Imperial Armour Compendium Critical Review: Part 2- Space Marines

 A Continuation of our 11 part review of the Imperial Armour Compendium. This time we are diving into the Adeptus Astartes portion of the book.

I am really trying to not be salty in this, and I am going to be as factual as possible but maintain a critical eye, the intent of which is to inform you and maybe, just maybe, let GW know we notice and care about this stuff. The details matter in an expensive hobby like this, and if it takes a small time blog to hold them accountable then so be it.

This review will be an in depth 11 part series, and I will update and link each successive article below, so keep checking back for updates.

• Part 1- Book Overview
• Part 2- Space Marines
• Part 3- Astra Militarum
• Part 4- Grey Knights, Inqusition, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Custodes
• Part 5- Imperial Knights, Titan Legions, Chaos Knights and Chaos Titan Legions
• Part 6- Chaos Space Marines, Death Guard, and Chaos Daemons
• Part 7- Craftworlds and Drukhari
• Part 8- Necrons and Orks
• Part 9- T'au Empire and Tyranids
• Part 10- Death Korps of Krieg Focused Discussion
• Part 11- Forgeworld Warhammer Legends

Going to start with the most contentious part of the Space Marines (and CSM): MARTIAL LEGACY

Martial Legacy: If your Army is Battle-forged, then when this unit is included in a Detachment, increase that Detachment's Command Cost by 1CP.

This is a replacement for the old Relic rule and I have very mixed feelings about it. While its okay if you were taking 1 Leviathan or Relic Contemptor, it really adds up and makes taking thematic/fluffy lists much more difficult. It also means where as before you could take a Relic in each battlefeild role (Heavy Support, Fast Attack, Elites, etc) relatively easily, you now have a heavy cost and 3 units with martial legacy starts having the same command cost as a full detachment, without any real reason to. It really gets absurd when you start talking about Outrider/Vanguard/Spearhead detachments, and it becomes entirely too burdensome in Super-Heavy detachments. One Lord of War with martial Legacy costs 4 CP to take! Three of them would cost 6! People already are not using Lords of War in 9th edition, and this really puts the nail in that coffin for Space Marines, even with points reductions. 

Really, units should be costed by points or power level alone. If they units needed to be restricted further, then modify their points, or stick with the old Relic method IMO. Or limit them 1 per detachment, or make a techmarine a list requirement (to watch over the venerable wargear). 

Moving on from that into the next segment: Chapters of Renown.

These Chapters include the Red Scorpions, Minotaurs, Blood Ravens, Astral Claws and Carcharodons. Its dissapointing how greatly reduced this list is from previous incarnations, where FW had rules for Mantis Warriors, Lamenters, Red Hunters, Executioners, Exorcists, Fire Angels, Raptors, Sons of Medusa.

But really it doesn't matter that all those chapters are missing, because all the ones present get is a paragraph of fluff and suggested Chapter Successor Traits. Gone are the days of Red Scorpions with Apothecary Sergeants. 

I think this is an okay way to handle the chapters from a balance perspective, however it feels like a cop out. What really makes it feel like a zero effort decision is the fact that White Dwarf at my time of reading this has given two chapters full rules, with traits, warlord traits, stratagems, and even a character (Silver Templars and Tome Keepers). And these are INDEX ASTARTES chapters, implying they are official as Physic Awakening has things like INDEX INQUISITION and Warhammer Community released an INDEX ASTARTES for Space Wolves, Death Watch, Dark Angels, Blood Angels and Black Templars all to hold them over until their supplements came out.

So it would have been nice to at least see a trait for each of these chapters. A lot of people starting playing these because they played the Badab War. It would have been nice for the veterans, which I always felt FW was more aimed at any ways.

But a real big problem here is these are just "Suggestions" and "Recommendations" meaning you could theoretically use any of the Characters with and of the Codex Tactics. Want Carab Culln to have Iron Hands benefits? You can. Want Tyberos the Red Wake to have Space Wolves or Blood Angels now that they are in the codex? You can. I can see this loophole getting closed in the future though. 

Moving on we have the Characters. One nice thing is all of them do no have prescribed Warlord traits, so you can choose. This is unusual for characters. Overall though, I would say the characters massively improved, so if you use these guys (or want to given the loophole above), they are definitely more worth it than before. 

1. Carab Culln The Risen- Red Scorpions- 135 points cheaper. Leviathan Dreadnought, and the only one without Martial Legacy, so a sneaky way for "Ultramarines" to get a Leviathan. Or really anyone with the noted loop hole above. Missing stats for his heavy bolter, heavy flamers, HK missiles, and twin-assault cannon. Makes you refer to the Contemptor Dreadnought in SM codex for Duty Eternal rule and Captain in the codex for Rites of Battle. He did not have rules in the previous index, but they were in a pdf (Index has his terminator form). Like all Leviathans his Invuln. Save is now a 5+ rather than a 4+. He now only explodes on a 6 rather than a 5 and 6. Death Hold was changed extensively, but still serves a purpose. No longer does mortal wounds, but no longer 1 use only. No longer has a FNP aura. Stats changes- lost 1 wound, 1 point of Toughness and 1 point of LD. Gained 1A. Gained an inch of movement in both of his degraded profiles.  
2. Casab Sabius- Red Scorpions- 40 points cheaper. Another character not in the index, but who had a PDF. Missing stats for his bolt pistol and grenades. Need to go to the SM codex for Rites of Battle. Purity of Aspect, Action of Intent rule now only affects CORE units, but still only 1 unit a turn. Now can be used in an army with Terminator Carab Culln, but Terminator Culln is now only a legends unit.
3. Lugft Huron- Astral Claws- 10 points cheaper. You have to refer to the codex for Rites of Battle , Teleport Strike, his Iron Halo and Chapter Master. His Ghost Razers are now just 2 damage lightning claws, loosing 2 points of AP and becoming flat damage rather than D3. They can reroll to wound, which is good because he is just S4. However, they used to ignore invulnerable saves, which is gone now.  Atificer flamer went up to 12" like all flamers, and went from D3 damage to flat 2. His built in bombardment is now just a one time use of the Orbital Bombardment Stratagem for 0 CP. He lost his bonus 1 CP for the army, but he comes back to life now on a 4+ instead of a 5+ and comes back with D3 wounds instead of 1. However, he can only do it once now, where as before it was each time he was reduced to 0 wounds.
4. Armenneus Valthex- Astral Claws- 15 point increase Missing stats for his bolt pistol and grenades. Now a Master of the Forge. You have to refer to the codex for Blessing of the Omnissiah, Awaken the Machine Spirits and Master of the Forge. His conversion beamer lost a point of S on long range, but gained a point of AP at both short and long range. The Indynabula Array gained a point of S and now works much more straight forward, making 2 additional attacks instead of D3 if there are 3 or more enemies within 1". His aura now only affects bolt weapons of 1 CORE non-primaris unit instead of all boltguns/stormbolters within 6". However, this means you could now put him next to a unit of Devastators with heavy bolters.
5. Gabriel Angelos- Blood Ravens- 45 points cheaper. Another non-index character with a PDF instead. Have to refer to the codex for Teleport Strike, Iron Halo, Rites of Battle and Chapter Master. Gained an inch of movement, 1W and 1A. Also now BS 2+ instead of 3+, but has nothing to shoot and lost his grenades. Sweeping blows on his God-Splitter now makes 3 additional attacks instead of 1 attack for each enemy within 1". He no longer does D3 Mortal wounds to the unit that kills him. Instead he gained a comical "Leap into the Fray" based off his slick moves in Dawn of War 3. When he charges, roll a D6 and on a 4+ the enemy takes D3 mortals. 
6. Aseterion Moloc- Minotaurs- 5 points cheaper. Have to refer to the codex for Teleport Strike, Iron Halo, Rites of Battle, Chapter Master and Priest. His storm shield is now a relic shield, but has the same rules. He gained a wound and an attack. His reroll charge aura now affects CORE and Characters instead of just infantry. His Black Spear shooting profile gained a point of AP and is flat 3 damage instead of D3, but the melee no longer does an extra attack vs characters. 
7. Ivanus Enkomi- Minotaurs- No points change. Have to refer to the codex for Rosarius and Spritual leaders. Missing stats for his Astartes Grenade Launcher and power fist. His crozius gained a point of S and now ignores invuln saves.
8. Severin Loth- Red Scorpions- 15 points cheaper. Have to refer to the Codex for Psychic Hood, Chief Librarian and his Psyker rules, which specify Primaris Libarian. He Lost a point of WS, lost a W and his 2+ save is now a 3+ save. Missing stats for his bolt pistol and grenades. His aura now only affects CORE units. In general, first character I would call "Nerfed".
9. Tyberos the Red Wake- Carcharodons- 15 points cheaper. Have to refer to the codex for Teleport Strike, Rites of Battle and Chapter Master. Gained on point of BS, but he has no shooting attacks. Gained +1A Uses to re-roll all hits for his aura. His +1S str aura is now just CORE and Characters. Hunger and Slake used to have different stats, now they are combined. Compromised on the S by making it +2 and adopted the higher AP of Hunger and lower damage of Slake with rerolls to wound from slake. No -1 to hit from Hunger anymore. 
10.  Bray'arth Ashmantle- Salamanders- 110 point reduction!!! Have to refer to the codex for Duty Eternal, referencing the Dreadnought this time. Lost TWO points of toughness, down from 9 to 7. IMO would have been nice for him to stay 8 at least. Gained 2A though and at least kept a 2+ save. Last place with Dreadfire claws (they aren't even a legends wargear option for some reason). Dreadfire claws now a flat 4 damage instead of D6. Dreadfire heavy flamer dropped a point of damage from 3 to 2 but gained 4" like all flamers. Burning wrath went up from 2" to 3". Explosion radius dropped from 6" to 3".
11. Hecaton Aiakos- Minotaurs- 15 point increase. Have to refer to the codex for Duty Eternal, referencing the Dreadnought this time. Maintained his 4+ invuln. Missing stats for all his weapons (heavy plasma cannon, storm bolter, dreadnought CCW). Heavy plasma cannon is at least improved though, but that's game wide. Lost his 6+ FNP. His mortal wound ability was nerfed from D3 mortal wounds against a unit he charged to only working on a 3+ vs vehicles, and only doing 1 wound at that, though D3 on a 6+. Explosion radius dropped extensively from 8" to 3". Nerfed overall, but maybe not as much as maybe other Dreads in comparison.

And that's it for characters. I didn't cover Power Level changes, but they all improved there too. Except for Severin Loth and Hecaton Aiakos, I would say the characters are some of the biggest wins of the book. That is at least for the characters here. Not including Terminator Culln, there are 16 characters gone. They are in legends, but its sad to see them go.

Now for the vehicles. One thing I miss about the old index is how they broke up the sections into battlefield support, heavy armour, etc. Its a minor detail, but inconsequential really. But the vehicles here are where some nerfs start rolling in and units start loosing some of their flavor. We also lost Deimos predators, despite them being still sold by Forgeworld. LR Helios and Prometheus are gone, as is the Infernum Razorback. 

1. Damocles Command Rhino.  33 points cheaper. Doesn't have stormbolter stats listed, its only base wargear. Lost self-repair. Its special rules changed entirely. It now has a 6" aura for rites of battle and tactical precision if a unit on the field has those. Now also gives you +1 CP a turn on the roll of a 5+ instead of a 2d6 roll below the LD of your warlord. However, your warlord no longer needs to be embarked either. It has a limit of one per detachment now. It lost its orbital strike. Also made sure to spell out it cannot transport wulfen or centurion models, but I don't believe there are any characters of those either, and it can only transport 1 character model... so pointless inclusion but future proof I guess. Though I doubt there will ever be a centurion character.
2. Land Raider Proteus. 35 point reduction. Martial Legacy tank. Missing Twin Lascannon stats, its base wargear, but for some reason lists twin heavy flamer, one of its options, but the only option it lists. Attacks at its lowest bracket went up from 1 to D3. Augury web and heavy armour stayed the same, except heavy armour no longer reduces transport capacity. Like all land raiders, it sadly no longer has PotMS.
3. Land Raider Achilles. 15 Point Reduction. Missing optional weapons stats. Invuln save went down to a 5+. Quad launcher lost a point of Strength, gains blast. Added volkites as base instead of multi-meltas. 
4. Sicarans (all variants)- Arcus and Omega are pdfs. 15 to 35 points reductions depending on variant. All have Martial Legacy. All variants are missing optional weapons stats and hull heavy bolter stats. Attacks went from 4/3/2 to 3/D3/1. Explosions went from D6 mortals to D3. Accelerator Cannon lost 2 shots, became heavy, but gained 1 AP and is D2 instead of D2. However it lost its +1 to hit vs Fly and -3 AP on hits of 6+. So some nerfing and flavor loss there. Venator hit bad flavor wise, as it went from being "gyro stabalized" not having penalties for moving and firing to now having to remain stationary to get a bonus. That bonus though is the gun goes from D6 damage to flat 6. Neutron laser also lost a point of AP. Punisher gained a point of S on the rotary cannon, but the tank lost its ability to reroll 1's to hit for remaining stationary. Arcus launcher gained a point of S, lost a point of AP, gained a point of damage, and no longer does mortal wounds on a wound roll of 6 to infantry. While the other Sicarans were slightly nerfed, Omega was boosted. Plasma gained a point of S and D on standard and 3 shots on supercharge. It also gained 12" of range, and a roll of 1 to hit now does 1 damage vice D3. It did lose extra mortal wounds on the target though.
5. Rapier Carrier- 25 point reduction. Lost a crewman model, but the crew can no longer be targeted separately to kill the carrier.  Gained 1" of movement. Gained the graviton cannon and the quad mortar came back after going missing in 8th. Laser destroyer last 2 points of S, and damage is no longer D3+3, instead it is D6 and you roll and additional D6. On a 3-5, damage is 2D6 and on a 6 damage is 3D6. 
6. Vindicator Laser Destroyer. 25 point reduction. No stats for its storm bolter. Lost its ability to fire twice for remaining stationary and instead gained 1 shot for the laser destroyer. Damage went to D3+3. It lost a point of AP for overcharge, but it no longer takes mortals on a hit roll of 1, unless it moves. And now it takes 1 mortal wound instead of 3. Overall an improvement. 
7. Whirlwind Scorpius. 65 point reduction. Missing stats for weapons options. Lost its ability to fire twice when stationary, major nerf but maybe still worth it at the points. But then there is martial legacy. Just take a normal whirwind.  
8. Terrax-Pattern Termite. 44 point increase. Gained 4 wounds.  Attacks went from 6/D6/D3 to 3/D3/1, which is a big nerf for the Drill. Drill also lost its cascading mortal wounds and instead just went to D3+3 damage and D3+6 vs vehicles. This may be better, but its less flavorful IMO and is majorly offset by losing attacks. For some reason they finally included storm bolters here. Volkites gained 5" and they do mortals on a wound of 6. Heavy Flamer and melta cutter gained the game wide bonuses all flamers and meltas have been getting, but melta also went from heavy D6 to heavy 5 and gained 4" of range. So the drill got better at shooting, but worse at drilling, which seems to be the point.
9. Tarantula Sentry Batteries. 10 points cheaper (HB and Lascannon versions). Went from heavy support to fortifications, which stinks, but fortunately you get CP back if they are the same faction as your Warlord. Lost 3 points of LD which doesn't makes sense IMO. Its a machine. Not sure how relevant it will be, but I am sure it will matter for some psychic powers. No longer can take assault cannons or multi-meltas (except as legends wargear). Still has to shoot the closest unit, but its simplified how you determine that IMO.

Dreadnoughts. Dreadnoughts hurts me. There is some good stuff for the game here, but Siege Dreads, Chaplain Dreads, and Mortis/Contemptor Mortis Dreads are gone (and contemptor mortis and siege aren't even in legends). Beyond that, Martial Legacy really starts to kill you if you take several of these units below. Overall this may be better for the game, but I also feel the biggest problems with Leviathans had already been fixed. Martial legacy really makes me question their usefulness even with their point reductions. 

1. Deredeo Dread- 60 point reduction. Martial Legacy. Have to refer to the codex for Duty Eternal and Atomantic shielding. And it lost its layered atomantic shielding that gave it a 4+ invuln in combat. The datasheet doesn't list stats for its twin heavy bolter. Lost the Atomantic Paviase option. Anvillus lost a point of S and gained an AP. Plasma carronade gained a lower non super charged mode and 1 shot. Lascannon battery lost a point of S and AP to change damage to D3+3 from D6. Ailos missile launcher gained D3 shots. The Boreas Air Defence Battery and Volkite Falconet battery are new additions. However, the Boreas is now the only thing that is better are shooting aircraft, as the helical targeting array is gone. Now only explodes on a 6 instead of a 5 or 6.
2. Relic Contemptor Dread-  Base wargear changed, but for the same load out it would be a 5 point reduction. Has Martial Legacy. Basically replaces the Mortis Dread as well, but was always able to be in a "Mortis" configuration. Some big nerfs here. Lost 3 wounds, WS and BS are now 3+ all the time, but no longer degrades down to 4+ with 1-2 wounds left. Always base 4 attacks, no degrading. 2+ save degraded to a 3+ save. 4+ invuln degraded to a 5+. Missing a bunch of the weapon options, including base wargear on its sheet. C-beam cannon is now a conversion beamer and is weaker and does less damage, but is now a Heavy D3 with blast.  Gained the twin volkite culvern. Lost its reroll to hit for having 2 Dreadnought CCW and its 6+ FNP. Explosion radius is now 3" vice 6".
3. Leviathan Dreadnought- Base wargear changed, but for the same load out it would be a 130 point reduction. Lost a point of S, T, WS and BS. Invuln save went from 4+ to 5+. Cyclonic melta lance wend from heavy 2d3 to heavy d6, its blast now, but thats worse. Also didn't get the melta damage bonus most things are getting. Siege claws now only make 1 additional attack and lost their reroll to wound vs infantry. Siege drills went from flat 4 damage to 2D3 and 6 vs vehicles. Storm Cannons lost 2 shots and 1 ap, but went to 36" range from 24". Still not worth it IMO. Explosion is now just on a 6 and shrank to 6" from 9".  Ultimately, this doesn't feel like the venerable warrior it should be. Really to me, its the loss of the WS and BS that makes it feel wrong the most.

Not much on the drop pods. The Dreadnought Pod lost a point of T and can no longer drop in a Leviathan (or Deredeo but no one did that before), so nerfed a bit. It now explodes as well. The Deathstorm Drop Pod got a slight boost in overwatch and the missile is now D6 instead of D3 damage, which is good.

Landspeeders were both nerfed pretty bad IMO.

1. Land Speeder Tempest. 35 point increase. Doesn't list the stats for its assault cannon, the tempest launcher is now just a Typhoon Launcher, which is lame IMO. And the tempest lost its super boost and in exchange just gained 1" of movement, which is laughable because thats the same as all speeders. Its explosion shrunk from 6" to 3". Really lost all reason to ever use a Tempest and it no longer feels unique anyway.
2. Javelin Attack Speeder. 15 point increase. Martial legacy... 1 CP to take this thing? Oof. Missing stats for its heavy bolter and wargear options. Gained an inch of movement and 1d6 for frag and 1 shot for krak. But still, 1 CP for a boosted missile launcher is a lot to ask. It also lost an attack and a point of LD. 

The Flyers are a mixed bag, but what really stinks is they all gained Martial Legacy for some reason, even though none of them were Relics before. And the Caestus Ram is gone. 

1. Xiphon- 55 point increase. It does not have its lascannon stats listed and has to refer to the codex for Airborne, Hard to Hit, and Supersonic. And it is nerfed for sure. Not only did it pick up Martial Legacy, but it lost +1 hit to FLY on its lascannons, building it into its missile launcher instead. Launcher gained a point of S at least, which is nice considering most flyers are T7 so it will wound on a 4+. But the lascannons were nicer still. It gained 1 W and now instead of flat 2 A, it is 3/D3/1. Gained 10" of movement and is faster as it degrades, but tables are smaller and this really doesn't matter except in massive games. It always moves at least 20" and its weapons have 48" and 60" range, so it should always be able to shoot everything.
2. Storm Eagle- 45 point decrease. ROC pattern is gone. Missing a lot of weapons stats on its datasheet. Have to go to the codex for Airborne, Hard to Hit, Hover Jet, and Supersonic. Gained 2W and Attacks went to 6/D6/D3 from 3/D3/1. Hellstrike Launcher +1 to hit vs aircraft and is D3+3 damage against them, but otherwise unchanged. Vengeance launcher gained a point of S. So an improvement, but incrementally enough to be worth 1CP?
3. Fire Raptor- 160 point decrease. Have to go to the codex for Airborne, Hard to Hit, Hover Jet, and Supersonic. Missing its lascannon stats on the page. Hellstrikes got the same bonus as the Storm Eagle. Same stat line changes as well. And martial legacy... again, why?

Now the super heavies. Martial Legacy almost makes these not worth dicussing. Lords of War are already left off the table by most players because of the CP cost of their detachment. And the rules writers decided that all the SM LOW (other than the Astraeus) needed to be an ADDITIONAL CP? Really? So even with the massive points drops, they are likely still never to be seen. Add to it, most of them don't have invulns. Its just rough to take any. Also, the Thunderhawk Transporter is gone (unsurprisingly). 

1. Typhon. 370 point decrease. Missing stats on its datasheet for all its optional weapons. This tank was unplayable in 8th due to is cost, but it got the MASSIVE points decrease it deserved. But the looming cost of CP is going to keep it off the table still unfortunately, and then it was nerfed beyond that as well. Dreadhammer also lost a point of CP and the ability to double its range if stationary. Explosion went from 2D6" to D6+6". Lost a point of T, and if anything should have stayed T9, it should be the Typhon. It also lost 2 wounds and attacks wend from 8/6/D3 to 6/D6/D3 which hurts crushing tracks. Lost Steel Behemoth but picked up titanic. So it can fall back and shoot, but not charge like it used to. Lost its ability to shoot its dreadhammer out of combat. 
2. Cerberus. 280 points decrease. Same missing option stats and statline changes as the Typhon. Nuetron Pulse array gained 1 shot and damage went to 3+D6 up from 2D3, and it goes to D6 if it was a stationary. However, it lost its ability to make its targets -1 BS after taking damage from the gun. And then Martial Legacy casts its specter on the tank as well. Also lost Steel Behemoth but picked up titanic.
3. Spartan. 50 point decrease. Same missing option stats and statline changes as the Typhon. Laser Destroyer has the same changes as the Vindicator Laser Destroyer did. Lost Steel Behemoth but picked up titanic. Overall nerfed. And of course, Martial Legacy to boot.
4. Fellblade. 180 point reduction. Missing the stats of a lot of weapons options and base wargear, like demolisher cannon. Lost a point of S and T. Attacks went from 9/6/3 to 6/D6/D3. HE shells gained a point of D and the Laser Destroyer option has the same changes as the Vindicator and Spartan. Also lost the Steel Behemoth ability for Titanic. And then there is Martial Legacy again. 
5. Falcion. 380 point reduction. Missing the stats of a lot of weapons options and base wargear. Same stat line changes as the Fellblade. Same laser destroyer changes as above. Valcon cannon massively nerfed too, going from 2D6 shots to 2D3, lost 2 points of S, and 2D6 damage went to 6 damage flat. And usually I like flat damage more, but flat 6 will average less than 2D6 on 2D3 shots, though it does have Blast now to counteract that.  Lost Steel Behemoth but picked up titanic. And is has Martial Legacy. 
6. Astraeus. 43 point reduction. Another unit from a PDF and not the Index. No Martial Legacy. Refer to the codex for Hover Tank (meaning its enhanced repulsor field subtracting from opponent charge rolls against it). Missing stats for its storm bolter, ironhail and lascannon options. Void Shields changed massively, but where I think they are worse on Titans, they are better here due to the nature of it being lower to begin with than they are on the Titans. They now act as a wound bank that can't overflow, but once they are gone they are gone and they cannot prevent mortal wounds. Lasrippers lost 12" of range. Plasma Eradicators went to D6 shots, gained blast, gained a point damage but lost a point of S. Macro-accelerator lost its bonus to hit against units with fly just like the sicaran, which stinks considering the fluff behind the accelerator cannons. And also lost Steel Behemoth but picked up titanic. 
7. Mastadon. 230 point reduction. Missing the stats of a lot of weapons options and base wargear.  Attacks went from 8/6/D6 to 6/D6/D3. Siege melta array did get the new melta bonuses, but went from Heavy 4D3 to Heavy 6 and lost a point of S, so nerfed. Skyreaper went from 5 damage to 2 damage but gained a point of AP. It no longer is -1 to hit against ground targets though and now only gets +1 against AIRCRAFT and not just FLY. Same Void shield changes as the Astraeus. And also lost Steel Behemoth but picked up titanic. It too has Martial Legacy.
8. Thunderhawk Gunship.  710 MASSIVE points decrease and no Martial Legacy. Missing stats on the sheet for a bunch of base wargear. Have to refer to the codex for Airborne, Hard to Hit, Hover Jet and Supersonic. Attacks went from 6/4/3/2 to 6/D6/D3. Lost a point of BS at its highest bracket. Has a rule to specify you ALWAYS measure to the hull which is important after Aresgate in competitve 9th edition. Hellstrike battery got the same bonuses as on the Fire Raptor and Storm Eagle. Thunderhawk heavy cannon went from D6 damage to D3+2 and blast. The Turbo-laser Heavy 3 instead of D3 and gained a point of AP, but damage went to flat 6 instead of 2D6, and lost its ability to do D3 mortal wounds on a wound roll of 6. Lost its invulnerable save which is BIG IMO.  Cluster bombs did get alot better, procing on a 4+ instead of 5+ now, and up to 18 dice instead of 12 or 3D6 vs Vehicles/Monsters instead of 2D6.
9. Sokar Stormbird. 1310 MASSIVE POINTS DECREASE. And useable in 2k games now. Missing stats on the sheet for a bunch of base wargear. Have to refer to the codex for Airborne, Hard to Hit, Hover Jet and Supersonic. Attacks went from 6/4/3/2 to 6/D6/D3. Lost a point of T and lost a point of BS at its highest bracket. Same hellstrike battery changes as everything else. Same Void Shield Change as the Astreaus. Not as good here, since they did start at a 4+ on the old stormbird. Also, lost its built in 5+ invuln, so once voids are gone that is gone. Has collosal flyer to measure to the hull just as the Thunderhawk. Also lost its ability to project a shield around units. Comes with Martial Legacy. Obviously, if you own this its not for the rules. But if you are looking to buy a gigantic SM Flyer, I'd personally stick with the Thunderhawk.

Well that is Space Marines. Wall of text, but aside from Astra Mil, this should be the longest.

Space Marine faired variably. All the Characters improved (except Loth) and the standard tanks faired okay. BUT dreads get beat up pretty well, and the Lords of War are just unplayable in standard 40k really, except maybe the Thunderhawk? Problem is with it, because of its size there are several deployment layouts where it will not be allowed to do anything turn 1. And while there are alot of points decreases, that seems to have been a theme of 9th overall so far. Sure some of these tanks dropped in points, but so did Terminators. Really, loosing T and W on a bunch of these while things like melta are getting enhanced damage makes you wonder it there is a current anti-vehicle sentiment in the design studio. Just compare the characters above to the rest of the SM stuff.

Imperial Armour Compendium Critical Review: Part 1- Book Overview

This review will not discuss Death Korps of Krieg, that's going to be a whole separate topic. Trust me, this will be long enough, because whoooo boy. This book is... not good.  I am really trying to not be salty in this, and I am going to be as factual as possible but maintain a critical eye, the intent of which is to inform you and maybe, just maybe, let GW know we notice and care about this stuff. The details matter in an expensive hobby like this, and if it takes a small time blog to hold them accountable (much like the petition years ago) then so be it.

This review will be an in depth 11 part series, and I will update and link each successive article below, so keep checking back for updates.

• Part 1- Book Overview
• Part 2- Space Marines
• Part 3- Astra Militarum
• Part 4- Grey Knights, Inqusition, Adeptus Mechanicus, Adeptus Custodes
• Part 5- Imperial Knights, Titan Legions, Chaos Knights and Chaos Titan Legions
• Part 6- Chaos Space Marines, Death Guard, and Chaos Daemons
• Part 7- Craftworlds and Drukhari
• Part 8- Necrons and Orks
• Part 9- T'au Empire and Tyranids
• Part 10- Death Korps of Krieg Focused Discussion
• Part 11- Forgeworld Warhammer Legends

So on the surface the book is nice. It is full color (but more on that in a bit) and a nice quality hardcover binding. We will see how that holds up over time, but there is nothing to make me think that the material quality of this book is poor. Pages are a nice thick semi-gloss heavyweight paper. Its basically the same as the current codicies  and a definite step up from the previous softback index. And at $65 it should be.

It would have been nice if it had had a fabric book marker or three to it. They've done this for core rulebooks before, so I know its in the real of possibility. With 144 pages of datasheets, but most armies containing no more than 1-3 forgeworld units at a time, it would have been really really nice to be able to mark pages for quick and easy reference.

Also, noticeably missing are unit pictures. And I say this is noticeable, because every data slate has on the outer edge a "fluff" box that is identical in form and function to that found in the new SM/Necron codicies and supplements. In this box is a large circle area. That area is blank. But if you go look in the codicies, that is where every unit entry has a picture of the unit. It just feels like a lack of detail and effort in this book, especially when it costs $15 more than a codex.

A comparison of Imperial Armour units (left) to Codex: SM units (right). The lack of unit pictures is just lazy, especially when there is clear design intent for them to be included.

It also makes me wonder why the book is in full color, as beyond the introduction page, the only other pages with color images are

1. Chapters of Renown, pages 8 and 9
2. Grey Knight filler art, page 49
3. Death Korps Guardsmen, page 53
4. Techpriest art, page 96
5. Mechanicus/Titanicus art, page 107 (which is the Imperial Knights points value, so it is even out of place)
6. Titanicus art, page 113
7. Chaos Daemons art, page 153
8. Necron Art, page 191
9. Tyranid Art, page 224

Removing the introduction, that is a total 1 color image for every 24 pages. And none of the artwork is new (including any black and white artwork in backgrounds).  Some of it is actually suprisingly old, like the Necrons art is the 3rd Edition Necron Codex cover.

But the rest of the book is this brown/cream/grey/black/white pallete. 

Now this is ultimately a quibble, but once more it all just seems indicative of a lack of effort. I understood the Index books at the start of 8th were intended just to be a quick reset of all the rules. But this book isn't. Its a comprehensive update clearly meant to last for a good portion of the edition. So it is a bit of a let down that there is no unit images or a variety of real artwork.

Then there is the editorial decisions. I'll be discussing this more in the subsequent parts, but I find it incredibly poor form to leave out wargear stats on countless units, especially base wargear. And this is even a poorer decision considering just how much blank space there is in the book. And all that blank space leads me back to: why are there no pictures? Imperial Armour and FW publications used to be the hallmark of awesome set piece photos using models. Where did that go to? Why did it die?

Just look at those. How cool is that? It just makes you want to buy these units and use them in game.

But back to the missing wargear/weapons stats. The point of a datasheet is to give me all the info I need ready to reference on the unit. If I am being made to go between pages, or in the case of this book, to another book entirely then the datasheet isn't doing what it is supposed to. And that is how it is for the majority of datasheets in this book. This would not be as bad if there was an index/summary table of weapon stats like in a codex, but there isn't, which is another disappointment. Even the paperback index from 8th edition had a summary table of weapons stats alongside the points table. This is a definite downgrade from the previous edition of the book.   

Then there is just the plain editing mistakes. I get this is par for course at this point with GW rules products, but how have they not figured this out yet. Get more or new copy editors. I'm not going to dive into this took much here, but I will call out each mistake as I find them in the subsequent parts of this review series.

Lastly, there is the general blaseness to the rules in the book. I don't want to get into this too much here, as I will be deep diving it as well in subsequent parts of this series, but overall... what happened? Sure they toned down some OP units, but they also heavily nerfed mediocre units and removed a lot of fluffy bespoke rules (and even did so in Legends too!). There was A LOT of hype around this book I feel, and it really under delivered on it. Not only were a lot of units fully removed and sent over to legends (some of which still have models available), but nothing was added to the game (30k Admech? Sisters of Silence?) and in general, everything was made lack luster. With all that promise we got of the main studio taking over FW rules and integrating them better into the game, it seems like they had this as the lowest priority and really just couldn't be bothered ensuring this premium priced models were both balanced and fun to use, so instead they just made it all bad to ensure it couldn't ruin any balance else where. And while you may be okay with that, it is a lazy decision IMO and really does a disservice to veteran and loyal customers and players. 

So what's my overall take-away.

The book looks nice but is a let down. The paper index had better value for the money. It falls short of current equivalently priced codicies, and is a far cry from the amazing quality of Imperial Armour books of yesteryear. Even the old IA Apocalypse books were far superior to this. It fails to deliver on the potential it had, and that potential really was a lot.

Allies of Inconvenience- Episode 24: Blood of Baal and Ritual of the Damned

Join us this month and Evan, Chris and Jason discuss their recent hobby progress and games played and then launch into reviews of the most recent Psychic Awakening Books- Blood of Baal and Ritual of the Damned- all containing 4 factions that we all collectively play!

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00:00 Intro
01:52 Hobby Progress & Games Played
32:32 Blood of Baal Review
1:05:42 Ritual of the Damned Dark Angel Discussion
1:25:24 Ritual of the Damned Grey Knights Discussion

Songs and Soundclips
Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag
Kaap mere- Bugotak
Clip 1- Newline Cinema The Hobbit
Clip 2- Warhammer TV Pointy Aelves
Clip 3- Warhammer TV Ritual of the Damned
Clip 4- The Lord Inquisitor Grey Knight Teaser by Warpgazer/Erasmus Brosdau

Allies of Inconvenience- Episode 22: Codex Space Marines Initial Review

There has been some delay in the release of this episode due to real work circumstances, but back at the start of August 2019, Chris, Jason and Evan sat down to talk about the new Codex Space Marines (before the dark times... before the Iron Hands) and the first two supplements; Ultramarines and White Scars. What follows is their typical buffoonery.

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00:00 Intro
04:36 Hobby Progress
31:11 Codex Space Marines Review

Songs and Soundclips
Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag
Kaap mere- Bugotak
Clip 1 and 2- Warhammer TV "By the Will of My Father"

Allies of Inconvenience: Episode 17- Assassins and Soup

First episode of 2019! We start off as usual with hobby progress (to include some talk about the Lucius Pattern Drop Pod and Coastal Wargaming Group!) For our first segment, we heavily talk about the upcoming White Dwarf Assassin release and how we see them being employed by the savvy Imperial General. Our second segment we discuss what the difference between "Allies" and "Soup" is before closing off with some discussion of... a less than spectacular Forge World model.

And apologies for the Audio Quality this time. We were in a rush.

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00:00 Intro
01:52 Hobby Progress
19:32 Imperial Assassins Release
52:16 What is Soup?
1:12:05 Bonus Forgeworld Review...

Songs and Soundclips
Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag
Kaap mere- Bugotak
Clip 1- Warhammer TV
Clip 2- Thor Ragnarok
Clip 3- Code Ment

Allies of Inconvenience: Episode 13- NOVA Narrative Recap and Changing the 2018 Meta

This Episode the Evan "Gothmog" and Chris "Discordian" recap their excellent experience attending NOVA and playing in the Narrative event for 40k, Evan with his BA Dreadnoughts and Chris with his Dark Eldar spooky bunch. After that we launch into talking about the meta, what it is and where we would like to see it go!

Also, here is a link to the KHARN we talk about!

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00:00 Intro

04:16 Hobby Progress

26:30 NOVA Narrative Recap

53:09 The Meta and What to Change

Songs and Soundclips

Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag

Kaap mere- Bugotak

Clip 1 - The Wrath of Khan

Clip 2 - Zeonic Front

Clip 3 - Blade Runner

NOVA Narrative Recap- The Unstoppable Dreadnoughts

NOVA was this last weekend and man was it a BLAST. It is definitely a smooth run operation and I plan on going back again for a third time next year. Last year I took my all Death Rider Army to the NOVA GT and Trios. This year I intended to do the Trios again, but due to team mate issues, I instead went to DC and did the tourist thing on the day of the trios. This is one of the untold bonuses of NOVA, you are practically in Washington, and taking an uber or the Metro to the museums/monuments is easily done and worth it if you are not from the area.  But after a day of site seeing I got to jump into the NOVA Narrative! Check out their mission pack here. Some really fun and cool missions you should try at home (especially Shuttle Crash and Refinery IMO).

My 2500 point army. All my armies would be made from this!

I had started this article a few days ago, but now I feel I must temper my enthusiasm before I launch into the review.
Edit: I leave the following 2 paragraphs for completions sake, but I wan't it to be known I have since spoken to Joe the TO. He is a real class act and got back to me with a solid explanation and apology of what happened, and "honor is satisfied" on my part from what you are about to read below. It really wan a GREAT event and the mistakes that follow in the next 2 paragraphs really are just a confluence of bad luck and pre-con impediments to a 100% smooth Narrative. That being said, I really do appreciate the explanation and discussion with the NOVA Narrative TO.

The narrative, while being great for come and go play and just general fun, had some record keeping issues apparently. I get that is can be really really hard with the open format that it is, but I played every non-kill team game. But reviewing the records afterward, I have the wrong Fame Score (I should have 0... they gave me 27. I saved no civilians). I am missing 2 rounds of battlepoints. My APOC score is not associated to me, and I am missing a hobby score.

As they record shows, I am #9 on the virtue team. If I it JUST added my battlepoints, I would be 4th. With a measly 5 hobby points I would be tied for 3rd. 11 would have had me tied for 2nd. 19 tied for 1st. Seeing as no one got less than 9 if they got judged, I should have placed, and I'd like to think at least 2nd if not 1st (by maybe 1 point)... Its really disheartening to have put all this effort into something and then learn I walked away empty handed not for lack of my effort, but because of just bad book keeping. I know they are volunteers, but as a customer, I feel a bit cheated. I know little can be done at this point, but if there was a certificate or medal that the people who placed got, it would be nice to have one sent. Not looking for the prizes. Just something to mark my accomplishment.

Anyway, onto the coverage! I was on Team Virtue (story in the mission pack), helping eliminate the Forces of Humanity. My Battlegroup was the Guns of Waaaghust.

All my lists are available here. But I'll sum up below
I had 13 dreadnoughts
-Chaplain with Claws and Heavy Flamers
-Librarian with Halberd, Fist and Melta-gun
-Contemptor with Assault cannon and Fist+combi-bolter
-2 x Furiosos
-2 x Death Company Dreads (Cassor the Damned and Moriar the Chosen)
-3 x Mortis Dreads w/ autocannons, assault cannons and the occasional heavy bolter
-Deredeo w/ Autocannons and heavy bolters and  a nice shield projector the FW still hasn't released despite showing it off at every event they do for over a year.
-Leviathan in a Drop pod with a melta lance and siege claw OR no drop pod and Storm cannons (Yay magnets)
-Redemptor with Gatlings, Icarus, and Frag launchers

A key to each of my lists was the Deredeo with Mortis surrounding it. His Atomantic Pavaise (the shield projector) gave my dreads a bubble invlun. I would then spend my CP pretty much EXCLUSIVELY on popping wisdom of the ancients on the same Deredeo to give my shooty dreads rerolls. My Warlord ALWAYS had the Veritas Vitae to regain this CP, which usually stretched my measly 4 or 5 into 6 to 8 CP, which was more than enough to pop Wisdom and get a few 1 time rerolls for saves or damage. I also found myself usually taking Shield of Sanguinius or Quickening and Wings of Sanguinius for my psychic powers.

When my Warlord was my Librarian I took the Gift of Foresight WL trait (6+ FNP rerolling 1s). If it was my chaplain, I took Soul Warden, allowing him to deny the witch, which was often useful as my Librarian usually suicide charged turn 1 or they would be on my flanks opposite each other, giving me good coverage with 2 denies.

Game 1 (Win): 2000 pts vs Death Guard- Mission: Slaughter Zone, Hammer and Anvil Deployment
A great opening game for the Narrative for me. Only my 3rd time facing Death Guard and I knew it would be a close one.  We definitely based each other for a bit, but eventually his disgusting resilience wasn't enough and the wall of steel overcame him. His Plague Drones were beasts though!
My favourite moment of the game was probably when my Leviathan and Typhus met in hand to hand. The first round of combat saw them stalemated, but in the second round I was able to smash his to a foetid pulp before he could even strike.

Game 2 (Win): 1000 pts vs Salamanders- Mission: Open Ground, Font-line Assault Deployment
One of my tougher games at first I feel. Those salamander rerolls can be brutal on a Lascannon or Missile Launcher. My opponent also had a really clutch use of the Flakk missile strategem + Signum against my Wings of Sanguinius Librarian Dreadnought. He gains FLY, so that was a good move. In the end though, my opponents foot Marines couldn't stand up to my Dreads and the NOVA terrain really played to my advantage blocking LOS so my punchy dreads could close. Game ended close points wise, but still a W for me and very few sons of Vulkan left on the table.

Game 3 (Loss): 2000 pts Doubles (1k ea) vs Dark Eldar and Death Guard- Mission: Refinery, Hammer and Anvil Deployment.
This time, myself and Discordian with his Prophets of Bark and the Spooky Bunch Teamed up. I was against the same Death Guard player as turn 1, but teamed up with a very shooty DE list. This game was REALLY close and we lost 16-17, by 1 point - essentially they had first blood and we didn't (I really wish more events used First Strike instead for this very reason. Winning because you went first when all other things means the game would be tied seems silly. We managed to kill something Turn 1 as well AFTER getting shot. But 0 points for that. But I digress). The DE player was the only person the whole weekend who implicitly KNEW to go for my Deredeo to begin with, a lesson all others would learn too late the rest of the weekend. Had he been like them and taken my Furioso bait instead, or we had gone first, the game would have likely came out with Chris and I as the victors. Either way, super fun and a cool mission with progressively scored main objectives (as you siphon off fuel tanks).

Game 4 (Win): 2500 pts vs Orks- Mission: Shuttle Crash, Front-line Assault Deployment
This was one of my MOST FUN GAMES EVER. The Ork player had an amazing "Orkperium" themed army, lead by two PrimeOrks (Growlman was one of them and I forget the other). All the orks had different SM chapter shoulder pads. He had a Gorkanaut and a Morkanaut. Crazy fun! What really saved my bacon is the shuttle crashed in front of my Dreadnought Firebase, and to run at me meant facing a wall of Firepower. Once more the NOVA terrain did me wonders, keeping my Mortis and Deredeo hidden from his big walkers, while my Librarian was able to fly up and severely damage them and my Leviathan come in and do some damage too. Unfortunately, he royally whiffed every melta lance shot I made all weekend... Meanwhile his rockets could roll nothing but 6s (he would do 0 with a heavy 20 weapons, and then nail me with both rockets... 3 turns in a row!). Those orks must have looted some Tau Seeker heads, because they were deadly accurate.
This game was also the first time I got to use my Redemptor. While he didn't last the whole game, he did squish PrimeOrk Growlman, and his Gatlings chewed up some boys good and proper.

Game 5 (Win): 1000 pts vs Death Guard- Mission: Slaughter Zone, Spearhead Assault Deployment.
A great sport who I unfortunately tabled by the top of turn 3... Its rough when a game goes like that. His army was pox walkers, some Plague Marines and Characters, and Mortarion. Turns out when Two Autocannon Mortis dreads have LoS first turn and reroll ones from Wisdom of the Ancients... well Morty doesn't last too long... and to finish him off I was able to charge a Furioso with Blood Talons turn 2. Just not a good day for the Primarch of the Death Guard. In the end my Deredeo and Mortis dreads made light work of the Pox Walkers and Plague Marines while my Librarian ate a few Characters. Could have been different had he gone first, but eventually Mortarion would have had to come into LoS of the Autocannons, and that just spelled his doom.

Game 6 (Win): 1500 pts vs Thousand Sons- Mission: Refinery,  Vanguard Strike Deployment
A fun game amongst a ton of terrain. Firelanes were challenging at times for me. But it proved more problematic for the Thousand Sons. By the end of the game he had 3 models left and I had scored the Maxmimum off my Fuel dumps and at least once off of his. Things I learned- Obliterators are still really scary and Chaos has better Leviathans than the Imperium (and charging one with a Librarian dread may not work out as a result, especially if you fail to cast shield of sanguinius 2 turns in a row)

Game 7 (Win): 3000 pts Doubles (1500 ea) vs Space Wolves and Ad Mech- Mission: Convoy, Vanguard Strike Deployment
My dreads and the Spooky bunch paired up again for fight on a neat winter themed table. Top take away from this game- Wrack Screens are great for shooting dreads! We had a great pair of Opponents from the Crew Shaken podcast. Facing down some Wulfen, my team castled up and left them with no viable first turn charge. Our opponents also threw a Stormfang Gunship at us full of some mean stuff, which we managed to blast from the sky and explode behind our lines, greatly aiding our cause. Our opponents also made an early game push to drive their objective convoy across the field, but our DE Scourges and Mandrakes came in on the edge of our own Deployment zone bottom of 1 and put an end to that. In the end the faltered first turn charge of the Wolves cost our opponents dearly, letting my dreadnoughts take the fight to him first and allowing our firepower and some void raven bombing runs to do the trick and eliminate the worst threats to us early on.

Game 8: Apocalypse (Win)
What can I say about this. Crazy big cool game. The biggest thing on the Table was a Manta, but otherwise nothing bigger than a Warhound Titan, and really just a lot of Knights and Mini-Knights. For this game to get up in points, I had to break out some non-dread units. I had some good fun flying my Xiphon and Fireraptor (WHICH WAS SOME HOW THE ONLY FIRE RAPTOR IN THE GAME) up the board killing knights! I also got to step on a Captain Slamguinius with my Knight Atrapos. Crowing moment for our team though was taking our opponents primary objective bottom of Turn 5 by Orks (our Battlegroup Warlord none the less!) making "Da Jump" and charging in to eliminate all before them. Its really good when something like Apoc comes down to the infantry fighting rather than just who has more big guns.

Biggest take aways
-Narrative is WAY less stressful than the GT and a ton of fun
-Get a better camera and use a flash
-Make sure your scores are recorded properly

Heroforge Miniatures Review - Schlemazal

I've been keeping an eye on Hero Forge Miniatures since their kickstarter went live. For those of you who haven't heard of them before, Hero Forge makes custom 3D-printed miniatures designed with a web interface where you can pick from libraries of parts (heads, torsos, limbs, weapons, armor, handheld items, etc) with options for fantasy, scifi, western, modern or east-asian genre styles and quite a few different poses.

A dwarven rogue I threw together using the Hero Forge interface.

Though their parts libraries aren't massive (yet), the concept always had me really interested, so when I was recently commissioned by a friend to paint a pair of Hero Forge minis, I figured it would be a good time to post my thoughts about the end product. Both miniatures were printed with their 'Ultra Detail Plastic' which boasts a good paintability and a high level of detail, but low durability (as opposed to their 'Strong Plastic', which is supposed to be much less detailed and rougher, but more durable. Also cheaper, though I haven't seen the end product).

Straight off the bat, I got to see that one-star durability in action. One miniature was posed with only one leg on the base, and it had snapped at the ankle in transit from the commissioner (I do want to stress this was not from the company, it was repackaged to send to me), requiring me to pin the leg. Later, a short tumble snapped the quarterstaff off, though some superglue easily repaired the problem. The detail held by the plastic was actually impressive, though the sculpts themselves are limited due to the fact that all the parts are meant to be modular and somewhat generic in their system. There was, however, definitely a rough surface texture to both models.

Spray primer worked just fine on the two, though a thinner layer is recommended or you start to lose what detail is present. Once primed, I had very little difficulty with painting. It was basically the same as working with any other wargaming miniature. The rough texture remained present throughout, though in the end I think the only place the models suffered for it were in the faces where a little roughness can make a huge difference in the final appearance.

Overall, I enjoyed working with these two miniatures. At $25 each, I think they're probably a bit too expensive for most applications - the rough surface, fragility, and the medium level of detail born of modular parts work against the customization for value. While Hero Forge has a cheaper plastic variant, given the roughness present in their higher end material, I'm not really sure I want to see what those look like. That being said, if you're looking for a miniature for an RPG character and can't find one that fits, or you need a specific set of weapons, gear and posing, Hero Forge is definitely a solid choice. Hopefully they'll continue to build their parts library and increase the level of detail they can manage.

I'll leave you here with some more pictures of the completed miniatures:

This is labeled as the 'Come at me bro' pose. Bonus points for style.

The bamboo flooring base was really well made