canon

No change but Devastator doctrine, Chaplain support, reroll aura and Imperial Fist Chapter trait. All this allow strong long-range bombardment that ignores LOS. All this also apply to Whirlwind!

That Wrap the unit section, but it's not exhaustive. Sternguard benefit from the new doctrine and combined with a stratagem that grants a +1 to wound. Speeder and bike have a lot of nice tricks too.
Also making melee army should be doable (maybe ^^)

Relics / Strat / Traits

A lot of options again

Warlords Traits

-6 generics
-6 for Phobos armour (^^)
-and 8 chapters specific

generics
minus 1 bravery for ennemy within 6"
Reroll charge + 1 S & A
Fnp 6 and 1 wounds
+1 A withing 6 of friendly +1Hit and Wound vs Enemy Character
-1 AP on a 6 (within 6'' aura)
Obj sec and auto pass morale within 6''

Vanguards
Make a free move after shooting
Redeploy one unit
bonus move and charge
Minus 1 to hit
One Friendly Phobos unit gets +1 to hit.
1 Bonus dmg to warlord ranged weapons.

It's funny because Phobos characters have no equipment options (because of models I guess) but have specific Traits.

Chapter Specific
Ultramarines: get commands points back on 5+ (once per turn)
Imperial Fist: +1 Save in cover against AP1 weapons within 6"
White Scars: Mortal wounds on a charge.
Raven Guard: No Overwatch on the warlord
Salamanders: +2S to the warlord (Smasssssh Captain !)
Iron hands: Extra attack on 6
Black Templars: Heroic Intervention 6"
Crimson Fists: Raise dead on a 4+ with 1d3 wounds the first-time Warlord dies.

Relics

15 relics! nothing super original here.
Note there is a Phobos camo cloak that inflicts -1 wound roll.
An assault 4 bolt rifle S5 Ap-1 D2
Teeth of Terra is S+1 Ap-2 D2 and +3 Attacks ^^

Psychics disciple

There is now 2 list available : Librarius and Obscuration
Librarius

Obscuration

Stratagems

As usual, there are loads of them, the novelty is Adaptive strategy allowing to rewind the Doctrine but its once per battle only!
For 1 command point, you can go back 1 step on the Doctrine ladder!

Conclusion

That's it for the review of the Warhammer 40000 Space Marines Codex 2019. It's a good codex for sure, the power jump from the last one is huge. After reading it I feel there is too much stuff. I am sad as everyone when models get removed but yea it's a bit too much right now. My second gripe is the lack of options for the new Primaris range.
Apart from this, the codex is great, loads of options, interactions and cute combo. I am not sure it will be enough for the competitive scene but it should if you are playing gun line.

That's it!

Any questions ? drop it in the comments.

Be sure to check The Ultramarines Supplement codex or the The White Scars Supplement codex

/Cheers.
Bob.

Howdy Guys and Girls :)

In case you ask yourself - what size of table do I need - well, you will need lots of space for Apocalypse:

I'm glad that I should be able to use my table as rough 6'x6', but lets be honest, getting enough space may be the one big problem of Epocalypse.

In other news - the book also has some warzone rules - here's the Warpstorm one as an example :)

If you have any questions, just as in the comments below!

Regards,
Lady Atia