#like the neo-Volkite and better plasma

[farsight-the-char]

5 bucks says GW puts out new upgrade sprues for each major chapter that come with chapter theme weapons, proper melee weapons and storm shields, and of course heavy flamer and cyclone missile launcher.

The lack of a heavy flamer or cyclone launcher has me wondering if these are just the starter set Terminators and we'll see a separate multipart kit at a later date.

[warpswimming]

The Chain of Command - First Officers of the Adeptus Astartes

Hi today i'm taking a look at the Lieutenant choices in the 9th Edition Space Marine codex.

Lieutenants (read leftenant, that’s how it's supposed to be said) first appeared in 8th with the arrival of the Primaris Space Marines and represent a command staff element that isn't specialised such as Librarians and Chaplains. GW loves these guys, we've had so many models for the Primaris varients that people have actually built squads of them. Dont get me wrong, they are cool but do we really need that many.

First off, the 8th edition Lieutenant filled the roll of giving an AURA reroll ones to wound. They acted as a pretty big force multiplier and have had an immediate effect on the table. So how have they changed at their core in 9th?

Off the bat, you are only allowed 2 per detachment. A limitation I'm not sure will have much effect personally as you tended to only see the one.

The second change is to their AURA ability now only affects CORE units in the same way as the change to the Captain. Again this means no self buffing and no backline lascannon buffing on vehicles such as the lascannon Predator. The can still effect units such as Devestators and Hellblasters though.

Lastly, all the Lieutenants gain the WOLF GUARD keyword. I'll confess Space Wolves are a bit of a blind spot for me however I imagine the addition of this keyword opens up for synergies and stratagem use.

There are 4 varieties to pick from, Primaris, Phobos, Reiver (who yeah i know wears phobos armour), and Firstborn.

Firstly the Primaris Lieutenant. The most heavily modelled unit I think ever, the Primaris Lieutenant has a lot of options and upgrade kits to make him look unique on the table. Equipment wise his loadouts are pretty fixed to a few defined choices. Master crafted Auto Bolt rifle or Stalker Bolt Rifle (no standard bolt rifle) pump out some reliable damage having the +1 damage buff over their standard rifles. If you're lucky enough to have gotten hold of the latest Lieutenant from Indomitus you can have your neo-volkite, 2dmg power sword and a storm shield, though he'll cost you a bit extra.

This is the first datasheet in the book though to give explicit options for non compliant chapters not including Deathwatch, of which a Deathwatch Captain can take a xenophase blade.

Dark Angels can replace a bolt pistol with plasma pistol, and Space Wolves can replace their master crafted auto bolt rifle with a special issue bolt carbine and master crafted power axe. Both are thematic to their chapters and here the Space Wolves do really well as the bolt carbine option is much better than the auto bolt rifle in my opinion, loosing one shot but gaining -2ap.

The Reiver Lieutenant focuses on frontal assault and work in a similar way to the Reivers themselves. His equipment is the same as a Reiver other than his pistol is 2dmg, rather than 1 and he gains the Terror Troops AURA ability as well. As he has the REIVER, PHOBOS and SHOCK GRENADE keywords he gains access to a few stratagems that let him pop around and stop actions and objective secured though nothing a REIVER squad itself wouldn’t. Obviously he is a candidate for Relics and Warlord Traits so the Purgatorus Pistol and the Reliquary of Gathalamor could see some play here if you want to shut down psykers or increase his damage output. This is the first datasheet to sport the SMOKESCREEN keyword, which opens you up to a pretty nice stratagem where for 1cp you subtract one to hit rolls against him. I can hear Aeldari players calling out as this is the LIGHTNING FAST RELEXES strat from their book now given to the Adeptus Astartes. The strat and keyword look set to replace the smoke launchers equipment throughout and if this rolls on to other books look out for stuff like -1 to hit Leman Russ. Key points with this is, its when you're targetted in your opponents phase, and doesnt put any restrictions in such as once per game, or in place of shooting.. super cool.

The Lieutenant in Phobos Armour seems downscale compared to the other phobos option. His weapon loadout is very basic, though he does sport a 2 damage bolt gun that ignores 'the benefits of cover' which I read to ignoring ALL benefits, dense terrain, light cover etc. Some would argue that a benefit of cover is the obscuring trait but you cant target a unit if you cant see it. Where this guy differs most though is his Death from Above ability, letting you keep him in reserve and drop him almost anywhere you need him. I can see play in some very nasty drop builds such as Sanguinary Guard who thanks to the change in power weapon strength bonuses, wound t4 on 2s though I wont get into them until the suppliment comes.

Our last selection for Lieutenants is the Firstborn. Whilst a wound and an attack down on his counterparts, the Firstborn Lieutenant has a much wider arsenal at his disposal and no set model. You can swap out the Master Crafted bolter for a pistol, combat weapon or combi weapon and swap out his astartes chainsword for a melee weapon from the list. There’s a lot to pick from here, from power swords to thunder hammers, bolt pistols to grav pistols or if you're a Blood Angel, inferno pistols and hand flamer. Whilst there’s no option to replace the bolt pistol he comes with, 2 pistols means 2 options to shoot while in engagement range. You could for example have a Blood Angel Lieutenant with thunder hammer, bolt pistol and inferno pistol. Even better, for 1 power (or relevant points) you can give him a jump pack gaining the relevant keywords, doubling his movement and gaining the ability to deep strike, an option I'd look into over the Phobos Lieutenant.

There we go. There’s a plethora of models out there for these guys, and you can convert up your own Firstborn to be whatever you like. They fill varied roles, and depending on what Chapter you're hailing from, can get some serious mileage. As a seemingly minor character they are often left lower on the priority list and are one of the cheapest HQ options for Space Marines, matched only by Techmarines.

Return again soon as I continue to look into the HQ options available to the Space Marines, there’s still quite a few.

'Give me a hundred Space Marines. Or failing that give me a thousand other troops.'