Combat Patrol Boxes (Replace Start Collecting Boxes)

[jimbo1701]

We're probably a year or two off seeing primaris versions of things like Sanguinary Guard yet, unfortunately. It does seem odd that the BA box doesn't have assault intercessors, but eh. A transport and a librarian both fit the chapter pretty well.

Agree about the assault intercessors but probably because the multipart not released yet.

[Redcomet]

My impression of the boxes sets echoes my sentiments around primaris in general. Lovely models, but so bland. If after 3 years the most flavourful models they can come up with for long established chapters is a rubicon crossing special character and units that are effectively rehashes of other units maybe with an upgrade sprue thrown in (death company, morkai) then that is tragic.

 

I appreciate the necessity for primaris and there’s no doubting the economic prosperity they have brought to the company. I just feel the execution could have been better. One of the main appeals of marines in 40k for me was the divergent chapters and how they did things differently to others. That and marines being clad in armour and weapons. Centuries / millennia old, with each component having it’s own history. Primaris have undermined all of that sadly.

Not as much undermined as brought back to the beginning. There is a GW podcast of Jes Goodwin talking about the design ideas behind Primaris looking so plain. Well worth a watch. 

[BolterZorro]

I'm looking forward to seeing the patrol box of Death Guard. It will tell us at least several things:

- patrol for everyone (at codex launch?)

- new start co replacement (but more expensive)

- new deal? (40% off?)

- content & first deal for DG (except the battleforces & v8 starters)

[Magos Takatus]

I like the look of the BA box but I just can't justify another large box of space marines with my current multi-army pile of shame. I'm currently grinding my way slowly through Ork Boys but I have Blood Bowl teams from the current boxed set, some Ork stuff, Eldar, marines, etc.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

The BA box is disappointingly bland. If you take out the BA upgrade sprue there’s literally nothing about it that’s BA specific of even themed. Even the choice of units seem pretty strange for Blood Angels.

 

It might be a good deal financially but it could be the combat patrol box for literally any chapter and that’s pretty disappointing.

That's mostly true for combat patrol in general though. Only having 500 points to work with makes fitting in specialist units tough.

[Xenith]

The BA box is disappointingly bland. If you take out the BA upgrade sprue there’s literally nothing about it that’s BA specific of even themed. Even the choice of units seem pretty strange for Blood Angels.

 

It might be a good deal financially but it could be the combat patrol box for literally any chapter and that’s pretty disappointing.

 

BA are a codex chapter that has a preference for close quarter fighting, rapid assaults, their support units to be able to fight in close quarters, and has more psychically talented bretheren than other chapters.

 

Intercessors with transport

fire support with fists

infiltrating close support.

Librarian.

 

All of these are units that fit the Blood Angels thematically. If you want to you can always paint the intercessors black?

Edited November 2, 2020 by Xenith

[Magos Takatus]

 

The BA box is disappointingly bland. If you take out the BA upgrade sprue there’s literally nothing about it that’s BA specific of even themed. Even the choice of units seem pretty strange for Blood Angels.

 

It might be a good deal financially but it could be the combat patrol box for literally any chapter and that’s pretty disappointing.

 

BA are a codex chapter that has a preference for close quarter fighting, rapid assaults, their support units to be able to fight in close quarters, and has more psychically talented bretheren than other chapters.

 

Intercessors with transport

fire support with fists

infiltrating close support.

Librarian.

 

All of these are units that fit the Blood Angels thematically. If you want to you can always paint the intercessors black?

 

I agree entirely. The Blood Angels were once a noble chapter that had a tragic flaw. Somewhere along the lines they got Flanderized into all assault, all the time. I've never seen them as loyalist World Eaters and I don't think they should be treated as such. Sure, a lot of their unique units a melee-focused, but that's the case with a few marine chapters.

[evilhomer]

 

My impression of the boxes sets echoes my sentiments around primaris in general. Lovely models, but so bland. If after 3 years the most flavourful models they can come up with for long established chapters is a rubicon crossing special character and units that are effectively rehashes of other units maybe with an upgrade sprue thrown in (death company, morkai) then that is tragic.

 

I appreciate the necessity for primaris and there’s no doubting the economic prosperity they have brought to the company. I just feel the execution could have been better. One of the main appeals of marines in 40k for me was the divergent chapters and how they did things differently to others. That and marines being clad in armour and weapons. Centuries / millennia old, with each component having it’s own history. Primaris have undermined all of that sadly.

Not as much undermined as brought back to the beginning. There is a GW podcast of Jes Goodwin talking about the design ideas behind Primaris looking so plain. Well worth a watch. 

 

 

Yeah, you're right there. If you look at Jes's marines from 2nd edition and even 3rd edition, basic marines were fairly utilitarian. For quite a while this was the norm; I remember a bit of text in white dwarf under a picture of a  tactical squad ages ago that said the White Panthers were strict adherents to the Codex Astartes and the only "deviation" from the codex was the inclusion of an older mk VI suit of power armour. From 4th (or was it 5th?) edition onwards marines started to get more "warrior monkish" with stuff like the second box of veterans, or the Eavy Metal team painting text on the studios Ultramarines' armour, which was heavily influenced by the Black Templars codex (which itself leaned heavily on Matt Hudson's Black Templars). I actually prefer the cleaner look to be honest, and I think some of the marines releases pre-Primaris ended up looking a bit over the top. That said, Jes does comment in that podcast that while the initial Primaris releases would be clean, future releases would include a lot of the gothic stuff people like in marines, and this is what we're seeing with the Blade Guard. While we've have upgrade sprues for the main marine factions, I fully expect dedicated Primaris boxes in the next year or two which will be suitably blinged-up (alongside a proper Veteran Intercessor box). I think part of the reason the Combat Patrol Boxes are being put out is to get some more life out of these older Primaris kits and upgrade sprues before additional faction-specific ones are released in the future.

[EnsignJoker]

 

 

 

 

The BA box is disappointingly bland. If you take out the BA upgrade sprue there’s literally nothing about it that’s BA specific of even themed. Even the choice of units seem pretty strange for Blood Angels.

 

It might be a good deal financially but it could be the combat patrol box for literally any chapter and that’s pretty disappointing.

BA are a codex chapter that has a preference for close quarter fighting, rapid assaults, their support units to be able to fight in close quarters, and has more psychically talented bretheren than other chapters.

 

Intercessors with transport

fire support with fists

infiltrating close support.

Librarian.

 

All of these are units that fit the Blood Angels thematically. If you want to you can always paint the intercessors black?

I agree entirely. The Blood Angels were once a noble chapter that had a tragic flaw. Somewhere along the lines they got Flanderized into all assault, all the time. I've never seen them as loyalist World Eaters and I don't think they should be treated as such. Sure, a lot of their unique units a melee-focused, but that's the case with a few marine chapters.

There is precedent for them being the maniac loyalist chapter though; in third edition half your army might surge forwards towards the enemy depending on dice rolls. This included devastators and scouts which was very in opportune when it happened lol.

[Xenith]

 

There is precedent for them being the maniac loyalist chapter though; in third edition half your army might surge forwards towards the enemy depending on dice rolls. This included devastators and scouts which was very in opportune when it happened lol.

 

The key point being that devastators and scouts were still present in BA armies.

 

The argument was that battleline units and heavy support options were unfluffy or unthematic for BA.

Edited November 2, 2020 by Xenith

[WARMASTER_]

 

 

 

 

My impression of the boxes sets echoes my sentiments around primaris in general. Lovely models, but so bland. If after 3 years the most flavourful models they can come up with for long established chapters is a rubicon crossing special character and units that are effectively rehashes of other units maybe with an upgrade sprue thrown in (death company, morkai) then that is tragic.

 

I appreciate the necessity for primaris and there’s no doubting the economic prosperity they have brought to the company. I just feel the execution could have been better. One of the main appeals of marines in 40k for me was the divergent chapters and how they did things differently to others. That and marines being clad in armour and weapons. Centuries / millennia old, with each component having it’s own history. Primaris have undermined all of that sadly.

Not as much undermined as brought back to the beginning. There is a GW podcast of Jes Goodwin talking about the design ideas behind Primaris looking so plain. Well worth a watch.

Yeah, you're right there. If you look at Jes's marines from 2nd edition and even 3rd edition, basic marines were fairly utilitarian. For quite a while this was the norm; I remember a bit of text in white dwarf under a picture of a tactical squad ages ago that said the White Panthers were strict adherents to the Codex Astartes and the only "deviation" from the codex was the inclusion of an older mk VI suit of power armour. From 4th (or was it 5th?) edition onwards marines started to get more "warrior monkish" with stuff like the second box of veterans, or the Eavy Metal team painting text on the studios Ultramarines' armour, which was heavily influenced by the Black Templars codex (which itself leaned heavily on Matt Hudson's Black Templars). I actually prefer the cleaner look to be honest, and I think some of the marines releases pre-Primaris ended up looking a bit over the top. That said, Jes does comment in that podcast that while the initial Primaris releases would be clean, future releases would include a lot of the gothic stuff people like in marines, and this is what we're seeing with the Blade Guard. While we've have upgrade sprues for the main marine factions, I fully expect dedicated Primaris boxes in the next year or two which will be suitably blinged-up (alongside a proper Veteran Intercessor box). I think part of the reason the Combat Patrol Boxes are being put out is to get some more life out of these older Primaris kits and upgrade sprues before additional faction-specific ones are released in the future.

My favourite quotes from those podcast were “They started looking like Christmas trees”! lol gotta love Jez

 

Exactly this though... they started off plain so they had room to build up from if everyone is covered in honours looking important then no one does, plus the tactical squad was always pretty plain just a mix of armour marks,

 

The Bladeguard are a step in the right direction though for me they’ve come out beautiful and they’ll give us enough bits to start converting :)

 

 

I think the blood angels box seems about right really they’re a completely codex complaint chapter but for a few deviations and it’ll a great value box for all marine players, so no point complaining

[Blindhamster]

 

 

There is precedent for them being the maniac loyalist chapter though; in third edition half your army might surge forwards towards the enemy depending on dice rolls. This included devastators and scouts which was very in opportune when it happened lol.

 

The key point being that devastators and scouts were still present in BA armies.

 

The argument was that battleline units and heavy support options were unfluffy or unthematic for BA.

 

Exactly

 

Blood Angels are codex adherent chapter, they have the flaw and it's been portrayed as a true negative with benefits and just as a benefit mechanically over the editions, but ultimately Blood Angels use the same tactics as any other chapter, they just happen to have a tendency to perform pretty impressive assaults when they choose to let loose. Their deviations from the codex used to essentially just be where the flaw dictated it.

Death Company. Technically I guess also close combat dreadnaughts, but honestly thats not really a deviation anymore when such things are available to all chapters anyway. Sanguinary guard are just honour guard with jump packs, which makes sense when old wing boy had well... wings.

 

They have a larger librarius than normal, so makes sense this set comes with a librarian. They do like close combat, so makes sense that one of the troop options is incursors. They still make use of shooting, so intercessors makes sense too, and they can be painted black as others have said. The impulsor makes sense as a transport for either of those units. The Aggressors? they still have assault weapons so can advance and still shoot, and they're not half bad in close combat, they're also durable enough to get to melee now thanks to the two strats available to them (before anything BA might add).

 

So yeah, honestly I'd be pretty happy with this box if I didn't already have all the stuff in it.

[Talbaz]

I am curious as to what the DG Combat Patrol looks like. I am even more curoius about what the frist couple of Non-Imperial Space Marine boxes look like.

[Dark Shepherd]

Like with rebranding the stores to Warhammer from GW renaming Start Collecting boxes Combat Patrol is definitely going to help get kids hooked on the plastic crack

[Hantheman]

Good value but utterly unoriginal, generic marine in X colour box sets.

 

A shame really. Three non-codex compliant, unique chapters that are no more really.

Edited November 3, 2020 by Hantheman

[Blindhamster]

blood angels arent and officially werent in any edition except kinda 5th a non compliant chapter. They all still have their unique units where their unique units were actually unique. IMO they missed a trick by not having the wolves box with hounds of morkai paintjob and BA one should maybe have had the intercessors be shown as the DC intercessors, but thats about it.

[sarabando]

I'm hoping the 1k sons one has more marines and less gors

[Spagunk]

BA being codex adherent is up to some interpretation: Is it just Organization structure? Is it Force Organization? Is it roles for units? 

 

Technically Dark Angels "Officially" have this as well but that's not exactly true since they consider the wings outside this structure plus their secrets™. SW and Templars being the MOST divergent. BA does have the standard 1k marines, 10 per unit max, 10 companies of 100 marines each which is defined by the codex astartes. Roles/units have swung a lot over the years. Many codex units moved a lot and continued to do so until 8th which mirrored the 7th edition codex. I still don't think it's strictly codex adherent unless you narrow your view to only force org or only company org etc.

 

1998: Units pulled from base codex but rearranged to fit supplement/divergence. Did not have standard codex squad markings. Not a lot about how the companies really work so assumed codex adherent (2-5 battleline, 6-9 reserves, 10 scouts). Noted that chaplains guard against Black Rage instead of normal chaplain duties, SHP take on additional roles due to Red Thirst.  Sanguinary High(HQ) < apothecary, BA Honour Guard(HQ) < command squad, +Death Company(Elites), +Veteran Assault Squads(Elites), +Furioso Dreads(Elite), +CCW Scouts(Troop), +Baal Predators(Heavy). This seems like the MOST codex adherent state

 

2007: No big new fluff added and still has unique squad markings and livery. Libbies mentioned as being a bit more common in BA but still rare. DC now Elites, Dreads now elites, Scouts now elites, Assault now troops. Rest same as above.

 

2009: Additional fluff stating that standard escalation is different: Scout > Assault > Devs > Tactical. Still non-standard livery/squad markings. Libbies being mentioned as more common. Added Sanguinary Guard (Elites), Sanguinor (HQ), Storm Raven(Hvy). Veteran squad now Sternguard, Sanguinary priests now Elites, Troops = Tacs DC DC Dread Assault Squads, Veteran Assault Squads now Fast, Baal Pred now Fast, Dread now Heavy.

2014: Updated fluff (I.E. "BA adhere as closely to Codex Astartes as the flaw allows"). Also mentions standard company structures but refines that 6-7 are tactical companies, 8-9 specialists, 10 is scouts. Actually flushes out more about chapter command with caveats and roles of Sanguinary Priests, Reclusium (Part of chapter command, not subordinate orgs). Mentions added role as counsel for determining Chapter Master succession. Adds Sanguinary Guard as part of command structure (I.E. dedicated order). +Libby Dread (HQ), Sanguinary Priest now HQ, Command squad now Elites, Dc now Elites, Lemartes now Elites, Dreadnought now Elites, DC dread now Elite, Vanguard Vets now Elite (Replaced VAS), Assault Squads now Fast.

2017: Some updates to 2014 with actual "Watch" roles for the various captains. A bit more iteration on chapter org post Primaris but largely still the same. Many unique units filled spaces and a few units were not carried over from normal space marine codex. This was definitely a move to be more like the space marine codex but still somewhat divergent.

 

 

It certainly seems to me that Primaris is the next move to making all marines codex adherent; save SW which remains to be seen how that works out. But I don't think it is fair to say that BA has ALWAYS been codex adherent because it really depends on your point of view. At different times, codex units filled different roles or operated differently. There was always the base line of "BA REALLY like assaulting; way more than any other chapters" which expanded to "they have more assault units" then back to "the assault units are the same, they're just better at it" and then back down to "all BA are slightly better at assaulting". VAS/Vanguard Vets and Jump pack Honor Guards have existed since 3rd and expanded how many assault units you can throw on the table. It was only since 5th when they made Vanguard Vets a unit for all that this brought standard marines closer to BA.

 

Getting back to topic, the new kits don't really call out as very BA but if you use the view that Primaris brings us closer to standard then it makes sense: The assaulty nature being fulfilled by the transport and support for assault being fulfilled by the librarian (assumption). At the same time, I don't really see this box as being specifically close combat oriented but more like being able to move and fire weapons type of assaulty.

Edited November 3, 2020 by Spagunk

[quasistellar]

Let's just be real here.  The only thing that would make a subset of BA fans happy is to have BA specific units in the box.  That's it.  Sang guard, death company, libby dread, or a sang priest, etc.  But, we all know they aren't going to do that anymore as they roll out Primaris.  They just aren't.  Plus, it's incentive to spend more money on those specialized units in individual kits.

 

What they could have ( and should have) done was at least have death company intercessors painted on the box.  The fact that they didn't makes me think that maybe new supplement death company intercessors will be assault intercessors instead of regular, and we won't be getting a non-ETB assault intercessor kit.

[WrathOfTheLion]

They already announced and showed the MPK for assault intercessors.

 

Edit: To add, for the lazy

 

Article:

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/09/12/the-codex-show/

 

Images:

 

 

 

Edited November 3, 2020 by WrathOfTheLion

[quasistellar]

Forgot about that. Man they are dragging this out lol

[WARMASTER_]

Man I hope they get announced for pre order Sunday I’m dying waiting for these and Bladeguard!

[01RTB01]

Man I hope they get announced for pre order Sunday I’m dying waiting for these and Bladeguard!

Reckon you'll be waiting for the next supplement to be honest, especially if flayed ones aren't until January as rumoured.

[WARMASTER_]

 

Man I hope they get announced for pre order Sunday I’m dying waiting for these and Bladeguard!

Reckon you'll be waiting for the next supplement to be honest, especially if flayed ones aren't until January as rumoured.

Aw man I’m hoping not the flayed ones only got spoiled a month ago the bladeguard and assault guys were way before them ...

[01RTB01]

I think production has taken a hammering. I still haven't got my Doomstalker and lokhust heavy Destroyers that were pre ordered on pre order day... (Not a grumble, tis what it is)