There are only a couple of entries here that we need to look at, sentinels, hellhounds and Valkyries, although I will be including Vendettas in this list as well, as they are a common flyer within guard armies.
Sentinels are a good example of what I was talking about with the Chimera and taurox, you have two options that's cost the same but have very different roles. There are a few issues with the two.profiles though I think. Firstly I think there needs to be a greater difference in the movement 9f the two vehicles, with scouts getting faster, at least an extra inch. Secondly I think there needs to be more restrictions on weapon choices, with flamers removed from armoured sentinels, to mirror the availablity of plasma cannons. These are minor changes that shouldn't make much difference to the units. Apart from these changes I think sentinels are pretty good where they are.
The last fast attack choice is the Hellhound, although it's really three versions, Hellhounds, Devil Dogs and Bane Wolves. All three versions have flaws that need dealing with, some.more serious than others. The basic Hellhound needs the Inferno Cannon range increased. Previously the range was double the standard flamer range, thanks to the old torrent rules, now however it's only just longer than the standard flamer range. The flamer needs to be upped, to at least 18 inch range, 24 would be better. I also think that the ap needs upping as well, just by 1, beefing it up over the standard heavy flamer.
The devil dog main weapon also needs changing. The Melta Cannon is an assault d3 weapon, which 2as good against the old multi-melta but against the new version it needs adjusting. I think it should go up to 2d3 shots or d6 with a minimum of 3, either way it means that you will get at least the same number of shots at the multi-melta, rather than less. The other option would be to make it stronger with greater damage but keep the d3 shots, otherwise you might as well have two multi-melta's. I still think changing the shots to 2d3 is the best option.
The Bane Wolf is the worst option out of all the variants at the moment. This is due to the small range of the Chem Cannon. At present it's range is laughable and needs a significant increase, at least doubling. It was the same as flamers, but now it is significantly shorter, well within counter charge range. As the weapon is also a d6 weapon it's highly variable and unreliable. If it was a 6 shot weapon or even 3+d3, then you could be more confident about attacking a unit. I think that there are really two ways to fix this weapon, increasing the range, at least doubling it or changing the weapon to either 2d6 or even better 4d3. This would mean that you have the range to engage without worrying about getting swamped in return, alternatively the increased shots means that you can get up close and personal with a good chance of killing off what your shooting at. As it stands you never see Bane Wolves on the table and unless something significant changes, you never will.
I also think that we need a significant improvement in the fast attack section. We have only 2 real options, Hellhounds and sentinels, and there are plenty of gaps in the guard arsenal. For starters I think we need a fast\light tank, something along the lines of the Taurox but without the transport capacity. Even something along the lines of the Chimedon or Chimerax would be fine. Alternatively there are the Tauros models that you used to be able to get from forge world. These models would also be a suitable for filling the role above, fast mobile units with firepower. There would need to be some changes, such as the addition of other weapons, such as heavy bolters and autocannons. There would need to be some changes to the stats, to stop the unit clashing with sentinels, in terms of profiles but I think that could be managed by increasing the firepower and resilience of these units over sentinels. Then there are rough riders, we need our rough riders back and I think they should on horses still. I think that we should have some options for rough riders as well, one lot should be the classic hunting Lance equipped unit and another should be equipped with different weapons, something like flamers or grenade launchers for mobile firepower. These two options, and their alternative builds, would boost up the fast attack slot to proper proportions and fill in the gaps in the guard range.
Next we have the flyers. The only option in theain guard codex is the Valkyrie, which as it stands is in a pretty good place. There isn't anything that I would change about it as it stands. The only thing I would.like to see in relation to the Valkyrie is some proper alternative builds, along the lines of the new AdMech flyer. We currently have just one option with two weapons choices. The missiles are not great anti-armour options, while the MRP's are reasonable anti-horde weapons. What I would like to see is a proper anti-armour version, basically the Vendetta, a anti-infantry version, with MRP's or even punishers and finally bomber variant, with similar rules as the AdMech version or even just battle cannon type damage.
While we're talking about flyers, I'll mention the Vendetta, as it's an aircraft that lots of people take. This should be in the main codex, as it use to be. However, there are a few issue with it as it stands. It's to expensive and needs a significant price reduction, as it is nearly twice the cost of a Valkyrie at the moment. It needs to loose at least a quarter of its cost to make it a competitive choice, especially as it doesn't have a number of special rules that the Valkyrie gets. The main rule that is missing is Roving Gunship. This would make a huge difference to Vendettas, meaning that they would be able to reliably hit with their lascannons and do some real damage. I have referred to lascannons a lot here but there is also the hellstrike missiles. These are however a bit lacklustre, being weaker, with less ap, for only a bit more damage. Oh, and your dropping half the number of shots. No body takes hellstrike missiles and unless they do something about it no body will. Yes, the extra damage is too, but I think it needs to do a lot more damage to balance out loosing half your shots. Either that or up the ap to guarantee the kill.
In think that these two sections of codex are the weakest sections and need some work on them to bring them up to standard. I doubt we will get much of what I've said but I am very hopeful for rough riders and a Tauros like vehicle. Next we'll jump to heavy support and circle back to Elites, as that's the biggest section in the book.
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