Astra Militarum - Unit Overview Part 1

Greetings Sergeant, this is Company Commander Lernius Eelo of the 66th Cadian Defence Regiment. Your latest correspondence has indicated a 19% decrease in casualties for your squad as your soldiers have now adapted the standard practice of two carrying a heavy weapon rather than one unfortunate man or woman. This is an acceptable but expected change, though I am displeased to hear that you are still uncertain of a Guardsman's place in the Astra Militarum. As you must have full awareness of both the handle and the head of a hammer when striking a ferocious blow, so too must you learn to grasp the many elements of our great forces in your hands simultaneously. I therefore feel it is necessary to continue this personal, unofficial training. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to respond when you are able. Remember; to seek advice is not a sin, as knowledge is power.
This is Part 1 of the Astra Militarum Unit Overview series.


Astra Militarum

The Astra Militarum is composed of an astounding array of different units, with multiple of these using the same basic chassis and name but slightly varied wargear and roles on the battlefield. The Hammer of the Emperor is rightly named as the Astra Militarum strike with the subtlety of a hurricane and the strength of a titan; this is not a finely tuned blade or rapier, like the Space Marines, but a destroyer that crushes its foe into oblivion. Every tool available to the Astra Militarum is centered around mass destruction such as has never been replicated by any other living force. Artillery strikes decimate a foe unseen, lithe walkers prey on enemy scouts, an armoured legion pounds enemy lines, and masses of infantry beyond number mop up any survivors. A well organized and effective army of these soldiers and machines are matched by none on the battlefield, for no other force can combine both their numbers and their destructive prowess. The Astra Militarum might not have the precision of the Tau or the mobility of the Eldar, but they are nonetheless the strongest per pound gun-line in the darkness that is the Warhammer 40,000 universe. As an initial guideline to all the units arrayed in this ever popular army, I will be assigning both a "Change" and a "Competitive*" rating. The former ranks them against their previous incarnation in the 5th Edition Imperial Guard Codex, while the latter is an educated but short appraisal of how strong a given unit will prove to be.

*A note that the "Competitive" answer will be based on the overall usefulness of a unit, not the usefulness of one specific build. I will not pigeon-hole units into one or two builds for this reason.  

Headquarters

Commissar Yarrick - The old dog has changed quite significantly in the new codex, including a whopping 40 point drop and a big change to the Commissar rules. He no longer confers Fearless to his unit and lacks Stubborn - oddly, this last rule is still used by Lord Commissars - but the change to Summary Execution means his unit won't be running away or getting Pinned anyway. His Iron Will rule is the same, except now he gets a 4+ invulnerable save for protection; to balance this, enemies no longer have to re-roll successful to wound rolls against him. His Bale Eye has half the range, but it can now be used in addition to one of his other ranged weapons. The biggest change is that he can issue Orders just like a Company Commander and even has the Senior Officer special rule to issue two at a time. Remembering that all units within 6" of him can use his Leadership 10, and he becomes one heck of a versatile and tough as heck commander. Did I mention his Warlord Trait means units within 12" won't break from shooting casualties? Combine all his Orders, his good melee stats, how darned hard he is to kill and how he has a 66.6% chance to get back up meaning he will rarely concede Slay the Warlord and you have yourself one of the better all rounders in the codex.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.

Company Command Squad - This staple Warlord unit has seen a few minor changes with a slight points increase, some cheaper upgrades like Heavy Flamers and Carapace Armour on the Veterans, and reworked prices for Company Commander options. The addition of Heirlooms of Conquest, an innate and strong Warlord Traits table, much cheaper defensive wargear like the medi-pack and the stronger Orders serve to balance out the Company Commander himself paying more for upgrades and the squad itself costing more base. I feel that the balance tips toward this unit being more useful because of how good Orders are now, while keeping them safe is easier than ever. This is a more versatile unit in terms of augments it can hand out that is always worth the price of admission, particularly as the entire unit has to perish to concede a Slay the Warlord victory point.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.

Astropath - The Astropath has dropped a few points, lost his or her laspistol and no longer provides both pseudo-Acute Senses and a guaranteed reserves bonus. Instead, they are now Leadership 7 psykers that get one roll on the Telepathy discipline. To say the Astropath has gone down in usefulness is an understatement; paying five points less for a Leadership 7 psyker that randomly generates a decent but not great power, as opposed to providing reserve bonuses to your force just isn't nearly as useful overall. Leadership 7 on a psyker is just too unreliable to be worth the points.
Change? Weaker.
Competitive? No.

Master of Ordnance - Like the Astropath, the Master of Ordnance has lost their laspistol but dropped a third of their previous total cost in points. The only real ability of the Master of Ordnance, the "free" and incredibly inaccurate Basilisk shot, has remained unchanged however. Paying a third of the Company Command Squad's base cost for a Strength 9, AP3 Barrage and Ordnance shot each turn - provided the Squad doesn't move, of course - might seem a good investment, but it is so inaccurate you will almost never hit anything. You can't complain about it for the points, but it will rarely do much in a game anyway.

Change? Stronger.
Competitive? No.

Officer of the Fleet - Again, the Officer has dropped quite a bit in points and costs two thirds of the previous base cost and lost a lasgun in the exchange. The Astropath's friendly reserve boost ability has been given to the Officer of the Fleet while the latter also retains their enemy reserve penalty, but both now require a Leadership test on Leadership 7 and only one can be used per turn by an Officer of the Fleet. If you want to use one, you had better have Commissar Yarrick or a Lord Commissar handy, otherwise it is far too unreliable. This is a cheap and potentially strong ability, but unless you are facing flyer spam of some sort then reserve manipulation probably won't even be that useful anyway.
Change? Weaker.
Competitive? No.

Lord Castellan Creed - The tactical genius is effectively the same cost as before with his own price decrease but a price increase on the basic Company Command Squad, as he remains an "upgrade" character. His pair of hot-shot laspistols are now separate instead of firing as one twin-linked pistol which is an improvement, while he now generates two Warlord Traits instead of one and gets the awesome Astra Militarum ones. He has however lost his cool unique Order, has a reduced Order bubble of 12" instead of 24", and can issue only three Orders a turn as opposed to four; however, failed Orders issued by him can be re-rolled which saves points on Vox Casters. The Orders themselves are better and more numerous, but I think the 24" bubble to issue Orders is a pretty heavy loss. I was never a big fan of Creed before, and I think if anything he isn't as good as he used to be; re-rolling failed Orders is nice, but Vox Casters do the same thing and have always been cheap as chips. Halving his Order radius and losing out on a unique Order and issuing four Orders a turn in favour of three isn't matched by getting an extra Warlord Trait or the stronger Orders, I feel. Once again, Creed is just too expensive for what he does and still far too easy to kill; why does he cost more solo than an entire Company Command Squad?
Change? Weaker.
Competitive? No.

Colour Sergeant Kell - In both wargear and special rules, Kell is virtually the same if you discount the subtle changes wrought by 6th Edition. In fact, even his cost is the same once you factor in the points increase for the Company Command Squad. This is the same Kell as before in pretty much every way, and he is still really only there to be alongside Creed for themed lists. He is too expensive an upgrade for a two-wound character lacking an invulnerable save, while his special Order rule still only applies if Creed is giving the orders and thus relegates him to an expensive bodyguard with a gimmick restricted to another sub-par character. He hasn't really changed, so I won't give him a rating of that form.
Change? Identical.
Competitive? No.

Colonel Iron Hand Straken - The big bad boy has increased in cost rather significantly, especially with the Company Command Squad mark up. He can still issue two Orders a turn as a Senior Officer and has the better Orders to choose from which is a notable improvement, while his stats are identical. His Counter-Attack and Furious Charge bubble has been reduced to 6" from 12", while he is still Fearless and now has Smash instead of just ignoring armour saves and having the old version of Armourbane. He still has AP2 melee attacks, but can halve his base attacks before modifiers to double his Strength up to a whopping 10 and re-roll failed armour penetration rolls. Yikes! His combat potential in general has increased significantly and makes him a nasty character, monster and vehicle hunter. Unfortunately, he now has to issue and accept challenges all the time like a Chaos Champion, though he does get a nice Warlord Trait giving both he and his unit Relentless. In practice, this is Straken mimicking Sergeant Harker more than anything else, as a Company Command Squad will rarely want to see close fights or be moving too much anyway. Straken is definitely much better than he was considering the points increase, but he is still so insanely expensive for a Toughness 4 model that is combat oriented in a hugely fragile unit - and army - that doesn't share his close combat expertise.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? No.

Nork Deddog - This intelligent Ogryn is mostly the same with no change to his basic stats or equipment, while most of his special rules remain or function similarly. He still gives you a hugely durable bodyguard model that is Stubborn and he still can't be executed by a Commissar. His Heroic Sacrifice is less random but potentially less damaging, making four Strength 5 attacks that re-roll to hit and to wound as opposed to D6 Strength 6 hits; the new one is better for the most part with all the re-rolls. With challenges in the mix, Nork now automatically passes Glorious Intervention rolls and always has to perform them, while he also gained a funny unique attack. Instead of striking normally, he can make one Strength 8 AP3 Concussive attack; this is great for dealing with all the tougher targets and for killing enemy characters, though it is a bit unreliable. The main issue then is cost, and Nork has dropped 25 points in total and no longer restricts your ability to take Regimental Advisors. He is definitely much better than before, but like Straken you really have to weigh up if such an expensive melee-oriented model is worth adding to a unit that will usually be hiding in the backfield anyway.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? No.

Tank Commander (New Unit) - One of the big changes to the Astra Militarum codex was including the option to take a Leman Russ Squadron as a HQ choice much like Forge World's Armoured Battle Group, and this is the guy you need to pull it off. A sub-50 point upgrade to a single Leman Russ, the Tank Commander provides Ballistic Skill 4, a potential Warlord Trait and the ability to issue exclusive "Tank Orders". The Tank Orders aren't all that great though in addition to Ballistic Skill 4 they do serve to mostly justify the cost of the Tank Commander upgrade. Heck, having an AV 14/13/11(10) vehicle as your Warlord that is part of a squadron of other such tanks is pretty impressive and means conceding Slay the Warlord won't be easy. Still, there are big downsides to this; you lose out on the awesome regular Orders, you only get to roll a D3 on the Warlord Traits chart for Astra Militarum instead of the usual D6 for all available charts, and the Tank Commander has to have at least one other Leman Russ in the squadron. Leman Russes do work well in pairs or trios, but the vehicle squadron rules aren't all that forgiving even in 6th Edition. The Tank Order for Split Firing is virtually mandatory for justifying the cost of this unit; if it wasn't there, I probably wouldn't recommend the Tank Commander unless you have too many Leman Russes to fit into three Heavy Support slots. I think the Tank Commander is good overall though as a Ballistic Skill 4 Vanquisher is awesome, as is being able to have it Split Fire from a standard Executioner or Punisher without taking up two Heavy Support or even HQ slots.
Competitive? Yes.

Knight Commander Pask - The infamous Pask is now a HQ choice and potential Warlord instead of an upgrade to one of your Heavy Support Leman Russ tanks much like Chronus of the Ultramarines. He has gone up by 20 points and had some of his abilities reworked, but he is definitely far better than he was. He now gives his Leman Russ Squadron Preferred Enemy of one codex chosen during deployment (which is ridiculous) while he can issue Tank Orders. The big change is in his Crack Shot rule, however; instead of the +1 Strength against vehicles and re-rolls to wound against monstrous creatures in a turn he remained stationary, he now gains unique benefits based on his chosen Leman Russ variant. The strongest of these is undoubtedly the Punisher - coincidentally, that variant dropped in price significantly - as it gains Rending on a 20 shot Punisher Gatling Cannon that is Ballistic Skill 4 and benefits from Preferred Enemy. Emperor preserve us! If you think a Tank Commander is worthwhile, then I heartily recommend Pask as the benefits he grants for the points are well worth it.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.

Lord Commissar - The great pointy hat has returned and the profile from stats to equipment remains unchanged, albeit with an ever so slight points drop. Lord Commissars still confer Stubborn upon their unit and allow friendly units within 6" to use their Leadership for Morale and Pinning tests, now with the addition of Fear tests. Summary Execution has been changed to automatically pass when used, but the new roll to determine which model dies can be less preferable than the previous one sometimes. Their value as a melee commander has dropped now that their weapon upgrade costs have been brought in line with Space Marines, though some of the new Heirlooms of Conquest are great purchases instead. The Emperor's Benediction is too cheap for what it does, while the Blade of Conquest is pretty darn good for a Lord Commissar. As good as their support abilities are and while I would say they are better than before with all the minor changes, I'm still definitely in favour of a Company Command Squad just like before. Orders are just too good to pass up on, and Ministorum Priests do the same rough job as a Lord Commissar but only far better and cheaper. If you really want one, I recommend Yarrick instead.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? No.

Commissar - Previously, regular Commissars could only join Infantry Squads and Platoon Command Squads; now, they can be attached to almost any unit of the infantry type throughout the army, though you can only have as many as there are Company and Platoon Command Squads. Their wargear and stats are the same, but they can take options now; they oddly pay the same amount of points for upgrades as the Lord Commissar due to the silly stream-lining of wargear for all characters. Avoid them. Otherwise, unless you count a slight points drop and the changes to Summary Execution, Commissars are virtually the same. Providing Stubborn to your units and pretty much never failing Leadership tests but still having the option to retreat is very nice indeed, though it still doesn't really compare to a Ministorum Priest or even - dare I say it - an Inquisitor. In that sense the Commissar is fine on his or her own merits, but doesn't compare well to other similar options.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? No.

Ministorum Priest - The first and arguably best of the Regimental Specialists, the Ministorum Priest is a frankly ridiculous model for the points cost. Providing Fearless, Hatred and one of the three War Hymms to a unit at the same cost as a Commissar who only gives Stubborn and Summary Execution is a trade that will always, always favour the former. The War Hymms might only work on Leadership 7 but their effects are so insanely strong that the 50% chance to pass or fail the test - and no risk of Perils as it isn't a psychic test! - isn't really a bad thing. To think that they used to be nearly double their new cost and only provided Hatred just further proves how amazing these guys are now. They can take an Autogun for free or a plasma gun, but lost access to a shotgun and the eviscerator; this, plus now being able to take between one and three as opposed to between one and five are the only "downsides" to this model. Competitive lists should feature at least one Ministorum Priest in their army; they are just far too good to ignore, especially in a blob squad of Guardsmen.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.

Primaris Psyker - The obvious change here is that the Primaris Psyker isn't a HQ choice but instead works identically to Ministorum Priests with a unit limit of one to three and no other restrictions. They still get executed by a Commissar in the same unit if they suffer Perils of the Warp, and their stats and wargear are identical. They received a hefty points drop, however, and exchanged their unique psychic shooting attack for a single roll on one of four psychic disciplines, most notable of which is Divination. Yes, Primaris Psykers are now the cheapest Divination psykers in the game alongside Inquisitors, and yes, the Astra Militarum receives insane benefits from that discipline. They have lost their two rather wonky unique psychic powers in exchange for a guaranteed twin-linking to a unit like a Leman Russ Squadron or Manticore, and can even take a second psychic Mastery Level as an upgrade. Like the Ministorum Priest, the buffs to Primaris Psykers and their overall usefulness are crazy to behold and I heartily recommend you use them competitively.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.

Techpriest Enginseer - The Techpriest of Mars has dropped a mere 5 points but retains all the same stats and equipment that are cool but don't really matter outside of any applicable repair capabilities. On that note, Techpriests repair vehicles just as they used to, while you can now take one more of them than you used to be capable of. The biggest change here and what makes Techpriests so valuable is that they can sacrifice their own shooting attack - not that you would care - to give the Power of the Machine Spirit special rule to a single vehicle within 12". Yes, this is as nasty as it sounds. For the price of a Techpriest, you can allow a Vanquisher to freely split-fire its Vanquisher Battle Cannon at a separate target to its attached Leman Russ Eradicator, filling two roles in one Heavy Support slot. How about actually getting to use those hull mounted lascannons at full Ballistic Skill (3) on your Ordnance Leman Russes for a change? How about letting a Valkyrie fire two of its Ordnance missiles at full Ballistic Skill instead of just one? There are a lot of possibilities for this rule and it definitely makes the Techpriest worth their cost.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.

Servitors - I'll be quick with these; the only changes are points drops across the board, from their base cost to their upgrades. Otherwise Servitors are essentially as they were in the previous edition, and sadly the points drops still don't make them that worthwhile. They are cheap and can bring some inexpensive heavy weapons, but as an easily killed "bodyguard" for a Techpriest they still really aren't worth it because they just don't do much outside of bonuses to Repair rolls. You may as well just take another Techpriest for the same cost as four Servitors and get a double dose of both Blessings of the Omnissiah and Awaken the Machine with no real downsides.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? No.

Summary! The Regimental Advisors generally aren't worth the points, but the Regimental Specialists are all fantastic which marks a rather surprising turn of fortune between editions. Both 'senior' and 'junior' Commissars aren't as good as they could be, while most of the special characters - Yarrick and Pask excluded - are sub-par. Company Command Squads are as good as they always have been, while the new Tank Commander is a good HQ choice even if it is just to give you an "extra" Heavy Support slot.


Troops

Platoon Command Squad - Like the Company Command Squad, the Platoon Command Squad pays more for options on the Commander but less for upgrades on the Veterans. The base cost, stats and special rules are otherwise unchanged, however, though the tweak to Orders and a few additional ones give the Platoon Command Squad a welcome boost. This is a unit that forms the central cog in the well oiled machine that is a Platoon, making all other cogs more effective through Orders and upgrades like the Platoon Standard. They haven't changed in base cost and their main draw, Orders, have gotten stronger.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.

Infantry Squad - These haven't really changed much at all, save for slightly more expensive upgrades for the Sergeant. They were good before as the solid starting point of an Imperial Guard force, and they work just the same for the Astra Militarum. The difference here is that cheaper and far better Ministorum Priests and Primaris Psykers alone provide further incentives - and buffs - to combined squads, so while the unit itself hasn't changed, its supporting elements have improved out of sight. Still, for the actual individual unit rating, I will be fair and say the Infantry Squads themselves haven't changed as what differences were introduced are minor at best.
Change? Identical.
Competitive? Yes.

Heavy Weapons Squad - Like Infantry Squads, the changes to Heavy Weapons Squads are miniscule. They get ever so slightly less expensive krak grenades, and while the base cost dropped, the price of the heavy weapons themselves increased to match up with the old codex. I don't really consider the krak grenade change an improvement significant enough to say Heavy Weapon Squads are better than they were, though the improved Orders do help their cause. Ultimately these are still the same incredibly fragile and expensive models that simply don't match up to Space Marine Devastators and their equivalents. You are best left taking Heavy Weapon Teams in your other squads rather than having them form strangely more expensive units.
Change? Identical.
Competitive? No.

Special Weapons Squad - These no longer pay a "7th Guardsmen" tax and even get Frag Grenades free of charge, as well as the option for Krak Grenades at the same cost as for standard Infantry Squads. Otherwise Special Weapons Squads are basically the same, though their previously preferred transport options in Valkyries and Vendettas have increased in cost and therefore indirectly provided a points hike to these units. I'm not really a fan of these as they lack the Dedicated Transport options and Ballistic Skill 4 of Veterans, though the small unit size does fit perfectly for a Vendetta. If you really want this unit, I recommend running them as the newly improved Veterans instead.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? No.

Conscripts - While losing Commander Chenkov is a big blow for Conscripts, that they have gained Frag Grenades yet dropped a point per model for no other unit changes means they received a pretty decent buff. Losing one point of both Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill, as well as having two less on their Leadership score is actually justified by the points difference compared to regular Guardsmen now, and the fact that you can take a mind-boggling fifty of these for three quarters of two centuries in points is crazy. If you join a Ministorum Priest to these bad-boys, you will have yourself one of the cheapest and surprisingly nasty horde units in the game between Zealot and the War Hymms. The potential of a unit of these when combined with a Ministorum Priest is just insane, especially in an objective-dominated edition where a horde of ridiculously cheap 5+ armoured bodies given Fearless and potentially re-rolls for failed armour saves is just too good to pass up. Who needs Chenkov when a hilariously inexpensive support character turns the Conscripts themselves into possibly the best horde unit in the game?
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.

Veterans - These guys are different for sure, but I feel they have changed for the better. They have dropped in price by one point per model, while many of their upgrades - including the doctrines - have had their cost lowered by a sizable amount. They lost base krak grenades but can purchase them for the same cost as other infantry which is an improvement in the sense that you probably won't always want grenades on a fragile ranged unit anyway. They can get a unit-wide 4+ armour save for half the cost, while they can take a +1 cover bonus that stacks with Stealth and Shrouded as well as snare mines for a third of the previous cost. Demolitions remains the same price, though not having to pay for krak grenades is effectively a points drop. While the change to Chimera fire points does indirectly decrease their effectiveness as "Mechanized Veterans", they are so much better as an overall unit with price drops and removing previously mandatory wargear.
Change? Stronger.
Competitive? Yes.

Sergeant Harker - The gunnery Sergeant is unchanged in both stats and equipment, though he is technically cheaper due to the points drop on Veterans if you don't take krak grenades. He still gives Relentless to his unit which isn't really all that good for Veterans with their lack of significant melee capabilities or a high number of melee weapons, but his special rules and heavy bolter have all changed. "Payback" is now a Rending Heavy Bolter on a Ballistic Skill 4 Relentless model which isn't too shabby, but Harker lost a whopping four special rules; Feel No Pain, Infiltrate, Move Through Cover and Stealth. The trade-off is that his Veteran unit can now take the Grenadiers doctrine, but it most definitely does not make up for losing so many special useful special rules. An Infiltrating Veteran squad with Relentless was nasty and Harker was appropriately priced for providing you with that. Now that he has lost his best attributes and still costs the same as before, I would much rather just take an extra Veteran squad instead for a similar base price.
Change? Weaker.
Competitive? No.

Summary! There haven't been many changes at all to the "competitive" list, with Heavy Weapons Teams and Special Weapon Squads still being inferior to the other options. Veterans are better than previously at the cost of Harker, but the big movers are definitely the cheaper and better Conscripts. Infantry Squads and Conscripts get massive boosts from the virtually all-new support characters, while Platoon Command Squads are still very useful and cheap.

I am hopeful for your continued success and promotion through the ranks of the newly christened Astra Militarum. We are always in need of great leaders and warriors alike as our battles range across the stars, and you are one of the brighter pupils of our doctrines. Your tests will continue soon on the field of battle, so remember always; the Emperor protects. Cordially, Company Commander Lernius Eelo of the 66th Cadian Defence Regiment.