Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have likely heard about Imperial Agents being a bad book. Some would even say awful.

I think the Codex is an interesting case study. I genuinely really like the book and I am mostly glad with the state it came out in.

So it begs the question:

What is “bad” about the Codex? And why do we consider these qualities bad? Lets talk about it.

What Does Bad Mean

Let’s use an example of something that was bad on release that we can all agree on:

Inner Circle Companions. They are just (slightly more) lethal Bladeguard Veterans without an Invulnerable save. Their problem was that they costed a lot more than Bladeguard did on release.

You would never take them because while Bladeguard slightly hit less hard, they were cheaper and more durable with essentially the same stat-line.

Inner Circle Companions also need a character attached to get their fun abilities which not only is an additional tax, but in the past you couldn’t take them in an Impuslor with a character so this only compounded on their issues.

Marines do be moving six.

This was bad design when zoomed out and compared to other units of the same role. Zoomed in however, Inner Circle Companions were also, flavorful, fulfilled the Dark Angel faction fantasy, and are some of the coolest models in the game.

So were they bad? Or just inefficient?

Competitively I think the answer is that they are inefficient, hence bad. But now I ask you, why do we default to a units competitive efficiency for if its bad?

I argue that there should be a hard line between: “This is bad” and “This is not competitive.” Disappointment often arises when the two are blurred.

Dialing In Expectations

I don’t think Games Workshop tried to hide the power-level of the Codex. They showed off the army rule early, it’s also basically unchanged from the index.

Which causes me some surprise when I see people up in arms online about the power-level of the book.

My brother in christ they showed you the army rule on Warhammer Community. They did not hide it.

Is the army rule objectively bad? I would lean yes but I don’t think it’s that simple.

Again for those of you who touch grass, the detachment rule is essentially: You can ally Imperial Agents in Imperial armies. If you’re playing all Agents you get a detachment.

Yeah it’s a little rough.

I think for a while we’ve been use to “New Army release! It’s going to be so strong!”

This book was a decisive move from Games Workshop to make a book which is intentionally more fluffy than it is competitive and to hopefully break that stigma. At least that’s my impression.

It succeeds on that goal massively. This Codex feels like a 9th edition book flavor wise but with none of the power present in most of those books.

Again, they didn’t hide it’s power. So if you got this book because you thought it would be the next meta-hotness, you played yourself.

There is also a lot to love about this book.

All of the assassins got better, the Inquisitors are useful to add into an imperial army, and you can use it as a way to fill in gaps in your army.

Grey Knight Terminators in Admech? I don’t know if it’s any good competitively, but that option is awesome to have. Who doesn’t like options? (Spoiler alert for next section: it’s Games Workshop)

That being said, they should get some kind of real army rule. It doesn’t even have to be great, just something fluffy.

Now, this is the part where I would tell you this book is amazing for what it is. But in classic Games Workshop fashion, there’s always something.

There’s one big problem which truly cements this Codex as one of the worst ever made.

Deathwatch

I have no idea who at Games Workshop said “Yeah, let’s just get rid of Deathwatch.” But they should probably be on a different team, or at the very least not making decisions.

This was an awful call in pretty much every aspect.

They aren’t gone but they have only three units so, I mean.

They sell an upgrade sprue for Primaris Marines, all of which you can’t use anymore.

You could take those Marines in a normal Marine army now, but you can’t take the Deathwatch detachment, take any Watch Masters or even the Corvus Blackstar. Which is iconic just as a by the way.

What is the point of this change? It feels super short sighted.

I’m convinced that they’ll change it because this was such an awful idea it’s crazy. Modern Space Marine products having something taken out of the game was not on my list of things that would ever happen.

It could have been such an easy win to publish this book and not take out Deathwatch. The fluffy marines get a fluffy army.

If the stipulation was just “You can only take the Deathwatch detachment,” I think most people would have accepted that. But that’s too hard I guess so screw you Deathwatch players, I guess?

Taking Marines in this army could have even been extra expensive to represent just how few Deathwatch there are at a time.

I understand that Deathwatch shouldn’t be a fully-fledged army, but then neither should Custodes and Knights. But Games Workshop couldn’t help themselves and opened the floodgates.

Buddy, they’re open now and you can’t close them. It’s like adding Flyers to the game, you can’t just take them out now without massive backlash no-matter how bad they are for game design and balance.

10th edition has been a lot of wins for Games Workshop and the design team. It has a lot to love and to enjoy even if it’s more streamlined/homogenized. So I don’t understand why they would shoot themselves in the foot like this.

Make it make sense.

What’s The Point, Josh?

I want you to take away from this quick read with a few thoughts rocking around in your noggin.

1. The book is actually mostly fine and it hits all of its design goals.
2. Bad and Competitive are two different terms we need to start using separately.
3. Games Workshop hates money, apparently.
4. The Codex is a very good sign that Games Workshop can show restraint with new factions being released. I haven’t forgotten you, Votann.

Honestly, it’s cool to see that narrative army can exist in this era of the game. I’m excited for the next time they do something like this. Just hopefully they don’t do something as stupid as squatting a Marine army in 2024 next time.

Something something everyone in Nottingham is doing whippets something something.

Thanks for reading.

Drink lots of water.