Final thoughts on the year

Hi Folks,

This past year has been bad for many different reasons, but most obviously for the COVID-19 pandemic that has struck seemingly everywhere. Readers will have noticed a (random) drop off and pick up of my postings over this past 9 or so months, and some of this is related to the pandemic in the sense of having significantly less time for hobby. Rest assured that I (we) are all fit and healthy, but 2020 has simply been a rubbish year overall. I'm looking forward to the vaccine in 2021 and hoping that the gaming and tabletop scene will improve dramatically. 

Looking back at hobby progress, I started the year aiming to get a Shattered Legions force together. It is not quite 100% complete yet, but many aspects of it are really close, including basic squads for all three legions, plus some extras (Dreadtober in particular pushed my onward with a Salamanders dreadnought that I'm proud of -- image below!). 

Beyond that, I'm part way through reviewing the new units for the Horus Heresy from the latest hardback black book -- that will culminate in 2021 as well with a bit of luck. 

In the meantime, let me wish all of you a Happy New Year as we happily see the back of 2020. 

-jabberjabber :)

Horus Heresy Review: Lion El'Jonson

Background.

The First. The Lion. And also the final primarch that will be reviewed on Warpstone Flux! That's right folks, we now have a full collection of Primarch rules out in the open, not withstanding the second and eleventh. 

In the book, he is portrayed as both ruthless and pragmatic which can be seen in the campaigns that he fought in the past. In particular it is noted that his function was to deal with the foes of humanity that others would fear and turn away from, much like he did in his youth on Caliban. Cross reference the xenocides that he partook in and lead. 

Strengths.

The Lion, for all his rules, is actually quite the generalist to my mind. He doesn't stand out as a force multiplier (at least in the same way as Alpharius), nor is he quite at the Horus level of close combat monster. That said, his special rules give him a very good chance against most other primarchs if it ever came to it. In combat, he gets better in the sense of more attacks when reduced in wounds count. Plus, he is largely immune to certain de-buffing effects that others have upon him thanks to his Absolute Focus rule. 

The stasis grenades that he carries makes for interesting shenanigans. Combined with the Fusil Actinaeus, he stands a good chance at blinding and slowing anyone he pleases. In this regard, he is quite a threat, and one that an opponent must deal with either head on, or by moving around the Lion. 

Interestingly, he also gets a choice of close combat weapon: either the Lion Sword, or the Wolf Blade. The former is fractionally better for duels, the latter better for vehicles and breaking units. If you're not dueling, I'd suggest the Wolf Blade in almost every circumstance to be honest. 

His buffs to his army includes a better morale check buff in a bubble, charge range (you're not going to stop him getting in to combat) and the potential for personal Death Wing body guards.

Weaknesses.

His army buffs are weak in comparison to other armies out there. Plus he does not dish out any force organization chart switching abilities at all. 

Other than that, he is a primarch and that means very few realistic weaknesses. 

Overall.

His points cost is reasonable for what he is able to pull off, although he doesn't particularly excel in any one area like his brothers. Sure, he's a beast, and he demands the opponent to do something about him, and he can de-buff and resist others de-buffing him. But no mass bonuses to his army. And outclassed by a number of other primarchs in the close combat arena -- but can handle a good fraction of them. He therefore sits in the middle of the power table to my mind. Dangerous as anyone else, to be clear, but more of a generalist than a specialist. Maybe that is the beauty of the Lion though. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals Squad

The squad is altogether now, and here's an image to do them some justice. 

I like the gritty feel of the squad overall. They really communicate the likely conditions on the sands of Isstvan after being betrayed and suffering the massacre of their allies. At their feet lie some remains of the third legion (Emperor's Children) as they muster for revenge against the traitors. These marines will join my breacher squad to form a full 10-marine breacher squad for use as a Shattered Legions force. I still have some work to do on the rest of the Iron Hands contingent, but this is a great basis for expanding the force. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 5/5

Rounding off the squad of Iron Hands Medusan Immortals at number 5 is this marine. Along with his brothers, he is also a survivor of the massacre by the traitors in the opening moments of the Horus Heresy. As befits such a survivor, he has battle damage in places, and plentiful mud scattered over his feet, lower legs, and shield. 

I enjoyed painting the battle damage on to this one in particular as it offered a chance to experiment with a couple of techniques. On the shield, one of these techniques is visible: a silvered surface surrounded by scorched black marks suggestive of explosive tipped ammunition shattering on the shield (i.e. bolt gun rounds). Once more, I'm happy that I didn't glue this one together before managing to paint his left shoulder pad. Although some of it is obscured by the shield, I'd know it was unpainted if I left it in there undone. 

A post featuring the full squad in all their glory will be made soon enough. Stay tuned. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 4/5

Number four in my squad is this battle brother. Sporting a requisite amount of mud on the feet and lower legs, this marine has been through hell and back on Isstvan and now only exists to extract revenge on the traitors for the massacre. 

Mud aside, the red parts that can be seen just below the ammo feed on the bolt gun is part of the scanner that is attached to the waist of the marine and is simply poking through due to the line of sight of the image. The numeral ten on the left knee pad is a decal from the standard space marine range (although for a few of these, I did decide to kit bash -- decal bash -- the XX from the Alpha Legion to obtain some smaller ones for the Iron Tenth!). 

I like the way that this one has turned out, especially the wiggly iron pipework on the left shoulder pad that is partially hidden behind the shield. I decided to paint this first, prior to gluing together the shield on to the arm. In hindsight, this was the right choice, and it also allowed some painting on the interior of the shield as well. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 3/5

The third marine in the Iron Hands Medusan Immortals is muddied after seeing serious action against the Emperor's Children. Although following the same painting scheme as the others in this series, the mud is turned up a notch and features heavily on the shins and feet of the miniature, with a touch on the shield too, let alone the third legion shoulder pad that can be seen on the ground in front of him. 

Anomalously whiter than the rest of the miniature, and seemingly relatively untouched by the mud, is a bolt gun with the numeral "X" on the side. The narrative here is that this marine recovered the bolt gun from a fallen battle brother when his own bolt gun failed him. It also gives a touch more diversity to the squad overall and I feel it is a nice addition. Overall, I'm happy with this even given how much the alternate colour bolt gun stands out. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 2/5

The second marine in my Iron Hands shattered legion Medusan Immortals is nominally the squad leader and armed with the usual bolt gun and shield. 

The base and lower part of the marine have been spray painted with darker muddier tones to present the suggestion of wear and tear on the fields of the Urgall Depression, including a tire that has probably been blown off some Emperor's Children biker. 

What I'm particularly pleased with on this miniature is how the red and orange eye pieces have worked out. They provide a nice contrast to the dull black of the Iron Hands scheme used here. Some edging in gold offsets this and combined with the weathering around the lower edge of the shield provides the final overall tone for the miniature. For the head, I attempted a few-day-growth effect for the receding hairline by subtly applying a grey colour in a male-pattern balding outline. Very happy overall with this one. 

Iron Hands Medusan Immortals 1/5

Painting progress report today. I have decided to round off my Iron Hands Breacher squad by filling it out with Iron Hands Medusan Immortals. This will take their number up to a total of ten, packed out with two flamers as their selected special weapons. 

This is the first Medusan Immortal that I've painted. It follows the Iron Hands recipe that I worked out for the rest of the Breacher squad earlier on: muted black colours (as opposed to the shinier Raven Guard slick black) combined with Nuln Oil washed metallics and battle damage applied to various locations. The trim of the armour is picked out in the washed silver colour itself as well, whereas the lenses are a combination of reds and oranges to create a reflective (refractive) lens appearance that complements the otherwise darker colours. The base has a rhino door sporting Emperor's Children colours to represent the battles that took place in the Isstvan system as is thematic with the Shattered Legions approach that I'm taking here. 

This particular marine sports a flame gun held on to the shield. In hind sight -- and if I had the time over again -- I would have put the flamer on one of the other models that did not hold the gun in place on the shield. The fit was fiddlesome to say the least and not a task I'd want to do again in a hurry. I will remember this for next time. Otherwise, this is the first of 5 marines that I will be presenting over the coming days (hopefully not weeks!). 

Horus Heresy Review: Marduk Sedras

Background.
One of the oldest warrior in the service of the Dark Angels, Sedras has fought alongside the Emperor himself, primarchs, and many others of renown. He has seen it all. Been there - done that. There's almost no battlefield type he's not served on and mastered. 

Strengths.

Sedras has many strengths. In terms of equipment, he is a terminator with a S+5 sword at AP2 which makes him deadly in close combat. He further reduces the invulnerable saving throw of enemies down by one notch thanks to the sword which could make him the breaker of enemy terminator hammer units. 

To my mind what really sets him aside from others is the Ancient of War rule which gives preferred enemy against a given faction to Sedras and any over half-strength unit within 6 inches of him at the start of the game. This is great and will resonate with many of the plasma weapons that the Dark Angels can bring to the battlefield. 

Finally, he gets to take a cenobite squad instead of a deathwing squad which won't count against the squad limit. This is very nice and comes recommended to take full advantage of his preferred enemy bubble.

Weaknesses.

Sedras is fundamentally a close combat Master of the Legion. The controlling player, as usual, will need to figure out how to get him in to combat quickly. Take a vehicle and start him on the board, as the negatives of not having him on the board (Ancient of War) is too severe to not have him there.

Given that he will start the board castled up with other units, we must also take care that the enemy isn't going to use vindicator splat templates on the army, or call down a barrage from orbit. This is a serious consideration for the Ancient of War rule when setting up.

Overall.

I like Sedras overall. He is worth the points, and can be heavily exploited for the preferred enemy rule that can really turn the tide of a battle in favour of the Dark Angels. He's also a loyalist, and can never be take by traitor forces which is a nice addition and flavourful. I can readily see many players taking him -- possibly even favouring him over the likes of Corswain for his army boosting abilities. 

Wargames Gallery: Salamanders Shattered Legion

This is my complete(?!) Salamanders Shattered Legions force. For each component of the Shattered Legions, I'm incorporating 1 HQ selection, 1 Troops, and 1 something else. In this case, the "something else" is the Salamanders Contemptor Mortis. 

The army list for this component is as follows:

1 x Praetor in Terminator Armour, with Thunder Hammer, and combi-melta. [This could be swapped to Delegatus in lower points games]. 

1 x Tactical Squad with bolt guns and bolt pistols, Sergeant with power fist and melta bombs (nuncio vox to taste).

1 x Contemptor Mortis with twin multi-meltas. 

The Salamanders Praetor will be the lead character for the Shattered Legions and loan the Covenant of Fire rite of war to the entire army for when it is combined with the Raven Guard and Iron Hands components of this force. 

I'm yet to complete the other two legions that will make up this force, but progress is slowly being made. Very happy with how the Salamanders contingent have worked out. Dreadtober 2020 certainly pushed me to finishing off the dreadnought, and hence this entire Salamanders component. 

Horus Heresy Review: Corswain

Background.

Every legion in the Horus Heresy has its own legends. From Abaddon in the Sons of Horus, through to Sigismund of the Imperial Fists. The Dark Angels are no exception in having non-Primarch's whose names ring through the din of the background period. Corswain is one such name of renown. 

Strengths. 

Corswain has an enviable combination of rules that makes him a champion in close combat. From Master of the Death Wing, legion rules, precision strikes, and his master-crafted sword and the instant death ability, Corswain should rightly be feared in melee. Indeed, outside of the Primarchs themselves, there are few who can stand up to him (but there are several). Further, the Paladin of Glory warlord rule grants him further bonuses to win combats which shouldn't be overlooked. 

Weaknesses.

Traitors cannot take him, but worse than this: he lacks eternal warrior. This is a major detriment which will need the controlling player to carefully consider the charges that they will need to pull off for this character.

Further, there is the perennial question of how to get Corswain in to melee in the first place where he can excel. Hopefully though the Dark Angles have multiple answers for this! To be clear, Corswain is only a combat monster. He is not a force multiplier, nor a ranged expert. Play appropriately and build a force that focuses on close combat, or helps with the lack of non-close combat aspects to get the best out of him. 

Overall.

Corswain is a close combat monster in power armour (and excellent power armour it is as well with a 3+ invulnerable save in close combat that partially makes up for the lack of eternal warrior -- if you feel lucky and the die gods are on side). He should be played aggressively and at the tip of any spear that the Dark Angels player forges and he shouldn't disappoint. Just watch out for enemy characters and certain legions who are capable of nullifying his special abilities and causing instant death on him before his swings at initiative. These will be deadly to him even with a stunning invulnerable save in close combat if they land sufficient wounds.

Dreadtober 2020: Project Complete!

Behold: a mighty Salamanders Legion Contemptor Mortis! (Warning: Picture Heavy!). 

Fully painted and ready to extract righteous vengeance from the traitors on Isstvan 5. 

Different angles are shown in the images below. 

[Background: Kraken Mats desert war zone city.]

Horus Heresy Review: Ironwing Excindio Class Battle-Automata

Background.
The dread silica anima are not dead. Known only to the Emperor and the Dark Angels, these artificial intelligences are not Mars-born, but left over from ancient Terra and born of malice with similar intent. They have been somewhat neutered by the Ironwing, but still lack restraint and could potentially turn on the Dark Angels as much as they wilfully eliminate their enemies. These are the Excindio: Dark Age AI nightmares.

Strengths.

Wow. This unit is in no small part rather incredible. The sheer fact of its existence in 30k is amazing in the first place, and its tabletop rules back it up. These automata are sheer death for most things short of special character models (and it'll happily kill many of them too). They will kill most things in close combat, and with the right weapon load out will do the same to vehicles at range as well. Honestly, they will get the job done. 

Weaknesses.

There are several weaknesses to consider with these beasts. Firstly, they stand a chance of turning on your own army. Hence the best way to play around this is to keep them away (or keep them nearer to an enemy -- this is a must). Secondly, with upgrades, their price tag starts to inflate to a level where you might as well take the Lion instead (equally, these machines are heavy support choices, not Lords of War). Or maybe some Mechanicum allies for a better health and safety record? Regardless, they can be equipped with a kill switch should they go truly rogue, but I question the utility of this given the close range that a controller has to be within to use it. 

Builds.

There are several ways to construct these machines. All deadly.

Excindio with 2 Atomantic Pulse Cannons and 2 hunter killer missiles (380 points).

A ranged option to bring down most vehicles in the game. 

Excindio with 1 graviton flux projector, 2 irad cleansers (340 points).

Interesting close combat variant, but consider carefully how it will get in to combat?

Excindio with 1 Atomantic Pulse Cannon (330 points).

My favourite build here, as it provides the best of ranged and close combat ability for an optimal price.

Excindio with 1 Nerve Induction Shredder, 2 plasma repeaters (340 points).

Something to take care of hordes?

Dreadtober 2020: Fire Knee!

Some progress in Dreadtober 2020 on my Contemptor Mortis Salamanders Legion dreadnought. I completed the under coat using a white colour in order to base coat using contrast paints -- in this case warp lightning contrast paint following my earlier recipe. The one disadvantage of this approach on a model of this size is that it leaves whiter colours in the recesses. This makes getting black in to those areas more essential and time consuming. Not an impossible task, just one that takes time. 

Moving beyond the green base coat, I decided to resurrect my blending approach to fire painting for the knee cap. Its a limited area of the model to try this technique on, but I'm please with the outcome -- see image.

In brief, I've used a wet blending approach with the fire here, similar to how I paint Bloodletter's swords. I start with the white colours here and then apply yellows to the inner fire, blend with orange as the next layer up, and then red at the extremes. This creates a nice visual from a distance and works well to suggest the fire aspect of the miniature. Close up, as per the image, it is easy to see just how messy and haphazard this approach actually is. I won't claim it is neat, but fire isn't generally neat either. This is a paint job best viewed from a little distance in my mind to create the desired effect. 

Next steps will be to extend the fire to the main torso and focus on highlighting the relevant parts of the model. I'm getting there now and its looking promising to say the least - I can almost feel how I want the paint scheme to end up looking!

Horus Heresy Review: Dreadwing Interemptors

Background.

These marines represent the ultimate sanction from the Dark Angels of the Lion. They are charged with the literate erasure and annihilation of the enemy in entirety -- to leave nothing behind, nor even speak of their victories. They do this through their plasma burners and incinerators, which has the side effect of irradiating the marines themselves over a period of decades before they become combat ineffective or need placed in a dreadnought. Grim.

Strengths. 

I really like the plasma weapons on offer here. Lots of potential shots at AP2, but with the slight drawback of S=4 which should be compared against a regular plasma gun (and has the mild advantage of no gets hot rule). This is somewhat offset by the use of rad grenades though, and it is a squad that could chew through terminators of the enemy with ease. Stubborn is nice here too. 

Weaknesses.

Fundamentally, these are regular T=4 and 3+ save marines with one wound each. They are prime targets too. And they're competing for an elites slot with many others. My guess is that they will only be used alongside the Dreadwing special rite of war to be honest. Otherwise, the elite slot is being used for other units, and a support squad of plasma might be a superior choice. That said, putting them in a land raider and moving them up to a select target is a viable tactic and one to be explored (or grab them if you're an Alpha Legion player and infiltrate them in?). The plasma incinerator sits in an odd place since it is "heavy" but carries a suspension web resulting in a different range to the plasma burners for extra shots. I'd advocate a stasis missile launcher instead. Further, these marines are not close combat ones, they are dedicated very close range shooting marines. Don't get tar-pitted or they will die due to lack of attacks (1 each with a blade -- the burner is not classed as a pistol).

Builds.

I only really have one build to offer here since there are few options.

10 Interemptors, 2 missile launchers (340 points).

Take a land raider proteus to rock up to your chosen enemy and burn them away with the plasma (fire your rad or stasis missiles first though!).  Take phospex bombs to taste. 

Horus Heresy Review: Firewing Enigmatus Cabal

Background.

Small and elite units that feel to me like a pre-cursor of some Alpha Legion harrow, the Firewing are depicted as a force that merely exist to destroy the enemies key assets, morale, plans, and most other things related to their ability and will to resist. 

Strengths. 

Their jump packs give them a standard cover save, no matter what, and cannot be overwatched if charging whilst using them. This is very good to say the least and encourages a head-on style of play for the unit. Shroud bombs complement the feel of this unit.

The needle pistols are a fine and reliable addition, if a bit niche. The charge blades are similarly nice, with an extra pip in strength on top of a standard power sword. 

Weaknesses.

Fundamentally, I find it odd that we cannot add more bodies to this unit. But with 2 wounds each, that's not so much of a problem unless staring down some instant death weapons. They're meant to be played as anti-AP3 armour and shouldn't aim to get entangles with terminators at all. 

Builds.

There are not many options here. The only choice is whether to take a grenade launcher. I would suggest not bothering. Simply pay the points for the base unit, and fly them in to other marines (or equivalent) to bash them up. Their rules should keep them in the fight and enable them to win. Take 2 units, just to be sure? Head for a character embedded in a larger unit and then use the special rending rules to take them out. They are very points cost efficient for the job and come recommended from me!

Dreadtober 2020: Salamanders Contemptor Mortis

I have had this project hanging over me for a very long time now -- and Dreadtober is the perfect opportunity to attempt to make some appreciable progress with it. Behold the mighty Contemptor Mortis! Fully assembled and awaiting some tender, loving paint work to be applied.

The plan is to use the contrast painting method worked out for my Shattered Legions Salamanders from much earlier and apply some blending to the more fiery aspects of the armour to help it stand out. The base will be kept in keeping with the other miniatures and feature a dark sandy tone. 

Wish me luck!

Horus Heresy Review: Deathwing Companion Detachment

Background.

Sworn to ensure the lives of the senior command staff, the Deathwing are portrayed as the elite personal guards of the Dark Angels' commanders. The best of them have taken death blows intended for their commanders and are entitled to wear the bone white armour that would later become synonymous with the Death Wing in general. Of course, this is a little bit of a ret con compared to the tale in old-hammer of how the Death Wing saved one of their recruitment worlds from genestealers and to commemorate that event painted their terminator armour bone white since then. Modern Death Wing feels like a blend of these guys plus the Inner Circle Knights Cenobium. But I fear I've already digressed. 

Strengths.

There are many ways to build out this unit, from power armour to terminators, and with close combat to ranged possible. 

More than this, as an HQ unit attached to a warlord, I would suggest that they are a superior choice to regular command squads for a 30k army and probably a "must" for many Dark Angels builds. Doubly so given their affordable points cost. The ability to automatically pass "look out sir" tests coupled with denying precision shots and similar for the Praetor that is with them is amazing and will give opponents a more significant headache to achieve "slay the warlord". Further, with 2 wounds on the Oathbearer, this unit is going to see a lot of play in my opinion. 

Weaknesses.

Scions of the Death Wing is not a great Hexagrammaton rule, but I guess you can't have everything. Also the HQ cannot leave the squad, but that's exactly to be expected. 

Builds.

Frankly, there are many ways to kit out this unit. I'm not going to be able to be exhaustive here, but I will give a sampling instead. 

9 Death Wing, 1 Cytheron pattern aegis, 5 combi-plasma (330 points).
Keeping the number to 9 so that the Praetor (or similar) makes 10 and hence the unit can grab a dedicated transport. The combi-plasma is for offence, whilst the aegis is for lowering the initiative of the enemy if charged or in a fortuitous position. Take Terranic great swords or Calibanite warblades to taste.

10 Death Wing, all with jump packs, melta bombs, 3 power fists, 2 plasma pistols (520 points).
Not quite worth it points wise here (arguably), but this is now a table defining unit able to swoop on select targets with a jump pack equipped Praetor. The down side is the lack of invulnerable save and fearless. 

5 Death Wing, terminator armour, 1 grenade launcher, 1 thunder hammer (237 points).

Pleasantly affordable. The grenade launcher is for a well timed stasis shell, and the thunder hammer is to back up the Terranic Greatswords or Calibanite Warblades (to taste). Consider taking a Proteus land raider. 

10 Death Wing, terminator armour, 5 grenade launchers, 5 combi-meltas, grenade harness, 2 thunder hammers (555 points).

A bit of a death star unit, but honestly, other legions do this better. Still, this is one that will happily take on most comers. 

Horus Heresy Review: Inner Circle Knights Cenobium

Background.

Fighting at the forefront of their legion and bringing their specialist skills to bear, the Cenobites represent the hidden orders within the Dark Angels Legion that specialize in one certain type of warfare. They are presented as part of the secret Legion orders and masters of what they can do. I would contend the rules are reflective of this!

Strengths.

This is truly one of the excellent units in 30k. Not only from the point of view of what they can do (I can see Alpha Legion players probably wanting to have them with Coils of the Hydra! Actually, the Dark Angels have the feel of the Alpha Legion in some respects; just an opinion), but also from the point of view of the points value of this unit -- very finely balanced. 

Fundamentally they are terminators in cataphractii armour, with Terranic greatswords, and backed up with plasma-casters (that can overwatch too). Plonk them in a land raider, and go hammer opponents (literally). Coupled with Stubborn (at Ld=10), adamantium will, and your pick of special rules, these marines really are very good at what they do, and arguably among the better terminators that any legion has to offer. 

Weaknesses.

The plasma-caster has a range of "only" 12 inches. The terminators therefore need transport to have maximum effect. 

Builds.

I have a pair of builds for readers to consider with this unit.

5 Knights: Preceptor with digital lasers and grenade harness; Hunters of Beasts (295 points).

This unit is for hunting the big enemies. Although the AP is only 3 for the Terranic Greatswords, the plasma-casters will whittle down the wounds before a charge takes place. Swap out one or two Greatswords for Thunder Hammers if you prefer. Consider purchasing Scion of the Firewing if your opponent's characters are also monstrous. Take land raider phobos to taste.

Swap out Hunters of Beasts for Breakers of Witches if your gaming friends play Daemons, Thousand Sons, or Word Bearers and apologize to them in advance for the sake of your friendship.

10 Knights: Preceptor with digital lasers, grenade launcher; Reapers of Hosts; take 4 Cenobites with Thunder Hammers instead of Terranic Greatswords (515 points).

A bit of a deathstar unit here. Take a land raider spartan and you're good to go. Scion of the Stormwing might be nice to have as well. 

Iron Hands Legion Breacher 5/5

The final member of the breacher squad is this un-helmeted battle brother. 

The bit that I am most proud of here was the experimental stubble on both the top of the head and beard. I've not used this particular formulation before, so this was in many ways a new trial piece for me. To create the stubble, I've mixed grey with the same skin pigment I've used for the flesh to create a subtle off-tone that is suggestive of "five o'clock shadow" for the marine. This has been accentuated through the use of painting male pattern balding. Do space marines go bald and suffer from recessive hair lines? I really don't know and don't much care for the answer -- this guy does, and he looks more authentic because of it. 

Beyond this, the marine follows the patterns laid down in the previous Iron Hands painting scheme replete with sand and mud splattered up the legs. Hope that you've like this series; I have more Iron Hands incoming in the weeks ahead.

Iron Hands Legion Breacher 4/5

This brother features a simple skull on his shield, potentially marking him out as being part of the overall command structure for a given encounter. 

What I am pleased with about this paint scheme is the eye lenses and red scope on the upper part of the shield (adjacent to the bolt gun barrel). They took a bit of a steady hand to get the upper dot in the correct place. Double so considering the nature of these recessed eye pieces -- this mark of armour is much harder than Corvus or other marks to get looking half right with the lenses. Part of me wants to just airbrush the eyes and be done with it, but I think a more muted approach is befitting for the Istvaan survivors to be honest.

I'm also pleased with how the base and weathering on the lower part of the miniature came out in the end. I was a bit concerned that I'd applied too much and it detracted from the other weathering applied, but it looks fine overall considering the balance. I may well add some further small details such as letting on to the shield at a later point, but for now am calling this one done. 

Horus Heresy Review: Dark Angels Legion Rules

Background Material Evaluation.

As my long term readers know all too well, I have a soft spot for the Dark Angels, as well as owning a couple of ancient Death Wing terminators that have not seen action in a very long time on the table top. Overall, I am somewhat pleased with the revised rules for the Dark Angels compared to the older version. 

As the First Legion, the Dark Angels are pictured as being one of the most prominent legions in the early Crusade and the Emperor's personal army. They therefore became a template for the other legions yet to come. But more than that: they had access to all the old weapons from the Old Night that the latter legions did not (and instead relied on the Martian pact for armaments). Thus, the First Legion, have access to a wide array of weapons to use. Although losses in the Crusade would see the Sons of Horus become more important later one, the First Legion were a great threat to Horus in the Heresy: so much so that the Night Lords were sent almost in entirety to keep them at bay. Unsuccessfully. Overall, the Legion is portrayed as very technologically capable, combined with a ruthless attitude to warfare and some sinister secret keeping.

Legion Rules Review.

The rules presented in Crusade over-write the older rules presented in Retribution.

The first thing to note is that one of the main rules -- Covenant of Death -- has been eliminated. The dropping of the older "Covenant of Death" rule is a shame as I rather liked it, but otherwise, the newer rules are okay. 

Their main rule though is a good one in principle. Mastery of the Blade means that they strike at 3+ to hit in close combat when using something that has a blade. Like a combat blade. Or chainsword. Or power sword. Or anything sword-like. They do like their swords! This is great when one is facing off against another legion (as is common in both 30k and 40k games). But it doesn't apply all the time. Only when the enemy is also at the same WS. Hence its not applicable all the time, but does give the legion a solid edge! Doubly so in a mirror match against other legions. 

Inviolate and Alone is the new semi-negative rule that is replacing Covenant of Death from Retribution. It means that the Dark Angels never gain any Leadership bonuses from sources other than Dark Angels characters and units. Strictly, this is a less severe drawback compared to the old Covenant of Death one. 

I think its also a missed opportunity. I would have liked to have seen some of the Scion rules points cost reduced in favour of retaining the old rule. Can't have everything though. 

Scions of the Hexagrammaton is the final new rules here which allows characters to select some bonuses. We will have a look at these in a moment. 

Wargear. 

The Dark Angels are known to have stock piles of weapons from the Old Night. They therefore have access to the Terran Greatsword (not that great to be honest, unless you're fighting mechanicum monstrous creatures). The Calibanite Warblade is nice in the sense you get it for the same cost as a power sword, but it gets S+1 which is a very nice bonus. Take it if you were going to take a power sword, simply put! 

The Plasma Repeater should be an awesome weapon. But unless its on a Support Squad mounted in a rhino, its really short range means that you're going to be taking a plasma gun most of the time in preference to a plasma repeater. 

Stasis Shells are actually really good as they can downgrade an enemies abilities through merely hitting them (was -1I and -1WS, but now just the -1I penalty). 

Molecular Acid Shells were totally worth it and almost a must-have in the previous iteration of the rules for this legion. Now they have fleshbane only, and its a bit more of a question as to whether they are worthwhile. I'm on the fence a little bit. 

Scions of the Hexagrammaton.

Any Dark Angels Characters or Independent Characters can take one of the following options. As stated above, I think some of these are wasted opportunities, and further: some of the rules are simply not worth the points cost. Let's have a look at them.

Scion of the Stormwing: Snap shots with BS=2 is, on paper, alright, but also very situational. I'm not sure how many snap shots people make every game, but for me it might be a couple of times per game. Can you predict which unit might take advantage of it? Possibly heavy support squads would get a benefit from it, as might truly front line terminators. Ones with Volkites are also probably going to do well here. My overall thought is that this is somewhat worth it, but only for select units. 

Scion of the Deathwing: I'm sorry, this is bad. Re-rolling the first failed to-hit roll of a challenge in any phase is just terrible. It is very situational, and simply not worth the cost. For the price, I'd expect at least +1 attack. Don't take it. Save the points.

Scion of the Dreadwing: This is okay, but probably over-priced. The ability to always move 4" through terrain is nice -- and above average. Re-rolling dangerous terrain checks is also nice, but dependent on the battlefield. Just about okay, but still marginally over-priced in my mind. 

Scion of the Ironwing: Crew shaken becoming crew stunned is nice on paper. That is, until one considers the extent of, and price of, extra armour for vehicles. Not worth it at all. 

Scion of the Firewing: Hatred of characters is actually okay -- doubly so given it spreads through the unit.

Scion of the Ravenwing:  Re-rolls of run, fall back, or thrust distances sounds okay to me. But then again, you would probably be running a dedicated Raven Wing army if you were thinking of this, so maybe better to take other option / rites of war unless you have a dedicated Raven Wing rite of war in play?

Scions of the Hekatonystika.

As well as being members of the Hexagrammaton, characters can also belong to different cults within the legion. Little wonder then that Horus' attempts to have the lodges imposed within the Dark Angels failed. That said, these options are also expensive and generally not quite worth it in the same way that the above options are poor. 

Augurs of Weakness: adding +1S to weapons when facing AV>10 is actually very nice. Pity is doesn't spread to other members of the unit though. Could be nice on a heavy support character. 

Icons of Resolve: +1A when charged at is fine, but not worth the points cost. 

Guardians of Sanctity: Better deny the witch rolls is nice. This will be worth it on your legion librarians, but few others. Are you obeying the Emperor though with taking librarians?

Slayers of Kings: Re-rolling 1's to hit in challenges. But only against WS>4. Meh. 

Hunters of Beasts: Re-rolling 1's to wound vs. T=5 or re-rolling every failed wounding roll against T>5 is actually nice. Best to put this on a close combat character for full effect. Slightly expensive, but could be totally amazing given the opportunity.

Reapers of Hosts: +1A when in base-to-base with more than one enemy is fine, but over-costed. 

Breakers of Witches: Re-rolling all hit and wounds against those pesky psykers is actually really good. That is, if you are facing off against them. Perhaps you have a daemons player in your gaming group? Or Thousand Sons? If so, this will be great. 

 

Summing up.

There are lots of options here, many are not quite worth the points. The Dark Angels are the basis for many space marine legions that would follow, and they can emulate (with rites of wars) what many others are capable of (e.g., can certainly give White Scars a run for their money on speed, and can have their own death star units with some nice bonuses), but other legions are much more specialised. They have many positive aspects, but some can come across as being vanilla. Players will need to carefully select and build their Dark Angels armies with a specific type of outcome in mind (e.g., build a fast, speeding list like the White Scars, or take a lot of bolts, rad, and plasma to lay waste to a battle field like Death Guard, etc.). Caveat Emptor. 

Iron Hands Legion Breacher 3/5

The third member of the Breacher squad is this battle brother, caught in mid-stride looking ahead of him and getting in to a new position.

Fundamentally, this marine is not anything special, although I have added a number of details such as pouches around the waist, a bolt pistol holster on the front, and so forth. I'm happy with how the Iron Hand turned out (i.e. the one holding the bolt gun!) as it is very nicely offset from the neighbouring paint scheme. The chipping on the edge of the shield has worked well here as too. Overall, another fine addition and one that looks authentically weathered for the storms yet to come in the Urgall Depression.  

Iron Hands Legion Breacher 2/5

The second member of the breacher squad is this marine, featuring a standard load-out with a bolt gun and bolt pistol alongside the requisite shield, and various grenades and pouches for his armaments. 

What makes the painting of this marine a bit different is the bloodied hand mark and the very bottom edge of the shield (look closely!). Other than that, this follows the standard matt black formulation I've used for the other Iron Hands I've been painting with some variant silver on the lower part of the helmet (lower visor, mouth covering). Naturally, the right hand is picked out in a brighter silver colour to represent the bionic nature of the marine's hand. 

Horus Heresy Book 9: Crusade. Some Initial Impressions

I have my copy of Horus Heresy Book 9: Crusade safely delivered! Happy Days!

In the weeks ahead, I will be undertaking the regular reviews of the units and rules contained inside this book as I have done so for the past 8 books. This will add to the growing, and possibly the most complete and comprehensive set of reviews available on the blogosphere for this series. Stay tuned for that.

My initial impressions of the book are positive. To be clear, Alan Bligh didn't write this, and whilst I'm drawn to make comparisons to the ones that he did scribe, this one stands up better than some others. The writing is excellent.

The Night Lords are, of course, repeated from earlier entries in this series, but have additions, much in the same way that the Word Bearers were added to when they faced off against the Ultramarines earlier in the series. But this book adds to their tales, not only in terms of units, but also background. 

The stars of the show are the Dark Angels, naturally. I haven't yet wrapped my mind around their rules, but I will do so soon -- they look suitably complex and complete from my early skim reads. The background contains some tasty treats such as the Rangdan Xenocides, but some readers will find the detail that is there paltry and incomplete though. I do like the sound of their actions in the early Thramas crusade though -- they pop back in to play at the Triplex, and unleash dread Silica Anima. Gulp.

I'd be happy to address any early questions if folks have any -- jot a comment or send me a message. I won't be reproducing the book or violating copyright though. Caveat Emptor. 

Iron Hands Legion Breacher 1/5

Whilst I await delivery of Book 9: Crusade, I've finished up my painting and gluing together of the first of my Shattered Legions Breacher squad. This is an Iron Hands marine in full Breacher armour, and (unusually) featuring a flamer. 

I will be the first to admit that the graviton gun would be a stronger choice for a Breacher squad as it is one of the only squad choices that can reliably have access to such arcane technology.

There are a few reasons for selecting the flamer though. The narrative reason is that this squad is an Isstvan 5 survivor group, and they're using whatever they could scavenge from the battlefield. That, and they might, afterall, be under the temporary command of a Salamanders survivor. The second is that I wanted an anvil style unit that would simply sit on an objective and give pause for thought for any enemy wanting to capture it. The flamer does that very nicely. Then, for Zone Mortalis, I just like the idea of lighting up corridors with flames, rather than crumpling them with graviton weaponry and endangering the structural integrity of the hulk.

The painting here has been accomplished using my matt black formulation of Eshin Grey base layer followed by Nuln Oil and Black washes, Dawn Stone highlighting and lead belcher for the metallic parts greased up with yet more Nuln Oil. I intend to add a touch more final details here and there, but otherwise this one is done. 

The base and weathering is accomplished with my airbrush using two tones of earthy colours combined with some subtle darker lowlighting and smatterings of mud around the feet, shield, and legs. This is a marine that has been in the thick of it, got some damage, picked himself back up, re-armed himself, and carried on. 

Breacher Painting

Finally finished off the first example of a Breacher Squad marine for 30k from the Iron Hands legion. The marine, and his fellows, are to represent a Shattered Legions force from Isstvan 5 that are being hunted down by the traitor legions. As such, the marine is meant to be in a bit of a state of desperation, and as such I will be adding further battle damage detailing to the armour in due course. 

The base coat here was done in Eshin Grey and washed with Nuln Oil and a relatively watery black wash to give a matt black appearance over the wider areas of plate on the model. This was followed up with Dawn stone to highlight the black areas, and an application of lead belcher as the accent colour. The lead belcher was washed with Nuln oil as well and highlighted subtly in selected areas. The pouches were done using Guilliman flesh. 

Overall, it gives the marine the matt black (or off black) colour that I was after which readily distinguishes them from the Raven Guard component of the Shattered Legions whose black is much shinier. I will be painting the arms as distinct modules, and then gluing them all together for the final step. I also intend to airbrush the base with weathered brown colours similar to way I did with the Salamanders and Raven Guard to complete the look. 

Breacher squad assembled and basecoated

As per the title, the Breacher Squad for 30k is now fully assembled (sub-parts not withstanding), with a black undercoat and Eshin Grey basecoat.

The grey is a bit of a different approach to painting black that I'm trying out. Rather than have a glossy black finish that might be seen on Raven Guard, I wanted something a bit more matt, grime laden, and muted for the Iron Hands. Following this layer, I'm going to apply Nuln oil washes, with some additional black washes for the deep recesses, and build up some highlighting in progressively lighter grey colours. This is just one of the first step -- more on this later!

Pre-orders for Book 9: Crusade, and The Lion

I'm sure it is common knowledge that the Forge World pre-orders are available as of right now for the Horus Heresy Book 9: Crusade, and the new miniature for The Lion. 

Like many other people, I was hitting refresh fairly constantly close to 10:00am BST this morning to get in with the pre-orders. I'm delighted to have secured a copy of the Crusade book that will be shipping in a week's time. Hopefully I will have my hands on it the week after next.

For the Lion, I decided against ordering the miniature. Although I have long since had a soft spot for the First Legion and their story, I simply don't have the urge to purchase this one just yet. Maybe in future years I will collect the Primarchs all together, but for now, I'll pass. I did want to briefly comment on the prices of the Primarchs though, as there has been strong price increases for some of them -- including the Lion -- at least in comparison to each other. Here's a run down of the costs as of the time of writing.

GBP 63: Vulkan, Angron, Kurze, Lorgar, Fulgrim, Mortarion, Ferrus Manus

GBP 68: Horus, Guilliman 

GBP 74: Russ, Corax, Perturabo

GBP 79: Alpharius, Dorn

GBP 84: The Lion, Sanguinius, Magnus

[Not yet available: The Khan].

From this list, I think the following are over-priced: Alpharius, Dorn, The Lion. I also think the following are under-priced: Horus, Kurze. This is simply a reflection of the amount of resin coupled with the pose. I acknowledge that Sanguinius for instance is a huge miniature with the wings and all, Magnus has things flying everywhere around him. Whilst the Lion has a hugely detailed base and looks truly amazing, I think his price point should have been somewhere nearer Alpharius, but I do acknowledge the height of his base which adds to the extra resin required compared to Alpharius, so maybe not too bad, plus the options for the head and blade, but equally Alpharius should be about the same level as Russ maybe. Then again, Horus is placed on those crumbling stairs, but on the flip side lacks the bodies at his feet seen with Alpharius and The Lion. I really think Horus is under-priced still for the quality. So interesting price points here for the Primarchs at present. It is tempting to grab miniatures like Horus before the price goes up. Maybe I'll do that later in the year.

In the mean time, I look forward to reviewing the ninth book in the series: Crusade. You can expect the same treatment that I've given to all the other legions to be repeated for the Dark Angels and this will be incoming later in the month -- look out for it! 

From one of the biggest HH fans on the blogosphere :)

Test Shield for Breachers

I wanted to conduct a brief painting test using a new formulation that I've had in my mind for a rather long time for black. The subject material was a breacher shield for my Iron Hands shattered legion squad.

The formula that I'm using here explicitly avoids using pure black except for the base coat. Instead, I opt to use Eshin Grey as the base coat and follow this up by two washes: one with Nuln oil, and a second with watered down brown/black to generate a grimy feeling. 

As for the silvers, this is a straight forward application of lead belcher, followed by Nuln oil and some highlighting with Rune fang. 

Overall, I'm happy with the outcome here. The "black" is the desired matt colour that I was after in the first place, and it certainly offsets the Iron Hands grime black from the more obviously black and arguably glossy finish that I've opted for with my Raven Guard contingent of the Shattered Legions. I will be painting up the rest of the Iron Hands using this formulation. More on this in the coming days and weeks ahead. 

Breacher Squad: build started

Time for hobby has been reduced of late, but I've managed to start getting a Breacher Squad together for the Shattered Legions build that I have going. 

This will be the troops entry for the Iron Hands faction of the Legions forces. I've always liked the idea of a breacher squad, but their points cost and utility has always lagged behind the efficiency of a plain tactical squad (or even a support squad) with the exception of certain legions who it suits more. Iron Hands with their modifier to incoming firepower seems to fit nicely for that, even if it is a bit cliched due to the existence of Immortals. 

For this build, I am leaving the arms and shoulder pads un-glued. I will paint them in distinct modules and then glue the arms on as the final step. The simple reason for this is to make sure that I can easily paint behind the shields of the breacher squad. Looking forward to getting more of this squad done and painted up now!

 

Greater Possessed

On my "to buy" list for a while was the Greater Possessed model that came out quite a while ago now. I really liked the sculpt and wondered whether it would be of comparable size and detail level as the Val Gorbak from 30k Word Bearers legion.

Overall, I like the sculpt and the size of the miniature is indeed rather comparable to the Val Gorbak resin models. However, the sculpt is done in a different way and the detail is simply different to what is found on the Forge World models. I don't think this matters at all for the table top, and they would fit right in with the Word Bearers legion for any 30k game.

For my model, I wanted some red Word Bearers colours on the armour, and to have blue "flesh" coloured bits at the extremities. The images show what I came up with.

They have come out reasonably well overall, and I'm pleased with the contrast of the blues and reds -- particularly against the resin base. I think this would be a fine addition to 30k Val Gorbak squads, and I might just use it as such. 

The End of the Road (To Thramas)

It is the end of the road -- to Thramas. 

The Games Workshop Community today declared that the new book for the Horus Heresy -- Book 9 -- will be released in September along with the new model for the Lion. I'm personally very much looking forward to this release and thought I'd jot some thoughts down before they elude me.

First up is the page count of the new black book. At just over two hundred pages, it looks like being a smaller volume. I was optimistic that it might include some dark mecanicum force details, but from the contents page, pictured above, this seems to not be the case. Perhaps that will be ported across to volume 10. Equally, we are going to have to see some movement towards Holy Terra shortly for the final battles. I hope that Forge World have started to plan ahead for that and are actively considering what to do for those battles soon. At least, that is my hope as I am starting to feel that with the Dark Angels detailed, and the repetition of the Night Lords here that the series is starting to feel like it is drawing to a close. And those closure has to be the battle for Terra. If by some miracle Forge World reads my articles, I want this to be the case! Pretty please? 

In terms of what I'm excited about, clearly the rules for the First Legion is right up there at the top of my list. There are also a bunch of new units that look and sounds very exciting including the Iron Wing battle automata -- will we be seeing some "illegal" robots here perchance? The Night Lords repetition reminds me of the Word Bearers when then faced the Ultramarines in one of the earlier volumes. Sort of welcome, but not really advancing the field too much. 

The Thramas campaign looks enticing too. I'm wondering how narrative it will be in nature, at least in comparison to what we already have seen in the series. I hope it adds something new rather than being too generic. I guess I'll return to this point eventually.

The only question for me realistically is what the price tag will be. I hope it will not creep up too much for a lower page count volume. 

Random Thoughts on Warhammer 40k 9th Edition

Good afternoon. I have been wanting to jot down a post for a few weeks about my thoughts on 9th edition for Warhammer 40,000, and only just got around to it. The basis for this is the question of what has really changed?

To my mind, 9th edition is a tidy-up job of 8th, with many things clarified very nicely, and some new rules placed on top to try to make the gameplay better, or at least feel better. I think the changes that we are seeing range from nice, to those that seem to have been play-tested a whole lot and make sense. Call me an old timer, but I also adore the Narrative play / Crusade we are seeing as well. 

I think one of the most under-discussed changes is to the board sizes. I already see that certain manufacturers are tilting their production lines to be able to accommodate the new board sizes. In a nut-shell - they're going to be smaller in general. At first glance, this might mean that close combat armies might be favoured due to the increased probability of getting in to multiple combats -- but the changes to heavy weapon shooting more than offset this. Of course, this is terrain dependent entirely. However, I'm going to be brave (crazy?) (because you will all shout me down!) and make a prediction. I think movement is going to be the lynchpin of this new edition. 

Consider this: the long and thin deployment of lines of troops are no longer going to be available thanks to the new unit coherency rules (this in itself is a huge change). Therefore the area denial is going to be lower in some ways (screening harder), and players will need to carefully consider how to optimise their board placements. This will lead to better tactics being played out. And it may also lead to multiple small (maybe expensive? but absolutely tough) units being crowned king of the new edition (another opinion that I expect to be challenged). 

The entertaining changes to full strength and half strength (that 20 man infantry unit must be 9 or less to be below half strength remember!) also signifies another interesting change. It is one that players will have to carefully account for and combine with the new morale testing to ensure units don't get wiped immediately. Maybe the new command phase will help a lot here.

Back to the point about board size. Smaller, plus more compact and tough units, I think, might favour fast moving small units. So, my prediction (and it is only a prediction based on an old-timer's feeling for many editions of the game) is that we will see a resurgence of bike and small flyer armies start to dominate. The archetype for this is the Saim Haan army of yesteryear's Elder. It plays something like this: tie up anything that needs to be so, kill enemies on objectives, feed some minor units to the enemy to shoot and hack at, and hide the rest until the last possible moment at which point you swoop on the available objectives to win the game. This used to work superlatively well (at least until leaf-blower and other archetypes took over). This, combined with generally smaller army sizes could work well in 9th. I will return to this prediction within 12 months I hope. Your thoughts are welcome, but remember: don't flame me, I'm just making a prediction and I reserve the right to be wrong! :)

[Gratuitous Picture: Dominion of Convergence - the new Necron terrain that also I really like!]

Hammerfall Bunker

At the risk of putting myself out there a little bit, I'm going to confess that I actually LIKE the Hammerfall Bunker. No really - I do.

I think this building has been getting a bit of heat on the internet of late, so I thought I'd jot down a few words of support. My first line of support is that this building (terrain piece) is highly in line with Space Marines. Consider the quintessential space marine deployment method: orbital striking, usually via drop pods. This building goes along with that though and can easily be seen as deploying an asset from orbit to aid with establishing a beachhead in enemy territory. This even applies to 30k as well: I could readily imagine the Iron Warriors at Isstvan 5 deploying these upon arrival. They just click with the whole theme and way of warfare.

Alright, they do look like a crossbreed of a drop pod and a bunker. I get that. However, that's also what it is supposed to be. And I don't mind in the slightest. I like the rules too -- for an old timer like me, they really click nicely in place.

What I didn't like about the new space marine range that has been revealed is the Invader ATV. This one seems a little out of place for space marines to me -- best left for genestealer cults and similar in my opinion. Sure, marines can use anything at their disposal, but which chapters would focus on this I'm not sure (White Scars, yeah, but they have their bikes!). Go back to jet bikes, attack bikes, and so on. Not dune buggies. Especially ones which has the main weapon about to overload the sensors of the driver. To me, it is the ATV that isn't much of a fit with space marine armies, as opposed to the Hammerfall bunker.

Okay, I might get some heat for saying these things, but remember: its just an aesthetic and artistic opinion. No more.

For now, I await the rules for the Convergence of Dominion too -- that model looks gorgeous and will fit with many battlefield terrain pieces.

Eradicator Squad Thoughts

I wanted to talk very briefly today about the new Eradicator unit in 40k. Now, I will freely confess that at this stage in my gaming life that 30k is my primary game. 40k has, very oddly, become second place to 30k. This doesn't mean that it has fallen from favour, its just I like 30k better right now and feel much more at home there. I could probably write more about this, but will save it for another time perhaps.

On to Eradictaors. On the recent Twitch stream, the data slate for this new unit was revealed.

I wanted to simply point out a few things about this squad in relation to an old 40k favourite: the devastator squad. With devastators, one can get 5 men in the squad armed with 4 multi meltas. This seems to be a reasonable comparison given the power cost. At a basic level, that is 5 wounds with 4 heavy shots containing the Melta special rule.

Now check out the new eradicator squad. This is 9 wounds that pumps out 6 shots (assault shots at that as well) with the self-same special rule. Let's not even talk about the total obliteration rule (and just shrug to say even devastators might get their old doctrine and the sergeant might still have his tricks in 9th edition).

Focus for the moment on the power of this unit. And the creep of it. To me, the power creep present is incredible. No really. There is (arguably) now zero point in taking traditional devastator squads with the new eradicators available. Only old timers like me would play such dedicated Melta squads any longer. New entrants to the game may feel they have no need to purchase the devastator squad any more. [Even if they play Salamanders.]

Primaris marines are replacing "core" marines in the game. Period. I foresee the day that all 40k marine players might be using Primaris marines in their chapters and the regular marines that I use in 30k will be no more. This is a bit concerning given the history of the parts, and the future availability of (e.g.) plastic mark 4 armour boxed sets. I'm not sure if I'm alone in thinking this, but your thoughts are welcome.