Baneblades, and Conscripts oh my! Games Workshop just gave us another Codex: Astra Militarum preview. Don’t miss this one if your a fan of either of these.
GW just gave us our second preview of Codex: Astra Militarum. The new codex will feature rules for 8 regiments. Regimental Doctrines will work along the same line as Chapter Tactics, Legion Traits, and forge world Dogmas. The Regimental Doctrines will reflect the strengths of each regiment and the different fighting styles of the Astra Militarum. Let see what they had to show us about Valhalla.
The Valhallan Ice Warriors is a very strong and deadly regiment of the Astra Militarum. They’re able to shoot directly into units engaged in close combat, and return destroyed units to the battlefield.
Grim Demeanour shows the willingness to stay in and fight of their army. Infantry units with this doctrine halve the number of units that flee, rounding up, if they fail a Morale test. Vehicles with Grim Demeanour have a damage table double the number of remaining wounds they have remaining when determining what their characteristics are. This is going to keep both Infantry and Vehicles at maximum damage output for as long as possible. The days of just crippling a vehicle are over, and your opponent will be forced to destroy your vehicles entirely before moving on to the next target.
Conscripts can now only be taken in units of 20-30 models, which is going to reduce the effectiveness of stacking orders on a block of 50. Orders will now only work on Conscripts on a 4+, and no more orders will work on the unit for the rest of the turn if they fail the first time.
Fire on My Command is an order which is going to allow you to shoot at enemy units that are within 1″ of friendly units until the end of the fight phase. There’s a downside though… Each time you roll a hit roll of 1 for such an attack, resolve that attack against a friendly unit within 1″ of the target unit instead. This ability is going to let you charge in with one unit, take away your opponents shooting, and still fire into them with your guns in the back. If all your conscripts happen die for the Emperor there’s more waiting to take their place. Send In the Next Wave!
Send In the Next Wave is great Stratagem to keep your numbers up, and at 2 CP’s you really can’t complain. At the end of your Movement phase select a Valhallan Infantry unit from your army that was destroyed earlier in battle (excluding Characters and Infantry Squads that have used the Combined Squads Stratagem). You can then set that unit up wholly within your deployment zone, within 6″ of the edge of the battlefield and more than 9″ from any enemy models.
The Steel Behemoth rule has been updated so that Baneblades of all types don’t suffer penalties for shooting Heavy weapons after moving. When combined with Grim Demeanour you’re going to be getting the most out of your Vulcan mega-bolter whether you advance or not.
All Baneblades are equipped with adamantium tracks and have 9 attacks with a WS of 5+. Well, for 1 CP Crush Them is going to be changing that WS to a 2+. That’s 9 S9 -2AP D3 damage attacks for the big boys that hits on 2’s now with this strat!
The Valhallan regiment is looking like a very strong army choice. They’re going to be getting unit after unit with the Send In The Next Wave Stratagem, and their super heavy vehicles are going to strike fear in their enemy’s eyes with the new Grim Deameanour and Crush Them Stratagem combo. 1 CP to charge in and then hit on a 2+ in the following Fight phase, with their damage table doubled, and no penalties for shooting Heavy weapons after moving….
You’ll definitely be Crushing Them!
Everything we’ve seen about the Imperial Guard so far is really making them seem like an army to be feared on the tabletop. It’s going to be really hard to get in close without losing half your models.
Make sure you check back in with us tomorrow when they reveal the Armageddon regiment, and how the warping of Armageddon has changed how they fight.
What do you think about the latest teaser for Codex: Astra Militarum? Let us know in the comments below.
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About the Author: James Rodriguez
I’m a huge fan of anything tabletop. I play strictly Chaos in Warhammer, and Imperial in anything Star Wars. I spent 8 years in the military. Now I’m happy to be a civilian working with a great group of people.
“We are all tyrants. Do not fool yourself. We were bred for nothing else.”
-Mortarion
