KNOW NO FEAR

Welcome to this week’s post here on Games-Knight where I review the new Space Marine Codex from GW. In last week’s post I previewed the new Codex and the miniatures that have been released alongside with it, this week I will solely concentrate on the Codex itself.  But with a quick mention to the new models I was lucky enough yesterday to unbox the new tactical and Sternguard squads and have a look at the sprues. I was very impressed with how many different options and variants each kit offered, which will give any Space Marine player the chance to really put his own stamp on how his Space Marines looks and feels. I will concentrate on the new models in more detail at later date but for now let us delve into the tome that is Codex: Space Marines.

CODEX THROUGH THE AGES
I review this new codex as a Space Marine player so I will base my views on past Space Marine Codex’s I have used in the past and compare them with the new Codex.

Let me start then with the first Space Marine Codex I used with was for 40k 4^th edition. At only 80 pages long it is a very slim Codex with no coloured artwork and focused more on equipment and rules, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing but if you are anything like me you want a lot of fluff with your codex. Rules wise it made space marines a very balanced army and would prove tough to beat due to the benefits of power armour and the weaponry at their disposal. Where the 4^th edition Codex failed for me was there was no ‘soul’ to it. It lacked any fluff to Space Marines except for a 2 page history of the Ultramarines chapter which was a sign of things to come with GW’s push on anything Space Marine related revolving around the Ultramarines. Let me make something very clear here, I do not hate Ultramarines but I am bored of Ultramarines which is purely due to the over saturation of their chapter by GW.  Things I did like about the 4^th edition Codex was Command Squads could comprise of a Sergeant and 4-9 Space Marines and you had rules for Librarians to use Familiar’s. Also I felt the Chapter Traits section was a very good addition and allowed players to give their chosen Space Marine chapter a flavour and a personality of its own on the gaming table. All in all for me the 4^th Edition Codex was very average but it got the job done.

Warhammer 40k 5^th edition then rolled around and for me was a vast improvement from 4^th edition and the same can be said about the Space marine 5^th edition Codex. This is by far the best Codex Matthew Ward has put together in my opinion and at 144 pages long Space Marine players had a lot to look at. Fluff wise, despite again being very Ultramarine heavy, we got background information on various other Codex Chapters and a history of battles fought by other Chapters other than the guys in cobalt blue. We also had the biological breakdown of all the extra organs Space Marines have implanted as they become trans-humans in the making of a Space Maine section.  The layout of the Codex was very user friendly and was broken down well for players to assimilate the rules. 5^th edition also saw combat squads introduced allowing Space Marine players the choice of breaking down their 10man squads into 2 separate 5man squads. Vanguard and Sternguard units were added to the space Marine forces and allowed for many players to field Deathwatch kill teams in their games of 40k. This for me was my favourite addition for 5^th edition along with Captain Lysander being an absolute badass! For me the 5^th Edition Codex was amazing to read and easy to use and was universally acknowledged in the gaming community as the best Space Marine Codex ever produced. Could it ever be improved on?

So we come to it at last, the 6^th edition Space Marine Codex. The first noticeable difference is the switch from soft back to hard back, a change all 6^th edition Codex’s have made.  Whilst the hard cover certainly does no harm to the look of the Codex and has a stunning front cover, I am sure most games could have lived with a soft back Codex had it kept it in the £20-25 price range as opposed to the £35 you will have paid if purchased direct from GW. The artwork is all in colour with new and old images alike featured throughout the 179 page long publication, making it the largest Codex GW have ever made. The fluff is pretty much a copy and paste job from the 5^th edition Codex although additional background information has been added as well and the making of a Space Marine section is better presented in this Codex. As you have probably deduced for yourselves my main grievance with past Codex releases was the over saturation of the Ultramarine chapter. I am very pleased to say this isn’t the case with the 6^th edition release. The Ultramarines get a section of their own as do the White Scars, Imperial Fists, Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron Hands chapters which then also included successor founding chapters. Black Templars have been merged into a Codex Chapter too which may or may not go down well with Black Templar players, only time will tell on that score.  The Chapter tactics section is probably the 2^nd highlight of the Codex giving the Marine Space Marine Chapters specific rules. For example, Imperial Fist players (like me) get the Bolter Drill Chapter Tactic which allows all rolls to hit of 1 to be re-rolled. I think this is a good touch which draws from the unique back ground of each Space Marine Chapter. Don’t worry if you play with your own Space Marine Chapter or one of the lesser known Chapters (Death Spectres for example) you still get to benefit from Chapter tactics by simply picking one of the existing ones that you feel is best suited for your Chapter. There is an all new Warlord chart to roll on in addition to the ones in the main 40k rule book.  A few things I am not so keen on, combat shields now only infer a 6+ invulnerable save as opposed to 4+ making a Company Champion very average when he should stand out slightly more. Command Squads are still limited to a 5man squad make-up and despite the new Librarian model being cast with a cyber-cherub we still don’t have rules for Familiars. Also I was hoping that there may have been a breakdown on the Sternguard rules allowing you to field them as Sternguard or a Deathwatch Kill Team and maybe some variation on rules dependent on what unit you fielded.  

GAMES-KNIGHT VERDICT

Overall the 6^th edition Codex does steal the show but the 5^th edition Codex still remains a favourite of mine and remains the best Codex for the lay out of the rules and army list section. Presentation wise the 6^th edition Codex blows all previous entries out the water but for the £35 GW are asking you to part with it should be visually stunning.

Next week on Games-Knight, see how my Imperial Fists got on against the Chaos War band known as the Warp Wyrms using the 6^th edition Codex rules.

In the meantime I want to hear what you guys think of the new Space Marine Codex, drop a comment below or email – contactgamesknight@gmail.com, till next time. Ciaran.