Games Workshop let the Hellhound out of the kennel with their Sunday Previews. The Astra Militarum Army Set goes up for preorder at GW and hobby stores on November 12th. With such a big upgrade to the army they’re providing a 2 week preorder window with the launch on November 25.
As I wrote about in the Astra Militarum Preview Roundup, the Army Set comes with the new Codex, Datacards, 20 Cadian Shock Troopers, a 5-man Cadian Command Squad, 2 Field Ordnance Teams, and the redesigned Sentinel. Overall, a great place to start collecting the Astra Militarum or expand on your existing force.
Astra Militarum Cadia Rules
We’ve since received elements of the Cadian unit rules from the Army box. Cadian Shock Troops and their officer’s stratagem work hand in hand. Cadians score extra hits on a natural 6. Meanwhile, Vengeance for Cadia adds 1 to all Wound rolls against targets with the CHAOS keyword. While great for any weapon, your lasgunners will greatly appreciate wounding Chaos Marines on a 4+.
Next, weapon stat lines for the three Field Ordnance Teams.
The Bombast Field Gun has a solid stat line with Strength 7 and the Damage to one-shot marines. As an added bonus, you have indirect fire capability to hit targets anywhere within 48 inches. The Bombast is your choice for versatile general purpose use.
Next, the Malleus Rocket Launcher throws out a large number of attacks at decent Strength. With Blast and Damage 1, you’re going to get the best results against hordes and swarms. However, don’t discount your ability to sandblast those with high wound counts.
Finally, the Heavy Lascannon deals with big targets; vehicles, monsters, or fortifications. Two shots at Strength 10 is nasty enough. But the -4 AP and damage of 4 to 6 per shot rips chunks out of your targets.
Our last rule release showcases the Scout Sentinel. The most important upgrade to the scout are Movement and Toughness. Improved engines grant the sentinel a full foot of movement. The upgrade to Toughness increases your probability of surviving against small arms. The best results are shifts to Wound when facing T’au with their Strength 5 guns and all the humanish armies relying on Strength 3.
The Snetinel’s improved Strength and Attacks are nice boosts. They’ll dish out the pain against Toughness 3 opponents. Two Attacks are a nice increase, but they’re still not hitting that often. Take the kills you can get. Now, this is moot if their chainsaw improves Strength or Damage. Time will tell.
Fianlly, an additional Wound either lets them play a bit longer and/or shifts their degradation track over by one.
Tomorrow we’ll return to cover Regimental Doctrines and whatever GW has on tap for Wednesday’s peek.
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