Tag Archives: space marines

40k 6e Space Marines: Supports

Posted on by tjkopena

spacemarines-6e-codexHaving played a few more games and studied the book a bit more, I have a couple more thoughts on the new 40k 6e Space Marines codex.  Previously I had some notes on Core Dudes, Librarians, and Vulkan.  Up now are some supporting units, specifically Vindicators, Whirlwinds, Thunderfire Cannons, and Landspeeders.

Vindicators

These have not changed except for dropping 10 points.  The Vindicator is obviously useful when it gets good shooting opportunities, but it’s always seemed handicapped to me by the low position and fixed mount of its cannon.  Combine that with the short range and it just spends too much time blocked by terrain.  I always get the feeling that it was a more commanding unit in earlier ages of 40k when there was generally a lot less terrain, universally less mobility, and a lot more of two gunlines just shooting at each other and slowly advancing forward.  Vindicators might be attractive again with how much faster vehicles got in 6e, but I’m not super sold on that yet.  Between the range and fixed angle there’s still too much need to be right up in your enemy’s face.

Whirlwind

I love the Whirlwind model and have always wanted to get and field some, but could never justify the cash or points.  The single-shot blast template made it not particularly reliable at hitting anything, the weaponry isn’t particularly killy to counter that unreliability, and its not particularly survivable at a standard Rhino chassis AV 11/11/10.  Sixth edition Marines though makes it pretty attractive to my eyes though.  The big change is a switch to large blast templates, which means it could really deliver some death to weaker infantry and is much more likely to at least hit MEQs.  It also dropped from 85 to 65 points, making it much more attractive for how likely it is to get popped.  Now I can definitely see putting a Whirlwind or two in the backfield pinging away, and look forward to acquiring some over time.

Thunderfire Cannon

First off, it has to be said that the Thunderfire is a really really terrible model.  It looks ok, but it’s not cheap and every piece is really warped, impossible to fix as it’s a metal model.  It’s shockingly difficult for such a simple model to get it to all stick together.  It would be really nice if it were redone in plastic.

That aside, I liked the Thunderfire in 5e as a game unit and found it pretty useful.  You set it up on top of a piece of terrain with a clear line of fire and just shoot away.  It wasn’t terribly survivable if anything got a shot at it with 5e’s AV 10/one-shot-kill artillery rules, but with 60″ range you could set it far enough back that it could last for a while provided you could keep outflankers at bay.  The Techmarine himself is also useful even after the gun dies, with the Servo Harness and Artificier Armour giving him reasonable street creed at both near-range shooting and close combat.  The ability to buff cover saves from any piece of terrain can also be a big boost against some opponents.

The Thunderfire correctly realizes it would be more useful shelling the boardgamers in the corner than the oncoming IG horde...

The Thunderfire correctly realizes it would be more useful shelling the boardgamers in the corner than the oncoming IG horde…

Sixth edition makes the Thunderfire even better.  Same points and shots but the new codex gave it barrage—awesome!  Now you can really set it out of the way and/or hit anything on the table, even dudes cowering behind high terrain.  With four shots a lucky series of hits can really land a lot of hits on a target, and stands a good chance to hit something even with reasonable scatter on the first shot.  Perhaps more importantly, the revised 6e artillery rules make it a T7 W2 3+ model.  That’s actually really survivable and a huge buff to the unit even before the new codex hit.  I’ve been rolling this a fair bit in recent games, and it’s been doing really well.

The one thing I would have liked to see from this unit is the ability to field squadrons of them.  It just seems like it’d be a natural for that kind of deployment, and it’d be really handy to be able to organize three into a single FOC slot for larger games.  Personally I would work it so that a single Techmarine could shoot or move any or all of them provided they were each in standard unit coherency—he’s controlling them all as networked slaves or something like that.  Multiple Techmarines would make it fairly expensive points-wise.

Landspeeders

I love me some Landspeeders and almost always field two or three in every size of game.  In 5e these were immensely valuable for flaming infantry, melta-gunning vehicles, and swooping in to deny objectives.  It’s worth noting though that they’re better at lower point value games.  The more points in play the more bad guys there are standing around with nothing better to do but take a potshot or two at a ‘Speeder, and even a Bolter can take it down.  At lower points there are fewer enemy units just standing around with no higher priority target, and the tactical flexibility of high mobility, Flamer, and Multi-Melta is very valuable with fewer units in your own force.  They are also much stronger at objectives-based missions than kill points.

The new codex changes their basic stats just slightly, namely that Typhoon Missile Launchers and Assault Cannon options got quite a bit cheaper.  That’s interesting as it’s definitely a valid, popular, standoffish way to run them.  I always roll the Heavy Flamer and Multi-Melta though to capitalize on the buffs from Vulkan and the Salamanders’ traits.

The 6e core rules however change the ‘Speeder in significant and complex ways.

First off, Jink for Fast Skimmers is a substantial buff to the survivability of the unit.  You just need to remember to always move; sometimes I’ve forgotten as I had spent a fair amount of time trying to coach myself to sit back and use the full range of the Multi-Melta, and thus didn’t have to always move.  The new Fast rules are also helpful, really letting the thing fly all over the board.  More shooting with a 12″ move, and the ability to cover a ridiculous 30″.  The latter is actually a notable improvement beyond just the raw movement.  The increased speed makes it even easier to fly on from Reserves rather than Deep Striking into an unfortunate, exposed position, or deploying on the table and risking first turn shooting.

Oooh yeah.

Oooh yeah.

In a basically neutral but slightly positive point, ‘Speeders didn’t really change much in survivability.  While other vehicles became more predictably killable with the introduction of hull points, Landspeeders were dead easy to kill to begin with.  If anything they became more survivable because glancing hits can’t do the same kinds of damage as before, it’s guaranteed to still be a useful unit after the first glance.

On a related but somewhat neutral to negative change though, squadrons now simply break off and leave behind immobilized vehicles rather than destroying them.  That sounds maybe kind-of sort-of useful as the damaged model can in theory now still shoot at stuff, particularly if you’re rolling the longer range Typhoon or Assault Cannon.  In reality though, that model then becomes a separate unit and yields up an easy kill point to your opponent when it is finally destroyed.  I would probably rather just have it destroyed if I choose to leave it behind and not give up the point.  This new rule is really only beneficial for vehicles with turret-mounted, barrage, and other weapons with more targeting flexibility that remain useful when immobilized.

A more negative change in 6e is that movement doesn’t give vehicles nearly as much help in close combat as it used to.  The protection from movement is minimal with the new WS 1 rule, and high speed literally doesn’t improve that at all.  Once an enemy assault unit finally catches up to the ‘Speeder, something that’s almost certain to happen with the shorter range loadouts I use as it gets mixed into the thick of things, it’s pretty much done for.

Much more troubling is that vehicles are no longer denial units in any of the missions, they can’t contest objectives.  That’s a major tactical role of the fast moving Landspeeder that’s been completely eliminated.  There really isn’t anything more to say about that, it’s just a critical thing they used to be able to do that they just can’t do directly anymore.  The one upside is that other enemy vehicles won’t be able to claim either, so overall there just isn’t the same kind of 5th turn race to the nearest objectives, but it’s still a major net-negative change.

All in all, Landspeeders probably got decreased in value because of that one change.  They’re probably slightly better for the bulk of a game, so certainly still worth using, but their utility in the endgame has declined dramatically as their typical largest impact role has been eliminated.

Summary

Except for the Landspeeder, all of the supporting units above became slightly to much more valuable with the new codex and 6e rules.  Certainly none of them are overpowered, but all more efficient, and in several cases much more effective.  The Landspeeder is no longer the game changer it frequently was in 5e, but it’s still a worthwhile unit if it matches your style and you’re prepared to risk the kill point(s).  For my part I’m pretty excited to have a couple of the neglected and so-so units refreshed into newly viable options.

Man the Line!

Posted on by tjkopena

Recently I’ve become a bit more concerned about flyers.  Lovell’s been breaking out Night Scythes pretty regularly, I’m sure I’ll see some at a tournament later this month, and no doubt flocks of evil doing flying things will appear at January’s Apocalypse game.  So, time to start doing something about it:

Man the wall!

Man the wall!

I think the Aegis Defense Line actually highlights the modeling strength of GW.  For every beautiful piece-of-art model they produce, there’s a model like the ADL that’s not flashy, not fancy, but gets the job done.  Good bulk shapes so it looks good no matter what, and enough texture so anybody can paint it up to look great with some very basic drybrushing.  Further, it’s got lots of little details that you can really spend time on if you wish.  There are some incredible ADL paint jobs out there around the net, which is really cool for such a basic model.  That accessibility to a spectrum of abilities and the quality of even this basic, simple utility model, is I think in some what really separates GW from other companies, more so than the headliner models.

Technical details on the rear of a panel.

Technical details on the rear of a panel.

In any event, that’s why I bought the model instead of making one as long planned.  I could put together a decent barricade system pretty easily, but there’s a lot of detail on this model that would take a lot of time to scratchbuild.  Little technical doodads, tons of bolts, etc.  Hell, if you don’t lay the paint on too thick, you’ll realize the bolts here are actually bolts.  They’re not just little half spheres, there’s actually a straight bolt and then a distinguishable hex nut around it.  Ditto on the gun.  Maybe I have enough pieces to kitbash one, but it’d be tough to have it look as good, and scratchbuilding would be really hard.  So here we are.

Painting

Honestly, for now I’m going with the Aegis Defense Line primarily because I knew I could get it together and painted in short order.  I spent just a bit longer than I expected, but still basically a 1.5 evening project.  I spray primed white, painted everything Skavenblight Dinge, and dry brushed Codex Grey.  The aquilas were done in Bleached Bone highlighted with Skull White.  Window edgings and other little tech bits were picked out in Ironbreaker (the new Boltgun Metal).  That was drybrushed lightly all over with Skavenblight Dinge, and then again heavily toward the bases.  Metal pieces and the craters got washed with Nuln Oil.  It was actually kind of funny picking up new paints for this since many of mine were done: It’s been so long since I really bought paints that all the GW/Citadel names seem to have changed not once but twice!

Weapons to bear, on my mark!

Weapons to bear, on my mark!

One note is that I intentionally kept the scheme fairly drab here, so that it doesn’t take away focus from the army around it, as well as so it can function well as just a basic piece of terrain.  It’s also specifically not badged or painted in Kingbreakers’ colors so that it will fit in with other armies.

Tactics

Despite assembling and painting quickly being my primary motivation for fielding this rigth now, I do think it’s competitive with my other options.  Not taking up a Force Organization slot is a big plus.  It’s about the same points as a Stormtalon, Hunter, or Stalker, and unlike the latter two has both Interceptor and Skyfire so it’s useful against ground targets as well.  The ADL gun is in some ways more survivable to boot, since it’s effectively at least a 5 wound model depending on the size of the squad manning it.  On that point, I almost always have a Tactical Combat Squad hanging out in my backfield on an objective, so they may as well man same heavier weaponry.  Alternatively, if I’m real worried about flyers, I could put a Devastator squad with a few Flakk Missile Launchers on the gun, with the Devastator Sergeant using his Signum to have another guy man the gun at BS5.

You feeling lucky, punk?!

You feeling lucky, punk?!

Betrayer

Posted on by tjkopena

betrayer-coverContinuing my Horus Heresy kick, over the weekend I read Betrayer by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.  I  was a little hesitant to grab this book but did so because it comes up on a number of best-of-series lists, not all of which are reliable (too much focus on action).  Turns out though Betrayer is very much possibly the best 40k/30k novel I’ve read, and certainly among the top.  Part of this I attribute to Dembski-Bowden apparently being an actual player of the game, something I don’t get from a number of the authors.  Not that it’s necessary, but it might bring an extra level of love to the work.

There are no spoilers in these thoughts.

Characters

Here that love’s paid off because he’s done the totally unexpected: Made the World Eaters, Angron, and especially Khârn possibly the most fascinating characters in the entire series.  My hesitation about the book was precisely because by the 40th century they never come across as particularly interesting.  Mindless killing machines, they do what they say—Kill!  Maim!  Burn!—and little else.  Their action sequences are boring, and they have basically no characterization to speak of.  Their appearance also raises a lot of uncomfortable questions, like how could such a bloodthirsty, disorganized fighting unit actually function?

The answer is barely.  This novel really explores in flashback and discussion the degradation of the legion and how costly their every minor victory has become.  A number of the characters spend a fair amount of time trying to come to grips with how precisely they can keep fighting when their extreme lack of discipline leaves them exposed and vulnerable any number of ways.  The action and training scenes demonstrate this well and between that, the characters’ discussions, and a healthy dose of the Warp, it’s an interesting progression that renders the 40k world more plausible (well, within the universe’s basic assumptions).

More importantly, Angron makes a good run here to be the most tragic of the Heresy characters.  That’s a big claim to make given Horus, but the novel makes it pretty credible.  My favorite though is Khârn.  He’s fascinating, and realizing that in the first couple pages is basically mind blowing given that I’d previously never found him particularly interesting.  He has a band of friends, many of them with their own solid characterizations—especially Argel Tal of the Word Bearers—and he has doubts, so many doubts.  Khârn’s so compelling, I’m almost motivated right now to go model up some Chaos Marine champion to represent him (I’m only 50/50 on his actual model).  Khârn’s depth and wisdom come across so well, it only highlights his glee and fury in battle.  The first, brief appearance of his catchphrase at a desperate moment is chilling: Kill, maim, burn.  Betrayer manages to make all of these utter villains extremely sympathetic and then next chapter they’re turning your stomach as they torture and murder with abandon, an excellent feat of writing.

Also excellently done, for the book that had every possibility of being the least humanized and the most purely testosterone driven given its very male lead legions and characters, there are a number of solid women characters.  In particular, Captain Sarrin of the Conqueror has a lot of pages and comes across strongly.  She’s key in manufacturing one of the standout scenes mentioned below, has a number of welcome interactions with her friend Khârn in the heat of battle, and it’s actually really cool to read with what glee and skill she goes about fighting the Imperialists.  In the grimdark future there is war and blood for everyone, not just men.

Fight!

As discussed regarding Know No Fear, 40k and especially the Heresy series has a ton of potential depth to it, and it’s the more character-study oriented novels that are the best.  All too often though they devolve into purely extended action sequences, as that novel does.  Here though a perfect balance is struck.  The action and character studies are so interwoven throughout the text, and often set within each other, that Betrayer never becomes a drawn out, boring slugfest, nor does it ever slow down and become purely dialog and thought with no chainswords or powerfists.  In terms of the technical execution of the plot and characters, the text’s arrangement is really well done.

Great Scenes

On top of all the overall excellence, the novel has a large number of great scenes.  Just a few of the most memorable, holding back the details:

  • Lorgar’s desperate battle to retrieve Angron, and the latter’s desperate struggle to then save the former.  This is the best primarch battle scene I can recall.  Forget inhumanly fast sword strikes and mega-punches.  There are goddamn vehicles being thrown like toys, and it’s not the least cheesy.
  • The legion’s censure of Delvarus after the battle of Armatura.  This opens with a great tense hangar bay standoff, once that captures that might alone is not always right, then pages later comes back with a darkly beautiful scene of fraternity, regret, and forgiveness.
  • Lhorke’s remembrance of Khârn and Argel Tal in the gladiator pits.  It’s a touching view of two soul brothers, ultimate warriors not yet mindless death machines, and has a rare touch of fun and mirth among a life of constant war.
  • Lorgar and Angron discussing the latter’s pre-heresy fight with Russ.  It has a sadness and quiet to it that’s heartfelt, with Lorgar pained because Angron doesn’t understand, and Angron pained because he does but can’t, shackled and crippled by his past.

Summary

Basically, go read it.  A fair bit of Heresy background and 40k foreknowledge is required to really appreciate everything.  Even having read a bunch and knowing a lot of 40k lore, even I wish just a little that I had read more of the Heresy series before reading this to catch all the references and character history.  But it’s got depth and action to spare so this is a minor concern.  Betrayer is an awesome novel that every 40k fan should really appreciate.

Kill. Maim. Burn.

Kill. Maim. Burn.

Update: Total sidenote, if the Khan model looked more like this conversion I’d be all about it.  The official model though is just a little to goofy and busy looking.  By absolutely no means the worst of the older GW sculpts, but after this read I really hope he gets an update or Forge World model sometime to be a bit more serious and dramatic.