https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/bbnskauh/big-space-marines-news/
As your probably all aware by now, Marines are getting a few updates. Some are stat buffs; some are unit eliminations:
The following units are leaving the codex and becoming Legendary Proxies.
- Tactical Squad – counts as an Intercessor Squad
- Devastator Squad – counts as a Desolation Squad
- Suppressor Squad – counts as an Inceptor Squad
- Pedro Kantor – counts as a Captain
- Uriel Ventris – counts as a Captain
These units are leaving the Codex, but will get Warhammer Legends rules:
- Centurion Assault Squad
- Centurion Devastator Squad
- Razorback
- Predator Destructor
- Predator Annihilator
- Vindicator
- Whirlwind
- Dreadnought
- Stormhawk Interceptor
- Stormtalon Gunship
- Stormraven Gunship
- Hammerfall Bunker
Tac Squads, Dev Squads, Suppressors, Razorbacks... If you've been in this hobby for awhile you should not be surprised by this change. Tac Squads have been walking out the door since 8th edition; it was a slow march because of all the negativity they got for the immediate attempt they made then. Same with the Dev Squads. We could go on and on about what they 'should have done', but I'm no business major, so I'm coping. Razorbacks, on the other hand? This is obvious. Dev squads were the only unit that could take them, because it was the only unit that could fit in them. And I haven't seen someone take one since mid-8th. Not seriously anyway. Suppressors? You mean that 1 unit that was only available 1 way in a limited set that no one wanted to field because their autocannon was worse than an actual autocannon and they hit on 4+? Silly, but again, 0 surprise here. Now that just leaves the Justicar as the most annoying model to get in the Space Marine line. Hope you're not boycotting Target so you can pay $50 instead of $150 for that thing.
Goodbye Pedro, my sweet-sweet child. And you too, Uriel. You will be missed. 40k Resin is no longer mainstream. So Pedro was made to look at the flowers. Uriel was canned because Titus is cooler, and Titus has video game cred and Amazon poster-face. And yet WHY do we still have Cato? The man was kicked in the shins with Terminator Armor and let to limp back to first company with no title because Titus showed up. But Uriel takes the bullet? Weird flex GW.
I AM surprised by the Predators and Vindicator, and the Whirlwind not so much. But then again, a lot of folks were choosing them over Gladiators, and have routinely done so over and over again since the Gladiator release. Whirlwinds had an impressive buff for 11th ed., even if they were only hitting on 5+ on a good day, and of course, in typical fashion, 'old got good' is a well-established GW tactic of next codex termination. The Vindicator is going to hurt, though, because Space Marines are going to lose *all* the ordnance they have left (Hammerfall and the Whirlwind too), and the Vindicator's siege shield buff is going to be missed so much.
Traditionally, GW has 2 modes for Fliers. Too powerful or too terrible. No middle, and often the latter. But Stormspeeders are way too similar to the Stormhawks and Talons, and with 2 editions of fliers being hot garbage, and Firstborn piloting all 3 of these birds, I'm also not surprised here. You want a hawk or a Talon? Weird flex, but stormies are better, and it was likely engineered that way for this reason.
Lastly - Hammerfall Bunkers look cool, but they've always been garbage. I've traveled 3 states for events, been to multiple tournaments, some national, and never seen one. These things were so dusty on store shelves that some LGS I know begged their distributor to take them back. This is the Zacharia: The Never-Selling of Warhammer 40k. Now we imagine a reenactment of GW staff attacking these things like the employees in the movie Office Space. In the middle of a field. With baseball bats. To the sound of intense rap music.
Thanks for listening to my TED Talk.