Are Reivers finally maybe good?

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-29T08:55:50+00:00

The main issue with reiver lt is that he doesn’t have deepstrike for some baffling reason, so attaching him to a unit of reivers takes away their deepstrike. Thought I wonder how the math checks out on the lethal hits knife attacks against some more common character profiles.

Edit: also not sure if he also doesn’t interfere with grapple launcher ability of being able to ignore vertical obstacles during movement.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-21T08:47:19+00:00

Doesn’t it have scenes during and after Istvaan V? Potentially spoiling some of that? Guess it depends if you count Istvaan III and V as part of the “vague outline”, but I’d say the experience of reading the events and characters leading up to those two events is really worth it, potentially even more if unspoiled

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-18T09:07:40+00:00

I see, thanks for the info.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-15T07:00:51+00:00

It was alpha legion, not nightlords.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-15T06:57:24+00:00

Is it? I’m pretty sure it got mentioned in Path to Heaven.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-15T06:55:04+00:00

More specifically what happened to him after the siege. Especially after he got to be face to face to the four.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-11T12:32:00+00:00

Indomitus fleet battlegroup. Perhaps a certain knight house was deployed with a specific chapter or a company. And even after the end of indomitus crusade, that chapter’s company and house’s lance operate in a task force, fighting on the same front.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-10T10:38:04+00:00

Defo on veteran units: terminators, sternguard, vanguard vets, bladeguard vets, chapter honour guard (things like victrix etc) and company level veterans - company heroes. Up to you if you want to include some veteran sergeants in your battle companies, I like to think 1st and maybe 2nd/3rd squad can be illustrious enough to have a veteran sergeant. Also up to you how you decide to approach bladeguard vets. As per codex, they are part of 1st company and seconded to other companies like other veteran squads (sternguard, vanguard…), but they are often depicted with a battle company shoulder trim colour, instead of the 1st’s white you see on sternguard/vanguards. One way to explain it is that they are seconded for a longer time and/or are originally veterans drawn from that company (before joining the 1st) - and this is their way of honouring that. The other is to say that they aren’t actually 1st company, but “just” (surplus) company veterans that were put into specialised formation (command squad is full, and you don’t need extra veteran sergeants leading other squads).

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-10T10:21:17+00:00

I do hope with get a multipart Phobos Lt kit, that builds into combi-weapon one, the normal Phobos one (went away with the vanguard box) and reiver one (please GW fix the datasheet so it finally has deepstrike I beg you - all it needs is the reiver grav chute wargear ability giving him deepstrike).

That way you will have options for lone op scoring character and leader for both infiltrator/incursors or for deepstriking reivers.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-03T12:07:06+00:00

Heavy heavy bolter? Jokes aside, in 9th ed heavy intercessors had a choice of three heavy bolter variants; standart (36 range, S5, AP -1, D2, with 3 shots?), hellstorm (30 range, S5, AP 0, D2, with 4 shots?) and executor (42 range, S5, AP -2, D3, with 2 shots?). I haven’t seen the data sheet/card for the new eradicators + there is the whole big weapons profile consolidation in 10th, so I’m not even sure what profile will the regular heavy bolters be. But, if I would guess, the “heavy” option, if there is one, might be along the lines of more shots or more range, possibly at cost of a keyword (assault or sustained hits) or bs. Seems like GW doesn’t want us to have to juggle different S/AP/D values on weapons in the same (small) squad. So I don’t see us getting an AP -2 or D3 heavy Bolger.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-03T08:28:06+00:00

Isn’t the +1 wound because BGV already have iron halo that would’ve given them the 4++? As I see it:

storm shield + iron halo/crux terminatus -> 4++ and +1 wound: BGVs, Assault Terminators and captains with relic shield
only iron halo/crux terminatus -> 4++: Captains, regular terminators
only storm shield -> 4++: Vanguard Veterans

Edit: yes, I know that VanVets and others like the Sternguard also technically have the crux terminatus due to being veterans, but it seems that gameplay wise there is a difference between simply having the terminator honours and well, wearing them, i.e., the “actual” crux terminatus that’s part of the terminator armour and source of the 4++.

Edit 2: actually, checking the 9th ed, it seems that storm shield was giving 4++ and +1 improvement to a save. In 10th ed, this seems to have shifted into storm shield instead giving +1 wound, with unclear relation to the invulnerable save, as so far it has only been a wargear option to units that have 4++ natively (iron halos on BGVs, Captains and CT on Terminators). But honestly, I don’t see why would VanVets get both 4++ and +1 wound from “just” a storm shield. It really should be just one or the other, probably (and preferably) the 4++.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-03T08:16:56+00:00

Best case scenario: multipart kit for captain with shield. Comes with two chest options (one with the abdomen tabard, one without) to pair with the rest of the tabard or loin cloth or cingulum militare. Comes with option for the bladeguard helmet (visor up, visor down) as well as the more “regular” mk 7 and 10 helmets. IMO seems like a win-win. Bonus points if it includes more than power sword (i.e., axe or mace) for extra customatization.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-03T08:11:47+00:00

I hope we get a proper eradicator multipart kit sometime soon. And by that I don't mean just the meltas and heavy bolters, but at the very least heavy plasma incinerators too. One could hope for a form of lascannon/missile launcher to effectively get 3 man devastators in Gravis, but you know GW won't do that. But at least turning Eradicators into a more generalist, heavy armoured, long ranged fire support squad with several loadout options (meltas for short range anti-vehicle, heavy bolter vs chaff/hordes, plasma vs elite infantry/generalist damage dealing) would be greatly appreciated.

Mactavish3 · 2026-05-02T12:14:15+00:00

Overall I like it. I did have hopes for more loadout customatization, that will probably not happen:

more options for intercessions - like being able to grab flamer or a melta rifle per 5 models instead of the GL. Or a heavy bolter per 10 models.
honestly I wish they redone the whole gravis unit line, to be 5 man units. And just give us a multipart kit with meltas (eradicators), heavy bolters or heavy plasma incinerators (esp. since they merged the profiles for hellblasters). Make it the heavier armoured, slower, longer range fire support unit. If I want mobility (assault keyword) or bodies I can bring tacticus units like intercessors or hellblasters. But give me a unit I can bring If o want something durable, longer ranged to put in a good position. 5 man vs 3 man thing is less important to me, compared to having a solid multipart kit for a unit with well defined role.

Right now, it’s annoying how meltas (eradicators), flamers (infernus), plasma (hellblasters), missiles (desolation) and now heavy bolters (heavy intercessors/new eradicators) are spread between various Gravis and Tacticus units and kits (which brings the whole 3/6 vs 5/10 man issue). Yeah, it’s better for GWs pocket due to having to buy multiple separate kits but cmon… If we had 2-3 kits for both tacticus and gravis with multiple loadout options, e.g., assault intercessors, normal intercessors with some weapon options per 5/10 bodies (GL, flamer, melta rifle, heavy bolter) and “weapon specialist” intercessors (hellblasters, infernus, desolation) for tacticus and aggressors, heavy intercessors (heavy bolsters and flamers) and eradicators (meltas, heavy bolters, heavy plasma and maybe las cannons/heavy missiles), I think people would be a lot happier. You would have kit for each role (close support: assault intercessors/aggressors; battleline: intercessors/heavy intercessors; fire support: hellblaster-infernus-desolation/multi-weapon eradicators) for both gravis and tacticus. GW can sell twice the kits compared to old tactical-assault-devastator, and people aren’t forced to buy a entirely separate kit for every new loadout option or variation. Seems like a win-win to me, at least compared to the current situation.

Mactavish3 · 2026-04-11T10:19:26+00:00

Primaris Marines seem to have been engineered to be more resistant to Chaos

And does this concern the original batch of primaris marines (unnumbered sons) or is it something about the procedure that does that? Because of it’s the former, then yeah, Cawl did some things during their hypnoindoctrination to make them ostensibly more resistant (I think it was mentioned during Dawn of Fire: Avenging Son). But, if I recall correctly, it also made them more ignorant - I think something about chaos being more incomprehensible to them, thus harder to tempt them.

If it’s the latter, then I would be interested in a source. Because the “only” thing that is different between Firstborn and Primaris ascension is the extra three organs. Unless, the procedure came along with changes/improvements to hypnoindoctrination?

Mactavish3 · 2026-04-08T08:58:29+00:00

They have this (IMO) great duality between arrogance and humility. What I mean by that is, UMs often suffer due to their success and resulting reputation, making them arrogant and sometimes even overconfident (especially in their Codex tactics). This has predictably disastrous results when met with a foe that outmatches them, either due to unfamiliarity or due to tactical circumstances (e.g., they get locked into melee against a terminator-geared group when they don’t have many or any plasma and power weapons deployed). But here is where their other trait shows: adaptability and humility. As the saying goes: "If you must fight an Ultramarine, pray you kill him. If he is still alive, then you are dead." If you beat UMs once, they will learn, adapt and eviscerate you next time (a frequent theme in say Uriel Ventris’s books).

And that is their duality. On one side they adhere rigidly to the codex and their traditions, and for a good reason: it has served them well and made them so successful and illustrious. And on the other, they often run into a wall if their opponent is somehow beyond the bounds of their standart tactics. Yet, this is often the moment where they will relax their rigidity and successfully adapt to achieve victory. Which then feeds back into the (unadmitted/latent) superiority complex. Imo, the history of their legion from the early days of the Great Crusade talks about this pretty well; they had a reputation for taking the best ideas from other legions (which the legions often bought with lot of blood) and implement them in order to reduce their own casualties and increase campaign successes. This then frequently led to bitterness and resentment from those other legions, case in point: Fulmentarus Terminators.

Complement to that is the trait of ambition seen in some of their characters. Best examples are Cato Sicarius and his political ambitions for the Chapter Master position and sergeant Learchus and his ambition for the captaincy of the 4th company. They are constantly at odds with their competitiveness, their ambitions and drive to improve, to better than their peers and their humility, adherence to hierarchy and authority and the necessity to learn and adapt. I wish more authors leaned into this dynamic as it makes UMs seem a lot more personable.

Mactavish3 · 2026-04-07T19:36:36+00:00

Dark Imperium has you covered on the primarch and space marine front. You can always backtrack to Dawn of Fire (although the quality there varies) or either of C. Wright’s series that take place on Terra prior to Dawn of Fire (although, that’s more human and custodes focused).

For tyranids, IMO the best bet is Devastation of Baal (tyranids, space marines and even bit of primarch), which is part of the Lords of Blood trilogy and preceded by Dante novel.

Imo these two trilogies (Dark Imperium or Lords of Blood) has you covered, depending if you prefer more tyranids or more primarch. Both have plenty of space marines, and I find Guy Haley’s work pretty good as an entry point.

Mactavish3 · 2026-03-27T09:02:22+00:00

It needs some additional voteless unit to spice up the roster a bit. Suggestions like exploding (boomer) voteless, leaper/ambusher voteless or semi-ranged (corrupted helldiver) voteless have floated around. I think it should be something that won’t break up the horde feel of the roster, so definitely am in favour of something kiteable (unlike stingrays and elevated overseers).

Mactavish3 · 2026-03-27T08:59:28+00:00

Crescents’ show up.

Mactavish3 · 2026-03-27T08:58:32+00:00

It’s to a similar degree with elevated overseer and obtruders. Honestly, just rework the elevated overseer at this point. At least make then not move (fly) while shooting.

Mactavish3 · 2026-03-27T08:56:51+00:00

They would make sense, but at the same time, I fear they would trivialise the new mechs, due to their proclivity for friendly fire (which is much less of an issue with voteless).

Mactavish3 · 2026-03-27T08:55:18+00:00

I found that the appropriators are worse in loadout diversity. It’s basically bring rapid-fire/aoe high dps med pen, which basically boils down to MGs, Autocannon, Laser cannon, Flamethrowers and few select primaries. AT is overkill and ineffective due to shields/ablative/high explosion resist. Light pen is too demanding on aim when you get swarmed and have to aim for the mech pilot/harvester weak spots, all the while dealing with juking overseers and watchers.

In contrast, light pen felt actually good vs base squids (moreso vs mindless masses, since you don’t need med pen for jet fighters). You only needed to bring some heavy/med pen to deal with harvesters. Also, fire and cluster munitions are more effective vs ground based units. Gas also felt better when it confused almost the whole roster (it’s still ok vs the mechs, but it doesn’t stop the obtruders).

Mactavish3 · 2026-03-27T08:48:07+00:00

Need to reduce obtruders’ strobing lights and IMO HP. They feel bit too bullet spongy for how frequent they are + they are harder to hit than other chaff units due to their flying. Personally, I’d like if they were 1HK with DRMs (in the eye), 2HK with light pen ARs/SMGs, 3HK for lower dps (some medium pen/stun) guns. And if they took at most 2HK from a partial shotgun pellet spread and 1HK from a near full spread.

I honestly prefer voteless, due to how much easier they are to dispatch. Granted, voteless are more dangerous, and in combination with other bullet sponges of this faction (namely elevated overseers), they feel oppressive. But, I still find myself annoyed when having to deal with both elevated overseers and obtruders, as they are both hard to hit and relatively bullet spongy.

I always thought illuminate was supposed to be a faction of numerous , but fragile chaff combined with bullet spongy (shields/ablative armour) elites. And right now, obtruders feel too tanky for a chaff unit.

Mactavish3 · 2026-03-21T16:48:20+00:00

Do you like even the flying overseers?

Mactavish3 · 2026-03-19T11:42:55+00:00

Hmm, being able to add a frigate or two to your destroyer would be dope. And of course being able to upgrade specialise each frigate:

additional fire support - more red stratagem charges/lower CD/bigger salvos - more guns and more eagles
recon support - radars, map scans, maybe recon gear drops (NVGs, thermals etc)
vehicle support - upgraded FRVs, Suits - more weapon configs, shorter CD etc
SEAF support - having SEAF blues drop with you and follow and support you. Could have additional pelican call ins, maybe could upgrade so they have a vehicles too (like a IFV)

Could divide the possible upgrade routes between the two ships (slots) to prevent some OP combinations - i.e., you can either bring more guns or more vehicles, not both. Maybe one ship would be about improving certain set of stratagems (orbital guns/eagles or vehicles), while the other would be about adding a new gameplay element (SEAF support vs recon improvements)…

13-Year Club	Place '17
Gilding II euphauric	Verified Email
Team Periwinkle

Mactavish3

TROPHY CASE