Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Codex Militarum Tempestus: A Second Look


So having picked up the book last night, read it and slept on it, I am going to go over few thoughts and note some issues with the codex.  There is a rules issue regarding the Hot Shot Volley gun and I'll go over that later.  Despite some minor issues though this is a very solid codex for those that want lots of storm troopers and little else. 


First off lets go over the badish.  To make it clear and upfront, there are no Scion platoons in Tempestus.  Command squads are an HQ choice and Scion Squads are your troop choice.  For whatever reason there is no normal force org chart, just a key for each symbol that states the units "battlefield role".  Based off of BRB that means you can take two command squads and 6 scion squads before getting into allies and formations.  Now that is still a lot of bodies that have a good save and good weapons.  However you will not be able to do an all infantry army on its own with no vehicles without bringing allies to plus up points.  With vehicles you can meet numbers easily and this allows you to really not worry about spending upgrades on your troops which you should, these guys can make the best use of them with their shooting and orders.

Now the hotshot volley gun has an issue, in the wargear section it has the Gets Hot special rule, but in the reference section it does not have this.  So does it get hot or not?  Well GW have had this issue before and I believe in the last case they went with what was in the reference section.  Hopefully this will be clarified either in FAQ or with the upcoming Astra release.  I'll wait to see what it's profile will be in Astra Militarum, if it has gets hot in there as well, then that will clear it up.  Its disappointing to still see these mistakes that could easily have been fixed with editing.

That being said, thats really all that is "bad" about this codex.  The orders are very good with Scions and do a great job of boosting hotshots to have them threaten most things with either sniper or rending on vehicles and MCs.  The new vehicle equipment is great and having access to relic plating to help counter the psychic attacks that are out there.  Fire barrels help defend against assaults and at least give you a chance to fight back.  The augur array is awesome, I have always wanted something like it to help with deep striking, this will be great with an army that uses a ground based strike force with deepstriking scions coming in for the knockout punch.

Commissars are great now.  They are all ICs and have stubborn.  A points drop was needed and standard commissars will see great use.  Summary execution is an option now, not automatic, so you can stick them in with command squads and not have to worry about him axing your commander if you fail a test.  The lord has the same stats with WS BS 5 and 3 Wounds and Attacks and has a refractor field.  Unless you are planning on fighting in close combat though, I would stick with the normal commissar, as much as Aura of Discipline may help.  It depends how you want to run them and you will have enough points to certainly take one if you desire. 

Things to glean from orders.  No longer are the rigid command structure, you choose which officer goes first and resolve each order one at a time.  If this is the same in AM then this will be a great change.  You can start with your lowest officer first if you desire to get the first rank shots out of the way first and save your critical orders for higher officers later to target what survives the initial volleys.  Hopefully this remains true and will add great flexibility to issuing orders.

The formations are looking much better after I have thought about them more, and I am really liking the Air Cav one more and more.  Having split fire and twin linked coming out of a valkyrie is a very good boost.  The way I see this working is having a ground based forced, mostly mounted up in Taurox's moving up to hit a flank of your opponent in mass.  Then when your opponent moves in to try and surround you, the valkyries come in and rain death from the sky.  Load up squads to maximize the split fire rule, I see having a melta gun and hot shot volley or plasma gun in each, allowing you to target both infantry and vehicles, using split fire to have the melta guns target tanks and the rest of the squad going after infantry.  Combined with a few orders this will guarantee a hard hitting strike when they all drop in and be very hard for an opponent to return from.  Note as it reads the valkyries are not squadroned but are individual.  A few augur arrays on your tauroxes will guarantee a near perfect drop.

The ground formation also looks very good.  If creed stays similar to what he is now, he could be used to outflank this formation.  It will really depend if his scouts rule(if it stays) allows him to affect the army or only Astra Militarum units.  A possible use if the rules turn out to allow it, but I would not get hopes too high on this one.  Otherwise this is a good way to plus up your army and add a "platoon" to it and is also a good choice for upgrading the commissar to lord as he will not become warlord automatically due to his leadership 10 because he is in a formation and not your main army.  This also may be a way to add scoring scions to an Astra Militarum army.  Since they are troops choices and if I read the formation rules correctly, they should maintain that status, but that will have to be looked into and may not be the case.

What this codex is, is a fast moving and hard hitting army that brings air power and a lot of flexibility.  The tauroxes bring firepower and mobility but can be taken out with focused fire.  They get you to the fight but won't rolling over everything and you'll have to use them carefully or plan on their destruction in the same way you would with rhinos and razorbacks.  Valkyrie air support adds even more mobility and firepower and gives more survivability with being a flyer.  If you feel you are hurting on anti tank, a vulture gunship kitted out for tank hunting is a great choice to add and gives you a cool themed air assault formation.  Or you can ally in guard to bring vendettas.

On the fluff side, it does not disappoint.  There is tons of great artwork showing the scions in action and doing what they do.  It expands the background of the Scholia Progenum to a great degree and gives a much more solid explanation on how Storm Troopers and commissars are raised.  There is plenty of wonderful grim dark, with the explanation of how commissars are ordered to execute another class mate, sometimes close friends, before graduating.

What I really liked was the short stories on multiple engagements with scions and commissars.  They expand on the battle excerpts and give both short point of view stories as well as detailed accounts of the battle.  I am a lover of fluff so this was a big plus for me and enjoyed reading the differences between Scion regiments and their battles.  There is a plethora of regiments shown, giving you many choices in color schemes and backgrounds to choose from.  There are notable daemon hunters as well as eldar hunters.  As always you can make your own regiment and color scheme, creating your own history and background.

This army will work great with many, IG being the obvious one.  The other will definitely be inquisition.  I'm not talking about token inquisitors here, this is going heavy with them as well.  Bring an inquisitor or two and two or three warbands with crusaders, death cults, and priests in land raiders and you'll have a very powerful army that has needed heavy armor and anti tank and hard hitting assault units.  You'll be able to move up the field quickly and have multiple land raiders to soak the heavy anti tank fire and act as shields to your tauroxes getting into position for a close quarters battle where both scions and the warbands will excell.

This army is a great addition to those that want storm troopers.  If you are not looking to field a large portion of them, then stick with the Astra Militarum and you can pass on this.  This is for those that love the history of storm troopers and want a way to take an army of them.  There are a few nit picky issues but other than that it has great flexibilty and use.  If you are just looking for an ally, the formations are the way to go.

GG

43 comments:

  1. Money grab comes to mind when reading about this, i don't understand why this was necessary. Were IG players really crying out for a storm trooper army? An army that i doubt you will see fielded by itself.

    I cant help but feel that this was a money grab by GW, apparently you can find scion rules in the WD, so if you wanted to field them in your IG army what not buy the WD and save quite a bit of money. Also 5 models for 50 odd (NZ)dollars, grrrrr.

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    1. Actually yes they have, I among them. I have been waiting for an army like this for almost 10 years. It may be a money grab, but its money I want to spend on. As for cost here, they are only ten more than the other command squad and are in line with many other five model boxes and command squads. And speaking about what you get, the kit is loaded with weapons and gear and can be spread around far more than five models. The detail on them is awesome too. Sorry I am a fan of them :)

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    2. Don't apologize, i wont hold your opinion against you. I just happen to think that given storm troopers will still be in the IG book, and that the Scion codex (i wont even try and pronounce the Latin name as i don't speak Latin) doesn't have heavy support or elites, making it less than all other armies (apart from imperial knights) i really cant see the point.

      I am happy that so far Fantasy has been sparred the supplement/data slate treatment, that when you buy the army book you get all the rules for that army and don't have to pay extra for rules that should be in the army book but weren't, but this is getting off topic, main point being i think this is a shameless money grab and you would probably be better just buying the WD rules and spending the money you saved on a supply of coffee for a few weeks.

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    3. Well, this codex may be a money grab, but i for one was crying out for a stormtrooper army since the good old times of the second edition guard codex and his Stormtrooper Company alternative list :) .
      The 4th edition codex and his carapace armor doctrine gave me the excuse for starting a new army comprised of metal stormtrooper models, with conversions for officers, veterans and heavy weapons so right now i could use them to deploy a full Tempestus infantry army without any problem, though I must blame GW for the total and unexpected ausence of chimeras in the army list. I will have to buy some tauroxs after all.
      I know that this army will have issues to win any game on his own, but i'm with Grumpy when he say that the real fun with the tempestus is in the allies department, and my inquisition is going to make a good use of this codex to create a combined force in remembrance of the Witch Hunters and Daemon Hunters books and their inquisitorial stormtroopers.
      Good times ahead :)

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    4. Allies. So instead of buying one army and one codex you have to buy two. Double the cost. An army that cant stand on its on feet and needs allies to make it work isn't a good army. And the two kits for the scions haven't wowed me. You have the boxy box box truck and the nice looking but costly/ limited pose-wise storm troopers.

      If y'all think that this is worth it then have it and make GW happy. But this just pushes me further away from 40k and closer to fantasy, the game in where you only need one army book and one army to play

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    5. Yes for some these might be money grab but i prefer money grab and weekly releases than waiting years to see new stuff. I think they are worth it only for the orders...but thats just my opinion...

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    6. Rex, i didn't say that the tempestus army is a good army, i said that it is a cool army for me and that's all that matters :) . I have had a lot a fun reading it and i guarantee you that i'm going to have fun playing it, even if i don't win a single game. I play imperial guard, sisters of battle and inquisition and this tempestus codex allows me even more choices playing with these armies, and more choices means more fun for me, so buying this book seems like a good investment for all my armies and that makes me happy.
      If you think that you will find more fun playing Fantasy then go ahead. Fun is what we all want when playing a game after all, right? ;)

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    7. Jaggar - having fun is the only argument that really matters, you are damn right about that.

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    8. Thanks mate. I'm glad you think so too ;)

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    9. Having fun is what its all about. I would also like to note that this army does not need allies to "work", it has everything to deal with armor, infantry, and monstrous creatures. Will it challenge the cheese dick death stars on equal ground, not really, but do we really want it to be at that level, no. It can win games just fine but will require a good commander to excel at, which is what I am all for.

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    10. Well, Im really happy that they made ST army. But even eithour rules, just the fluff section would be enough for me to buy it. Like, seriously, money grab?
      Do you want to field Scion army? Buy it. Otherwise, you are not forced to buy, still I dont think it will make some competetive level impact. Its just interesting, funny and fluffy.

      But as I said, for me is vital part of the book fluff and because of it I got Imperial Knights codex too.

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    11. I guess I've never understood what people mean when they say "money grab". By definition, it is an undignified acquisition of a large sum of money with little effort. To each his own makes like better, but I do believe they are taking pride in their work, and many GW employees are putting great effort into the hobby. Of course, some may say their effort is producing cr*p results, but still, I know the boots on the ground in GW love the hobby, and it's natural for a business to want to make money. Just my opinion though.

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    12. It does seem a little bit money grabbish, if only in the sense that this 'codex' feels like a formation +1 a the price of full codex. Basically what it looks like we have here is someone in GW said "lets take a bit of the work we did for the REAL codex, Astra Mil, feature the new transport we were going to add anyway, give people the chance to field stormtroopers as troops, and slap the full codex price on it. Then we release the full Astra Mil and the same sucker...er customers will pay the full codex price AGAIN and hope they don't realize that Tempest could have been done as an option in Astra Mil, like Ravenwing armies in Dark Angels." I mean really, how hard would it have been to add the Tempest HQ choices with the special rule that says "Stormtroopers may now be taken as troops". That being said, I too think the Tempest concept is cool, and I am mostly just jealous that my beloved Dark Eldar haven't recieved so much as a formation yet, and IG, excuse me, Astra Mil get TWO codexes! Just give me a formation of talosi already!

      Servicious, The Disgruntled Dark Eldar

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    13. I'd agree that it could have certainly been an option in the main IG book like DA does it. But I am one of those suckers :p and I love having a dedicated book with fluff and artwork for my favorite IG guys. Also the special orders they have are a nice bonus too and add to their play style as an army rather than a supporting element of IG, thought they could have thrown those in as well, if not being a little confusing on which table you choose from.

      Well hopefully your DE will get the same love, there are some really cool stuff they can do with them and luckily their rules are decent as is with only needing minor points tweaks and shifting of force org choices. A talos formation would be sweet

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    14. Just adding a little something, I saw the Stormtroopers in action this week at our local store in a 3 vs 3 match where each army had 1500 points. The player, Dennis, fielded the Scions solo for his force and had plenty of fun doing it.

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  2. On the iPad edition, the hot shot volley gun does NOT have "gets hot" special rule anywhere. Not in the wargear list, reference or anything.
    I have Interactive edition.
    So safe to say it does not get hot, would be a horrible weapon if it did lol.

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    1. That does not surprising and is good to hear, gets hot would def hurt this weapon a lot

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    2. You have probably already seen this, but it is confirmed in the Errata. There is no Gets Hot for the hot shot volley gun.

      http://www.blacklibrary.com/Downloads/Product/PDF/Warhammer-40k/7th-faq/Militarum_Tempestus_v1.0_May14.pdf

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  3. Guys, totally off topic as concerning IG (I'm sorry) but rules are breaking @ nafka and 3++ as the first dexes hit the shelves. Thank god / the imperator some rumors were false (as always) like chimera's smoke & search lights extra costs, 2 special weapons for vets etc...

    -BF Tabitha

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    1. Well, prepare for worse Chimera nerf, seems just two models fire from hatch (but can be HW) and rest can from 6 lasguns (!) from the sides, where model has them. And on Chimera BS, so bad for vets, good for crew shaken. Plasma/ meltavets has problem to make their third SW guy shoot. But they are cheaper, good for me, and finally logical for the model.

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  4. Ales... PEOPLE already have Chimeras... ergo Nerf.. No one has Tourox ergo Wonderful bit 'o kit ;)

    I would say this is not the first "allies only" codex the Grey Knights codex made for an army that was great against a few things but really needed help for others

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    1. Nah, if rumors about the new orders are true and with PBS, Priests and Advisor-Psykers all around, shitty basic infantry can be buffed to being really good against everything. And this would be awesome fluff-wise. I'm just glad no super-heavy or super fancy MC made it into the codex for the same reason: IG being the simple men of the imperium armed with flashlights, valor and orders to keep them going and dying.

      -BF Tabitha

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    2. Completely agree, so glad no mega unit is in here. Most units that needed a drop got it, though ogryns didn't I think orders can maybe make them useful. For whatever reason they seem to have made veterans even better, unless its 60 for 5, but if its 60 for 10 then and with appropriate doctrine pricing they are a better unit then ever. Hearing about the chimera I am actually fine with the changes, its still got its smoke and light, and the firing from it makes sense now, two from the hatch and the rest lasguns. I love that astropaths have an actual psychic power, I see these being wonderful little surprises on the board.

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  5. So, I finally got my Tempestus codex...and I love it! Like, seriously... Rules we have seen leaked on internet and WD, but the fluff part is awesome. Maybe its my obsession with commisars and different regiments, but I love to read those short stories, scion regiments, its buzzing with grimdark like WH40K didnt for a long time IMO. Yay and Im just in the half of the book...:)

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    2. I cannot agree more with you, Aleš. This book is an excellent purchase if only for reading the background part IMO :)

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    3. I dont get that, you would pay 85 USD for the fluff alone? 40k fluff isnt even that good, there are far better sci-fi universes out there and i still wouldn't pay 85 USD for their fluff.

      I dont hold peoples opinions against them (unless its a vile, hate fueled opinion) but doesn't 85 USD seem a bit too much for fluff alone? (if i got the price wrong i am sorry but different countries and all that jazz)

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    4. Rex, here in Spain the book costed me 39 euros. I think that translates for about 50 USD more or less. It's a hardback full color book with awesome ilustrations and great background, for me al least, but i recognize that i have a soft spot for anything stormtrooper related :).
      I know there are great sci-fi universes out there but i really like the 40K universe and i enjoy reading about it especially so maybe this combination of factors are what it makes the purchase of the tempestus codex a really good value for money for me ;)

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    5. Yeah, I paid cca 40 euros for the book. Its production quality is high and, what is more important, the writing suits me. I have spent much more money on bad belletry...:)

      For the fluff, WH40K has really good fluff. Cheesy, funny, tongue in cheek and still it can be dark, bloody, cruel. Of course, you just cant read bolterporn, its the unhappy side effect.

      Yes, there are other universes, I dont ignore them, but, truly, contemporary sci-fi is beginning to be weak and empty. But maybe I just read too many sci-fi books in life and Im drifting towards few selected authors, other type of literature and satisfying crazyness of WH40K :)

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    6. 50 USD translates to 57 NZD, so New Zealanders pay a extra 20 dollars more than most other countries. So if you happen to live in NZ, dont buy this book simple as that. Its not worth the money

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  6. The Grav-chute Commandos Warlord trait is unusable without platoons... "units in the same platoon..." The reference to platoons and the non-existence of said platoons makes this useless RAW... Also, there is an entry detailing camo-netting in the wargear section, yet no vehicle has the option to take camo-netting nor comes with it, and there is no point value or even an entry for it in the armory. Another couple of issues that I noted. I find it odd that you could take more Scions in a straight Astra Army than you could in the Tempestus list.

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    1. Yep, plus there is the heavy stubber, its in the refernce section, but by RAW vehicles can only take storm bolters, even though th WD has it being able to take both.

      For me, we'll be house ruling the warlord trait to detachment instead of platoon, as other wise thats utter sillyness.

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  7. Hi Grumpy,

    so yesterday I had the chance to play the Tempestus codex together with the old Guard codex...looks like last game with the old rules hehe. Either way, my Guard were my primary detachment and Tempestus my second, whereas Temestus made almost half of the points of the list.

    I am not sure if this was legal or not, but the allied detachment of Tempestus was the Ground Formation w/ 4 Tauros, 3 squads, 1 Command and 1 Commissar. It was a friendly game, and my opponent was fine with what I was doing, so I apologize if I did something wrong with building my list.

    Opponent was Space Wolfs and Tau Allies @ 2000pts. Kept the Tempestus in reserve, while my Lemans and troopers kept pounding away on 1 turn, but crappy rolling on my side. He had good shooting and drop pods.. I lost a good chunk of my primary detachment 1 turn.

    2 Turn Tempestus formation came in, I split them up slightly 2 Taurox going after the marines drop podded and 2 going after the Tau Hammerhead. And here is where I was surprised..the Taurox gatling gun ripped the darn crap out of the marines + hot-shot volleyfire, one squad was gone! The other two Taurox were equipped with the missile launchers and went after the Hammerhad. It's side was facing me so I hammered those krak missiles + twin linked autocannons into it ---- it blew up...bs4 vehicles are nice! I am not used to this at all!!!

    In turn 3 I was across the board, forwent shooting for a nice long move with the taurox, I hid them behind terrain. Though cover wasn't good enough, one Taurox got missile spammed and blew up, the other down to 1 hull point, the other 2 anti infantry ones got pummeled down to 2 hp each.

    Turn 4 Scions dissembarked and with orders (sniper) killed 1 boradside and wounded the other. The second squad got close enough for rapid fire..together with twin link upon dissembarking they killed 9 out of 11 Firewarriors...they ran off the board...

    This is were the game started to go into my favor, started to take some objectives, while scions kept crippling lone wolfs and other tau.

    Overall I am surprised about the punch these Taurox can deliver, they are thin as paper though, only crappy rolling on my opponents end, and cover saves saved their meal butts.

    The scions are awesome, really nasty against anything that doesn't have a invuln, or more than 3+ save. Really really enjoying how they play, a fast and deadly strike force, can't wait to field these with my hellhounds and let the hounds give the taurox cover saves together with their 12 av side and front.

    Thanks for your time, and sorry for typos, cheers!

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    1. Glad they performed so well. I'm liking what tauroxes bring, they shoot great, but cannot stand up to a long fire fight. They are about right in pts for a BS4 vehicle with lots of guns and full ten man squad. Measure that against what a razor back can do with only a half transport capacity. They are balanced who knew!

      Yeah they are looking pretty good so far, and hell hounds will just be great with them, adding armor and firepower to the strike force.

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  8. As cool as the codex was and the Scions are, ultimately, I'm staying away from them. As a Blood Angels commander, I already have more than enough choices for getting up close and personal with the enemy, and I'm looking forward to what the Astra Militarum has to offer in the way of fire support.

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  9. Can someone confirm that if you take a formation you can use it as allies? The Commissar plus THQ is 2 HQ choices making not usable as an ally, but I read some where that YOU can use a formation + ally choice + primary meaning...

    I could have Astra Militarum as Primary, Dark Angels as allies and have a Tempestus Formation on top of it.

    Any help would be much appreciated!

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    1. formations work on their own and do not take up an ally slot. You take the formation as it is. You can have as many as you have points for and as long as your primary detachment is legal.

      that being said, there are many tournaments that are modifying the rules to where you can only have two rules sources. So you can have an ally, a formation, dataslate, but not more than one. So you can take a formation but not an ally, or vice versa. It depends where and who you are playing with. For standard games with friends you can bring what you want as long as they are ok with it.

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