Astra Militarium: short list of biggest changes

So it has arrived, new shiny 104 sheets hardback codex for Imperial Guard. Finally writers of GW made a serious push and made flluffy part of Imperial Guard more detailed by adding a version of Ministry of War. This however is not a significant change just a polishing of details. In short, entire codex (who does not have a leading author this time) have a feel of polished version of previous codex. Now lets talk about biggest changes.

1. Points. 

Yes, majority of weapon upgrades have been changed. Most of plasma and power weapons are at least 5 pts more expensive. On the other side, majority of other weapons like lascannons, grenade launchers, flamers, are at least 5 or 10 points cheaper. Same goes for most infantry upgrades like doctrines for veterans, medi-packs, Comissars, ect. Valkyries and Vendettas are much more expensive, 125 and 170 pts respectively. Most of surviving characters are cheaper as well, Yarrick is 145 pts, for example.  

2. Tank commander.

Finally those pesky armored units can upgrade to have a character with their own Orders and tactics. This is one of the biggest changes and improvements for the Imperial Guard. Three orders give and extra move, allow to split fire and use smoke immediately after firing weapons. Good old Pask is still here and as any other Tank commander is BS4.   

3. Modified units.

Some of the Elite units have been upgraded.and improved. Long standing outcry for Stormtroopers have been heard. Now they are called Militarium Tempestus Scions, have their own command squad, improve morale of friendlies in vicinity of 18", may shout orders and may be grouped up to 10 models in the unit. Hot-shots got an extra support weapon with Strength 4, range 24" and salvo 2/4 ability.     

Ogryns got an assault version called Bullgryns, with carapace armour and 5+ invulnerable due to the huge shield they are carrying. 

Vendetta lost 6 places for passengers. Hydra is 10 points cheaper. Ratlings now have the ability to shoot and run (not like they ever needed it). Psyker battle squad now called Wyrdane psyker and follows rules for Brotherhood of Psykers with 4 disciplines under their belt. 

Minitorum Priest ever useful in close combat are even more awesome, since they can boost combat effectiveness for each fight sub-phase. In short: re-roll any save, re-roll to wound or gain Smash rule. Zealot comes handy as well.

Enginseer gained an extremely useful ability to bestow a Power of Machine Spirit to any friendly vehicle in 12" for one turn. So now we can jump around and fire at will with any heavy tank.       

4. New vehicles.

Well strictly speaking there is only two Taurox APC and Wyvern mobile mortar. Latter one is an improved version of old Griffon, without rule for accurate bombardment. Instead we get two mortar shots with Ignore cover, Shred and small blast. Yawn.

Taurox on the other hand is a new beast.  In functionality in resembles Rhino, same stats and access points, plus two firing points and ability to re-roll dangerous terrain test. The biggest downfall is that it is a HUGE target, as tall as Basilisk. 

Taurox Prime, is a version of light tank/APC for Scions has a BS 4 and a huge variety of weapons, like battle cannons, missile launchers, hot-shot volley gun, autocannon or Gatling cannon. In addition it is a fast vehicle. But then again, it is a lightly armored HUGE target. 

5. New orders.

Well there is only two new orders, "Smite at Will!" which gives a unit a Split Fire option and "Suppressive Fire!" giving infantry a Pinning option. Others are just slightly rephrased versions of previous commands.   

  

Taurox and Scions command squad

   

  

New Tau Codex: biggest changes

Tau Pathfinders. Source: http://eastern-empire.com/gallery/urban-tau-cadre/

New Tau is finally here! The shiny hard-cover codex book is written by Jeremy Wetlock, who runs the column in White Dwarf and apparently been with GW for a long time. Codex itself is full-colored 100 or so pages book with easy navigation, plenty of images and background on each old and new units, heroes as well as new influx of background information on Tau Empire itself, their Septs and Heroes. Book is priced at £30 in Uk, and well worth buying just to have it on the shelf or battlefield.

So what are the biggest changes from the old codex:

1. Hammerhead and Sky Ray are BS 4.
2. Fire Warriors and Pathfinders are Initiative 2 
3. Drones may mix and match between Shield, Markerlight and Heavy Guns in one unit.
4. Drones are Initiative 4. 
5. Snipers are BS 5 and may have up 6 Marksmen with up 3 Sniper Drones each. Oh, Their weapon is a Rapid fire AP5. Did i mentioned the markerlight and Support fire?
6. Vespid are Initiative 6 and will ignore difficult or dangerous terrain. 
7.  Support Fire special rule allows you to fire Overwatch from friendly unit in 6" as well as from unit being assaulted. With certain abilities or Heroes Support fire may be fired by vehicles!  
8. Markerlight will grant one of the following: +1 to BS, Ignore Cover saves, fire a Seeker missile without reducing the amount of weapons vehicle can use, add +1 bonus for each markerlight to Overwatch BS.
9. Kroot finally got an armor. 6+ armor is a Kroot dream come true :) 
10. Most Battlesuits pack twink-linked weapons, but majority is still BS 3. 
11. Fire Blades are nasty! Veterans of Fire Caste they almost rival Space Marine Captains. They are 50+ points upgrade for Fire Warrior and allows extra shots or re-roll 1 to hit. 3 Wounds. 
12. Rippertide Battlesuit is a Mounstrous Creature with Toughness 6 and loads of weapon choices. Main bonus Nova Reactor: allows you either extra shots with twin-linked weapons, 4d6 evasion maneuver, overload with big "kaboom", or improved AP.
13. Flyers are here. Bomber and Fighter both at BS 3, 2 HP and ability to take 4+ invulnerable save against incoming fire. 
14. Heroes: as well as Farsight, Shadowsun and Aun'Va (last one is even more useful than ever), there is a master Pathfinder, super tankman at BS 5, Tank hunter, Support fire and Overwatch, and Ethereal with WS:5, I:5 A:4. He either goes Rending or chopping, especially against the Orks. 
15. Last but not least: Warlord Traits. 6 unique Traits, with 3 out of them may be used once per battle. They demand and intelligent play and understanding of your army. Traits may give your units Skyfire rule, extra shots, extra move or morale bonus.                           

In conclusion: most of the units remained as they were, or even less hard, but the difference is army cohesion, support and firepower. Tau will demand intelligent play, careful positioning and support from each other. Only then they will be victorious.  
   

Talons of the Emperor: Elysian Drop Troops codex

Here it is, the book what was a pleasure to write and research for almost a year. Feel free to download Elysian Drop Troop codex from the link below. Any feedback would most welcome.  

Download: Talons of the Emperor: Elysian Drop Troops Codex

thank you

Elysian Drop Troops codex: what to expect?

Elysian Drop Troops Regiments are air mobile infantry of Imperial Guard. They do the dirty jobs Space Marines are not bothered to. They epitomize the best qualities of human warriors, but remain humble and numerous, provide ingenuity when everything else fails. Drop Troops require bold and skillful commander. If you, my friend decide to download and try my codex and make a play test of it that is what you may expect:

Combat Drop: unlike Space Marines, Drop Troops do not use drop pods, they jump from the back ramp of Valkyrie and land on the enemy gun blazing. This rule will allow you to deploy half or all of your army using Deep Strike method.

D-mode: different battle zone dictate different methods of landing.Your soldiers will be able to Deep Strike, land with heavy weapons and Sentinels, land on tight spot and disembark from hovering aircraft without scattering.    

Talon's Tactics: tired of failing orders? tired of incompetent commanders and rigid gunlines? Try new tactics! Troops will perform suppressive fire, deadly volleys, resupply damaged units and even fire Overwatch on full BS.

Doctrines: the doctrines are back! Using reworked doctrines from 3rd and 4th editions of IG codex as well as completely original ones you may customize tactics, equipment and skills of your entire regiment or veteran unit. Doctrines are divided into 3 groups: Sweat saves blood, Special Equipment and Battle Scars.

Redefined Army list: units have more blood to spare, Elites units offer choice of Commando units, Medics and Combat Engineers. HQ will allow you to field Adeptus Arbites Judge, Ordo Hospitaller Sister as well as various non-comissioned officer to bolster strength of your airborne regiment. Some units are unique and will significantly improve your firepower and accuracy as well as unique special characters with background in Drop Troops regiments.

Different types of platoons: drop troops operate without tanks or heavy support, but they compensate for it using different platoons. You may choose between  
Assault infantry platoon, for all those Normandy landings,  
Fire Support platoon in case if bridge too far, or 
Mechanized platoon for daring raids and outflanking as well as landing troops in armored vehicles behind stunned opponent.  
       
 

   

Elysian Drop troops codex

Current Imperial Guard codex by Robin Cruddace is an example of really good work in my opinion. It allows player to customize layout of his forces and with certain success imitates the chaos of battle, and dependance of individual soldier on successful organization and command structure. The last one is both strong and weak point of Imperial Guard.  If opponent wipes out Company and Platoon commanders then remaining troops seriously lose their efficiency in firefight. Guardsmen are useful as close combat force only in large numbers with surplus of Commissars and Priests. 

However overall idea, fluff, structure of codex and feel of the army leaves a feel of errr... huge mamoth wasting human lives and resources for a minimal gains with no real understanding of enemy, but huge guns. Which is very true not only for Imperial Guard of Warhammer 40000 but for most armies of humanity.
 

     
But if i want to have something more heroic, more personal and effective without going vanilla smurf Space Marines? To be more specific, what if I want 82nd Airborne Division landing somewhere behind Orks lines and creating havoc amongst them?

The current legal way is simple: Veterans mounted on Valkyries and disembarking under enemy fire. Apocalypse formation: Storm Trooper Strike Force even allows you to have Special rules like Storm the Objective, Strike Force and Strategic Assets. See here for yourself.
The other way is maxing out Storm Troopers squad at the expense of other branches and pray to Emperor that they will not get chopped to pieces too quickly.

If that is not enough, Forge World has an outstanding (but expensive as always) line of Elysian Drop Troops, something which really stands out in sea of marines. What more they even get their own share in Imperial Armor books. However so far in every book Elysian's are being wasted by either incompetent command (Project Aphelion), or by combination of poor planning and enemy superiority (Operation Comet). Not a great advert for an elite force.        

However there is enough information about real life paratroopers and their successes and mishaps which may indicate couple of simple things: 
1. Airborne troops have a different, more aggressive and independent tactics and approach towards combat.
2. Due to the lack of heavy equipment airborne troops must rely on either captured equipment or lighter equivalents of army weapons. 
3. Airborne units have a higher morale and image of elite shock troops.
4. Training and structure of different airborne units may vary from task to task, and available equipment.

But real life is boring, we all know that. In addition, GW is not going to release a separate codex for IG branch which potentially may compete with their bread and butter - space marines. Freelancers and fans did not undertook any projects which involved rethinking of how this particular Imperial Guard branch would play different. (correct me if am wrong, please). So, after careful consideration and after finishing my first great project Iron Hearts Space Marine codex I've decided to try and write a codex or fandex if you like for purely drop troop regiments. It took me approximately 6 months or pure working time from idea to complete book, i started in March- April 2012 and finished in the end of September 2012. The result will be posted a bit later on my blog.