StrangerOrders

I am very torn on Sicarius... the model is good, very good. But it weirdly seems more arrogant and grandstanding than his old model... idk, it doesn't radiate who Sicarius is in the current lore. I kind of expected a more subdued, world-weary model... this doesn't really convey his 'nihilistic contempt for everything and sardonically rolling with it' aura. I am going to guess this means UMs are going to ironically end up being a fully fledged splinter Marine faction now (can't really say non-Compliant)... which is more or less what I want for all the bloodlines anyway (a few unique chars and a bloodline-specific unit). Dual gladius is such an unreasonably cool thing, love it. Axes are also welcomed, a nice reversion to 30k.

Its balanced by her stylists' lives literally hanging on how fast/well they do it I'm sure.

This will sound weird but my only complaint is that the way they painted Malys seems... idk, like she is too healthy looking... Great sculpts though! GW seems to be making good progress on face sculpts (provided they are just Eldar for some reason). Archon seems to have at least 3 weapon types, 2 off hand options and three heads.

I really love the combinations offered by the Provenances, and the potential for new ones. This might also be a hot take, but one consistently positive thing over 2.0 is the inclusion of more lore snippets. I feel like 2.0 and even late 1.0 started to forget that alot of us are definitely interested to know what something is other than a model with a stat. Now, does anyone know how well the Felgor Beastment kit goes with Van Saar stuff?

Looking at the book cover next to the model helped me realize what's bugging me about it. They absolutely massacred the man's awesome hair.

Problem there is that you can't really say 'for nought' when most of the factors I said don't relate to direct combat. Two monkeys fighting in the vines doesn't mean their conflict is equivalent to two crabs. If anything it goes to show how bloody weird a battle between two Astartes forces would be because their tempo, considerations and rates would look nothing like two conventional armies. To give credit, the first Black Book did this very well with commanders being jarred by how cumulatively quick and difficult to unengage from Astartes v. Astartes warfare turned out to be. As well as how hard it is for one side to meaningfully erase the other without ending up playing whack-a-mole (given the difficulty to permanently kill, starve or mentally break both sides are). As far as Xenos, we know alot actually from the books, and I think there is a risk is assuming frequency and other considerations. Including our letting ourselves be tricked into thinking the Imperium is more primitive than it actually. Still room for very interesting directions.

I mean... you are right but I also disagree. As written? Astartes are honestly not really exploited when you look at the spreadsheet of what they can do beyond 'big man with big gun'. You have soldiers that don't need sleep, barely eat, can jog in full kit for days at the speed that outstrips an Olympic runner's best, aren't bothered by most enviro conditions, can literally/smell and hear enemy heartbeats dozens of meters away, don't get sick, are basically impossible to traumatize or disable for a long period. Each one of those things shave a hundred logistical considerations, tactical realities, strategic options and so on. To say nothing of attrition and experience gain which works in such a whacky way for an immortal that doesn't decline with age that its silly. And the fact that most Astartes can be very easily cross-trained to hotswap roles on the fly and with next to no difficulty. They are also next to impossible to kill in narrow space, They Shall Know No Fear was brilliant for stopping to consider this. If an Astartes is in a space they can control or that you can't afford to completely level... you are kind of boned. Couple that with the decision makers theoretically having hundreds of campaign of direct experience and a functional blend of knowledge-absorption, training and personal prestige that you just can't have irl. That's off the top of my head. And few authors and frankly alot of fraters in the fanbase completely disregard. The failure of imagination isn't the numbers, its what those numbers MEAN from a campaign perspective. The problem with Astartes usage isn't really at all the scale, its a much bigger difference than that. Its even funnier in set pieces when you compare the novels to the Forgeworld Black Books description of how Legion pitched warfare works. Can you imagine every pilot literally mind-synched with their vehicles and able to coordinate combined arms by instinct? Cheap artillery generally not doing jack because positioning data needs to outpace an army that moves with preternatural speed and precision? An Astartes army as written there seems so divorced from reality of how an actual battle works that it actually makes sense that we hear about them crushing enemy civs before they can react. Honestly their size and guns are the least scary thing about Astartes when you think about it, especially in numbers.

Before the wave of complaints come in about retreading ground, I would just say that I am so excited to have a PoV on the Massacre written by French! Guy knows how to write pitched and grinding warfare better than most and I genuinely don't think BL has done the Massacre justice yet. So a straight win in my book.

Bit of an open question on how this changes the reasoning on Tart v Cata. Given the changes to assault, I would still say Catas are probably still the better call against other Termies.

Been a hot minute since I read Khal's Oath but iirc the Ironkyn can survive without their bodies as long as the head survives and can adjust their bodies. What I can't recall for the life of me is how resistant/difficult they are to modify from a programming/psychological perspective. The fleshy Kyn however tend to really dislike changing their role or getting sidelined due to how much self-worth is tied into the whole Skein and contribution thing. They also mentioned in the Livestream that the Ironkyn in the Steel Jack frames are made for combat. So if we extrapolate from what we know, until an author or GW throws it out the window and sets a precedent, it would stand to reason that getting formatted into/out of a Steel Jack frame would not be a 'great' occurance for the Ironkyn involved. Since it implies a failure or obsolete previous role which can easily fall into being a failed product for a purpose-built existence. Just my two cents.

I used to have reservations about the Votann for quite a bit, that they only have the one book by an author I kinda dislike doesn't help. Then I saw Bricky's video of all people (he is fun but his lore knowledge is hit or miss) and he put it in a way that made the Votann gel with the setting for me. Their entire society is a self-destructive doom loop that is doomed to collapse with the only way out being to essentially abandon who they are. They worship the ancestor cores, their purpose is to earn a good repute to be loaded up into the ancestor core. But they are all ultimately reconfigurations of redundant data (i.e. the whole Skein thing) that is just compounding largely useless corrupted data into the cores, slowing and inevitably dooming them. Even if they could replace the cores that make their entire lives possible... your only choice is to transfer over the data that caused the problem in the first place or you are abandoning your ancestors. If you do that and being uploaded with all your deeds is now pointless... then why the heck did you bother doing everything for? What did your ancestors do it for? They are on the brighter side but that framing made me realize that the Votann can fit very well because of the simple fact that they are doomed by their own nature. Just like every other faction. Granted, GW can shoot this nuance in the foot at any moment, but they can gel. A sidenote, but one of the funniest things with the 40k fanbase is the whole 'my faction can totally win' thing. Largely because the win condition for most factions is structurally, ethically and practically impossible, usually as a direct consequence of what makes them lethal in the first place.

Has there ever been a time in recorded history where the Word Bearers did not see a new asset and immeditately say "But what if Daemons?"

Sweet mother of Votann, so much for no second wave dooming lol.

Kind of? I've been playing with the point values and army lists leaked with my local group. A Centurian unlocks two slots and alot of Auxiliaries, especially the Legion-Specifics give you alot of slots. Combine that with Logistical Support being the most auto-include Prime Benefit for alot of armies and it is actually a bit of a struggle to stay *below* 3k with what you got for 2 Centurians and a Praetor. That's 5 Detachments, alot of which can run you 800 points per easy... To say nothing of the Crusade Detachment itself. We've been debating bumping our standard to 4k, depending on how the rest of the armies look. To give an example look at the EC specific one alone: -1 Retinue -1 Elite -2 Fast Attack Grab a full squad of Phoenix, Palatines (Aquilae if they share the slot and that will likely cost more), two Scimitar Squads and you are looking at near 600 pts with minimum squad sizes and no upgrades... for 1 Auxiliary.

I am mildly disturbed at the prospect of not trying to table your enemy, granted part of the reason I do considerably better with Heresy than 40k in the first place is my insatiable blood lust. Go ahead, tally your little marks on your paper, it will mean little when naught remains but a mountain of plastic (and some resins still tbf) corpses! ...You know, I might have been too harsh on WEs in the past...