Space Marine Codex: First Impressions

Very happy to report I was able to pick up my book today and had enough time to give it a look over and gather some first impressions about it. I am not disappointed with the book at all, it is beautiful, the pictures are all high quality, I like the organization of the book, and probably my favorite part of it is the quick fold out reference sheet for all the chapter tactics and special rules that I am sure will be seeing a lot of use. This is going to be my first post before I start delving in depth with the codex later in the week. Continue reading to get the parts that stuck out to me the most.

Chapter tactics is one of the biggest changes in this book. Previously you would have to buy a character to get his special rules, now it is the other way around. By selecting a chapter you unlock access to the special characters. Currently my favorite is the White Scars chapter tactics which are; Born In the Saddle- Bikes automatically pass dangerous terrain tests, +1 to jink saves, and +1 strength to hammer of wrath attacks, and they get Fight on the Move- Army wide hit and run except for terminators and centurions. By choosing this chapter tactic you unlock access to Kor'sarro Khan who in turn unlocks the ability to make bike squads of 5+ troops choices. Perhaps one of the best things in this codex is that you are allowed to ally with yourself to get multiple chapter tactics. Each detachment benefits from only one of the chapter tactics but it provides for a huge amount of tactical flexibility.

Warlord traits have been a pretty big complaint for me since the ones from the main book usually do nothing for me so I was really hoping that they would be worth taking in this book. All around they are alright, the best part about them is that some special characters already come with a warlord trait attached to them. Staying with Kor'sarro Khan as my example he comes with, "Champion of Humanity," which means when he kills the enemy warlord in a challenge you gain d3 victory points as well as the point for slaying the warlord. I am not sure how much these traits will really effect the chances of taking one character over another since I really think it will matter more as to which chapter tactic they are attached to. Really none of them will have you throwing up your hands in frustration because of the trait being useless but you probably won't be thanking the Emperor either.

Chapter relics are awesome! These things are pretty expensive but can really be worth it. If none of the special characters are doing it for you and you want to custom make one yourself, starting with one of these weapons would not be a bad start. Just for fun I built a 180 point Terminator Captain. Let me know how a guy with a 2+ save followed by a 3++ with an AP2 weapon that gives +3 strength that strikes at initiative sounds to you. Not having enough time to scour the book I am not sure how well he stacks up to other characters in the same point range, but if you take the Iron Hands chapter tactic suddenly this guy get the It Will Not Die special rule to possibly regenerate wounds.

I am really excited to really start digging into the book and figuring out what combos work for my play style and all the other fun potential that this book has in it. I am hoping to get a game in with a friend tomorrow and will be trying out some stuff from the book and seeing how things go. Thanks for reading and have an Emperor blessed day!