Karhedron

Darn, you are right. I am so used to unit rules spilling over to attached characters that I missed the exception.

I have switched to using my Bladgeuard Vets as Headtakers and they are great with a Wolf Priest. But I also have some of the new models that I plan to run as the twin-weapon version and lead them with a WGBL. I am just pondering how to arm the Battleleader. Normally I would go for the Thunder Hammer in case I need to punch up against T10+ targets. However the MCPW is likely to land more hits over the course of the battle, he gets Dev Wounds against the Headtakers' Quarry target and also gets Lethal Hits in Beastslayer. Do you think I need the extra Oomph of the Hammer or should I go with the MCPW and max out on attacks, relying on the assorted special rules to push damage through against tougher targets?

I am curious to see what happens next. Next tier down are Blood Angels so in theory they should rise to the top. However one of the reasons they are doing well is that they can efficiently punch up into Knights and DG without compromising elsewhere. I think that Thousand Sons will probably be one to watch over the Autumn. Break out your anti-psyker units.

Tournament organisers were starting to introduce their own restrictions on these factions such as limiting big Knights to 1 of each chassis and putting the Rule of 2 on Deathguard. I think when that started to happen it forced GW's hand and they decided they could wait for the next update.

Apart from Dante, if you had not said anything, I would not have realised that they weren't finished.

I haven't played against DG since their new Codex dropped but I have seen a lot of PBCs in tournament winning lists so I guess that is a sufficient indication that they need toning down.

Looks like the recent string of tournament wins has prompted GW to roll out points updates to the current meta-toppers earlier than planned. https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/pundog9r/warhammer-40000-balance-update-knights-and-death-guard/ On balance, they look like they have resisted their usual urge to overcompensate. These changes look pretty balanced and should be just enough to make these armies manageable without making them uncompetitive to field. Nice to see the Atropos getting a slightly bigger increase as this chassis always seemed stronger as it had more firepower without compromising its melee output.

Everything is canon, not everything is necessarily true.

Yeah, there has definitely been some scale creep there although the tendency to put everyone and their grandmother on tactical rocks.

From a biological point of view, half-breeds should be impossible. We are not genetically compatible with chimpanzees despite being close in evolutionary terms and sharing 98% of our genomes. Genestealers get a pass because they are designed to infiltrate other species but anyone else should be pretty much impossible. After all, all life on earth is based on the same 4 letters of DNA. Alien species would likely have an entirely different genetic alphabet. Mixed abhumans might be possible as they are mostly human. You could probably get a ratling/ogryn cross in the same way that a you can cross an Alsatian with a Terrier. The concept of dominant genes only really applies to single trait mutations like eye colour. Humans have 20,000-ish genes so it probably takes hundreds of mutations to produce an abhuman. It is very unlikely that a cross between 2 abhumans would result in a pure human. Imagine have 2 Labradoodles and trying to get pure Labrador or Poodles as puppies. It might be possible in theory but in practice you would have better chances of winning the lottery. Mixed abhumans would probably have a mix of traits from their parents. The only way mixed human/alien hybrids might exist would be with outside assistance/interference such as the case of Ael Wyntor.

I think that this is OK and would work either way. Because the shot is AP-1, the restriction on cover not boosting a 3+ save does not apply. So whichever rule you apply first, the Rubric ends up getting a 2+ save against the attack while in cover.

I think your friend is correct. The relevant rules are as follows: Cover All is Dust There is no inherent rule preventing a 3+ save being improved to a 2+. This restriction is specific to the Cover rule. All is Dust does not include the restriction so Rubricae do indeed have a 2+ save against 1D weapons.

I am not sure about a narrative campaign for 40K. This all seems to indicate that the Nightbringer was coming out as part of a Kill Team expansion. I am sure there will be an end-of-edition campaign but my hunch is that they will use this to expand the narrative rather than revisit older lore.

I really like the new model but I do sympathise with Necron players who will have to transport this as it looks to have a lot of fragile bits.

A good point. It would not be out of character for GW to release the NIghtbringer as part of a box set first, thus encouraging 40K Necron players to buy the KT set just to get the shard. Just as an aside, I wonder if we will get any Necron terrain in the Tomb World set? That would be kinda neat.