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Codex Review
by Michael Ng
Guardsmen but they've done some fun things with the Guard and they have more personality now than just 'sit
and shoot'.
The first twenty some pages are chock full of history and painting guides that cover Imperial armoured
vehicles and all the current regiments of Imperial Guard miniatures. There's also quite a bit of fluff discussing
the formation of the Guard and a two page illustrated primer on basic Guard equipment (IE, the 'standard
short pattern lasgun' and i'ts discussion of laser technology and how to recharge a lasgun pack.)
The Armoury has been expanded a bit and Guardsmen now have some new equipment (Servitors for
Tech-Priests and such), a and other things. It's really hard to review all the new material and keep this e-mail
short. Vehicle upgrades are the same as they used to be though I think the 'Track Guards' option is cheaper
than it used to be, not sure though.
Organization is still the same though for the guard. Command squads now though can contain a Heroic
Senior Officer (Equivalent in points and ability to the old Colonel), a Senior Officer (Equivalent in points and
such to the old Captain), and the Junior Officer (Equivalent to a Lieutenant but 40 points). There are a few
limitations though as the Command Squad may now only have 0-1 Sentinel squadrons atached but everything
remains the same. Though there is now an option for 0-2 Special Weapons Support Squads...six
guardsmen that can carry assault weapons or 3 of the 6 may carry demo charges.
The army is also allowed 0-5 Sanctioned Psychers at 12 points each and they've got psychic powers
obviously and it's selected at random by rolling a D6. 0-5 Commissars as usual though now they add +1 to
the leadership of a unit they're with. 0-5 Priests are now also allowed and does not count as an HQ choice
but is under the HQ heading like the others, apparently they cause the unit they're with to reroll any failed to
hit rolls in the turn they charge (only once and while he lives).
Elites consist of Hardened Veterans, Stormtroopers, Ratlings, Techpriest Enginseers (no that's not a typo),
and Ogryns. Ogryns cost 25 but you can upgrade one to a "Bone 'ead" and he acts as sergeant and nullifies
the 'It's Dark in Dere!' Rule! Also you may now have 3-10 Ogryns in a squad and you can have a max of 3
squads of 'em.
Troops consist of infantry squads that are a base 60 points and veteran sergeants costs +6 instead of the old
+10. Not much else has changed, point costs for weapons are the same. There is a 'Conscript Infantry
Platoon' and such, it's a platoon of 2-5 squads of 10 conscripts but they may only have flamer or grenade
launcher and a heavy bolter, missile launcher, or autocannon. Also they function as a single unit of 20-50
models who must maintain a 2" squad coherency...talk about an infantry screen.
Hellhounds have gone way up in cost to 115 points but they get side armour of 12 now and I don't know if tit
still has the rule where glancing its count as penetrating (Doesn't look like it though, yay!). Sentinels and
Rough Riders round out the Fast Attack.
Heavy Support includes the Leman Russ, Leman Russ Demolisher, Basilisk but no Gryphon...oh and there's
a 'Heavy Weapons Platoon' now and you may select them as Anti-tank, Fire Support, or Mortar Squads.
There are quite a few special character selections: Ibram Gaunt, Yarrick, Ursurkar Creed, but not Mecharius
anymore.
Oh and the Regimental Doctrines are what is the best about this! You're allowed up to 5 doctrine points and
if you use doctrine points there are things you can no longer have. There is a list of Restricted Troops and
unless you use a doctrine point to take a troop that is restricted your theme army may not use them. Also the
skills and drills are fantastic they add character to the Guard and I won't list 'em all but here's my Praetorian
skill set...
1) Die-Hards, for a cost of 5 points per squad I may give this ability to each infantry unit in my
army. They will ignore all negative morale modifiers for being outnumbered in close combat.
2) Iron Discipline, for 5 points per officer I can use the leadership of an officer or senior officer and ignore
the -1 modifer for a morale or pinning test if I'm under half strength and I may regroup even if under half
strength.
3) Close Order Drill, heh my favorite one. As long as I rank up my guys in base to base contact (for those
that have seen me deploy Praetorians, you'll know what I mean), they get +1 Leadership and +1 Initiative for
as long as they stay in close order. Which means you could get Leadership 9 Guardsmen or leadership 10
Guardsmen (with a Commissar).
4) Sharpshooters, Any Guard infantry model with a BS of 3 may make a single re-roll for shooting if the
original to hit roll was a '1' and this has no effect on plasma weapons or sniper rifles. Costs 10 points per
unit. Then I put in
5) Restricted Troops Conscript Platoons (Hey, you never know when you may need 'em.)
Hope this enlightens some of you and whets your appetites.
Michael Ng from London