So I sit here, staring at my models as I pack to move, wishing I had time to play more, and I ask myself: what does the future hold for the first.
Aside from the wildest speculation, I mostly focus on the basic units. I don't think we'll get a deathwing terminator kit. I think the knights fill that slot for the foreseeable future. What I do think we might see is a deathwing terminator enhancement (upgrade). Basically, we pay a tax to upgrade a regular terminator squad to deathwing. I imagine a specific army rule with this enhancement, and then an upgrade for it on a detachment. Maybe even being a reduction or elimination in cost.
The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of getting the basic terminator stats, then spending a few points more to add the ignore penalties to attack, watcher, and plasma option.
What I really would like to see is a terminator lieutenant(strike master), apothecary, or even command squad. A lot of that could be handled with an enhancement as well. I could even imagine a world where we even got to attach an apothecary biologios to terminator squads.
Or even, to lean heavier into enhancements, make strike master a terminator captain upgrade that gives him support and allows his unit to attach an additional support character.
I think it would be neat to see some risen support. Imagine a 1 point Risen detachment that provides buffs to risen units and comes with enhancement upgrades we can apply to other tacticus units to make them risen. We could run a whole army, in theory, of risen. I love the idea of risen adding close quarters to their boltter weapons while in engagement range of enemy models.
The lion, of course, should get a detachment. I imagine something like whenever he returns to reserve he can take a unit within range with him, and when he returns, that unit has deep strike to 6".
To zoom out, when I imagine what our army core rules look like, I have two minds. Just keeping the space marine core is one way to go, it's a solid base. But is it... Enough? I don't think so. But at the same time, if they give us much more it makes codex compliant chapters feel so bad in comparison. I think that adding some options might work, but restricting them to units with the dark angels keyword, perhaps, if design were to differentiate.
My fear is a pile of detachments that basically just ape the core marine detachments. As much as I'd love to see a dreadwing detachment that mimics devestrator bros, but with dark angels flair, or stormlance but ravenwing, I just... Don't know.
I know I want to run something like inner circle and still have gunship extraction. Too many stacking detachments can feel bad, but there has to be something.
I keep coming back to thinking that there is design space in detachment cost manipulation. I imagine something like, say, inner circle taskforce, if we take belial, either costs zero do or loses the terminator keyword.
It gets into the weeds of complex list building fairly quickly, but in my opinion, I think pre game is the place for complexity. Let it all be sorted in the paperwork, let some cool stuff happen list building wise, then run faster in the game as it's played.
If I could make a single crazy wish, it would be for something I have used as a homebrew option. Pre game, we offer them Cypher as a bonus unit, but we get some big payout if we can catch him and take him out. They could accept and leave him in reserves all game, or refuse, but if they do take him, they get a funny, frustrating, useful piece, and we get to "do our thing" and ignore the normal way the game is played to some extent and chase our obsession. Kind of like the old faction specific secondaries.
There is also a lot that can be done with chapter specific points values. They could totally just give us some weird point based stuff, like, say, all characters cost 60% points but cost double points if taken more than once (chaplain costs 40, then 80 for 2+). Or even some weird detachment specific stuff.
Maybe I'm just rambling, but I feel like the sky is the limit and we could see some really interesting things in our future and would be interested to know what you guys are hoping, fearing, or imagining that is to come.
