Codex: Space Marines (Hardback)

“The Adeptus Astartes are mankind’s greatest defenders”, this is the opening sentence on the blurb of the space marines codex and that could easily say they are the best starting force of the popular Warhammer 40k tabletop game.

What Is The Space Marine Codex?

Every miniature game out there from the takes on popular IP, to the games replicating past wars to what is arguably the flagship of the genre needs miniatures, game components like dice and the rules for the game. Games Workshop’s approach to this can seem daunting at first but becomes very simple and easy with a little understanding, first you will need the core rule book and then you need a codex for the army that suits you the best. For many their first army is the blue armoured fighters of the Imperium, the space marines and so the space marine codex is usually one of the most important first purchases for any new Warhammer player.

What Is Inside?

So what could be inside that you need to play the game you ask, well its simple, while the rules tell you about how the game plays, how to react with the scenery and other players, this will tell you everything about your forces. From a detailed history of important information about the space marines including who they are and what they fight for, to what each unit can do, this makes your models come to life. The book itself is well structured so that it is essentially split into two halves, the flavour text and the rules, the first half focuses on the story side of the game allowing players to be more invested in their models and the battles they fight, while the second half shows you what your soldiers can do. Some important features to point out is that this is a book for the space marines who are formed of many chapters who each have their own unique rule set. In the book itself, it breaks down the most prominent chapters and explains both their backstory and abilities, but it also gives room for you to make your own chapters allowing your own diversity to the game. Be aware if you wish to go heavily into a certain chapter, they may have specialist units made just for them, those units will only feature on the chapters codex not this one. At the back of the book is where the datasheets are, these are the sheets that hold all of the relevant gameplay information and are essential for any battle with space marine units.

Why Should You Get It?

No matter what stage you are at within your Warhammer experience this is a must have for any player, this faction is the most diverse and ranged faction within the game, although others bring much more interesting models, this faction has more than any of the others. Not only do they have the most, this faction also has the easiest units to learn within the game making them the most accessible to new players. For the players who have been in for a while there is still a draw with the chance to explore creating your own chapter for the space marines, creating a backstory and deciding what particular skills they will bring into battle.

New or old players will both enjoy this codex and the aspects it can bring into your own personal game.