Model Review... Dreadknight.

So, the Grey Knights are no longer the Daemon hunters, and their new codex will show players yet another reason to not play standard Space Marines. I have had a chance to read this codex, and will review it here in a few days, in the meantime lets discuss the new model that everyone seems to be chatting about. The Dreadknight.

Now, I like that GW has really ramped up their releases and remolding of mini's. I know its a marketing ploy, but anyone who has ever seen the 1st edition Ork models will appreciate that somethings are just plain better. Honestly, there aren't many models that get remolded that aren't exponentially better than the previous version. In the Dreadknights case, this isn't a remolding, but a brand new model.

Recently, the Fantasy Orcs and Goblins book was release, in hard cover... and the centerpiece mini for the new range was a GIANT spider. Simply an amazing model. Huge, menacing... this model makes the Army.
This is what I wanted from the Dreadknight. This is not what we got with the Dreadknight.

Now, I don't want to take much away from the model. It is impressive. But, does being impressive mean I like it? No. And the real issue is that I can't really point out why I don't like it... There isn't one big thing that stands out on the mini that makes me hate it... I just do. There I said it... I hate the damn thing.

Lets take a peek...
So, there it is... Its a Grey Knight, who can either have a Helmet, or be bare headed, basically piloting an exo-suit stolen from Avatar. Sure, it has all the Emperor holy jargon all over it... its laden with Faith symbols of the Impirium... But, to me... this thing needs to be in the Imperial Guard Army. It needs a Guards man, and the pilot needs to be enclosed under a transparent plastic canopy. This thing is just simply in the wrong army.

No, there's more wrong with it... its too tall for one. The hands look wrong. The way the forearm flairs out to the actual hand on the exo-suit looks bad. I really don't know... there isn't much I do like about this model. Viscerally its just wrong.

I guess if I have to rate the mini on a scale of 1-10, it gets a 3. I know many will disagree and thats fine. I can appreciate where others may like this model. It doesn't do it for me.

Look for the codex review in a few days, also coming up is a look at my Ork horde for 40k, and I'll continue my journey into the Warriors of Chaos I'm collecting. Next we'll look at Lords and Hero options for WoC, as well as possible a chat about the Hellcannon.

Evolution of Chaos pt 1.

In 1997 I began collecting my first Warhammer Fantasy Battle army. Back then there were no Beasts, Daemons, or Warriors of Chaos, There was a box set... The Realm of Chaos! It was awesome! A whole Box set dedicated to the Army, however you wanted to run it. Be it full of Gor's and Ungors, Daemons, or Warriors. I chose warriors. Not because I knew anything about the intricacies of the game... Nope, I chose warriors because Games Workshop, in their infinite wisdom, had just released a revolutionary new product... Plastic Unit boxes. Chaos Warriors and Knights were the first units released. 12 Warriors, or 5 knights, but boxes retailed at $19.99.










My first iteration of the Warriors army consisted of a Lord, 10 Chaos Knights, 2 Units of 12 Chaos Warriors with Halberds, 2 Chaos Chariots, 5 Flesh hounds, a Blood thirster if points permitted, A sorcerer on Disc of Tzeench, and 5 flesh hounds for chasing little pesky elves around. It was a solid list... At least in my little group of new gamers it was a solid list.

Now, as I grew and learned more about the Fantasy side of the game, a troubling development occurred. Most the players I gamed with were changed allegiances. Many were dropping out of the Fantasy realm in favor of the gun and tank laden battlefields of 40k. I also made that change, shelving my movement trays and dispel dice for a time.

The years pass, models get painted, broken, glued, broken again, and then finally re-glued. I collected, Imperial Guard, Chaos Space Marines, Necrons, and finally Orks. Then, out of the blue... A fantasy player emerges from my group of friends. All of a sudden the urge to rank up, and flank charge began to grow.

However, over the years the mighty Warriors of Chaos have seen massive upheaval. No longer can one supplement their army with a unit of Daemons, or a horde of Gors. Also, Chaos has a cannon! More troubling still, a Chaos player didn't win by just showing up anymore. Now, 8th ed Warriors of Chaos is a mid level list at best. Sure, a good tactician (I.E someone not me) can pull off a string of wins, and maybe do well in a tourny if the points allow him to fully utilize his lord/sorcerer combos, but the days of seeing blocks of warriors cutting across the field are over.

So, 8th ed... New mini's ( Very rad) and a new strat... lets look at how the list goes now.

The strength of this list has shifted from the heavily armored Warrior and Knight, to the numerous Marauder. I see my core choices including a big unit 20+ Marauders. Possible a unit of 12 Warriors supported by a couple units of Marauders, and most likely a unit of 10 Marauder horsemen. The important thing I think is to use Marauders the way Empire armies use detachments. Charge at the flanks while the Warriors, or a bigger unit of Marauders ties up enemy infantry.

I would never have thought it, but there is a good chance that when collecting is done, and gaming becomes primary... I may not run even a single unit of Chaos Warriors. 15 pts a piece vs 4 pts per Marauder. Big difference. 12 warriors with full command is 210 points minimum. Thats a lot of points to sink into a single Core choice, consider this point as well... sure Chaos Armor confers a decent save, and the stock 2 attacks is nice... but each of these models still only has 1 wound. Sure, they have 5 initiative, and 5 WS... but will that matter if they get locked up against a huge unit of Clanrats? My thought here is that you wont get your monies worth if you take more than 1 unit of Warriors. I haven't play tested this yet, but it looks like Marauders and Marauder Horsemen have become the Core choice of note for this army.

More to come...

Armys and Armys and Armys

Post 1.

In the late 90's I was introduced to the table top war game Warhammer. I collected my first army, Chaos Humans in '97 for about $100. This blog will deal primarily with my collection of mini's and the games I play. The games I play are Warhammer, and Warhammer 40k. The former being a fantasy game made up of regiments of rank and file soldiers, war machines, and fantasy monsters. The latter a grim, dyspepsian, futuristic war game with skirmishing troops who wield high power ranged weapons, and ride in armored transports.

Currently I own and play Warriors of Chaos for Warhammer. I am in the midst of changed out my old mini's with the newly modeled ones from Games Workshop. I'm also re-scheming the the paint on these from the very boring Black and Silver Chaos thingy, to an arctic theme.

As far as 40k goes, my collection is a bit bigger. I am playing Orks, and I own Chaos Marines, and Necrons. My 12 year old son received his first army for Christmas, Ultra Marines, and my wife is giving thought to collecting her first army later this year.

So, here is the introduction. As time goes on I'll publish pics of some of my mini's, and articles about games I've played or watched, and thoughts about developments in the game.

Peace.