I found the set up of the book to be easy to follow and intuitive. I found it really annoying in other books to have to be looking between the unit entry and the list entry to get the full grasp of their points cost and special rules. In this book all of that information is all on one page. The only inconvenient part of that is if you need to look up the points/rules for a relic or any standard weapon. Really, given time with the codex and that wont be an issue.
In my mind the biggest disappointment with the book is the fluff. I can't help but compare it to the last codex. I get that we are moving further on in time and the curse of the black rage and the red thirst are taking a higher toll than any other time, but there is very little true hope of a cure or change in this edition. At one point it even goes to say that a majority of Blood Angels have given up hope that a cure will be found. That rings very weak to me since one of the best aspects of the Blood Angels is their continued drive to become better than their curse, which causes them to acts of extreme bravery beyond that of normal astartes. When they go over the successor chapters, normally one of the more interesting things to read, they all read off just about the same; a chapter of heroes that are slowly dwindling with an increase of warriors donning the black. Hardly the most compelling stuff.
Now to the rules. I'll be the first to admit that I am happy I no longer have to roll for the red thirst. It is now something that comes standard when you take a bound Blood Angels list, but instead of furious charge you now get +1 initiative when you charge until the end of the assault phase, which if I am correct includes the test for sweeping advance. You also get the ability to re-roll your command trait which you will need if you're not taking a special character that gives you what you want. Every unit also comes with furious charge, so if you are able to get a charge off you will have strength 5 initiative 5 marines which is pretty cool. I will complain about the loss of descent of angels however. For being well practiced in the arts of the jump pack and all that Blood Angels will now scatter the same as any other marine out there unless you get it as a warlord trait.
About those Warlord Traits; 1. Red Rampage- Warlord gains rampage. (Excuse me while I jump for joy on this one.) 2. Speed of the Primarch- Warlord adds 1 to his initiative. (Yippie?) 3. Artisan of War- one weapon of your warlord gains master crafted unless it is a relic. (I can't wait until I see all those master crafted bolt pistols.) 4. Soulwarden- Adamantium will. (Actually really useful if your warlord is a psycher.) 5. Descent of Angels- Jump, Flyer, and skimmers re-roll reserve rolls, and jump/skimmers scatter 1d6 when deep striking. (Gotta get that 5!) 6. Heroic Bearing- Friendly Imperial forces within 12 inches gain fearless. (Really helpful if you have allies in the Astra Militarum.)
Psychic Powers really made me happy in this edition, I thought they were always great in the last book, and they continue to shine here. The primaris power, Quickening, gives a character +d3 attacks and initiative which can really give a sergeant a chance to cause a few wounds to a warlord or make some real headway against a horde of enemies. Fear the Darkness remains the same, causes the enemy to take a leadership test at -2. Unleash Rage gives rage to a unit for a turn, or if the unit already has it, gives them +1 attack which leads to some really scary death company. Shield of Sanguinius gives a 5+ invulnerable save to the unit the psycher is in, useless if you take him with terminators which you will to give him a 2+ save as well as his only access to a permanent invulnerable save. Blood Boil makes a target take a toughness test twice, and if it fails a large blast template is placed over it and all models take a strength 4 ap5 hit with no cover save. That is pretty awesome against anything not in power armor. Blood Lance is a strength 8 ap1 lance weapon with 12 inch range. Wings of Sangunius is the one you will be praying you roll a 6 for. A unit within 12 inches of the librarian immediately move 12 inches. This gives assault marines a potential range of 30 inches, and anyone else a possible 24 inches if running. The only down side is that there is no assault after using this power and it can only target infantry, so no biker craziness.
Relics...they suck, A jump pack that only allows units with the interceptor rule to snap fire at the unit with this relic in it. They also get to re-roll the scatter die, and on the mishap table. A pretty crown that gives the model the fear special rule, and the enemy unit takes their test on a -2. Allows you to take a second warlord trait. A force staff that lets you re-roll 1s when making a psychic test, but you lose a wound if you roll another 1. A master crafted plasma pistol. Lastly an ap2 power sword that strikes at normal initiative, costs the same as a power fist. All around not the most imaginative stuff, and utterly bland compared to the sweetness that is in the Marine codex.
Unique Tactical Objectives. Should I be worried that my codex needs its own objectives to increase their chances of winning? 11 is replaced with +1 vp if you issue a challenge on your turn. 12 is replaced with +1 vp if an enemy unit was destroyed by a flyer, skimmer, or jump unit. +d3 if the blood angel unit arrived from deep strike that turn, good luck on that! 13 is +1 if you completely destroyed an enemy unit in the assault phase this turn, or if you destroyed 35 in your assault phase +d3 vps, or if the Emperor is rolling your dice for you and you destroy 6 in your assault phase you score d3+3 vps. Really I'm pretty sure the game is won at that point. 14 +1 vp if your enemies warlord was removed as a causality this or any previous turn. 15, your opponent picks two objective markers, you get 1 vp if you control 1 at the end of the turn or d3 if you have both. 16 if your warlord was removed as a casualty during your assault phase. You lose this objective, if active, if you refuse a challenge with your warlord.
This concludes part 1. A lot of cool things, like the psychich powers, some average things like the relics, and below average like the warlord traits. I really think this puts pressure to take named characters, especially for players that are relying on specific traits. otherwise if they just want their warlord marginally improved a random warlord trait will be fine. Any power weapon that is ap2 that hits at initiative is great in my book. In the next part I will be going over the bloated Warlord options as well as the lord of war choices. Thanks for reading and have an Emperor blessed day!
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