Also in good news, Forge World continues to offer surprise and delight – although a few units saw hefty increases (Relic Leviathan and Deredeo Dreadnoughts), others were treated to minimal changes, and one standout is looking around guiltily at an unexpected reduction in its cost, that being the Relic Contemptor. There’s every possibility that these costs were adjusted with the new Forge World indexes in mind and all will be made clear when that release, but for now, we are long on Relic Contemptors. Also the personal favorite of mine, the Land Raider Achilles, went down in cost a little bit. Things like that make me a little giddy.” More in italics from the vanilla Marine version: First up, let’s talk about Impulsors. Impulsors were already good in 8th, though relatively few people played them – in part probably just because the model didn’t exist for months after the codex came out, which is one of those things that could only happen in a GW game. Still, some people had a lot of success with them, and towards the end of 8th’s life, they were starting to make their presence felt. In 9th edition, they become much more important because your goal is to get onto objectives and stay there. A flying transport with a 14″ move and a 4+ invulnerable save is a great way to do exactly that. Impulsors are very versatile – they can run up and dump Marines out onto objectives to do Actions or obsec onto things, or you can stay inside the ride and force your opponent to kill the surprisingly-tough tank first. Their shooting isn’t amazing but it isn’t terrible – two storm bolters is enough to matter against small GEQ squads and the like. They’re also great for screening, since they’re big and reduce charge distances, and they’re really fun for bully-charging stuff – many things that have good shooting can’t do much against an Impulsor in melee, which makes them great for slamming into the enemy shooting to reduce your opponent’s ability to blast you off objectives. Two-three sets of five Intercessors in an Impulsor is a fine way to start a Dark Angel list in 9th. Veteran Marines ( Sternguard Veteran • Vanguard Veteran • Veteran Intercessor • Veteran Assault Intercessor • Bladeguard Veteran) • Terminator Squad • Terminator Assault Squad The design is based on the Sector Imperialis board, one side featuring a neutral blue grey paint job, with markings where to place the models for the various missions from the book, the other side featuring a rusty brown paint job (thankfully without markings). The reproduction of the Sector Imperialis board is excellent, I guess they painted a real board and took high quality photographs. Unlike First Strike, which has Reivers and new poses for Plague Marines and Poxwalkers, there is no appeal in getting Know No Fear when you already own Dark Imperium. Which might actually be a good thing, imagine they would have done something silly like including a character you could only find in this box. Last but not least, I feel there would have been more potential in the play materials – a standard sized mat, a couple proper cardboard terrain pieces. Especially as they are the most defining feature compared to Dark Imperium.

Here you can see the size difference between Primaris Marine and an old-school Marines. Quite a difference, but helmets and shoulder guard (and, to some extent, the torso and arms) are the same scale as old Marines and can thus be swapped. Also, note how much taller and bulkier a Plague Marine is in comparison. Poxwalkers are quite large as well, at least as tall as an old Marine and a bit taller as a Cadian Guardsman as well (not shown). Death Watch Kill Team Marines are missing, who should be in between old Marines and Death Guard size because of their beefier and longer Mk8 legs. Whilst they are within 6″ of this Warlord, models in Ravenwing units from your army that have Advanced this turn do not suffer the penalty for Advancing and firing Assault weapons.’Aggressor Squad • Desolation Squad • Devastator Squad • Hellblaster Squad • Eradicator Squad • Eliminator Squad • Infernus Squad • Centurion Devastator Squad

Alternatively, you could go for a regular Lieutenant and give him the Heavenfall Blade Relic to add more combat punch to the army.The idea solidified when I set about painting a unit of Infiltrators and asked myself how they expected to infiltrate anywhere in the desert wearing bright red armour. I couldn’t be happier with how successful the Ossian Suppression camo experiment has been.

This means that your standard Plasma Incinerator shot will be doing 2 damage each, while an overcharged shot will be doing 3 damage with each successful wound! There is little in the game that can stand up to a unit of 10 Hellblasters firing overcharged shots at them with this stratagem, especially if they are firing two shots each.

Overview

The Characters and Dreadnoughts are the standout models in the force. I wanted my Characters to have the heroic bearing on the table that they have in the novels and to be visually distinct. To this end, I converted many of them from heroes of other Chapters or even from Forge World’s Primarch models.* I’ll be starting this section with some general observations of the army and what are things we can be able to do. Though our army feels a bit like a supplement for the Space Marines, using our Wings really will bring out that feeling of uniqueness that I think we all play this army for.