Saturday 20 January 2024

Deathwing Assault

Hi All,

Games Workshop sent us a review copy of the new Deathwing Assault box; this was passed to me to crack open and get my teeth into. I even had a little while to get some paint on the models, but in what can only be described as a gross underestimation of the work involved (or a wild overestimation of my painting prowess!), I haven’t managed to finish any of them… so this article will involve a few WIP images!

 


What’s in the box?

In your copy of Deathwing Assault you will find a copy of the new Dark Angels supplement which has a fair bit of information about how the Unforgiven are handling the return of the Lion, and what impact this has had on the hunt for the Fallen. There are new rules for Combat Patrol (and therefore likely a new Combat Patrol box on the way for everyone’s favourite moody Space Marines), along with all the Datasheets you will need to play with your Dark Angels army in 40k. There are Data Cards covering the Dark Angels units for ease of use when you play too.

You’ll also get Belial’s new model, 5 Deathwing Knights and 10 Terminators, with two upgrade sprues which have loads of shoulder pads, helmets, weapons and ‘gubbins’ to customise your models.

Belial in particular is a massive model, he’s really putting the ‘Grand’ in the Grand Master of the Deathwing. All the kits went together beautifully, which is pretty much what you expect from modern plastic kits from GW nowadays!

 


Detachments

The Dark Angels benefit from three detachments in the book; the new ones (Deathwing and Ravenwing) have been explored in depth on the Warhammer Community website.

The Unforgiven Taskforce makes a reappearance – I can’t see too many changes from the existing one, but feel free to correct me!

The Company of Hunters is for the Ravenwing players; it allows you to take Outriders as Battleline units (hooray for more bikes!), and 5/6 of the Strategems are centred on Ravenwing units.

The Inner Circle Taskforce covers off the Deathwing side of things; sadly this detachment does not make Deathwing Terminators Battleline, so you’ll have to get your fill from the list of Deathwing units provided on page 59 to maximise your use of Strategems (as 5/6 of them are specific to Deathwing units) – it’s all the usual suspects plus Sternguard and Vanguard Veterans, along with the Repulsor and Repulsor executioner. This provides some interesting modelling decisions for Dark Angels players – all the Bladeguard units are shown in Deathwing white, whereas I think I’ll be going down the line of painting them in the Battle Company colours and running them as Company Veterans (who are sadly absent from the book!). I’ve just realised that Librarians appear to have been kicked out of the Deathwing now (other than Ezekial), but the named characters all come with the keyword, allowing you to spread the Deathwing unit type about a bit by attaching them to other units.

 


Data Sheets

We’ll rip the plaster off straight away; there have been some losses from the ranks and options for the Unforgiven. Apparently, Apothecaries have forgotten how to wear Terminator Armour, the Deathwing Champion has gotten lost somewhere in The Rock, the Deathwing Command Squad has been demoted, the Deathwing Strikemaster suffered a catastrophic Deep Strike mishap and the Ravenwing Talonmaster has misplaced the keys to his speeder. None of them appear in the Codex, but you can work around this by other means in some cases (such as just using a Terminator Captain for your Strikemaster etc.). Fingers crossed for Legends units!

The Lion is still the Lion… he’s a scary prospect in close combat and a pretty model to lead the army, but comes with a pretty price tag to match. In a pure Deathwing Army, he might struggle to find his niche.

The Inner Circle Companions seem like a very interesting bodyguard unit. While they have a Leader in the unit, everyone suffers a penalty to hit them (shooting and melee), and you get bonuses to hit with them when you’re fighting against Character units. They have a couple of different profiles on their weapons to help out with either clearing chaff, or against tougher targets. The surprise for me here is that the preview online had one of them holding a banner of some description – this is absent from the unit entry and appears to just be a cool looking part to add to your models. They lack an invulnerable save (unless you bring Azrael to the party), but almost certainly have a place in your list.

Azrael is much as he was before, still rocking that glorious new sculpt he has. For me, it feels like he’ll be most at home leading some Inner Circle Companions or some Hellblasters – sadly, the Supreme Grand Master still can’t join Terminators!

Asmodai comes in at the bargain price of 65 points and give full re-rerolls to his unit’s melee attacks. He has some rules around intimidating other characters, and bring the all-important Deathwing keyword with him.

Belial is still one of our premier character assassins – his weapons both coming with the Precision key word to help eliminate scarier targets who might otherwise do terrible things to your units! He’s still cheap as chips and has his Strikes of Retribution rule to help out. Oddly enough, he can join units of Terminators.

Ezekial is still running his Second Edition model, so is feeling rather small compared to his Primaris-sized brothers now. I suspect we’ll be seeing some clever conversions with the Inner Circle Companion models to get him up to size before long! He can attach to a large number of units and brings the Book of Salvation which pumps up his unit’s attacks characteristic… just don’t get him killed…

No new model for Sammael, but the Master of the Ravenwing comes roaring back on to the battlefield with the ability to confer Advance and Charge on a unit he has joined. His sword also seems to be a little sharper than Belial’s, giving him an extra pip of AP.

Lazarus is still in the book – I don’t know much about him as a character, but he really seems to dislike Psykers, with rules across his wargear helping him do more damage to them and resist their attacks.

Deathwing Terminators are much as you would expect, with one major difference – you can no longer mix and match your Assault Terminator loadouts into the same squad as your Tactical Terminators. All Deathwing Squads are your traditional Storm Bolter and Power Fist load out (with the normal upgrades like Chainfists and Assault Cannons), and can take a Plasma Cannon. They’re 5-10 men. They benefit from their Watcher in the Dark ability still (as one comes on the upgrade sprue) and can ignore penalties to their ‘To Hit’ roll.

Deathwing Knights have had it a little rough for this supplement. They’re coming in at 290 points and are capped at a 5-man unit; they have the choice of D1 Power Swords, or can sacrifice one of their five attacks and a pip of AP to take Maces of Absolution for some D2 output. The Sergeant can take the best of both worlds in the form of either a Great Weapon of the Unforgiven or a Relic Weapon. They have a permanent -1 Damage rule and 4 wounds a piece, meaning they should be challenging to put down.

The Ravenwing Command Squad survived the edition change and are a 3-man Leader unit which can attach to either Outriders or Black Knights. They get the usual banner bonuses for having the Ancient, bonuses to their move and advance for having the Champion and the ability to revive one model per turn with the Apothecary – this crucially excludes ATV models (if attached to Outriders) as well as Character Models, so no reviving your Champion if he bites it at an inopportune moment.

The Black Knights are a 3-6 model unit (taking you to 9 models if you attach the Command Squad); they’re a fast-moving unit with decent output in terms of close-in shooting and close combat, with a particular focus on Monster and Vehicle hunting.

The Darkshroud and Vengeance Land Speeders are still in the book; they both come with pretty niche rules that I’m struggling to find a place for in my list. The Darkshroud provides some defensive buffs to models stood near it, and the Vengeance provides an out-of-sequence shooting attack if a Dark Angels unit close to it is destroyed.

The same applies to the Dark Talon and the Nephilim – neither one will be finding much play in my list, through the Dark Talon does have the ability to disrupt enemy movement by dropping stasis bombs on units.

 


Crusade

I’ll admit, I’m not a massive Crusade player, but this section is fully fleshed out with some very thematic agendas and missions for the Dark Angels player to follow – there’s plenty here about capturing the fallen to keep even the most die-hard Unforgiven entertained for hours at a time.

 

Is it any good?

In short – yes. This is a rather good box to either expand an exiting Dark Angels army or to dip your toe into a (heavily Deathwing themed) Dark Angels list for the first time.

The Codex in particular is impressive with the artwork throughout – there’s a lot of large pictures spanning double pages, with text above them; I find it very reminiscent of the Forgeworld Heresy Black Books. There’s a good mix of classic and new art in the books, and the expansion of their background is well done.

I’m personally a fan of the Deathwing Terminators being moved back to an upgrade kit rather than having a bespoke kit (Heresy, I know!). I think they benefit from the largely cleaner lines of the new Terminator kit, and the upgrade sprue provides plenty of gubbins for customising them.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with the box... I just need finish painting it!

 

Now, back to the painting table before Drake realises that I’m away!

Friday 15 December 2023

Legions Imperialis: Civitas Imperialis City Road Tiles painting guide

 Hi all

Really deep intp the Legions Imperialis game system now, so I thought I would make a painting guide for the new City Road Tiles.



Lots more Legions Imperialis Content coming soon!


Drake Seta
Battle Bunnies

Thursday 30 November 2023

Necrons 10th edition Codex video review with Lauren and Fish!

 Hi all

Games Workshop were kind enough to send over a copy of the new Necrons Codex for us to review, so we let Fish have at it as he was just starting his journey down the rabbit hole with this army.

We then finished it off with a battle report . . . though the nefarious Aeldari of Craftworld Mymeara got the first turn.


Also if you have not yet seen it, please enjoy our Legions Imperialis Battle Report.


#adwip #legionsimperialis #Aeldari #warhammercommunity #40k #Necron #necroncodex

Saturday 18 November 2023

Legions Imperialis is here! Watch our Battle Report on YouTube now!

 Hi all

Games Workshop sent us a review copy of the new Legions Imperialis game! It is fantastic!

Drake Seta, Son of Xana and Eyecon74 divided the box. Drake painted the Space Marines as Blood Angels.

We will be putting some other posts up later today and this week so stay tuned.

Eyecon74 and Drake filmed a battle report of 1.5k v 1.5k a side. You can watch here.


#adwip #legionsimperialis #warhammercommunity #solarauxilia #bloodangels


Battle Bunnies




Saturday 14 October 2023

Horus Heresy: New Mark III

Hello Bunnies!

We were lucky enough to get the new heresy battle group as a preview. I got the new mark IIIs to check out. Building was super easy, they go together really smoothly in 5 minutes and the back packs are much better than the original plastic mark 3s. They are one piece rather than split in two, which was always a pain. They are taller and I wasn't sure if I liked them or not. However getting them in hand, I do prefer the scaling and proportions of the model. They also don't look too out of place next to the other mark 3s. Below are some comparison photo for you to get the idea of how these compare. 











I was prepared to not like them, especially as they are the same poses as the mark 6s and the same 5 dudes repeated, but I do like them and I think they are big improvement over originals. The good news is they don't look out of place next to the older ones and having built 20 of them as tactical marines the repeating bodies aren't evident. 

Happy gaming!

Andy

#AdWIP #HorusHeresy #WarhammerCommunity 


Saturday 23 September 2023

Horus Heresy Knight Acheron and Knight Castigator House Ærthegn

 Hi all

We were really fortunate to receive the Knight Acheron and Knight Castigator as review items from Games Workshop. Lauren immediately jumped on them as she is hoping to make a Knight Banner for Titan Owners Club events, and she has a fondness for the bigger Knights!

So here they are in the Traitorous colours of House Ærthegn.

  



Castigator

If I could control a Knight, it would be the Castigator with the Lancer a close second.

It is a fantastic kit to put together, with the ammo feed being especially awesome. You actually don't need to glue each segment in place. You can let it sway.


The cannon is especially meaty at killing those smaller Legiones Astartes!


Acheron

What a chainfist!

Another fantastic model. The ammo feed is also especially satisfying to assemble.

We had some custom transfers made for this project. Happy they turned out so nicely!

Lauren used oil buff to give the Knights a worn and grimey feel.


The Knight banner in action!

So in Warhammer 40k currently this Knight Banner comes in at around 2000pts!

And it is quite a thing to behold, especially when a Cerastus Knight is similar in scale to a Warhound Titan.

Expect to see them in a Battle report soon! :)

Battle Bunnies
#adwip #warhammer40k  #TheHorusHeresy #WarhammerCommunity

Saturday 26 August 2023

Age of Sigmar review: Cities of Sigmar big box!

Hi all

The Battle Bunnies received the new Age of Sigmar: Cities of Sigmar box for review, and our Bunny Rob set out to paint them for us in a nice Grim colour scheme. You can follow him on Instagram @the_gory_crow.

The regular citizens of AoS I now represented all in one place, finally? And boy are they displeased with the state of things.

The art for this army is, beautiful.

The first page with actual text on it, contains a very tired and slightly injured looking footsoldier.
Following by a nice fluff piece worthy of a rousing speech by a commander.
It's a bit Grimdark






The old world shattering hit the regular citizens hard by the looks of it, and it's taken up to know for them to build up their military industry and organize their ranks.
There's a small letter from a fusilier on pg 12 of the codex which gives a small incite into what was before and what comes next.

We're then treated to maps and explanations of the different realms that the free cities control or have interests in.
It's a stark contrast from the Stormcast, they're shown as almighty warriors striking from the heavens.
For the citizens of the free cities? It's an endless and bitter struggle, where just living sounds pretty awful.
When a crusade is announced, it's unknown if the army with be operational when it reaches it's staging point. All the troops have to walk while carrying all their equipment, so the crusade personnel are absolutely shattered before the fighting even starts.

There are 11 main free cities to choose from.
I really like the Hammerhal Aqsha for the vibrant red of their shields or Greywater Fastness for the Black and yellow-orange scheme.
No shortage of choice for sure.

Page 44 leads us the the standard equipment of a fusilier sgt.
They have to carry a lot of stuff, all heavy forged iron. It is really stressed here than life as a soldier is deeply unpleasant, without having to consider the enemies they're having to fight.
The feel of this book is akin to necromunda, I feel so sorry for these non-existent people.

You can have duardin, elves and humans all in one army, with all the weird creatures that comes with it.
This can lead to some interesting interactions and a wonderful varied army in terms of silhouette.
There's an opportunity here to really represent all order based rases banding together to push back the darkness.

This army has their own order system.
Units within a certain distance of a commander untit (depending on race) can then perform extra actions depending on their race.
I like the return fire order, just fire back at a unit that attacks you with ranged weapons.
Yes please, I would like another shooting phase.
To make remember order easier, you get token straight out the box. Fantastic.
But that's not all, you get the quick reference scrolls in a nice sleeve.
I would have liked for more miniatures, but I know that's not how things work anymore but what's available is nice.



Onto the models.
Yeah GW have knocked it out the ball park again.
These are brilliant.
There's chainmail everywhere and it's consistently sharp.
Then there's heavy steel plates layed and strapped in place.
On the standard footsoldier sprue:
There are 20 head options!
10 helmeted (male and female) and 10 bare.
And I've lost count how many swords, maces and axes
I'm a massive fan of piling on the options for standard troops choices.
Yes you're going to have loads of them, but it's nice to have subtle differences between each squad.




The field marshal has 3 options and show shield arms (left and right)
Whatever loadout you choose, it really oozes the stoic character you want a seasoned marshall to possess.

You want Silver clad knights charging in on white horses?
It's all here again with plenty of customisation and characters.
Oh and most importantly, you get 4 absolutely stunning transfer sheets in this box!
Not like the Stormcast transfers.....these are full colour and very detailed and smooth.

I've not been all that involved in AoS. There's just something that's missing for me.
I really like armour but there's something about the Stormcast that doesn't sit right.
However with the free cities? I think we're on for a winner here.
I want to make a massive gunline with flintlock rifles who were farmers or blacksmiths a few weeks before, truly the bravest of us.

#aswip #AoS #WarhammerCommunity

Saturday 5 August 2023

Cerastus Knight Lancer in Knight House Ærthegn colours

 Hi all

It happened! There are plastic Lancers! YAY!!

So many of you may be aware that we are big fans of all sorts of big Engines, and have love Titans too! But Lauren, even though she has 5 Titans, she really wanted to have some little Knights running at their feet to act as a guard at Walks. So, with the hope of seeing Knight Acherons and Castigators soon, Lauren set to a Knight banner.

For her banner to assist with her Titan Legion Vulcanum Dark Fire, she decided a nice banner of Knight House Ærthegn.

And Lauren did a great job (you can follow her as @honey_the_destroyer88 on instagram)

It is truly a magnificent model!

Lauren bravely decided to have it running full tilt . . .on one toe.

She managed to airbrush shield to get a great effect.


And the speartip as you can see.


We utilised some oil buff techniques to weather this big guy!



We also got some custom transfers made up for the Knights! Unfortunately there are no House Ærthegn transfers in the box.





A very tall bodyguard.

Bring on the next ones!

Battle Bunnies
#AdWIP  #HorusHeresy  #WarhammerCommunity 


Warhammer 40K: Cerastus Knight Lancer Plastic kit. House Ærthegn

 Hi all 

We received the new Plastic Lancer kit for review a little while ago, so Lauren (@honey_the_destroyer88) jumped on it as she is in the process of getting a full Knight Banner for when she attends Titan Owners Club Titan Walks.

Here is what Lauren has to say: 

A big thank you to GW for sending us out the new Cerastus Knight Lancer for review.


I have been really excited to see the Cerastus Knight get released in plastic and the kit has not disappointed.


 Due to being lighter in weight, it has made it easier to go for more outlandish poses.


The plastic kit is retailing at £120 which is a considerable drop from the resin kit which was over £200 previously.


I have gone for Knighthouse Ærthegn with an oil buff for the weathering as it ties in with my Titan Legion Vulcanum. 


I wanted to see how far I could push the model in terms of posing it which is why I have gone for a forward lunging strike with the lance whilst it is using the shield as cover. It is slightly wobbly as I have it balancing on one toe!


This has been a much quicker project than working with the resin version, there’s less preparation and the assembly has been much faster. It’s a lovely kit and I really enjoyed this project.


This is just the beginning of my venture into Ærthegn! Love big robots!


As Ærthegn transfers don't come in the box, we got some custom ones made for my Knight House.



Really happy how this came came out, as apart from the Plasma Blastgun on the Warhounds I have done, this is the only glow effect I have done to date.


#AdWIP #cerastusknightlancer #warhammer #review #warhammercommunity #horusheresy #knighthouse #ærthegn #weatheredmodel #imperialknight #titanownersclub #cerastusknight #warhammer40k #40k #superheavy #lordofwar #houseærthegn #mech #mecha #gamesworkshop #ad



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