Your favourite Codex ever ?

[Deadlift]

Hi folks
Just thought I would pick the minds of some of you fine people and see what your favourite codex is or was, doesn't have to be current. Could be from any edition. But which one (or two, maybe 3) codex have you enjoyed most and why ?

It could be because of the fluff or how it played. The model release that accompanied it. Any reason you care to give.

Me I only started playing in 2007 during 4th edition so I don't have as many of the books to choose from. However 2 spring immediately to mind.

1. The 2008 space marine codex. Despite all the books that came after this one, all the codexes that changed the so called "meta" etc. the likes of Grey Knights, Space wolves, Necrons and now Tau as examples. I have always been able to make a Space Marine list that could stand its own against almost anyone's army. Granted I do not play tournaments etc, but no matter what came after this codex that seemed new and better, the good old 2008 vanilla codex kept going strong.

2. The current Ork codex, another army that's still strong in the right hands. But that's not why I love it so much, it's the fluff. Seriously anyone looking for 40k related humour has to read the Ork codex. It's lots of fun to read and always worth a chuckle.


Over to you guys and gals :D

[Thaldin]

I still have my copies of the Compendium and the Compilation from the Rogue Trader days. I love those two. So much in them.

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

I happen to love the SM codex from 4th edition. the endless possabilities when it came down to making your own chapter are what made me create my own space marine legion. then there was 5th which while i don't hate the codex i do despise that in order to get a unique legion you had to take a special character. It was what made me move to Chaos when that book dropped. which then got ruined anyhow :(

[daboarder]

Chaos 3.5

So much variation. Everything a codex should be.

You could play 7 different players and face 7 different, workable lists.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Chaos 3.5

So much variation. Everything a codex should be.

You could play 7 different players and face 7 different, workable lists.This man speaks the truth.

I feel like instead of adding new daemon engines, the Chaos release should've focused on adding themed upgrade packs to make Legion-rules profitable for GW to include.

[YorkNecromancer]

My favourite is the current Imperial Guard Codex. Has absolutely everything, and the basic Infantry Platoon is just great - harks back to how the old Imperial Army used to be in 1st edition.

The current Dark Eldar codex is next; there's not a single bad unit. The worst is probably the Mandrakes, and if that's a Codex's worst unit, you know it's a solid codex. Multiple builds, all of which are viable, a totally different play style to Marines (which is also very high skill to use - another plus), and with genuinely engaging fluff. Yup, superb work that one.


the Chaos release should've focused on adding themed upgrade packs to make Legion-rules profitable for GW to include.

Well, these new supplementary codexes will almost definitely give you what you want, so I wouldn't worry. :)

[Ravingbantha]

2nd edition eldar

[GrauGeist]

40k 3rd Edition Rulebook Codex. Well-balanced and easy to play. No excess of unnecessary rules or stupid tables.

If I had to pick a standalone, I guess it'd be 3rd Ed Eldar + Craftworld Eldar, simply because I'm primarily Biel-Tan.

[GrauGeist]

I feel like instead of adding new daemon engines, the Chaos release should've focused on adding themed upgrade packs to make Legion-rules profitable for GW to include.

Do you not understand how the $50 Supplements are going to work? Legion rules are going to be *very* profitable for GW.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Do you not understand how the $50 Supplements are going to work? Legion rules are going to be *very* profitable for GW.But it seems that these supplements aren't going to be including new models, or rules/units that require them, which rules out a lot of fun stuff with the World Eaters/Death Guard/Thousand Sons/ Emperor's Children. They might change the method, but I don't have my hopes up.

[GrauGeist]

But it seems that these supplements aren't going to be including new models, or rules/units that require them, which rules out a lot of fun stuff with the World Eaters/Death Guard/Thousand Sons/ Emperor's Children. They might change the method, but I don't have my hopes up.

The Black Legion supplement isn't even out, but I expect we'll see at least 2 pages of new rules / units, just like with Iyanden and Farsight. No models, though.

Hopefully, the Ultramarines supplement will move all Ultramarines SCs out of the SM Codex.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

Hopefully, the Ultramarines supplement will move all Ultramarines SCs out of the SM Codex.Doubt it, otherwise Farsight probably would've been reserved for his supplement.

[Occam]

My fav codex has to be 5th edition Necrons, hands down. It's really a 6th edition book, but there are all good rules and few rubbish units when compared to ones that just do it better. Everyone fears and loves it. I played an APOC game with the royal war council of mandragora [read: all the HQ's] and got to use all their gimmicks at the same time. Everyone crowed about how powerful it was. Hey, I'm just playing to my strengths!


Background wise, the 3rd edition book is way better. Poems, reports/tapes and schematics of how Neron weapons work.

[Mr.Pickelz]

Even with it's failings, i still love Codex: Daemonhunters, Through the ups and downs, there were shenanigans to be had. As a more recent book, Orks by far have one of the most versitile codex to date. You could run elite mechanized units, Bikerz, foot horde, Static-Gunline, Wagon-Rush (8xBattlewagons at 2,000 points), etc... Over the course of 5th ed. and now into 6th. the only unit that really falls from grace is the Flash Gitz, due to point's price. Also to note, is the absurdity of Forge World Addtions, the Lifta-Wagon's IA:8 rules are insanely OP, especially under 6th ed. BRB, Turreted Shokk-Attack Gun on a Mekboy's Junka getting a "Zoink!" result has to be the funniest thing in the world. And while deepstriking 31 models seems impossible, (it isn't) Weirdboyz add a bit of craziness to the mix. Codex: Orks offers you a controllable chaos, with a garnish of pure insanity. And with appropriate fluff to back this menagerie of comedy, like Wazdakka throwing himself through a Warlord Titan's Void shields so he could crash into the cockpit and murder the crew, or a Warboss castrating a Khorne Blood Prince, while said Prince is praising Khorne...

Orks are one of the truest threats to the universe as with every Ork death, their body spawns more spores that will grow into more Orks, with only Tyranids to compare in this mass-producing tactic, everyone (except 'Nids) are only able to access a Finite body count.

[eldargal]

Codex: Dark Eldar. The new one. Choosing between most units is a case of personal taste and playstyle rather than one being objectively better than the other, there is only one rubbish unit and it can still be quite powerful with a little luck. It's packed full of fun and lore friendly wargear and it is still extremely competitive in 6th if you know what you are doing.

[Wolfshade]

My favourite is [puts on rose tinted spectacles] Codex: Angels of Death.

It was the first codex I had read I lapped up every story of the BA & DA poured over the art work. It was fantastic. Just wish I knew where mine was...

[energongoodie]

2nd edition Space Wolves.
As a young fella I was in to the power gaming and my Wolf Guard army with Eldar allies was bad ***!
It was a great book! Loved it :D

[Denzark]

Chaos 3.5.

Blood for the Blood God, 'nuff said.

[Poseidal]

WD127 if it counts.

If it doesn't, then Codex: Eldar during 2nd edition. I do like the current book (very nice artwork and presentation for the most part), but the writing quality just feels a bit lower than it was back then.

[Archon]

CHAOS 3.5 - the only true chaos codex. It was complicated but flexible and lorerich book. It took only a slightly correction/update to remove the ugly combos and add new playstuff.

The loss of it was double hard because the following codex was a crime against the chaos-players. Lifless, unfluffy, dumb - written without soul.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I did adore Chaos 3.5. What a labour of love that was, especially coming off the back of a pretty dreary era in 3rd Ed codices where there was barely any content at all. I recently read back through the 3rd Ed Eldar Codex, and apart from a couple of nice art pieces and some fun in-universe content, it's a sad, sad thing. 2nd Ed Eldar was lovely, still have that fraying in a cupboard somewhere.

My brother's owned loads of codices and army books, I've only ever had a few: Eldar (2nd, 3rd, 6th), Space Marines (5th) and Tomb Kings (8th). Now I've an iPad, I'm slightly tempted to acquire more!

[Mr Mystery]

Current Necron book.

First, there are no truly duff units. Even the much maligned flayed ones have their uses!

Completely complete model range is also a win.

And the background. Quite the revelation to my mind. Taken a fairly soulless army, and injected serious character, overriding, but not necessarily overruling what went before. Whilst the majority of the Dynasties survived quite nicely, none have emerged fully unscathed. Take my personal favourite, Zandrekh. Utterly loopy!

There's also tomb worlds where the world itself is in charge, and attempting to expand it's domain.

It's taken Necrons from something of an 'end game' race (in so far as they could be anywhere, had the hardest ships, functionally invincible troops. Oh and Star Gods on their side) to a more toned down, but still very serious threat.

I loves it I does!

[Denzark]

WD127 if it counts.

If it doesn't, then Codex: Eldar during 2nd edition. I do like the current book (very nice artwork and presentation for the most part), but the writing quality just feels a bit lower than it was back then.

Awesome shout - I ignored the Space Wolf WD armylist because I thought i'd stick to true codexes ie stnadalone books, but that army list was a master.

[GenericBACaptain]

The original Tyranid codex (3rd edition I think but it was a looooong time ago)

It had such great fluff and Nids were still fairly new on the scene. I specifically remember an awesome short story about a Tyranid attack on an IG compound in the jungle.

It started out with a Lictor picking off a scout force and then the finale was a massive attack in which all the IG were wiped out by spore mines and gaunts. Must have read that story 60 times in the 3 week span my boy let me borrow the book.

[jgebi]

well I'm a very fluffy guy so Necrons (6th) and Sisters of battle (3rd) are my picks. You can make themey lists that do work and for me thats a good army
although the marines and guard will always hold a special place in my heart

[magickbk]

The original Tau codex in third edition. It wasn't the best codex, especially not given the assault rules of the day. It was the first time GW released a full-on new army that had neither been hinted at, or was in story, previously. Even Sisters of Battle were in story and art, and Necrons had a little White Dwarf list with a few units. It was entirely and completely new to the 40K universe, and instantly changed the landscape of the game and balance of power in local groups.

[Cactus]

I liked the previous Ork Codex. The fluff was awesome, especially how the Imperial scientist tried to explain how Orks have an innate ability to make mechanical things work and how they grow from snot sacks.

Plus, choppas were better.

[YorkNecromancer]

I liked the previous Ork Codex. The fluff was awesome, especially how the Imperial scientist tried to explain how Orks have an innate ability to make mechanical things work and how they grow from snot sacks.

The original 1st ed Ork books were hilarious. Unplayably bad (Malfunction cards meant that pretty much every turn a piece of Ork equipment would catastrophically explode and probably take half your army with it), but hilarious.

I still miss the cranial bomb and squig brain "upgrades"...

Plus, they were called "WAAAAAAAARGH!" and "'Ere we go" respectively. The Orks weren't an army list; they were a pack of football hooligans on a grand tour of the universe. Which they still are at times, but far less relentlessly.

[Daemonette666]

Realm of Chaos - Slaves to Darkness, followed by Realm of Chaos - Lost and the Damned, with 3rd place going to Codex Chaos Space Marine 1999 (the Black covered edition where each legion had its own rules and you could make a legion army list, not the revised 2002 edition).

[Denzark]

The original 1st ed Ork books were hilarious. Unplayably bad (Malfunction cards meant that pretty much every turn a piece of Ork equipment would catastrophically explode and probably take half your army with it), but hilarious.

I still miss the cranial bomb and squig brain "upgrades"...

Plus, they were called "WAAAAAAAARGH!" and "'Ere we go" respectively. The Orks weren't an army list; they were a pack of football hooligans on a grand tour of the universe. Which they still are at times, but far less relentlessly.

Pedant attack - WAAAARGGHH was a source book, the army lists were in 'Ere we Go and Freebooterz respectively. And on that thought, if a freebooterz list came out for orkses as a supplement, i would invest in my first ork army in 2 decades.

[Chris Copeland]

4th Edition Build-A-Bug Tyranids! It was a great time to be a Bug player! Now, not so much...

[eagleboy7259]

I second Chaos Marines 3.5 - that book had everything!

Codex Armageddon: Four very solid lists in that mini-dex! Black Templars were the first army I ever completed and were sweet during the age of the Rhino Rush! Too bad GW has shifted their favor away from them as they're the last army still using a 4th ed book. Speed Freaks also ruled the tournament scene for a short time but were always a top tier army. Oh and Salamanders with I3, cheap terminators and rules that didn't make your opponent hate you for playing with them. You got way more than 2 pages of unique rules, and you didn't need to pay $50 to get it.

[YorkNecromancer]

Pedant attack - WAAAARGGHH was a source book, the army lists were in 'Ere we Go and Freebooterz respectively. And on that thought, if a freebooterz list came out for orkses as a supplement, i would invest in my first ork army in 2 decades.

They really were good sourcebooks. :)

I still remember it was Flash Gits that got me into converting in the first place (even though I never played Orks). I can't find a picture, but there was this one Ork who had been mounted on a cavalry base to accomodate his ludicrous gun. It was made of three normal plasma guns glued in sequence, and the muzzle was held up by a grot oiler. This was an officially playable Ork model back in the day.

And Ghazghkull was the result of random dice rolls on the insane charts they used for bionik bitz! He got his metal head through sheer fluke (because that's what Andy Chambers rolled)! Ghazghkull's whole character is the result demonstrating how to use charts and random dice rolls, and now he's this huge, important character!

Brilliant stuff.

[chicop76]

I would say the Eye of Terror Codex which allowed the Uthrwe Strike Force as my favorite.

I liked 4th edition nids. Due to dakka fexes, fleshboring gaunts re rolling wounds, ad deathspitting blast template love via warriors. I liked 4th edition nids in 5th edition

Also I liked 4.5 Daemons. 5th edition daemons was awesome too. Not really a fan of the white dwarf update.

[sebi81]

To go with the majority I liked chaos space marines 3.5 the most. I remember when I read it first and thought about all the cool options. I loved my chosen with Mark of Khorne and wings following my daemon prince (now they are just cool looking raptors...) Even if it was a little complicated to get right what combinations of weapons, marks and units were allowed, the many options and flavour easily outweighed this.

[Houghten]

Codex: Dark Eldar. The new one. Choosing between most units is a case of personal taste and playstyle rather than one being objectively better than the other, there is only one rubbish unit and it can still be quite powerful with a little luck. It's packed full of fun and lore friendly wargear and it is still extremely competitive in 6th if you know what you are doing.

Wait, there's a bad unit?

[St.Germaine]

SM 4? (traits)
CSM 3.5
Nids - Build-a-bug version, although to be honest it needed some of the critters from the current codex. The current dex has a bit too much nerfing for me.

[the10taken]

I must agree with others who said Chaos 3.5. That was the best

[eldargal]

Wait, there's a bad unit?
Mandrakes and Kheradruakh are considered 'bad'. It's a little unfair, they aren't so much bad as competing against better units. Mandrakes can be quite devastating if you get some pain tokens on them, munching through units quite happily. But they can also fail miserably. Bloodbrides, Trueborn, Wracks and Grotesques are all much more reliable/effective.

[troglodytesrus]

Eye of Terror and Craftworld Eldar were great for me. Any codex which puts a strong emphasis on personality/story rather than strictly the rules.

[Mr Mystery]

In that case, check out Codex Iyanden.

[ersatzgnomes]

I agree with several other people - chaos 3.5

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

3rd Edition Codex Necrons. The front cover picture to the backround had such a massive impact on me, it lead me to invent an entire music genre around the Necrons, that I still do to this day. (https://soundcloud.com/chrisctan/tachyon-crisis-talon-vortex-of)

[mysterex]

Chaos 3.5

So much variation. Everything a codex should be.

You could play 7 different players and face 7 different, workable lists.

Agree. I knew a couple of people that built three different Legion armies that played completely differently all from the same codex. Left me feeling inadequate at only having two (Night Lords & Emperor's Children). From a background perspective it also made more sense to have the daemon squads as part of the codex rather than going down the whole allies requiring a daemonic HQ route.

[Griffotronmachi]

Chaos Space Marines 3.5. As most people have already stated that codex was so customisable it's not even funny. As well as the customisability it really felt like i was running a chaos army that had been kicking since the year 30k and not some crap watered down SM codex that we have today.

[Psychosplodge]

All the second edition ones, they were so much prettier...

[Mr Mystery]

Chaos Space Marines 3.5. As most people have already stated that codex was so customisable it's not even funny. As well as the customisability it really felt like i was running a chaos army that had been kicking since the year 30k and not some crap watered down SM codex that we have today.

Biggest issue here is that very, very few people used all the options.

Daemon Princes were pretty much (if not entirely) identical, despite the various options.

Iron Warriors armies? Likewise pretty much identical.
Word Bearers? LOLIRDAEMONBOMBYOU!

So on, and so forth. It packed a lot into one book, but that didn't equate into actual variety on the gaming board.

[Anggul]

I would say Dark Eldar 5th and Tyranids 4th. The 6th ed Dark Angels didn't kick up that much of a storm, but I actually think it was a really well-written book, probably the best Space Marines codex in my opinion. Here's hoping Space Marines 6th does the same thing.

I'm hoping I will be able to add Tyranids 6th to that list soon. Come on GW, do nids well, I want the other half of my collection to be on the table again.

As said above by Mr Mystery, Chaos 3.5 is pretty over-rated. Like Dark Eldar 5th (sadly) it had loads of options... which hardly anyone used because they were mostly pointless. Also Raptors and a few other units could only be marked as Undivided, which also meant Legion armies couldn't use them. Yup, apparently Raptors (and others which I can't remember) couldn't choose a chaos god. :P Don't get me wrong, it was a good book, but it's often lauded for things which didn't actually work that well. I particularly liked Thousand Sons, who were well-represented in a way which they just haven't been since then.

[Bigred]

Mine's isn't a codex - per se...

It was that AMAZING 2-year period during 4th (I think) when White Dwarf did the monthly Index Astartes series on all 18 of the first founding chapters and included the little pages of rules tweaks to use either the SM or CSM codex to make them. It was the first real in depth fluff and origin on the legions and the rules were cool. Very much the predecessor or today's supplemental codices.

It was like getting a new army every month.

IRON WITHIN - IRON WITHOUT - IRON WITHIN - IRON WITHOUT!!!

[magickbk]

Mine's isn't a codex - per se...

It was that AMAZING 2-year period during 4th (I think) when White Dwarf did the monthly Index Astartes series on all 18 of the first founding chapters and included the little pages of rules tweaks to use either the SM or CSM codex to make them. It was the first real in depth fluff and origin on the legions and the rules were cool. Very much the predecessor or today's supplemental codices.

It was like getting a new army every month.

IRON WITHIN - IRON WITHOUT - IRON WITHIN - IRON WITHOUT!!!

Index Astartes was during 3rd.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Just to confirm magickbk there, it was during the long third edition. I have most of those White Dwarfs.

[Bob821]

Space wolves 2nd. Never played it but own a copy... The smell of the old paper, amazing fluff details, little splaters of paint from the origianl owners painting efforts and the totally awasome units. Logan Grimnar 3+ save! Well thats not very good is it? 3+ on 2 D6! Awsome!

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Thhat's just how Terminator Armour used to work. Bear in mind all weapons had armour save modifiers, which does still mean you needed to be hit with a -5 weapon to really stand a chance of failing the save on average. ;)

[Psychosplodge]

Wasn't that the modifier on a lascannon?

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I thiiiiiink so!

[Psychosplodge]

Though you could still lose a squad of terminators to a squad of grotz shooting...

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Well, nothing's ever been unkillable. :)

One of the things which amused me when I dug out my 2nd Ed Eldar codex the other day was how bonkers the Armour Penetration formulae used to be. They're like, 2d6+8+d3+4 and stuff like that, and pretty much every weapon has a different formula. It's crazy! One of the best changes they ever made was the AP system and d6/2d6+Strength roll against AV10-14.

[Psychosplodge]

Nah the D6 system took all the fun of funny shaped dice out of it.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Even D&D got rid of the funny shaped dice, man. :)

...well, if you think that a d20 isn't funny-shaped. >.>

[Psychosplodge]

No it counts :D

[magickbk]

The formula made slightly more sense, in the fact that it wasn't entirely random. It basically started with the weapon's strength, plus a D6, and then started adding on additional dice depending on what it was. For example, a lascannon was 3D6 + 9 (can't believe I still remember that). The one thing those AV numbers did do was make it nearly impossible to damage a vehicle with certain weapons. The was no throwing piles of shots at something and glancing it to death. You could unload as many multilasers at a vehicle as you wanted. You weren't doing anything to it.

[Drunkencorgimaster]

Witchhunters. For pure fluff it was awesome. You could run all kinds of funkiness from Sisters to Assassins to Inquisitors. Not necessarily competitive, but I loved it. Tyranid 4th, Armageddon, and Eye of Terror all come to mind as being fun too.

-Oh, one question: What is this 3rd Edition Necron Codex which people are reminiscing over? I could have sworn the first Necron Codex (not White Dwarf rules or whatever) did not appear until the 4th Edition.

[Cadian122]

Codex: Cityfight, great themed rules, a great background story (Battle for Vogen), with rules for a campaign coming out of it.
I'm torn between the current and the previous Guard codices. I love the variety in the current one, but the Doctrines in the old one were great fun as well.
I also love the Chaos 3.5 one. I haven't touched my Iron Warriors or Night lords since it, and I don't even own the current Codex.

[Fanboy]

Codex Blood Angels 3rd Ed, by Gav Thorpe. I just love it...........