Armageddon Steel Legion is back!!!

People of the Internet...the Armageddon Steel Legion is back! WOOHOO!

They're concept art for now, and it will be 2 years before they're finally released in plastic, but when they do get released, I'll buy at least 2 squads. Why 2 squads? Because I'll also be using them for my Imperial Militia army! 20-men squad with a single plasma gun!

We already know Commissar Sebastian Yarrick will be returning. And now he'll be the star of a campaign book, the Return of Yarrick!

I won't really talk much about Commissar Graves because, well, she's overshadowed by Commissar Yarrick. But her model is pretty cool!

I think I have enough Commissars. I already have the limited collection guy, and I might be getting Yarrick. So Graves - while cool - will probably not appeal to me. I do think the stormtroopers inside are really cool, though.

But what really interests me is that rapid strike vehicle, indeed! That's a new vehicle called the Centaur Rapid Strike Vehicle!

It's a well-liked alternative to the Chimera, and I actually already like it more than the Chimera! Not because he's new, but because I can use him for Imperial Militia too!

He may be small, but we can use him as an armored hauler. Obviously, it's weird that this little guy can carry 20 people, but whatever. If he works, he works! I prefer this to the cargo-8 ridgehauler anyway.

The last but not least of the Imperial Guard vehicles is the Hippogriff Armored Fighting Vehicle!

He's flexible enough to swap between a battle cannon, a castigator gatling cannon, lascannon and a melta cannon, plus a heavy stubber or meltagun next to the main turret weapon!

He seems more of a scout tank than an actual main battle tank, but I like him! Will have a squadron to scout ahead of my Leman Russ tanks (and Rogal Dorn tank), for a more armored flavor!

The story is what I'm interested in, but we also get two new vehicle-focused detachments for the Imperial Guard! Whoa! Treadheads like me are delighted! WOOHOO!

I think I prefer this to the Eye of Terror book, so I'll get this instead of the Eye of Terror.

The Astra Militarum Battalion seems cool, but I can't afford it and I don't need so many. I already have a Rogal Dorn tank, and I don't really want a Cadian squad. Nope, I'm waiting for Armageddon Steel Legion (and I'll be collecting more Krieg eventually, along with Kasrkin for my homebrewed Imperial Militia Grenadiers).

We also have a new Imperial Guard unit called Specters. They seem more of a veteran reconnaissance or scout unit, so I'm not nearly as interested in them as I am in the new tanks/vehicles, and the Armageddon Steel Legion. So...yeah.

But...we have Charonite Ogryns!

Not a fan of abhumans, so I'll pass. BUT...Rapiers! We have the indirect variant, which include thudd guns and mole launchers. This is the fire support battery.

And we also have the direct fire variants, which include the heavy bolters, multilasers and laser destroyers! These, I might get eventually...not for Solar Auxilia, but actually for my Imperial Militia! Awesome! I want the laser destroyers for my Imperial Militia since I've filled one support slot with a volkite culverins heavy weapons squad. This just sealed it for my second slot in the support auxiliary detachment!

But I'm most hyped for the latest Journal Tactica! The Battle of Tallarn! You remember I'm delighted about the Imperial Guard vehicles above? Hippogriff and Centaur? Now we treadheads have even more cool stuff! Tallarn is where my Knights of House Yato and tanks of Ryuusei Katanas fought, participating in the largest tank warfare in the Horus Heresy. I can't wait to see what new lore they have for us!

Oh, and 11th edition has been announced. Cool? The only thing that interests me is the modular army building, where you can combine different detachments under a single army rule. Cool.

Not sure what else to say, but I'll keep an eye out for my Imperial Guard stuff. Also, the Knight Destrier and Hastarii Skitarii, followed by the Hippogriff and Centaur...and eventually Rapiers for my Imperial Militia, to accompany the Centaur RSVs (as armored haulers)! So many things to plan for!!! Ugh!

Knight Destrier

This had to come up when I went to bed yesterday...ugh. Well, anyway, we have rules for the new Bellatus Knight Destrier, as well as the Hastarii Skitarii.

We also have rules for Thalia Ghuld, who buffs Skitarii. So now, when you crush someone with Skitarii, you can tell them to "Get Ghuld."

The Hastarii Exterminators use Eradication Casters, which are more anti-infantry than anything. You get 2 shots each, and they're Anti-infantry 4+, plus if you choose to dissipate them, you double your range to 30". If your target is close enough, you can focus to get an extra AP -1.

The Hastarii Fusiliers, on the other hand, are anti-tank. Their neutron fusil is only 24" range, and they get one shot each, but at Strength 12 AP -3 and Damage D6+1, they'll wreck a tank. They come with a phosphor blaster mounted on their shoulder for anti-infantry, and surprisingly, you can't swap it for the shoulder-mounted arc blaster on the Exterminators. That...sucks. I would prefer to have them in a dedicated anti-tank role. Oh, well.

But I'm more interested in the new Knight Destrier! Obviously, given that I'm primarily an Imperial Knight player. I'll get one the moment he's released.

What's cool is that you have 4 different weapon options available, in any configuration (except doubling them). Want to go all-in on range? Sure! Take a Chastiser gatling cannon and a frag bombard. Need a dedicated close combat variant to keep up with your Knight Gallant? Then pair the thundershock spear with the Bellatus reaper chainsword. Want a more balanced version? Combine a single ranged weapon with either melee weapon.

There's no carapace weapon and you only get a single heavy stubber for the torso gun, but you do have ram jets, allowing you to add D3" to the Knight Destrier's already impressive 12" move, making them faster than even the Armigers. Whoa!

Oh, and if you shoot at an enemy unit within range of an objective marker, you get to Ignore Cover! Blow them apart with the frag bombard's grenades, which is basically a mini-rapid-fire battle cannon or mow them down with the consistent rate of fire from the Chastiser gatling cannon, which is essentially a shorter-ranged Avenger gatling cannon with less AP! And if you equip both thundershock spear and bellatus reaper chainsword? You can an extra 2 attacks for both! Though I think you can only choose to use one in the fight phase...either way, this rocks!

I'll try to magnetize my Knight. We'll see how it goes!

Yarrick returns...but not with the Armageddon Steel Legion

Sorry, I'm kind of dumb. And exhausted. They released a new Yarrick reveal CGI trailer on Monday and I forgot to cover the damned thing. Even though this is an Astra Militarum blog...well, to be fair, it's actually more of an Imperial Knight and Adeptus Mechanicus blog, but with my Ryuusei Katanas and Imperial Guard being my introduction to Warhammer 40,000 (I basically got into the hobby by reading Ciaphas Cain novels), I really should be on top of things.

Unfortunately, with the exception of today (Friday), I've been working until 8pm or later, and returning home after 9pm, so forgive me for being too exhausted to stay on top of news. Fortunately, thanks to that hard work, I was able to end work earlier than usual today, and now I'm no longer exhausted. So I can actually cover the rerelease of Yarrick animation in 4k. Warhammer 40,000 CGI films, now in 4K. Think about that...never mind. My puns suck.

Anyway, long story short, Yarrick is back! Lord Commissar Sebastian Yarrick, Hero of Hive Hades and savior of Armageddon, is back! He even comes with a new model, which I'll be getting for sure.

From the trusty Valrak, who insists that all rumors are lies until Games Workshop officially announce them (to be more accurate, Valrak got it from Boole), apparently Yarrick will be up against Wazdakka Gutsmek, who is leading his Kult of Speed against the forces of Armageddon. Yarrick was thought dead after...uh, an unfortunate encounter with Ghazghull or something, but the Space Wolves apparently yanked him out of his tank (The Fortress of Arrogance Baneblade, I assume?), brought him to Fenris, did some mumbo jumbo Rout magic thing with their Rune Priests, and resurrected him. Now aided by bionics and an iron will, Yarrick returns to Armageddon to lead its Imperial defenders against Wazdakka's Waaagh! and vows to protect the world from the greenskins.

Krieg is cool.

That's one hell of a scene.

Hah! Not even the Orks can stand against the might of the Imperial Guard! First rank, fire! Second rank, fire!

More Krieg. Wait...what happened to the Armageddon Steel Legion?

Yeah, I mean these guys...what's with that weird skull on his mask?

...wait, what? You're kidding, right? You cannot be serious.

Yes, I am aware that the Death Korps of Krieg started life as an alternative paint scheme for the Armageddon Steel Legion. But they have evolved into their own kind of regiment, and the fatalistic Kriegers are very distinct from the mechanized regiment that the Steel Legion embodies.

I mean, I read about these guys in various codex and novels, especially Helsreach and Blood and Fire by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. They really grew on me. When you read about them in so many lore, novels and sources (codex, rulebooks, etc.), you get attached to them. You can't just kill them off or tell us to paint Krieg in Armageddon colors. I understand the practicality, but emotionally, humanly, no. It simply doesn't work like that.

I am aware that the logistics probably doesn't allow for an entirely new Imperial Guard range to be released, even as a Kill Team, but hopefully they'll consider it. Releasing all the different Guard regiments as Kill Teams would be awesome. Mordians. Armageddon Steel Legion. Valhallans. Vostroyans. Even Elysians. That would be awesome! Won't happen, but a man can dream. I'll say this, though...if they do ever release the Armageddon Steel Legion as a Kill Team, I'll buy at least a box to add them to my Guard army. They'll look cool and distinct alongside my Krieg, but that's the point - I like the diversity in my Guard army. It's boring seeing the same ranks of Kriegers, which is why I only have a single 20-men squad. But I like Krieg, which is why I add the Combat Engineers, Death Riders, Krieg Command squad and I plan to eventually add a heavy weapons team with the heavy flamer because it looks so distinct from the Cadians. It's fun to see the different regiments together.

It's not about the paint scheme. It's also the personality...the diversity. That's why we love the Guard.

Well, I've said all I can. We'll see what the future holds. After all, if I told you 5 years ago that there will be Krieg in plastic, nobody would have believed me. I didn't think we would ever get Kasrkin in plastic, and here we go...and I've a lot of Kasrkin, though half of them are kitbashed as Horus Heresy Grenadiers for my Imperial Army. It's the kitbashing and stuff, and having more regiments allow for more kitbashing. No, I don't want to kitbash with Genestealer Cultists, I would rather have Mordians and Cadians, or Vostroyans and Valhallans, or Krieg and Armageddon Steel Legion, to mix and match. That will be awesome.

Anyway, we'll see. Perhaps they'll announce a Guard Kill Team in Adepticon. We know for sure Solar Auxilia is getting more stuff...I predict we're getting super-heavy tanks for Solar Auxilia, so the Baneblade, Shadowsword and Stormblade in plastic, but a new Journal Tactica, The Solar Blades, Super-heavy tanks of the Solar Auxilia. Nah, that won't happen, but I can speculate, right?

Golden Arrival

Oh, the Legio Custodes Battle Group has been announced! They'll be up for preorder next Saturday.

I do want it, but I don't have the money, unfortunately. My hobby budget for the month has instead gone to...

Yep. If I have to choose between Custodes and a super-heavy tank, I'll choose the super-heavy tank. He's gonna be a good brother to my Stormblade, and I can play tank armies. Well, only my Solar Auxilia has an armored cohort, with my 4 Leman Russ tanks, a Valdor tank destroyer and 3 Dracosans carry Veletaris. Unsurprisingly, I have no Astartes tanks. I sold my Thousand Sons Predator Executioner tanks last year, but I have no regrets. Mostly because I already have Leman Russ Executioner tanks, and quite frankly, they look better than the Predator. However, I might, after getting a Leman Russ tank commander, buy a Sicaran Venator tank. Eventually.

But what am I going to do with so many tanks? Well...

Epic Leviathan Missions. Knights. Super-heavy tanks and armored warfare. Hell, yeah. I'm looking forward to this. As usual, after I get my hands on this book, I'll cover the lore and narrative inside. I might also write about the Leviathan missions if you're interested.

I've to say, though, inflation is terrible. When I preordered them from my friendly local gaming store, even after my membership discount, the combined prices of both the Glaive and Mailed Fist were almost SG$300 (about US$235). Considering they cost US$239, I'm only getting a $4 discount from my membership that's supposed to give me 20%? Did they charge Singapore extra tariffs on Warhammer 40,000 products or something? That's why I can only choose one or the other. I don't have the budget for both Legio Custodes and a Glaive. Ugh.

Anyway, I'll see you guys in a couple of weeks, either to talk about the Journal Tactica Mailed Fist or my assembled Glaive. Till then.

Bellatus Knight Destrier

Chapter Master Valrak has been vindicated once again. Warhammer Community has just dropped this new reveal, and we have a Bellatus Knight Destrier for Imperial Knights!

As Valrak said, this new Knight chassis is bigger than an Armiger but smaller than a Questoris. Apparently, he has two rocket booters strapped to the back to make him go faster, and large counterweights on his legs to keep his balance.

He can be equipped with either a thundershock spear or a Bellatus reaper chainsword. On the other hand, he can take a chastiser gatling cannon or a frag bombard. Cool! If you ask me, I'll just magnetize them because Ryuusei just builds different.

They'll be released alongside the new heavy Hastarii Skitarii. Yay! I'll be getting both! Once I assemble him, I'll put him beside the others! Also, this makes up for our lack of variety regarding War Dogs. Chaos has the War Dog options include the chaincannon and claw and havoc launcher and stuff, plus 5 different combinations, and we lack the same variety for a time. But now we have a new Imperial Knight chassis that's exclusive to us! Woohoo! Imperial Knights are awesome! YAY!

I wonder what's the lore behind them? I guess we'll find out! Maybe I should get the Eye of Terror book just to check out the new Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperial Knights lore and stuff! I can't wait!

Hastarii Heavy Skitarii!

Warhammer Community has announced a new Tech-priest Character and a new Skitarii unit - the Hastarii Heavy Skitarii! This is for the new Eye of Terror campaign book that features Iron Warriors as enemies.

Archmagos Terminus Thulia Ghuld is a veteran of the Ordo Reductor. This confirms that the Ordo Reductor still exists even in the 41st Millennium, yay! We need more Ordo Reductor lore and characters! Pretty cool. Her specialty is war, and she is revered by the Skitarii. And guess what? The Skitarii has a new unit! Woohoo! Introducing the Heavy Hastarii Infantry.

Seems like they come in squads of 5 and can be armed with either a short range eradication casters. These are the Hastarii Exterminators, and it's like the eradication beamer mounted on Onager Dunecrawlers. The other variant is the Hastarii Fusiliers, who carry neutron fusils, which are the neutron lasers. They can also mount a shoulder arc rifle or phosphor blaster. Cool!

The Facebook page has even more cool pictures of them! Wow, just look at them! Apparently, some people on Facebook comment that they look like the original Necron Immortals. Interesting.

However, there's more to come! According the Chapter Master Valrak, we'll also be seeing a release of a medium Knight, a chassis that's between the size of a Questoris and an Armiger. I wonder what that will be? I guess we'll find out next week!

Vultarax Strato-automata

I assembled my Vultarax Strato-automata! Now he takes to the skies alongside the flying-type Archmagos Rho Lert! Hah!

He's meant to be a scout and support unit for my Skitarii Conclave, Excipio-Rho-Omega. Arc blaster to haywire and stun vehicles (used to glance them to death). I used to have the resin version, but I enjoyed assembling the plastic version! He looks good beside my Skitarii. Sometimes I'll just field him in my Legio Cybernetica army, but that's mainly composed of ground automata like the Castellax, Domitar and Thanatar chassis. I'm replacing all the resin models I used to own with plastic, and I'm pleased.

Now the only one left is the Domitar battle-automata! I can't wait!