+ Indomitus +
+ The new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is out, and I've been quietly beavering away building things from it – mostly the Necrons, which I'm assembling as standard. Lovely set of kits that go together very cleanly and easily. +
+ There are lots of reviews popping up about the rules; and that's quite out of my wheelhouse, so I'll stick with the visuals: the new rulebook looks gorgeous. The artwork and layout are lovely, and there's some clever design choices to make distinguishing lore from rules intuitive and simple. From a usability point of view, it's a big step up. +
+ I'm also pleasantly surprised with how the background is dealt with. I was very sceptical of the move from 40k as setting to 40k as ongoing storyline, but the way it's presented in 9th edition feels familiar. It's not a character-led space opera, and the changes in the setting – the first since, well, ever – have been integrated nicely. As an example of what I mean, consider the flagship Space Marines. The Primaris are mentioned, but their importance is understated; almost downplayed. Their appearance is a single paragraph at the end of the spread that introduces space marines. +
+ As a long-time fan, I found it unexpectedly refreshing to have all the various 'new things' that have happened in terms of background/lore since 8th edition collected together. Not having bought any of the chapbooks (like the Psychic Awakening series), it was actually quite nice to have something new to read. I'm more used to the rulebook being lightly paraphrased from previous editions. +
+++
+ Onto models +
 |
| Gatebreaker posed next to the Royal Warden and a warrior of the line. |
+ But all that's for naught without cool models, eh? Just as the rulebook pleasantly surprised me, so too the Necrons. I was expecting to tear into the marines, but it's the space zombie-robots that demanded their place on the cutting mat. +
+ The Cryptek Designation Samaritan [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+] has clearly been busy exhuming the servants of his mysterious masters. +
+ The Space Marines weren't completely sidelined, of course – so once I'd put together the figures above (which took two evenings), I started on the Gatebreakers' reinforcements. These took longer, as it involved a lot more planning and some minor conversion work. +
+ ...Although of course it's also fun to convert, so I ended up giving the big Necron Lord a mask, intending it to evoke the Dawn of War series of games, if you're familiar with those. Double dustgruel rations for anyone able to tell me what the helmet was called, for I've not the foggiest idea.
2 comments:
I have to say this is the first time necrons have called my attention. I think I'll be following your progress here. About the helmet, I've been browsing with my dendrites over the web and my best guess is 'Death Mask'. As a reputed researcher (ha!), here's the source:
https://dow.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_Crusade/Wargear
Hope it's useful!
Thanks Suber – much appreciated! Necrons had never appealed to me, either – I really disliked the clunky metal sculpts from 2nd ed., and then I was put off by the master-slave dynamic of the C'tan, and the oh-so-portentous background. Gradually, over the years, they've got a bit more personisable and interesting; and when I looked at the sculpts on sprue, I was sold!
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