Games Workshop has revealed the contents of the new Combat Patrol starter armies for both the World Eaters and Death Guard, and by the dark powers, they are leagues better than the box sets that they’re replacing. The Death Guard in particular have had a glow up, after previously having the most boring Combat Patrol in all of Warhammer 40k.
In case you’re brand new to Warhammer 40k, we’ll explain what 40k Combat Patrols are. Each box set is a self-contained mini army for one Warhammer 40k faction. They provide a discounted way to start building up your forces for full scale games, and come with slightly simplified rules so that you can use them against other Combat Patrols in a quick playing game mode.
The new Combat Patrols for the two forces will go up for pre-order on Saturday 26, alongside new Warhammer 40k Codex rulebooks for each army. Assuming they’re the same price as other Combat Patrols, they’ll have an MSRP of $168 USD (£100 GBP).
Death Guard Combat Patrol
The new Death Guard Combat Patrol contains 13 models:
- Death Guard Rhino x 1
- Deathshroud Terminators x 3
- Plague Marines x 7
- Lord of Virulence x 1
- Tallyman x 1
We don’t yet have the rules for how this force will function in games of Combat Patrol, but as a core for a Death Guard army it’s very solid. The Plague Marines are a battleline unit that can be tailored towards melee or ranged fighting. The Tallyman can join them, increasing their accuracy and letting you gain Command Points during the game. The Rhino is a reliable metal box to transport these troops up the board and onto objectives.
The Deathshroud Terminators are lethal melee troops with some nasty short-ranged guns, which the Lord of Virulence amplifies. The Lord is also a potent force multiplier for the Plagueburst Crawlers that Death Guard armies rely on for much of their ranged firepower, and he’s a strong beat stick. Together, Lord and Terminators can teleport into the middle of the battlefield and raise hell.
This is night and day from the old Death Guard Combat Patrol, which contained 30 Poxwalker zombies, seven Plague Marines, the special character Typhus, and a grenade-porting Biologus Putrifier. It was a slow moving morass of chaff infantry, and a deathly dull introduction to miniature wargames. As a project in building and painting miniatures, it was all broccoli and no dessert.
World Eaters Combat Patrol
The new World Eaters Combat Patrol contains 22 models:
- Khorne Berzerkers x 10
- Jackals x 10
- Daemon Prince of Khorne x 1
- Master of Executions x 1
The World Eaters are a very straightforward army – their goal is to move forward into melee combat and chop their opponents into little bits. Khorne Berzerkers are psychopathic Space Marines who do that job very well, while Jackals are mortal cultists who are slightly worse at it, but just sane enough that they’re better at capturing objectives than their superhuman leaders.
The Master of Executions is a force multiplier for any Berzerker squad he joins , and also a very effective character killer. He was a lynchpin of World Eaters lists until a recent points update made him a little less cost effective – but perhaps the new Codex will change that.
The Daemon Prince is a fantastic centerpiece model. In small games like Combat Patrol he’s a particularly hard hitting elite unit, a role he’s fairly good at even in larger games. He also has an aura ability that provides nearby units with an invulnerable save, which is handy in any size of game. While that specific ability may not survive the new Codex release, he’s likely to have something similar.
The outgoing World Eater’s Combat Patrol featured 20 Berzerkers, 10 Jackals, and a Lord of Khorne on a Juggernaut (a giant metal rhino). Like the Death Guard, it was a starter set that was very dense on staples and quite light on treats.
There have been some weird Combat Patrols since the game mode debuted in 10th edition 40k – the Astra Militarum combat patrol is particularly janky, with a really random selection of units. Perhaps, as we draw nearer to Warhammer 40k 11th edition, Games Workshop has a better handle on what its introductory products should offer.
Whether you’re just getting started with Warhammer 40k, or you’re a veteran of many years standing, we’d love to chat with you in the official Wargamer Discord server! If you’ve got a painted combat patrol, why not share a picture?
Source: Wargamer
