Codex : Space Marines review

I've played a fair few games under this new codex and finally I feel that I have a reasonable handle on it now. This here is my review. I'm not going to worry about the fluff as I think I can assume we all know it.

The Adeptus Astartes special rules.
The Combat Squads special rule is still in and I still find it a weak option. Don't do it. I hear arguments that it lets a squad hold two objectives rather than one, and that is worth doing it. I disagree. All this does is allow your small squad to die easier to shooting and assault as your opponent will have weight of dice. It just means your squad will die quicker and sooner. Combat Squad, don't do it.

The Warlord Traits seem fairly average. Only Angel of Death stands out as being really worth it. None of them are bad options but personally I would rather stick to those from the core rulebook than use these.

A new twist introduced in this book are the chapter tactics. Much like the special characters of the last book this codex gives you new abilities based upon your chapter or it's founding chapter. Some are better than others. The Ultramarines CT have never come up in one of my games (my marines are UM successors) so pointless but free. Iron Hands on the other hand is awesome, and I am very tempted to change my primary to an IH and use my UM successors as allies.

Allies I heard you say? Yep. You can ally two space marine chapters providing they have different chapter tactics. I like this a lot.

Chapter Relics are a bit of a joke in this book. They are either too expensive and will never see use or they have a drawback that means they won't ever see use. Allow me to point you to The Burning Blade. The BB is a +3 str, AP 2 melee weapon with blind and incandescent. Looks good so far, but incandescent means that when used in melee there is a chance that the model carrying it takes a S4 AP2 hit. So, I can have a basically a +3st relic blade but it hurts me on a roll of a 1? That can stay in the book. I don't see me use any of these.

HQ: Special Characters.
The special characters are quite nice but for the most part I still think they are over costed when compared to a generic HQ option. The main exception to that is Tigurius who is a real monster with his Master Psyker ability pretty much guaranteeing his choice of psychic powers before a game.

Special characters are now tied to their chapter or founding chapter so you won't find Tigurius in a Salamanders or White Scars list, for example. I like this as it does help make sure that chapters are fielded with more fluff.

HQ:
Chapter masters and captains are good options. I prefer the captain at the moment over the master personally. Still no terminator bodyguards though which is disappointing. They used to have these a long time ago and I would like to see them return.

The Librarian has become a firm favourite under this codex. I don't like that we don't get the divination discipline. I'd happily swap out biomancy which I don't think is in keeping with space marines anyway.

Chaplains seem ok though I've never been a big fan of them. Only played one once under this codex and he did ok. I'd rather stick to a captain or librarian now though.

The Master of the Forge is still in and seems to be the same as in the previous codex. Only tried a couple times and will probably keep for odd occasions rather than be a common addition.

Troops.
The Tactical squad is still the main stay of the space marines and with the addition of grav weapons have become a little better in my eyes. Still no chainsword as standard or as an option which what I am still waiting for. Come on GW, these guys need these to be worthwhile in close combat!

Scouts are still handy and I think an addition of a squad is worth while in every game. Cheaper than they were is a bonus. Scouts are the only option where I think combat squading isn't such a bad idea but only to offer sniper support in different corners of the table.

If you are playing as Black Templars then you have the option of taking a Crusader Squad, which is basically your old troop choice from when they had a codex. I don't see the point since you can now take a regular tactical squad which as far as I can see is better than this.

Dedicated Transports.
The Rhino... AKA automatic "first blood" VP to your opponent. I really want to use these but they are so easy to crump that you are just giving your opponent a free VP. Tough call.

The Razorback has gone up in points when pretty much everything else in the book dropped points. I've heard it suggested that it was because tournament players spammed them but that is no reason to make them more expensive. GW, you want people buying your models right?

Drop Pod's are the choice where I have a love/hate relationship. I can't deny how good they are on paper and when other people play them but for me they seem a waste of time. You need to spam them it seems to make it worth while.

The Land Speeder Storm has now become a dedicated transport option for scout squads. Nice idea but I don't rate them.

Elites.
Vanguard Veterans have been brought over to the Elites sections with a slight points dip. I like them but I find I want to field other options more. If playing a really high point game then these guys come into their own. I really want to field a full squad with jump packs, grav-pistols and storm shields and have them waltz through the enemy.

Sternguard are still too expensive in my opinion. They need to be brought down in line with tactical squads. It seems, much like with the HQs, that points have been added to their cost to represent the corner of the FoC they come from. I don't like that.

Dreadnoughts are another option I want to like but get destroyed far too easily. I still hold to the idea that they should be monstrous creatures just like wraithlords and dreadknights. At least Venerable has dropped enough points that it is worth considering.

Ironclad Dreadnoughts...don't know. Never felt right using them last codex when there are terminators which can do the job.

Legion of the Damned. I still like these guys but they are another unit which are expensive and thus I look elsewhere. Not to say they haven't done well.

The basic Terminator squad... I am trying to reuse these and I do like them but they just die far too easily usually to small arms fire. For the points you pay I want them to last a lot longer and get a chance to do their job.

Assault Terminators are still my favourite Elites option even with the unnecessary points increase to thunder hammers and storm shields. Thumbs up.

The Assault Centurions are a new unit and quite frankly I think they are utterly pointless. When you have assault terminators why on earth do you need these? No invulnerable and can't really fit in any vehicles due to being very bulky. Don't bother.

Fast Attack.
Assault Squads, I like them but I want them as a troops choice not a fast attack. Blood Angels them as troops so why not the rest of us?

Land Speeders are an option I don't see used very often any more. I certainly haven't field them since mid-5th edition. I think with the addition of flyer's to 6th edition that these units have been left on the shelf.

The Stormtalon has finally made the proper codex. I am a fan of this unit but only when loaded up as an anti-infantry aircraft.

Bike, Assault Bike and Scout Bikes are options I really want to get around to using again. So far bikes haven't done me well and they keep driving off the table edge.

Heavy Support.
I still find Devastator Squads too expensive. I like them but there are other options that I think warrant more attention from other slots of the FoC. Having these is a boost to the Black Templars as they can now take them where as before they didn't really have much option for a heavy weapon squad.

Another new unit is the Centurion Devastators. I really want to like these but they don't play as well as I hoped they would. They really need an invulnerable save, even just a 6+ as well. I need to try them out a few more times.

The Thunderfire Cannon is an option I really want to try. I didn't under 5th because I couldn't put the awful metal model together without lacerating my fingers. Now we have a resin version I may well give it a go as it is a great option.

The usual HS options of Predator, Whirlwind, and Vindicator are still here. Every so often I do dig these out and give them a try but they just don't survive long enough. It is a real complaint for me that vehicles don't survive long enough any more.

The Hunter and the Stalker are new anti-air units. On paper I don't think they are great. Although 70 and 75 points respectively, they just aren't as good as the Aegis Defence Line with quad autocannon. I'd take that any day over these two.

The three Land Raider variants are still in and are the only vehicle options I think in this book have any chance of surviving a battle. The Redeemer is still my favoured choice out of the three.

Lastly, we have the Stormraven finally in the proper codex. Another big thumbs up though I have yet to build and use mine. I did proxy one or two games and was pleased with it.

----

My overall thoughts are that we have a better codex than last time but only because the points reductions allow for the possibility of an extra squad or two that we didn't have last time. That is a good boost. But I am still going to grumble though because we are still lacking reasonable close combat (tactical squads *need* chainswords as standard), and we don't have any means of delivering long range firepower (the Eldar Wraithknight screws us in this regard). I still think every other army out there out manoeuvres, out shoots and out assaults us. The codex still feels like a beginners book. Get new players into the game, let them see how crap the book is and then they spend their money on other "better" armies.

At least it is better than what we space marine players have had previously.

Initial thoughts

Played my first game with the new Space Marine codex yesturday against my friend Muffin and his Dark Angels. Now I don't have any of the new units yet so I can't say what they are like just yet.

So, what did the new book do for me? Well, the points reductions throughout the book helped me take a command squad for my captain and a second dreadnought. This means that in a 1750pt game like we played I could in theory fit another marine unit in somewhere which is what I have been asking for for quite some time.

Secondly, I proxied some plasmaguns for gravguns to test them out (I was expecting to play against his CSM not terminator heavy DA). I hadn't been impressed with these too much in the book but by jingo they were awesome. First turn, one gravgun took out half a bike squad, and the other dealt a crippling strike to a unit of terminators which struck in on the second turn. They more than made themselves worthwhile and will be seeing future use in my army. But saying that, they are great if you know you are facing MEQs but random pick up games make them a poor choice.

In the next couple weeks I am planning a trip over to GW for some of the new toys and I can give my thoughts on them after play.

Yay!

My copy of the new Space Marine codex arrived late this afternoon. An initial look through seems ok. I may have been sold on the Centurian Devastators but we'll see. I'll try and get a review up by the weekend.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this book is better than the last.

Codex: Eldar and Iyanden supplement review

 

 

So, I have finally finished the new Eldar codex and played a game against it (which I lost by the way). This is my review of that book.

 

The first thing to comment on is the awesome detailed history of the Eldar. If only the Tau codex had this much detail I might have been more pleased with it but never mind. A huge chunk of the book is made up of this history which goes into some real depth on the race. One thing that struck me as I finished it, is that Games Workshop seem to have completely retconned the whole Blackstone Fortress stuff as it has no mention what so ever, not even in Eldrad's description. Rather dissapointing but if it is being ignored than it may stop be grumbling that Eldrad should be dead and not in the codex.

 

As for the new special rules, Eldar now have Ancient Doom which gives them hatred towards anything with a mark of Slaanesh but also gives them -1 leadership against anything with said mark. They also have Battle Focus which allows them to run then shoot or shoot then run in the shooting phase. This was a pain to me in my test game and I knee jerked against it but time will tell as the new codex gets played.

 

The Eldar have been balanced in the psychic area. They are now longer the overpowered psychic force. Farseers and Spiritseers now get two new disciplines to choose from in addition to those from the rulebook; Runes of Battle and Runes of Fate. What makes these nice is that each power has two powers you can use. Again, these are much more balanced.

 

On to the units...

 

HQ.

There Eldar still have a huge chunk of special characters to choose from. The new one is Illic Nightspear, a Necron hating ranger type who upgrades rangers into pathfinders. All in all these seemed appropriately points costed despite being monsters on the battlefield. I still think Eldrad will be the only one (other than the Avatar of Khaine) to be played.

 

Troops.

Dire Avengers are still my top choice in the troops department even though Guardians seem to have a slight boost. I just don't see Guardians being worth the time, just as I thought under the last codex. Guardian Defenders with weapon platforms, Storm Guardians, Windriders and Rangers make up the rest of this slot.

Wave Serpents remain the troop transport and I have to agree with many Eldar players that it was dissapointing there wasn't an option to make this an assault vehicle.

 

Elites.

Fire Dragons and Harlequins are the best options in my mind from the typical Elite options. I don't expect Striking Scorpions to make much of an appearence, and since Eldar players are hung up on an inability to spud Terminators I don't think you'll see Howling Banshees unless they know who they are going up against.

Wraithguard however will always see use I think. They are still just as good as ever. Wraithblades, however, are just going to be avoided by most I think to be worthwhile. Wraithguard can at least shoot. Both can be taken as Troops though if you have a Spiritseer.

 

Fast Attack.

Still not impressed by Swooping Hawks. If Skyleap worked differently then I might think otherwise but they just don't seem to do much on the battlefield. Warp Spiders, on the other hand, are a real nuisence. They caused me much trouble in my test game against this codex. Not that they did much damage but I had to keep an eye on them and they kept me occupied when I should have been focussing forwards. Shining Spears and Vypers are ok but haven't seen them played as yet.

Eldar get two new flyers in this codex; Crimson Hunter and the Hemlock Wraithfighter. My regular Eldar opponent dislikes them for base armour and no permanent invulnerable saves. The Crimson Hunter certainly seems to be the better option in my mind. The Hemlock is too short range to be too effective. I don't like the models though. The Forge World planes looked a lot better.

 

Heavy Support.

Dark Reapers are still a fantastic choice from this slot, as are Fire Prisms and Falcons. The weapon support platforms, now called Vaul's Wrath Support Batteries are about the same. The Night Spinner has been made better since it appeared in White Dwarf a few years ago. The monofilament Doomspinner has been improved and locally is being called pseudo-rending.

I found War Walkers better. The weapon options are the same points costs so no longer will have to deal with just swarms of these armed with scatterlasers, which pleased me as a space marine player. This also helps make War Walkers more versatile on the battlefield.

This just leaves us with Wraithlords and the new Wraithknight. Wraithlords (and Wraithguards) no longer need a Spiritseer guide either, which is a nice improvement. The Wraithknight is a nice model, though it looks too fat to be Elder IMO, but at £70 each I don't expect to see many.

 

Over all I think this is a nice codex, and a more balanced approach than the last one. I think they will still always win any game if they know what codex they are going up against.

 

Which brings me to the Iyanden codex supplement. Oh boy, where do I start with this?

 

If you are a collector like me, then this is a nice addition if an expensive one. If you are looking at this for a addition to the Eldar codex, then save your money. The Iyanden supplement is simply a history guide with pages devoted to showcasing painted models. The actual rule additions are almost pointless. Iyanden gets a single new psychic power, their own warlord traits and artifacts. There are now changes to the FOC just an increase to the number of Spiritseers you can have and a Wraithknight or Wraithlord can be your Warlord.

 

A waste of money completely.

Initial thoughts on the new eldar codex

A couple nights ago I had my first game against the new Eldar codex. it was only 1000pts because I want to learn it too without getting too crushed. It is interesting but still infuriating.

* Eldar are no longer overpowered psykers thank the Emperor! They felt much more balanced without the old psychic powers.

* Battle Focus (Shoot then run or run then shoot) is not nice. Eldar did not need this even though it feels thematic to them.

* It does seem that the new codex has forced a change to the usual army build which is nice. My opponent played vehicles that haven't seen for ages (fire prism) or made changes which I found more fair (bright lances on war walkers rather than scatter lasers).

He played wraithblades but they didn't see much action as I smashed them with TH/SS terminators but against MEQs they will be nasty.
My opponent didn't field flyers because even if he had the points he felt that they were a waste of space. he felt that AV 10 and no Inv save made them unplayable.

Initial thoughts before I sit down to read the codex is that in areas they have been balanced out but in others they are just as strong if not better.

Over the weekend I plan on reading the new codex and coming back with a proper review.

Codex: Iyanden

Tau Empire codex review

A bit more rambly than I had intended but it has been a while in coming and needed to get out there.

Eldar - Thumbs Down?

I have only just ordered my Eldar codex but so far I'm not hearing good things about it. If you have it, what are your thoughts?

More Eldar Previews

 

 

I have to be honest and say that I am not a fan of that aircraft design, especially in the picture where you can see the underside. Reminds me too much of the cheap plastic toys I had as a kid.

Eldar Knight?

Is this the new Eldar Knight that so many rumours have been talking about lately? Not long till we find out.

Tau preordered

The Tau Empire codex is up for preorder now and mine has been ordered. Looking forward to this so that my Demiurg (Mantic's Forgefathers line of minis) can get fielded at last (proxying them for Tau).

Tau codex teaser

Chaos Daemons Codex review

I'm not sure what to make of the new codex for the daemons. The last one was quite easy to gauge and plan lists around. This time I think it isn't quite so easy, which is both good and bad, plus I'm sure part of it is not being a daemons player myself.

First off, I couldn't get into the background fluff section of the book. It doesn't read as well as the prior two codexes. I found it a real slog and quite frankly not very interesting. Plus, it still doesn't explain how the supposed "physical" locations like Slaanesh's palace or the Skull Throne exist in a dimension of pure thought and emotion. Games Workshop could do with giving that a better explaination otherwise I want to see ships crash into them.

Anyway, let us get to the meat of the book.

Deep Strike has become an optional tool for the army now. It was a pain in the last codex but a fair balance for how good that book was. Now I can see other than a few options this army is going to be a footslogging horde much like the Tyranids are.

Daemonic Instability has returned. Now it works like morale tests after the assault phase except that you could easily lose a lot of models depending who you have just been fighting. Lesser daemons don't have a great leadership for this so you are relying on winning close combat.

A Warp Storm table has been added to the game too which gets rolled on the Daemons' players turn. It feels like a random element too far in a game already filled to overflowing in random elements. Half are good and half are bad but this is an element that I don't feel should have been added, even as some kind of balancing factor.

Next up for me are the psychic powers. Thankfully these are psychic now not sorcery, so you can get a Deny the Witch roll. The disciplines of plague and excess are not bad. However I feel that no one will take the discipline of change for the most part because of the Warpflame special rule. All the discipline of change powers (and Flamers of Tzeentch) have this and it wrecks the powers. If the unit hit by the Warpflame survives the unit makes a Toughness test. Fail and you lose more models with no save. Pass and the Tzeentch daemons have just given you a 6+ FNP for the rest of the game, or +1 to it if you already had it. I just can't see many people playing that.

On to the options...

HQ's.There are still three special characters for greater daemons; Skarbrand, Kairos and Ku'gath. Why isn't there a Slaanesh one? Don't know but I feel there should be one. Skarbrand and Ku'gath seem fair though at their points you won't want them in typical size games (1500-1750pts). As for Kairos, he seems way overcosted and I can't see where his points really come from. Plus I was dissapointed that his fluffy "runs away when wounded" rule has gone. That was part and parcel of the character and seems wrong to see it go.
The generic greater daemons seem fine though does a Bloodthirster really need I9? It's all rage, not speed and finesse like a Keeper of Secrets.
The daemon princes are identical stat and pointswise to their CSM counterparts, though the options are more limited, plus they have the daemonic instability rule.

The Heralds seem fine and reasonably pointed but I feel Skulltaker and Epidemius are the real winners here. You won't want Tzeentch because of warpflame and I don't think the Slaanesh options are strong enough. Nurgle on the other hand seem to have become a very viable option.

Troops.
Lesser daemons have had a reduction in strength and toughness to make them more balanced and fair. I approve of this. Shame that some still have issues good and bad.
* Bloodletters are still the primary choice because GW let them keep their AP3 hellblades. AP4/5 I might have said were ok, but I still don't like power weapons as standard on a troop choice.
* Pink Horrors may see use but again using warpflame makes me think you won't unless they are spammed as the primary troop option.
* Plaguebearers have moved up in my mind as a good troop option. Space marine toughness means that they can still be used to bog units down but they won't be too tough to handle.
* Nurglings... not convinced.
* Daemonettes are very much a waste now, but then they were last time too. Strength 3 rending isn't worth it and yet I keep seeing people suggest these as the means of handling terminators and 2+ save models. Khorne and Nurgle have won the troops section in my mind.

Elites.
* Bloodcrushers are the only elite option I think is viable. They are a reasonable choice.
*Flamers at least have lost AP3 which is a blessing. They didn't need that and it was overpowered. Everyone took Flamers. They also have warpflame making them less desirable.
* Beasts of Nurgle and Fiends of Slaanesh are really meh. I really don't see the point to these outside of a fluffy single god list.
Overall I think the elites section is uninteresting other than the bloodcrushers.

Fast Attack.
* Fleshounds are a nice option if you know you are up against low armour units and/or against psychic heavy lists like Eldar.
* Screamers are still a nuisence. They should really be killed if they destroy a vehicle. But that is a bias to be fair.
* Plague Drones are the new toy for this section and I really like these. Nurgle wins out again with some jet pack cavalry.
* Chaos Furies... nothing special but now they can take marks of a chaos god. I thought the point of furies was that they are the forms of chaos worshippers who didn't choose a specific god to follow?
* Seekers again seem like a naff choice on paper. Never seen these played under 40K and still don't expect to.
* Hellflayer of Slaanesh... a big old chariot pulled by Seekers. Doesn't really fit the 40K universe in my mind (see later) but fair enough. Will have to see what these are like if anyone plays one locally.
Nurgle wins the FA section too by looks of it.

Heavy Support.
* Soul Grinders are now a must IMO, as the only option in the codex that has Skyfire options. With the amount of flyers these days daemon players will have to use up a slot for this.
* Skullcannon / Blood Throne. I really dislike these. Not because of what they do because (a) the models are hideous, and (b) these belong in Warhammer Fantasy. It doesn't fit the science fiction game. Daemons are not about tanks but horde. As it stand though, the Skullcannon looks like a nice unit on paper though I fully expect one these on the table to take a shedload of fire from turn 1.
* Seeker Chariot / Exalted Chariot. Don't rate these, not when you have soul grinders and the skull cannon.

My final thoughts are that this is a very odd codex now. In areas it seems more balanced and fair but in others I wonder what the designers were thinking (looking at warpflame here mainly), and why add Fantasy style things in rather than something new in the lines of the soul grinder.
This is still going to be a tough codex to deal with but not nearly as horrid as its predecessor was.

Chaos Daemons codex - first thoughts

I've finally found time to read through the new codex and I'm somewhat confused by it. Quite a bit has changed. Stats have dropped on a fair few units, weapons have changed and so on. I understood the last codex but now I haven't a clue what you would field now other than having to take a Soul Grinder (for skyfire) pretty much now.

I did get a sense that it is a much more balanced codex than it was before, though still annoyed at the amount of AP3 weaponry available. Going to need another couple reads I think before I can do my video review,

Dark Angels codex review

WD codexes?

Lately I've been reading rumours that the 6th edition Black Templars and Chaos Daemons codexes are going to be White Dwarf codexes rather than physical books. I certainly hope that this isn't going to be the case.

It has the problem that once the issue has gone out of circulation then new players can't get a hold of the codex, and potentially be stuck with an out of date codex since GW don't seem interested in putting the WD codexes up online as PDF's like they used to.

I'm going to keep an ear out on this and hope that it isn't true.

Grey Knight codex review

Codex comparrisons - part 3

Sisters of Battle.
All I can say about this army list is that it desperately needs a proper codex and not a white dwarf article. At the moment it is woefully lacking in everything. They don't have enough options for vehicles, no flyers and not enough options for their infantry choices. Under 6th they should probably be put away until GW give them a proper book.

Space Marines.
The Space Marines have gained something this time around! Yay! Moving and firing a heavy weapon, being able to overwatch and the host of new psychic disciples have bumped up their playability now. Their tanks are more survivable under the hull point system though you do have to adapt your thoughts to rhinos and realise that they are there to get you half way up the table now. If they survive then yay. Obviously this applies to the other space marine codex as well but I included it here because it is a boost for this codex. Since 6th I have had much more luck and won more games than I ever did under 5th. The changes have been good for them. Tactical squads still need close combat weapons or the option to take them though.

Space Wolves.
This army was a nightmare under 5th and have got worse under 6th. Although the new edition has made the right move and favours shooting over combat, Space Wolves are still IMO the best close combat army in the game. It's for this reason that they are the commonest ally I see taken by other players.
They get so many options for weapon load outs that they can almost cherry pick like Eldar do. Their rune priests can deny the witch in an area on a 4+ which is just crazy. Long Fangs can split fire with heavy weapons which is a huge bonus.
I think 6th edition has done this codex very well.

Tau Empire.
Under 5th the Tau army has always been a one trick pony - they sit back and shoot with scary accuracy. Close combat screwed them severly and that was an opponents saving grace. 6th edition has changed that. The codex still desperately needs an update but can now hold it's own a lot more. Overwatch has helped stem the assault problems and they can pick vehicles apart a lot better. Much like with Space Wolves, I fully expect the Tau to end up relegated to the ally detachment until they get a new book.

Tyranids.
Under 5th the Tyranids were yet another nightmare to deal with. They don't have good shooting so they became crazy good at close combat, as you would expect. However I feel that they were made too good. The current codex did a nice job of toning them down and bringing them to an equal level with everyone else. The problem, once again, is that some units have become obsolete. Genestealers won't see use under 6th and why take carnifexes when trygons are a better option?
Overwatch has been a balancing factor for other armies but if you get into close combat with tyranids you can just count your unit as a speed bump.
Tyranids are still a really tough army to play against and have come through 6th edition in  a good way. As with many codexes, it will just take players time to work out what does and doesn't work any more. Like the hive, they'll have to adapt.

Codex comparrisons - part 2

Eldar.
The Eldar codex has always been a tough one to beat. Excellent shooty and some good assault based units. However, it has been impression (and that of many locally at the club) that if the Eldar player knows which codex he is up against next he should never lose because the Eldar codex is perfect for cherry picking exactly what you need. There are some units that are pointless, guardians and swooping hawks - I'm looking at you. Dire avengers are far far better option that guardians and warp spiders are a better choice than the hawks.
Under 6th I think that they are still very good but Eldar players are grumbling that they now have no anti-terminator weapons anymore and that banshees are now pointless. I disagree. Unless you are facing Dark Angels or Space Wolves you won't see that many terminators. Scorpions and banshees can still tear through regular troops with power armour or worse.

Grey Knights.
When this codex came out all you could hear about was how overpowered and cheesy they were. What people weren't realising was that this is very much an elite army meaning that they are expensive and you can't take everything. This is their balance. Anyone playing against them just needs to do their best to avoid close combat with them and gun them down with massed firepower, same as you would any power armour type opponent.
6th edition has made them better in close combat and given them some more useful options. For instance, until 6th I never saw anyone take the GK Librarian. Now they get a lot more play. The new edition has forced GK players to adapt a lot more than any other army has needed to I think.

Imperial Guard.
Under 5th this army was massed firepower and tanks. Under 6th it has become more mass firepower, less tanks and a lot more heavy weapons. The IG codex irks me at times because of the sheer number of shots that it can put out which can whittle down even a full power armoured army. It feels overbalanced and that seems to have been made worse by 6th somehow.
The biggest shift has definately been that vehicle heavy lists have been pushed to the back as they'll take so many shots that they'll fall apart under the hull point rules. The army is very much now a footslogging or stand and shoot infantry army with some limited heavy tank support. Overall the codex got worse in some areas, better in others and so basically stayed the same.

Necrons.
My thoughts on the Necron codex has been that it is a nice codex but isn't anywhere near as powerful as people want to make out. It does now have some good options but really it felt fair compared to everyone else. The only truely stupid additions was entropic strike, an ability that should have been rethought into a different mechanic.
Under 6th edition Necrons remaind balanced and are quite easy to defeat. This only changes when they take allies to cover their shortfalls. Much like dark eldar, this is what they need to do to remain competative IMO.

Orks.
I'm honestly not sure what to say about the Ork codex as I rarely played against it under 5th and I have had no chance to do so under 6th. The only thing that really comes to mind about the army under 6th is overwatch. When overwatching their ballistic skill doesn't change all that much so it's just like any shooting. Plus, burnaboyz when using their weapons as heavy flamers auto hit d3 hits per weapon. I can fully see certain weapon options and bikers being made more use of under 6th edition.

Codex comparrisons - part 1.

So, KhorneGuy suggested that I put forward my thoughts on how each codex was under 5th and now 6th. Not a bad idea so here goes. Bear in mind as always that this is a casual players point of view not a competative one.

Black Templars.
I have only played against the black templars once under 5th and that was right near the beginning of that edition. Still learning the changes between 4th and 5th my vanilla marines were defeated (though to be fair, my opponent was and still is a lot better than me).
Under 5th Black Templars were not too bad but I think they suffered the same problems that the vanilla codex did and that was that compared to everyone else they were too expensive and fewer options. The only thing going for them was land raider crusaders as dedicated transports thus allowing them to hold objectives with a scoring unit inside. They could also have close combat weapons in troop options which was a step up from the vanilla codex.
Under 6th I think they are now underpowered as they don't really gain the benefits that the vanilla marines got from the new edition and they lost the ability to hide in their land raiders on top of objectives. This codex really needs an update, though to be fair I think they should be dropped and just brought into the vanilla dex. I don't see that they bring anything new to the table.

Blood Angels.
A horrible tough army to beat under 5th and even worse now under 6th. Depending on the player I really don't enjoy many games against this codex ( *cough* my nephew *cough* ). There are far too many twinky options that just make them far far too killy. Under 5th furisos dreadnoughts in drop pods or carried under a stormraven were the bane of my marines. At least under 6th if I can't hurt it I can at least run away and try to let something else have a go.
I think Blood Angels have done rather well out of the new edition. The combat rules favour them and as an army built for close combat they do well out of it. With power armout it is still tough to drop them with overwatch.

Chaos Daemons.
When this codex first came out it was horribly broken and twinky, and it remained that way throughout 5th edition. The only time Chaos Daemons seemed to lose a game was when the player wasn't focused or when he was up against a much more canny opponent. Khorne themed lists were a must for the most part because they had power weapons on their bloodletter troops (why? *shakes fist*). Now they have lost a lot of that focus under 6th as power weapons can't drop terminators and everyone is afraid of terminators. The codex does need an update but I feel GW will just make them stupidly powerful again when they do.

Chaos Marines.
Under 5th CSM players grumbled like all hell about how weak this codex was. I think they were smoking something because while not very fluffy, this army was extremely powerful. Ten to twenty man squads with the close combat weapon and pistol bonus attacks already overpowered the pathetic space marine tactical squads. Daemon princes were far too powerful and two was a common deployment. Obliterators too. But in balance they had units such as bikers, raptors and havocs that no one ever took.
As the first codex of 6th I think we have a good idea where GW are taking codexes for this edition, and this time we have a nice balanced codex. The cost of units seems fair and nothing stood out as being too good. This probably means that CSM players will still grumble. As the new codex has only been out for a few weeks at this point I think it will be a while before we get a real idea of how this army now plays.

Dark Angels.
There are really only two ways to play Dark Angels, either terminators as troops or bikes as troops. No one ever plays the bike list. With terminators being the run to list for the codex now what with changes to power weapons under 6th I think this is all we will see until they get a new codex. The army suffers in only one regard right now in my opinion and that is the lack of a flyer and rumours seem keen to say that they won't get one in the new book.
Despite the lack these days of something unique to call their own I think the Dark Angel codex is still very viable, tough and fun to play.

Dark Eldar.
Dark Eldar were pants until they got their 5th edition codex and then they became a nice balanced army. They had strong points; good in close combat, decent initiative and excellent long range heavy weapons. However I feel that 6th edition has screwed them royally. Their vehicles are more fragile than ever as small arms fire can just glance them to destruction and overwatch has blunted their close combat prowess. These days I feel that the only real way for Dark Eldar to win is if they take allies to shore up their weaknesses. Shame as the codex under 5th had a nice feel to it.

To be continued...