Karhedron

I agree. Removing access to units that players have had for several years is a massive overreaction to a problem that barely exists. This is not like Wolves not having access to units like Tactical squads. It is one thing to never have had them in the first place. It is quite another to have them removed.

We don't know yet if Space Wolves will be getting an upgrade sprue the way BAs and DAs did. If so, that would be an easy way to cover Skyclaws. Long Fangs have been in the SW roster since the beginning though and look to be in danger of going extinct simply because there isn't a clear successor for Devastators.

No but that is precisely what the +1 to Wound vs OOM target on compliant Chapters is designed to balance. If Divergent Chapters lose access to core codex units to balance their divergent units, I trust you will also support the removal of the +1 to Wound.

I fundamentally disagree with that assertion and will continue to do so. If that is the basis of your reason that SWs should lose access to Intercessors then you are using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. Yes. we have had access to both units since 8th edition arrived.

The biggest reason IMHO is the unit size. The shots we have seen so far suggest GKs are locked to 10-man units which means they will probably be at least 150 points. Intercessors providing MSU ObjSec is a good ability and I normally run at least one squad for that purpose. The upgrades to the Bolt Rifles are nice but not the deciding factor. Now is GKs turn out to be 5-10 in the final Codex then that will be less of an issue but not being able to take 5-man Battleline units is going to be a serious blow, however good GKs and BCs turn out to be in play.

History is a poor guide in this context. From a rules perspective, players have had SW Intercessors for years. From a fluff POV, there are thousand of SW Intercessors from the Unnumbered Sons now prowling around the Fang. There are also SW Successor chapters (something that never existed before) who are entirely Primaris-based who would not have picked up all the Fenrisian traditions but will still fight in a Wolfish style due to their geneseed.

By the same token they also remove the need for me to buy the new kits. If they take away the option for me to run standard Intercessors, I will just slap a few chainswords on my existing models and not bother with the new kits. Yes they can do it but they will be hurting their own sales.

Hellblasters are not quite the powerhouse unit they were in previous editions but they are still a very effective fire-support unit. The combination of a 10-man squad overcharging and then using an Apothecary to revive any casualties is well known but we have a way of turning it up to 11! The trick is to use them in the Angelic Inheritors detachment. The simple presence of the Apothecary (which would want anyway) now means that you can take: Carmine Wrath: Reroll 1s to Hit and 1s to Wound, fantastic for boosting damage output. Sanguinary Grace: Allows you to Fall Back and shoot/charge, great to avoid becoming bogged down in combat. As if that were not good enough, we also get a couple of very nice stratagems we can use on them: Strike Now for Glory: Sustained Hits 1, Now we can pretend to be Dark Angels! In the Shadow of Great Wings: Gives them Lone Operative-Lite. Stopping them being targeted outside 18" is great and helps mean the only casualties they are likely to take will be from their own guns, rather than the enemy's.

Unit redundancy does not affect competitive play as long as the units are balanced wrt each other. It then just comes down to personal choice.

As someone who has 25 Space Wolves Intercessors and a nicely converted squad of SW BGVs, I am moved to vote Heck No! on this suggestion. All this will accomplish will be to massively annoy divergent chapter players who have spent the last 8 years investing in Primaris models. Unit overlap and codex bloat is not a serious enough problem to justify nuking large chunks of peoples' collections, particularly the newest parts.

We got Shadowspear towards the end of 8th edition with several new units and Agustus in late 9th. Could we be looking at something similar here?

I wonder what the eventual space Wolves Combat Patrol will have? I wonder if it will have some of the rumoured Wolf Guard Terminators in it. Blood Angels had a DC themed army box with Sanguinary Guard and the new captain in the CP. Wolves look like focusing on PA infantry in the army box so I can see Terminators potentially going in the CP.

GW have done a big summer release of a new edition of a core games for several years now. It seems to be a very successful pattern and I doubt they would change it without good reason.

I agree. Besides, the roadmap is there to whet our appetites and build hype. I don't think it is a serious window into GW's development and release process.

I don't think so. It was roughly 6 months between Dark Angels and Blood Angels and now about 9 months for Space Wolves. Honestly I would have been more surprised if Space Wolves had not arrived soon.