Can GW make the XII Legion interesting to play? The World Eaters Codex better not be a one-note snoozefest.
World Eaters are about to get their own Codex for the first time Warhammer 40,000. It’s a momentous occasion for fans and the Blood God. And yet there might be some cause for worry. In many ways the old XII is the most boring of the traitor Legions. A mindless devotion to rage and slaughter may sound fun, but it doesn’t always lend itself well to the tabletop. Let’s take a look at why.
All Close Combat All the Time
World Eaters more than any other army in the game are bound to be close combat oriented. Their play style, units and loadouts drive them them to fighting in melee. When it comes to the psychic phase, they skip that. Shooting is also something they don’t really do. As such – there is a danger. Without a lot of delicate playtesting and designwork, they could really come off as a one-note army. They run up and stab you… and that’s it. Armies that focus too much on one phase of the game tend to end up both not very strong and kind of boring.
The Old Timey Devotion To Slaughter
The XIIth has rarely gotten a lot of rules that really make it stand out. For the past couple of CSM Codexes they’ve pretty much played like normal CSM but with a focus on CC. It’s really been a while since fielding a whole World Eater army felt special. Back in the old days, around 3rd and 4th Edition you could field a pretty unique army. Khrone Berserkers at the time were subject to Frenzy. This forced them to move towards and charge the nearest enemy units. This could be amusing, as it made your army into a game of electric football – that was barely under the control of the owning player. It was also pretty on point for the blood-crazed followers of the Lord Of Skulls. It also got pretty boring after a little bit and wasn’t really good, as a decent opponent would run your army around in circles. And yet, this has been pretty much the height of World Eater gameplay.
Slim Unit Pickings
From what we’ve seen the Codex isn’t really going to do a lot unit wise to make them have diverse playstyles. You’ve got Jakhals, small dudes on foot that hit you. Then Berserkers, bigger dudes on foot that hit you. Then Eightbound, even bigger dudes on foot that hit you. And that seems mostly it for core units. If you believe the leaks going around, the army isn’t going to have much more than that. Some characters, Terminators and a handful of dated vehicles. It’s an army that mostly runs forward on foot and hits you… and that’s it. With maybe a tiny bit of ranged support that doesn’t really fit into the army.
The Red Angel
All of this can really be seen in the World Eaters massive new Primarch unit, Angron. The guy is a pretty good beast in combat. But that’s about all he does. He doesn’t have psychic powers or shooting or really any tricks. He has a couple of auras. But mostly they just buff his units to be better at hitting things in combat. About the most intreating thing he does is prevents units from falling back. Besides that, Angron is very one note.
Can World Eaters Be Made Interesting?
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To me an army that is basically stuck running to the enemy on foot and hitting them is very one note and not really interesting or fun. I mean, hey, maybe that is your jam, and more power to you if so. I won’t know that. But I do wonder if GW will be able to make the army any more interesting. Other close combat armies have been made interesting, like Harlequins for example. However this is normally through the use of tricks and some diversification. Neither of those really fit World Eaters. They don’t go for tricks and traps. So I wonder if the book rules will be able to make them both interesting and keep them on theme. I suppose we will all know soon enough.
Let us know if you think World Eaters can be made tactically diverse, down in the comments!
Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.
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