Games Workshop dropped its Q2 Balance Dataslate for 40k in mid-April, dramatically changing a number of key factions. Astra Militarum, Marines and Sisters were buffed, Harlequins, T’au, and Custodes were nerfed, and some key game rules were changed. Now with Tyranids looming on the horizon, we’re looking at several key factions and examining their place in this new emerging meta.

In this article, Scott Horras “Heresy” will be looking at the forces of the Astra Militarum and how the new buffs affect them.

Faction Overview

Unfortunately even with the buffs from the dataslate, the Astra Militarum still takes the cake of the worst army in the game right now. While the balance dataslate made things a little better for the faction by ensuring more of our hits convert into wounds, I’m not sure it’s enough. On the one hand, I get the impression that the power gap between our very worst matchups in the game have gotten smaller. On the other hand, the issue here is that many of the faction’s “good” matchups have gotten a lot harder. 

Which isn’t to say that the buffs from the dataslate aren’t very appreciated, but the Guard have some core issues as an army that haven’t really been addressed by these buffs. As an army the Astra Militarum have a huge issue holding or exerting pressure on the mid board because it just doesn’t have any charge threats. Bullgryn are the faction’s one option for a unit like that and they’re just not getting the job done in 9e. This continues to have a dynamic where, as a Astra Militarum player, you have to nearly clear your entire opponents army before you reasonably start scoring any primary objectives. Honestly the game just isn’t long enough (read: enough turns) to come back from a scoring deficit late game and the dataslate hasn’t really done anything to address that issue.

All of that being said, the dataslate did give us a better chance of killing up front and scoring later with the addition of free weapons, Hammer of the Emperor, and mercifully being exempt from massive indirect fire nerfs. Of the three things we got, free weapons are really the game changer here. If you were previously including 6 Infantry Squads in your list, you just got 180 points of free equipment. For an extra 5 points per unit, we’ve got troops that can actually do a decent bit of shooting. Do I think they’re going to replace Tank Commander and Full Payload Manticores as the shooting heavy lifters in the army? Absolutely not, but there’s a strong argument that you should be maxing your Battalions and Patrols with these troops choices now. 

I don’t think I could get away from writing this without touching on the very distracting allure to try and skew into Hammer of the Emperor with lasguns. Honestly, your best bet here is to just consider this rule as a flat buff to all of your existing lists. It’s very tempting to point out that it now takes roughly 135 lasgun shots to kill a Rhino instead of 370, but honestly getting that many shots on target on the table is still pretty unrealistic. Sure, you have a better chance to chip a wound off here or there… go nuts with actually firing your lasguns from time to time now, but save you and your opponent the misery of running 300 conscripts.

TheChirurgeon: Since this was initially written, the Imperial Knights Codex has released, and with it the ability to add a Freeblades detachment to your army. While every IMPERIUM army can include a Freeblade Detachment, it’s worth considering whether a trio of Armigers armed with Chainglaives and ObSec can give the Guard the kind of charge threat they need to operate at the middle of the table. While I think you’d rather want some of the War Dog melee options here, there’s enough power in the Armiger options that I’d personally recommend giving this a shot.

The Matchups

So how does the field look for the Astra Militarum now? Do these buffs make up for the game-changing nature of Armour of Contempt?

The Positive:

As the worst army in the game, this section is going to be notably light. I’d say our best matchups here remain Chaos – specifically Daemons and Chaos Space Marines – and Imperial Knights. As a Guard player, you should still be toting 3 Demolisher Tank Commanders, and 2 Full Payload Manticore minimum. These days I’ve been running a total of 5 Demolishers in my lists and 3 Manticores. If I have sufficient cover in my deployment zone, these matchups usually go pretty well. Power armored armies were probably the next best matchup, but may be more of a struggle now. Demolishers got more important because of Armour of Contempt, and Manticores got less effective because of it. Whether or not those remain good matchups for Astra Militarum remains to be seen.

The Struggle:

Being the clear weakest army in the game, this section encompases nearly every army that I didn’t mention above. I don’t really want to spend too much time on this because it’s depressing and there’s a myriad of reasons why you’re going to struggle out there. See my comment above about holding the midboard, and it’s probably going to be applicable to almost any other matchup.

Building for the new Meta

Honestly, if you’re going for the most competitive stuff as an Astra Militarum player right now… I think this dataslate has changed your army composition a little bit. Previously I was a big fan of a Gunnery Experts/Spotter Details Battalion with my usual suspects and a Lamda Lions Patrol with a couple squads of 5 man Scions and a couple of Taurox Prime. Because of the change to Infantry Squads, I’m definitely more interested in them than including Scions at this point.

++ Battalion Detachment 0CP (Imperium – Astra Militarum) [46 PL, 11CP, 834pts] ++

Regimental Doctrine: Gunnery Experts, Spotter Details

+ Agents of the Imperium +

Inquisitor Coteaz [5 PL, -1CP, 95pts]: 6) Castigation, Malleus – Warding Incantation, Stratagem: Arbiter of the Emperor’s Will

+ HQ +

Company Commander [2 PL, 35pts]: Chainsword, Laspistol, Relic: Kurov’s Aquila, Warlord

Primaris Psyker [3 PL, 50pts]: Psychic Barrier, Psychic Maelstrom

Tank Commander [12 PL, 200pts]: Heavy Bolter, Hunter-Killer Missile, Turret-mounted Demolisher Siege Cannon

+ Troops +

Infantry Squad [3 PL, 60pts]
. . 5x Guardsman: 5x Lasgun
. . Guardsman W/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. . Guardsman w/ Vox-caster
. . Heavy Weapon Team: Lascannon
. . Sergeant: Boltgun, Power sword

Infantry Squad [3 PL, 60pts]
. . 5x Guardsman: 5x Lasgun
. . Guardsman W/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. . Guardsman w/ Vox-caster
. . Heavy Weapon Team: Lascannon
. . Sergeant: Boltgun, Power sword

Infantry Squad [3 PL, 60pts]
. . 5x Guardsman: 5x Lasgun
. . Guardsman W/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. . Guardsman w/ Vox-caster
. . Heavy Weapon Team: Lascannon
. . Sergeant: Boltgun, Power sword

Infantry Squad [3 PL, 60pts]
. . 5x Guardsman: 5x Lasgun
. . Guardsman W/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. . Guardsman w/ Vox-caster
. . Heavy Weapon Team: Lascannon
. . Sergeant: Boltgun, Power sword

Infantry Squad [3 PL, 60pts]
. . 5x Guardsman: 5x Lasgun
. . Guardsman W/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. . Guardsman w/ Vox-caster
. . Heavy Weapon Team: Lascannon
. . Sergeant: Boltgun, Power sword

Infantry Squad [3 PL, 60pts]
. . 5x Guardsman: 5x Lasgun
. . Guardsman W/ Special Weapon: Meltagun
. . Guardsman w/ Vox-caster
. . Heavy Weapon Team: Lascannon
. . Sergeant: Boltgun, Power sword

+ Elites +

Astropath [2 PL, 35pts]: Psychic Barrier, Telepathica Stave

Wyrdvane Psykers [1 PL, 24pts]: Gaze of the Emperor
. . 3x Wyrdvane Psyker: 3x Laspistol, 3x Wyrdvane Stave

+ Fast Attack +

Armoured Sentinels [3 PL, 35pts]
. . Armoured Sentinel: Multi-laser

++ Spearhead Detachment -3CP (Imperium – Astra Militarum) [71 PL, -4CP, 1,165pts] ++

Regimental Doctrine: Gunnery Experts, Spotter Details
Tank Ace [-1CP]

+ HQ +

Tank Commander [12 PL, 195pts]: Heavy Bolter, Turret-mounted Demolisher Siege Cannon

Tank Commander [12 PL, 195pts]: Heavy Bolter, Turret-mounted Demolisher Siege Cannon

+ Heavy Support +

Leman Russ Battle Tanks [10 PL, 150pts]
. . Leman Russ Demolisher: Heavy Bolter, Turret-mounted Demolisher Siege Cannon

Leman Russ Battle Tanks [10 PL, 150pts]
. . Leman Russ Demolisher: Heavy Bolter, Turret-mounted Demolisher Siege Cannon

Manticore [9 PL, 160pts]: Full Payload, Heavy Bolter, Hunter-Killer Missile

Manticore [9 PL, 160pts]: Full Payload, Heavy Bolter, Hunter-Killer Missile

Manticore [9 PL, 155pts]: Heavy Bolter

++ Total: [117 PL, 7CP, 1,999pts] ++

This is essentially a lot of the same stuff you’ve been seeing all edition. You’ve got Demolisher cannons, you’ve got Manticores. I’ve beefed up how many Infantry I’m taking and I honestly just plan on spending 1 CP to Strategic Reserve two squads for Retrieve Nachmund Data. If you screen it out… well… I get to shoot you with them then. Any Leman Russ in the Spearhead is obsec, which is occasionally cute, and you’ve got your mortal wound bomb with Coteaz, Primaris Psyker, and Wyrdvanes. Do I think this is going to get you to the top 4 of a GT? Absolutely not, but do I think I could take this to a respectable 4-2 at a GT or higher? Probably, it really depends on the matchups. 

Wrapping Things Up

That wraps up our look at Astra Militarum but we’ll be back with more Faction Focus articles looking at how things have changed throughout this week and next. In the meantime, keep chasing that elusive Guard TiWP – one of us gonna go 4-0 one of these days.

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