With the new edition of Warhammer 40000 coming later this month, I decided to take a look at the current state of each of my armies at the end of 8th edition and what I’m looking forward to for them in 9th edition.
After starting 8th edition with my Death Guard and Fulminators armies, I decided to start an entirely new army in mid 2018. Astra Militarum offered a very different army than elite space marines or fast-moving eldar, so I decided to start building a Cadian force.
Army Overview
I initially went with the Cadian regimental doctrine to match my miniatures. None of the customizable combinations of traits from The Greater Good really jumped out at me, so I’ll likely keep running the army as Cadians for the time being.
My Cadian army has two Company Commanders as its HQs. Their primary offering to the army is issuing orders to boost the effectiveness of the other infantry units in the army. When building lists, I also have the option to use one of my Leman Russ tanks as a Tank Commander. That gives a nice boost to one tank’s ballistic skill and opens up tank orders to help the tanks more.
For Troops, the army has three Infantry Squads. Because the Cadian regiment favors being stationary, I decided to give each squad a heavy weapon team in addition to a special weapon. Two of the squads have autocannons and grenade launchers. The third has a missile launcher that offers a bit more versatility and a flamer. When I need a squad to be more mobile, I generally use that third one since the flamer is useful at short range and frag missiles feel a little more forgiving on the move-and-shoot penalty than autocannons.
For Elites, the army has a Command Squad and a unit of Veterans. The Command Squad can use its standard and medi-pack to boost any units nearby, and one of its guardsmen is equipped with a sniper rifle to let him try to pick wounds off of enemy characters. One sniper rifle isn’t much, but if it manages to get a wound or two that can be useful against armies with weaker support characters. The Veterans on the other hand carry a lot of special weapons and are often tasked with riding forward in a Chimera to try to claim a contested objective.
The army has a Hellhound as its only Fast Attack unit. The Hellhound’s inferno cannon works around the army’s relatively poor ballistic skill and is great at threatening infantry units. I went with a multi-melta for its secondary weapon so that it could offer some anti-tank shooting. In one game, I managed to hit an enemy space marine captain with it while firing overwatch, and that experience alone has made the multi-melta worth it.
For Heavy Support, I have two tanks and a Heavy Weapons Squad. The first Leman Russ is built as a Battle Tank with a battle cannon, a lascannon, and two heavy bolters. My second Leman Russ is an Executioner with plasma cannons in its side sponsons and a lascannon. Both offer a lot of firepower. The Heavy Weapons Squad has a trio of mortars so that it can hide out of sight while still targeting enemy infantry units.
Into the New Edition
I think the new edition’s core rules will be good for the Cadian 187th. The Leman Russ tanks and Hellhound will benefit from no longer taking penalties with their secondary weapons when moving. Both tanks main weapons should also be more effective against infantry with the blast rules which will make them more versatile.
Expansion Possibilities
This army has been sitting at about 1000 points for a while as I’ve focused on expanding other forces. I’d like to add both more varieties of tanks and more infantry to the army, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. For tanks, I like collecting the different main weapons for variety with a Vanquisher, a Demolisher, and a Punisher high on my wish list. For infantry, I think it would be good to add some Infantry Squads without special weapons to act as more mobile units that can march up the battlefield. With the changes to heavy weapons, I’m also tempted to add some Sentinels. Since they couldn’t move and shoot efficiently in 8th edition, I hadn’t bought any even though I like the models, but now they could offer an option for mobile heavy weapon units.
Of all my armies, this one is the most likely to be expanded into a brigade detachment. I’d only need one more HQ, one more Elites, three Troops, and a pair of Fast Attack options. That could be a dedicated Tank Commander, thee Infantry Squads, two Sentinels, and something to fill the Elites slot like a Commissar or a Bullgryn squad. I expect that could all fit without pushing the army too high in points but I’ll need to see the new points values to be sure.
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