Over the last month, this blog has had a decidedly retro, old school, sepia toned feel to it. Between the history of dreadnoughts, and my own Oldhammer projects, I’ve not been paying so much attention to the new stuff appearing in Warhammer 40,000 and boy, has there been plenty going on. This post means to set that all straight as I take a look at the freshest fluff and fanciest figurines that Citadel has served up over the last month or so. It’s not so much a review, but really just my own thoughts on the newness.
Gifts From Grandfather
Let’s just set the record straight from the get go; the new Great Unclean One is gorgeous. Well, gorgeous in a pus-filled, maggot-ridden, gross, grimy, gribbly sort of way. It’s a fitting tribute in a way to Wayne England’s iconic Great Unclean One illustration, with much of the design being influenced by the sadly now departed artist’s work. If I didn’t have so much on the project list at the moment, I’d have a go at painting one of these up myself, and I may well do so at some point soon. The scale of the miniature is so impressive, but what I think is even more impressive is the amount of detail, along with the options that you get. An inspired bit of work from GW, and the greater daemon that we deserve.
For the other Nurgle daemons, it’s a mixed bag for me. The Heralds of Nurgle (and their delightful Nurglings) are fantastic additions, full of character, humour and innovative sculpts that make me want to have a go at painting them all. The Beasts of Nurgle, I like less. It feels like they’ve tried to shoehorn the unit into the current style, and they look a bit too much like chubby sea cucumbers with horse penises on their heads for my liking. I think, if I ever have the need for Beasts, I’ll just use the Forge World Plague Toads instead.
And Codex Chaos Daemons has provided new options for the armies of the Warp. What I like about this book is that in all the ways that you can take daemons, there are boons to be found in the stratagems and army builds. No one faction looks grossly more powerful than the others, and so I’m looking forward to seeing more mixed God armies in the future (even though it’s probably easier to get boons from going monotheistic). All in all, it’s been a good month for the denizens of the Empyrean. Oh, and they got a tree!
Traitors From Tizca
The Thousand Sons are getting there own new book, and while there are no new miniatures (though does anyone else see the Mutilath Vortex Beast in that image from GW!?), this tome will undoubtedly reinforce the idea that these guys can even make the Grey Knights look amateurish in the psychic phase. The sheer volume of buffs and attacks, especially if Magnus is on the board will almost certainly be incredibly intimidating, and though I’ve only seen what’s been posted on the community site, what I like is that the army certainly doesn’t seem to be broken. Others may think otherwise, but to me, they didn’t look terrifying, while still looking formidable and strong. I like that.
I don’t think they need too many more units, but who knows what we’ll see from the Egyptian Space Wizards in the future (Vortex Beast included). What’s more, the potential for synergy with Tzeentch daemons will be fun to watch. I get the feeling that there’s a lot the two factions can do a lot for each other, and I look forward to seeing some of that on the tabletop.
Praetorians From The Palace
After all that time hanging out, chilling and playing games while Space Marines have been getting gut punched across the galaxy, the 10,000 have finally been let off the leash and now the Custodians are starting to look like a real army. While the Adeptus Custodes have been around for a little while now, this new wave of miniatures and their shiny new codex have turned them into a fully fledged fighting force. They’re a very elite army, and with lots of buffs and characters, it will be interesting to see how they fair on the table top.
The new jetbikes are stunning. The Eagle’s head design is very true to some older illustrations and this unit gives the heavily armoured Custodes some real speed and a different edge to use in combat. The Allarus terminators with their axes, standards and spears give them some tanking abilities as well as some real heavy hitters. And I have to say that Trajann Valoris is a truly stunning miniature. I may well have to get my hands on him because there’s so much to have fun with there.
The codex itself looks very interesting, and having read the many articles that have featured on the Warhammer Community site, I get the feeling that keen chess players may well favour this army. Just a theory, but like all elite armies, getting the tactics right for the golden boys is critical, and thinking a few moves ahead will be a key part of them being successful on the battlefield. What’s more, with support from Forge World too, you won’t have to use that Custodes Contemptor which, let’s face it, against these new releases, and even the older ones from the Prospero box, looks a bit naff (especially when compared to minis like the Galatus).
Looking Into The Future
There are still a few armies left to get full 8th Edition updates and Ork player in particular seem to be chomping at the bit to get their Gorkanauts and grots tooled up and into the fight. I guess then that we’ll be seeing more release windows similar to the above until everyone has been catered for. Some will just get books, while others that need it will get some resculpts and new units.
So, I don’t just spend all my time gazing through my Screamer Pink coloured glasses at the miniatures of yesteryear like I know you think I do. I do new stuff too. Sometimes. All in all, it’s been a month or so of big wins and good miniatures from GW – long may the trend continue. What have you thought about the new additions to the ranges? Stick your comments down below. Onwards!
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Very much liking the new stuff, and whilst I was originally very dubious about the inclusion of rules for Custodes outside of the Horus Heresy, now that they’re being fleshed out a bit more I’m getting used to it. My only concern really is how much bling they bring, but then there’s no reason you HAVE to paint them gold, except you know, fluff!
Look forward to seeing what you’d do with Trajan Valoris though, that would be a real fun model to work on!
I know what you mean, but I think the fluff has been sensibly updated to include them in the wider 40k galaxy, and they do make for an interesting force.
One of my consistent sources of amusement over the past half-year or so has been all the commentary on the Nurgle Models and people’s paint jobs on them. Just full of things like “Wow, that’s gorgeous…well, for Nurglish values of ‘gorgeous’ at least.” 😉
I actually kind of like the new Beasts, so I’m getting four of them, to go along with my three Plague Toads and give me a proper 7.
From what I hear, the next three Dexes are likely to be Tau, Crons, and Space Wolves, so the poor Ork players will probably have to keep waiting for a while. Shouldn’t be too much longer, tho. After those three, I think it’s just Orks, Dark Eldar, Harlequins, and DeathWatch left, at least of the Factions that had proper Codexes before.
Each to their own when it comes to minis, of course. But now that I’ve said it, you’ll be thinking of horse penises every time you look at their heads. 😉
Poor old Ork players. I hope they get a killer codex too. The Orks deserve to be terrifying again, and in fairness their index rules do have some tasty rules.
Well as a Blood Bowl player, I’m kind of hoping this means a Nurgle team is in the wings. Partially just to get that team out of the way, as I’m not keen on playing them in tabletop. However….if they made a multipart team box with Chaos *and* Nurgle….I’d be drooling all over that!