Faction focus: Astra Militarum

So, lost week we got to see how the guard will play in the new edition and the answer is not much different, well, not that I can see anyway.

In the actual article, there was very little substance, the first part being taken up by the standard "Who are they" bit and then we got information on the new morale phase and combat attrition test. Now while this was good information and nice to know, it's got nothing to actually do with guard. We did get a look at the summary execution rule for commissars but it doesn't look like it's change to me or been fixed. Really it should be that the commissar shoots some one and the rest past the test, not having to retake the test but that's for another moan. 

After this we got some stratagems, all of which we already know about and don't seem to have changed as a result of 9th. Two of these stratagems, Deft Manoeuvering and Hail of Fire are from the Psychic Awakening: The Greater Good and seem more to be a plug for the book than anything else. 

The last one, Go! Recon!, Is from the codex and again doesn't seem to change at all.

After this we got the top 3 units for 9th and again, no real news here. First up was the Hellhound and again it was pushing a stratagem, which I believe is from the Greater Good as well. The only thing to mention is that this can offset some of the new terrain rules. Then we had the Bullgryns and again, nothing here to report, as everything that's was said is something we already know. 

Lastly we got the Wyvern and possibly something to actually take note of.

There is one line of text that states that with the new blast rules the mortar can now get 24 shots. Which it could get before being a 4d6 shot weapon. So, this mean that either there stating the obvious or that the new blast rules apply to each individual dice roll, not the overall roll. That means that for units up to 5 it will be random, for 6 to 10 it would be a minimum 12 and over 11 would be 24. This would be a huge boost to the weapon and offset the lack of AP, which I think it should have at least -1ap!

Edit: ok, I've had another look and I think I might have sussed it. The way things are worded it sounds like for a unit up to 5 your just roll the 4d6, for a unit 6 to 10 you would get a min of 3 shots but seeing as your rolling 4d6 and the minimum you can roll is 4, the new rules won't make a difference. The real difference come with a unit of 11+ as you don't roll but get the maximum shots, so 24. Seeing as most units are 10 or under, this rule will have little impact on Wyverns. Unless of course I've got this all wrong still. 

So, all in all, nothing much to say really, which was a bit of a disappointment but not unexpected. I do wonder if the Militarum Tempestus forces will get a faction focus to themselves, as they were not mentioned at all here. Could this be a splitting of the codex again? I do hope not.