Warhammer 40k 11th Edition is well in full flow now. We’ve had the Ork Codex, which Matt very kindly reviewed a few weeks ago, and now it’s my turn to get stuck into an 11th Edition Codex.

Yes, hot on the heels of those pesky Greenskins is the Emperor’s finest, those Angels of Death, the Adeptus Astartes … .the Space Marines!

In this article I will be checking out Codex Space Marines, digesting the detachments and the changes to the all important Datasheets. We’ll also be taking a closer look at the brand new miniatures that are accompanying this release. They are of course the new Captain on Bike, the multipart Outriders and the new multipart Intercessors. 

Our thanks to Games Workshop for sending us the Codex and models over to review and paint. The Codex, as well as the new minis, are up for preorder right now. You can preorder yours via our affiliates over at Element Games. Not only will you save cash VS RRP, but you’ll also be helping us out too!

That’s enough for the introduction, let’s get going. 

The views in this article are my own. I’m more of a casual player, but have also taken armies to tournaments from time to time.

Unboxing the Captain, Intercessors and Outriders

We’ll cover the units in more detail later in the article, however for now, if you fancy seeing what’s on the sprues of the new models you can watch our unboxing video below.

Codex Space Marines | First Impressions

This is a brave new edition of the game, and for the first time in a long time we no longer have hard back Codexes. Instead, we have small, softback ones. 

There is something to be said of the hardback ones. They feel premium, sturdy… but just recently the price of them has been ever increasing. At full price from GW you are looking at £38 for a Codex, and IMO that is just too much. Gone are the days where I used to purchase a Codex just for a read, more recently I’ve only bought one because I’ve needed the rules to play with my army.

I own one of the Skaven Gamer Edition Battletomes, so I’d already had a sneak peek as it were of having the core army rules in a softback book, and honestly, I’m a big fan. They are lightweight, perfect to take to games and tournaments. Also very importantly, they are cheaper, clocking in at £25 full price (not forgetting you’d get a cheeky discount over at our affiliates).

At £25 for a Codex I’d be tempted to once again pick up books that I just fancied reading and owning, even if I didn’t have a full army. 

The format is great, it looks the part and still has that premium feel. Big thumbs up from me. I won’t go to this level of detail when writing about other 40k Codexes for this edition, but as this is my first one for 11th I wanted to express my opinion. 

The Lore & Collecting Space Marines

As with all Codexes the book kicks off with lore surrounding the Space Marines. If you were brand new to the game the book does a great job of laying the foundations of what the Space Marines and wider Imperium are. 

The book details how companies of Space Marines are made up, as well as discussing the different Chapters that make up the faction. All of the big name First Founding Chapters are here, with background on the likes of Ultramarines and the Raven Guard.

The book moves past lore and starts talking about the various types of units and armour you’ll see as you approach the datasheets. What I really like here is it tackles each of the units by armour type. This makes it easier for newbies to understand the different units that say, wear Gravis armour, and breaks down what Gravis armour is, strengths etc. Not only from a lore perspective is this interesting, but also it’s brilliant for new players who could be overwhelmed by the vast number of units the Marines have to choose from. 

Further to this, and again aimed at new players, is a section which provides examples of themed lists. For example, the Tacticus Task Force, talking through the type of units to lean into and the benefits of doing so. Simply put making the most out of that particular detachment. 

Painting

The book does feature a painting section, albeit a small one. The concentrates on parts that are common place on Space Marines, that may not be on other faction’s models.

It shows you how to paint Heraldry (for example on the new back banner on the Intercessor Sergeant from the new Intercessor kit), Eye lenses, Skin Tones and Plasma coils. It also has a reminder that Warhammer Academy exists. 

Would I have liked this section to be more detailed and cover more areas? Yes I would, however this is one of the reasons they launched Warhammer Academy, so that you have a one stop shop of tutorials and help to build and paint your new models.

If you haven’t already seen it, we have taken a detailed look at Warhammer Academy, and you can check that post out here. 

Rules | The Basic Rules and Combat Doctrines

We move onto the core rules of the book. 

The Codex goes to great detail on how Detachments work, as well as explaining the features you’ll see when you start looking at Datasheets in this book. This includes explaining about weapons with multiple profiles and Leader/Support units.

As has been discussed lots online, Oath of Moment, the main Space Marine ability from the previous edition, has gone. 

It has instead been replaced with Combat Doctrines (remember them?). At the start of your Command Phase you can choose one of three Doctrines to activate for your turn. These are a once per battle deal (although you can play with this with certain unit’s special rules).

Your three Doctrines to choose from are:

• Assault Doctrine: Gives your units Advance and Charge
• Devastator Doctrine: Ranged attacks have the Assault trait
• Tactical Doctrine: You can fall back from combat and still shoot and charge.

These are great abilities to have, my favourite being Advance and Charge for your army, as it allows your punchier units to fling themselves into combat quicker then they may have been able too.

Combat Doctrines feels a lot more tactical and fun than Oath of Moment, so I’m happy with the switch. Speaking of Oath, you’ll notice when you are going through the datasheets that rerolls are no longer as common as they used to be, and I am a massive fan of this. Space Marine armies of old relied too heavily on the ability to reroll. 

Combat Doctrines isn’t the only special rule that Marines have army-wide. They also have Transhuman Strategist, which is a keyword you’ll see on the various Captain and Special Character models. At the start of the battle round, if a model with this ability is your Warlord, then you gain 1CP. This encourages you to take a key special character or a Captain as your Warlord, which thematically fits perfectly. 

Another keyword you’ll spot is Librarius, which can be found on your Psychic power wielding units. Each psyker has a level, which reflects how many psychic abilities they can use in that battle round. So a psyker level 1 unit can use 1 ability, and so on. 

Detachments

Next to the individual datasheets, we move onto the other key part of the book, the detachments you are able to select whilst assembling your army. 

A quick reminder that Detachments cost Detachment Points (DP). The amount of Detachment points you have depends on the size of the battle you are having. For example, if you have a 2,000 point game of Warhammer 40k you’ll have 3 DP to spend. More on this in our review of the Core Rulebook. Importantly, this book does not tell you how much the Detachments cost. This figure can be found in the MFM download which also includes the points costs of your units. This is a free download from the Warhammer Community website.

There is a great selection of Detachments in this book, each with unique strengths. You’ve got what I would call general use Detachments for mixed forces, and then you have detachments which are aimed around a particular armour type or style of play. 

WarCom have already previewed a number of these, but lets take some time to go through these.

Gladius Task Force

This is clearly your big 3 DP detachment, and is an ideal starting place for fielding your army of Space Marines. It doesn’t buff particular units, it instead provides solid options regardless of what you are fielding. 

This one is ideal for your first 2k game. 

Its detachment rule is Codex Discipline. It’s very straightforward, it allows you to select one Combat Doctrine one additional time during the battle. You only get enough three turns of Doctrines as standard, so adding a fourth is solid. 

Enhancement wise you have 4 to choose from. Adept of the Codex, for example, can be given to a Captain only and allows the Captain and his attached unit to permanently be in Tactical Doctrine, as well as whatever Doctrine is active at the time. Regardless of the Captain you are using, this is a great choice. 

Artificer Armour, an old favourite, provides a model with a 2+ save as well as a 5+ FNP. 

Some solid, well rounded strats are on offer. These include:

• Adaptive Strategy (1CP): Pick one unit in your army in your Command phase. That unit can have another Combat Doctrine active of your choice until the start of your next Command Phase. Again, another way to get round the once per battle Doctrines, albeit for one unit for one turn.
• Might of Angels (1CP): Fight phase only. Gives a unit Lance (+1 to wound on the charge). A very solid strat and my pick of the bunch.

Other Detachments

The remainder of the detachments contain 2 Enhancements and 3 strats, so will likely be between 1-2 DP. I’ve made these into a table and have selected my favourite Enhancement from the two available, as well as my favourite stratagem.

Detachment Name	Detachment Rule	Enhancement	Stratagem
Assault Brethren	Allows you to use the Assault Doctrine one additional time per battle	Imperium’s Sword: 6 Attacks, hitting on 2s, Strength 7, -3 AP and flat damage 3	Gene-wrought Might: Select a unit in the Fight phase. That unit gets Lance, or, if you are in the Assault Doctrine you get Lance and +1 AP
Tactical Brethren	Allows you to use the Tactical Doctrine one additional time per battle	Laurels of Vigilance: Once per battle round you can select a Battleline unit within 12” of the model with this enhancement. That unit can use the Overwatch or Heroic Intervention strat for -1CP	Masterful Tactics: Usable at the end of your opponent’s Movement phase. Pick an Infantry or Mounted unit and move D6”, or if the Tactical Doctrine is active you can move up to 6”
Devastator Brethren	Allows you to use the Devastator Doctrine one additional time per battle	Master-Forged Firearms: The bearers ranged weapons (excluding Psychic attacks) get +1 Attacks, AP and Damage	Storm of Fire: Usable in your Shooting phase. Pick a unit, That unit’s ranged weapons have Ignore Cover, or if the Devastator Doctrine is active you also get +1 AP
Terminator Storm Force	Terminator units have +1 to Charge rolls	Corporeum Reliquary: Allows the bearer and his unit to Ingress in the first Movement Phase	Gunship Extraction: At the end of your opponent’s Fight phase you pick an unengaged Terminator unit. That unit goes into strategic reserve
Tacticus Attack Force	Units with the Tacticus keyword can re-roll Advance rolls	Spearpoint War Leader: Unit gains Scout 6”	Transhuman Swiftness: Use in the Fight phase when an enemy unit has fought. One friendly Tacticus unit gains Fights First and must be the next unit selected to Fight.
Tacticus Firestorm	Tacticus units get to Rapid Fire at maximum range instead of within half range.	Cyber-Familiar: Allows you to put three Infantry units into strategic reserve after your opponent has finished deploying.	Point-Blank Brutality: Select an engaged Tacticus unit during the Shooting phase. That unit gains the Close-Quarters and Ignores Cover keywords.
Phobos Shadow Force	Phobos and Scout units can shoot without losing the Hidden rule or can make a normal move of up to D6” (but cannot then charge that turn)	Venator Omni-Auspex: Grants the unit reroll wounds of 1 (or rerolls of 1s and 2s if in the Assault Doctrine) when shooting Hidden units.	Mortis Snares: Select a Phobos/Scout unit at the end of your Movement Phase. If that unit is controlling an objective, then that objective becomes Snared. When an enemy unit ends a move within range of a Snared objective, on a 2+, that enemy unit takes D6 mortal wounds (and the objective is no longer snared)
Phobos Shock Force	At the end of your Movement phase, if a friendly Phobos unit is hidden, then that unit’s attacks can reroll Wound rolls of 1 until the end of the turn	Seal of Shrouding: This unit cannot be the target of a snap shot action.	Umbral Evasion: Select a friendly Phobos unit in the enemy shooting phase. That unit is -1 to be Hit.
Gravis Linebreaker Force	Gravis units ignore the Heavy keyword and gain +1 to Hit when they move.	Relentless Advance: Unit gains Scout 5”	Annihilating Force: Select a Gravis unit in the Shooting or Fight phase. The unit gains Lethal Hits
Gravis Siege Force	Gravis units within range of an objective are -1 to be wounded if the incoming attacks Strength is higher than your units Toughness	Narthecis Gauntlet: Apothecary Biologis models only can have this enhancement, and in your Command Phase they can heal there unit D3+1 wounds	Stand Unyielding: At the end of your Movement phase select a Gravis unit. Select one objective that Gravis unit is contesting. That objective is now secured.
Stormlance Task Force	Mounted and Speeder units gain +2 Movement	Supercharged Engines: Can reroll Advance rolls	Wind-Swift Evasion: At the end of a Fight phase select a Mounted unit that was eligible to fight. If that unit is no longer engaged it can make a normal move. If the unit is still engaged it can fall back.
Ironclad Champions	Dreadnoughts can reroll Hit rolls of 1	Venerable Champion (Aura): Friendly Infantry and Mounted units within 6” of this unit can reroll Hit rolls of 1	Mercy is Weakness: In your Shooting or Fight phase pick a Dreadnought. You can give it Lethal Hits or Sustained Hits (1)
Gauntlet Task Force	Pick an enemy unit that one of your Transports has shot at. Any friendly units that have disembarked that turn that shoot at said target get Sustained Hits (1)	Linebreaker Onslaught: When this unit disembarks it gets reroll Charges and cannot be the target of a snap shot.	Duty is Never Done: End of the Fight phase a Infantry unit that was eligible to Fight and is within 6” of a Transport can embark on said Transport
Ironstorm Spearhead	Vehicles in this detachment can reroll 1 x Hit Roll and 1 x Wound Roll	Redoubtable Machine Spirit: Can be given to a Vehicle, Walker or Fly unit. Grants that unit a 5+ Invulnerable Save and heals a wound at the end of your Command Phase	Headhunter Doctrine: Gives a Vehicle Lethal Hits against Monsters and Vehicles in your Shooting Phase.

Phew, that is a lot of Detachments, and I’m struggling to pick a favourite if I’m honest. 

I love the fact we can mix and match detachments using this new army building mechanic, and its great that Space Marines have so much variety.

I am tempted to run a Phobos and Mounted heavy army, so for me the Phobos Shadow Force and Stormlance Detachments are jumping out at me. Equally have a Vehicle with a 5+ invulnerable save is tasty, and the reroll aura upgrade on a Dreadnought is awesome too, in particular with a limited number of reroll abilities now. 

It’s a true pick and mix for the Marines and I’m all for it, as I’m sure we’ll see lots of cool themed lists. 

Datasheets

Now, sometimes you see a few changes when new books come out. Some you don’t see any. 

In this Codex, you see LOTS. 

Yes, we have lots of changes in here compared to the previous edition’s Codex, and simply it would take me years to type out each change here in this review.

The big standout change across the board is that of the general statistics of a Space Marine being increased, as well as changes to classic weapons such as Storm Bolters and Bolters, which have both been buffed and well documented over on Warhammer Community.

They have also given major shout-outs to key units, such as the Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman, who is an absolute monster now. He’s up there with Daemon Primarchs now (although I imagine they will be buffed when they get there time in the sun too, so enjoy it now Big G).

It’s very Points dependent, but already you can sense the level of Eliteness now of Space Marines, which was something they lacked. I’m more than happy to take less models to battle if said models feel as epic as Space Marines should be feeling.

I am going to run through the unit datasheets for the models we’ve had in this refresh so that you get a further flavour for the new datasheets on offer.

Captain on Bike

It has been a number of years since we’ve had a new Space Marine Captain on Bike, and this one does not disappoint.

He was very straight forward to assemble and has a number of options, including holding a Plasma Pistol or Power Sword. I opted however for the Thunder Hammer (because if given the option, it will also be a Thunder Hammer regardless of rules!).

You can check out the sprue below:

I’ve got a large Iron Ravens army, a successor Chapter for the Raven Guard, so it was an easy decision to paint these Space Marine reinforcements in the Iron Ravens scheme. I had a real blast painting this guy up, and you can see the results below:

So what is he like in the game?

As he’s mounted on a bike he’s movement 12″, and of course his stats have also had a glow up along with all other Marines. Toughness 6, 3+ save / 4+ Invulnerable save, 6 Wounds. The Thunder Hammer has Devastating Wounds with 5 Attacks, hitting on 3s, Strength 8, -2 AP and flat damage 3. He’s got Transhuman Strategist as he’s a Captain. He also has Strategic Acumen, which allows you to select one Combat Doctrine to be active for this unit on top of the overall army Combat Doctrine. He also grants his unit Cleave 1, but only on the Charge. I would have preferred Lance, but there’s other ways of getting that

Next up us the Outriders. I’ve been holding out for multipart Outriders since we first saw them back in the Indomitus Launch box from two editions ago. Again, few different options here, including allowing one of the Outriders to have a Plasma Pistol, whilst the Sarge gets the option to equip a Power Sword, Power Axe or Thunder Hammer. Again, I opted for the Thunder Hammer, because it’s just so cool.

You can find images of the sprues below:

I mean, they had to be painted as Iron Ravens too right?

Really pleased with how these have turned out, in particular with the red racing stripe. Out of everything from this range refresh, these are the ones I am most proud of.

Intercessors

Not the most exciting of releases you may think, as we’ve had a few Intercessor models now, but I do like what they’ve done with this box.

Two main draws for me. The first is the back banner on the Sergeant, it’s just so nostalgic and a great way of adding character and Chapter markings to your unit. The second is the mix of armour in the unit. They still look uniform but it gives your unit a little bit of variety, and lore wise works with the state of the Adeptus Astartes are in right now.

You can view the spures below:

The last time I painted classic back banners I hadn’t dared to try transfers yet, so they always looked a little meh. Nowadays though, I am very comfortable with transfers, and I’m really pleased on how they look on that banner. Nice fun unit to paint, and the different armour types mixes the painting up a little which is cool.

Rules wise, the two key abilities for the Intercessors are:

• Bolter Discipline: This unit gets +1 to Hit with Shooting when in range of an objective or if the target enemy unit is within range of an objective.
• Tactical Mainstay: Being engaged/battle shocked does not prevent this unit from being eligible to start an action, and can also shoot whilst doing an action.

Vanguard Veterans

The final multipart release is the Vanguard Veterans, which Matt has kindly painted to go with his ever growing White Scars army. He really enjoyed putting these together, and made full use of the new shields.

Wondering what exactly is on the sprue?

Matt has done a superb job of painting these!

On the charge they get +1 Attacks, which is nice, and the Combat Shields you can now equip them with grants them a 5+ invulnerable save.

Land Speeder

As well as the new kits, we also get individual releases for the Land Speeder from the Armageddon Launch box.

No new options here, but still a fantastic kit, of which Matt has also added to his White Scars.

It still has the Purgation Run ability, allowing it to move up to D6″ after Shooting, albeit then cannot charge. Does now have the Deep Strike keyword though!

Eradicators with Heavy Bolters

Again, another separate release from the Armageddon box. Still a great unit, and I do wonder if we will see a multipart Eradicators sprue in the future with all weapon options.

Overlapping Destruction allows this unit to gain the Blast 1 keyword when shooting at one target.

No Combat Patrol?

A staple of the previous Codexes from 10th Edition was the inclusion of rules for Combat Patrol, which in essence is Warhammer 40k on the smallest scale it supports. 

As the full rules for Combat Patrol, including all the faction specific rules, are free in the 40k mobile app, it appears GW have decided against including them again in the 11th Edition Codexes, to help keep the size of the book down. 

Summary

First and foremost I’m loving the new format of the books. I like the change to softback and its more compact size. It feels easier to take with you to games and most importantly of all I like the new pricing. Codexes were way too expensive, and whilst I’m not saying £25 is cheap (especially when you consider the number of companies switching to free online rules) it certainly is a lot more palatable. 

Space Marines feel like the Elite army they always should have been. The book contains a wide variety of detachments, each with flavour, that provide a true pick and mix approach to building your army. Want to go themed? Go for it. Want to just pick out the units you like and have some cool rules to accompany them? Go nuts. 

IMO you don’t miss the units that have been sent to Legends. You still have a large variety of different units to field, with each datasheet feeling like it brings something else to the table in a way Space Marines should be doing. 

I’ve been waiting ages for the multipart Outriders, and I am so pleased I now have some for my Iron Ravens force, as well as a new Captain to accompany them. The new Intercessor kit is nice, with a welcome return of the back banner, but when compared to the wave of Ork stuff we’ve just had, you cannot help but feel a little underwhelmed. 

Still, this is a solid book which I cannot wait to take to many games. Cannot wait for the rest of the Factions to get the new Codex treatment.