The Lion: Revealed

I've been following the news of the previews that are coming on from Games Workshop, and naturally, I'm thrilled to see a Primarch in there! Before today, I had thought that the Khan would be next since he already has rules and lots of players want to use him. Hence I was a little surprised that the Lion was the next Primarch to be released.

Regardless of the order of release, this miniature is fabulous and everything that I hoped it would be. He has dynamism, a great paint job in the preview, the pose is spot on, and his features align with what I envisioned the Lion to look like.

That said, the one concern I had with the paint scheme was that it makes him look like he has 6 digits on his left hand(!) Take a closer look at the image above that I screen shotted from the preview video and you'll see what I mean.

The base of the Lion features opposing Night Lords, all being apparently hacked down by the Lion as he rampages through their ranks in a knightly manner. Naturally, this reflects the Thramas campaign which will be one of the major foci of the new big black book when it comes along. I think the diorama is apt and one of the better bases for the Primarchs (certainly better than some of the blander ones that we've seen). I hope it isn't limited edition like Sanguinius was -- I still feel like that was a mistake to say the least.

I'm now looking forward to seeing what his rules might be. I'm not anticipating him being in the same league as Alpharius or Guilliman as a force multiplier, nor will he be like Russ or Angron in close combat. Somewhere in between, but I hesitate to speculate just what his special rules will be as there are several ways in which this could go.

Looking forward to seeing this released eventually (modulo the pandemic in the real world).

Death of Hope

The past few weeks have been very stressful, and peculiar, due to the global pandemic we are presently enduring. Although I'm fit and well at present, I have been rushed off my feet - hence the lack of posts here.

However, recently, I did stumble across the "Death of Hope" first episode from Mark Louis Spark which I gave a watch.

I honestly didn't quite know what to expect. Although I'd seen the trailers, I don't think I was quite braced for how confronting some of the scenes were. If this video were to be released in the cinemas, I suspect that not only would it readily be given an "R" rating (i.e. Restricted), but I would wager that some scenes might have to be curtailed. Yes: it is at that kind of level.

The plot features the 30k shadow crusade wars between the Ultramarines and the Word Bearers plus World Eaters. The plot is a bit confusing at first since there is a lot of stolen armour being worn. But -- it has to be said -- the armour textures are second to none. I will go as far to say that they are the best I've ever seen animated in fact. Once viewers have got past the stolen armour plot line, it all makes a lot more sense.

The horror component really got under my skin though. There's a scene where a (dead) baby has been melded to its Mother's hands. It is gross. There's another bit where a bisected Ultramarine, bereft of one eye and two eyelids, lips, and most of a cheek, is hung by hooks to the wall and tries to free himself to help his brothers. This was also a yuck moment. Whilst I get that chaos and the traitor legions are evil, and would do this kind of thing, it still is quite full on and a bit more than grim dark. I think there might have been ways to make this a 12 certificate rather than R personally. But I get that people like it. For me though, it was horrifying.

That said, I personally thought the skin textures were of lower quality than the armour.

Highlights were many though. We've talked about the armour being all kinds of awesome. But there's also the appearance of a Saturnine Terminator, a bloodletter, Elder crewman, and more. There's plenty in here to be delighted with for any 30k fan.

I'm looking forward to the second instalment, but not so much the horror component that I'm sure will be integrated there!

Ten Days of Raven Guard: 10

And finally we have the last space marine for the Raven Guard squad!

This particular marine is going to be the squad leader and he has been armed accordingly. Now, I really didn't want to go with a power fist here, and although I briefly contemplated a single claw for him, I eventually opted for a power sword. I wanted to depict a marine who has survived Istvaan 5, and is no longer the person who he used to be. Thrust in to an unwanted leadership position, the narrative behind him is that he picked up some armaments from the traitors as he pushed through their ranks, exacting bloody revenge for his former legion. I was a bit hesitant on the headdress for the marine, but what the heck. Maybe he was given it from a dying squad mate? At least, that's part of the narrative once again.

Ten Days of Raven Guard: 9

Nearly there now with the one per day approach to the Raven Guard squad that I'm doing. Marine number 9 is a Mark 4 armoured space marine with Forge World resin shoulder pad.

The base is made from multiple bits of cork that I smashed up from a drinks coaster (bought very cheaply in a craft shop - I can strongly recommend a stroll around such stores if you have one near you - they can be a veritable gold mine for these kinds of things). I will need to add some smaller grit and stones to finish the job off, but otherwise its a done base except for the painting. The marine has not had anything special done to it, but as with the others, I've tried to at least communicate a little bit of dynamism in to the poses. One more to go now(!)