Below are all of the Detachment's that are available in the Astra Militarum Codex as well as a breakdown on those detachments enhancements and stratagems.
Voice of Command : The Astra Militarum's rigid command structure ensures their units function at peak efficiency, represented in-game by Officer models issuing Orders. Each Officer can issue a set number of Orders to eligible units within 6" (though some abilities extend this range or increase the number of Orders). Orders are given during your Command Phase or immediately after the Officer is Set Up or Disembarks from a Transport. A unit can only have one active Order at a time unless a special rule states otherwise, and Battle-shocked units cannot receive Orders—any existing Orders are lost if a unit becomes Battle-shocked. Additionally, only ASTRA MILITARUM models in a unit benefit from Orders, so an attached Inquisitor, for example, would not gain any advantages.
They have access to the following orders :
As always this is a pretty strong army rule.
A Tier / Competitive -
With a solid mix of Detachment Rules, Enhancements, and Stratagems this is a detachment that is quite competitive and is easy to play.
Detachment Rule : Born Soldiers
This is our Index detachment that we already know and love. Squadron units get Lethal Hits against Monsters and Vehicles with their ranged weapons while Regiment units get Lethal Hits on everything else. This just lets your units deal with the type of units that they will typically be shooting at slightly better at their job so there isn't much to complain about here.
Enhancements : Not a reason to take this detachment but there is still 1 auto include here.
Death Mask of Ollanius - This one helps to keep your units OC in the positive even if the bearer's unit fails a battleshock test. It's ok, but I wouldn't be looking at taking this unless the points are simply just lying there and you had nothing else to spend it on.
Drill Commander - While leading a unit, if the bearer of this Enhancement remains stationary, the unit gets critical hits on a 5+. This will take a bit of work to make work well honestly and will do nothing for a Tank Commander since it only works if your leading a unit. I suppose you can try using Rapid Ingress to get the unit in position so that it can sit still and shoot in your next turn but the number of units that would like to try and use this has dropped in the codex with us losing access to the generic Infantry Squad and generic Infantry Command Squad.
Grand Strategist - A simple upgrade for an officer, allowing them to give out an extra order in your Command Phase. This is probably the best Enhancement in the detachment allowing a Tank Commander to not only order himself but 2 other Tanks at a time.
Reactive Command - This one has got to be written wrong because as it sits now it's merely an interesting idea and not really that good. As it stands now when an enemy unit is set up within 9" of the bearers unit the bearer can issue an order that doesn't count towards their max limit of orders allowed for the turn.... problem is unless the enemy is using one of those special units that can come in within 6" they won't ever be set up within 9" of your bearer's unit. Add in that there are only a few orders that could come up as being useful here and yeah, this one is a total pass at the moment.
Stratagems : Good selection to play with multiple fun plays to be had.
Coordinated Action 1CP – Select a REGIMENT unit and a SQUADRON unit within 6" of each other and in line of sight. Both units will benefit from the orders issued to the other. However, this does not override the rule that limits a unit to only one order at a time. As it stands, this Stratagem primarily extends an order’s reach rather than stacking effects. The interaction when used on two units already under orders remains unclear and likely requires an FAQ.
Reinforcements! 2CP – When a REGIMENT INFANTRY unit is destroyed, you can return it to Strategic Reserves. However, attached CHARACTERS are not revived. This remains a powerful tool though notably the restriction to Infantry is new, meaning Scout Sentinels can no longer be brought back this way.
Flexible Command 2CP – Used in your Command phase, this allows all OFFICER units to issue orders to both REGIMENT and SQUADRON units without restriction. While expensive at 2CP, this offers immense flexibility which is always welcomed.
Fields of Fire 1CP – Used in your Shooting phase. Select one REGIMENT unit, one SQUADRON unit, and an enemy unit. Until the end of the phase, attacks from your chosen units against that enemy gain +1 AP. Compared to its index version, this is cheaper but applies to fewer units. It remains a solid pick.
Inspired Command 1CP – Used in your opponent’s Command phase to issue an additional order with one of your OFFICER units. This can be clutch for flipping objectives by boosting a unit’s OC, giving a key unit Take Cover!, or using Fix Bayonets! before an incoming charge. One of the better reasons to pick this detachment in my opinion as flexibility is always welcomed.
Stalwart Protector 1CP – Used in your opponent’s Shooting phase after they select targets. Choose one of your ASTRA MILITARUM VEHICLE units—it will provide cover to nearby INFANTRY units as though it were a terrain feature for the phase. This works well alongside the Take Cover! order to enhance your defensive options but in this edition it is so easy to get cover that I am not sure how useful this is. Still it's nice to have if you find out you need it.
B Tier / Semi Competitive -
Due to the main detachment rule and enhancements being dice reliant to work or just meh I don't see this one doing that well in tournaments. The Stratagems however do bring this detachment up to its semi-competitive rating and there is a lot of fun to be had in this detachment.
Detachment Rule - Artillery Support
So this is an interesting way to try and make the idea of long range artillery raining down rounds upon your opponent each turn without it being something oppressive or useless (I still feel bad for the Ad Mech Rad Bombardment Detachment). How it works is simple, at the start of each battle round you will pick one of 3 different type of bombardments to call in. You have access to Creeping Barrage, Incendiary Bombardment, or Smoke Shells to choose from.
Creeping Barrage has you rolling a D6 for every enemy unit that is outside of 12" from any friendly units and on a 5+ the enemy unit has their movement reduced by 2" as well as having any advance or charge rolls reduced by 2" as well. There was an FAQ that changed the number of units allowed to be affected to 2/3/4 based off the size of the game (1000/2000/3000 pts) but you still get to pick the order of the dice rolled which will in the end still have the effect of you trying to get the most important units slowed first. Great early game to try and cause issues with your opponents plans or late game when your opponent may be trying to make a desperate dash towards an objective.
Incendiary Bombardment has you picking a number of units based on the game size (2/3/4 for games of 1000/2000/3000 size) and those units can not get the benefit of cover this turn. Once again you can only pick units that are more than 12" away from any friendly units. A good option for trying to deal with enemy units who are hiding in the backfield.
Smoke Shells helps you keep your own units safe, picking 2/3/4 friendly units and giving them the Stealth Keyword. A helpful ability in any round, this is probably why I would be taking this detachment.
I am sure a lot of players are going to be trying this detachment first and honestly it seems pretty good from first glance from a fun and fluffy point of view.
Enhancements - These are all very meh and are not a good reason to play this detachment.
Eager Advance - This gives the bearer's unit the Scout 6" ability which is fine, a unit getting a bit of movement before the game starts is always welcomed. Too bad it only goes on Infantry Officer's, a tank commander with scout would have been cute.
Flash Grenades - This is one of those Enhancements that would be amazing in a different army. Putting this on an Infantry Officer prevents his unit from being overwatched which is.... fine? Problem is you won't want your Infantry units charging (because guard are not a melee army) so it only becomes helpful if your trying to get away from enemy units that would still be interested in firing overwatch when you move away.
Legacy Sidearm - This is cute, adding 2 to the attacks characteristic of an Infantry Officer's pistol. Having said that, a Plasma Pistol with 3 shots isn't that amazing... but hey it could do some work? I like it for some reason.
Stalwart's Honours - As long as the Officer is leading a unit the unit gets to get the benefit of the "Take Cover!" order as well any other order you wish to give the unit. This is actually a great enhancement, taking it on a Command Squad that has cover already that is attached to a large 20 man blob of infantry and Lord Solar just really helps to keep the unit alive while also allowing Lord Solar to issue orders out at 24". Probably the most useful of the 4 in this detachment.
Stratagems - There are a lot of great options in here that really bring this detachment up to a semi-competitive level.
Trench Fighters 1CP – Used in your Fight phase after one of your INFANTRY squads is selected as a target. Models in that unit will fight on death, hitting back on a 4+, or 3+ if it’s a REGIMENT unit. It’s a solid defensive tool, though its effectiveness depends on whether your unit can actually deal meaningful damage in return—something Guard melee units aren’t exactly known for.
Over the Top 2CP – Used at the start of your Command phase on an INFANTRY OFFICER unit. For the rest of the phase, that model can issue Move! Move! Move! to any number of eligible INFANTRY REGIMENT units, no matter the distance. It’s costly, but the sheer movement potential is both powerful and hilarious. Insert "The guard love to Move it, Move it!" meme here.
Flare Burst 1CP – Used in your Shooting phase. One ASTRA MILITARUM CHARACTER unit can re-roll all hits against a visible enemy unit within 12". The CHARACTER restriction isn’t as limiting as it seems — I know you already thought 'Time to slap it on a Tank Commander and unleash hell'.
Callous Sacrifice 1CP – Used in your Shooting phase. Select a PLATOON unit engaged with enemy forces. For the rest of the phase, your unit is ignored for targeting restrictions, allowing your other units to shoot freely at enemies locked in combat with them. However, each time an enemy in engagement range takes a wound, your PLATOON unit loses a model on a 4+. I can't think of a single faction that would NOT want this stratagem in their back pocket, even World Eaters (A faction that is not known for shooting) would love this. Oh, and it is funny to think of as well.
Furious Fusillade 1CP – Used in your Shooting phase. Pick a PLATOON unit—its ranged weapons gain +1 attack per shot when firing at enemies within half range. This stacks with First Rank Fire, Second Rank Fire, leading to absurd shot counts. While limited to PLATOON units, it’s still potent—imagine 20 Death Korps with four plasma guns inside 12", start with the Grenades Stratagem for some mortal wounds, then unload 16 plasma shots, plus extra plasma pistol and grenade fire into your opponents unit. Yeah, that's a dead enemy unit.
Minefield 1CP – Used at the start of your opponent’s Charge phase. Select a PLATOON unit—until the end of the phase, whenever an enemy finishes a charge within engagement range of them, roll 1D6 per model in the charging unit. Each 5+ deals a mortal wound (up to 6 max). The larger the enemy unit, the more punishing this gets. A fun and potentially devastating deterrent but in use it's more of a useful 'Threat' than something that will probably do much damage.
A Tier / Competitive -
I can easily see this detachment in the right hands doing some amazingly evil things. The detachment's one weakness is that it is all focused around transports and if your opponent wipes those out it loses almost all of it's power.
Detachment Rule - Armored Fist
Your armored transport detachment, each time an Astra Militarum Unit makes a ranged attack in the same turn that it got out of a transport it gets to add 1 to the wound roll. Simple but effective right? The guard have several transports to choose from that you are probably thinking about taking anyways.
Enhancements : There are some competitive options in here and no clear 'Best Option' so I expect many players will pick a few of these every chance they can.
Bold Leadership - Infantry Officer only, this gives the bearers unit or the transport they are riding in sticky objectives which is a terrific option to have. I like it.
Sacred Unguents - Techpriest only, this lets you pick a non-aircraft, non titanic transport within 3" and that unit gets to reroll their hit rolls in the shooting phase. Such a wasted opportunity for some actual fun options but GW had to go and put conditions in to make it meh. I mean, I get not putting it on a Titanic unit (that Banehammer would be oppressive) but come on, it's a Valkerie, no one is taking it to begin with.... give us something.
Smoke Grenades - Infantry Officer only once again, this allows the bearers unit to gain the benefit of both Cover and Stealth while they are wholly within 3" of a friendly transport model. I love this, once again stick it on a huge blob of infantry that has Lord Solar in it to help make that unit just much harder to hurt. And this one just says it has to be near a friendly transport model, it doesn't say the unit has to have been in a transport to get the bonus so yeah, this is awesome. It may be hard to get that entire large blob within 3" of a Chimera but that Banehammer sitting back giving you back field fire support shouldn't be that hard.
Vanguard Honours - Infantry Officer only, this one lets the bearers unit get out of a transport and act normally (other than no charging) if the transport advances. Yeah, its ok but Tauroxes already do that and I am not sure if it's worth the cost for an ability you may not end up using that often.
Stratagems : Competitive, with some amazing options here that keep this detachment doing what it want's to do. The only down side is if you lose your transports then none of these will help you in your moment of need.
Vox Relay 1CP – Used in your Command phase. Select one INFANTRY OFFICER embarked in a TRANSPORT—they can issue orders while embarked and can also issue orders to TRANSPORT units (excluding TITANIC) anywhere on the battlefield. While part of this effect is already available on the Chimera, the ability to issue infinite-range orders to transports can be useful for extending movement or boosting OC without consuming precious SQUADRON orders. Also the infinite-range on the orders to other transports just makes sense, doesn't every unit in this army seem to have a radio with them anyways?
Rapid Dispersal 1CP – Used in your Movement phase. Select an INFANTRY unit that disembarked this turn—it can make a normal move of D6”. Simple but powerful, this can in the proper setup give an infantry unit getting out of a Taurox potentially 30" of movement which is just terrific when you draw that annoying behind enemy lines at the wrong time.
Clear and Secure 1CP – Used in your Shooting phase. Select an INFANTRY unit that disembarked this turn—it gains full re-rolls to hit and wound when targeting an enemy within range of an objective marker. Full re-rolls? Always good. Combine this with your +1 to wound detachment bonus, and suddenly the damage a Scions or Kasrkin unit can unload is devastating. This almost single handedly makes this detachment 100% more lethal on it's own.
Swift Interception 1CP – Used in your opponent’s Movement phase, immediately after they finish a move within 9” of one of your non-TITANIC TRANSPORTS. That TRANSPORT can make a 6” normal move. Reactive movement is always strong, and having a guaranteed 6” reposition can be game-changing as long as you always make sure you have an escape route open to you since apparently it is super hard to drive through terrain wall's with a tank this edition.
Hasty Extraction 1CP – Used in your opponent’s Charge phase, after they declare a charge but before moving. Select one INFANTRY unit within 3” of a TRANSPORT—that unit can immediately embark after being declared as a charge target. This is a fantastic tool for keeping your troops safe in their armored rides, and in some cases, it outright denies your opponent’s charge. Between this and Clear and Secure this detachment is going to be incredibly CP hungry.
Move Out 1CP – Used at the end of your opponent’s turn. Select one of your units within 3” of a TRANSPORT (all models must be within range)—it can embark immediately. Another useful tool for redeploying troops, keeping them mobile, and setting up +1 to wound activations. Handy for repositioning before your next turn and ensuring your units stay protected.
A Tier / Competitive due to the pure strength of the Stratagems alone. The detachment rule is dubious in it's usefulness at best and the enhancements have 2 that your probably always taking on those Rogal Dorn Commanders we now have access to, but those stratagems really bring this detachment up in a way most factions could only dream to get. This detachment is going to be incredibly CP heavy though, so careful management of CP is going to be the key to making it work.
Detachment Rule - Iron Tread
This lets Squadron units auto advance 6" instead of rolling an advance roll as well as being able to move within engagement range of enemy models while making said movement. As an overall rule this isn't bad at all, I kind of like the idea that they will try to squeeze past enemy units to get where they want to go which kind of makes sense. Your a big ass tank, "Move bitch, get out of the way! BEEP BEEP MOTHER FUCKER!"
Enhancements : Keep in mind all of the following Enhancements can only be taken by Vehicle Officers. 3 of these are great, 1 won't be taken, and your probably only taking 2 since most players won't take 3 Tank commanders of any flavor as your just asking your opponent to pick 'Bring it down' and 'Assassinate' if you do.
Calm Under Fire - This is probably always going to be taken. When your Vehicle Officer issues an order to a Squadron Unit it get's to issue that same order to another Squadron unit in your army. I mean, we all know your going to be issuing a lot of 'Take Aim' so this is just a no brainer.
Indomitable Steed - This gives the bearer a 6+ Feel No Pain, your probably taking this on the Rogal Dorn Tank Commander and calling it a day.
Regimental Banner - This add's 3 to the OC of the bearer which is what it is. I wouldn't take it for it's point cost though.
Veteran Crew - This one lets the bearer get reroll of hit rolls of 1 for ranged attacks which is a good to help make that tank commander just a bit better. I think it's the 3rd best option of the 4 in the detachment but it's not a bad option to pick.
Stratagems : WOW are these good. 5 stars here GW!
Final Hour 1CP – Used in your Command phase on a non-OFFICER SQUADRON unit that is Below Half-strength. Until the end of the battle round, all non-[ONE SHOT] weapons on the model gain [HAZARDOUS], and when making a ranged attack, you can ignore any or all modifiers to Ballistic Skill and Hit rolls. Adding [HAZARDOUS] to every weapon on a tank is insane, I get the idea is the tank is on it's last legs and is making a one last ditch effort to push the tank beyond it's limits to complete it's mission but man is this going to hurt someone when you use it. Pray to the dice gods that it isn't you.
Blazing Advance 1CP – Used in your Movement phase after a SQUADRON unit Advances. That unit can still shoot even though it Advanced. Straightforward but incredibly useful, especially with the Detachment rule that adds 6” to your movement when you Advance. This is going to get used a lot.
Tactical Withdrawal 1CP – Used in your Movement phase after a SQUADRON unit Falls Back. That unit can still shoot even though it Fell Back. This completely changes how aggressively you can push with your tanks. Normally, vehicles getting tied up in melee is a major problem—this lets you push forward with your Russes and Dorns without worrying about getting stuck in combat.
Crash Through 1CP – Used in your Movement or Charge phase. Select an ASTRA MILITARUM VEHICLE—until the end of the phase, it can move horizontally through terrain features as if they weren’t there. This is going to be used a LOT. The number 1 problem that taking a lot of Tanks in an Astra Militarum army is they tend to get in their own way as they all try to move out and around terrain. But with this you can just Kool-Aid Man your Baneblade through that damn wall and just go 'Oh Yea!' as you start blasting away.
Furious Cannonade 1CP – Used in your Shooting phase. Select a SQUADRON unit—until the end of the phase, ranged attacks within 12” gain +1 AP. Simple but hugely effective when closing in for the kill. If you’ve maneuvered your tanks into 12” range, you need to make sure they finish off their targets—this Stratagem helps secure those kills.
Ablative Plating 2CP – Used in your opponent’s Shooting phase after an ASTRA MILITARUM VEHICLE is selected as a target. Until the end of the phase, subtract 1 from the Damage characteristic of all attacks allocated to it. This Index-era staple returns and remains one of your best defensive tools. Combine it with Smoke to completely mess with your opponent’s damage math. In many cases, this reduces incoming damage by 25-50%, making your large vehicles just that much harder to kill.
B Tier / Semi Competitive - This detachment is heavily focused on Infantry units and making your army so much harder to kill than it has any right to be, but there are a few things that keep it from being a competitive option. First of all in a competitive event moving a lot of infantry around the table in a timely manner is not an easy thing to do and takes a lot of practice to do well. Then we have the fact that in this book your real source of anti-tank comes in the form of vehicles and this detachment doesn't do anything to help them. Because of this I put this at a much lower ranking than I initially thought reading it. Having said that I feel if someone DOES become good with this detachment then it could really just stat check and roll over so many armies out there that it could be a contender.
Detachment Rule - Masters of Camouflage
This detachment is probably the strongest one in the book, especially if your focusing on massive amounts of infantry. It gives all Regiment and Walker units the benefit of cover at all times. If that unit would receive cover from any other source you get to add 1 to the models save characteristic to a maximum of 3+. First yes, this stacks with the "Take Cover!" order. Second this is fantastic with Sentinels of both types, though the Armored Sentinel will really like it a lot. Heavy Weapon Teams, Artillery Teams, and Ordinance Teams also all get affected by this. That said, there are quite a few ways out there now days for your opponent to ignore cover on your guys which is something you will have to watch out for. Also keep in mind that melee doesn't care about cover and there are quite a few melee focused armies out there in the wild world of Meta.
Enhancements - Another detachment with 1 really interesting option and 3 meh ones. It's a good thing you don't take detachments based just on their enhancements right?
Guerilla Honours - Your standard redeploy enhancement, it allows you to redeploy up to 3 other Infantry units at the end of the deployment phase. It's a good option to take all things considering.
Scare Gas Grenades - A once per game ability enhancement (something I am typically not a fan of), this allows you to pick an non vehicle/monster enemy unit within 8" of the bearer at the start of any phase and force a battleshock test. At least it's cheap and maybe it will do something like help you flip an objective or prevent stratagems from getting used.
Survival Gear - At least this is super cheap, this gives the bearer the Scout 6" ability, but only the bearer. Sure this has a few uses, like having a Primaris Psyker join a squad that has the scout ability already and them being able to use said ability, but beyond that it's just not that useful.
Tripwires - I like this upgrade. Whenever an enemy unit ends a Normal, Advance, Fall back, or Charge move within 9" of the bearers unit you get to roll a dice and on a 4+ that unit gets stuck with -1 to hit until your next turn. I love shenanigans and this one is pure shenanigans.
Stratagems : All of these are very useful, though they are also pretty much all defensive stratagems so they won't help you do any more damage.
Crack Shots 1CP – Grants a PLATOON unit (Infantry Squads and Command Squads) the [PRECISION] rule when they Shoot. This is one of those 'when it come's up it is going to be devastating' for your opponent to have to play around. Character's in units are all over the place now days and this just helps to make sure you can always take a pot shot to help weaken that enemy unit barreling down upon your ranks.
Draw Them Out 1CP – Allows a PLATOON unit to make a 6” reactive move when an enemy ends a move within 9” in their Movement phase. So many of your infantry units will have the PLATOON keyword and being able to reposition when things start to look dicey is always a welcomed tool to have.
Scramble Field 1CP – Used at the start of your opponent’s Reinforcements step to prevent enemy units from deploying within 12” of one of your INFANTRY units for the phase. This is a huge tool for an army that can field 25-model units, making it an absolute nightmare for deep-strike-heavy armies. It’s also great for shutting down torrent weapon drop-ins, keeping your key units safe from surprise attacks. I love it.
Courageous Diversion 1CP – Used at the start of your opponent’s Shooting phase to give a MOUNTED or INFANTRY unit -1 to be hit and a 6+ Feel No Pain, but only while it’s the closest eligible target. Toss this onto a sacrificial unit that has scouted out and throw a serious monkey wrench into your opponents shooting plans.
Tanglefoot Grenades 1CP – Look what we stole from the Custodies! Used at the start of your opponent’s Charge phase to reduce enemy Charge rolls by -2 when targeting a GRENADES unit. A strong defensive tool, particularly when combined with Draw Them Out, making it much harder for enemies to connect a charge. GRENADES units are extremely common in this army so you can often use this to disrupt deep-strike charges on backfield objectives. However, it doesn’t stack with other charge roll debuffs, so keep that in mind.
Scouting Outriders 1CP – Allows a MOUNTED or WALKER unit wholly within 10” of a battlefield edge to enter Strategic Reserves at the end of your opponent’s turn. This is excellent for redeploying Armoured Sentinels to better angles, or for repositioning Rough Riders or Scout Sentinels to set up scoring plays or hit new targets next turn. Pick up and put back down stratagems are always useful.
S Tier / Very Competitive - This detachment may only help infantry units but there are SO many infantry units in this army that there is a legitimate excuse to take it. Where the Recon Detachment is also infantry based that one only focuses on defense. This one on the other hand focuses on increasing the effectiveness of your units as well as increasing their potential damage output. For these reasons I feel this is the strongest detachment that the Guard can take at the moment.
UPDATE - 3-12 : As of the last data slate update there has been a slight change to what the Scions get from the Fire Zone Purge, giving them +1 to hit now instead of +1 to wound. While this does change how effective they are in the game I stand by the ranking of this detachment and still think it is an amazing option to play.
Detachment Rule - Only The Best / Fire Zone Purge
This is the Grotmas detachment and it's actually pretty good. The detachment rule is actually broken up into 3 parts. First you have Only The Best, a rule that gives all of your Infantry reroll hit rolls of 1 for ranged attacks. Yes, that is ALL infantry that get this. Guardsmen hitting on 3's rerolling 1's is just funny, and I am here for it. Next we have Fire Zone Purge, a rule that allows Militarum Tempestus models the ability to add 1 to their Hit rolls for ranged attacks on the turn they are set up from Reserves or get out of a Transport. Another solid ability, really putting the 'special forces' feel into your Scion forces. The final point is if your Warlord is a Militarum Tempestus Officer all of your Scions gain Battleline and an additional 1 OC while they are not battle shocked. This last part is fine, myself I don't think I would be taking this detachment for the ability to take more Scions but it is there as an option if you want it. The real competition for this detachment is the Recon Element detachment and it comes down to do you want your guys to do more damage or survive better as the game goes on. In my book, your opponent can't harm you if you killed them already.
Enhancements - These can only be taken by Militarum Tempestus Officer models only. There are 2 really good, 1 really interesting, and 1 ok enhancement here. The options available are honestly all pretty interesting in different ways making these some of the best on offer to the Guard.
Bombast-class Vox-array - When the bearer issues an order, if the unit contains a model with a master vox, it can issue that order to 3 different units. Yeah, this is 100% auto include and will always be taken, why wouldn't it be?
Priority-drop Beacon - This allows the bearers unit to deep strike in turn 1, 2, or 3 which is another auto include in my book. Any time you can apply pressure turn 1 with an ability like this is huge and there are so many different secondaries that become simple to complete with this ability in your back pocket. I love it.
Shroud Projector - The bearers unit can not be targeted by the Overwatch Stratagem. Simple as that and yeah I really like it a lot. Unfortunately you are only allowed to take a maximum of 3 enhancements when you build your army and this is probably the one I would let go.
Advance Augury - After both players have deployed their armies you can redeploy up to 3 Regimental units with the standard "You can put them into Strategic Reserve if you want" part added in as well. I love this. Why? Well who doesn't like the idea of a null deployment by putting half of your army in deep strike then use this AND Lord Solar to pull 6 units off the table and put it into Strategic Reserves... yeah that is a thing you could do with this detachment and having done this with my Blood Angels before I will tell you this... no one has any idea what to do against the "Null Deployment".
Stratagems - These are all very useful when they come up and you have a nice selection to choose from here to help you complete the job.
Bellicosa Drop 1CP – Allows an INFANTRY unit with Deep Strike in Reserves to deploy outside of 6” from enemy units—but that unit cannot declare a charge. Currently, this is only useful for Tempestus Scions, as Aquilons already have this rule. Simple and effective—it lets Scions drop closer than the usual 9” restriction, which also conveniently puts them in Grenade range if you’re looking for that extra firepower.
Firing Hot 1CP – Used in your Shooting phase on a Tempestus Scion or Kasrkin unit, granting +1 Strength and +1 AP to all hot-shot weapons. S4, AP-2 lasgun shots? Boosted volley guns? Combine this with your Detachment’s +1 to wound, and suddenly your Scions can threaten much bigger targets. It won’t always be worth spending CP on, but when it pushes you over a key wound threshold, it can be game-changing. Besides it's funny to drop those Scion's in and brag to your opponent about how your lowly Scions have such powerful basic weapons compared to their more elite Marines.
Fire and Relocate 1CP – Used in your Shooting phase on a non-TITANIC unit that Advanced this turn, allowing it to shoot despite Advancing. Ever wanted to drift a tank around a corner at 19” and still fire? Now you can.
Servo-Designators 1CP – After an ASTRA MILITARUM INFANTRY unit shoots, select one enemy unit within line of sight that was hit by one or more attacks. Until the end of the phase, that enemy loses the Benefit of Cover. If you, for some reason, don’t like Hellhounds, this is your alternative. Unfortunately, mortars can’t trigger this due to the line of sight requirement, but it has legitimate utility—especially when running Scions in bulk. Works well with Firing Hot if you’re sitting on extra CP.
Aerial Extraction 1CP – Used at the end of your opponent’s Fight phase to remove one Valkyrie or an ASTRA MILITARUM unit with Deep Strike from the battlefield and place it into Strategic Reserves, provided it is not within Engagement Range. This enables Scion repositioning, letting them drop back in later to trigger Fire Zone Purge or Bellicosa Drop again. Uppy-downy rules are always strong, and this is no exception. The Valkyrie addition as an option is also very cute but we all know that it's your opponents job to take your Valkyrie off the table, not yours.
On My Position 1CP – The classic Fire on My Position returns. Used at the end of your opponent’s Fight phase, pick a REGIMENT INFANTRY unit that’s within Engagement Range of an enemy unit. Roll 1D6 per enemy unit within Engagement Range—on a 2+, that enemy takes D6 mortal wounds. Then, your own unit takes 3D3 mortal wounds in return. It’s a big risk, big reward Stratagem. The main hurdle? Surviving the Fight phase long enough to use it.
We are going over the different units below, broken down by tier list of how good they are. We have S Tier / A Tier / B Tier / C Tier / and F Tier.
Tempestus Scions
Militarum Tempestus Comamnd Squad
Ursula Creed
Lord Solar Leontus
Gaunt's Ghosts
Kasrkin
Rogal Dorn Tank Commander
Scout Sentinel
Cadian Shock Troops
Death Korps of Krieg Infantry Squad
Catachan Infantry Squad
Krieg Combat Engineers
Catachan Heavy Weapon Squad
Tempestus Aquilons
Ogryns
Bullgryns
Attillan Rough Riders
Leman Russ Battle Tank
Leman Russ Demolisher
Leman Russ Executioner
Leman Russ Vanquisher
Leman Russ Tank Commander
Leman Russ Eradicator
Leman Russ Exterminator
Rogal Dorn Battle Tank
Hellhound
Armored Sentinel
Taurox
Chimera
Cadian Castellan
Sly Marbo
Cadian Command Squad
Krieg Command Squad
Tech Priest Enginseer
Basilisk
Artillery Team
Field Ordinance Battery
Death Riders of Krieg
Ratlings
Catachan Command Squad
Hydra
Leman Russ Punisher
Primaris Psyker
Krieg Heavy Weapons
Cadian Heavy Weapons
Taurox Prime
Nork Deddog
Ogryn Bodyguard
Lord Marshal Dreir
Commissar
Baneblade Variants
Manticore
Aegis Defense Line
Ministorum Priest
Deathstrike
Valkyrie
Wyvern
These are Units that can almost always be taken in any detachment.
A relatively cheap deep striking unit able to reroll wound rolls against enemies on objectives, what's not to love about these guys? Still able to be equipped with different special weapons as well, the Scions can be combined with multiple different detachments or other transport options beyond Deep Strike to really help maximize their damage output potential. I don't see a world where you don't take at least a single 5 man team of these guys in your competitive list.
If your just taking a small Scion team for secondary actions you could consider taking these guys instead as they are only slightly more expensive for some interesting trade off's in wargear and special rules. But if your taking a 10 man Scion brick for some serious damage output then adding a squad of these guys in are a no brainer. Giving your unit of Scions an additional special weapon of each type is nice, giving them sustained hits 1 is nicer, and the medic being able to revive D3 dead Scions in the unit each turn is just terrific.
A relatively cheap deep striking unit able to reroll wound rolls against enemies on objectives, what's not to love about these guys? Still able to be equipped with different special weapons as well, the Scions can be combined with multiple different detachments or other transport options beyond Deep Strike to really help maximize their damage output potential. I don't see a world where you don't take at least a single 5 man team of these guys in your competitive list.
A relatively cheap deep striking unit able to reroll wound rolls against enemies on objectives, what's not to love about these guys? Still able to be equipped with different special weapons as well, the Scions can be combined with multiple different detachments or other transport options beyond Deep Strike to really help maximize their damage output potential. I don't see a world where you don't take at least a single 5 man team of these guys in your competitive list.
Creed's daughter is showing us how it's done. Able to issue 3 orders, 2 of which can affect her own unit, as well as pick a unit within 12" and reduce the cost of a Stratagem used on that unit by 1CP it's hard to not see how useful she can be. You should be seeing a lot of her.
Our lord and horse savior is back and he is still doing the Emperors work. He is no longer a guaranteed mandatory unit anymore but still an incredibly useful one, Lord Solar still grants CP and can issue up to 3 orders to either Regimental or Squadron units. His ability to redeploy is also very useful for changing up screens so that your able to put the most valuable annoyance units where they need to be after your opponent has already deployed. Who are we kidding, your taking him just because he is the bestest horse in the galaxy.
A 6 man Lone Op squad with 2W each, for guard that's amazing. This helps them become the go-to option for doing secondaries in almost any detachment out there as your opponent will typically have better things to be worrying about in your list than trying to get close enough to kill these guys. Having said that don't just toss them out there and expect them to survive, they are still guardsmen after all.
Your new "Veteran Guards", these guys have a lot of things going for them. The Scout Keyword, a 4+ base save, a load of special weapon options, and can issue themselves an extra order once per battleround at the start of any phase.. don't let this fool you this can be huge. I could definitely see taking Ursula Creed with a squad of 10 of these guys in a Taurox and just going out there and becoming a right awful pain in someone's ass... just how I like it!
Of course this guy was going to be S-Tier. It's the normal Dorn with all the advantages of being a Tank Commander without really giving much up. Let us be honest, just between you and me, the regular Dorn's Ablative Plating rule isn't all that special due to the timing of when you have to use it. Being able to issue out orders and with built in rerolls I think all Dorn's out there just got promoted to Commander Status.
Man I love my little war walkers, don't you? A cheap unit with a 9" Scout rule that is able to be equipped with quite a few different heavy weapons and taken as either 1 or 2, the Scout Sentinel is still very useful as a support unit in most detachments due to it's special rule "Daring Recon" letting you tag an enemy target and grant reroll hit rolls of 1 for the rest of your army against it at the start of your shooting phase. For it's cheap cost taking 3 of these as single units are very useful at making sure your not going to get locked in your own deployment zone turn 1.
These are Units that are amazing in a few detachments while still being good in other detachments.
Your standard guard infantry, these guys have the 'Sticky Objective' special rule to your army which is always good to have no matter what Detachment you take. Add to the fact that they are battleline, have access to a lot of different special weapons, there are a lot of different characters that can join them, yeah your going to see them and it's easy to see why. I still like the idea of taking a blob of 20 of these guys, putting a Cadian Command Squad in with them, and Lord Solar giving you a LOT of bodies that need to be chewed through before anyone can get to our favorite Horse with a dude on it.
Everyone's OTHER favorite alternative Infantry unit is back and just as good as they have always been. With access to 2 special weapons per 10 and a built in medipack to bring guys back to life these are probably your go to when your only question is "What can I take when I want nothing but a lot of bodies?". 20 of these guys with a Primaris Psyker will be annoying to chew through, 3 squads of 20 with Primaris Psykers will be a nightmare. And they can actually kill things with their shooting as well since they do have access to Plasma and Melta guns. I think they pretty good choices in the Recon Element and Siege Regiment detachments.
A smaller team of Kriegsmen, these guys have access to a lot of different Str 4 attacks at both ranged and in melee. They also have the Scout special rule helping to put them into a bit of an odd position as they really are competing with the Catachan's in some aspects. The big thing about these guys are the amount of Mortal Wounds they can dish out is absolutely silly. First they can use the Grenades Stratagem for free which is always welcomed. Then add in the fact they have a once per battle Remote Mine that does D3 mortal wounds to an enemy unit on a 3+ or 2D3 mortals to a Vehicle or Fortification. The weirdest part is at 5 men they are 70 points but as a 10 man they are only 95 meaning that GW is really expecting people to take them in small squads just to try and maximize their damage output. I could easily see taking a single squad of these guys (though I would take them in 10 man for the very small extra cost) in almost any detachment.
These guys are pretty much the same as the Cadian heavy weapons squad when it comes to weapon options, but their special rule puts them in a completely different Tier. Catachan teams get to reroll hit and wound rolls of 1 against monsters and vehicles which is pretty useful considering they only hit on a 5+ (4+ when standing still thanks to having the Heavy special rule). Take 3 squads of 3, put las cannons or missile launchers on them, and position them so that they are covering movement lanes to try and force your opponent to take a different route. Give them an order on top of that so that they are hitting on 3's and they can easily make up their cost.
The new Scions on the block, these guys are still paying a premium for their 6" Deep Strike ability. Having said that they are still an amazing unit to have access to, able to drop in and really bring some unexpected firepower down where it may not be expected, or get into a tight corner to score you some sweet secondary points. There are a lot of detachments out there that these guys will get a lot of help from as well, like the Bridgehead Strike or Recon Element.
These cheapish and toughish chunky boys are here to make funny noises and blow enemy infantry away with their ripper guns. Good for their cost in any detachment thanks to their special rule "Point-blank Barrage" giving them +1 to their AP when targeting the closest enemy unit they really will excel if taken in Mechanized Assault, but they can also see some value from Bridgehead or Recon.
Your only real 'Close Combat' frontline unit are the Bullgryns and even at 220 pts for 6 I will always start by putting these guys in my army because they simply fill a role that nothing else in the book can fill. With T6, a 3+ save, a 6+ FNP, and -1 to all damage done to them, that alone makes them a tough unit to deal with. But add in the option between a Brute Shield (4+ Invulnerable Save) or a Slabshield (4W per model) and you can see these guys won't be moved very fast. Add in their melee capabilities with the Bullgryn Maul and they can go toe to toe with all but the most dedicated melee options out there. The only reason they are not S Tier is that GW keeps increasing their cost and at 220pts for 6 it is a bit hard to swallow.
Your other Calvary option, for their cost they make a surprisingly effective counter charge unit. With both Frag or Melta lances as options on their lances they have the ability to actually put some wounds onto whatever they charge. Add to this they have the option to declare a charge when they fall back this unit has some value if it can survive long enough to get there. I quite like the idea of putting a squad of these guys in reserve and trying to use them to get a 9" charge off turn 2 or 3 from a board edge, even if they don't make the charge the threat of what they can do is enough that it may buy the rest of your infantry another round to survive as your opponent will suddenly have to dedicate something to stop them.
The generic Russ is a great generic tank that really can threaten pretty much anything on the table depending on how you load it out. It's main battle tank is Str 10 ap-1 3dmg with 3+D6 shots making it just threatening enough against almost anything in the game that it has to be respected. Toss a Las Cannon on the front and some multi meltas on the side and let it go hunting, or equip it with 3 heavy bolters and use it to take out enemy units trying to camp on objectives. Finally it's special rule "Armored Spearhead" allows you to reroll hit rolls of 1 with it, or reroll all hit rolls against enemy units on objectives making it a great all around threat of a unit.
The Demolisher Russ did take a bit of a nerf with the release, dropping it down to 1+D6 shots on it's demolisher cannon but that's actually ok as it's old version was just way too good. It's special rule allows it to fire it's demolisher cannon at enemy units within engagement range of it which makes it the kind of unit your opponent really doesn't want to get stuck in melee with. Other than that it's not the best Russ out there but if you already have a few you shouldn't feel bad about running them as they will still do the job they have always done.
Our Plasma Russ is as happy as it has always been, running out there overcharging like a mad man trying to melt away all that stands in it's way with glorious holy plasma. Holding on to the Executioner role what this tank really excels at is taking out enemy units that have already taken damage. It get's +1 to the hit roll against enemy targets that are below half strength already which really helps it to be able to add value to your army without requiring orders.
The cheapest Russ variant on the table, this one has the 'All or Nothing' cannon. It's only a single shot but that shot is at Str 18, ap -4, and doing D6+6 damage... if it wounds its going to make something bleed. Add to the fact that against Monsters or Vehicles you get to reroll the wound roll and what it really comes down to is for 145 points you have a threat that is credible enough your opponent can't ignore and and cheap enough that losing one isn't the end of the world.
Your source of Squadron orders, these guys are still good as they can now both order themselves as well as send out 2 orders a turn. Add to that they are a character so they can take enhancements as well as having access to pretty much any of the other variants main weapons and you have a Russ you can really customize and make your own. There are only 2 down sides to it, the first being it's cost. At 235 points this guy is expensive. Add to that the fact that Rogal Dorn Commanders exist now (and your taking them over regular Dorns every time) and I am not sure how many you will see running around out there. Having said that if you already have one it's not a bad thing to have.
One of my favorite Russ variants, this is the Russ you take when survival is the first question your looking to answer. As long as it is getting the benefit of cover it subtracts 1 from the damage characteristic of attacks against it which, in 10th edition, having cover should always be the norm. It's Nova Canon is also not a bad weapon, putting it in the anti-infantry roll pretty easily. Equip it with 2 heavy flamers and a las cannon and just send it on it's way to cause your opponent all sorts of issues.
Another one of my all time favorite variants, the Exterminator has been given an incredibly important roll this edition. Equipped with the Twin Autocannon and 3 Heavy Bolters this guy becomes an infantry commanders worse nightmare, but it's special rule is what really makes Tank Commanders quake in their boots. After it has shot you get to pick an enemy unit hit by it and the rest of your army gets an additional AP point against said target until the end of the phase. No, you can't stack this multiple times on a single target but you don't really need to. Between this guy adding AP and those Hellhounds removing cover you can really start stripping away at a key units defensive capabilities before anything even really tries to kill it. Yeah, your going to want one or two of these in every list.
Still holding on to the roll of "I need a tank bigger than a Russ but smaller than a Baneblade" the Rogal Dorn is as chunky as always. It comes equipped with a lot of different general purpose weapon options and a special rule that lets you negate an attack's damage before you roll your armor save once per game it's a fine tank. The only issue is the Tank Commander variant is only a bit more expensive and can give orders which kind of makes it just better.
A chimera variant tank with a 2+ Save and some strong auto hitting flamers, this is a fun tank to run around and use. All of its weapon variants have merit depending on what your looking to get out of the tank, and add to that it's special rule allows you to remove cover from a unit that was hit by one of it's attacks which in this edition is almost like +1 AP considering how much cover is out there. Just be careful, when it blows up it can REALLY blow up, I have seen players lose entire chunks of their own army thanks to these guys dying turn 1 before the player had a chance to get them moving.
A pretty sturdy little walker unit that gets to reroll it's attacks against monsters and vehicles, while they did take quite a few nerfs in the Codex the unit is still able to hold its own and fill the flank/nuisance roll quite well. Having the Regiment and Squadron keywords help to make them useful in pretty much any detachment you take, and at 65 points a model they are well worth their cost.
The cheapest transport option out there this is one of my favorite options simply because it can be equipped with autocannons (yes, I know that's not a good reason to make it an A Tier unit). But that's not the only reason I put it here, it's a great option for transporting Kasrkins or Scions up the table quickly without costing a lot. And did I mention the autocannon is twin linked?
Compared to the Taurox this guy is slightly more expensive and a bit slower. Having said that it is also a bit tougher and has a ton of small arms firepower built into it. I like to take them with 2 heavy flamers and just let them run around doing their thing. And don't forget it has the Fire Deck 2 rule, letting you get a few pot shots from those special weapons the guys it transporting. I think GW has finally gotten the balance between this and the Taurox correct and there isn't anything bad I can say about either. I am sure you will see these in lists.
A Cadian character that gives the Cadians he joins both Sustained Hits 1 and fall back and shoot which are both really useful options for Cadians, if your taking a platoon focused detachment I think you should defiantly consider him. The only thing that makes him a harder sell is the fact that the Cadian Command Squad is also an option for around the same cost. However keep in mind he can also lead Kasrkin's and if your taking a squad of them inside a Taurox already he is pretty much a required include, Kasrkin's absolutely love Sustained Hits 1.
The man, the myth, the legend. An infiltrating lone operative that is a very useful utility option at 55 points. He has decent firepower and melee capabilities for a lowly human, the only reason I can see people not taking him regularly is if they just don't own the model.
At 65 points for the unit I firmly feel that if your taking 20 Cadians your taking this squad as well to put in with them. Giving 'Cover on Objectives' is really useful, having a medic that can revive units is powerful, and access to the Master Vox to issue orders at 24" is almost a requirement. Yeah, your gonna be seeing these guys a lot.
Much like the Cadian Command Squad, these are also a unit your going to see a lot if your seeing squads of 20 Kriegsmen running around. While not quite as useful as what the Cadian Command Squad offers the fact that these guys can still issue orders and be targeted with Stratagems even if they are Battle Shocked means that it is going to be hard to stop these guys from doing their job in the game. You have to respect that if nothing else.
Your going to see at least one of these in pretty much all guard lists and I am not going to lie I think they are way under costed for what they do. Not only do they heal a vehicle they are near which is what you would expect from them they also give said vehicle a 4+ Invulnerable save which is just silly for 45 points. Add to that the fact they get Lone Operative while standing there and the fact they can do all their shenanigans then go on to do actions while the tank they are hiding behind does all the heavy lifting and yeah, I don't see why you wouldn't take one of these in every list.
These are Units that are amazing but only in a few Detachments.
This guy did lose it's heavy keyword but otherwise is pretty close to how it's been for a long time. It's debuff rule helps to slow enemy infantry down which is nice. It's main weapon is able to reasonably threaten a lot of different kind of units as well, with D6+3 shots that are Strength 8 ap-2 and 2Dmg. If your looking for an Artillery Tank this should be your first stop, and grab 3 while your at it.
I really do think if your looking to play Artillery Guard you will want to take one of these as well, maybe 2. For 95 points you have 3 different weapon options to choose from, though I think the Siege Cannon is the proper choice here as it makes the Manticore look like a joke with it's D6 strength 12 ap-2 3Dmg shots. It may only hit on a 5+ but it does have the Heavy Keyword bumping that up to a 4+ and importantly has the Infantry Keyword making it an easy unit to give orders to or for some detachments to just make better. The model is really cool looking as well.
Another artillery unit that just came out at the end of 9th edition, the Field Ordinance Battery also has 3 weapon options to choose from and all 3 have value depending on your situation. The Bombast Field Gun (my personal choice of the 3) is a great all purpose general threat option, while the Malleus rocket launcher really takes over the mortar roll and ups the anti giving you a ton of firepower from 2 models. The final option, the Heavy Lascannon, is an amazing weapon only held back by the fact that it needs direct line of sight to be able to be fired and these guys are kind of fragile, they really want to be sitting still and shooting not moving out to get line of sight on a target. Their special rule helps to enforce this, when they stay still and get any order issued to them they also gain Sustained Hits 1 which when your doing 12+2D6+Blast with the rocket launchers... that is a LOT of shots raining down on your opponent. Add in that again they have the Infantry Keyword and you can see how these things can just do work. Having said that there are a few detachments that they just don't really fit the theme of which puts them in the B Tier.
A fast moving Calvary unit with the ability to move 6" when an enemy moves within 9" of them, their real value is in screening out your gunlines and harassing side flanks to try and take objectives from other screening units. Their real issue is that they are directly competing with Rough Riders and that is not a comparison that they will win. If GW drops them down a bit in cost then they could really have some value but as it is right now they are just nothing special.
This is an odd unit to write about, as there is a lot to like about these guys followed up by "but they will die to a Cultist high on Slaanesh Dust" making them actually quite hard to use effectively. The positives are they are very accurate, hitting on 3's AND having heavy on their weapons means they will probably hit what they are aiming at with their sniper rifles. Add in they have the Infiltrate and Stealth rules as well as the ability to move after they shoot AND once per game can get Lethal Hits, they sound like a dream come true. But they are also 100pts for 10 hungry hobbits that are only Toughness 2 with a 6+ save making them easier to kill then Brimstone Horrors. This means that as soon as they annoy your opponent they are probably going to die to any incidental firepower that your opponent has lying around to toss into them. Poor little hobbits had no idea what they were signing up for in the year 40,000.....
This unit exists for no good reason that I can think of other than Catachans exsist and they need someone other than a Commisar to lead them. They add 65 points to your Catachan unit, and make the unit too big to put into the Chimera they normally go in leading to the Catachan unit being EASIER to kill thanks to them. Sure they give the Assault word to your Catachans but considering they are only equipped with las guns and flamers that's not really a big deal. The real value you get from these guys is that out the squad of 5, four of them can be equipped with special weapons giving you a unit that could jump out of their own transport or come in from reserves and unload a LOT of supercharged Plasma or Melta onto an unexpecting enemy. It's because of this value that I think you could see players trying them out or using them in unexpected ways, but I don't see them doing the job that GW has given them which is actually leading Catachans.
The anti-aircraft gun platform seems bad at first, after all no one takes Aircraft so why would you bring an Anti-Aircraft tank to the party? Let me answer that for, you take it because there are a LOT of units running around out there now days with the FLY keyword which this things main guns are perfect for taking out. The Hydra Autocannon is 4 shots at Strength 9 ap-1 and 3dmg flat, but it is also Anti-Fly 2+ and twin linked so when it is shooting at the Eldar Waveserpent that just tried to sneak by you can grantee that every hit is probably going to wound. Oh, and it's special rule is that when shooting at a unit that has the FLY keyword it gets to reroll all of your hit rolls. And there are a LOT of things people are bringing now days that have the Fly keyword that you just don't really think matters until this guy is on the table. Add to it that it's cost is relatively cheap for a Guard Tank at 95 points and that it really doesn't need any additional support from an officer to reliably do it's job I personally would start every list I make with 2 of these. The only reason it's not higher on this table is because for every unit that people like to take that has the FLY keyword there are 3 other units that they take that don't and if your opponent doesn't have anything good for this to shoot at it's going to find itself not doing much all game. However if it does drop back down in points I think it would simply move up to A Tier.
The only reason this tank isn't in a lower ranking is after everything is said and done it is still a Leman Russ tank at a relatively cheap cost. In any other army this tank would be a main contender for A tier, maybe even S tier, but in Guard the one thing you have in abundance is anti-infantry options which is pretty much all this guy brings to the table beyond being tough. Any other Russ is better than this option.
Still giving an infantry squad they join a 4+ Invulnerable save, these guys are still ok. If your taking a lot of different large blobs of infantry I can easily see wanting some of these just to put a lot of T3 4+/4++ save bodies all over the place to make your opponents life all the more difficult. The Primaris Psyker is usable enough, but nothing all that amazing. Still you may see some value from them and they are worth considering.
This is going to be a bit of a shock but I think that these guys should be A Tier, only being held back by the fact that they are 75pts per unit which is a bit high for heavy weapons teams and out of the 3 weapon options they can take the only one that is remotely interesting to me is the Heavy Flamer. Having said that 3 squads of these guys dropping out of Chimeras on the mid field and just setting up an 18" 'No Go' zone turn 1 to really try and bring the pain could absolutely see use. Add to that their special rule of on death they can shoot on a 3+ they could just be that annoyance unit you were looking for to help screen out your main force and make your opponent focus on them instead of the rest of your infantry running around scoring points.
These are probably the worst of the 3 Heavy Weapons options in the Guard Codex, but hey someone had to be right? They still have the special rule of better overwatch but who cares about hitting on a 5+ or 4+ on overwatch when you could have overwatched with the Krieg Heavy Weapons flamers and just auto hit on overwatch? The only real place I see people taking these is if your looking for heavy weapon teams of Mortars or Heavy Bolters as the Krieg don't have access to them and the Catachans are going to be busy with anti-tank heavy weapons which really isn't the best place for these guys to be sitting in. But then again I do love me some mortars and heavy bolters....
The Prime has always been the transport of Scions and that still hasn't changed. If your not taking Scions you won't see this tank and that's a shame since it's a nice tank. For a transport it has a lot of different and valid weapon options to choose from and when the Scions do jump out of it the Prime can help them by giving them reroll to hit quite easily. Still it comes down to if your taking Scions or not to determine if your going to see this on the table. For that reason alone I think this ends up in B Tier.
These are units that are only good in a few detachments but there are better units that can do the same job.
At first glance he seems ok, adding a bit of extra firepower and melee capabilities to your unit while also giving any officers in the unit a 4+ FNP. But unless your Meta is heavy on 'Precision' (which could happen with Emperors Children coming out soon) I can think of better ways to spend 60 points.
The unnamed version of Nork, he has all the same advantages and weaknesses of Nork. Again, there COULD be a world where you want one, but I don't think it's this one. He is at least a bit cheaper at 40 points but your putting him in a unit that want's to avoid combat and his real advantage is he can fight ok in combat.
Such a cool looking model, too bad the rules writer for this unit has no idea what he is trying to do. His special ability to get back up on a 2+ after death is something a lot of units would love to have, but what is he going to do after he get's shot to death? Probably get back up in time to get charged and killed again. And add to the fact that his cost is ridiculous for what he brings to the melee table AND that he can only lead Death Riders which are also really only good at fighting enemy units that are not looking to be in melee then I just don't see much value here. If they drop his points then that could affect his rank here but as it stands right now I would only take him because I bought the box set with him in it.
Another unit that GW just can't seem to get the rules right on, though this time I don't think it is the Commissar's fault. He gives the unit he is leading better OC and the ability to cancel a failed Battle Shock test by executing one of your own guys which is fine except Battle Shock just doesn't come up often enough to make him a worthy addition, unless you typically face a lot of Chaos Daemon or Tyranid players. He can issue an order to his unit, though it's only the +1WS or the +1OC/Leadership ones which does at least fit his roll. Where I think he does find value is in the idea of the fact he is so cheap (30 points) and you could just take him and put him in reserve to do an easy secondary turn 2 or 3, making him a nuisance that your opponent then has to send someone to deal with. And if you did find yourself up against one of the few Battle Shock focused armies out there you could just slide him into one of your infantry squads if your that afraid of it. I would put him at the top of this Tier for these reasons, but still he isn't something you will find missing if you don't have the extra 30 points laying around to take him.
I am grouping all of the Baneblades in this category instead of breaking them all up individually because if I did it any other way we would be here for the next few days. The good thing is that the Baneblade is still a massive super tank that has a ton of firepower and the Hammer of the Emperor Detachment can help them with the fact that they are so big that they can run into issues moving around terrain. The bad thing is that there is NO way to give these guys orders of any kind and I can attest that all it takes is someone to have access to -1 to hit to make these big massive point sinks feel like a waste of time and money. The Transport Variants could have some interesting play with putting units like Krieg Heavy Weapons into them and running them primarily as a giant auto-hitting flame tank of doom, but that's more of a meme than an actual good use for them.
Another Artillery unit that has had the wind knocked out of it's rockets, this used to be the go-to artillery tank. Now it has been hit with so many small nerfs, it's death by 1000 cuts. First it now is D6 shots, making it unreliable. It also lost it's heavy keyword making it need orders if it wants to hit out of line of site on a 4+ with that random number of shots. It's strength was dropped down to 7 meaning it's only really useful vs Infantry, Mounted, or very light vehicles. Oh, and it lost its ability to reroll hits, so there is that as well. What did it gain for giving up all these amazing abilities? Anti-Infantry 2+ and the ability to reduce it's targets OC. The Anti-Infantry part is really all you need to see to know what roll GW expects you to use this tank for, and the OC would be interesting if you could drop an enemy's OC to 0, but you can't which means it will rarely come up as useful. What all this means is that it's roll has been changed to Anti-Heavy Infantry and that's about it. This is a hard sell to me, but they do still look cool on the table.
These units suck no matter where you put them, be it due to their rules not working well or they are missing keywords leading to them just not doing the job.
Yeah, fortifications still suck. At 145 points I don't see much value of giving your infantry a 4+ invulnerable save when you can just take 2 more squads of infantry and have point still left over. I would only see this in the most fluffy situations or if your absolutely trying to protect Lord Solar with every fiber in your bones.
So what we have here is an unit that gives Sustained Hits 1 in melee to your infantry in an army that has very little chance of doing any kind of meaningful damage in melee with their infantry.... sure GW you keep on doing you and we will keep on ignoring this guy. Now if they could join Bulgryn we could have a different conversation here.
I so want this thing to be good, but it just isn't. First the fact that it is a very swingy random number of shots (2D6) that is super high strength and ap but only 1 dmg means that even if you rolled max shots against some targets like a knight your only going to do around 5 damage.... this is a freaking giant nuke it should do more than that. This leads me to think the only real way to use these are by taking 3 and then pointing all 3 at a single objective so that your opponent is just scared to try and take said objective with anything of value. And at 145 pts per model that is an incredibly high cost for such a job.
Yeah, this doesn't surprise anyone I am sure. Games Workshop just doesn't seem to know what to do with Aircraft this edition so they are just pricing them so far out of reason that they won't get used. The good news is that it is a fast moving transport that has a very odd rule of letting you get your units out in the opponents turn but that really only has value if your trying to prevent your opponent from charging said transport and this thing doesn't offer anything of real value for its cost considering the alternative options for 190 points. If it was 125 points it would be a completely different story though.
This unit used to be the bane of my existence in 8th edition. My how the mighty have fallen. First is the fact that GW doesn't like artillery this edition either, meaning you have to give it an order just to make sure it is hitting its targets on a 4+ which is a pain to set up. The next issue is even if it does hit on a 4+ it's only really effective against infantry, and even then you should count yourself lucky if you kill a single model. Finally it's special rule is if it hits infantry then that unit gets -1 to their hit rolls until your next turn, an ok rule sure but the things you would want to use that on probably won't even lose a wound to the incoming fire from the Wyvern. If you really want to kill something with artillery pretty much any other option in the book is better.