Since taking a look at the new DA release and all the potential for conversions turned out to be a lot of fun, it stands to reason I have to do the same with the new WFB Warriors of Chaos release, seeing how these twisted guys are even closer to my heart than a couple of loyalist dogs: What’s more, Warriors of Chaos were my first love in WFB and actually the first tabletop army I ever managed to complete, so while it’s very unlikely that I will ever return to WFB, I still have a huge soft spot in my heart for these guys!
Chaos players really have much cause for celebration at the moment, with a new book for the Chaos Space Marines released last October, a huge WoC update right now and books for Daemons in 40k and WFB already in the works, supposedly. And even though some of the models may be a little hit-or-miss so far, I feel that’s quite easily forgivable given the sheer amount of stuff released for chaos players. So let’s take a look at the latest slew of releases, as I gather some spur of the moment ideas on what could possibly be done with the new kits…
As per my usual routine, I’ll probably mostly talk about how these kits can be used in 40k in one way or another. I hope you won’t mind…
So let’s start with the characters:
Throgg, King of Trolls
Let’s begin with this huuuge Finecast model. I love this guy, period. He’s everything that a troll king should be, in my opinion. I love the face, I love the pose, I even like the (slightly ridiculous) cape. What really makes this model stand out, though, are the small details: The magical crown lodged on one of his tusks. The way the model has a pretty coherent shape overall but is still wracked with mutation (take a look at that teeth gnashing maws on Throgg’s belly and leg). Without a doubt, this is a worthy centrepiece for any army. There may be no conceivable way of using him in 40k (at least not without lots of harebrained explanations and/or extensive conversions that would probably destroy what’s so great about the model), and I will also very likely never buy this guy. But I still think it’s a marvelous model! Great job!
Vilitch the Curseling
Actually my second favourite model in this release — I wonder what’s wrong with me 😉 But let’s take a closer look:
While some people prefer the more “conventional” look Vilitch has in the older artwork, I really love just how alien he looks: The armour on the bigger brother immediately reads as Tzeentchian, while the actual Vilitch looks nightmarish and twisted enough (he is also eyeless…brrrr): I think it’s a cool idea to have Vilitch fused to his brother’s body in a haphazard and asymmetrical (this is Tzeentch, remember?) fashion, instead of merely being carried piggyback. My only gripe is that the smaller brother’s staff should have been quite a bit shorter (it just looks extremely impractical as is), so I would probably shorten it to just above the “bandaged” part of the grip. All in all, this model shows a more stylised look that I am normally not exceptionally fond of – we’ll get to that in a minute – but for some reason, it works here.
Again, I am really not sure this guy has any use for 40k, but if I actually still played WFB, this would be a must-buy for me.
Plastic Chaos Lord
Well, this guy deserves kudos for the mere fact that he’s plastic — I love plastic characters! Apart from that, the model’s quite alright. I don’t mind the static pose too much, since we are talking about a mighty warlord here, and he should exude quiet menace. The head seems a little iffy, although that should be easily solvable with a simple head change. The lance is cool enough, but seems like too much of a good thing: I really can’t see this guy fighting with a broadsword and a lance at the same time. Personally speaking, I’d just leave it off or replace it with something else.
All in all, this guy is pretty cool, nothing more and nothing less. His main importance will possibly lie in serving as a base for myriads of conversions in both WFB and 40k, and it should be fairly easy to transform him into a follower of a specific chaos god (or a CSM, for that matter). I really expect this guy to be the model that everyone will love to convert. As a matter of fact, I could even see him used as a base for INQ28 conversions! So even though I am not totally floored by the model, I am pretty likely to pick up one of these, just for the heck of it.
Chaos Chariot/Gorebeast Chariot
This kit comes with options to build either the Chaos Chariot you see above and the Gorebeast Chariot that is being pulled by a single …well, Gorebeast actually:
A new chariot kit has been overdue for WoC, obviously. Let’s see how this one stacks up:
On the one hand, I like the supposed flexibility of the kit and the fact that it’s plastic (I LOVE plastic, in case you didn’t know 😉 ). According to WD, the kit also comes with lots of head and weapon options and additional bitz, so that’s a plus as well.
On the other hand, there’s something going on with the design of this kit that I am not really all that fond of. Let me show you what I mean. by taking a closer look at one of the chariot crew:
Well, this guy is definitely screaming Chaos alright: He’s huge and imposing. He’s heavily armoured. He’s also quite spiky. But the bold lines and pointy bitz make him look almost too comic-book-like for my taste. GW’s Chaos is usually baroque and lavish, with a side of spiky and feral. Yet this guy is almost too stylised for his own good. Don’t get me wrong, the model is cool, taken on its own. Yet when placed next to some of the older models (or even some of the not-so-old models from the first wave of the release), he looks almost cartoony by comparison. A trace of the same element is also present in the Vilitch model. Yet where Vilitch manages to transform this otherness into an actual part of what’s cool about the character, the crew member above just slightly looks like the animé version of Chaos for some reason. Does this make any sense?
Maybe I am putting too much thought into this…
Forsaken
When the first, fuzzy images for this release were “leaked” onto the net, I was really thrilled for these! I hoped they would give us yet another alternative for constructing mutated followers of chaos. Yet where the 40k Possessed kit is very cool but also very “creppy crawly” visually, I had hoped for these to be slightly more subtle in execution.
Well, silly me, because if anything, the Forsaken are even more over the top than their 40k brethren. As a matter of fact, they seem like a shout out to the old mutation sprue released by GW during the early 2000s for use in both WFB and 40k. Then again, while some of those mutations may look slightly silly, there’s also a couple of really nice and disturbing ideas in this kit, along with mutations that clearly recall specific chaos gods.
I also really feel that the …thing emerging from this guy’s mouth…
…could be used to build a fantastic Daemonhost for INQ28.
So what to do? I can easily see these as a viable alternative to further spice up your mutation-wracked forces in both WFB and 40k. The kit should come with lots and lots of interesting bits, and by the look of it it should be fairly compatible with most other (chaos) kits. Whether that’s worth 40,00 Euros a pop is up to you, of course. Personally, I would have hoped for something a little less hammy and more understated (and thus even more disturbing). But that’s just my personal taste, of course.
Dragon Ogres
I have to be honest with you: The very concept of “Dragon Ogres” always seemed a little iffy to me. They seemed to be a part of the setting for no other reason than somebody thinking “Dude, wouldn’t it be awesome to have Ogres with DRAGON BODIES??? Let’s totally do that!” somewhere along the way. Still, this kit has been a long time coming, and it is really, really nice, if you ask me: The Dragon Ogres are huge and imposing (fortunately eschewing the slightly silly charm of the Ogre Kingdoms models). The design is great, and I can see these being a joy to paint as well, with the slightly larger scale lending itself rather well to all kinds of tricks and effects.
From a 40k perspective, I cannot resist thinking about using one of these as a base for a Khornate Daemon Prince. Just look at this guy:
Wouldn’t he just be perfect for the role with some small additions and changes? Oh well, one can always dream…
Slaughterbrute / Mutalith Vortex Beast
One huge beast per army seems to be par for the course now, so this was only to be expected. In this case, it’s a combi-kit that allows you to build either the Slaughterbrute or the …other thing –no way I am typing that out again 😉 The Slaughterbrute (shown above) is sure to make the mouths of chaos player the world over water, and rightly so. It’s a nice and chaotic design, and if you ask me, this is pretty much what the Scyla Anfingrimm mini should have looked like in the first place.
Anyway, a couple of more detailed impressions, if I may:
First of all, the multi-eyed (and multi-tongued, ewww) head looks decidedly non-GW, if you know what I mean. I am not sure whether that’s a good thing. In any case, the kit obviously comes with an alternate head that is freaking awesome (and looks very Khornate to boot). Take a look:
I also love how there seems to be some kind of harness/chaos artifact thing rammed into the beast’s back — maybe as some kind of binding or incantation? What I really hate are the smaller arms emerging from the model’s uhh…nipples? Anyway, while they certainly make the beast look more chaotic, they also mess with the very strong silhouette and the points where they emerge look really silly and lazily designed, which is a shame on an otherwise great model.
This big guy could easily be used as a “counts as” Defiler or Greater Daemon in games of 40k (until we are finally getting the rumored new plastic GDs, that is). I am also looking forward to seeing the crazy conversions some of the more inspired hobbyists come up with — I, for one, would love to see the likes of GuitaRasmus or Biohazard have a field day with this kit! The only reason that I am not totally blown away is the fact that the logistics of building and painting such a huge model don’t appeal to me all that much. But again, that is just a matter of personal preference.
Now let’s look at that other …thing as well:
Wow, just…wow! It actually takes quite a while to a) make sense of this thing and b) realise that this beast is based on the exact same body also used for the Slaughterbrute. I have repeatedly stated that I am not a huge fan of the “mutated beyond any reason” look. That said, this model perfectly embodies chaos, and that is an achievement all of its own. It also goes without saying that followers of Tzeentch and/or Slaanesh will probably cry with joy at this particular model. So while I’ll gladly pass, I still acknowledge that this is a pretty extraordinary piece. It should also be usable in 40k, similar to the possible uses for the Slaughterbrute I outlined above.
Oh, one thing: That chaos portal thing one the beast’s back looks really cool:
I also love the paintjob on this part and sincerely hope it can be duplicated by mere mortals (like me).
As a final remark on this kit, it somehow feels like this is a dream come true for those who follow Khorne, Tzeentch and Slaanesh, yet Nurgle followers seem to get the short end of the stick. Then again, Nurgle players should be used to the necessary conversions by now… 😉
All in all, some smaller nitpicks notwithstanding, I think that this is a rather strong release for chaos players. While the price tags are once again unlikely to elicit responses of joy (and rightly so), chaos players for both 40k and WFB now have a huge menu of (plastic) kits to tug into. And if you don’t like any part of the release, well, there’s nobody stopping you from coming up with something better: Converting stuff is what being a chaos player is all about, anyway 😉
So what do you think of this new release? Any ideas? Do you need to vent your anger? Let me know in the comments section!
As always, thanks for looking and stay tuned for more!