The Cadia Stands Army Box is here to pre-order! Go and get yours now – that’s an order, soldier. It’s packed full of awesome new miniatures, a complete set of datacards, and a special launch edition of Codex: Astra Militarum featuring the majestic Lord Solar himself as the cover star.
We’ve already seen some rules for the likes of the Rogal Dorn Battle Tank, and we’ve found out how to train our troopers with the doctrines that make for a cohesive fighting force, but commanding the Astra Militarum is all about the big picture. Building an army that works together as a team is half the battle, so today we’re looking at a few of the ways you can muster a 2,000-point regiment.
Exhibit A: Infantry Wave
Tanks are complicated, weapons can break and jam – but manpower is a resource that never fails. The Imperium lives and dies on the sacrifices made by its fearless* infantry, and whether you need to overwhelm mutants, heretics, or aliens, there’s no better weapon than a few hundred warm bodies loaded up with lasguns.
Featuring enough guns to make the Orks even greener with envy, this mighty assemblage of Cadian might is led by the Lord Castellan herself, Ursula J Creed.
There are plenty of officers and Commissars barking orders at 210-ish soldiers,** and while you can load up on whatever special and heavy weapons catch your eye, the Born Soldiers doctrine gets the most out of their massed lasgun fire.
Exhibit B: Armoured Company
Who needs flesh and blood when you have a Leman Russ Battle Tank – or six – to park on objectives and blast lesser creatures to dust?
A pair of Tank Commanders can cover almost the entire armoured company with their Mechanised Orders, helping your tanks cross the battlefield in a hurry and blast the foe into oblivion.
Not only can they grant the Objective Secured rule to whole squadrons at once, your Armoured Superiority doctrine means each tank count as five models – or more!
Flexibility is the name of the game, here. Your Leman Russ tanks advance up the field with whichever selection of turrets you prefer – all at the same cost – while the massive Banesword sits at the back evaporating critical targets with its quake cannon.
Exhibit C: Oops, All Characters!
The history of the Astra Militarum is littered with legendary heroes like Commissar Yarrick, Commissar Cain, Commissar Gaunt, and some other people who aren’t commissars. Now that you can mix and match regimental units, it’s finally possible to have your special characters all fighting together for the good of the Imperium! Let’s see what that looks like…
It turns out that you need quite a few Detachments to fit all those characters in, but we managed it – thanks in large part to a Patrol of Catachans creating space in Ursula Creed’s Battalion. This army shows off the diverse options available to Astra Militarum players, from Death Korps infantry to Attilan cavalry,*** and will turn some heads when this many egos take to the field at once.And with this many officers on the table, you’ll never run out of ways to order your Guardsmen around.
Do you have any ideas for armies you’d like to build? Can any other army field this many characters in one go? Let us know your thoughts at our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages, and then sign up for our newsletter to discover more reveals from the upcoming codex as they appear.
* Or at least, afraid but accompanied by a Commissar.
** Yes, Sentinels aren’t strictly infantry, but they do have two legs…
*** The Lord Solar needs some riding companions, after all.