BA Codex 0.2 Speculation/Discussion

[lazyj]

 

Meltacides viable again? Fragiosos come back to life?

 

Maybe not Fragiosos since they still have to drop out of flamer range, but DC Dreads with Magna grapple will be fun against unscreened vehicles.

 

 

Not possible. Dreads (of any variety) can't go in a drop pod

[Captain Antargo]

Unless you get a Dreadnought drop pod

[lazyj]

Unless you get a Dreadnought drop pod

Isn't that like 120 points though? 

[RedemptionNL]

And being a FW unit, might not have the matched play rule to be able to arrive first turn until they update it. Which might take a while, if ever, considering it's GW.

[Panzer]

 

Unless you get a Dreadnought drop pod

Isn't that like 120 points though? 

 

 

Yeah, so? A Dreadnought is also much more potent than some infantry. If GW updates the Dreadnought Drop Pods datasheet for 40k to have the same rule then it might be worth it. Not an auto-take mind you, but worth it.

[Captain Antargo]

As long as you have enough points spare, the drop pod and the dreadnought would cost around 300 points which isn't too bad, it's worth it and it's useful, especially for BA!

[Gingerninja]

What dread would you guys chose then?

 

I really like the Leviathan, the problem there is that its a relic and so i need another heavy support unit. I think i would go with the double Grav-Flux. (Leviathan and DropPod will be my next buy)

I like the Redemptor, cool looking and a mix of CC and Shooting but no invu then also the DC dread, but both the Redemptor and DC dread i feel is a bit lackluster.

[Neuralshock]

On a previous topic, I think it's telling that since we don't get access to combat doctrines we'll be getting our own flavored doctrines to support the BA playstyle. I would think we'd get a blitz doctrine where move, advance, and charge rolls get a plus one. Buffed to +2 for jump units. I could also see an ability or strat that prevents opponents from falling back out of combat.

 

As for balance I wonder if we'll see some kind of "supplements" for more options. Considering dex marines can pull from 18 WL traits and psychic powers, 12 relics, and that's before you factor in stuff like vigilus.

[Sea-People]

The new drop pod rule allows for a full blown null-deploy. I wasn't around for that when it existed earlier. Is it worth looking into again? That feels like a prime candidate for an FAQ though. You can also keep pods in reserve past turn 3, which could be highly useful for maybe dropping empty pods on objectives late game.

 

Are we sure it allows null deploy? My reading of the rule says yes but it feels too good to be true!

[Charlo]

Seems so.

 

But remember some units from other armies will straight up counter it.

 

Stealth suits etc.

[Hintzy]

It does seem too good to be true, it'll probably get addressed in the following FAQ. I don't own any drop pods yet, but I'd like to. The concept was a big draw for me to the Space Marines in the first place.

[Chronos1985]

Passing along some interesting info my local manager passed along to me. His friend has been on the playtesting team for about a year now, and dropped a hint that Mephiston has been part of the playtesting. My natural follow ups were how long has he been, will he be part of the future codex/supplement release, and was any other Blood Angel character in testing. He wouldn't give me much else understandably.  Not mind blowing news as I imagine everyone figured our releases are upcoming in the next 6-12 months, but thought it was interesting that he's been playtesting for some time now. Obviously, take it with a grain of salt. But then again, it's obvious Mephiston will be released at some point hint or not.

 

One other thing though, more on the general state of playtesting. His friend commented that he has been really impressed with the evolution of GW's playtesting and in his opinion as players we should see a noticeable difference in balancing, and exciting rules. 

[Neuralshock]

Cool stuff. although I'll bet Mephy won't be primaris but rather go through his own metamorphosis to become a loyalist DP equivalent?

[Chronos1985]

Cool stuff. although I'll bet Mephy won't be primaris but rather go through his own metamorphosis to become a loyalist DP equivalent?

Sadly, it's all I got =/. I'm hoping it means he's ready to be released with our codex/supplement though. He wasn't sure if we were getting 1-2 characters. But he speculated (the manager not the playtestor) that Mephiston is likely given he's been played with and tweaked by the testors. Maybe for the new awakening event along with others like Azrael? *shrugs*

[Dont-Be-Haten]

I could see mephiston or the sanguinor getting a beefed up size. Probably not Abbadon size but then again one of them could get that large. Mephiston needs a new model regardless so maybe they are sending g him through the Rubicon and tweaking him.

 

Exciting speculations in any case.

[Spagunk]

Warp powers should be enough to make an impact for a size revamp. I don't think he'd volunteer for a primaris upgrade though since he likely wants no one to be looking at him that close.

[Bonzi]

Mephiston is a good bet given the Psychic Awakening teasers. I can see a tie in with several prominent psykers getting a redo of one kind or another. I'd like to see us get some kind of large monster character given that we know BA will never be getting their Primarch back.

 

My dream list for BA is new/better Dante, Mephiston, Astorath, and Sanguinor.

 

Astorath is a dark horse candidate for an update because of the new Litanies GW is giving. He would be one of three named chaplains with a dated model (though still pretty cool).

[Indefragable]

<snip>

 

Great feedback, Frater!

 

++++++++++++

 

On a different note, I would like to see the next version of Mephiston beefed up with some combo of 2ish of the following:

 

• T6
• T5 with -1 To Wound (if a weapon's strength is 10 or less or something)
• Native 4++ invulnerable (one of my big pet peeves is how Mephy is THE beatstick librarian outside of Drago yet so many other pure caster chief librarians get native invulns and he does not)
• Native 5++ and 4+++ super-FNP
• 4+++ super-FNP (be sure the wording is clear that he gets it no matter)
• +1 to Deny the Witch
• +1 to casting powers from Sanguinary table
• May re-roll any dice when attempting to cast from the Sanguinary table

 

...and if Primaris-ified:

• +1A +2W, but I think that's a safe bet

 

In short, as one of the legendary top psykers of the Imperium he should be ~200pts worth of :cuss -ery. I'm a bit biased, since I think named characters (especially iconic ones like Meph) should in general be more expensive yet come with more abilities/goodies that more than the sum of just adding generic abilities together. I also know I may also skew into super-fanboy territory for wanting so much out of Dante and Mephiston, but I think it's justified since they are the most iconic characters in our book, known for being singular legends in the history of the Imperium, and longevity of such characters is kind of what the Blood Angels are known for.

 

<dreaming over>

[Phiasco]

Mephiston is a good bet given the Psychic Awakening teasers. I can see a tie in with several prominent psykers getting a redo of one kind or another. I'd like to see us get some kind of large monster character given that we know BA will never be getting their Primarch back.

My dream list for BA is new/better Dante, Mephiston, Astorath, and Sanguinor.

Astorath is a dark horse candidate for an update because of the new Litanies GW is giving. He would be one of three named chaplains with a dated model (though still pretty cool).

I’d also love to see one of our big bois get bigger. What would be the point though? As far as i can see, marines are getting more and more pure shooty and less cc. I had hoped for some sort of cc focused primaris, but thats not the way things seem to be going :(.

[Dont-Be-Haten]

 

Mephiston is a good bet given the Psychic Awakening teasers. I can see a tie in with several prominent psykers getting a redo of one kind or another. I'd like to see us get some kind of large monster character given that we know BA will never be getting their Primarch back.

My dream list for BA is new/better Dante, Mephiston, Astorath, and Sanguinor.

Astorath is a dark horse candidate for an update because of the new Litanies GW is giving. He would be one of three named chaplains with a dated model (though still pretty cool).

I’d also love to see one of our big bois get bigger. What would be the point though? As far as i can see, marines are getting more and more pure shooty and less cc. I had hoped for some sort of cc focused primaris, but thats not the way things seem to be going .

 

Calgar is a beat stick for sure, and an amazing one at that. Gravis Captain just got even more tanky with a great sword. Just because they are moving to a more trench warfare style of play doesn't mean that they are completely out with regards to Close combat. Sallies are supposedly getting thunder hammers on intercessor sergeants. And they bumped up to 3 attacks in the first round of combat. looking more balanced than we might think. Just look at aggressors. 4 attacks on the charge with power fists. Then we also have the new double hits on 6s for combat knives as well as whirlwind of rage chapter tactic.

[Indefragable]

Space Marines were always supposed to be the army in the game that is versatile at both shooting and CC, as compared to shooty IG/Tau/Eldar and stabby Orkz, 'Nids, etc...

 

This new book, if anything, seems to be increasing some of the CC prowess of the vanilla SM. Perhaps BA/DA/SW will allow more CQC weapon options on the new units.

[Panzer]

It's important to note that the only real melee units for classic Marines are veteran units and we still haven't gotten there with Primaris, so there's no reason to be pessimistic just yet. Not to mention that they already are more punchy than classic Marines have ever been (minus the veterans).

[SnorriSnorrison]

If we get access to the updated drop pod rule, then perhaps you could drop things like tactical or devastator squads around mid-field and start blasting away.

What do you guys think of a 5 man dev squad with 4 grav cannons in a pod? Viable first turn strike or a good way to waste 250-ish points?

[Morticon]

Snorri that combo is under 200 points! But, yeh, not bad at all. It's definitely going to see play again.

[SnorriSnorrison]

Snorri that combo is under 200 points! But, yeh, not bad at all. It's definitely going to see play again.

Did something get a discount? I was looking at the Dev squad, 177 + 65 for the pod. :)

The tacticals would be cheaper for sure!

 

Cool thing is that you can get the Devs + Tacs in one pod and basically screen a good portion of the table turn one, ready for the mechanized, jump- and bike-troop advance. Or set up a good firebase close to an objective, or walk into cover. Opportunities here.