Games Workshop has brought in another guest writer to give us an idea on how the Astra Militarum are going to play in 8th edition!
Listen up, you ground pounders! This new update will have you eager to get boots on the ground!
Reece from from Frontline Gaming was glad to give his take on how the Astra Militarum will play in the upcoming update. Let’s take a look at some of the key points from his article on Warhammer Community.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if some of those units you so rarely see like Scout Sentinels were suddenly not only good, but great? What if Bullgryns and Rough Riders were actually scary in combat? How about Heavy Weapon Squads that actually provide covering fire to the rest of your men instead of just acting as distractions for enemy units? I am here to tell you that all of these things are true in the new edition!
Scout Sentinel? Bullgryns? Heavy Weapon squads actually being useful???!! It looks like it will their time to shine. You might want to start adding these units to your lists!
Your squads will no longer pop out of their Chimera, shoot one thing, and then die or run away immediately after the enemy returns fire. Nope, now, with the added “encouraging” presence of a nearby Commissar – which limits the losses of a bad Morale test – Astra Militarum are downright stalwart.
Wanted a change in tactics aside from just sending units to their doom? Now they will actually stand a chance and make a daring stand and survive.
The tanks are back and better than ever. Leman Russes, for example, have Toughness 8 and a 3+ save, so they won’t be slowing down until they’ve lost half of their 12 Wounds.
No movement loss until 50% of wounds are lost??!!! The more you read, the more you are wanting to make an Imperial Guard list aren’t you?
Orders work automatically now and provide a variety of bonuses. You have 7 to choose from, but the one I want to discuss is ‘First Rank, Fire! Second Rank, Fire!’. This now makes a unit of Astra Militarum infantry treat their lasguns and hot-shot lasguns as Rapid Fire 2; that’s 4 shots per Guardsman at half range!
The lasgun will be an effective weapon in the upcoming update??? This sounds too good to be true.
This is quite an exciting preview for Astra Militarum fans and 8th edition definitely seems like it might be opening the door to those models you haven’t touched in years!
What are your thoughts? Are you a Astra Militarum? Did this just get the hype train a little kick in the pants for you? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
P.S. If you haven’t singed up for the SoCal Open Gaming Convention yet, perhaps you should?
