40k Battle Report: Iron Hands vs Iron Hands?!?

Last night I headed up to my LGS to test out some new Space Marines with my Sons of Medusa.
Normally at the store on a Thursday there are around 10-12 players which is nice.
Sometimes someone can't find a partner so we try to make due.
Last night however, there were 26+ people at the store...crazy stuff.

Games are randomized, and I get paired up against a player I have played many times before, who is also playing Space Marines...and is also playing Iron Hands...go figure.
Amazingly enough, his army was Brazen Claws and mine is Sons of Medusa...both of which are Successor Chapters to Iron Hands.

Playing behind us was actually a game a Sisters of Battle vs Sisters of Battle...with no allies!! When's the last time you can say you saw that in person...

We rolled up for the game and it was Relic, but no one likes to play Relic so we re-rolled and got Emperor's Will, which we decided was good enough.

Deployment was Dawn of war.

I of course forgot my Aegis Defense Line and Quad Cannon at home so I borrowed and created a make shift Bastion for this game.

Objectives are in Yellow.

He won the roll, and decided to let me deploy and go first.

My List - Sons of Medusa
Master Of the Forge
Terminator Librarian - Mastery Level 2 (Biomancy)
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Razorback with Twin-linked Lascannon
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Razorback with Twin-linked Lascannon
5 Man Tactical Squad
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Land Raider with Multi-Melta
5 Thunderhammer & Storm Shield Terminators in a Land Raider Crusader with Multi-Melta
Devastator Squad with 4 Missile Launchers
Vindicator with Siege Shield
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Bastion with Quad Cannon

Master of the Forge is in the Land Raider with the 5 Man Tactical Squad.

Librarian is in the Crusader with the other Terminators.

The single 5 man tactical squad is inside the bastion, manning the Em-placed Heavy Bolters.

His List: Brazen Claws
Captain with Artificer Armor and a Lightning Claw
Chaplain in Terminator Armor
5 Man Tactical Squad
(Reserved) 10 Man Tactical Squad with a Flamer in a Drop Pod
10 Man Tactical Squad with a Melta Gun in a Land Raider Redeemer
(Reserved) 5 Scouts with Shotguns
(Reserved) 5 Sterngurd with a Heavy Flamer, Combi-Grav, Combi-Melta, Melta in a Drop Pod
(Reserved) 5 Terminators with Powerfists and Storm Bolters
6 Assault Bikers with a Melta-Gun, and Combi-Something
5 Devastators - 2 Lascannons, 1 Missile Launcher, 1 Boltgun, Sgt.
Vindicator
Stalker

All of his units had Sergeants, and they all had melta bombs.
Some of them had plasma pistols.

I placed my Bastion on my side, in the middle of the board, and put my objective right behind it. His objective is in the far left corner, behind a small ruin.

Librarian rolled Iron Arm, and Smite.

I put the 2 Land Raiders on my left with the Vindicator between them, hoping to just push them up the board in a wall.

On the right side of the bastion, the Master of the Forge Bolstered the forest, making it a 4++ cover save. I placed one razorback inside of it, and then the 2 Predators to the right of him, with the last Razoback behind them to negate possible shots from his drop pod assault. (although, thinking back I should have turned it sideways, but I was too excited since I haven't played my Space Marines in almost a year!)

He deployed everything as far back as he could to try to stay out of range of my shots on the first turn.

We roll for night fighting and it is most definitely day time instead.

He grabbed a dice out of habit, and said "Roll to Seize!" and then rolled a 6...
Then he realized what he just did.

He had just placed all of his stuff out of range of my stuff...and now...HE didn't have range on me.

I offered to let him take it back, because I don't like playing against someone, who on turn one is already going to be upset about a mistake, but he said that he wanted to play it out, and maybe get an Alpha strike or first blood on me. I looked around and realized that he had some prime shots on my vindicator if he could get his Drop Pod to stick behind it, maybe even a transport.

Well, here we go...

Turn 1 - Brazen Claws
His Sternguard Drop Pod comes in, and he places it in front of my Vindicator, hoping to pop it on 1st turn, but it scatters over in front of my Crusader instead. I asked why he didn't go behind my transports, and he said he was afraid of going off the table.

He moves his Land Raider in front of his Vindicator to block it.

His Bikes move up a bit to mid field.

The Lascannons on the devastators manages to cause a hit on one of my predators which immobilizes it.

The Sternguard fire off some crap at my crusader, he gets 2 glances, and of course, one penetration...which immobilizes it as well.

He shoots the Land Raider at it as well, but nothing happens.

That was about it for his turn.

Turn 1 - Sons of Medusa

Iron Arm is fails on boxcars and my Librarian is already down to 1 wound...well shit.

Puke and rally right?

I move the Vindicator up a bit into the forest to get a better shot on his Sternguard.

My Land Raider moves up a bit to light up his Land Raider with some blasty goodness.

The Predator that can, moves up a small amount to get line of sight at his Bikers with both Lascannons.

The Terminators Jump out of the Land Raider Crusader and move to a location where they have charge range of the Bikers or the Sternguard. Basically which ever one doesn't completely die to shooting.

Between the guns on the Land Raider Crusader and the heavy Bolters from the bastion, the Sternguard is wiped out quickly for 1st blood. 

The Vindicator, Devastators and Predators manage to unload on the bikes but only take them down to 3 models, due to him making Jink and Feel no Pain saves like crazy.

The other Razorback manages to take out 1 of his devastators. Of course it's the Bolter guy.

The It Will Not Die roll on the Crusader regens a hull point so its back up to 2.

Brazen Claws Turn 2

His Terminators come in, but not the other Drop Pod, or Scouts.

He deploys them off of the beacon on his 1st drop pod and places them in front of my Terminators.

His Land Raider moves up, so does his Vindicator.

The remaining Bikers move around his drop pod toward my other Land Raider.

His Vindicator shoots at my Vindicator, he rolls and only gets a 2 as his highest, giving him 12, which does nothing.

The Bikers shoot at it out of spite, and do nothing to my Vindicator either.

He then shoots his Terminators at my Terminators, which of course make all their saves.

His Devastator Squad unloads one of my Predators and manages to wreck it. Boo!

Sons of Medusa - Turn 2

Iron Arm is successful on the Librarian again, with a 3+/3+.

I pivot the Vindicator just enough for a better shot at the Bikers, and leave the Land Raider in position to fire at full ballistic in case I need the shots.

The Vindicator shoots and manages to take out the remaining 3 Bikers.

The Land Raider and Devastators then manage to explode his Land Raider Redeemer and spill out the guys, taking out 1 from the ensuing explosion.

My Land Raider Crusader and Razorbacks then focus fire into the unit of his Terminators, and take out 2 of them.

I assault into his Terminator with mine and declare a challenge with my Librarian, since he is currently S7/T7.

He accepts but nothing happens and all saves are made.

My remaining Terminators manage to finish off his squad easily.

No hull points are gained back.

His 10 man unit in the remaining crater fail the test and are pinned.

Brazen Claws Turn 3

His 2nd Drop Pod comes in and so do his Scouts.

The Scouts outflank and the Drop Pod comes in, both of which are on my right flank.

He moves up his Vindicator hoping to cause some kind of damage and swing things back into his favor.

Unfortunately it shot and missed. 

At this point in the game he was making the Feel No Pain saves like a mad man, but shooting was causing him problems. Luckily he's a real nice guy to play with, who knows his rules, and was still enjoying the game.

I hate playing in games where the dice just go cold for someone.

He got a little encouragement back when his Tactical squad from the drop pod managed to wreck my 2nd Predator tank. Small Victories.

The challenge was a stalemate once again.

Sons of Medusa - Turn 3

Iron Arm is successful again with a 3+/3+!

I move the Land Raider over towards his deployment zone, to get an angle with both Lascannons on his Vindicator.

My Vindicator pivots back toward his Tactical Squad and Warlord in the Crater.

I leave the Razorback where it is, thereby blocking his units from getting to me, and forcing him to go over it.

I unload the 5 man Tactical Squad that was inside of it and run into cover towards the objective, hopefully out of range of his flamer in that unit.

The Vindicator and Crusader manage to take his 10 man unit down to only 3, and kill his Warlord in the process.

2 of the Devastators and the Heavy Bolters in the Bastion manage to take the other 10 man squad on my right flank down to 7, but fail to take out the flamer.

One Razorback and the Land Raider manage to take his Vindicator down to 1 hull point, and shake it, so at least it cant shoot.

The other Razorback doesn't have line of sight, so he shoots at the Devastators, but does nothing.

Challenge is a stalemate once again.

Crusader Gains back a hull point.

Brazen Claws - Turn 4

He attempts to ram my Land Raider with his Vindicator, but comes 1" short.

His Tactical Squad and Scouts move up towards my objective.

He rushes in his Tactical squad and manages to wreck my Razorback, now creating a wall he has to go through.

I was really hoping it would explode and take out the unit with it, but oh well.

My Librarian manages to finally kill his Chaplain in the challenge and the unit then consolidates toward my objective to play a little defense and prevent him from getting to it hopefully. 

I have the secondaries right now, but if he can contest my objective, it won't matter.

Sons of Medusa - Turn 4

Iron Arm is successful again, but only a +1/+1 this time.

I turn the Land Raider and move flat out towards his objective.

I move the Tactical Squad out of range of his remaining flamer and the Terminators move up to block his path.

I rotate the Razorback to take a shot at his Stalker and prevent him from blowing it up with Bolt Guns from the Tactical Squad he has left.

The Vindicator manages to take out most of the remaining Tactical Squad in the middle of the board as well as the Drop Pod, leaving 1 guy by himself. 

I shoot everything I have on the Crusader at the single Tactical Marine in the middle of the board and manage to cause 8 wounds. He then, in turn, manages to make his Armor and Feel No Pain saves.

The Land Raider snap fires the Multi-Melta into the side of his Vindicator and immobilizes it.

The Crusader gains back another hull point taking it to full again!

Brazen Claws - Turn 5

He moves the 5 man Tactical Squad he has on his objective toward my Land Raider hoping to blow it up with a Melta Bomb, but fails on a 1.

His Tactical Squad move over my wrecked Razorback, and fire off a flamer into my Terminators who all make their saves.

The Stalker attempts to fire and does nothing, and the Devastators don't have line of sight on anything to shoot at.

The scouts move up, hoping to maybe go around the wrecked Predators.

Sons of Medusa Turn 5

Iron Arm is Successful again, with a 2+/2+.

The Terminators move up closer to him to assault and wipe out the unit if needed, and the other unit of Tactical Marines move up within Double Tap range of their Boltguns.

I deploy the 5 Man Tactical out of the Land Raider with the Master of the Forge.

The Land Raider then attempts to Tank Shock his Tactical Squad. He attempts a "Death or Glory" and fails, killing his Sergeant. 

The Flamer from the Master of the Forge's Servo Harness manages to take out the rest of the unit.

The Vindicator shoots at the lone Marine in the middle by himself and it hits, turning him into a fine paste on the ground.

The Librarian casts Smite which takes out his flamer and that was pretty much the end of it.

He then realized that I still had a 5 Man Tactical squad inside the other Razorback, and one in the Bastion, plus the one right outside of it on foot.

That compounded with the fact that I would have his objective next turn meant there was no point continuing.

Victory for the Sons of Medusa

9 points - 0 points

After Thoughts

1. Always make sure to bring everything you need to a game. Even though I forgot my Aegis Defense line, the Bastion did work out pretty well.

2. Iron Hands are ridiculous. a 6+ may not sound like much, but without it, this game would have been over two turns earlier.

3. While the vehicles are ridiculously strong with the ability to regen hull points, I found myself on turn 3 thinking, "Oh shit, how the hell am I going to get Line Breaker?"

4. Being able to bolster a forest to a 4+ is amazing, especially when you put your objective in it.

5. The Terminator Librarian was a horrible idea, made even worse since he only has 2 wounds. If I was running 2 Masters of the forge instead, he could have fixed the Land Raider Crusader on a 3+ and had it back up and moving after turn 1, which is exactly what I will be switching too next time.

6.  We were talking during the game and he asked why I was running a Master of the Forge, after I explained to him that they have a 3+ on the Blessing roll, plus the It Will Not Die roll on a 5+ at the end of the turn, he just stopped shooting at it.

7. Only one person was playing Raven Guard, and he was using them as an ally. All that was left of them in the end was Shrike by himself. He stated that he was extremely unimpressed. This coming from a Veteran Player.

8. There was only 2 people playing Imperial Fists, both of them did extremely well.

9. The people playing Ultramarines were complaining that they were too difficult with the chapter tactics. Personally I believe that Ultramarines will be extremely popular in tournaments, because if you plan turns ahead they can be amazing. It just takes experience I guess.

10. ALOT of people are playing Space Marines. More than you think. 

Be prepared.

40K: Space Marine Codex Review

So much to talk about since I last posted. For me its been like a 2nd Christmas as I am a huge fan of the Space Marines in general including all chapters...except maybe for the Space Wolves. If it weren't for Rune Priests, Long Fangs and Grey Hunters, I probably wouldn't like them at all, just not my cup of tea.

Anyways, back to the codex.

First off, I really enjoy this book. The fluff, the artwork, the descriptions, all of it are exceptional. I also really enjoy the fact that they included most of the 2nd foundings with descriptions and a little history. And the fact that It's not just a static picture of their colors. Nice work GW.

Warlord Traits

In my opinion, besides Storm of Fire and Rites of War they are all crap.

Champion of Humanity is great, but when will that every actually happen in a game against a smart player? Probably never considering they can just deny the challenge, unless you are playing against Chaos.

I think the BRB Traits are considerably better.

Chapter Tactics
These are all great.

Yes everyone loves the White Scars. That obvious, and I'm sure if you are here reading this, then you have read the same thing everywhere else, so I'm not going to waste time going over it. I believe everyone should memorize it because you're going to see a lot of people buying up Dark Vengeance Ravenwing bikers from eBay, and you will see White Scars armies everywhere.
5 out of 5.

Ultramarine Tactics is interesting. I would go Tactical on 1st turn for the shooting advantage, then Devastator on 2nd turn to be able to move those Devastators away from that Heldrake or behind cover and still be able to shoot. Its good but not great.
3 out of 5.

Imperial Fist is a perfect balance. Re-roll for your bolters for anti-infantry and Tank hunter to take out some Vehicles. The best case here I could see would be 2 units of Devastators and a unit of Centurions behind an Aegis, just be wary of the Heldrakes.
4 out of 5.

Black Templars...Everything is Fearless, Has Hatred, and Adamantium Will, which is nice. I still wish rhino rush was a viable strategy as those were my favorite BT lists back in the day, but oh well.
3 out of 5.

Iron Hands, where do I start?! I love these rules. FnP on all models at a 6+, which isn't great, but still gives you a fighting chance against Plasma Weaponry and other AP2/AP3 stuff. All vehicles get It Will Not Die? Crazysauce. And to make it even better, Techmarines and Masters of the Forge get +1 to Blessing rolls! Think about this for a second, 2 Masters of the Forge inside 2 Land Raiders. Those are 90 point HQ choices (who are amazing btw, but more on that later) who can ride in a Landraider, and each turn regen a hull point to it on a 3+. If that fails, at the end of the turn you still get to gain one back anyways by rolling a 5+ for It Will Not Die. Theoretically you could regain 2 Hull points per turn.

This is how you lose friends, and is obviously what I will be running to start my testing purposes. I have enough friends right now.
5 out of 5.

Salamanders didn't change too much and are virtually the same as before, which is good because they were perfect. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
4 out of 5.

Raven Guard, oh how I had big hopes for you and you failed to impress me. The scout rule on first turn is amazing, love that part, but stealth for only 1st turn and the fact that it doesn't affect bulky or very bulky models...well that's where you fail. Guess what's bulky? Assault Marines. Which is the main reason to play Raven Guard in the first place.
While being able to scout Land Raiders is nice, I think that is really the only plus here, but I could be wrong.
1 out of 5.

HQ's

Calgar - Not worth the points in my opinion. There are just so many better Options. Too expensive points wise.

Sicarius - Amazing utility here all around. He can buff a Tactical squad with Infiltrate, Scout, Tank Hunter or Counter Attack. He grants +1 to reserve rolls and lets everyone use his LD for tests, which is also nice considering Tac Squads are only LD8 now, so it saves you points on Vet Sergeants.
He is pretty expensive, but could be worth it depending on your Army List.

Tigurius - This should be the default HQ choice. He's mastery level 3, can roll on any chart, can reroll to chose his powers, can reroll when casting his powers, and lets you reroll reserve rolls. So far, my lists are built around trying to decide if there is a better choice than Tigurius for the points. The majority of the time there isn't. Unless you absolutely have to have another Chapter Tactic, there is no reason not to take him as one of your HQ choices.

If you're thinking about running Space Marines with Tau allies ( I am currently working on my SM/Farsight Amry) he is your go to choice. Perfect Timing and Prescience on O'vesa? Yes Please.

Cassuis - He's Toughness 6, has a 3+/4++ and Feel No Pain...and he has 2 wounds. I...just...what?

Telion - Very nice, but extremely situational.

Kor'Sarro Khan - If you're taking White Scars then you're taking him.
He's too good not too, considering he gives all your transports and bikes scout.
AND he's only 125 points....which is the cheapest of all the named HQ's.

Vulkan He'Stan - While you can take Salamanders without Vulkan, I still think he brings so much to the table its hard not too. It is kind of sad though that Thunderhammers are no longer master-crafted.

Shrike - Unfortunately he can only join Assault Marines now.
His Raven's Talons are OK I guess. But really are just normal Lightning Claws with Rending.
I think there are far better Options, especially for 185 points...

Lysander - If you were thinking about taking Calgar, take Lysander instead, you will be a lot happier.

Pedro Kantor - Love this guy. Make sure to note that he only makes Sternguard SCORING, and does not make them troops choces.
More scoring units is always better and extremely underrated.

Helbrecht - Everything about him is geared toward assault...to bad he's only T4 with no Eternal Warrior. He can also "grant all friendly models that have the Chapter Tactics (Black Templars) special rule, the Hatred and Fleet special rules until the end of the phase." which is nice, except that according to the chapter tactics...they already have Crusader...which already gives them Hatred...redundant is redundant.

Grimaldus - Not bad actually. 3 Wounds, 3+/4++, IWND, Zealot. Alot to like here, but expensive points wise.

Emperor's Champion - This guy will tear up any Melee combat. The problem is getting him there. With only 2 wounds you will want to attach him to a big unit to make sure he doesn't die before hand.
The other problem is, that while he will dominate almost any challenge, this doesn't stop your opponent from denying the challenge, unless of course you're playing against Chaos.

Chapter Master - Just wow. Extra Wound, Extra Attack for 5 points more. Worth it.
You can literally use this guy to build any type of HQ you need.
Also, there is the fact that if you put him on a Bike, you can technically fire normal weapons, then fire orbital bombardment, and then assault in the same turn thanks to the Relentless special rule.

Captain - Same exact stats as last time, but 10 points cheaper. I like things that are cheaper.

Terminator Captain - For when you just have to have a Captain in Terminator armor...whenever that may be.

Librarian - The fact that they lost access to Divination is upsetting. And to get a decent invulnerable save on him, you basically have to double his points immediately.
Since the removal of divination, their job roles in my opinion have completely changed, and I can see a lot of people going other directions with them now.

Chaplain - Almost exactly the same as before. The addition of Zealot is nice.

Master of the Forge - My favorite so far. I love this choice, as I always look for value. How much can I get for the fewest points. The more points I can save here, the more I will have to use in other places.

Pros:
- Only 90 points.
- 2+ Save
- Has a Bolt Pistol, Boltgun, and Servo-Harness with a built in Plasma cutter and Flamer so he can basically adapt to any enemy.
- Bolster Defenses now allow you to bolster ANYTHING besides a fortification up to a 3+. Who does't love the possibility of 3+ cover saves in ruins, or 4+ forest saves? That's like an extra Aegis defense line.
- 3+ Blessing Rolls if Iron Hands is chosen.

Cons:
- No Invulnerable save unless you take a relic.
- Only 2 wounds.

Conclusion:
Personally I love the possibilities right now with a Master of the Forge and some Iron Hands.
The league I play in on Thursday nights is 2000 points, Dual Force Organization. Tomorrow night will be taking advantage of this and running the following list.

HQ

Master Of the Forge
Terminator Librarian - Mastery Level 2 (Biomancy)

Troops
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Razoback with Twinlinked Lascannon
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Razoback with Twinlinked Lascannon
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Rhino
5 Man Tactical Squad in a Land Raider

Elites
5 Thunderhammer & Storm Shield Terminators in a Land Raider Crusader with Multimelta

Heavy Support
Devastator Squad with 4 Missile Launchers
Vindicator with Siege Shield
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons
Predator with Autocannon and Lascannon sponsons

Aegis Defense Line with Quad Cannon

Strategy:
5 Man in the rhino will be in reserves to come in for late game objective grabs.

The Master of the Forge goes in the Landraider with the 5 Man Tactical squad. His ability to regen Hull points on a 3+ should keep it mobile and causing devastation every turn.

The ability for him and his unit to assault out if needed to Flame an objective clear, and then steal it, is nice as well.

The Librarian is rolling on Biomancy and attaching to the Terminators in the Land Raider Crusader.
I'm  hoping for Endurance to give his whole unit Feel No Pain, or Iron Arm.
(I have considered going with Pyromancy Powers as well as they could be devastating against Tau.)
This units role is to clog up my opponents lines or take out some riptides and Wraithknights if needed.

When I build a list, I always start with the question of "Can this beat Tau or Eldar right now?" and I think this list should be fairly well. With the amount of Lascannon fire, the Riptides and Wraithknights of the world should fall quickly, then its just mop up duty.

I think it may struggle against flyers, and as much as it pains me, I have thought about dropping the rhino and giving the Devastators Flakk missiles, but that's crazy talk right?

I'll be posting a bat rep on Friday hopefully so I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Other Items of note:

- I think the Skyspear Missile Launcher is better than people think.
- Crusader Squads are extremely good.
- Sternguard are good, but can get really pricey very quick.
- Bike Armies in some shape or fashion will be everywhere.
- Almost everything is cheaper point wise. If you play against Space Marines frequently, then get ready to face even more of them on the table now.

For example, let's compare Blood Angels to New Space Marines.
If we compare a 5 man Tactical squads in a Razorbacks with Lascannons, for the same price Blood Angels can run 2 of those units, Space Marines can run 3 of them with the same exact stats, except that the Blood Angels are fast...that's it.

Grav-Guns
One big controversy so far is the Grav-gun,  and whether or not vehicles get cover saves against it.

My opinion of this debate is that, as of right now, No. Here's Why.

BRB says this: "If the target is obscured and suffers a glancing or penetrating hit, it must take a cover save against it, exactly like a non-vehicle model would do against a wound"

Grav Gun says: "When resolving a hit against a vehicle, roll a D6 for each hit instead of rolling for Armour penetration as normal. On a 1-5 nothing happens, but on a 6, the target suffers an immobilized result and loses a single Hull Point."

Since the Grav-Gun does not technically cause Penetrating or Glancing hits, there is nothing to roll against.

Is this dumb? Most people will say yes, but if you actually read how the Grav technology work it makes sense.

I do believe enough people will complain that GW will FAQ it soon

If this is the way it was intended to be used, then it would explain why Centurions are so expensive point wise, and why they have the limited range.

Warhammer Fantasy: Tale of Gamers

The Warhammer Fantasy: Tale of Gamers escalation league at my FLGS has finally come to an end. After 3 months I've managed to build a fully painted, 3000+ point army for about a 1/4th of the cost of what it would normally retail for. That's a major score right there. As an added bonus I learned I really like Warhammer Fantasy and got to meet some cool new people. I only wish our store had more players interested Fantasy. Going into the last game, Ogre Kingdoms were leading the pack with my Daemons of Chaos just behind. If I won the game, we would tie for the league and split the $100 prize. The real prize however, was getting our units for 1/2 price or free if we were the MVP of the week during the coarse of the league. Needless to say, I was already happy wether I had won or lost the last game. Here's the list I used in the last game:

Lords
Daemon Prince of Nurgle

• Daemon of Nurgle
• Level 3 Wizard 
• Chaos Armour
• Daemonic Flight
• Exalted Gift 

Heroes 

Herald of Tzeentch

• Level 2 Wizard (Lore of Metal) 

Herald of Nurgle

• Greater Locus of Fecundity  
• BSB - Razor Standard 

Epidemius

Karanak

Core
14x Pink Horrors of Tzeentch

• Iridescent Horror
• Standard Bearer 
• Musician

38x Plague Bearers

• Plagueridden 
• Musician
• Magic Standard Bearer – Banner of Discipline 

Special
3x Beast of Nurgle

3x Beast of Nurgle

9x Flesh Hounds of Khorne

Rare
Skull Cannon of Khorne

Soul Grinder

• Mark of Nurgle 

In the end the Daemons would defeat the Ogre Kingdom to tie for 1st. I was very happy with this league and it was a nice little break from 40k. But now I have the itch again and I'm ready to jump back into 40k headlong. The next few weeks are open play at the store for 40k. I'll be practicing with my new Eldar/Tau list which was featured in the last battle report between Makers and I. This weekend is also a Rogue Trader tournament at the store. I'm looking to possibly mix it up and bring a list that I think will win the Painting category and just have a bit fun with a few units I wouldn't normally run. 

40K: Battle Report - Chaos Daemons vs Eldar/Tau

On Friday night I met up with Capnmoe at his house for a "Test Game." He recently assembled his Eldar/Tau army, and I recently picked up my new Keeper of Secrets, so of course we had to test them out.

Makers List:
Fateweaver
Keeper of Secrets - Mastery Level 3, 2 Greater Rewards
10 Pink Horrors
10 Plaguebearers
15 Flesh Hounds
Slaanesh Daemon Prince - Wings, Armor, Mastery Level 3, Greater Reward (Lash), Exalted Reward
Slaanesh Daemon Prince - Wings, Armor, Mastery Level 3, Greater Reward (Lash), Exalted Reward
Slaanesh Daemon Prince - Wings, Armor, Mastery Level 3, Greater Reward (Lash), Exalted Reward

CapnMoe's List:
Farseer - Singing Spear, Jetbike
Farseer - Singing Spear, Jetbike
6 Warlocks on Jetbikes as a Seer Council
Tau Commander - Command and Control Node, Puretide Engram Neurochip, Multi-Spectrum Sensor Suite, Twin-Linked Missile Pods, Target Lock
Riptide - Ion Accelerator, Twin Linked Fusion Gun, Stimulant Injector, Early Warning Override
10 Dire Avengers - Exarch with a TL Shuriken Catapult
3 Guardian Jetbikes - Shuriken Cannon
10 Firewarriors - Shas'ui
10 Firewarriors - Shas'ui
3 Broadsides - High Yield Missile Pods, Twin-linked Smart Missile Systems, 6 Missile Drones
Wraithknight - Scatter Laser, Suncannon and Scattershield
Aegis Defense Line - Quad Cannon

I rolled for my powers.
Fateweaver: Inferno/Perfect Timing - Invisibility/Iron Arm
Keeper of Secrets: Psychic Shriek, Dominate, Hallucination - Touch of Uncreation, Corpulence
(Red) Slaanesh Prince - Enfeeble, Life Leech, Warp Speed - Warp Tether
(Grey) Slaanesh Prince - Enfeeble, Hemorrhage, Warp Speed - Portaglyph
(Mini-Me) Slaanesh Prince - Endurance, Iron Arm, Life Leech - Grimore or True Names
Pink Horrors - Bolt of Change

CapnMoe rolled for his powers:
Farseer - Death Mission, Doom, Eldritch Storm (Warlord)
Farseer - Fortune, Guide, Prescience
Warlock - Embolden/Horrify
Warlock - Embolden/Horrify
Warlock - Protect/Jinx
Warlock - Conceal/Reveal
Warlock - Conceal/Reveal
Warlock - Empower/Enervate

Game was Relic
Deployment was Dawn of War.
I won the roll off to pick sides and to go first.
No Night Fight.


Makers Deployment:
I deployed the Plaguebearers in cover and my Horrors on the other side of them to run up behind the small building on the right.
Flesh Hounds in the middle, so that I could scout move them up into the area terrain to draw fire.
I made sure to deploy the princes and Fateweaver out of range of his Broadsides.
I kept nothing in reserves, and had everything on the table to avoid the intercept on the Riptide.

Capnmoe's Deployment:
I deployed everything  behind the aegis except for the Seer Council and Farseers. They were placed in the back corner as far away from any of this shooting as possible. I didn't want to loose any before I could get their powers up. I decided to put the jet bikes on the table which is something I normally wouldn't do, but they're great at grabbing the relic turn 1.

Before the game started, the Flesh hounds scout moved up just behind the area terrain in front of the Aegis Defense Line.

Daemons Turn 1
Makers Typing:

Fateweaver goes Invisible and Iron Arm is successful.
Mini-Me Prince successfully casts Iron Arm and Endurance.
Warpspeed successful on other 2 Princes....because you just never know...
Grimore is Successful on the Hounds giving them the 3++ saves.
I try to drop the Portaglyph behind the building, in the middle to the right so that I can spawn more troops each turn and get a huge horde of troops on the Relic, but it scatters 12" to the right side of the board in front of the Grey Prince and Fateweaver instead.

I move Mini-Me and the Red Prince up behind cover on the left, knowing I can stay out of Line of Sight of his guns, and still be able to Vector Strike his lines next turn.

I move the plaguebearers up to the edge of the cover they are currently in knowing he will make a move for the Relic first.
The 10 horrors move over to get a shooting lane on his Dire Avengers.

The Grey Prince swoops up the right hand side of the board for some turn 2 vector strikes and Lashes.

Fatewaver, now invisible, swoops up behind the building in the middle of the horrors.

The Keeper of Secrets moves up behind the Flesh Hounds.

The Flesh Hounds move up to within 1" of the defense line, to make sure they can make the assault next turn.

Shooting Phase Begins and I roll on the Warp Storm table.
I roll an 11.
We agree to randomly select one by using Dice Rolls.
Ends up being his warlord.
He fails the Leadership test.
Instant Death and Spawns me a Tzeetch Herald.
And so without even having to attack something yet...I just clinched First Blood, Slay the Warlord, and Line Breaker...

I fire off a couple shots from the Horrors and the Tzeentch Herald and manage to take out a few Dire Avengers but that's about it.


Eldar/Tau Turn 1 -
Capnmoe Typing

Stupid Warp Storm table...sad times. So my spirit was kind of crushed by his first turn, but I refused to go down without a fight. I cast Guide on the Riptide and Prescience on a unit of Fire Warriors. The rest of the powers all went off on the Council. Sadly I forgot to overcharge the Riptide. It was my first time using him and forgot to do it. Lesson learned. So at this point I have 15 dogs sitting right in front of me so getting rid of them was priority number one. The Council moved up to get position for shooting the dogs but would end up turbo boosting into the daemons deployment zone. Wraithknight moved out 12". The jet bikes moved on to the relic and picked it up while also setting up to shoot the dogs. Dire Avengers moved toward the grey prince and run. They shoot doing 1 wound but fail to knock him out of the sky. I overcharge the Riptide's Ion Accelerator and roll a gets hot result...damn. Good thing it was Guided so I rerolled, and was fine. Dropped a large blast on the doggies killing a few. Everything else shoots the dogs as well. By the end of my shooting I had killed 10.

Daemons Turn 2
Makers Typing

All Blessings are successful.
I chose to go with Perfect Timing on Fateweaver this time to try to get some shots in as well.

The Grey Prince casts Enfeeble on the Dire Avengers.
The Red Prince casts Enfeeble on the WraithKnight.
The Keeper of Secrets successfully casts Dominate on the Riptide, and then casts Hallucination on the Broadsides which pins them.

Grimore is successful on the hounds.
Portaglyph spawns me 5 horrors, who get Bolt of Change.

I move Mini-Me up the left flank and vector strike 1 unit of firewarriors taking out a few of them.

The Red Prince cant make the line now, but is able to vector strike the WraithKnight which causes 1 wound.

The Grey Prince moves up behind his line to take out the Dire Avengers.

Fatweaver moves to the upper right hand side of the board, to where the Grey Prince was, for a nice firing lane on the Dire Avengers.

The Plague Bearers move up toward the relic, with 1 unit of horrors following in right behind them.

The Keeper of Secrets is able to move up and over the the defense line successfully.

Nothing really happens from the Warp Storm table this turn, but it has already served its purpose this game.

The Grey Prince casts Hemorrhage on the Dire Avengers which are enfeebled, but he makes the toughness test...a sign of things to come.

Fateweaver tries to cast Inferno on the Dire Avengers and he denies it.
So he tries to cast Flickering Fire on them instead and he denies that as well...I guess they are tired of being picked on.

The unit of 10 horrors cast Bolt of Change and manages to take out 1 bike on the relic.

The unit of 5 horrors cast Bolt of Change, trying to take out the Dire Avengers and manages to take out 2 of them...finally.

The Tzeentch Herald tries to shoot the firewarriors but doesn't manage to do anything.

The Flesh Hounds multi-assault both units of firewarriors successfully and lose 3 to over watch leaving only 2 models left. A few firewarriors fall, and so does 1 hound. Leaving me with only 1 hound from that unit still alive.

The Keeper of Secrets Assaults in and chops up some more fire warriors. The fire warriors units both fail morale and are swept off the board.

Slowly but surely I'm taking out his troops. If I can get them dead then he can't beat me.

Eldar/Tau Turn 2
Capnmoe Typing

Things look pretty bleak at this point but I still have the relic and I still have some fight left in me. The council powers up getting off and also casts Horrify on the Plague Bearers and Guide on the Wraithknight. The Riptide nova charges and takes the 4d6 assault move. The jet bikes start moving toward the back corner of the board as far away from his MC's as they can get. The council moves into position for the multi charge into the Plague Bearers and Pink Horrors. The Wraithknight jumps across the ruins. The dire Avengers get the hell out of dodge and start moving away from the Keeper of Secrets and the Grey Prince toward the middle of the board. The pinned broadsides all unload on Mini-Me and take him down to 1 wound, he manages to stay in the air. The Riptide fires at Mini-Me, misses with the ion accelerator, but connects with the twin linked fusion blaster. He, of course, makes his invulnerable save and stays in the air leaving me feeling bitter. The Wraithknight fires on the unit of 10 Pink Horrors and wipes it off the board. The council kills 5 Plague Bearers with shooting before assaulting in and killing the unit. The jet bikes turbo boost an extra 6" toward the corner. The riptide jumps 18" inches from behind the line with its Nova Charged assault move.

Daemons Turn 3
Makers Typing.

At this point the beers are starting to flow pretty well and I'm able to focus my forces and cherry pick his army piece by piece. When he moved his WraithKnight up and the Riptide in behind him, he was basically grouping up his forces for me, which is exactly what I wanted.

All my powers are successful again, and Fateweaver casts Perfect Timing on himself.
No troops from the Portaglyph this turn, even with the reroll.

The Grey Prince casts Enfeeble on the Broadside unit.
The Red Prince casts Enfeeble on the Riptide.

Hallucination is successful on the Broadsides as well from the Keeper of Secrets, and  they can no longer attack in close combat.
I think he casted Dominate on something else but Capnmoe denied it.

Mini-Me swoops straight down the back of his board, behind the Dire Avengers and vector strikes take out a few drones and 1 Broadside.

Grimore is successful on Fateweaver making him virtually Invincible, and he swoops straight up into the middle of the fight, vector striking the Dire Avengers along the way to take out another 3 of them.

The Single Hound moves up within 1" of the Broadsides as well, because...well he has nothing else to do.
The Herald moves over to watch the party.

Warp Storm Gives all my Daemons a +1 to Invulnerable saves!

Fateweaver continues his rampage, goes Beast Mode and decimates the 2 jetbikes on the Relic, leaving Capnmoe only the Dire Avengers left.

Mini-Me lashes down a few drones to thin the squad and the Grey Prince lashes down another drone and a broadside.

The Grey Prince assaults into the broadsides first to soak up the overwatch shots, and manages to come out unscathed. 

The Keeper of Secrets assaults in as well, and together they wipe out the entire unit, leaving the hound kind of sad he didn't get to do anything.

The Red Prince assaults into the Riptide, tying it up in close combat and manages to cause a wound thanks to Warp Speed.

Mini-Me rolls on "It will not die" and gains back a wound to end the turn!

Eldar/Tau Turn 3

Capnmoe Typing

I attempt to cast powers but only manage to get prescience on the Wraithknight and Conceal and Protect on the Council. Not a great turn for psychic powers. The Wraithknight moved over and would eventually assault the red prince hoping to cut the Riptide out of combat. The Dire Avengers move and run towards the relic. The Dire Avengers and Seer Council all shoot at the Keeper of Secrets taking him down to 4 wounds. The Red Prince would end up killing the Riptide and the Wraithknight would end up killing the Red Prince in close combat. The Seer Council assaults the Keeper of Secrets and takes him down to 1 wound.

Daemons Turn 4
Makers Typing

Mini-Me was able to cast Iron Arm and Endurance on himself.
The Grimore was successful on the Keeper of Secrets.

Warp Speed was also successful on the Grey Prince.

At this point Capnmoe conceded defeat as there was really no way he could win. Fateweaver and Mini-Me were going to destroy the unit of Dire Avengers, and the Grey Prince and the Keeper of Secrets would be assaulting into the Seer Council. His only real option was to sweep me off the table and that just wouldn't be possible with only 2 units. Plus, I still had the possibility of creating more troops from the warpstorm table or the Portaglyph and making it to the Relic if I chose Daemonettes.

I still had 4 Monstrous Creatures up, and with the Keeper having Fleshbane and Preferred Enemy Eldar, the council wouldn't be lasting too much longer, especially when you add in another Daemon Prince with Warp Speed and Mini-Me moving in right afterwards.

Also the fact that the Red Prince was on his way back into the game from Warp Tether.

Victory Daemons!

After Game thoughts

Makers:
- Keeper of Secrets is a Bad Ass. Considering he had the 2 worst possible Rewards, he still performed like a champ and I truly believe he is the key to beating Tau and Eldar which are some of the top tournament armies right now.
- Even with bad rolls on Biomancy, I still managed to pull out a win. Was really hoping to have more than 1 Daemon Prince with Iron Arm, but the combination of Enfeeble and Hemorrhage  is really nice on troops.
- I have been thinking about switching out the 15 Flesh Hounds for 9 Screamers, but it just amazes me how much damage that unit of 15 hounds can soak up. My opponent can't ignore them, but can't afford not to focus them either.
- Dire Avengers can go die in a fire. So many deny the witch rolls were made...
- Yes the first turn Warp Storm Table pretty much won me the game, but that's why we take Fateweaver for the rerolls right?

Capnmoe:
-Sometimes Warp Storm kicks you in the junk so hard that you feel like giving up, but you shouldn't.

- I was very impressed with the Seer Council over all. Fleshbane is great against monstrous creatures. I will be including them in all my Eldar lists for now.
- Wraithknight was everything I had expected it to be. It killed a unit of 10 Pink Horrors and a Daemon Prince on its own. Earned back every bit of the 300 points I spent on it.
- Pinned Broadsides with a tricked out Commander are still a shooting threat. Be warned.
- When playing against a Daemon army with this many threats I'm not sure gun lines have the power to stop the charge. I should have taken the Seer Council and Wraithknight into assault with his monstrous creatures on my turn 1. It would have been the only thing that could have stopped the loss of all my troops and Broadsides.
- Can't wait for a rematch to apply what I've learned.

40K: Space Marines 2nd Large Release of Information

Few more rumor leaks over night. Remember these are still rumors. 

We should have more concrete information after the White Dwarf release.

Relics

Burning Blade: S+3, AP2, Melee, Blind, Incandescent
Incandescent: At the end of an Assault Phase in which the bearer made a successful to-hit roll with the Burning Blade roll a D6. On a roll of a 2+ nothing happens. On a roll of a 1 the bearer takes a S4, AP2 hit.

While this is nice and all, I would rather not take things that can make my Warlord kill himself...

Armor of Indomitus: 2+, 6++, Relentless Same cost as a Landspeeder with a Multi-melta
Once per game during any phase the wearer may choose to temporarily push the forcefield to its limits. For the duration of that phase the Armor Indomitus has a 2++ Invunerable Save.
I can see this being used a lot, depending on point cost.

Shield Eternal: Storm Shield, Adamantium Will, Eternal Warrior

This will be almost a must have item.

Primarch's Wrath: Bolter, S4, AP4, Salvo 3/5, Shred, Mastercrafted
Perfect for a gunline HQ.

Teeth of Terra: S+2, AP3, Melee, Rampage, Specialist Weapon, Strikedown

I really enjoy this, its getting into CC that's the issue.

Standard of the Emperor Ascendant: Same cost as Landspeeder Stom with Multi-melta
Friendly units n 12" with the same Chapter Tactics as the bearer re-roll morale checks and pinning tests. Additionally, friendly units chosen from Codex: Space Marines within 6" of the bearer have the Hatred special rule, and add +1 to their total when determining their assault rolls. Furthermore, the bearer and his unit have the Fear special rule. - Meh.

Wargear
Ranged Weapons: Models may replace their Boltgun or Bolt Pistol with one of the following:
Stormbolter
Combi-Flamer, Melta, Plasma, or Grav
Grav Pistol
Plasma Pistol

Melee Weapons: 

Models may replace their Boltgun or Bolt Pistol with one of the following:

Power Weapons
Lighting Claw
Power Fist
Thunderhammer
Terminator Weapons: (These are restricted to Independent Characters in Terminator Armor)
Storm Bolter may be replaced with:
Combi-Flamer, Melta, or Plasma
Lighting Claw
Thunderhammer 

Power Weapon may be replaced with:
Lighting Claw
Stormshield
Powerfist
Chainfist
Thunderhamer
Will the Powerfist/Lighting Claw HQ that is rampant in CSM make an appearance in the SM armies?

Heavy Weapons:
Heavy Bolter
Heavy Flamer Sternguard and Legion of the Damned ONLY
Multi-melta
Missile Launcher
Plasma Cannon
Lascannon

Special Weapons:
Flamer
Meltagun
Grav rifle
Plasma gun

Special Issue Wargear:
Auspex - Saw this coming.
Melta bomb
Digital Weapons
Teleport Homer
Jump Pack
Bike

Vehicle Wargear:
Dozer blade (Land Raiders can not take)
Storm bolter
Hunter-killer missile
Extra armor

HQ
Chapter Master
Artificer Armor new
Wargear Lists: Relics, Ranged, Melee, Special, Special Issue (Terminator Armor unlocks Terminator Wargear)
Terminator Armor
+1 Wound/Attack over current incarnation
Mounted Assault: If the Chapter Master purchases a bike, all Bike Squads of at least 5+ models may be taken as Troops. - ALL Units? I have seen different rules for this in like 20 different places.
Orbital Bombardment: S10, AP1, Assault 1, 1 use only. - The question here is the scatter roll...

Honor Guard
Relic blades
Chapter Banner
May take Standard of the Emperor Ascendant

Captain
Mounted Assault
Wargear Lists: Relics, Ranged, Melee, Special, Special Issue
Terminator Captain
Seperate entry
Captain in Terminator armor

Command Squad
1 may be taken for each Captain, Chaplain or Librarian in the army
Apothecary
Storm shields
May trade Bolt Pistols for Bolters
Veterans may take Melee, and Ranged, Special wargear
May take Standard of the Emperor Ascendant

Still don't see the point without something like a Salvo Banner.

Librarian
Mastery level 2:
No codex powers
Has access to Biomancy, Pyromancy, Telekenesis, and Telepathy disciplines - No Divination?? This has to be a mistake..
May take Terminator armor for same base cost
Not permitted in Black Templar armies (Black Templars have no rules to prevent allying psykers in)
Wargear Lists: Relics, Ranged, Melee, Special, Special Issue (Terminator Armor unlocks Terminator Wargear)
No Combi-grav

Chaplain
Wargear Lists: Relics, Ranged, Melee, Special, Special Issue (Terminator Armor unlocks Terminator Wargear)
Terminator armor same cost
No Combi-grav

Master of the Forge
Lord of the Armory unchanged
Wargear Lists: Relics, Ranged, Melee, Special, Special Issue
May replace Bolt Pistol or Bolter with Power Axe

Techmarine
May take one per HQ in your army. Does not use a slot
Wargear Lists: Ranged, Melee, Special Issue
May replace Bolt Pistol or Bolter with Power Axe

Servitors
Additional Servitors
Heavy bolter
Multi-melta
Plasma Cannon

Troops
Tactical Marines
Veteran Sergeant upgrade same cost as in DA book
Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant have access to Melee and Ranged wargear
If the unit has less than 10 models 1 model may take 1 weapon from either the Special or Heavy Weapons Wargear lists
If the unit has 10 models one model may take 1 weapon from the Special Weapons list and a different model may take 1 weapon from the Heavy Weapons Wargear list

Scouts
Heavy bolter
Hellfire shells
Missile launcher same cost as wargear list
Flakk same cost as wargear list
Veteran Sergeant upgrade same cost as in DA book
Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant have access to Melee and Ranged wargear
Camo cloaks
Teleport homer
Sniper Rifle
May take a Landspeeder Storm as a Dedicated Transport - With the meta going more toward cheap, mobile troops, will 5 scouts in a Storm be the new go to troop choice?

Crusader Squad
Neophyte base leadership now 8 (Zion's notes: I did check, and the old ones were base 7, they just tested on an 8 because of the Initiates, so please no burning my car down for being "wrong")
1 Initiate may take either a Heavy Weapon or a Power Weapon or a Power Fists
A different Initiate may take a Special Weapon
Sword Brethren upgrade same cost as Veteran Sergeant (same wargear options too)
Has Chapter Tactics: Black Templars
May take a Land Raider Crusader as a Dedicated Transport

Dedicated Transports
Rhino
No changes (wargear prices changed for codex) - Was really hoping for the rumored Rhino Variants but oh well. Maybe in a supplement.

Razorback
Twin-Linked Heavy Flamer now a free option - Heavy Flamer is nice, with all the high strength, low AP weapons out there now, I don't see it making it in range to use it.
Assault Cannon
TL Lascannon
Lascannon/TL Plasmagun

Drop Pod
10 model capacity

Land Speeder Storm
Now a dedicated transport for Scouts
May replace Heavy Bolter with free Heavy Flamer, Multi-melta for 5 points less, Assault Cannon
Jamming Beacon now makes models that are in range roll twice the number of scatter dice that distance they normally would - Opponent rolling 4D6 scatter on deep strikes? Wow, I'm guessing this is wrong.
Cerberus Launcher: 18" S2, AP-, Heavy 1, Large Blast, Blind

Elites
Sternguard
Up to two Sternguard may take a Special or Heavy weapon from the wargear lis
Combi weapons

Vanguard
All models may take weapons from the melee wargear list
Jump packs
Storm shields
Heroic Intervention: Unit doesn't suffer penalties for disordered charges, and Veteran Sergeants automatically pass Glorious Intervention checks - Can't assault after deepstrike...not worth it.

Dreadnoughts
Venerable upgrade
Assault Cannon
TL Lascannon
Left-arm Autocannon
Does not have Chapter Tactics - I really wish they did something with these. I love Dreadnoughts, it's just a shame they aren't really viable right now.

Ironclad Dreadnought
Meltagun option free
No Chapter Tactics

Legion of the Damned
1 model may take one of the following special weapons: Flamer, Melta , Plasma
No grav option
1 model may take a Heavy Weapon from the wargear section
Sergeant may take a weapon from Ranged wargear
Sergeant may replace bolter with chainsword for free, power weapon (same cost as wargear), power fist (same cost as wargear)
All shooting attacks ignore cover
All special rules the same - I still think they are overpriced, but I could be wrong.

Terminators
Heavy Flamer
Assault Cannon
Cyclone Missile Launcher

Assault Terminators
Thunderhammer/Stormshield - No option for Lightning claws? Once again, this has to be wrong.

Assault Centurions
Up to 3 models may be purchased for purchased for the squad
May replace the Iron Clad Launcher with Missile Launcher for free
May replace Twin-linked flamer for a Twin-linked Melta for the cost of a flamer in the wargear section
Sergeant may purchase an Omniscope for the cost of a melta gun. It grants him Night Fight and Split Fire
May take a Land Raider as a Dedicated Transport
Has Move Through Cover, and Extra Bulky Special rules
Decimator Protocols: Models with this rule may fire up to 2 weapons in the shooting phase.

Fast Attack
Assault Squad
Flamer
Plasma pistol unchanged
Veteran Sergeant upgrade same cost as in DA book
Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant have access to Melee wargear, and purchase a Grav Pistol or Plasma Pistol for the same cost
Dedicated Transport rules unchanged

Land Speeder Storm Squadron
Typhoon Missile Launcher
Assault Cannon
Multi-melta, Heavy Flamer, and Heavy Bolter unchanged

Storm Talon
Same as in Death from the Skies - Except for the point change...BS5 against ground targets, and AV11 all around, these could be on a lot of tables soon.

Bike Squad
Veteran Sergeant upgrade same cost as in DA book
Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant have access to Melee and Ranged wargear
Attack bike upgrade
Attack Bikes

Scout Bikes
Grenade launcher upgrade
Locator Beacon
Veteran Sergeant upgrade same cost as in DA book
Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant have access to Melee and Ranged wargear
Cluster mines are now placed by putting a marker in a terrain peice for both players to see. They alsonow turn a piece of difficult terrain into Dangerous terrain. Limit 1 marker per terrain piece.

Heavy Support
Devastator Squad
Veteran Sergeant upgrade same cost as in DA book
Sergeant/Veteran Sergeant have access to Melee and Ranged wargear
Up to 4 Marines may each take 1 Heavy weapon from the Heavy Weapons wargear section - Imperial Fist Devastators with 4 Missile Launchers are also going to be on a lot of tables soon.

Devastator Centurions
Same cost for additional models as Assault Centurions
May replace the Hurricane Bolter with Missile Launchers for the cost of a meltagun
May replace the Heavy Bolters with Lascannons for the cost of 2 meltaguns
May replace Heavy Bolters with Grav Cannon/Grav Amp for the cost of 2 meltaguns
Sergeant may take Omniscope for same cost as meltagun
May take Landraider as Dedicated Transport
Does not have Move Through Cover - "Sgt" with Lascannon, other 2 with Grav Cannons, that's what I'm thinking, its just the point cost that has me wondering.

Thunderfire Cannon
No change - However good luck finding one to purchase if you don't already have one.

Predator

Autocannon
TL Lascannon
Heavy bolter Sponsons
Lascannon Sponsons

Whirlwind

Same as before

Vindicator
Same as before

Hunter
Skyspear Missile Launcher: 60" S7, AP2, Heavy 1, Savant Lock, Armorbane
Savant Lock: When shooting at a flyer or flying monstrous creature, you put a marker on it for each miss. The markers stay on the flyer until it leaves the table, is destroyed or is engaged in close combat. At the beginning of every friendly shooting phase you roll for those markers. On a 5 or a 6 that missile hits vehicles in the rear armor, these shots are resolved using the above profile. - The question is still out whether it can shoot ground targets or not..

Stalker
Icarus Storm Cannon Array: 48", S7, AP4, Heavy 4
Icarus has two firing modes: Single target and Dual Target
Single target: above profile, twin-linked
Dual target: Must be declared before shooting. Pick two targets in range and resolve shooting attacks against them using both of them, but at BS2 - BS2? Ridiculous. I don't see anyone using the Dual Target mode. Even still, the Single target mode is just another Quad Cannon.

All Land Raiders
No points change
"Godhammer" variant now holds 10 models.
No other changes

Storm Raven
No changes from Death from the Skies

Graviton Weapons
All S-, AP2
All have the Graviton rule: Use armor save to wound. 

Against vehicles roll a D6, on a 1-5 nothing happens, on a 6 the vehicle is Immobilized and loses a hull point. Grav weapons do not effect buildings.

40K: Space Marines Rules "Confirmed!"

From 40k Radio (His Copy has been verified)

General Information:
*240 Points for 3 Centurions with Grav-Cannons/Grav-Amps and Hurricane Bolters (for those who hate math, that means it's a 20 point upgrade for Grav-Cannon/Grav-Amps each).
*Assault Centurions have Move Through Cover
*Codex: Space Marines is largely in line with Codex: Dark Angels points wise.
*176 Pages in their copy of the codex (same as rumored)
*Hunter has "Savant-Lock". When shooting at a flyer you put a marker on it for each miss. The markers stay on the flyer until it leaves the table or is destroyed. At the beginning of every friendly shooting phase you roll for those markers. On a 5 or a 6 that missle hits.
*Artwook is nice, and book is Space Marines more in a general form. More updated fluff, not just the rehashed fluff.
*Some of the classic Black and White was colored, but a lot of new art too.
*Book is in sections for each founding chapter (plus the Black Templars)) and a large number of the *Successor Chapters to help players know who should be using what rules.
*Salamanders don't really have any successor chapters because their chapter had suffered a large number of casualties so they have a larger number of Marines in their chapter.
*"Equivilant to Forge World background" in terms of fluff.
*Forgeworld fluff included in the codex.
*Warlord Traits (Only One Chart for the Codex):

1. Angel of Death - Warlord and his unit have the Fear special rule.
2. Imperium Sword - One use only. Declare that your Warlord is using this at the start of one of your assualt phases. The Warlord and his unit have the Furious Charge special rule until the end of the turn.
3. Storm of Fire - One use only. Declare that your Warlord is using this at the start of one of your shooting phases. For the duration of that phase a single friendly unit from Codex: Space Marines within 12" of the Warlord may re-roll any failed to-hit rolls.
4. Rites of War - When taking morale tests friendly units from Codex: Space Marines within 12" of the Warlord use his characteristic instead of their own.
5. Iron Resolve - When determining your assault results add +1 to your total if the Warlord is locked in that combat.
6. Champion of Humanity - If your Warlord causes the enemy Warlord to be removed from play in a challenge he scores D3 extra victory points in addition in the usual amount of points given for slaying the enemy Warlord in this scenario. Note that killing the enemy Warlord in a sweeping advance does not reward these extra victory points.

Chapter Tactics

*Successor Chapters - You use whatever chapter tactics of your parent chapter. The ONLY Exception is the Black Templar.
*Homebrew - You can pick any tactic you want and use the Special Characters of that chapter. Those characters have to use the same Chapter Tactics as the same Chapter their from.
*Allies - "A Space Marine Detachment that has one set of Chapter Tactics MAY ally with another Space Marine Detachment with a different set of Chapter Tactics, Ultramarines and Raven Guard for example. For purposes of the Allies rules these allies are treated as being from two different codexes and are treated as Battle Brothers. Note that you may field models from two different chapters that have the same Chapter Tactics, such as Ultramariens and Praetors of Orpheus in the same detachment. These chapters are so closely affiliated that they count as a single army on the battlefield."
COUNT AS: If you want to use Vulkan in a Ultramarines army you have to play use the Salamander Chapter Tactics. So you CAN do "count-as" but you lock yourself into their Chapter Tactics. In short, Special Characters are locked to their specific Chapter Tactics

Ultramarines - Combat Doctrine: This detachment can utilize each of the following combat doctrines once per game. To do so at the start of your turn you state which combat doctrine you wish to use, if any, until the start of your next turn. You can only use one combat doctrine per turn.
*Tactical: Units in this detachment re-roll ones while shooting, unless they're tactical marines and they re-roll all failed to hit rolls in the shooting phase.
*Assault: Units in this detachment can re-roll their charge range. Assault squads, bikes, or attack bikes instead have the fleet rule.
*Devastator: Units in this detachment may re-rolls to-hit on snap shots, including overwatch shots, in addition models in this detachment's Devastator squads have the relentless unless they disembarked from a transport in their movement phase.

White Scars - BOTH RULES ALL THE TIME
*Born in the Saddle: Models in this detachment with the Bike Unit Type automatically pass Dangerous Terrain tests, and recieve a +1 to their Jink Cover Saves. In addition add 1 to their Strength when resolving their Hammer of Wrath hits.
*Fight on the Move: Models in this Detachment have the Hit and Run Special Rule. Note that this does not include models in Terminator Armor, Devastator Centurions or Assault Centurions.

Imperial Fists - BOTH RULES ALL THE TIME
*Bolter Drill: Models in this detachment may re-roll all to-hit rolls of 1 made with a bolt pistol, boltgun, stormbolter, heavy bolters, or combi-weapons that are firing as boltguns. This rule does not apply to Helfire, Kraken, Vengence or Dragonfire rounds.
*Siegemasters: Models in this detachment in Devastator squads and Centurion Devastator squads have the Tank Hunter special rule and add +1 when rolling on the building damage table.

Black Templars - BOTH RULES ALL TIME
*Accept Any Challenges, No Matter the Odds: When engaged in a challenge, Black Templar Characters reroll all failed to-hit rolls, and have the Rending Special Rule.
*Crusaders: Black Templars have the Crusader and Adamantium Will Special Rules. In addition Black Templars have access to a special unit called a Crusader Squad.

Iron Hands - BOTH RULES ALL THE TIME
*The Flesh is Weak: Models in this detachment have the Feel no Pain on a 6+ Special Rule. Note that if they benefit from more than one instance of Feel no Pain they use the best version available.
*Machine Empathy: All vehicles and characters in this detachment have the It Will Not Die special rule even though vehicles do not have Chapter Tactic special rules. Furthermore, Techmarines and Masters of the Forge in this detachment add +1 to their Blessing of the Omnissiah rolls.

Salamanders - BOTH RULES ALL THE TIME
*Flamecraft: Models in this detachment can re-roll their saving throws against wounds caused by flamer weapons as defined by the Warhammer 40,000 rulebook. Furthermore, flame weapons used by models in this detachment re-roll failed to-wound rolls and armor penetration rolls that don't cause a glancing or a penetrating hit.
*Master Artisan: During the army selection each character in this detachment may upgrade on of his weapons, even one they have purchased as an upgrade, to have the Mastercrafted Special Rule at no additional cost.

Raven Guard - BOTH RULES ALL THE TIME
*Strike from the Shadows: Models in this detachment have the Scout Special Rule. In addition, on the first game turn, models in this detachment have the Stealth Special Rule. Note that units that include models with the Bulky or Very Bulky Special Rules do not benefit from either rule.
*Wings of Deliverance: Jump Infantry Models in this detachment may use their Jump Packs in both the movement and assault phases of the same turn. Futhermore, they must re-roll all failed to-wound rolls caused by their Hammer of Wrath hits.

Special Characters

Marneus Calgar:
● +25 Points
● Artificer Armor standard (2+)
● God of War: May use a single Combat Doctrine twice per game
● Titanic Might: Re-rolls all armor penetrating hits in close combat. He may reroll glancing hits to attempt to get a penetrating hit. Must accept the second roll even if it is worse than the first.
Weapons and Ammo still the same. Terminator Armor still has Frag and Krak Grenades. Retain his Teleport Homer.
● Terminator Armor is 10 points and doesn't prevent sweeping advances.Warlord Trait: Rolls 3 times on the Warlord Table, rerolling doubles, and chooses a single Warlord Trait.

Captain Cato Sicarius:
● -15 points
● Surprise Attack: +1 to Reserve Rolls
● Weapons still the same
● Battle-forged Heros: Pick a Tactical Squad and they gain Counter-Attack, Infiltrate or Scout.
● May still use the Coup-de-Grace with his sword.
● Lost Rites of Battle
● Warlord Trait: Imperium Sword

Tigirius:
● -65 points
● +1 Wound
● Master Psyker: May re-roll any or all of his rolls to choose which powers he knows. He has access to all the powers.
● ML3
● Hood of Hellfire: Psychic Hood that allows you to re-roll failed psychic tests
● Rod of Tigiruis: Same as before with the addition of Soulblaze
● Gift of Prescience: If your army contains Tigirius you may choose to re-roll reserves and apply the result to units of the same attachement.
● Warlord Trait: Storm of Fire

Cassius:
● Zealot
● All equipment the same
● Warlord Trait: Angel of Death

Telion:
● Chapter Tactics: Ultramarines
● Same points cost
● Same rules

Sergeant Chronus:
● -20 points
● +1LD
● His vehicle gains It Will not Die

Khan:
● -35 points (bike is still 20 point upgrade)
● Bike does D3 Hammer of Wrath hits
● Furious Charge
● If Khan is your warlord friendly models with the Chapter Tactics White Scars special rule that are bikes or have dedicated transports have the Scout special rule.
● Khan makes all bike squads who are 5 bikes or more count as troop choices.
● Warlord Trait: Champion of Humanity

Vulkan:
● The Forgefather: If Vulkan is your warlord, all meltas, multi-meltas and combi-meltas in this detachment become twin-linked.
● Lost Digital Weapons
● No longer Master Crafts Thunderhammers
● Warlord Trait: Iron Resolve

Shrike:
● -10 points
● Stealth
● Before deploying Shrike can only join a Jump Infantry unit
● Lost Fleet
● Weapons stayed the same
● Warlord Trait: Angel of Death

Lysander:
● +30 Points
● No more Bolter Defenses
● Icon of Obstinancey: All models with the Imperial Fist Chapter Tactics re-roll failed morale and pinning checks
● Same wargear
● Warlord Trait: Champion of Humanity

Chapter Master Pedro Kantor:
● +1 Attack
● Oath of Rynn: If Chapter Master Kantor is your Warlord all models in Crimson Fist detachments have the Preferred Enemy (Orks) Special Rule. Furthermore, all such models within 12" of Kantor have +1 Attack while he lives. This bonus does not affector Kantor, and is not cimulative with the similar bonuses that the Chapter Banner gives.
● Still has Hold the Line: Crimson Fist Sternguard Veterans are scoring
● Same Wargear and points
● Warlord Trait: Iron Resolve

Helbrecht:
● +5 points
● +1 WS
● Rites of Battle - Gone
● Crusade of Wrath: Once per game, during the Assault Phase, all models with the Black Templar Chapter Tactics gain Hatred and Fleet until the end of the phase.
● Sword of the High Marshalls is the same (+D3 attack on the charge)

Grimaldus:
● -10 Points
● -1 BS
● +1 Wound
● -1 Attack
● It will Not Die (replaced "Only in Death Does Duty End")
● Zealot
● Relics of Hellsreach: Any Black Templar of a servitor in 6" gains a 6++ Invunerable save.
● Unmatched Zeal: Black Templar models within of 6" of Chaplain of Grimaldus have the Zealot special rule.

Emperor's Champion:
● Uses HQ Slot
● +50 Points
● 2+/4++
● Black Sword: AP2, Mastercrafted
● Combat Stances: Smite the Unclean - +2 Strength, Black Sword is two-handed and unwieldy; Slay the Heretic - Rolls of 6s to wound are Instant Death
● Bolt Pistol gives extra attack (unless using Smite the Unclean)

A Quick Summary of what Black Templars Gained and Lost (this list may not be complete):
Losses:
- No More Vows
- No More Marshalls or Castellans
- No More Terminator Command Squads
- No More Master of Sanctity/Reclessiarchy
- Sword Brethren are no longer units
- No More 2 Heavy Weapons in a 5 man Terminator Squad
- No More special rule upgrades (Tank Hunter, ect)
- No More Storm Shields on Assault Squads
- No More extra power weapons in bike squad
- No More Fearless in Close Combat
- No More Righteous Zeal
- Some Flavor
- Most Heavy Weapons +5 more
- No More Power of the Machine Spirt upgrade

Gains:
+ Chapter Master and Captains
+ Honor Guard
+ Regular Chaplains
+ Master of the Forge
+ Tactical Squads
+ Scout Squads
+ Land Speeder Storm
+ Vanguard
+ Sternguard
+ Ironclad Dreadnoughts
+ Centurions (Assault and Devastator)
+ Scout Bikes
+ Devastators
+ Whirlwinds
+ Hunter
+ Stalker
+ Land Raider Redeemer
+ Thunderfire Cannon
+ Crusader Squad keeps Land Raider Crusader as a Dedicated Transport
+ Initiates are 5 points cheaper (counting Frag and Krak Grenade upgrades)
+ Sword Brother option in Crusader Squad
+ Keep Initiate Power Weapon/Fist option
+ Neophyte leadership increased to Ld 8
+ Neophyte Shotguns S4
+ Crusader Squad keeps Pistol and Chainsword option
+ Crusader Squad Organization stays the same

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