Thursday, August 13, 2009

What would I want in a new Codex for Witchhunters

I have been thinking about this recently since I have been playing Sisters again and have some more experience with one of the new generation Codexs (CSMs). So this got me thinking about what would be cool for a new WitchHunters Codex.

Sisters are not a crippled army in 5th edition. Of course there are some costs imbalances and such but they are not unplayable. There are a couple things though that are needed for them and that I would love to see in a new Codex.

New Acts of Faith: I would keep the system even though you are limited by the number of faith points but I think its fun in a way. The one act that could be cool is granting "Blessed Ammo" to the squad. Other than that I think the mechanics are pretty cool. I could also see having an Act that grants Eternal Warrior an IC for a turn just so your Canoness cant get one shotted.

Unit costs: Overall they aren't bad now. Maybe bring the Rhinos in line with the SM and CSM rhinos so make them cost 35. Also maybe bring down the costs of meltas, storm bolters and flamers in line with the SM costs just cause they are pretty pricey. The Repentia's and Penitents could use some cost adjustments as well since right now they are pretty much worthless. Actually those units IMHO need complete rewrites or should be tossed out the airlock.

New HQs: I would love to see new named IC's for the Sisters. Why not have a named Sister that is the master of Seraphim and makes your Seraphims troops or something. Or a Living Saint that allows you to add in Fanatics to your troop list for next to nothing. I could see some awesome possibilities there that could be really cool. There are also some great opportunities that they could do with Inquisitors but they are too many to get into here.

Fast Attackers: Seraphim are pretty cool how they are done today and I don't know if they need many changes. Dominions for sure need some help. Why not make them Outflankers., There are tons of units out there that can outflank and I cant see why they cant not be the Sister's Chosen.

Troops: I really dont see too many problems for Sisters. Of course the Rhino costs need to be adjusted but they are pretty cool right now and have some great abilities. Inquistor Stormtroopers on the other hand seem worthless to me. Why would you get them when you can get a Sister for 1 more point and she has a Bolter and Power Armor. The only reason that I can think of is to use a smaller Stormtrooper squad to throw into an Immolator and then make it a scoring unit.
Elites: Celestines should have the ability to get Blessed Ammo for all their guns. They should be the Sister's Sternguard. It makes total sense and they should also have more than 2 special weapons. They arent a scoring unit and are supposed to be the Uber Sisters. Assassins I wouldnt change much except maybe give them some sorta frag grenade just so that they can charge guys in cover. Repentia's are the unit that really needs help. I don't really know what you could do for these girls except maybe cut down the costs and let them spend faith points. That way they would be a lot more brutal and would have some numbers to absorb all the fire

Heavies: Reducing the costs on Retributors would make them way cooler. Having the MMeltas cost 25 and Hvy Bolters cost 15 just blows. They are not a cost effective unit compared to an Exorcist at all. Immolators are sort of a lame Hvy choice but I have seen some crazy list Spamming with Immolators so I could see how they can be pretty sick. For the Exorcists I think they got it dead on and would hate to see it nerfed. I think they should make the missiles "blessed" to deny cover but all my friends would really hate them even more.

I know its a pipedream these days but I would love to see an Inquistion Codex with all three Ordos combined. It would be pretty awesome to see all the Orders Militant completely modelled out and I think would bring a lot of people to a very underused army.

5 comments:

  1. wow another SOB player that thinks like me. I totally agree with the Celestians blessed ammo, Repentias need fixing in a bad way (my friend says either an Invul save or generates faith but can't use faith). Troops I think more zealots instead of a Stormtrooper squad. Dominions need something I agree but scouting is not a fluffy idea for sisters.

    WAR009

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  2. If Repentia's cost around 15 points and could use faith but not generate any, that would be pretty awesome. Throwing an invul save on em as they run through fire would be great and then get them in for the Eviserators.

    I would love to field 20 Repentia's and just run them straight at opponents for the entertainment value.

    Dominions I was thinking should be like CSM Chosen and just be able to drive in. I cant think of anything else and it would be nice for Sisters to have a way to get behind their opponents.

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  3. You've got good ideas there; I agree with most of them. I don't know if Seraphim need to have an IC option to make them troops, I would settle for the option of making them elites instead.

    WAR 009 mentions zealots; the White Dwarf article about them was interesting. I could see them as similar to IG conscripts. Their whole mission would be a footmobile shield to slow down horde armies from assaulting the Sisters. If they got "Move Move Move" like the Guard does they'd be almost as fast as vehicles! I can see opponents shouting "Cheese!" if that happens...

    Speaking of troop choices, I think GW is going to change the =I= stormtroopers to be just like the IG stormies. I can't imagine ever taking those guys again, they are a touch too expensive as it is.

    I'd like an expanded look at Order leadership and organization. The codex mentions Canoness Commander, Canoness Preceptor, and Canoness Superior ranks. I imagine a C Superior would be similar to a Marine Chapter Master. You could in theory model all the combat forces of a Marine chapter using the Marine codex, I'd like to have that option too.

    Inquisitors are going to get Valkyries as a transport option, is there any doubt of that?

    One last thing: I'd like to see all the rules for a given unit together on one page. I strongly dislike flipping through the Guard codex where the fluff and abilities are in one place, unit costs in another, and weapon strengths in a third. Something like Apocalypse datasheets would be much appreciated.

    "Plasma" Ken

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  4. The entire inquisition should be available at disposal..and the return of the Ordo Malleus should be brought back in the form of IC's...similar to what marines get. The Ordo were INSANELY scary in the Rogue Trader days. That glory is long lost.

    As far as sisters go. Great thoughts..but Exorcists need to be increased in cost to be brough in line with other armor out there now.

    It really is a glaring ommission to have the Astartes revised but not the core of the empire. Well one part is with the guard...but the Inquisitors is a glaring omission.

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  5. Ya, I could see them boosting the Exorcists costs or maybe have some options that are "must haves" that put them in line.

    But the main thing these inquisition armies scream for is IC's that bring a ton of character to the army. The IG and SM codex do a great job of creating IC's that are straight up game changers.

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