Nothing new on the Blood Angels this week - work continues and I'm not putting up a picture of half-painted Jump Pack Intercessors. There is other stuff going on though!
It's the week of leaks apparently as after some preview articles on Warhammer Community the entire Space Marine Codex for 11th leaked on Wednesday. It's unusual for the complete book to leak this far ahead but it does happen from time to time. It might be bad for GW on some level but one thing it does is spur the community into a frenzy of activity as the datasheets are analyzed and over-analyzed. As a player it is handy to see in advance what they are doing with various units. We already knew some things were going away but for the units that remain and the new units coming in it lets you get an idea of what you might want to add or modify.
For example, I have a bunch of Outriders. They've been push-fit monopose miniatures since they came out in the 9th edition starter set a few years ago. I have always liked marine bikers in the 40K universe going back to my epic scale armies 35 years ago and my Blood Angels have always had some kind of biker unit in the mix. Right now I have 9 of the regulars plus a biker chaplain to lead them so I was curious what the options would be with a new multi-part kit coming out. I also wanted to see what the new biker captain would do. Now with the leaks I can look over those and make some calls on whether I want to modify my already-finished squads, do I want to mix in some of the new options with a new squad, and do I want to pick up one of the captains to go with them? Having seen the info, well, I'll definitely be getting a captain. I'm not sure I want to cut up a finished model just to add a Thunder Hammer and maybe a plasma pistol on the sergeant. If I can just modify one hand on one guy I might but we will have to see. I could just use the new kit and some extra parts to make 2 new sergeants and add them in - 12 total bikers would give me two squads of six, one for the Chaplain and one for the new Captain and that would work out really nicely but it will still be some work to match up paint jobs. I also cleverly put sequentially numbered decals on the 9 I have and I think that's as high as they go so I painted myself into a corner there when it comes to expansion. I'll figure it out but I'm feeling kind of stupid on that one. I may just leave them as-is and make a new 3 or 6-bike squad with the new kit and mix them all in with the various characters as it comes up for actual games.
Beyond the red marines I have 6 + a Chaplain set aside for the Ravenwing force but thankfully here's an area where procrastination/indecision will actually help me out as I can decide how to modify or add to that batch. I also have a 3-man squad set aside for the Crimson Fists that has seen very limited progress so I have options there too. Beyond that I kind of like the idea of putting a unit in my Black Templars too. No firm decisions there yet though.
So anyway you can see the impact of a new kit that expands or revises an existing unit, adding or taking away options, and the calculations that start when the details emerge. Keep in mind this is just one unit! It's not exactly a "core" marine squad either - they're kind of a flavor add-on option. But the wheels are definitely turning now.
Side Note: The new Ork Codex was the most difficult one to acquire that I have run into in a while. I don't know why. I tend to pick them up as the come out for the armies I am most likely to play and I couldn't tell you the last time I had trouble finding one. For the last few weeks though they were tough to find online other than way overpriced bidding wars for a few on eBay - sorry, I'm not paying extra for a normal, in-print codex. Even the early release versions in limited box sets have been easier to acquire in the past. I finally went to Games Workshop's online store and bought it there, at the new cheaper cover price! No drama, no fuss! Usually I look for less than the GW list price but considering how the search was going and considering they've chopped at least $20 off of what they've gone for over the last few editions I just went with it. Happy to be paying 8th edition list prices in 11th edition I suppose.
 |
| Not mine, I just liked it. |
We are playing again tomorrow with another 2v2 game since there are 4 of us available. It's 1000 points each which is kind of fun to compose after playing 2000 for so long. I played Eldar last time, breaking out my Iyanden Wraith Force for the first time in a while. It was fun but the current Eldar rule adds a whole extra layer of calculation with tracking & spending battle focus tokens and in a small battle where I am also teaching newer players how to play 40K in general while learning 11th alongside them ... I wanted something simpler. So I'm taking Custodes. Their army rule is "decide whether you want Lethal Hits or Sustained Hits for each unit as they fight" so it's way simpler to keep up with during the game. At 1000 points I also have a really small force so it should be pretty easy to run during the game. Army list for fun:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ FACTION KEYWORD: Imperium - Adeptus Custodes
+ DETACHMENT: Shield Host (Martial Mastery)
+ FORCE DISPOSITION: Purge the Foe
+ TOTAL ARMY POINTS: 970pts
+
+ WARLORD: Char1: Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike
+ ENHANCEMENT: Auric Mantle (on Char1: Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike)
+ NUMBER OF UNITS: 6
+ SECONDARY: - Bring It Down: (1x2) - Assassination: 1 Characters
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Char1: 1x Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Jetbike (155 pts): Warlord, Interceptor lance, Salvo launcher
Enhancement: Auric Mantle (+15 pts)
4x Custodian Guard (170 pts): 4 with Sentinel blade & shield
4x Custodian Guard (170 pts): 4 with Sentinel blade & shield
3x Allarus Custodians (165 pts): 3 with Balistus grenade launcher, Castellan Axe
1x Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnought (165 pts): Galatus warblade
2x Vertus Praetors (145 pts): 2 with Interceptor lance, Salvo launcher
So yeah ... 15 models in the list. Nothing over a 24" range. Captain runs around with the small bike unit. Only 1 character and only 1 unit with any mobility - we will see how it goes but I think it will be fun. I'll share some details after the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment