So. Marines have been gifted the Necron treatment, being handed a Detachment of Formations to abuse and plenty of new special rules to crush the opposers of humanity. Anywhere from a full company that gets free transports to near-unkillable Land Raiders, there are enough formations to please even the most hardened veterans.
The formation that everyone was excited about was of course, the Demi-Company, which unlocks the Tactical Doctrine and Objective Secured, while taking two just opens up a world of pain thanks to free transports. Yes.
Free.
Now, to be fair, unlocking those free transports can only be done by following some pretty stringent restrictions, but I think it pays off.
Some new things of note include Tiggy, the super-librarian-jerk, being able to hand Rending out to units every turn thanks to his warlord trait (because we all need another reason to take this guy), and Lysander, Pedro and Vulkan He'Stan being gifted with Feel No Pain, which makes them some of the toughest marines out!
One thing that saddens me is that there is no bike-heavy "White-Scar-esque" formation available. I know that a lot of their special rules are built into their chapter tactics and Korsarro Khan, but it would have been cool. Bikers seemed to have been the only unit to miss out on the party! Even scouts have been given a buff at BS4 now! And yes, you can take them in a Demi-company, but free transports for a bike squad kind of loses some emphasis.
Before I move past formations, I would be remiss if I did not discuss the Skyhammer Annhialation Force, the web exclusive bundle that literally ignores all the rules and just clubs people like baby seals. Games Workshop has been very clear that to use the formation in store, you must have the official data card (only obtained by dropping $600+ on a limited release bundle), and in that I take no solace. People are still going to use the formation. It's too good not to. Seriously, look it up and be disgusted.
But enough of that!
As you may know, I have always been a huge fan of Salamanders. And through their highs and lows, I have stuck with them. So how does this new edition treat them? Actually, really well. Not iron hands/imperial fist well, but certainly better than Raven Guard. Poor, poor raven guard.
So what's new for salamanders? Well, twin-linked Flamers and master crafted weapons on characters is still there, which is great! Instead of re-rolling armour saves against flamer weapons, now they just get Feel No Pain, which is a bit of a set-back, but to be fair, it's very rare to see a flamer in my community.
Vulkan He'Stan just hit next level tough, with his new warlord trait, leaving him with 2+, 3++, FNP, which is no laughing matter! And taking Vulkan still unlocks master-crafted Meltas, Multi-meltas and Combi-meltas. Now, interestingly, the combi-melta as a whole gets master crafted, meaning any bolter rounds fired also get a re-roll to hit. Even more interestingly, you can give said master-crafted Combi-meltas to Sternguard, who can then fire special ammunition with frightening accuracy! I wouldn't say it's game breaking, but it's something I fully intend on taking advantage of.
Now that I can unlock free drop pods, I will most likely end up running a Gladius Strike force with small units of marines geared up for short ranged fire fights as a kind of "Alpha Strike" drop pod assault list that packs some (and I apologise before I even say it) heat. Get it? Salamanders? Fire born. Ok, the joke is dead...
All in all, I think the book is a satisfying one, and marines have absolutely nothing to complain about!
This week, I have once again lavished attention upon my Necrons, being entirely uninspired to paint fantasy in these days leading up to a new way to play. And so, I have added a Destroyer Lord to lead my Destroyer Cult. Accompanying him are ten Deathmarks, who I am a big fan of! These silent, robot sniper space-hunters are quite capable of dropping any unit to its knees, and are only magnified in power when joined by the D-Lord sporting a Veil of Darkness and giving preferred enemy to his squad. On the turn they drop, they are quite capable of dishing out 16-17 wounds on the biggest, baddest thing I can find, and hopefully killing it through sheer weight of fire. Wraith knight getting you down? Having trouble with a Carnifex infestation? These guys are the answer. In my 1850 point tournament list, this combination offers me a handy answer to some of the bigger problems I might face!
Well, with any luck, these coming weeks will give us much direction on the Fantasy front, but until then, thanks so very much for reading!
Gabriel
No comments:
Post a Comment