In addition, TROOPS units in the Detachment gain the Objective Secured ability from the Core Rulebook.

The Company Command ability simply limits you to one unit with the CAPTAIN Keyword and two units with the LIEUTENANT Keyword per Detachment. These are very similar to those from 8th however there are a few changes to the wording of some of them. If your chosen Chapter is not listed then you are instructed to create your own Chapter Tactic from a combination of 2 Successor Tactics chosen from a list of 19. There are some differences amongst the different Chapter Tactics – White Scars for example no longer ignore the penalty for moving and firing Heavy weapons. What’s different this time is that this Codex contains Chapter Tactics for Black Templars, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Death Watch, Flesh Tearers and the Space Wolves. The Chapter Tactics ability is pretty much the same as it was back in 8th edition and grants different rules to models in the Detatchment based on the chosen Chapter (so long as every unit has the same CHAPTER Keyword). Such a Detachment gains two abilities, the familiar Chapter Tactics ability and a new Company Command ability. An ADEPTUS ASTARTES Detachment is one that contains only models with the ADEPTUS ASTARTES keyword (excluding models with the AGENT OF THE IMPERIUM or UNALIGNED keywords). The Detachment Abilities section clearly defines what an ADEPTUS ASTARTES Detachment is and what abilites such a Detachment gains. The rules section starts at page 90 with the aforementioned Contents page, allowing you to quickly navigate to each section (aided by a handy colour coded system).įirst up is the Battle-Forged section which is split into three sub sections – Detachment Abilities, Chapter Command and Stratagems. A lot of the content we’ve seen before in previous versions of the Codex but there are some interesting new short stories and descriptions of warzones the Space Marines have found themselves battling in.

I wont go into too much detail about the new lore and background in this book as I don’t want to spoil anything for those who enjoy spending a few hours reading from cover to cover devouring as much Warhammer as they can. Overall this is one of the best quality Codexes Games Workshop has produced in terms of presentation and usability, hopefully a good sign for those Codexes that will follow over the coming months. List writing is now a doddle as you’re able to remain on one page and quickly total up the points you’ve spent on each unit. Here every unit is listed in turn, grouped by Force Organisation alongside a page reference to its datasheet, its points cost and the points cost of every applicable upgrade.

I’m extremely impressed with the new layout employed in this version though, specifically the rules related sections.Įach section of the rules ( Army Rules, Wargear etc.) is colour coded and can be quickly located via the handy index at the start of the section. There is a useful weapons reference section which includes the profiles for every weapon in the Codex and a Glossary at the back which provides additional easy to reference information on specific terms and keywords used in the book.īy far the best improvement though is the Points Values section. We’ve come to expect fantastic artwork and stories in our Codexes (and I’m not disappointed by this iteration) but I was often left feeling a bit frustrated when I tried to ‘use’ the book to write lists and play games, finding myself flicking between pages trying to cross reference a piece of wargear with its points cost. The new style and font choice really gives the impression of a high quality publication, an impression that continues to hold true when you start flicking through it’s pages. This has to be one of the best looking Codex covers in recent times. There was mixed feelings about the change of style for the Warhammer 40,000 branding when it was first revealed back in July but I have to say I’m a big fan.

Clocking in at 208 pages, the new Codex Space Marines is slightly bigger than the previous edition in terms of page count and indeed in actual size itself (about 0.5-1cm in both height and width).

Fear warhammer 40k 8th edition rules