Warhammer 40k Apocalypse Reboot in July - White Dwarf Picture

Okay, I've said it before "Has GW finally jumped the shark?" The answer in the past has been "Yes" but then they release something that takes it entirely to a new level.

Some were expecting Lizardmen but anong the wiser heads it was always going to be a 40k release for July. Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and Timmy is off school wondering what to spend Gran's birthday money on.

Think no further Timmy because have we got the answer for you.

It's a giant Khorne Berzerker (cos everything is GIANTZ now) mounted on a bulldozer with a cattle grill off Thomas the Tank Engine. And we can use bits of the Skullcannon too.

So what do you think this thing will be called? Based on a study of GW nomenclature I suspect we'll see the Marketing Department christen this the SKULLGRINDER!!!!!! 

I am hoping that there is a Chaos God and there is no crossover potential for Fantasy. Pleasssssseeee.

New Daemons of Chaos March White Dwarf Pictures

So the pictures of the new Daemons of Chaos from March White Dwarf have hit the internet (Hat Tip: Little Timmy Joss at Plastic Krak).

First up is Khorne

A nice if unadventurous Herald

The first option of a two part kit

The alternative. Very Khorne Daemon Engine

Again nice if a little unadventurous

Now these are cool

With the Heralds, this being Ms. Slaanesh 2013, it is almost as though they were deliberately restrained.

First of two Tzeentch Chariots

Second Chariot, this one with Herald.

I particularly like the Tzeentch Herald on chariot and the Plague Drones. Most of the rest are okay, if uninspiring. A bit meh on the Skull Cannon.

Silly Old Abaddon Goes For 0-14

Stupid Son of Horus!

Daemons Confirmed For March

Games Workshop have confirmed Daemons for March release. I'm presuming it will be dual 40k and Fantasy effort as per 2008.

Official pictures/details this Saturday.

Games Workshop Product Review 2012 - The Worst of Warhammer 40k

Okay, time to mix it up. Warhammer 40k and rather than Top 3, I'll give you my Bottom 3.

THE WORST 40K MODELS

3. Heldrake

In another year this would be competing for the worst spot but in 2012 it does have stiff competition. For Fantasy, I said that sometimes thinking outside the square works, well here's proof that sometimes it doesn't.

I mean GW, really? Where did this come from? Well we know don't we? Somebody had a birthday and got an Action Toy.

2. Stormtalon

I thought that this model had one redeeming feature - it wasn't quite as bad as the Storm Raven........but looking again, it's far worst.

Let's put aside the fact that it is Imperial, how does the stupid thing fly. Is this really the progress made in aerodynamics in the next 38,000 years?

At least the FW Stormeagle is a nice kit.

1. Thunderwolf Cavalry

Right, not even on their worst day should anyone thing Hairy Gingers riding overgrown huskies was a good idea. But to compound it further they gave you one with Lightning Claws.

Again.....38,000 years guys....and you have jacked cybernetic ab-humans riding dogs.

Horrible concept, questionable execution.

Some new lows plumbed!

EDIT: I don't know how I missed them but as Al* pointed out in the Comments, the Mutilators have to be there. So I'm going to say I was wrong when I said the TWC were a new low. In terms of concept and execution you have to say that the low belongs to these:

I'm going to give myself an out in that I wasn't really looking at Finecast models, confining all my choices to plastics. But really these do deserve a special meant. Let's take the already questionable Obliterators and make them worse.

"Betrayer" - The Latest Horus Heresy Release

I love Saturday mornings. Apart from the general lack of going to work, they are the day when Forgeworld and Black Library send out their new release emails.

This Saturday, it was Black Library's turn and we had the release of the latest Heresy book "Betrayer". I immediately downloaded it and I am about 3 hours into its 17 hours of goodness.

The book is set a year after Istvaan V and the World Eaters and Word Bearers are continuing their campaign against the Ultramarines in the Calth system. Apparently Horus has realised that for everybody's safety, it is best to keep Angron occupied. Not so much the World Eaters but just their Primarch. It emerges that Angron is his Legion's shame - he is a bit like the Dad on the anti-alcohol ads who starts breakdancing at his daughter's wedding crossed with Shouty Sam, Angry Sam, Punchy Sam and Hit On Everyone's Missus Sam. In short he's a bit of an embarrassment.

Early on he gets his kicks winding up Angth tal (Word Bearer's captain) by referring to him as "Creature" and making disparaging comments about Lorgar (so he's not all bad). However once unleashed on the Ultramarines he becomes a One-Man-Wrecking-Machine. This is done to the effects of the "butchers nails".

Kharn, who is the voice of sanity in the Legion, holds the rest of the World Eaters in-check as much as he can. There are some amusing exchanges when he comes across a squad of Word Bearers torturing/crucifying some Ultramarines. The World Eaters are clearly the "big dog" in Horus's arsenal.

In the background, Lorgar is trying to get Magnus to join Horus in light of the destruction of Prospero.

One thing that was interesting in the audiobook is that the World Eaters are all voiced with very heavy Russian accents. Angron has a voice described as sounding like a "vomiting of gravel and bile".

Enjoying it so far....I'll let you know my thoughts at the end.

"Prince of Crows" - A Glance Into The Night Lords Legion

Over the last few days I’ve been listening to one of the recent Horus Heresy audiobooks “Prince of Crows”. It is a story about the Night Lords Legion after they were ambushed by the Dark Angels and the Primarch Curze is in a coma.


In the past I had always thought that either the Iron Warriors were probably the most out and out evil of Horus’s forces but this book changes that view. The Night Lords are not righteous or motivated by devotion to a god……they are just sociopaths.

The book starts with some internal “cleansing” of the Night Lords command structure by the First Captain. It then starts to delve into the division between the Terran based Night Lords and those from Curze’s home planet of Nostramo. This division is a recurring storyline in the Heresy books – most of the death Guard sent down to Istvaan III were Terran. Similarly in Deliverance Lost, splits develop between those that had been imprisoned on Kiavahr and Raven Guard from Terra.

The 8th Legion also carries the guilt for the orbital destruction of their homeworld and this has increasingly manifested itself in dark dreams both for the Primarch and his captains. Prior to the ambush, these dreams were being treated by having the soothing presence of skinned and flayed bodies hanging from meat hooks in their private quarters. So these guys are a really well-adjusted bunch of malcontents.

Discussions between the leadership show little appetite for following the orders of Horus or for devotion to the Chaos gods. As a result the Legion is re-organised into six/seven Great Companies each with their own fleet. They are then directed to disperse and cause mischief. How or what they do is up to the individual leader.

Again the book is useful in showing that different Legions and factions have different motivations and that with out the Emperor’s controlling presence that any ties holding the different forces together quickly unravel.

Bane Legions Bloodthirster - WIP

Over the weekend I put together the Bane Legions Krull of Dis I purchased in the Maelstrom firesale of late October. I’m pretty happy with the purchase getting 50% off and free postage. The offers of late October seem to have been delivered whereas those of the last 10 days or so appear to be in stasis – Maelstrom appearing to have finally fallen over last weekend.

The model arrived last Tuesday and I’ve spent the last few nights while watching TV/listening to podcasts tidying it up and building it. First things, first. There is very little flash or mold lines on the figure. Where there are then it is very easy to clean them up with a craft knife. Whaere more work is required is on the removing of casting lugs (all pieces) and stabilisers (on small pieces). This requires some work with clippers, knife and flat file. The resin is not overly brittle so with a little care youcan get a good finish. I managed to put the craft knife into my left index finger resulting in a reasonable flow of blood – but hey, what else can you expect with a Bloodthirster!

There are some very large joins e.g. torso to legs, arms to torso etc. In some cases these have a surface area more than an inch square so rather than use Super Glue, I used a very thing layer of GF9 Greenstuff. I have found that this gives a much better bond than Super Glue for a large surface where there might be some imperfections, the epoxy compensating for any bumps or holes.

So here are some pictures of the model WIP. Remember this is a very large model standing around 9” high before the wings are attached. I have decided to paint it in three parts – wings and body – before final assembly. There are some small gaps still to fill and a little sanding of excess Green Stuff once it has fully cured.

Higher Quality Warriors of Chaos Pictures

Tracked down some better photos from this month's White Dwarf. There is also a picture of the new 40k Trench System

New Warriors of Chaos Unit Details

Skullcrushers

60 points per model
Unit Size 3+
Can take Lances
Magic Standard up to 50 pts
Same weapons rules as Chaos Knights
Cause Fear
Monstrous Cavalry
Will of Chaos
MR1
Mark of Khorne

Rider           WS5 S4 T4 W1 I5 A2 Ld8
Mount         WS5 S5 T5 W2 I2 A2 Ld7


Hellstriders

19 points per model
Shields and Spear
Fast Cavalry
ASF first combat round - 1 pt
Mark of Slaanesh

Soulhunter:

Destroy unit
1+ Devastating charge
2+ Stubborn
3+ 4+ Wd

New Warriors of Chaos Pictures - November White Dwarf

Okay pictures of the new minis and supplement have surfaced but they are of pretty poor quality. I'm posting the best of them - leaving out the Special Characters, whose pics are specially poor.

November's White Dwarf with Skullcrushers on Cover

The Update - Similar Format to Daemons of Chaos

The Warshrine

Marauders on Hellsteeds and the Skullcrusher

I'm guessing the first thing I'll say will echo the thoughts of the rest of you - how unsurprising? There is nothing there that I couldn't have guessed at.

The Warshrine is pretty much as I expected GW to do it  - and I am totally underwhelmed. It is one ugly model that seems to fuse Engine of the Gods with the Mortis Engine. Blah.

Ok, I've relented. Here are the poor quality photos of the Special Characters:

Valkya, Festus and Scyla

Detail is very hard to see (I'll post better resolution as they come available). The Scyla model in particular looks awful - it is very reminiscent of one of the fugly Warmahordes Trollbloods. What a bloody awful pose.

Keen to see better res pics of the other two!



What The @#$% Was That? - Standing In Front Of A Steamroller

On Saturday I had a great game of Warhammer with Mike King. Recently back from the USA, he was trying his Skitterleap list that was the result of Theoryhammer rather than road trial.


Bloodthirster
Tzeentch Herald (Life)
3x 28 Bloodletters, each with Herald
4 Flamers

So about as subtle as a knee to the groin. From an opposition viewpoint, I imagined it would be like trying to catch an anvil dropped from a plane.

I used the Night Goblins (plus two Orcs) but I replaced the Spider with a Pump Wagon, a Rock Lobber, three single Trolls and a Wolf Chariot. So how did it go?

Early on I realised that the Life Herald had to die…..fast. He was parked in with the Flamers but the concern was that any wounds dealt to the BT would be “Regrown” back. I managed to kill him with a couple of Doom Diver shots which meant he didn’t get to see the end of Turn One. Unfortunately this meant that I couldn’t direct those shoots onto the BT so I took the next best option (IMO) and charged him with a Squig Herd. These, coupled with 3 Fanatics through him, managed to get him down to a single wound before they exploded.

On the one flank I engineered a multiple charge of dual pump wagons and goblin chariot into a Bloodletter block that had stepped on the Mangler. Unfortunately for me this only resulted in four wounds from the impacts…I had worked out that I should have got about 10 kills. These guys were able to regroup and took out my warmachines later in the game. The other flank saw another Boodletter unit walk onto 3 Fanatics taking 17 hits. They ended up taking around 10 wounds leaving them a little depleted. When they later charged through a fanatic to contact my second Squig Herd they had insufficient strength and over two rounds of combat fell to the herd.

However the key combat was in the centre. Here the BT charged my character bunker first killing the champ and then the BSB. He was joined by third Bloodletter block who were challenged out by the BO Warboss. In the ongoing combat the Warboss survived unscathed versus the Herald doing one wound in return. I lost the combat due to damage on the unit from the BT and hat to make a Ld 9 test. I failed and ran taking my army with me.

In retrospect I should have thrown my Level 4 Shaman under the bus (BT) before the BSB with Standard of Discipline. That would have bought me one more turn. It wasn’t helped by two Fanatics doing a total of 2 hits on the BT as they went through him while he was fighting. Neither could get that elusive last wound.

Mike managed to kill all but 100 points of my army while I picked up just over 1100 points of his. Although this doesn’t look close on paper it came down to a few critical rolls and a poor decision by me. His army is a steamroller and I was reasonably happy that the tactics I employed were geared to a win on another day. Certainly was a fun contest.

Warriors of Chaos Confirmed for November

Games Workshop have released another one of their uninspiring youtube teasers. For those unable to join the dots - I'm guessing that that population is three people in Peru and a hamster named Julian - it appears that next month's White Dwarf will have an update for Warriors of Chaos.

There will also be releases of the following:

Sigvald, Valkya, Wulfrik, Scyla, Festus [All in Finecast]


Warshrine [Plastic]   Skull Crushers - Knights on Juggernauts [Plastic]   Hell Striders - Marauders on Steeds of Slaanesh [Plastic]   The cynical among us would suggest that it is to provide parts for Chaos Space Marine conversions.   No idea on rule changes though with recent FAQ giving Monstrous Cavalry Toughness of Mount then the Skull Crushers are certain to be tasty......interesting timing.

Taking A Punt

Having been peppered by Maelstrom Games over the past week as they seek to raise cash prior to warehouse move, this morning I took a punt and made an order.

Not being overly brave I restricted my purchase to something I know that they have access to, one of their own Banebeasts. Yes, I'm aware that Maelstrom have shifted the Banebeast/Bane Legions product to another Maelstrom-controlled entity, Mierce but I felt that they are unlikely to encounter problems with securing the model (especially as two (2) were showing as In-Stock).

Here's what I ordered:

Krull - The "Bloodthirster" Option

I have always admired this model and was very impressed with my Flint-Fang model so took the punt. The sheer size of the model is staggering and I am looking forward to painting him up - well as much as you can when you've spent the past few weeks painting 60 Bloodletters.

Back Box Art

I'll keep you posted on developments with supply and of course when it arrives there will be photos before and after painting.

EDIT: Just switched from Processing to Packing......yay! (22 Oct)

EDIT: Received email overnight saying it hat been Shipped (23 Oct)

Rumoured Chaos Second Wave Releases

Again taken from the leaked release schedule, here are the 40k second wave Chaos releases:

286010311080200 Cult Hybrid Upgrade Pack


282021211440203 Khorne Caedes Engines

206304711540308 Chaos Bike Squadron

206305211440303 Chaos Noise Marines

206304811440300 Chaos Thousand Sons

271074511840390 Bloodthirster

271074611840399 Lord of Change

271081411840399 Great Unclean One

271081511840398 Keeper of Secrets

271074811440399 Chaos Daemons Warp Stalkers / Chaos Furies

This covers both CSM and Chaos Daemons.

To me it doesn't appear exhaustive as there are very strong rumours from other sources pointing to Khorne, Nurgle and Tzeentch chariots. However it does encompass new Greater Daemons (as expected) plus CSM releases that seem plausible.

Over the next couple of days I'll post the Imperial and Xenos releases.

Emperor's Children Frustration

Apart from the absence of Cult Troops outside Noise Marines (thereby unlocking weapon options), the major frustration of EC players who have fought the Long War is twofold:

1. Restriction on Blastmasters

Back in the day (v3.0-v3.5), Noise Marine squads could upgrade one weapon per 6 Noise Marines (remember sacred numbers) to a Blastmaster. This resulted in a typical 6 man squad being a Champ, 4 Sonics and a Blastmaster. This was replicated across the army.

The new rules have one BM once you get to 10 Noise Marines meaning that all those six man squads are now five man squads. When this is coupled with the erradication of Noise Havocs, most long time EC players are now sitting on a swathe of useless blastmaster-totting marines. Frustrating.

"We Should Have Bought Apple Shares"

Quartermaster Alwyk Considers Telling Noise Lord Challis Drant About Losses Suffered As A Result Of The Legion's Investment In Blastmasters.

2. Change to Sonics

Sonics used to be Assault 2 weapons or Heavy 3. This made them extremely mobile and it also supported their Mark Attribute +1 Initiative. With the change to Salvo they are effectively one of the most immobile units in the game with a Mark Attribute entirely at odds with how the rules change will see them used. It doesn't appear as if a lot of thought has gone into this.


For me, it wouldn't have taken much in terms of the new codex to make existing armies more useable. This likely would have driven new Noise Marine sales. As it stands I don't see too many people rushing to build a full Noise Marine army given how it will play.

Frustrating!

Leak in the Warpstorm [Digital Codex:Chaos Space Marines]

On Sunday morning I visited the Games Workshop website and noted that the electronic version of the new Chaos Codex had been released. As regular readers know this is not a product offered to New Zealand customers (or those in Finland). Due to copyright laws iTunes NZ is not allowed to sell GW Digital Products.

Access to the UK iTunes store allows you to purchase the digital codex and download it directly to your iPad. This is quick and painless process. Interesting is the cost of the product. The physical codex is NZD 98.00 while in the UK it is GBP30.00 [This illustrates that GW operates in a parallel financial universe where a Kiwi Dollar is worth 31 pence rather than reality world where it is currently 51 pence]. The digital version costs GBP29.99 - for all intents and purposes the same cost as the physical.

Much has been made offshore as to the lack of price advantage of the digital, given that there are no printing, transport and retail space costs. What the digital copy is purported to offer is electronic updates as FAQs etc are released. So a certain amount of the cost is for the seamless future-proofing of the product you download. This is yet to be really tested, though the current Space Marine Codex has been updated for 6th. GW has a history of poor post-sale support for products e.g. Expamsions, Army List software etc.

What I will say is that this is clearly the way of the future. Colour me impressed by the standard of the product delivered. Especially given Apple's superior Retina display, the images are high definition. There are 360 degree views of all the recent models.

However the best feature is the referencing. Click on Noise Marines and it tells me it has the Special Rule Champion of Chaos. I can then click on that and I get all the rules associated with the special rule. It also has two buttons - one takes me to the Army List entry while the other to the Bestiary. Other links tell me what Ranged or Melee Weapons my Noise Champion can take. It really is an interactive document.

Certainly I see it as the equal of the physical book especially for travellers. When you combine that with a 40% price advantage over the local product, I am sold.

Edit: A nice little Easter Egg. There are embedded videos within the digital codex that I wasn't aware of but stumbled across last evening.

Codex: Chaos Space Marines - First Impressions

So I sat down last night and had a good read through the new Chaos codex.

The set up is exactly the same as other recent codexes and army books - fluff, bestilary, hobby list. It is full colour so very pretty with a mix of old art and new art. Don't see any Easter Eggs in the model shots but I'll give it a closer look this weekend.

There is nothing too inspiring in the fluff but that's to be expected given the wealth of Horus Heresy background we now have. It seems they went through with a storyboard and made sure each of the Legions gets a post-Heresy mention in their timeline.

Obviously for most the meat is in the list. For me the list is a conduit to me playing 40k again (forseeable future in meaningful way). Certainly I can make armies from my model collection with the list included. I think it is an improvement on GTBC edition. I suspect the easiest Traitor Legion to make is probably the Iron Warriors and I think that there is considerable opportunity to build a themed list. One thing that has helped this is the move of Dreadnaughts (Hellbrutes) to Elites. This takes some pressure off the Heavy Support that was there in the last codex. The three HS slots are still at a premium with Havocs, Oblits, Daemon Engines, Vindicators and Predators fighting for the three spots.

Death Guard and Emperor's Children are more problematic given the dearth of Cult Troops apart from the Plague Marines and Noise Marines. The second hand market for Blastmasters fell faster than Facebook shares. The Death Guard list is more doable as you don't have the weapons issues that you have with EC.I can muddle through with MoN but I suspect long term it will be as satisfying as 99% Fat Free Milk.

For the Emperor's Children my guess is if I want to play them then I'll steer towards a messy hybrid Chaos with Daemon Allies list (or vice versa). I still hold that a Grey Knights list may still be the best approximation of EC.

Is the book likely to get me playing 40k more regularly? Probably not. It seems to be all a little bit harder and a little bit less satisfying than what I'd want. With limited hobby and playing time I guess I'm selfish enough to resent having to make do. I wanted the Chaos release to really rark me up and enthuse me to going out to play the game again. It hasn't, so far. Still I'm keen to see some 6th Ed games and see if that reignites the flame.

As it stands it's unlikely I buy the electronic version of the codex or any new models. And I'm a little bit sad about that

Warriors of Chaos Coalesce

More details about the Warriors of Chaos releases:


Release Date:

Coming in a number of waves.

First wave without the book. (WD update)

First wave (as predicted) November.

Next wave February/March.

Models:

Warshrine

Skull crushers

Hellstriders.

2 Finecast characters - one new one and one old favorite.

A New Warriors of Chaos?

The drums have been beating quite loudly over the past week that the November release will be an update to "Warriors of Chaos". The expectation is that this means a new book - and certainly that would be the preferred option for the Fantasy base - but GW surprised with the Daemons update. With so much time being expended on 40k and with The Hobbit to hit before year end, you can't rule out another White Dwarf fix-it.

My own feelings are that I'd be surprised if it is anything less than a full book. Though not to the same extent as with 40k, Chaos mortals are a key tenet of the Warhammer lore.

So what would we expect to see in a new Chaos book. Well a few fixes immediately spring to mind:

• A reason to take Marks other than Tzeentch. Yes, you see some Marauders and Warriors marked Khorne and Marauder Horse marked Slaanesh but Tzeentch is the predominant Mark.
• This extends to characters where the Disk Lord/Sorceror Lord is the mainstay in most armies
• A fix for Forsaken. A skirmisher troop type is a great idea and certainly in keeping with the fluff, however the Forsaken are probably the unit least seen in the whole of Warhammer Fantasy (even Razordons get more love).
• The Eye of the Gods table needs to be fixed - not the concept but the mechanics. How often before a game do you hear "You go and get a coffee while I work out what my Chosen are".
• I'd like to see Dragon Ogres get some love so they can fill the role of fast moving monsters ala Mournfang/Demigryphs rather than people papering over cracks with Knight bus solution. The knight bus is impenetratable to some armies and so consigns games to borefest from outset - especially if combined with...
• Two Warshrines. The Chaos Rare needs some love. Upgrade the Shaggoth or introduced a new monster. Chaos Rare at the moment is 2x Warshrines (usually marked Tzeentch) or two Hellcannons if the comp lets you.
• Chaos seem to be poster boys for the SPCA, they are the only people concerned when their dogs die. Animal lovers yes, but I question the need for a Panic Check.

The one thing I'd hate to see removed is the Infernal puppet. I think it is a great part of the list and a fantastic leveller in the magic stakes. Hope it is perservered with.

So what do you want to see with Chaos?