Happy Christmas from all of us here at ChapterMasters. For a mix of different reasons we’re been a bit quite latley. Hopefully this won’t be the last post from us this year.
We’ve been enjoying some of GWs latest releases, at least those we’ve been able to afford. We’ll leave you with a picture of Ben’s 1st Company which should gain at least 5 more sternguard over Christmas.
Ben’s Jackson’s Ultramarine Veterans
Over and out Jon, Ben and Gareth
There is still a little detailed paint work left to do on these MkVIII Rouge Trader Space Marines. However now they have reached gamable paint standard I’d like to show them off. I’ve been working on these for decades. The core of the unit is made from all 3 of the original Mk8 Space Marines sculpts by Jes Godwin. I’ve added bits from the Ultramarine Upgrade set, some spare Vanguard and Death Company shoulder pads, and weapons from the Space Marine Tactical squad, along with a single Rouge trader Bolter and Auto pistol to make a combi Melta for the squad leader.
There is a single Rouge Trader back pack has been used for the banner. The others have additions from the plastic Venerable Dreadnought kit.
And so ends the longest dry spell on Chapter Masters.
Unlike the Assault Squad kit the Devastators were not really in drastic need of an update. The last set was only 8 years old, by GW plastic life spans that’s practically new. None the less GW have found a way to justify the update. This new set provides an additional 4 heavy weapons as well as more weapon options for the sergeant. The other big change made to freshen up the kit is inclusion of external suppressors on the legs. The devastator legs armour has been depicted in many iconic bits of artwork. They were introduced on the late Rogue Trader Long Fang, pictured below, and subsequent metal Space Marine Devastator kits.
GW didn’t appear to be able to make these in plastic up until now. GW’s move to using 2 parts for each set of legs has opened up many possibilities, including the other old sets of power armour. It just goes to show GW does listen.
In all this kit provides six sets of legs just like the product it replaces, however their are now 2 Multi Melta, 2 Missile Lunchers and 2 Grav Cannons with Grav amps . The new sergeant options include Lightning Claw, combi bolter with the option of grav, flamer, melta or plasma and a Thunder Hammer along with a over 10 heads to pick from, including 2 mk6 patten, for the womble lover. So what has been lost. I don’t think anything but Grenades and hip mounted bolt pistols had gone.
So is there really any significant draw back to this new kit. The price has gone from £20.50 to £28. That’s almost a 37% increase and feels like 50% Is it justified? Of course that’s a matter of opinion. At £28 I can’t see people going mad on this one. I also don’t think there is any need to buy more than one box, unless you want a squad of 4 Grav cannon toting Devastators. Most of the other heavy weapon builds can be done for less money using Forge World sets. Which is the only real alternative to this new citadel kit.
I do intend to get one of these new kits for myself. I’ll spread the new legs across two Devastator Squads and build some Grav/Melta and Plasma/Bolter reserve Squads for my Ultramarines.
I actually don’t think GW have overpriced this set, if anything I could have seen it going for £30. There is as much plastic in the set as a tactical squad and each sprue is unique. If it had been £22.50 I probably would have already ordered one just so I could have a play with it. I’d also be thinking about getting a 2nd set so I could have the new legs on a lot more of my heavy weapon marines. As it stands, it will sit on the wish list and it will probably stay there for a while.
So over all, it’s a good product, it’s got a reason for existing, it offers something new and some old and it’s price isn’t ludicrous like some of GW’s other products.
8.5/10 it better than converting your own.
I think it’s fair to say most Space Marine collectors have been excited by this week’s releases. They mark a couple of important changes for Games Workshop. Before looking at the changes let’s look at the new kits.
The old Assault Squad kit was showing it’s age when the last Devastator set was released in 2007. The legs on the old kit where very poor sculpts compared to GW modern Space Marines. This new set appears to really up the standard of GW’s Space Marine kits. It uses 2 parts for each set of legs. This results in far more detail on each leg. The other new components are vey similar to the Tactical Squad. However there appears to be far more options for each Space Marine. The new options include Grav Pistol, Lightning Claw, Double Handed Chain Sword and Thunder Hammer along with a great deal more heads to pick from. This set also includes some rubble to help mount the Assault Marines on their 32mm bases. So what has been lost. The old pointed finger power fist is gone. I don’t think that is a great lost. Also the option to make your Assault Marines left handed, again not a great loss. So it there really any significant draw back to this new kit. Well a the price of a Ten Man Assault Squad has gone from £41 to £50. That’s almost a 20% increase. Do the extra options in this kit justify the increase? Well that is for you to decide. At this new price I won’t be rushing out to replace the 20 models in my plastic Battle Company, nor will I be building an Assault Company using this new kit.
Is there any alternative to this kit. Well only one that will save money. Is saving up all your mk5 and perhaps mk6 tactical and Devistator torsos and buying jump packs at £5 a pop direct from GW. That way you can still make an 10 man Assault Squad for £36. The other alternatives that spring to my mind, although not cheaper, is the Vanguard Veteran set. You might want to swap some of the heads for less ornate versions from the Tactical set. Perhaps if you have older Vanguard Veterans you might want to swap the jump packs around as well.
I do intend to pick one of these new sets up, and if the other tens of thousands of Space Marines collectors do the same, I’m sure the new CEO won’t be too worried. I personally think if this set had been priced at £22.50 I would have already ordered one and would be thinking about a second.
Overall 8/10 great but not great value.
It’s almost unbelievable that GW have never done an upgrade set for their most popular chapter. This kit which is replaes the Finecast, formally metal Ultramarine Shoulder Pads, looks fantastic. I have the miss pleasure of owning one of the old should pad sets. The shoulder pads where tiny compared to the modem plastic shoulder pads, which forced you to buy a set of the equally poor shoulder pads with squad markings. The symbols where also poor and difficult to paint well. So you ended up spending £10 and getting smaller space marines! This new kit is long over due and most welcome. The fact it comes with other components it fantastic. The one downside of the kit is that some of the shoulder pads are a bit too ornate for a Tactical Squads. Forcing you to buy 2 kits if you want to kit out a full squad. I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing though. The extra components in this set are going to come in very handy. As well as Ultrafiltration of Captains and Sargent models. Combined with Mk4 or Mk6 legs they will serve as excellent plastic honour guard. Finally providing a way to add more Honour Guard without buying a £50 set for the sake of 3 models. I just hope the rumoured removal of honour guard form the new codex turns out to be the lump of stinking scat it sounds like. On price I would say this set makes huge sense. Could it be better? Well yes I think another 5 or 10 shoulder pads, a proper ultramarine honour guard helmet and a coupe more standard Ultramarine helmets with a £10-15 price tag would have been better. Once you have a few of these kits buying more is going to feel like a bit of a waste of all the other components you have to throw in the bits box.
Overall 10/10 and long overdue
Next is the elephant in the room. What we have here is a drastic downsize of the previous upgrade sprue for Space Wolves. Gone it the still much needed Melta Gun, never mind a Flamer for you Grey Hunters. Gone are the torsos and host of wolf pelts and knives. The total bit count is down by over 50%.
The old Space Wolves Upgrade Kit
New Space Wolves upgrad kit (image from Dakka Dakka )
In place of all these goodies there are the Ragnar Shoulder pads. Again the new shoulder pads are a big improvement. Although once you have a couple of these sets the appeal of addition sets is reduced, unlike the old kit. It’s a real shame GW didn’t make a set of 20 shoulder pads and separate upgrade frame. However Space Wolf players already have so many options from other kits. This frame is really just about the shoulder pads. I feel this perhaps wasn’t the best time for GW to put out this kit, but I’m sure there are plenty of collectors who will snap up a few anyway. Price wise I think it’s very reasonable for GW, but not as good value as the Ultramarine set.
Overall 7/10 Good, but not a great replacement.
This kit has a better bit count than the Space Wolves set. But just like Space Wolves kit it wasn’t desperately needed. There is plenty of other similar parts in other Blood Angel sets. If anything it’s adding less value than the Space Wolf set as there are already a lot of Blood Angel icon shoulder pads in the other Blood Angel set, unlike Ragnar’s Great Company. This set has very few bits that are really “new”. We have to assume this has just been released to go with the other new Space Marine kits.
Overall 8/10 great, but too close to other kits.
This kit is as much of a down size as the Space Wolves kit. The shoulder pads are needed, the other bits are great and I’m looking forward to seeing every other Dark Angel Sergeant sporting a feather head piece. But other armies needed one of these set far more.
Overall 8/10 Good, but not a great replacement.
I think this looks to be a very exciting Space Marine release. This change in direction for Games Workshop, from just rehashing old kits is both refreshing and welcome, but replacing more extensive kits with smaller ones is not. I just hope some of the other chapters, Chaos Marines included, get the same amount of attention in the future. If GW want to sell more armies they need to support them.
Devastator Squad
Hot on the heals of the Assault Squad, Pictures of the new Devastator Squads have been leaked on Bolter and Chainsword The new kits looks like a modem take on the old second edition devastators. It also appears to come with 2 extra Grav Canons. The pictures can be found here Devastators.
Assault Squad
It looks like we are in for a new bunch of Space Marines in next week’s White Dwarf. Leaked images of both Chapter upgrade sets for Ultramarines and Dark Angles have been posted along with a very dark photo of the new Assault Squad. To me the Assault Squad looks very reminiscent of the old Finecast Vanguard squad.
You can view the pictures here Space Marrine Chapter Upgrade kits
It’s interesting to see new Space Marine models so soon after there last release, two years ago. Picture of new kits don’t prove there will be a new codex. Given Games Workshop’s recent codex release rate I’ll be surprised if there isn’t one. This increase is codex frequency is both a blessing and a curse. While it’s good not to see the likes of Grey Knights neglected due to a lack of new models, it makes me reluctant to buy a codex unless it’s recently been published. I bought a Space Marine codex for a friend earlier this year, as he thought the last one was unjustified. I can only imagine how he will react if and when the next one hits. My own personal collection of up to date codex’s is getting smaller and smaller with each publication. I’m now out of date with Grey Knights, Blood Angels, Eldar, Space Wolves and Orks, yet I have purchased 2 codex in recent months. The good thing about this change in GW’s release policy is the rules in White Dwarf have meant that players can still use some of the new units even if they don’t think a codex purchase is justified. A much better alternative than codex piracy.
As for these new kits. I really like what GW have done with these frames. The fincast Chapter Shoulder pads were simply awfully small compared to the plastic ones of most of GW’s Space Marine kits. The new assault squad also looks to be a marked improvement and long overdue. Of course until we see the prices we won’t know if it will sell like hot cakes like, the new Tactical Squad did, or if will just continues to plug the gaps in players collections.
Now available from Games Workshop, the New Space Marine Assault Squad
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