Codex Space Marines (2023) is available for pre-order today, the second Warhammer 40,000 10th Edition to be released following Codex Tyranids earlier in the summer. The Codex itself weighs in at a mighty 215 pages and contains the usual mix of lore, images, model showcase and of course all of the new rules to allow you to use your Space Marines armies in games of Warhammer 40,000 10th Edition.

In this review we’ll take a close look at all the new Detachment rules -there have been some chages to a number of the Datasheets (including the addition of a few more!) and so we’ll cover these in a separate article. The Crusade content too has seen some significant updates and therefore we’ll also be covering this in a dedicated article too that will be up on the website soon!

Thank you to Games Workshop for sending us free early review copies of the new Codex and a number of the new kits for us to share with you on this site. If you would like to support the site then why not order your Space Marine reinforcements through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself some money too?

New Miniatures Unboxing & Showcase

What Did We Unbox?

I’m glad you asked! We’ve unboxed the brand new Company Heroes, the multipart Sternguard Veterans, the Assualt Intercessors with Jump Packs, the Captain with Jump Pack, Chaplain in Terminator Armour and finally the multipart Terminators!

Phew! That’s a fair few kits. You can check out the unboxing below:

Showcase Time!

My main personal priority was to build and paint the amazing new Jump Pack Captain. What an incredible kit.

On the sprue you can equip him with either a Power Fist, Relic Blade or Chainsword. I opted for a bit more oompfftt, so went with the Power Fist. In his other hand you have the option of the Bolt Pistol, Plasma Pistol or (for the first time outside of just Blood Angel and Deathwatch kits) a Hand Flamer. My personal preference was the Plasma Pistol, because I have some unnatural love for plasma…

The kit went together like a dream, with no issues or stressful parts. You can find him painted below:

I’m very happy with how he has turned out, and he will 100% be leading a Crusade army of Raven Guard in the New Year!

I also managed to build the Jump Pack Intercessors. Again, these were a treat to assemble with no complicated parts. Call me strange, but I for some reason loved putting together the jump packs!

Again, like the Captain, the Sergeant can be armed with the same variety of weapons. I opted for a Sword and Plasma Pistol combo for this guy. The rest of the unit are kitted out with Chainswords and Bolt Pistols.

I love the variety of poses in this kit, they look very dramatic. Some people won’t like the ‘jumping off rocks’ poses, but personally I much prefer them compared to the plastic flying stands.

Jay has also been busy, as he has expertly built and painted the Chaplain in Terminator Armour.

This went from one of his least favourite models of the wave to his favourite once he built it. He has made a slight conversion to change the pose slightly, and I love it.

Jay opted for the Storm Bolter, but don’t forget you can instead equip him with the included Relic Shield on the sprue.

I really enjoyed unboxing this range of minis, and I cannot wait to get properly started on my Raven Guard. Just the small matter of finishing off my Astra Militarium first…

Codex Space Marines Review

As with the Tyranid Codex we get a much more streamlined and easier to navigate composition to the Codex. The first half of the book is given over to usual mix of lore, narrative, images, maps, model galleries, painting guides and background that we’ve come to expect from Games Workshop over the years. Following this we get a small section detailing the Combat Patrol rules providing all the information you need to use the Strike Force Octavius Combat Patrol on the table top. These rules are identical (aside from a few ‘cosmetic’ differences to those presented on the Warhammer Community website.

Army Rules

Oath of Moment returns as the primary Adeptus Astartes rule however it has been toned down slightly compared to the version we first saw in the Space Marines Index. A Space Marine player will nominate an enemy unit at the start of each of their Command Phases as before but now friendly units only benefit from a re-roll to the Hit roll and no longer re-roll the Wound roll. This is quite a significant update however there are still a number of rules and effects scattered throughout the Codex which grant various bonuses to the Wound rolls in certain situations, not least the new 1st Company Task Force Detachment which restores the re-roll Wound roll bonus to the Oath of Moment ability for all units in the Detachment.

Detachments

On the subject of Detachments, Codex Space Marines contains a selection of seven to choose from, including the Gladius Task Force which returns from the Index unchanged as is perhaps the most flexible of the options, providing useful bonuses to a wide range of the Astartes units through the different phases of the game. The remaining Detachements (detailed below) allow you to build a Space Marines army that play in quite different ways giving you plenty of flexibility in terms of how you want to play with this Codex. Whilst it is quite apparent that each Detachment is themed around a particular Space Marine Chapter it’s perfectly possible to use any of them to represent any Chapter you wish! You have a White Scars army that favours the use of Dreadnoughts and Tanks, not a problem you’re free to use the Ironstorm Spearhead!

Anvil Siege Force

The Anvil Siege Force detachment is very much geared towared those armies that prefer to maintain a distance from their enemy and destroy their foe at range! The Shield of the Imperium Detachment rule grants all ranged weapons in the force the HEAVY ability (providing a +1 to the hit bonus if the firing unit remains stationary) and in addition grants a +1 to the Wound roll bonus for those weapons that already have the HEAVY keyword. There are numerous HEAVY weapons littered throughout the Codex and this rule can benefit a varity of units from your basic Infantry right through to Dreadnoughts and Tanks!

On the Enhancement front we get a couple of defensive options, Indomitable Fury provides a resurect ability for a GRAVIS model and Stoic Defender gives the bearer and his unit a 6+ FNP bonus in addition to debuffing nearby enemy units Objective Control statistic. Architect of War is my favourite of the bunch though, granting the IGNORES COVER ability to model’s ranged weapons in the bearer’s unit.

Stratagem wise we see Armour of Contempt return (this being common to all Detachments in the Codex). I really like Not One Backwards Step which can be used to double the Objective Control statistic of a unit (with the caveat that the unit must remain stationary this turn) – this can be used at opportunistic moments to really scupper your opponent’s plans and punish poor positioning. No Threat Too Great also looks like a great choice, granting re-rolls to Wound for a unit when targetting a MONSTER or VEHICLE unit during the Shooting phase. My favourite by far however is Hail of Vengeance, allowing a friendly unit to return fire during the opponent’s Shooting phase at an enemy unit that inflicted casualties upon it!

Ironstorm Spearhead

This Detachment grants can be used to enhance the effectiveness of those armies that contain a large number of vehicles however do not think that the other non-vehicle units in your army will miss out! The Armoured Wrath Detachment rule grants a straight forward ‘re-roll one hit, wound or damage roll’ bonus to all units in the Detachment, not just vehicles for example.

The Enhancements on offer are for the most part restricted to Techmarine models with the exception of Master of Machine War which bestows and aura effect to a model allowing nearby VEHICLE units to fall back or advance and still shoot. Adept of the Omnissiah is my favourite of the bunch, allowing you once per turn to reduce the damage characteristic of an attack targeting a nearby vehicle to zero! Target Augury Web also deserves some attention for it’s force multiplication effects, granting nearby VEHICLE units the LETHAL HITS ability!

As you’d expect, several of the Stratagems on offer are targetted towards the vehicle elements of your army. Power of the Machine Spirit for example which allows a friendly vehicle which has been reduced to half strength as a result of an enemy attack to immediately return fire against that enemy unit! I really like the ‘reaction’ type feel to many of the Stratagems in this Codex and I think their inclusion really opens up some interesting strategies and tactics for both the player and their opponent. Unbowed Conviction is an interesting utility option which allows the target unit to ignore any or all modifiers to any of its characteristics or rolls and test for the duration of the turn. Ancient Fury also looks very strong granting a +1 bonus to the Move, Toughness, Save, Leadership and Objective Control characteristic to a target WALKER unit in addition to a +1 to hit bonus when making attacks!

Firestorm Assault Force

The Firestorm Assault Force Detachment allows you to build a Space Marines force that likes to get in close to the opponent and take them down in close range firefights. To this end all ranged weapons in your army gain the ASSAULT ability and benefit from +1 strength when used within 12″ of a targert. I really like this rule which turns the Space Marines into an incredibly mobile army without sacrificing any ranged punch!

There are four Enhancements to choose from, Champion of Humanity looks like my favourite which provides a degree of immunity to characteristic modification for the bearer and unit he is leading. Some options provide small bonuses to the bearer himself, such as the Adamantine Mantle which reduces all incoming damage by 1 – or ‘to’ 1 if the source of the damage was a Melta or Torrent weapon. Forged in Battle is a nice pick for a model leading a small unit of Eradicators or Eliminators, allowing you once per turn to chnage a Hit roll or Saving throw to a 6.

Several of the Stratagems on offer here interact with TRANSPORT units. Rapid Embarkation allows you to embark a unit within 6″ of a TRANSPORT unit at the end of the Fight phase, allowing you to provide a degree of protection for that unit during your opponent’s next turn! Combo this with Burning Vengeance and punish your opponent for attempting todstroy said TRANSPORT up in their turn! This Stratagem allows the unit inside to disembark from their ride if it was shot at during the opponent’s turn and then open fire themselves at the offending enemy unit! Onslaught of Fire again enhances the offensive capabilities of a target unit that has disembarked from a TRANSPORT that turn, providing a to hit bonus during subsequent Shooting phase and inflicting a Battle-shock test on the unit they shoot at!

Stormlance Task Force

Another very mobility focussed Detachment but this time with a more melee focus as opposed to close ranged firefighting. The Lightning Assauilt Detachment rule allows all units in your army to declare charges after advancing or falling back. This flexibility allows you to pick and choose your fights and overwhelm your opponents battle line with precise application of Astartes melee power! Whilst an army containing Assault Intercessors or the new Jump Assault Intercessors would benefit from this Detatchment rule a lot of the Enhancements and Stratagems focus on those units with the MOUNTED type unfortunately.

As you would expect, many of the Enhancements on offer here seek to further enhance the mobility prowess of the army or help to make sure that when you do finally engage in melee you’re able to maximise the damage dealt. Potents of Wisdom allows the bearer and his unit to re-roll Advance rolls for example, whereas Fury of the Storm improves the strength and Armour Penetration of the bearer’s melee weapons by 1 or 2 depending on whether they charged or not this turn!

There is a nice mix of Strategems to choose from that are useful across each of the phases in the game. Full Throttle removes the randomness from the Advance roll allowing the target unit to advance a full 6″ or 9″ if they have the MOUNTED type. Likewise Shock Assault allows the target MOUNTED unit to re-roll charge rolls and grants the LANCE ability to their melee weapons. Blitzing Fusillade looks like a very strong pick granting the ASSAULT ability to a unit’s ranged weapons and potentially the SUSTAINED HITS 1 ability too!

Vanguard Spearhead

You could build a very nice ‘sneaky’ army using this particular Detachment (and make great use of those new Scout models too!). The Detatchment rule itself is a familiar one, granting a -1 to hit penalty to enemy units if they target your own from over 12″ away. In addition your units will also gain the benefit of cover against such attacks!

The Blade Driven Deep Enhancement has some amazing potential, granting the bearer and his unit the Infiltrators ability – there are some incredible combos that come to mind here! Execute and Redeploy is a nice little piece of kit which enhances the mobility of the bearer and his unit allowing them to move up to 6″ after they have shot. This can be very useful for both protecting your units and moving them out of vulnerable positions or even advancing further up the battlefield to get onto objectives etc. Shadow War Veteran is an interesting pick too and can be used to throw a spanner in your opponent’s plans at the most opportune moment – you’re able to increase the cost of one of your opponent’s Stratagems by 1CP for rest of the battle (triggered just after your opponent has used that particular Stratagem)!

The Stratagems themselves are very INFANTRY focused and furtther enhance the ‘sneaky/tricksy’ feel to this Detachment. Strike from the Shadows is a nice option that compliments the Detatchment rule granting a Ballistic Skill and Armour Penetration bonus to the ranged attacks of a target unit if they are over 12″ from the enemy (with potential to inflict a Battle-shock test too!). Calculated Feint is also very nasty allowing you to potentially dodge back and avoid an enemy charge, avoiding melee and potentially leaving the enemy unit out of place and vulnerable. Guerilla Tactics allows you remove either two PHOBOS and/or SCOUT units or one INFANTRY unit from the battlefield during your opponent’s Fight phase and add them to Strategic Reserves – great for getting vulnerable units out of harm’s way, baiting enemy units or just benefitting from improved positioning later in the game.

1st Company Task Force

Last but certainly not least we have a Detachment that lets you build around a force full of 1st Company Veterans! The Extremis-Level Threat Detachment rule basically sees the the Oath of Moment ability return to it’s original form granting full to wound re-rolls once again. Simple but also very effective.

A great thing about many of the 1st Company Enhancements is that they almost all have a great force multiplier effect. The Imperium’s Sword not only buffs the melee prowess of the bearer but also provides a +1 attack bonus for the rest of his unit too. Iron Resolve grants the 5+ FNP ability to the bearer but can also be used once per game to grant the same ability to the rest of his unit! I really like to see these kind of force multiplying options in a Codex and it’s quite fitting for an army of elite veterans.

As you would expect, most of the Stratagems on offer here target veteran units specifically (Terminators, Sternguard, Bladeguard etc.) so you’re going to want to include as many of these units in your army as possible to benefit most from them. Duty and Honour is a simple but effective option which allows you you to keep an objective under your control even if you have no models within range. This can allow you to keep your more elite and most likely outnumbered force much more mobile. Terrifying Proficiency looks great, if you’re able to destroy an enemy unit after charging them all other nearby enemy units must take a Battle-shock test in their next Command phase! Orbital Teleportarium is one of those super useful and often underated type of Stratagems, this one basically works like the Guerilla Tactics Stratagem described above, targetting a single TERMINATOR unit and allowing them to Deep Strike again in the next Movement phase! Useful for all of the same reasons as above!

As mentioned earlier in the article we’ll be returning shortly with a full breakdown of the Datasheets themselves and the updated Crusade content so stay tuned for that!

Codex Space Marines and the new Space Marines models are up for pre order today.

Games Workshop provided Sprues & Brews with free copies for review purposes.