Troops units form the backbone of every Warhammer 40,000 faction. In many ways, they’re humble exemplars of what it means to be a warrior (or xenos beast) of their particular race. They’re the unsung heroes, providing fire support, or extra bodies in melee, and they have the edge when it comes to holding key locations thanks to Objective Secured.
In the next three codexes to be released – Adeptus Custodes, Genestealer Cults, and T’au Empire – their Troops units benefit from some key improvements. Here’s a preview of what you can look forward to.
Custodian Guard
The fabled guardians of the Emperor wield masterpieces of weaponcraft artifice, each designed specifically for its bearer to ensure that their combat potential is without limit. To maximise the consistency of the Custodian Guard, the melee profiles of their guardian spears and sentinel blades have been adjusted, with both weapons swapping D3 Damage for a flat Damage of 2.
They also both provide their wielder with an additional point of Strength – that’s a whopping Strength 7 with a guardian spear – so they can easily fell anything they face on the battlefield.
What’s more, the ranged profile of the sentinel blade has been improved to match the damage output of the guardian spears – after all, they fire the same masterwork ammunition.
You may remember when we discussed the Blade Champion in a previous article, we mentioned that he has a Leadership characteristic of 11. Well, he’s not the only one – every warrior of the Adeptus Custodes does too. The Emperor’s inviolable guardians clearly don’t concern themselves with such paltry things as battleshock tests!
Acolyte Hybrids
Acolyte Hybrids are one of the hardest-hitting units in the Genestealer Cults army on account of their ferocity in combat, universal access to hand flamers, and brutal melee options. However, they’re also a bit… squishy, which doesn’t quite feel right for xenos hybrids who share the bio-enhanced genetic traits of the Tyranids.
Thankfully, Acolyte Hybrids get a well-deserved buff to their Toughness in the new codex, offering them greater protection against Strength 4 weapons (boltguns, we’re looking at you) and from the multi-shot Strength 6 guns that are their current nemesis.
Better still, they’ll also be able to mitigate battlefield losses by carrying a cult icon, which grants them the ability to summon the cult.
This calls upon reinforcements lurking in the shadows to restore them to fighting strength – in the case of Acolyte Hybrids, that’s D3 destroyed models from the unit.
Fire Warrior Strike Teams
The Fire Warriors of the T’au Empire prefer to engage their enemies from a safe distance, cutting them down from afar with withering salvoes of pulse weapon fire. Their weakness has always been getting caught in melee, so the further away they can be from their targets, the better off they’ll be.
You’ll no doubt be pleased to learn, then, that the range of both of their primary weapons has been increased. The pulse carbine, for example, now has a very healthy reach of 24" (a handy boost for the Pathfinders you picked up in Kill Team: Chalnath, too!).
With an enormous 36" range, Fire Warriors armed with pulse rifles will be able to outrange the Troops units of almost any other faction, giving them a crucial early advantage as well as the ability to Rapid Fire up to 18". What’s more, they now come with a handy pip of AP for some added punch.
That’s just a taster of what’s to come in the next three codexes. And just think – if that’s what’s changed with just the Troops, imagine what other improvements you can look forward to when the new codexes drop early next year. Make sure you’re among the first to get all the latest information about them by signing up to our newsletter and by checking back with us every day.