Ezekiel ends the Rune Priest Myth and more

With the DA codex leaks flooding the interwebs we are learning a lot of interesting things. Let us briefly talk about some of the most surprising revelations:

Ezekiel: With all the talk on Belial and Sammael to an extent, the Chief Librarian of the DA has kept a low profile until now. He's a master 3 psyker with a default artificier armour, 3 wounds, access to divination and a couple of relics for a measly 145 points. For reference, Njal's 245 points only allow him to be level 2. What da fuq. Pretty good if you ask me, although he can have a difficult fit in army lists heavily based in the Death and Ravenwings. Oh and basic Libbys are only 65 points now. A psychic sale!

Fly away from the Flyers: The Nephilim costs a hefty 190 points, only 10 less than a Storm Raven and losses 1 AV point on each facing, the TL MM and the 12+1 transport capacity in an assault vehicle. The TL Lascannon can and should be replaced for the Avenger mega Bolter, which is sort of longer range assault cannon (but without rending). It has 6 AP4 missiles that are very meh. The Dark Talon doesn't fare much better at 160 points, although the real impact of the stasis bomb and the blind effects in games remain to be seen.

Standard-issue Standards: DA will have access to a large variety of Company/Chapter standards, all buffing nearby units. The most eye-catching is the Standard of Fortitude that grants FNP to units within a 12" aura for a hefty 85 points. A BA Sang Priest is 50 points but only has a 6" range. Plus the DA standard seem to be carried by non-ICs, and given it will likely be surrounded by hammenators and Knights, well odds are it will be rather difficult to get rid of it.

Challenge me if you dare: The Deathwing Champion from the Command Squad upgrade is just 5 points and gets the monstruous Halberd of Caliban, that strikes at I with +2S and AP2. In a WS5 2+ guy. Heck this guy can go head-to-head with many of the combat beasts out there and come back on top of them.

Gets cold plasma: We now know why this is called a storm battery, and is because it's rather bad. It can shoot 3 small blasts or 1 large but the range is just 24". Remember this is sitting on top of an AV10 Land Speeder so even boltguns pose a serious threat. Luckily for those that pre-ordered the model, the kit includes components for the Dark Shroud that, aesthetics aside, seems a much more usable option for the 80 points it costs.

Black Crowes: The Ravenwing command squad costs 120 points base with just 3 bikers and cannot be expanded, lest you add an IC. I'm not very sure on the viability of 3 T5 W1 3+ bikers.

I could ramble on and on but the idea was to select just a few interesting points. So what has surprised you the most / you're looking forward to?