Heresy & Heroes

Rumour has it that we’ll be seeing a brand new Helbrute (note the spelling!) hitting the shelves in the next couple of weeks and that’s pretty cool. We’re also getting a lot of the Chaos Squads and units reboxed in the modern packaging according to the leaked release schedule that you can read the ‘confirmation’ over on bols right now.

The ‘Brute kit is a welcome addition to the CSM range. The old Chaos Dread was a clunky rippoff of the older loyalist model and looked very out of place. Besides, its looks had long been second rate due to the Legion-specific models available on Forge World (including my own sonic dread as pictured below).

The Helbrute was one of the main reasons that I shelled out for the Dark Vengeance box in the first place. There’s plenty to love in that box but the big scary monster was the one I wanted more than any other. I then proceeded to screw up the paint job a bit in making it part of my Death Guard force but it still sees game-time on a relatively regular basis (though is not pictured here because it wasn’t worth taking a photo of).

Anyway, I think it’s great that this kit is being released and I hope the Chosen and Cultists in the same boxed set get a proper release in the near future too with different options etc. But there are two units in the Chaos Space Marine codex that are crying out, desperate for a new release. These are what I would like to see…

The Sound – New Noise Marines

Or my dear, sweet Noise Marines. Time has not been kind to you. Even with your new plastic bits, you just look like bog standard Chaos Space Marines with, well, different plastic bits stuck on you. There is so much that could be done with your doom sirens, blastmasters and sonic blasters. We don’t need to revisit the almost-comedy ‘rock-band-of-the-future’ look (as seen above), but something more in line with the current themes. Curl those spikes more, add the flamboyant flourishes that would be oh-so-Slaanesh, while keeping the ‘grimdark’ theme of the CSM too. It can be done. Somewhere between the Lucius model and Forge World’s Legion Kakophoni would be about right.

But whatever happens, it would be great to have a kit that I could walk into a store and pick up. It would make resurrecting my Emperor’s Children a much more pleasant experience anyway.

The Fury – New Berserkers

Now, as a Slaaneshi/Nurgling (lapsed) I am no fan of Khorne but it saddens me to see the Berserkers looking so dated now. Their helmets are almost comic-book compared to newer models and don’t quite fit in with the current range. What’s more, their armour isn’t very Khorney and their poses and axes… basically, they look weak compared to the newer miniatures in this army and those in others. As much as I don’t like Khorne, and even if they’re not as good a unit, tactically speaking, as they used to be, it’s sad to see one of Chaos’ most iconic units looking so old and out-of-place. They should have more chains, more variation in their axes and meathooks all over them. They should be scratched and caked in gore. More Kharn, and less Kharn not!

They need a boost to their looks because no-one’s buying them for their rules. Those devilish monsters of Blood God worshipping, axe-wielding psychopaths need some love.

That’s what I want to see released for CSM. Make me happy, GW, and bring these kits into the 21st Century and the they’ll return to the 41st Millennium too.

How about you? What other kits, in CSM or other armies really need an update? Comments and thoughts below.