Stone Dragons

 The next force on the paint table was the Stone Dragons. Now, the Stone Dragons have had a bit of a convoluted  development, switching from ultramarine successors to space wolf successors, from system based to fleet based and back to home world based. One thing that hasn't changed is that the chapter is a crusading chapter, formed of many small crusading forces, such as this one. 

This force is based around the Phobos armour and stealth, a classic hunting party is you will. Lead by a Captain and a couple of Lieutenants, this force is the largest of the 500 point forces, coming in at 19 models in total. 

An incomplete family photo

Another angle

The force works in a number of ways but it mostly works around infiltrating and the unit of reavers and infiltrators backed up by the suppressors and eliminators. Now, there was a slight change of plan with this force, the suppressors were actually supposed to be part of the Eagle Knights but by the time I realised this they were already painted and transfers applied! So they are now part of a slightly bigger Stone Dragons force. 

The aforementioned suppressors with their eliminator buddies.

The eliminators are still headless as originally I wanted something classically Blood Angles but now I guess they will have to get the Space Wolf treatment and some wolf themed helmets. 

Headless warriors.

As with the previous marine forces I have tried my hands at transfers and I think that after some practice with the others I'm finally getting the hang of it. Ok so there not perfect, not by a long way, they are better than the first ones I did. I have tried to add in lots of details and extra little markings, to try and signify some of the deeds that they guys have done, I did think of adding in a lot more and I might go back and adds more later but for now they will do. 

Some of the transfer details. 

Eliminators

The eliminators are different from the rest of the force as they are a lot plainer, loosing a lot of the yellow markings, except their chapter badge and also a lot of the silver\metal parts. In addition, these guys are not finished as I really want to camouflage the cloaks to blend in to the grass basing and battle mat that i have. I had a go at doing some camouflage patterns on spare parts but I have yet to master the art. What I have decided is that I want a stippled effect but I have been struggling to get the right colour and intensity to the pattern. I have been asking around at the club and I think I've got a plan, I just need to try it out and see if it works, I'll let you all known as I'm brave enough to try it out!

Some of the extra details

Infiltrators

The infiltrators form the one half of the main force and are designated for ranged interactions. There was a slight error made here that I need to correct, as the Comms array man has his markings on his shoulder but the sergeant is missing his (the bloke holding his pistol), he has his Sgt insignia just above the chapter badge but no flashes below. I could probably just leave it but then it would fall foul of the lore, as no marine would reach Sgt without having claimed some sort of battle or personal honours. Apart from this minor issue, the squad is sorted.

Reavers

The reavers are very similar to the infiltrators but at least the Sgt has the right markings on. The only issue with these guys is that I really should have stripped a couple of the guys as the paint \ primer on them is very thick and not particularly flat in places. Luckily this isn't to noticeable from a distance and so it won't be noticeable on the table, it just annoys me that I didn't spend a bit more time preparing them.

The commanders

The leaders of the force are made up of a Captain and two lieutenants, one reaver and one infiltrator or Phobos armoured one. As usual I've taken a bit more time and care over these guys and I think I've done a good job. I've also gone and added a few more transfers, especially to the Captain.

Stranger details

More details

All in all, I really like these models and think that this is the best paint scheme of all the smaller marine force. The classic grey and yellow really works and stands out with out being to much. I will base these up with all the others when all the marines are finished, that is after I have dipped them in quick shade! 

Next up are the Dark Guardians, however, this may take a little longer than planned. We are currently away from home for a wedding, however we had to fly earlier than planned due to predicted weather issues, so we headed south several days earlier that originally booked and as such I didn't get a chance to finish the models and get pictures to post. I will try and get them done as soon after the new year as possible but that might be a few weeks away yet.

Emperor's Disciples

 Here we have the Emperor's Disciples, an even smaller band than the last lot! These fine examples of space marines are scions of Guilliman and if they are ever fielded they will form the core command and warlord for the army, which will makes sense in a bit, if it doesn't already.

Family portrait to start

The Emperor's Disciples are not very codex compliant and while it was thought that they were sons of Dorn and the Imperial Fists, the coming of the Primaris Marines and detailed genetic testing showed that they were actually sons of Guilliman. However this did not cause much change to the chapters structure, with them.maintaining their fleet based ways and more independent company structure. Here we have the chapter master and his personal guard of hand picked veterans. 

The chapter master and guard

Ok, if you haven't notice yet, then this figure is actually Marneus Calgar, chapter master of the Ultramarines, however for my purposes this is the chapter master Marcellus, Master of the Emperor's Disciples. There is a backstory to both him and the men he commands, namely that he was one Company Master of the 15th Campaign Company (lost \ destroyed companies are not replaced but new ones raised under a new number) and established himself as one of the most capable commanders of the chapter before crossing the Rubicon to become a Primaris marine. Unfortunately the then current chapter master did not survive the procedure, due to a number of reasons from old age through to damage to many of his current implants and systems. This elevated Marcellus to Chapter Master, by way of company master votes. 

Marcellus and his chosen honour guard.

Rear details

Ancient and Lieutenant

The company standard and it's attending ancient, a piece I'm quite proud of. I took some time with the details on the banner and while I've no doubt that it could be better, I think I did a good job on it. The Lieutenant is just a standard Lt with nothing special on him or about him. 

More details of the transfers

Standard details, i need to do something on the scroll but haven't found the right thing yet. 

I have done this up as the first company standard rather than the chapters standard for a couple reasons. The main one being that I didn't think that this was a very ornate and flashy standard that would befit a chapter standard, plus these are not being deployed as a chapter but as a chapter command force and such wouldn't be bringing the chapter standard. Lastly, I didn't have the bits I wanted to really make this a chapter banner, namely the transfer for the middle. While there is one there, it's really to small. If this was going to be a chapter banner, I would want the chapter symbol to take up most of the standard, which would involve freehanding the both parts, something I am not keen on! I do need to fill up the banner with something, what thought I don't know but I'll keep an eye open for something.

Veteran intercessor honour guard

Lastly we have the "veteran" intercessors. These will.be run as either standard intercessors in smaller games or veteran intercessors in larger games, where I will be able to.use troops from some of the other marine detachments. There are a few special intercessors in this unit and there is a reason for this, they are the units that my son painted up when he first painted some models. (You can see them HERE)

The company elite showing theor personal and campaign honours

While they are not exact copies, they a have taken a lot of inspiration from those models and with any thing I do like this there is a backstory to each model. I won't go into the details here but the short version is that one was honoured for exceptional individual bravery by s space wolf successor chapter and now wears the helmet of the wolf lord who he saved from certain death. The other wears the symbols of a blood angels successor chapter for his solitary stoic defence of their apothecary as he collected the geneseed of the chapters fallen warriors to stop it falling to heretic's from the death guard legion. Lastly the Sgt is honoured by the primogeniture themselves, the Ultramarines. Honoured for leadership and bravery during the plague wars, he wears his honours with less flash than his brother's but with just as much, if not more reverence.

The last two members

The last two members of the squad are just regular marines who have shown themselves to be exceptional marines through countless battles and deeds and have been chosen to accompany the chapter master as part of his body guard, they have yet to earn themselves honours such as their squad mates have but time will see if they manage to. 

Next up are the Stone Dragons, Space Wolves successors.

Brazen Hawks

 While there hasn't been much posted on the blog lately and those posts that have been up have been pretty randomly posted, I'm glad to say that there has been some goings on in the background, namely the painting up of my marines. Having finished all of my guard armies finally (apart from the quickshade dip that is), it was time to.move on and first on the paint table were the Brazen Hawks chapter. 

Now these guys were recently resurrected from the dead when I switched all my marines to Primaris marines. Under the new lore these are Imperial Fists successors but they may well also be played as Deathwatch. 

The full force

The full force is quite small, as with most of the marine chapters and comes out at just over 500 points. Annoyingly there is no way to drop it under the 500 point mark without dropping one of the characters. Talking of characters, some more eagle eyes amongst you might have noticed an issue with the list.

The force is comprised of a Captain, a Lieutenant, 5 Heavy Intercessors and 5 Hellblasters. Now, I would have liked the list to be completely filled with the heavy armoured version or mk10 "Gravis" armour but I didnt have a full force for this, so I figured that having the majority heavy armour and some standard armour was fine.  

The commanders, Lieutenant and Captain.

Now, more obviously, here is the elephant in the room, with all the versions of marine Lieutenants that GW have released over the years, I don't actually know if there is a Gravis armoured on, there certainly doesn't seem to be one listed in the codex. So despite these two both technically being Captain models, one is being played as a Lieutenant with Bolt rifle and the Captain with have his Boltstorm Gauntlet and sword. While both models are quite blingy I think the Captain is pretty obvious with his extra gold trim and sword. 

Some of the extra details.

The Hellblasters

The Hellblasters are the only non-heavy armoured unit here and that's a shame but I still like these models. They are the main support elements and heavy hitters in this list. While only 5 strong, once backed up by the Captain and Lieutenant, they should be a formidable unit. While technically armed with the standard plasma gun, the Incinerator, I think that the whole force will be armed with the assault versions of each weapon, meaning that the force can keep moving up the table and move surprisingly fast as well. 

The Heavy Intercessors

The Heavy Intercessors are the lead elements of this list and are the main reason for its inception. The Heavy Intercessors are again armed with the standard rifles, the heavy bolt rifle but will probably be armed with the assault version as well. 

Now, there is a little mistake that I have to admit to. I don't know 8f anyone has noticed but both the Hellblasters and Heavy Intercessors are both wearing tactical or battle line symbol. This was a mistake I made when putting on the transfers but I'm getting around this issue by stating that rather than the squad roll, it designates the company roll and as such this is a tactical or battle line company. 

Matching symbols. 

Talking of transfers, I hate transfers. Ok, that's a little bit of an over statement, I hate them on anything but flat, level surfaces. This is the first time I have used transfers on a 40k army, i may have used some on individual models in the past but these have all been vehicles and even then I think there's only one or two transfers on one or two vehicles, so not masses. Getting the transfers to sit nicely on the shoulder pads is a nightmare. With some minor knife work and a few cuts I managed to get them to sit on the pads but there not perfect by a long way.

Some transfer details

Now, I have noticed a that there is quite a difference between new transfers and old transfers. When I say old, what I mean, is the ones that have been sat in my box for several years and then some more. Some of the sheets must be 10 years old, maybe even more and while not yellowed, they are not the same. Not only do they take quite a while longer to soak, they also do not transfer from the paper to the model as well. They don't stick very well either, taking a long time to dry and harden. The new sheets soak quickly, transfer smoothly and stay in place nicely. However, I still hate transfers! There are several products that you can get, microsol and microset are two that spring to mind, but I don't use the stuff enough to justify buying such luxuries. So far I'm over halfway through the transfers for my marines and I will be doing some vehicles next, but they will be fairly flat surfaces, so shouldn't be much trouble. Hopefully as I do more I will get better at them. I'll let you know if that holds true in the next post!

Codex supplement; Cadia

This post has been a bit of a nightmare to write, not because of the content but because I've written it 3 times! Don't know what happened to the first one, it just disappeared! Second time.i.managed to publish it half written and didn't even notice, which ment that when I wrote the last part it disappeared again! So I had to rewrite the last part of the article again and now finally, nearly a month after the article came out it's finished! Enjoy.

So we have the lasted war zone book, Octarius and in this first part we have a number of new rules, including a new guard supplement, Codex supplement; Cadia. 

Now, I don't yet know the full rules for the supplement, even if by the time I actually finish writing this the book has been released but we know that there will be new stratagems, relics and warlord traits, all presumably based on Cadian heroics during the fall of Cadia. We did get a sneak preview of some of the rules, thanks to WarCom, these included two stratagems, a relic and a warlord trait, plus we get to see that they haven't changed the Cadian doctrine at all. 

All this will not effect me very much, mostly because I have zero interest in buying the book. Partly as 90 percent of it will be useless to me and partly because I refuse to be drawn in to buying countless books in order to play games bit that's a rant for further down the page, first of all I will cover what I know of the supplement. The fact that it is concentrated on Cadian is not a surprise but given that Cadia has been destroyed, it would have been a great time to introduce a new regiment as the main guard regiment, it could still be Cadian centered, maybe a bunch of Cadians settling on a backwards planet and bringing the Cadian ways to it and building a "new" Cadia. Anyway, they haven't, which is a bit of a shame. 

What do we know of the new rules? Well,enough to know that not much will be changing. We will have a look at the relic and warlord trait first, slightly out of order from the article and then look at the stratagems. The relic is alright but not amazing and probably won't get taken much as it's a power sword, a close combat weapon, which guard commanders to not excel at! The aura ability it gives is handy to have but overall not that useful. If your taking moral tests with guard, then your just lucky they survived at all!

 The real disappointment with this relic is that they killed of Bastonne in the process. I always liked Bastonnes character and was disappointed when he was removed from the codex. Having "killed" off Creed, Bastonne could have been a good Cadian character to use. The Warlord trait is quite a good one, allowing you to redeploy a vehicle or 3 non-vehicle units after deployment. This can be really useful for counter deployments and faints, causing your opponent to commit before pulling back and rendering his plan redundant. This is a tactic I could see me using but I still think there are better Warlord traits out there. 

The first of the two stratagems we have been give is Cadia Stands and it gives us a mini transhuman physiology, working on 1's (which always fail anyway) and 2's to wound. This may not sound like much and it isn't massive as it will only take effect on S6 plus weapons, which generally speaking will be hitting your armour rather than troops, but more importantly a bonus to your save against D1 weapons, which are fairly common. It means that you'll still be saving on 4's or 5's against most of these weapons, which is a nice little bonus but again, not spectacular. The main issue with this stratagem is that it only effects a single unit, which for the most part will be a 10 man squad and will therefore have very little effect keeping these guys alive. Even when placed on a conscript blob it will not have a significant impact. I can't see this stratagem getting much use at all. 

A stratagem I can see being used a lot is Whiteshields. This stratagem is used on conscript squads and can effect any number of squads you have in a detachment. It come in three part, the first just gives the squads the "Whiteshields" keyword and does little else, the second boosts leadership up to 6, which sounds nice but in reality will do little to the squad. Most of the time having a leadership of 6 will not effect any moral tests you have to take and you will.still be relying on other forms of leadership buffs, either through commissars or psychic powers. The last part of the stratagem is the most important part and removes the Raw Recruits "ability". This is a rule I have never like and was part of GW's knee jerk reaction to conscripts in tournaments. Now we have the option to get around this silly rule, even if it costs CP. The change means that orders will now automatically take effect and you won't have to roll for them, which is a lot better. The only downside to this all is that the Warlord has to be Cadian, which can limit your options for other things but in general I do not see this being a major issue. If your going to be running a lot of conscripts, then this really is the best way to run them. 

Overall I think the new supplement will be a nice addition to the guard toolbox but not a must have. I certainly won't be buying it anytime soon.

Questions, questions, questions.

 

So, at the beginning of the month I got my email with my Warhammer+ £10 gift voucher and I thought, great, that's going in the bank for when the Guard codex comes out but alas, no, apparently you only have till the end of the month to spend it! I wasn't to happy about that last bit and thought that it was a bit of a dick move to pull but then again they might have said that bit all along and I just never paid attention to it. Anyway, it is what it is and so I had better get o. With spending it.

But what do I spend it on? My initial thought had been to keep hold of it until the new guard codex and model range was released but with the time limit placed on the use of the voucher this is now not possible. So what should I get? I don't want to spend a lot more than the voucher, as it's a trap really. You get a small voucher and end up spending a lot of money! So I was looking at items around the 10 pound mark, which there really isn't much, mostly just a few old characters. The first choice I made was an easy one and that was to restrict my options to Imperial units and more specifically those that can be used with the Imperial Guard. There's were a couple of jump out items on the website, Wyrdvane Psykers, Regimental advisors, Primaris Psykers, Servitors, Crusaders and Yarrick. 

However, I discounted a couple of these options straight of as they wouldn't work. The Servitors are £12 for two models but they have to be fielded in units of 4, so I would have needed two packs, at 24 pound. Now, I do own a techpriest, so it would have worked fine and having 2 plasma cannons in a guard army would have been good but I feel that I would be buying the for the sake of buying something and I've not wanted Servitors previously. The second unit I discounted was the Crusaders. While these guys are in the codex now, I don't think that they will be soon, in addition they don't mesh with any units in the guard as they don't have any sort of bodyguard rules to protect guard characters. 

Next up I looked at Wyrdvane Psykers. Initially these were my first choice but on closer inspection of the rules I have changed my mind. 3 Wyrdvanes Psykers is not enough to really do anything with, as you can really only do one power, Mental Fortitude and that's a bit pointless. To really have an effective unit you need at least six, if not nine models, way outside my £10 limit. I could also make some of these out of chaos cultists if I really wanted as well, which I have thought about quite a few times but I've never really felt the urge to.  Alongside the Wyrdvane Psykers, I also considered the Primaris Psyker but this was easily discounted as I already have 4 modelled up and don't really need anymore than that. 

Next up I looked at the Regimental Advisors and I was pretty set on these, as I have always wanted the Master of Ordinance and Officer of the Fleet models. However, I've kitbashed my own models for both of these and actually have a spare MoO already, so getting more seemed a little pointless. The Astropath model might have been quite cool to have but much like the Wyrdvane Psykers, I have no need for it and it doesn't actually provide me with anything extra. 

That left old man Yarrick. Now this is a model I'm really interested in and I've wanted for a while, however, these is something holding me back right now and that it Ghazghkull Thraka. Not it might seem strange that an Ork model is stopping me buying Yarrick but I wonder if they might redo the model as they have redone Ghaz and Ragnar, Ghaz's other nemesis.  So with these to models being redone, I wonder if Yarrick might get a reworking to match him in. If he does, I will want the new model, not the old one, so I'm holding off buying it till then. All of which leaves me back where I started, what do I buy?

After discounting all the models I though about buying, I looked around and found some other models that I though would be cool, including an inquisitor model, a couple of priest and even the old space marine Techmarine but I would only be buying these models for the sake of buying something.

 So I game it a few days and went back and started my search from scratch, just looking though everything for every faction and then it hit me! Why I didn't think about it before is beyond me but I didn't! So earlier today, I placed my order for these beauties;

 

Catachan's baby!

So, there it is, Harker and Straken in all their glory. Ok, I know what your thinking, what happened to the (approximately) £10 limit. Well, I got Sly Marbo for Christmas (or birthday???) and thought why not get these two.and have all three models! With the voucher it's half price with free postage, after all there are very few times you'll be able to get GW stuff at 50% off, direct from GW themselves! So, hopefully they will arrive soon and then I can get on with painting all three of them together. I will then either put them on display somewhere, maybe even get a little scenic base going or I will put them in a rather fun list I have thought of, consisting of the three characters and 60 conscripts, either in 2 or 3 squads, all for 495 points. It will be a silly list but over 60 bodies at 500 points could be rather fun! (For me anyway, maybe not so much for my opponent) Anyway, hopefully they will turn up soon and I can show them off.

A quiet weak.

 So it's been a quiet week on the hobby front this week, for a couple of reasons. The first being that I've been busy trying to get all the house work and stuff sorted before the kids break up for the holidays. The second one is that I have had a bit of an eye injury this week, nothing serious but it has meant painting has been off the table. 

The kids have the next 2 and a half weeks off school, which with the wetland windy autumn weather we get up here should be fun, I've got a few bits and pieces ready to occupy them but to say I'm not looking forward to it is an understatement. 

On the eye injury front, well, it all started with a trailer, a horse trailer to be exact. With the proposed changes to towing regulations hopefully happening soon, we have invested in a horse box trailer for towing our two horses around but seeing as it could be a couple of months before we can actually tow the dam thing we decided to fit to cover over it to protect it. The previous owner had mostly used this to cover the hay in her barn rather than the trailer, as it two was parked in said barn. Well, at some point in fitting the cover, some hay or straw must have gone in my eye and it was not a pleasant experience. My eye was very sore and it swelled up like a balloon. It's been several days now and it still isn't quite right but significantly better than it was! 

Anyway, I had been hoping to have the Brazen Hawks finished by now but as it stands, the Capt. And Lt. Are finished, alongside the five Hellblasters, with just the bases to finish. The five heavy intercessors are based but need all the details filled in. Hopefully I'll get that sorted this week ready to post next Friday, provided the kids aren't to late to bed that is! 

After I finish these guys it's going to be on the the Stone Dragons but that might be a few weeks away before any of that gets finished!

So that the little weekly update this week, just the keep the blog ticking over, hopefully I'll have something more to post up next week!

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. 

Heavy support and Superheavies

 The heavy support section is one of the populated sections of the codex, with a number of good units and some not so go units. While there are some units that I think need some work to get them up to a more competitive level, there are also a couple of units that I think will see some characteristics changed due to streamlining. I'll start with these units, as they will be quick to deal with. 

The two main units that I think will see some changes are the Basilisk and Manticore, and the main change will be the damage going from d3 to a flat 2 or maybe 3 damage, although 2 would be more likely. This is due to some other weapons loosing their variable damage characteristics, which is good as it gives a more accurate estimate of damage dealt. I think this is most likely with manticores as a way of reducing the effect of Full Payload manticores.

There are a few other units that need a few adjustments in my view. The Leman Russ Battle Tank, while the main tank is pretty good and not much needs changed, if anything, there are a few of the weapons options that need looking at. The Executioner plasma cannon, which follows the same profile as the standard plasma cannon with the exception of d6 shots. This means that you could end up getting just 1 shot, practicality the same as a standard plasma gun, for a weapon that is supposed to be a tank mounted plasma cannon. I think the shots need to be changed to a 2d3 or d6 with minimum number of shots, say 3. This give it the feel of a proper tank mounted gun. The other option would be to increase the strength, just 1 up, to S8 and S9, giving it that extra bit of punch and bringing it inline with the marines macro plasma incinerator. Personally I think more shots is the way to go, rather than extra strength. This would mean that the tank as a whole, with sponsons, could put out a significant amount 9f firepower. The 9ther version of the LRBT that needs looking at is the Exterminator and it's Autocannons. At present it's two barreled autocannon kicks out just 4 shots, the same as two separate Autocannons carries by guardsmen. Being vehicle mounted it should kick out more shots, in my view, double the number, although 6 would still be better. If marines can carry a 3 shot version around by hand, then a tank should be able to do at least the same, if not more. Again, I don't think that extra strength or ap is needed, just more shots, the guard is, after all, about volume. 

Talking about volume, we have the Wyvern. Now, I love this weapon, it is a good weapon but as I have said before several times, it needs something more, because right now the only thing that makes it better than mortar equipped heavy weapons squads is that you can take more of them. Simply adding an extra point of strength or ap would make all the difference and make them stand out from regular mortars. I think the ap is the way to go, keeping them as S4 with re-rolls to wound. An alternative route would be extra special rules, such as re-roll number of shots or ignoring cover, even going back a few editions and being able to add one to BS if you can see the target unit (advanced vehicle mounted targeting units?) Either way, I think that it needs something extra.

Next we have to fun one, the Deathstrike missile launcher! Now, we all know that the Deathstrike is not a competitive choice, not can the tabletop model ever represent what we read in books, after all, if it did, firing one on the tabletop would wipe out the gaming hall, not just your table! The biggest issue with Deathstrike missile launchers however is the random number of shots and BS. With 3d6 shots and a 4+ BS your looking at just 5 hits. For a single shot super weapon that you can't actually fire turn 1, 5 hits is pretty rubbish. Even with the possibility of extra hits on nearby units, which is slim, as by the time.youanage to fire it most units are going to be out of range of other units, so you might get to roll 2 other dice of which one might hit and get 2 mortal wounds. Against marines, this will mean 3 and a half dead models, not a great return. I think this model needs either a big price reduction, significant damage output improvement or auto hitting shots, maybe even all three! The death strike probably shouldn't be a competitive choice but it should be a devastating one. 

Next up we have what I think is the unit that needs the biggest improvement, not in terms in the units price or stat line, both of which I think are fairly balanced. The biggest issue is the restrictions in match play, know as the rule of 3. Heavy Weapons Teams are a staple of guard units, however they have been severely restricted by the rule of 3, far more so that vehicles. This is because the rule states you can only take 3 of each data sheet, and with guard vehicles this means that you can actually take 9 vehicles due to the squadron rules. Only Manticores and Deathstrikes don't have the squadron rules. This means that taking heavy weapons squads only happens if you've spare point not spent elsewhere, which is rare. I think that either heavy weapons squads need to be allowed to take more teams, at least 5, if not more, up to 9 (3 lots of 3) or we should be able to take them in "squadrons" or multiple squads in a single slot. This would mean that they would become a usable force again.  

I also mention here an additional unit that I think needs adding in, the MT scions heavy weapons squad. I've mentioned scions needing heavy weapons in the troops and transports post but I think that they need a dedicated heavy weapons squad as well. I still think that these squads should have limited weapons options but I also think that they should have unique choices, such as multi-melta's and maybe even plasma cannons. The squads should follow the same rules as the standard HWS, as these could well be the only long range heavy hitting weapons and main anti-tank weapons in the army. 

The last thing to mention here are the super-heavy tanks. Now, in general these are fairly balanced and don't really need adjustment. One thing they do need however is a boost to their saves, in the form of an invulnerable save. These vehicles, while tough with lots of wounds, are still fragile for their size and cost. An invulnerable save would be perfect for them. I'm not after anything crazy, just a 6++ would be perfect, just something to ensure these prized relics have a save. I'm not expecting Knights level of shielding, but just a little extra would be useful.