Well it would appear that GW have been extremely busy behind the scenes of late if the reveal show is anything to go by; and the ‘I hate GW but they make me sweet clickbait money’ crowd have been equally busy. I really don’t understand what goes through their minds but that’s probably a blog for another day, maybe when I am drunk or something, but I did want to put my thoughts out there about what has been a pretty bumper release week.
Angron
Well I had to start here didn’t I? Probably the biggest reveal of the year in many respects the reveal of the revamped demon primarch was always going to be a big thing and the reaction has been mostly positive.
The leak of the model was a depressing reality when dealing with GW these days; and if they are not intentional leaks then they need a new internal security process and manager ASAP. The model though is impressive to say the least. I have seen some criticism of it being ‘not very dynamic’ and ‘a fat bloodthirsty’ or even ‘too much demon’ but this makes no sense at all to me. This sculpt harks back to the classic art work of the early noughties and looks great. Will I be buying it? No. One the price will almost certainly put me off and two; the complexity of the model and the skill needed to do it justice is beyond me. I got burned with the Silent King and won’t be falling for that one again. For the top quality painters out there I think this will be an amazing kit to work on and for khorne fans it is well overdue, but not one for me.
Predator
Despite never having painted one of these I have always had a soft spot for the marine medium tank and to see a new (or should that be ‘old’) version is fantastic.
I haven’t opened my age of darkness box yet as I am clearing my existing backlog first (I know I know I am a rebel) but I think the route that the heresy game is going down is encouraging. The price points seem reasonable and whilst I can see some items are already out of stock and being hawked on ebay to try and cash in on the ‘I need it now’ brigade it does seem well supported. I like this model save for the glacis plate which seems a bit flat to me. It needs a bolter or a light or something to break up the flat lines but beyond that it looks great. I especially like the drum fed bolter and hope that the sculpt has the ammo feed going up into the hull. Will I buy it? Probably later in the year if I decide my Night Lords needs a little more fire support or for smaller games where I don’t want to take the expensive Spartan. I am trying to keep my spending low on heresy as I want to do ‘project’ pieces but this one is tempting enough to make me put some cash to one side.
Warcry
So it seems we have a new warcry box and updated rule set coming. I have never played the game and, if I am honest, I don’t actually get what it is aiming for. Underworlds is a better skirmish game and more beginner friendly so for me warcry feels like AOS-lite.
That being said I do like the look of this box. The terrain looks interesting with the rather impressive looking trees and skull (which will be on someone’s Knight conversion by the end of day one I suspect) and you certainly seem to get a lot of stuff here. The lore on the warbands included is also pretty neat; especially the nurgle inspired warband following nurgle but not knowing it is nurgle they follow. I like this twist and the idea of one step removed worship; there is a lot of scope for this in the background fluff in AOS and 40k so it is refreshing to not just see another straight pantheon rehash. The Hashut models look pretty cool but I always associate Hashut with chaos dwarves so it does kind of put me off. Will I buy? No. AoS generally doesn’t appeal to me aesthetically and the whole warcry set up just doesn’t stir anything creative in me; it looks a good value set but not one for me.
Underworlds
So this one had been teased in the run up and plenty had thought Mordheim was coming back. Personally I doubted that given that GW seem to be struggling a bit to support all its boxed/specialist games (titanicus and Aeronautica seem to be really limping at present) and I was proven right when we got:
I do have a few warbands and have played the online version of the game but am by no means an expert on underworlds; but I do like the idea of buying a pre-built warband and being good to go. I certainly like this set and think there is a lot of potential here. Naturally the dogs stole the show and I think it shows that GW have learned the value of the ‘mascot’ after the crab and beer hog incidents. I could see these being used quite easily in a few game systems including 40k and I am impressed with the variety in play here. Will I buy them? Yes. One I do want to try underworlds a bit more and I have always liked the Van Helsing-esq trope which these fit. Also, I could quite easily use these as a witch hunter kill team or detachment in Kill Team and 40k; especially as the leader reminds me of the classic inquisitor model in 40k (though plastic this time and not awful finecast).
Necromunda
My gaming group play this but personally it has never appealed. I have looked a few times at arbites but would just end up painting judge dredd (and there is a miniature game for that anyway so…). I also wonder about the ash waste expansion generally as it is meant to be war in the hive and by taking outside it feels a bit like gorkamorka or 40k lite. That’s just me though. The reveal of
Certainly cheered a lot of ork players but this was the one model I did not like. It just feels like the brute chopper from halo and whilst I know sci-fi is largely imitative this really does feel like a straight reskin. The paint job on the reveal is amazing and I am sure there will be some cool conversions but for me this is a hard pass. Will I buy it? No. I don’t follow this system and the model does not do enough to stir the creative juice for me to make it into a hobby project.
Bloodbowl
Well this one set the thirsty crowd off.
I don’t think I have ever seen so many comments about thighs on a hobby chat before but I guess amazons do that to people. I do have a bloodbowl team I bought in lock down one for a project but I have never actually used them. One day I may get round to it. Maybe. These new sculpts did look truly impressive though and show how far GW design has come in that they have managed to make each one look a little different and sculpt different body shapes and not just short or tall. I was really impressed with this kit. Will I buy it? No, I haven’t played bloodbowl before and I already have a team; though the paint job on them is not the best. Great to see the release of them but this one is a comfortable pass.
Kill team
Kill team was my route back into 40k after over a decade out but I am not sure on the new version in terms of what it is trying to do. It feels like the teams are bigger and the use of the large boxes rather than the small pre-built teams puts me off a bit. The reveals this weekend though were interesting:
Now I have never been a kroot fan but I know plenty are. They do look good and more dynamic than the strange models in the old tau codex but most definitely not of interest to me. The breacher team though? I like this kit and as someone who deeply wishes Battlefleet Gothic would come back this is a very tempting kit. The whole vibe of the imperial navy is captured here and the models are sufficiently different to stand out. I could quite easily see a few different colour schemes as well. Will I buy them? The box set would have to offer something very special in terms of price and or content to get me to splurge given that I have no interest at all in the kroot but the breacher team on its own if released would be an instant buy for me. I am currently saving for the Krieg veterans but would happily push them back to buy the breachers as this a kit that is very much my thing.
Conclusion
On the whole I was not expecting much that would tickle my interest from the reveal or indeed the week but I got more than I expected. The hunters is an instant buy for me and the breachers will be. The predator maybe down the line depending on funds and time but I think the stuff this week has been pretty damned cool and there seemed to be something for everyone; unless that is you are an anti-GW clickbaiter in which case please, just pack it in and cover another game.
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