The astra militarum combat patrol box is up for pre-order and yes, it’s full of new models. It is also the same models that were in the cadia stands box. There are a whopping twenty-eight models in the box. The cadian command squad, two squads of cadian shock troops units, a sentinel, and two field ordnance bases. As starting boxes go, it is quite good. It covers all the unit choices you will need for an astra militarum army. A Huq, an elite, two troops, a fast attack, and finally one heavy support.
The price is £95, up £5 from the other combat patrols as of publishing this article. This is to cover the price rise coming in March. As are the individual models and box prices.
The command box is £27.50 this remains on the low end of box prices thankfully. Cadian shock troops are £30 each making them one of the cheaper troop choices. The sentinel is £27.50 again. Finally the field ordnance at £32.50, through personally this is high price for a unit that can be easily tore through. It is unit that needs first turn to fire, before they are destroyed. The total of all these models is £147.50. A fantastic saving of £52.50. This is one of the best deals games workshop does.
A good next step would be to get the tempestus scion start collecting box. Which looks like it is still available now. In this box you get the older commissar, two boxes tempestus scions, and a taurox. A grand total value of £102.50 saving you £37.50. So far it is £90 saving on your astra militarum force. If you want to get more troops, personally I would go for catachan models because they are £9 cheaper than the cadian box. You are losing out on several special weapons though. Outside of the combat patrol box, catachans are your cheapest option. With the current state of Warhammer 40,000 being more shooting orientated. The inclusion of more lasguns can be a boon, the combat patrol box gives you 40 shots at 12”. Adding an extra squad is up to another 20 shots.
Regimental advisors are great too, not just for a low point cost, they are financially inexpensive at £15. The officer of the fleet can stop a unit coming in from reserves in turn 2 or 3. Get colonel straken as your second hq choice. He is the cheapest hq choice in Warhammer 40k at £12, pask is also £12 but he also needs a tank.
With any astra militarum army, you need tanks. The leman russ with vanquisher is powerful. Strength 14 and ignores invulnerable saves. Like the tau rail gun but you can have over 15 of them in a single detachment. The other plus side is, the leman russ is £18 cheaper than the rogal dorn. Also named after a better primarch. The leman russ also has a bottom.
So to round things off, the combat patrol box plus the start collecting tempestus scions box is a great 500 point starting army with a good variation of units. Costing £160 at the time publishing. With a saving of £90 which is over half price. Then use catachan jungle fighters as your extra troop choices, to save you an extra £9 per unit.
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