Games We Play

Tuesday, 11 June 2019

Deja Flew

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it the same model you saw last week?

Haarken Worldclaimer, Herald of the Apocalypse


Kraken and I had a bit of a Haarken-off. I lost by some days, which is a lot better than how I usually lag behind the Lord of Painting.

But I'm hosting a SkypeBoot this week, and Kraken specifically requested the Herald of the Apocalypse as his warlord, so I had to get a move on.

Haarken Worldclaimer, Herald of the Apocalypse

As a paint scheme, I've got into a nice groove with Black Legion at the moment, so it was nice to take on a similar-but-different character model. I quite like the pose too (even though he's a snap waiting to happen). Since I've already got a bit of a thing for Raptors, this character release was perfect.

Haarken Worldclaimer, Herald of the Apocalypse

That said, I'm not blown away by his rules. Raptors aren't really melee troops, so rerolling hits in the fight phase is more suited to Warp Talons (who are not guaranteed to make it into combat from deepstriike). Far less useful than rerolling ones in every phase, which is where a Chaos Lord seems superior.

I wish he could use the Helspear in combat - not least because it would make sense - but I am intrigued by his 18" Leadership debuff.

Those kind of Ld nerfs are usually overlooked because many units are either large enough to soak Morale losses, or small enough to never fail them. But throw Haarken into the mix, along with some Raptors, some Chaos Spawn, some Icons of Despair, and even suffering one casualty could be very bad news for expensive troops.

Haarken Worldclaimer, Herald of the Apocalypse
That pipe looks pretty rusty, so I'm guessing cause of death was tetanus?

But ... no bird should ever fly alone (especially when you can't give them the Relic and Warlord Trait that make the Host Raptoral worth taking), so I put together another Chaos Lord!

Chaos Lord Jump Pack conversion from Draznicht's Chosen in Dark Vengeance

This guy is from Draznicht's Chosen squad from the 7th Ed Dark Vengeance box set. There are some lovely CSM sculpts in there - and it only took until Shadowspear to catch up (I shouldn't complain, there are some far less fortunate factions waiting for their turn with plastic kits).

Anyway, this guy had dual lightning claws, which seems an odd, expensive choice for a regular marine, and a right pain to sort out in the fight phase. Luckily, I had a spare jump pack and he had all the bearing of a Chaos Lord - so instant promotion!

Chaos Lord Jump Pack conversion from Draznicht's Chosen in Dark Vengeance

He also gets the 'vanes' from the Warp Talon backpacks, to represent his Chiropteran Wings. They're a Host Raptoral relic that- allows him to deliver mortal wounds just by flying past things and slicing them.

I don't know how effective it will actually be, but I always did like Archangel from the X-Men.

Go for it, kid.
No reason Wolverine has to be the only angsty psycho on the team.

And finally - because Kraken is a slavedriver when it comes to submitting his army lists - I had to conjure up a second heavy stubber for my Cultists. A simple kitbash of Ungor head, Cultist body and Genestealer Acolyte weapon, and my Ungor conversions have some fire support.

Chaos Cultist with heavy stubber conversion from Ungor
Tale as old a time.

4 comments:

  1. Did I mention I'd also like two Lord Discordants, a Khorne Lord of Skulls and a smattering of Forgefiends for my next list?

    If I theoryhammer it, it will come.

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    1. You can have them all... If we return to the dark days of Paw Patrol proxies.

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  2. Not a whole lot to say about Haarken that I haven't said before. Perfectly reasonable point about Raptors, too. Loyalist Assault Squads have the same issue. What worked for an Assault Unit 20 years ago really doesn't keep up with the power creep today.

    The Chaos Lord is a great use for that Chosen. As you say, he's far, far too expensive to just use as a regular dude.

    Excellent Cultist/Mutant conversion. I may have to borrow the idea, since I've got a second-hand cultist body around that came missing the gun.

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    1. Thanks - I think my preference for a Jump Lord with some kind of sword, since Ghorisvex's Teeth or The Murder Sword would be great on a mobile character. But lightning claws are nice and characterful, especially considering the company he'll be keeping.

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