Did your favorite units get left behind in the new Space Marine 2.0 codex? Have the Predators and Vindicators gone down with the ship so to speak?
With changes mostly for the better across the board for Space Marines, it looks like some things might have gotten left in the dust. Take a look at this take from Captain Mediocritus:
Tanks For the Memories
With the new Space Marines Codex drop along with chapter supplements, it seems that GW is really trying to breathe new life into the competitive side of Space Marines. With rumors abounding prior to the codex release (especially the big Guilliman nerf), I hoped that some of the iconic but underpowered units in the Space Marine arsenal would get some solid buffs. Sadly, Space Marine vehicles made out even less viable than before with the loss of Killshot and Linebreaker Bombardment Strats.
Ultimately GW is a business. And businesses generally need to sell products in order to be profitable. So I can’t begrudge the big push with Repulsor variants and the new hover Rhino. Still, I am sad to see the venerable Vindicator and Predator thrown onto the rubbish heap. Both tank variants had strong, albeit situational, stratagems that I hoped would see more play.
Both stratagems required three tanks to be within 6” of each other. Combined with the early FAQ limiting non-troop choices to three or fewer units, they were rarely used. Plus, an army designed to cripple a knight on turn 1 can easily erase a squishier Leman Russ.
The Predator did see some competitive play, but usually only with Bobby G backing up some dakka Predators. With the strat, they could dump a ton of wounds (with full re-rolls) using 3 damage autocannon shots against a knight.
The Vindicator Had it Rough To Begin With
The Vindicator was absent in the competitive scene almost entirely, but the Linebreaker stratagem was actually really solid. You could advance and pop smoke along with using the stratagem, which meant that if you went first or had all 3 tanks survive when you popped Linebreaker Bombardment, you could dish out 3D3 mortal wounds in a 6” bubble with a threat range of 35-40”.
Played correctly and with enough LOS blocking terrain, you could scatter the Vindicators and concentrate them with an advance to use Linebreaker Bombardment. The Vindicator was also T8 which made it a tad more survivable than the Predator.
The new codex was a net loss for these tanks: the Vindicator got a pretty sweet buff, upping the Demolisher Cannon shots from D3 to D6 for all targets. Basically, this made it a shorter range, stronger Lascannon, but the kicker is both tanks lost their stratagems. Unless some of the other Chapter Supplements get access to these bygone stratagems, I think we have seen the old Space Marine tanks for the last time.
A Chapter-specific Linebreaker Bombardment or Killshot may not be too much to ask after all, however. There is talk that maybe the Imperial Fists or Iron Hands will get some good vehicle strats. If that’s the case, my tanks may be getting a shiny new coat of paint.
What do you think about these classic Space Marine vehicles? Do you think they’ll still have a use in the meta? Will we ever see Primaris versions of these tanks? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and sign up to get your free hobby updates newsletter (with discount coupon codes) each morning as well!
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials:@RealmbrushPainting
Bio: Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4.
If you like what he writes and want to reach out or get your models painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
