Radio silence..........

 Sorry for the lack of posts recently but life has been full of ups and downs. With writing the codex wishlist and several periods of isolation over the last couple of months plus the family holiday to visit all the family, I really haven't had much time.to.sit down and write. This doesn't mean that there has been nothing going on in the background however. 

The current paint tray load

I have been working on quite a few bits and pieces. Firstly I have done some basic prep work on Sly Margo. I got this model several months ago for my birthday and I have taken it off the sprue and cleaned it up, making several sub assemblies ready for painting. I will be painting this model in sub assemblies, something I have not bothered doing before. I am determined to make this the best model I've ever made so far, however, this means it's going to take some time to do. I'm sure my son would like me to get it done sooner but I'm definitely not going to rush it.

I have also been working on some terrain. With the new kill team box release, I have decided it's time to get the pariah nexus terrain painted. A nice basic black with silver dry brush and blue highlights, to match the Necron paint scheme. Nothing fancy and it fits the other industrial terrain I have painted up. I know some people pair terrain very fancy but I like mine pretty plain and simple, it's just terrain and isn't supposed to out shine the models and seeing as my models aren't painted to a very high standard, I've got to keep it as plain as possible!

I addition to this is have been painting up my marines. While I have only finished painting 2 models, I have primed and started base coating all the models with their respective base colours. As you can see above I have been working on the Brazen Hawks chapter. 

The Captain and Lieutenant.

There have been a few changes to the base scheme while painting, such as the addition of the coloured knee pad. This is however getting a minor tweak for the main marines, being changed to the same bone colour as the shoulder pads, as the majority of squad number I have are black. 

The Lieutenant

Now, this might seem.strange, given the amount of lieutenant models GW have given us but I think we need a new one, specifically a lieutenant in gravis armour. We have ones in every other armour but not gravis. Technically this is a captain model with master crafter bolt rifle but I have sub him in for a lieutenant, as he fits the bill nicely, even if I will have to.use him as a regular Primaris lieutenant. 

The Captain

This is my captain model. Since this picture was taken I've actually added some transfers and I've remembered why I don't like transfers. Trying to get a transfer to stick properly to the shoulder pad is just stupidly hard. Whoever though this was a good idea is mad. I have also struggled with the knee pads as well. And to think, I'm planning on using these things on a whole bunch of other marines! I'm going to push on with the transfers but I think it's going to.annoy me greatly.

In addition to all this I picked up some more terrain, a couple of little barrel things and a broken rhino piece. I'll get these painted up shortly, not sure quite when though. 

I'll do a proper update shortly but it'll have to wait until I get some small person free time, so he doesn't try and eat, throw, run off with any of my models. 

Updating my kill teams

 

So, with the release of kill team 2021, I have been looking at my teams. At present I have a number of teams, guard, scions, admech, sisters, chaos, tyranids and various marines,Grey Knights, Deathwatch, BA, SW, DA and Scouts. Plus there’s enough models in the house to build a Necron team. But, and it’s a big but, many of these teams will now be illegal to field in games of kill team. I’ll not go into depth on them too much, rather I will run through the basics of each new build and the maximum number of models I can field.

New teams in the left case, non-usable models in the right

As such we’ll  start with the most important ones, the guard and scions rosters.

Guard, Scions, AdMech and Sisters.

The guard are currently formed of 31 models, 30 guardsmen and one ogryn. The ogryn is out, as it’s no longer valid but what of the others? There are 2 sergeants, both of which will be kept due to their different loads. There are also two vox casters, now I’ve never needed two but had them anyway, now I’ll ditch one as part of the reshuffle. The "medic" however, is safe for the moment, even though there is no actual medic role. Next up are the special weapons troopers, of which I have 2 of each type, plasma gun, grenade launcher, melta, flamer and sniper. Under the new rules I can only ever field 1 of each, regardless of number of fire teams, so one of each type will be moved on. That gives me a total of 9 retained and 6 removed. Lastly we have all the general guardsmen, all 15 of them. Now, with the new fire teams, I can only ever field a maximum of 13 standard guardsmen and if I include the medic mentioned earlier, 3 of these have to go. Now, moving these models on is actually easier than it sounds, as it will be 5 special weapons, a vox caster and at least 3 guardsmen, which can, with a little bit of work and an additional Sgt, form a Veteran infantry squad in big 40k. That will leave me with 21 models in my guard roster.

The Scions however are in a slightly different boat. As it stands there are two sergeants including my "Inquisitor". Both will be kept in the new roster. There is only one flamer, Melta gunner and vox caster in the old roster, so they will all stay to the new one. There are however, two plasma gunners, two grenade launchers and two hotshot volley gunners, one of each will have to go. That will mean 8 remain and 3 will be lost. Of the rest, there is the "medic" again, who will be retained plus 8 scions. Now in the new format, I could have a maximum of 9 scions, so actually, all of the Scions plus the "medic" will be retained, meaning only 3 models will need to find a new home amongst the 40k inquisitional units as acolytes.

Next up we have the AdMech and again, there isn't much to loose here due to the difference in the rules. In terms of leaders, I have 3 alpha models available and all will be kept in the new roster. As for the rangers, I can field all the other 9 models, as there are two arc rifles and two transuranic arquebus', plus 5 standard rangers. This means one of each special weapon per fire team plus 3 rangers or 2 and an alpha. The vanguard however have a bit of a problem. With 2 alpha models and two special weapons, I have only 6 normal vanguard and I need 7 to be able to field two vanguard fire teams. This means that I can only ever field one fire team and so do not need 1 plasma Caliver and 1 vanguard model. So I may look at moving these across to 40k some how or maybe I'll just repaint the plasma Caliver from a vanguard to a ranger.

My sisters kill team is in a bit of a mess. Built for the last edition it is full of special weapons, one of each and also one of each of the heavy weapons options. These plus the sister superior and the icon bearer means that 7 of the 10 models are not standard sisters. So as it stands, I can build one fire team with a superior, icon, gunner and heavy gunner plus single warrior. The second fire team can have a gunner and only 2 sisters, 2 short of what I need to form a team. I can't sub in a different fire team as I don't own enough repentia or any arco-flagellants. I will have to see if I can find two more sisters from somewhere but for now the team will be shelved, unpainted and unfinished. 

Nids and Chaos

One of the few non-imperial forces, my chaos or traitor space marine kill team is also not in a great place. While the chaos cultist fire team is fine, with plenty of cultists, a cultist champion and options for gunners, the chaos marine fire team has more problems. A number of models are now illegal, being armed with lightning claws. I also have more bolter armed marines than I need. Overall about half the marines from the team will be dropped, to form a final team of 3 marines and cultists.

Tyranids are another faction with some issues. Currently there is just one Tyranid warrior in the force and numerous small bugs. You now need 3 Tyranid warriors to make a full fire team. I may well be able to find another two warriors to fill out the force but I honestly don't know if I will bother, as I'm not really that interested in having a Tyranid kill team and only had one to play against my son, which I can still do with the current models.

The collection of marines, in a rough order, DA, BA, SW, Scouts and Deathwatch.

The Grey Knights, are also in a strange place as technically all the models are still relevant. With the set-up I have I can still use all the models to form a kill team, as there are no restrictions on models or weapons apart from gunners but I only have one of each weapon. So at the moment, all the models will remain. 

Another marine team is the Deathwatch. Now straight off 5 models now illegal, seeing as they are equipped with jump packs. As for the rest, most of the rest are still legal. The few issues that arise are from the fights and gunners. The issue with fighters is that I have two heavy thunder hammers, 1 more than is allowed in a kill team. The other issue is with the gunners, as I have several models armed with combi weapons and power weapons, which are now not legal. 

BA, SW, DA kill teams are all in a right pickle. The BA kill team is currently formed of 7 illegal models and 3 legal, with a Sgt, gunner and tac marine. The SW kill team is formed of 5 illegal models and 6 legal models, including 2 Sgt models, 1 gunner, 1 heavy gunner and 2 tac marines. Lastly we have the DA kill team, consisting of 7 illegal models and 3 legal, including 2 Sgt models and 1 tac marine. This give a total legal model count of 5 sgt's, 2 gunners, 1 heavy gunner and 4 tac marines, enough to make a single kill team with a couple of Sgt models (removing duplicates), a flamer and plasma gun armed gunners, a missile launcher heavy gunner and 4 tac marines. It does mean that over half the models from the old rosters are now no longer usable. 

Finally, we have the Scout kill team. Now originally this was a composite team of marines and scouts, so straight up 2 models are out, although both could be used in the main marine kill team, they are both Sgt models and there's already loads of them. There are also several scout sergeant models, which will be dropped I only need one. As for the rest, well I should have more than enough models to fill a team, with a mix of snipers, bolters and shotguns with a chunk of pistol and knives. 

Elites

 Finally we have the elite section of the codex. I've saved this for last as I think it's going to be the longest post. The Elite section of the codex is the most populated section in the entire codex, with 21 options, the next biggest section is HQ's with just 9. There are several options within the elites list that I think are in the wrong section, for a number of reasons. I think that a number of these issues could be easily solved by adjusting units to other sections, including the option to not take up a detachment slot. 

I'll go into more details about units I think need there data sheets updated in a bit but first we'll dice in to units I think are in the wrong section. We'll start with platoon commanders. I think that these should be moved to the HQ section and grouped together in a similar way to SM lieutenants, giving to option to take multiple platoon commanders in a single slot, up to 3 would be good. Talking of commanders, I would also argue that the command squads should be removed from the elite section, or at the very least have a rule that says they don't take up a slot if you have a commander and seeing as you can't have a command squad without a commander, it basically means all the time. This would mean that you could take a proper command structure without taking up valuable elite slots. There are other changes to command squads that I'll go over later which make this option more viable. 

I also think that the old advisers; Master of Ordnance, Officer of the Fleet, Astropath and Ministorum Priest, should be put back in to a similar no force org slot, but be limited to one (of each) per commander, also within this list should be Nork and Ogryn Bodyguards, following the same limitations. The last unit that I think needs its detachment slot looking at is Colour Sergeant Kell. Kell is a elite choice that can be taken in any Cadian detachment but he should be a no force org choice that can only be taken when creed has been selected. All of that might sound complicated but it isn't really, it just harks back to the command squads of old and is just a case of if you take X you can take Y.

Talking of command squad options, there are quite a few that I think need adjusting. Medic from both the standard command squad and MT command squad. Most other medic type characters heal wound automatically and some have Stratagems to help with extra healing, (I'm looking at you Mr Apothecary), our medics have a 50\50 chance of healing a single wound. We don't even have a Feel No Pain bubble. We need that 4+ removed at the very least, meaning that they will at least be healing one model a turn. A FNP bubble would be nice but I think just limiting it to the squad is a better option. These changes would make the medic a usable model again. The main problem with command squads, and this applies mostly to the standard command squad, is the availably of special weapons. The squad can take 4, making it just a better special weapons squad, with BS3 and one extra weapon. There is really little point taking special weapons squads when you can take command squads. I think that the number of weapons for command squads should be restricted, to say 2, along side the restrictions I mentioned previously. This would really turn the command squads in to command squads and not super special weapons squads.

Of the various characters there are so.e tweaks that I think need making. Mostly they are little ones, such as being able to give the Officer of the Fleet some sort of combat weapon, such as chainsword or power sword, he's an officer and what sort of officer doesn't carry a sword! The same can be said for the Master of Ordnance. In addition, why does he have a 36 inch minimum range on his ability? Either he needs some glasses for his long sightedness or he's prettified of getting hit. A 12 inch minimum range I could understand but 36 seems a little long, especially give the new, smaller board sizes. Priest are next on the block and while the base profile is ok, I still think they should give a some sort of bonus to leadership as well. The best thing to me would be to modify combat attrition test, so that you can only ever fail on a 1, regardless of unit losses. Alternatively halving the number of models that flee would work. Priests are supposed to be shipping the troops up into a frenzy, yet it doesn't really work out that way. 

That last character on the list is the commissar. Now, I probably should have written something about this when I did HQ units but for some reason I didn't. The main issue with commissars is the Summary Execution rule. The rule allows you to execute a model to re-roll morale if you fail. What I think it should do is allow you to execute a model before morale is rolled to either autopass morale or roll a d3 for moral rather than the standard d6. Autopassing morale is my pick, as it's more inline with the fluff.

For the various units, darlings are in desperate need of some love. For starters they need a +1 to strength and toughness, even grots are tougher now! They also need a +1 to their armour as well. If a bare chested Catachan can get a 5+ so can a ratling in clothes! Also, for sniper specialist you'd think they'd have good sniper rifles, as it is they are the standard rubbish. An increase in ap would be a good start, although I still think it needs more. Options for rounds, similar to the SM Eliminators is another option, one I like the look of and will add some flexibility to the unit.

Another unit that seems to lack some purpose are Wyrdvane Psykers. With only rolling 1d6 rather than the standard 2d6, your really limiting the powers to smite and mental fortitude. Even with the plus' for larger squads, the highest you can ever roll is 8 but average of 6. This means most of the time your going to fail to cast even though you've been forced to spend a chunk of point maxing out the unit. Just allowing the unit to roll 2d6 would make this a proper psychic unit and a reasonable alternative to Primaris Psykers. 

The next units to look at are the Ogryn units, the standard Ogryns and their Bullgryn cousins. While I think that the various stat lines for these units is fine, I think that they are both overpriced, not by much but enough that they are not points efficient. Ogryns suffer most out of the two and require a bigger points drop, even just a couple of points a model would make a significant difference to them. I also think that Orgyns need so improvement on their weapons, either in the form of an increase to ap or damage. At the moment they are very lack luster. I also think that an alternative weapon would be useful, either a form of grenade launcher, similar to Bullgryns grenadier gauntlets or flamer type weapon, maybe similar to a heavy flamer. This would give them alternative rolls within the army. 

Next up are a unit that I think just needs removing from the codex. Crusaders are a strange inclusion in the guard codex, as they are not really guard units but Ministorum units and are more at home in the Sisters codex. While they are useful units, they are not guard units and should be removed.

Lastly for the elite units, we have the Veterans.  Now, I think there are quite a few issues here. While the basic profile is good, I think that there are a few tweaks that are needed to make these in to true veterans. Most of these tweaks revolve around the combat potential of the unit, as they presently only have 1 attack, the same as a standard guardsman. I think that all vets should gain an additional attack (vets squads and command squads). This would mirror a number of other factions veteran options and also make these a little different to standard troops. In addition to this I think that there should be the option to build vets as combat oriented troops, with every one being armed with pistols and chain swords. This would make them into a very different unit to standard guardsman as well and really give them a unique role within the guard. Building on this, I also would like to see the option for Carapace armour, and a 4+ save, return to vets. This would take them into the same from as the Scions, but mean that you can still field a "pure" guard army. Lastly, I still don't understand why these are not a troop choice. I understand that they are the "elite" of the guard, but they still aren't really elite units. They have always been troops choices in the past and I still think they should be, that being said, I still think that they should have kept the whole platoon system that guard had as well. 

In addition to all these changes, there are a couple of units that I think should be created for the elite section. Both these units tie in with the restrictions that I would like placed on the command squads. What I would like to see are two new special weapons squads, one for veterans and one for MT scions. For veterans it would follow the same lines as the standard SWS and take over from the special weapons heavy command squads. The Scion weapons squads however would have to be a bit different as a standard Scion squad can have 2 special weapons for 5 blokes, plus the Sgt can carry a pistol. A Scion special weapons squads would need to be something different to the standard squad and the altered command squad, which to my mind mean having a 5 man squad with up to 4 special weapons plus a Sgt. This means you could still field the 4 special weapons were use to with command squads but in a standard squad size. This is by no means a perfect solution and there are others, such as a squad along the lines of the current command squads, the standard special weapons squad set up or just going with something entirely new that I haven't thought of.