Newish Hotness: On Not Knowing Any Fear

I finished reading Know No Fear recently, and I thought I'd share a few quick thoughts. 

Amongst all the Horus Heresy books, this one is easily in the top three, and could quite possibly be my favorite.  I found the structure of the book itself to be entertaining.  Dan Abnett creates a framework for the story by inventing a way in which the Ultramarines track engagements.  This both builds a sense of tension and provides a chronological timeline. 

I thought Abnett struck the right balance between story and action.  There were all the things we read these books for.  Starships blew up.  Tanks fired giant shells.  Chainswords crossed other chainswords.  Yet I still wouldn't describe this as bolter porn.  Despite a four page list of characters, which made me blink a few extra times when I first saw it, the author developed a lot of very interesting arcs that all tied together very nicely, while also creating distinctive, unique characters.   

That said, the book wasn't entirely without flaws.  A few of the engagements were a little unsatisfying.  Whether they might have used a little more description, or the character's actions didn't make sense, a few of the resolutions felt imperfect.  I hate to be vague, but let's just say one of these was climactic.  Additionally, it was very "in."  It was such a quality book, but I fear I can't recommend it to my non-40K friends because they'll have no idea what the larger storyline looks like or about the driving themes and nuances behind this confrontation.

These complaints are, for the most part, extremely minor.  As I said before, I thought this book was fantastic and if you only have a limited amount of time for reading and enjoy Black Library books, this one is a page turner.  It's definitely worth your time.

New Hotness: Vargheists and my Thoughts on Them

I recently broke down and picked up the new Vargheist/Crypt Horror boxed set, and I felt like sharing a few of my personal thoughts.

I originally bought the models because I really liked the look of them and they fit the vampiric theme of the Blood Angels.  I originally planned on using Varghulfs to count as Thunderwolves so I could add a new element to my original all-Terminator list.  They would represent the members of the veteran company that had truly succumbed to  the Black Rage.  You can imagine how happy I was when the new Vampire Counts photos leaked and there was Monstrous Infantry boxed set along the same line, especially after the Varghulf was released in "Finecast" and the price went up from $25 to $35, but that is a rant for another post. 

They'll look like this every time

I don't know about you, but I don't let new models stay in the box for long.  About an hour after getting home, I sat down to assemble them.  I am still a big fan of the way the models look, but I was less than impressed with them from a modelling standpoint.  Aside from choosing to assemble them as Crypt Horrors or Vargheists, there aren't really any options for customization.  Unless you have some pretty good green stuff skills, none of the wings are really interchangeable.  There aren't any extra bits.  The legs and torsos only fit together one way.  So outside of an inconsequential head swap, Vargheist 1 will always look exactly like Vargheist 1 and so on.  If you wanted to have a bigger unit, you'll either need to customize with stuff pulled from elsewhere or have three sets of twins. 

Compact but bigger than a Terminator

Additionally, the models aren't exactly a joy to put together.  Model assembly is probably my favorite part of the hobby, and while this wasn't "Old Metal High Elf Dragon" tedious, you had to get everything just so or it would leave open seams.  This also meant there was zero posing involved.  While the models are dynamic by themselves, this sucks a lot of the joy out of building them.  I feel like being able to pose the wings isn't a big ask.  The contact points were also rather thin so getting the glue to set properly was a pain. 

The set also feels like it doesn't need to be a combo box.  Outside of sharing a set of legs and the front part of the torso, the Horrors and the Vargheists don't have anything in common.  It's a tremendous waste of plastic.  It would also be incredibly hard to magnetize or to recycle the bits to another project.  If the kit had been planned better, it could have been a pair of single unit kits and wasted less plastic.  It also could have made it cheaper, but we all know that wasn't happening.

Very nice individually

The form of the models is very nice.  Though they are absolutely cut, they don't suffer from the same overly muscle-bound look as the Minotaurs.  They look like they've been mixing in a fair amount of cardio alongside plenty of powerlifting and core work, so good for them.  The faces are emotive and predatory.  Two of the three poses look very active, like they are on the hunt.  The third is a little confusing as far as what he's trying to do.  The fur and the wings are all nicely detailed. 

The Verdict:
I know it seems like I'm very down on the kit, but once they're painted and on the table, the unit will look very nice.  It's sub-par from a modelling standpoint and you're going to have to do a lot of work if you want a unit of individual looking models that's bigger than three or to get them to look different from your buddies.  But if what you want is exactly three feral-looking vampiric monsters, these are very nice models that will look good on the table top.