Games Workshop - Warhammer 40,000 - BOARDING PATROL: Space Marines

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The Eight are the elite war council of the Farsight Enclaves – including O’Shovah himself, of course. They may not be a deployable force on the battlefield at present, but we can certainly build a 2,000-point army around them. A mixture of elite Crisis, Broadside , and Riptide battlesuit teams is very on-brand for the Farsight Enclaves, after all. The corridors are often so narrow that two soldiers would struggle to walk side-by-side – a challenge that’s only compounded by the chaotic press of battle. Drawing a bead on your preferred target is nigh-impossible with other bodies in the way, so gunners will need to think carefully about their positioning. This Boarding Patrol contains 17 models in total – one gunslinging Kelermorph inspires a team of 10 Acolyte Hybrids, who can also be built as Hybrid Metamorphs, while a hulking Abominant is joined by his little Mindwyrm Familiar friend, and five nearly-as-hulking Aberrants. The Wych Cults of Comorragh, meanwhile, are masterful marauders, despatching raiding parties to hunt down prisoners for the fighting pits, victims to render into gruesome stimulants, or slaves to pay off their shiny new razorflail. Yep, the points cost goes way over the 500 point threshold required for Boarding Actions – and that’s before calculating all the extensive wargear options.

At 470 total points, this box brings you very close to the 500 point threshold required for a Boarding Actions army list. By turning one of your Rubric Marines into an Aspiring Sorcerer, and then giving a couple marines Soulreaper Cannons or Warpflamers, you’ll meet the 500 point limit with ease. It’s that time once more to examine the box’s gameplay value. Here are the box’s points summarised. We don’t know global pricing until the release date, but we have based the above on another set with the same UK Price. Boarding Patrol: Tyranids – Price, Value & Savings Summary

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The game also has a number of unique Actions your units can perform, tailormade for figthing within Space Hulks: Operate HatchwayOne or more units from your army can start to perform this action at the end of the Move Units step of your Movement phase if they are within 1" of a Hatchway. This action can be performed by any unit that is not within Engagement Range of any enemy models, even if that unit is being affected by a rule that would normally prevent it from performing actions. The action is completed at the end of your Movement phase if no enemy models are within 1" of that Hatchway. If there are any enemy models within 1" of that Hatchway, your opponent can attempt to prevent the action from being completed. If they do so, roll off with your opponent; each player adds the Strength characteristic of one of their models that is within 1" of that Hatchway to their respective scores. If you win, the action is completed; otherwise, the action fails. If completed, that Hatchway opens (if it was closed) or closes (if it was open).

Currently, while we know the prices for most of the boxes, we’ll also have all of the new boxes listed, value-wise, for you below! One more thing to note, these are all valued with the updated 2023 GW pricing.

Updated 40k Boarding Patrol Boxes: What’s the Value?

Now, this perhaps the most unique Boarding Patrol of them all, as it substitutes for a potential Imperial Guard/ Astra Militarum one. I did wonder why this instead of a Guard one, but a work colleague who plays Guard told me that Imperial Guard are for ground combat in the lore, not for naval warfare. Makes sense, but I suspect that most Guard players who want to do Boarding Actions won’t care for that fact. My personal conclusion on this Boarding Patrol list is that, it’s actually pretty solid. The Breachers are your rank and file soldiers who will spam the corridors and objectives, the Starstriders provide supporting fire and the Assassin causes havoc all over the board in the confusion. If you’re looking for an unconventional army you might not play in bigger scale 40k games, then this may be the one for you. But let’s look at we’ve got. It’s a very shooty list with melee capabilities – so these guys will hold their own at range and in close quarters. Terminators, being Terminators, are tough with 5+ invulnerable saves and choice of differing melee weapons and guns – which the Strike Squad and the other variants also get to dabble with. This box sets nicely under the 500 point threshold, with a little room to add some wargear in. Now, this box makes up a great Boarding Patrol – but it does beg the question, does this box have much utility outside of Boarding Actions? The only problem? Everyone else wants in on the action, and now the whole galaxy is boarding the Arks of Omen in search of glory, treasure, or just a big punch-up. In fact, four more Boarding Patrol boxes are preparing for launch in the near future – and only one of them might be said to have the Emperor’s best interests at heart…