8th Ed Hjaltland list- astra militarum

So, lets look at the lists, side by side. The lists are the 2000 point lists, and are about as equal as I can get them with the new lists. I'll just put the lists up first and then go through it all after.

CCS 1     Creed                 MoO                 OotF                 Standard                 Medipack                 HW Missile w/Flakk                 Carapace                 CCS 2     Commander w/ Aquilla + plasma pistol                 4x vets w/Plasma guns                 Carapace                 Preist    Preist    Primaris Psyker ML 2 Primaris Psyker Commissar          Commissar                          Platoon 1                             PCS        commander w/ Bolt gun                 4x guardsmen w/flamer                 Krak grenades                 Squad 1 w/Auto cannon + flamer Squad 2 w/Auto cannon + flamer Squad 3 w/Auto cannon + flamer Squad 4 w/Auto cannon + flamer                 Platoon 2                             PCS        Commander w/Bolt gun                 4x guardsmen w/grenade launcher                 Krak grenades                 Squad 1 w/ flamer + Krak grenade Squad 2 w/flamer Squad 3 w/flamer + Krak grenade Squad 4 w/flamer                 Vets      sgt w/bolt pistol 3x Melta guns                 Krak grenades                 Doctrines – Demolitions + Grenadiers                 Vendetta             Valkyrie w/MRP                 2x Wyvern w/enclosed crew compartment Aegis w/quadgun 2000

Creed                                 MoO                                 OotF CS1         medipack                 standard                 vox                                 Company commander CS2         4x vet w/plasma                                 priest                 priest                 psyker w/stave                 psyker w/stave                 commissar w/pistol                 commissar w/pistol                                 Platoon commander w/botlgun                 SWS       3x flamers                 Squad 1 w/Auto cannon + flamer + vox Squad 2 w/Auto cannon + flamer + vox Squad 3 w/Auto cannon + flamer + vox Squad 4 w/Auto cannon + flamer + vox                                                 Platoon Commander w/boltgun                 SWS      3x grenade                                 Squad 1 w/ flamer + vox Squad 2 w/ flamer + vox Squad 3 w/ flamer + vox Squad 4 w/ flamer + vox                                                 Vets      Sgt w/bolt pistol                 3x melta guns                 Vox caster                                 Valkyrie w/mrp + multilaser Valkyrie w/mrp + multilaser                 Wyvern w/heavy bolter Wyvern w/Heavy Flamer Aegis w/quad gun 1807

So, there have been a few changes, mostly along the lines I spoke about in the last post. There are a few things to note though. The vets have lost there doctrines, which is about 45 points worth, and their 4+ save, which is a shame, also loosing the 4+ saves are the two command squads. This is a shame as it does reduce their survivability, even with the new Ap system. One of the command squads also lost the missile launcher and the other a relic, namely the Aquila (for preferred enemy rerolls on the plasma, not that I use to actually remember it!). Oh, and vendetta has changed in to another Valkyrie. Pretty much everything else is as it was. These changes account for about 150 points or so, maybe a little bit more but the list is nearly 200 down. This is due to some price reductions. The big ones are the command squads, although the vets and some of the characters. Plasma is the big winner, halving in cost, although the points saved is spent on the autocannons and flamers, which have gone up in price, also the inclusion of vox casters in every squad adds points. Switching some of the squad, the command squads to special weapon squads actually didn't do much to the cost, just the cost of dropping a weapon. All in all the list still need altering slightly, above what I have already done. I think that unless they bring back the ability to combine squads, I will need to up the two platoon commanders to company commanders, in order to give me access to more orders, probably running one close to a few of squads, so he can move between them all as necessary, the vox casters will help.

The two big issues that I have now though is the inclusion of creed in the list and the fact that it doesn't fit in to one detachment. As for Creed, I took him for the bonus that he gave me, the free rerolls for orders, plus the additional order and extra warlord trait. All of these things made him worth the points in my opinion, but some of his abilities have gone, i.e. free orders, but he has gained extra command points. Now, how useful this is I have no idea, as I haven't played a game yet but lots of people are saying how powerful command points are. So for the moment I'll keep him in and make my decision after a few games. As for the detachments, with the change in the roles of some of units, the redoing of platoons and the splitting up of the command squads, I now have significant amounts of troops and elites. in total I recon I have 4 HQ, 13 Elite and 8 Troop. This means that I can fill up most of the requirements for the Brigade Detachment, but not the heavy support or fast attack, at least not with out taking tax units. On the other hand would struggle to take 2 Battalion detachments as I would still have to many elite choices. The same can be said for the Battalion and Vanguard detachments. maybe I need to think about 3 detachments?

I have also been looking at other options and I'm very keen to see if I can get some extra units in to the force, specifically Ratlings. Now, this may involve some cuts in other places when I get hold of all the rules I need. I think that snipers are going to be important this issue and as I have 9 Ratlings sitting in a box, I thought that I might use them.

I'm hopeful that the new Codex will be out sooner rather than later and I can polish off the edges on the list.