Hello all, Schlemazal here (introduction post here, in case you want to know who I am). Now
that the world has decided not to end, it’s time to look forward to the next
release for my favorite army, the Dark Angels. The DA have been my primary army,
through thick and thin, since the tail end of 3rd edition (mostly
because I’m as stubborn as my terminators used to be), so I’m excited to see an
update that will make them actually competitive again. I’m going to reserve any
real judgment on the rules (or Matt Ward’s fluff) until I can actually see the
codex, but we can still talk about the rumors and some of the models that have
been shown off.
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| I hope this is just a bad photo, otherwise that is some ridiculous motion blur |
I’m cautiously optimistic about most of what I’ve seen, so
we’ll start with what I see as the good:
1 – Army-wide rule making plasma less dangerous to use. I
know there’s some question as to whether or not the Dark Angels really have
more access to plasma weaponry than other chapters, but I think the preference
has been there since 3rd Edition when we had slightly cheaper plasma
cannons and I’m happy to see this preference really becoming official.
2 – Banners conferring army rules rather than special
characters. One of the biggest issues I’ve had with the recent codices has been
the emphasis on particular special characters being used to define how an army
plays, and I’m very pleased to see that GW is finally moving away from this
model.
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| Azrael approves of banners |
3 –
Models. I like almost all the new models I’ve seen (with the notable exception
of the new landspeeder, but I’ll talk about that in a moment). I think the new
flyer (Nephilim) looks very slick, and the rules to go with it sound good for
an air-superiority fighter. The new terminator models are amazing as well in my
opinion, and I will definitely be buying some. I also like that they seem to
have finally picked a monkish theme to stick with rather than alternating
between Dark Angels being monks/knights and native americans.
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| I was in the middle of updating these suckers too |
4 – Sternguard Veterans. I’ve wanted to be able to field
these ever since they came out in Codex: SM, and now I finally can.
Now the bad:
1 – My main complaint with the new codex is simply the lack
of attention to most of the chapter. While this may turn out to not be the case
at all, the rumors make it seem that virtually all the new units and models are
Deathwing/Ravenwing. I get that they are the ‘interesting’ portion of the
chapter, but as somebody who has traditionally fielded a company list, I’d like
to see some love for the other 80% of the chapter (Occupy the Rock anyone?).
The Unknown:
1 – Deathwing Knights. I have mixed feelings on this unit.
On the one side, it strikes me as very cool, but at the same time, the idea of
arming terminators with weapons that can’t even kill marines is frankly insane.
This one really depends on how much they cost and what their special rules do.
2 – The Dark Talon. I’m hoping that this one is as cool as
the Nephilim, though I will have to wait and see. The Rift Cannon is basically
a giant question mark right now.
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| Ask your chaplain if Matt Ward is right for you before use |
As always, comments and suggestions are appreciated.