Goatboy’s 40k – Top 10 Non Codex Army Choices
Goatboy here to chat about the best – non codex options you can buy/download. I will be ranking all the best of the best formations, data slates, and detachments.
I feel the limit of 2 sources might end up going away in favor of something less restrictive or different to enable multiple lists to try and dominate the competitive formats. That’s a discussion for another day and instead lets just rate some of these extra bits of rules. I’ve decided to write up some of the best choices we have in 40k right now.
Dataslate: Officio Assassinorium – DLC
Each Assassin has its place. I decided to lump them all together as I feel their day in the light will happen when events loosen their grip on 2 sources limits. The Culexes is ready to jump on the Summoning nonsense and some psychic Death Stars. The Vindicare is another interesting choice as well – with its increased range and deadly precision. The other 2 are cute options and when mixed with the 4 Assassin formation you have a pretty fun little piece of old school 40k.
Dataslate: Cypher – DLC
This special character gift was something most old 40k players were just chomping at the bit to play with. When he came out it was during the lockdown days of 7th edition events so most tournaments didn’t allow this model to run around on the table top. He has a ton of special rules from the up and down ability of shrouding mixed with the back breaking option of Hit and Run. His stats are a bit out of this world and he can throw off the VP game. You get first blood and keep this guy alive – you are all of a sudden ahead of the game VP wise. I heard of a decent list by Mr. Sparks that had him, Centurions, and 2 Iron Hand Chapter Masters. Talk about a beefy star that doesn’t give a flip about casting psychic protection.
Formation: Mogrok’s Bossboyz – Sanctus Reach Volume 1
I know I talk about this formation a lot but when you get an option to have 5 HQ units that don’t need to stay together as one group – you have something that can create rough army lists. You also are able to equipment them in any way and the only “tax” in the unit is the Weirdboy. Still he is a great initial Daemon summoner and the Orks could use the ability to gain some extra scoring options. This formation allows you to create a rather nutty Biker/Deffkopta unit of doom.
Formation: Adamantine Lance – Sanctus Reach Volume 1
We all know about the Lance. I think it is good just not too good. It is easy to remove the “support” players from the Knight build and once these guys split apart to try and hold objectives you will pull the army apart. Still you have to be prepared to fight 3 Knights at some point and most likely it will be this Formation.
Dataslate: Bel’Akor – DLC
This guy would have been a lot more abusive in the old days of 7th edition and the reign of FMC’ageddon. I still think he has a place especially since you don’t have to make your warlord anymore due to his Leadership 10 nonsense. Still this guy has a ton of good rules, locked in spells, and can survive some instant death shooting. The Changes to Fateweaver might mean a new renaissance of FMC nonsense coming back and Bel might be the best friend Fate needs.
Formation: Skytyrant Swarm- Shield of Baal
This is a new one from the Shield of Baal book and is basically a single unit built upon one Flying Hive Tyrant plus 2 squads of Gargoyles. You gain the ability to have an 18 inch Synapse bubble plus you won’t lose 3 KP until the entire unit is dead. This isn’t a bad place to hide your Warlord Tyrant either as it will take awhile to chew thru a ton of Gargoyles and whatever shrouding option you have set up for them – Malanthrope or Venomthrope.
Formation: The Green Tide – Supplement Waagh Ghazghkull
The Green Tide is the old Apocalpyse option updated for 40k Orks. I think will see a winning Ork list coming that utilizes this option. You have 100 Orks running around the table top and causing a huge foot print of problems. If the player utilizes the Waagh every turn option with the Tide’s Warlord or gets lucky with 2 Strategic rolls and gains infiltration, expect a rough game as too many Ork Boyz are all up in your grill. I like to use a batch of 100 Boyz with 30-40 Ard Boyz in the middle to cause assault issues as you roll 4+/5+.
Detachment: Company of the Great Wolf – Supplement – Champions of Fenris
If you want to run Thunder Wolf Armageddon – this is the Detachment for you. I keep having dreams of using this to actually make a huge unit of Juggerlords as we still don’t have any truly neat Chaos Space Marine formations/detachments/etc. This is the best of the Space Wolf extra options as it gives you 4 HQ’s, 6 Elites, and upgrades to Thunder Wolf Cavalry. You can see screw you to flyers and go all in.
Detachment: Legion of the Damned – DLC
Here is some hope to hurt those pesky Wave Serpents. I think if you are needing some cover save ignoring bullets mixed with kind of tough guys to get rid of – then this DLC is for you. Again I think if we had more events that allowed more then 2 sources this DLC would be more popular.
Formation: Death Dealer’s Assassin Brood – Dataslate: Leviathan Volume 1
If you keep up with the competitive scene you know that a Nid army won a fairly large event. Sean is the players name and he came up with an awesome list that utilizes a ton of Lictors. This Formation has no “taxes” by forcing you to take some sub optimal units. You want Lictors this is where you start to build the army out. It is awesome what one can come up with when thinking outside the normal box of competitive 40k.
Formation: Sporefield – Shield of Baal
This is a new formation that I expect to see when people start trying to play Sean’s Nid list. This will cause players fits as they start to limit lanes of movement for the player. This one has mines that just keep coming back. I think anything that causes your opponent to have limited movement options will be a powerful choice in a competitive environment. Plus you can have some combos with explosions gaining extra strength.
Formation: Corpsethief Claw – Coven Supplement for Dark Eldar
This formation I think has merit due to the tough nature of the units involved mixed with the ability to gain extra Victory Points. If you get a couple of units killed by these group of 5 Talos’s and you almost don’t have to try to win the main mission as you will be ahead on Victory points. Thank goodness they have Scout to allow you to get an extra 6 inches of movement and hopefully guarantee a 2nd turn of effectiveness. Crazy enough you can equip them with Haywire blasters and they become a threat to any kind of vehicle/armor based army.
So far these are the ones that seem decent. I am hoping we see more of these for the missing armies. Chaos Space Marines just have the Hellbrute Dataslate nonsense and while I think the Helfist Murderpack might be decent it just feels lacking. I want a 3 Maulerfiend formation called the Murder Death Ball that gives them extra attacks or something else. Heck I just want a Chaos Space Marine Detachment that gives me more HQ’s or other options. If you haven’t figured it out I love me some Chaos Space Marines.
Are their any formations I might have missed? Have you found some other options that are just must haves for your favorite army? What Formations do you want to see after GW finishes all the army books? Has the new Nid stuff actually fixed the army in some people’s minds?
