Jump to content

A month in, are people happy with the new Codex?


Ishagu

Recommended Posts

To be honest I couldn't be happier with the new book. Yes, a couple of things made me sad to see go for fun/flavour reasons (for example - Magna Grapples, no Scout on the Baal, Mephy being pegged down a bit, Tycho, Reclusiarchs etc), but ultimately I don't think these things make a massive difference to the overall mechanics of the army.

The FOC shifts were interesting and on the one hand could be seen to cause problems with over-crowding, but I just view it as increased choice by and large, and with the way things are now set we have so much more variety when it comes to list building. I also don't think the loss of Troop Asst Squads was that big a deal, aside for me personally having to invest in a further Tac and Scout Sq to flesh out my Troops, but being a hobby lover I don't see that as being a loss. Also, I'm enjoying playing the minimal suicide Jump Squads that really help complement the rest of my general lists. On top of that, running the Strike Force and losing ObSec marks the Asst Squads as Troops choice as irrelevant.

Points reductions were much needed and I think are pretty spot on now. I also like that we are still, if not moreso, a thinking general's army in that we have a lot more need for synergy and thought to how individual units interract and support each other on the table. Standouts for me are Sanguinary Guard and Jump DC, but the points across the board are really good.

Formations are by and large good; some situationally fun but maybe a little one-trick, but with again so much choice there are different varieties of how to run the Angels now, which can only be good.

As for actual kits, what we got was great and there is a ton of conversion and kit-bashing ability. Would have been nice to get something "newer" or unique: either a new Mephiston and/or Dante, plus a new vehicle/flyer, but we may get lucky with later splash releases.

I definitely think we are a stronger book than before. Not in obvious power (i.e. an auto-choice Deathstar for example), but the sum of our parts make us very effective and moreso than our last iteration.

thumbsup.gif

I must admit, I love the new Death Co. jump pack costing the most. I do miss WS5 but c'maaaaan can't really complain about that especially as there are ways of getting it (and of course I5 or highter.....)

The off-set being that before, 10 JP DC would have set you back 350pts before upgrades. The same now cost 12 Combi-Weapons less which, for that price, gives you another 5 Jumpers with change for a Melta Bomb. The loss of WS5 can be made up now in extra wounds for the unit, and more damage output in attacks cool.png

I've only had one game so far, which was going fairly well until I had to call it on account of the adorable xenos in my profile pic becoming ill. I'll have another game this weekend, but overall I'm fairly excited about it. 

Very little is viable competitively anymore.

 

Bored of Melta pods and a Dante Hammer unit already.

 

 

Well at least we have a competitive option again.. ^^ I didn't play our old codex in 7th anymore because everything was way too expensive, and in 6th I had one list that only worked thanks to the old GK codex, so yeah. I can't think of anything our old codex did better (except razor spam which was dead after 5th anyway, or land raider spam which was really bad)

I think the codex is probably what it should be. The Force Organization slot changes did limit a lot of my fun options, though, I think limiting force org choices helps keep the game in check(and yes I know unbound is an option). I liked the flavor and fluff in the Astrorath & death company list, the dante and sanguinary guard list, the baal predators and vindicators 13AV list, non-FOC slot command squads worked great (the move down to 3 equippable vets wasn't great either). The loss of the magna grapple shot significantly changed my list. I never did have enough dreadnoughts, but having them in elite and heavy support could have made things interesting.

 

Mephiston is no longer what was essentially a monstrous creature. I suppose that makes sense, but I would have liked to have seen some new 'beatstick' in the codex. I don't know, maybe that's Dante. The loss of army-wide descent of Angels might have been a big problem but I've largely gone away from jump pack lists (not to mention there still is Dante getting it automatically, the random warlord trait, the relic, and formations that can still give you similar bonuses--so that tactic is still there). Baals losing scout wasn't a terrible loss to me, but I find that I really need to ignore cover in the anti-infantry portion of my games. That pewter baal is what brought me into Blood Angels so I'll probably continue to stubbornly use it. I think there's always a use for fast moving units in 7th edition.

 

Blood strike missiles got toned down on the Stormraven, but I think it's still a decent gunship. I rarely use sanguinary priests as I subscribe to a general philosophy that kill power > survivability in my units. I suppose the loss of the FNP bubble might be upsetting to some. I think the priest + relic jump pack + sanguinary guard unit of about 7 is probably going to be hard to kill and good in hand to hand.

 

Vindicators arguably got better, though I worry they aren't great against Monstrous Creatures, which are quite popular these days. I think tactical squads may be a lot more viable with reduced points, heavy flamer and grav guns. I'm using combat squads in pods there. I think the real winner is that initiative bonus in that detachment. Initiative is a really really big deal. 

 

I suppose I'm still trying to figure out new combinations and I don't see that as a problem for the codex. The problem I'm trying to figure out is how to make deep striking close combat units more effective. 

I'm loving it so far and I've been doing well. Beating Space Marines, Eldar and Dark Eldar (by a hair) but I lost to FW-boosted Chaos Space Marines. The Sanguinary Guard already was, and now very much is, my favorite unit. In the last game they tore through Khorne CSM and wave after wave of daemons like butter.

I think that was rather the point of these new Codexes - screw the tournament scene. I quite like that. 'Competitively viable' is the death of fun. It's no fun playing against people who really just want to steamroller you just because they can.

Very little is viable competitively anymore.

 

Bored of Melta pods and a Dante Hammer unit already.

Compared to the other 7th dexes, there are plenty of things that are viable. Its Eldar and Tau that are currently skewing our perspective on what is competitive. Once these get taken down a peg, I think things will even out much more.

 

I think that was rather the point of these new Codexes - screw the tournament scene. I quite like that. 'Competitively viable' is the death of fun. It's no fun playing against people who really just want to steamroller you just because they can.

Very little is viable competitively anymore.

 

Bored of Melta pods and a Dante Hammer unit already.

 

 

A well balanced competitive game allows for fun balanced games between strangers.

 

Good internal balance leads to multiple viable units at all levels of play. When I say there is little that is competitively viable in the codex, it highlights lacklustre internal balance. Internal balance means people who want to play with whatever models they want can do so without bringing Mandrakes to a gun fight.

I'm liking the dex. Only played one game (smashed some bugs good) but when I pick it up and look through the entries there's plenty of stuff I'd like to try. I'm still hating the fact that SW can do all-jumpers and BA can't though :) The FT detachment got us a little closer to that ideal, but the red thirst is so much better than the FT special rule...specially when you want jump DC.

Compared to the other 7th dexes, there are plenty of things that are viable. Its Eldar and Tau that are currently skewing our perspective on what is competitive. Once these get taken down a peg, I think things will even out much more.

This. I do think Tau is already getting knocked down, Eldar on the other hand will likely still be on top this time next year. Apart from that codex (Eldar) I think we're getting as good a collective codex balance as we've ever had really, though I realize that isn't saying much hah.

The only issue I've had with mine of the table was a complete mental mistake of forgetting that my Sanguinary Guard with axes, Dante, and a Priest would butcher their way through a squad of GK Terminators with halberds led by a Librarian.  I kept blanking on the 2+ armor saves and rather than taking the unit of GKTs head on, I used grav bikers to whittle them down, which meant I didn't have my bikers for killing Dreadknights.

 

In the times where I wasn't making dumb mental mistakes, I've been fairly happy.  I'm underwhelmed by Baal Predators, but that's less of a problem since I'd rather use my HS slots on Stormravens.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.