I have been absent but not idle. And I'm going to jam in a quick blog post this afternoon to specifically address three topics!
The first of which, with a decidedly pink flavour, are my necrons! There is not much more satisfying than deploying a powerful and not-often-seen formation on the gaming table, especially if it is painted. But I have attained the goal! I present to you, my Necron Destroyer Cult!
Now, the keen eye will spot a few heavy destroyers in there (converted with the heavy guess blaster from the Triarch Stalker Kit), and these are easily my favourite elements of the formation. Each normal destroyer squad can upgrade one of their number to be 'Heavy' for a measly 10 points, essentially handing him a Guass Lascannon.
This formation is arguably one of the most powerful in the book. Not only do all these Jet Pack Infantry gain Move Through Cover, an often ignored rule that makes the jump-shoot-jump an effortless affair, but the whole formation gains re-rolls To Hit, To Wound and Armour Penentration. The whole formation. The efficiency of this military force is beyond compare! Taking into account the fact that every gun in the formation can hurt any model in the game, as well as the huge number of Heavy Destroyers you can jam into the restricted unit options!
Currently, my lord is accompanied by three units of four destroyers (one heavy in each), and I'm currently putting the final touches on the last unit available in the formation; a unit of three heavy destroyers. These guys form my strongest and most reliable anti-armour, and I am very confident in their ability to draw some sweat on more than a few Imperial Knights!
The second topic I want to tackle is Tau! Despite my general fear and disgust at the all-welcoming aliens, they look like they are going to get some serious love!if you've been on the Internet in the last few weeks, you will have undoubtably seen images of some new battle suits that tower over riptides, a new "super stealth suit", potentially new Fire Warriors, and of course the Forgeworld Gargantuan creature, the fearsome Supremacy Armour! The rules for this beast have been leaked online, and all I can say is "wow".
I have fallen into the habit of comparing every gargantuan creature and super heavy unit against the Ork Stompa. A lot of units shine in this comparison, and the Supremacy Suit is no different. However, when thrown into the mix against such units as Warhound Titans and some of the bigger Eldar units, I don't think they throw out the current balance too much!
As for the inevitable new Codex, the one thing I think is a sure thing is the following of trends when it comes to those Decurion/Gladius Strike Force-esque detachment of formations. I don't quite know how this will look yet, but I already fear it!
Last, but definitely not least, and the focus of (ironically) a huge amount of anger in the community at the current time, is Skarbrand.
For those of you who don't know, this beast of a Bloodthirster was once the champion of Khorne until he got a bit too big for his boots and threw down against his boss, who in turn threw him down out of the Brass Citadel, shattering his wings and leaving him very battered. Cool fluff. So, why the hate?
Well, the big guy got his own model this week for preorder, and his hefty price tag caused a lot of drama. Costing some $80 more than the regular (and very impressive) Bloodthirster, this cool, calm and collected fellow has just taken the top spot as most expensive plastic kit Games Workshop makes by a respectable $60, beating out the super-heavy range of Baneblades, Lords of Skulls and Stompas.
The fury of the community was only exacerbated at the discovery that Skarbrand only containes a single new sprue, the rest of the model being drawn from the existing Bloodthirster kit.
So, why such a huge price jump on what is essentially an upgrade sprue? Short answer; I don't know. To me, it doesn't make a lot of sense. If it was indeed marketed as an upgrade sprue, I don't think there would be an issue, but as it stands, I think the wider community feels as though someone is trying to pull the wool over their eyes. The only answer I can really give is that perhaps this is primarily a product aimed at collectors.
I am largely unaffected by this as a general rule, having no connections to Khorne and all his underlings, but I am mildly concerned that this will become a trend.
What are your thoughts on Skarbrand?
I know that was a bit of a depressing topic to end on, but I would be remiss if I did not address this current drama, and I'm not about to spin untruths about how I feel. Tough day.
As always, thank you for reading and Tor patronage on my humble blog!
Thanks,
Gabriel
No comments:
Post a Comment