Expectations based on the SW Dex

[Morticon]

So.....it appears that the first dex after the marine release has seen quite a stripped down version of the SW - with them even losing strats (and relics I believe) from the index!! 

 

That's a very weird one. 

Anyone else have anything to chime in with? 

[WrathOfTheLion]

So I play SW/DA right now, expanding into Lamenters from BA. I don't think this is correct, it looks reasonably strong for SW. It has nerfed Wulfen, which carried the faction before, but the faction itself is now strong.

 

I do not have the book yet, but they have netted about the same amount of actual unique strats as they had before. So some relics and strats from the index have been churned out, but new ones have come in. It can be a bit of a readjustment, but I don't think anything more of it than that. In general, I was expecting to see more cut, with what we see I think all of SW/BA/DA are fine.

 

I actually don't think the Space Wolf book is much conclusive for Blood Angels, but more for Dark Angels. The addition of abilities for Swiftclaws I think will have stronger implications for adding abilities for Ravenwing and Deathwing. Blood Angels don't really have that sort of keyword scope, so I think that nothing is much conclusive for it.

Edited November 4, 2020 by WrathOfTheLion

[Morticon]

Losing some key strats from the index and relics from the index is an odd one too, and more what I'm interested about. 

 

Touch of the Wild i hear is gone, as is the 2damage bite of Twolves as is the mortal wound ability of WG.  Those are pretty big. 

[Indefragable]

From a certain perspective, BA were the only Astartes to get it right for most of 8th Ed, until SM 2.0 and the Supplements dropped. I mean, OG Smash Captain, the immortal Slamguinius, basically forced the devs to both re-write parts of the game and create the Smash Captain Olympics giving other chapters and factions ways of mimicking our boy. While things have certainly changed, you can see the imprint that was made by BA and how that could hold up in our Supplement. Likewise, based on our Interim Index, you can see the start of some patterns, with lots of ways to get +1 To Hit on melee units and the Sang Priest’s re-work being far more impactful than the +1S of 8th Ed. 
 

The question is going to be how devs want to move away from 8th’s style of play for BA or whether it overall worked as intended but too strong /weak at certain times. 

[Xenith]

As SW's have always been the favoured sons of rules writers, I think it's unwise to base any hope or expectation for BA on what SW get.

 

That said, IH had a good shake last edition. The Goonhammer review indicates SW are in a decent position with the supplement. Can't remember specifics though. 

[smileyjim]

Touch of the wild was very silly, its a good thing that's gone

[Karhedron]

As SW's have always been the favoured sons of rules writers, I think it's unwise to base any hope or expectation for BA on what SW get.

Really? SW were pretty close to the bottom of the Astartes pile for much of 8th with only Wulfen flyer spam to keep them competitive. There was a brief burst of popularity when Impulsors came out but that involved the specific gimmick that the old 6" HI was just enough for jump characters to HI over a wall of circling Impulsors. It worked but it didn't really seem very wolfy to me.

 

Back on topic, it suggests that we can't take it for granted that stratagems we have grown to depend on will reappear. The good news is that Psychic powers look to be getting favourable attention. I wonder if "Unleash rage" will now boost the target unit into the Assault Doctrine? That seems an ability that occurs a couple of times in the SW codex.

[Charlo]

TWC are back in a big way, basically.

 

Everyone is just bringing their 7th ed models out for 9th ed ;)

 

However I think its best to not judge the future of a BA book on the SW one, too many variables.

[Majkhel]

I'm with Charlo on this and will have no expectations based on the SW Codex :P

[Shaezus]

The loss of index strats and relics seems to suggest another shift, though I'm not sure if the SW losses were things introduced in Psychic Awakening or before.

 

Might be wrong but the BA index strats are what remains from Blood of Baal, the rest are already integrated into datasheets or gone.

[Karhedron]

Yes, the SW stuff was mostly PA I think (not 100% certain here).

[Jolemai]

The only expectation I have is the price, and one I still resent having to pay.