Opinion: Thoughts on Warhammer 40K, 10th Edition, and its Balance

As I begin to write this, it's clear that the 10th edition of Warhammer 40,000 is entering it's final months. Almost every faction has received its codex, and a big new campaign is under way. The pattern is there. So, as something a bit different, I’m gonna talk about 10th ed’s balance for a bit.

The most obvious gameplay challenge, the one everyone can spot and I have already written about, is that half the game is space marines. That is to say, half the game is based around super soldiers, and this has become a baseline average rather than anything noteworthy. This has created a sort of exceptionalism treadmill, where marines have to be the favoured sons of any style of warfare, with that one thing they are very good at, but still pretty good at everything else. Especially when it's your chapter. Yes, yes, with the arguable exception of horde infantry, space marines != horde, but Black Templars give that a good go too. People want their super soldiers to feel like super soldiers, which is fair, but that's a matter of comparisons and vibe, and it's deeply undercut if every second person is beakies. It also leads to a certain degree of envy and petty entitlement whenever a non-marine faction does well or somehow shakes up the meta. I'm not sure how you actually address this as a problem, except to say people keep confusing "The Emperor’s Finest", with the absolute best of the best, and given GRIMDARK they should probably loose more. Practically, what this means is that, for basically 'ever, a consistently prudent way to build an army is to build it around killing marines. But let's put a pin in that for a moment, and bring in another issue, tanks and other vehicles. 10th ed has done a solid job of making these durable, but granular. These often need to be worn down, but everything in the game can technically harm everything else, as opposed to previous editions where vehicles could be functionally immune to infantry in some situations. It's a more nuanced discussion these days, although vehicles, and/or big monsters, can create a scaling issue. Imperial Knights for example obviously only have vehicles, which presents a problem in smaller battles where anti-tank is often more difficult to field. You might also point to troop transports as a problem for similar reasons, although those function more as a force multiplier than the brute force of Knights. Ultimately, vehicles aren't an obvious balance issue, except in the skew-build way.  Which, of course, Knights of either flavour actually are. They are big, but they aren't clever. You either have a plan to drop a knight in one turn, or you play the objectives, but I digress.

Now, here's the thing. For a lot of units, and arguably some entire factions, marines and vehicles have the same solution. To kill marines, you want an attack with a high strength, good AP, and multiple damage. Mortal Wound effects are also very handy, as they bypass the usual dice rolling. The requirements for a tank are basically the same, adding only a preference for strength 12+, and/or a higher amount of raw damage. A weapon that can kill tanks will liquefy a marine, it's a weight class thing that nobody could argue against, while a weapon that is especially good at killing a marine is gonna have at least some secondary use against tanks. This is why you see plasma, melta and Lascannon weapons together so often. It's also why Orks take rokkit launchers over big shootas when they can. Going in on such weapons allows you to deal with hard targets, and whatever else the unit has is probably good enough to deal with any soft targets you might run into. And people generally don't do battleline units these days unless they have to, so raw numbers is often not a concern. This may sound like I'm making a case for individual weapon prices in 11th edition, and while that would be nice, it doesn't address the wider issue. The game is top heavy. And there is a further effect of this. GW has been hard on horde armies this edition, and I wonder if that might have been an attempt to manage this phenomenon. A force based on quantity rather than quality does not reward the type of weapon described above. Yes, put a load of plasma and melta into that Krieg unit, its overkill. Take flamers and heavy bolters instead? Well, that's largely gonna bounce off marines and especially tanks, but your average light infantry enjoyer might feel that's tailoring your list just to murder him, rather than actually playing the game. Is that a double standard given what I said about marines above? Maybe. Just maybe. But there's a difference between assuming you'll face the most common foe, and tooling your force to deal with someone specific. And tends to die in droves anyway. And nobody likes having to totally retool their force every game, do they? Also: just swamping the board with cannon fodder isn't any smarter than fielding Knights or your entire tank collection, is it? So I will give GW the benefit of the doubt, and assume that they're trying to minimise the people they upset with 10th ed. But if we assume all weapon options need to be valid, because they are priced the same, this needs to be addressed. Because the anti-infantry option, and especially generalists like missile launchers, just don't appeal.

 

As a case study, let's talk big shootas. Big shootas are the Ork equivalent to the heavy stubber, and they turn up wherever you'd expect a machine gun to. It is usually seen either as part of a rack of options, or as an inoffensive secondary weapon on a vehicle. In an earlier, scrapped version of this article I wrote a little history, ran some numbers, and did a few comparisons. Then I realised it was suffering for two reasons, A) it's anti-infantry role is largely redundant in this context and B) as the rokkit launcha has the blast rule, it can handle horde infantry just as well as having some use against hard targets. There's edge cases where the big shoota functions better, but the rokkit launcha is more useful most of the time. It's actually the generalist option rather than the anti-tank option you might think it is; they averaged out a missile launcher. Your basic rokkit lacks the accuracy and raw punch to worry a proper tank, but it's well placed to kill marines, APCs and the blast gives it use against hordes. Meanwhile, your typical Ork unit, ie Boyz, frankly has little issue with other hordes, but does need that extra bit of boomy. See also kan shootas as an example of an attempt to address this imbalance. Big shootas are only good when there is no opportunity cost. And historically, the only time when big shootas were particularly good was in 3rd edition or so, when you could get more of them in a mob, and rokkits didn't explode. So, in a world where every second army is marines, and every army has something like a tank, you aren’t gonna do the big shoota option, are you? And you see this dynamic anywhere where there’s a choice between an anti-tank gun and a machine gun.

Is this fixable? And how would you do it? Possibly, but I think these issues are kinda baked in at this point. As GW actively maintains the rules these days, I’m confident they’ll keep things steady. I suppose you could put in some kind of mechanism whereby weapons would work differently based on the target, as opposed to merely everything having a common statblock. Say a weapon would have different accuracy based on its target? That way you could have more nuance, and more levers to pull as a game designer. Or you could make everything generic? I dunno. We’ll see how 11th ed turns out. 

Oh and there's Battleshock. I forgot about that. But then, so does everyone else.... 

Plamo: Orks Runtherd and Gretchin

 

I didn't have a great time in early January. I'd survived December, but I was struggling with respect to life goals and various petty annoyances. Then I got a head cold. Yay. So, a new project was needed, and thus today's article.

Anyway, I'd been meaning to pick up some more grots for a while.  It's not because they are especially good, or even competent, it's because they can do the boring objective holding stuff, while generating Command Points, and generally being a nuisance to remove. Gretchin die to almost any attention, but die so quickly any attack feels like a waste of bullets. Also good for screening and movement-blocking purposes. There's definitely diminishing returns with these little blighters, but they do tend to create dilemmas.

Dating from 2009, this kit is probably the realistic plateau for plastic grots. These are mostly fixed pose models, although many have alternate heads, with a random assortment of weapons. There is just enough flexibility to prevent them from getting boring, and there is compatibility with Ork kits of the same generation, something I used for the Runtherd. While obviously smaller than most, these go together with minimal fuss, and generally hit the goldilocks zone. It's also arguably a budget release, offering significantly more points per pound than either of the two Ork Boy kits, although that's approximately £1.45 a model in real terms. I do hope that GW doesn't get it into their heads replace this with something needlessly complicated and/or extravagant.

I didn't do anything fancy with these, merely experimenting with fabric colouring and some highlighting. I did find some of the details a touch soft, so maybe a few of these guys have trousers where there were no trousers before. Getting into the right headspace was in some respects more difficult than the actual painting. I don't think I'm actually getting better, but I am becoming more efficient with what I do, something I felt with my more recent Guard units.

I probably need to find something more interesting to do, but these are OK for now.

Transformers: Collaborative Bone Shaker is Something That Exists

And I keep wanting to call him Bonecrusher…

Maybe its just my mood, or maybe its the creative choices, I’ve found Transformers to be somewhat bland of late. I am a TFN regular of course, but I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that that Age of the Primes was a damp squib. That said, there is an unexpected patch of creativity, found in the extremely inconsistent Collaborative line. Here we see Hasbro working with Mattel to make transforming versions of Hot Wheels cars, as well as Hot Wheels versions of Transformers. And if Bone Shaker here is any indication of how this partnership is gonna play out on the robot side, I might try some optimism. This is a breath of fresh air that I grew to like more and more as I wrote this.

Bone Shaker is based off the diecast car of the same name, which I have previously used for a Gaslands project. It's one of various fictional cars Mattel releases, a sort of 1950/60's rat rod, with a skull and flame motif. That obviously lines up with my tastes pretty well, and makes for a quite distinctive altmode. Black, silver and flame is an inherently cool deco for a car like this, and we haven't really seen its like in Transformers since the Laser Rods of Generation 2. I had two thoughts battling inside my brain when I first picked this up off the shelf, and held it in hand. The first thought was this was kinda small. Yes, inflation is a thing, tariffs are a thing also, and crossovers tend to have a premium surcharge applied. But it felt like there wasn't a huge amount of toy there. On closer inspection however, the car mode it comes in, is but a gnat's wing away from ideal. There's pinned wheels that roll well. A lot of paint, not everywhere, but in the places Hasbro normally skips. There's interior detail, with the seats visible, much like the diecast toy. And there is that glorious skull and exhaust combo upfront. It looks great, perhaps not Alternators great, but nothing to apologise for. Clearly the license agreement mandated this level of fidelity, and they succeeded. It's also notable for what isn't here. Bone Shaker is not built in line with the Siege 5mm port system, no doubt helping the look. This hurts the play value, but I'm not missing it here. He does however have storage for his weapon accessory, a comically big gear stick that plugs in between the seats. This goes unmentioned in the instructions, looks rather daft, but is the only real weakness of the altmode, and it's entirely optional. I mean, if I'm not nitpicking that, I'm gonna have to complain about robot bits on the underside, and who cares? The wiki even suggests its a Rat Fink thing. Its a highly individual car form executed very well and I can't imagine Hot Wheel fans taking any issue either.

 

With the robot form, and the conversion to achieve it, complaints become less subjective. Bone Shaker functions like a lot of carformers in that the front end becomes the upper body, and the back becomes the legs, but the shape of the car presents its own challenges. The chest is dominated by the skull, because failure to do so is probably super robot malpractice, forcing a bunch of panels into the lower legs. As a result, Bone Shaker lacks actual feet. Ankle tilts are present, but these are attached to the car seats and otherwise concealed. This is deeply odd, and combined with various quirks and kibble, will be a deal-breaker for some. The shoulders and feet have been a point of discussion. That said, it's not often these days that I feel the transformation prompts actual discussion. There is a trend these days for the altmode to be a secondary concern, versus articulation and screen accuracy. There's often no flair, and lot of reused engineering. That's not the case here; the conversion scheme is to the best of my knowledge new and interesting. So, yes, I like that they put the car first, this is a welcome change of pace. 

Obviously, as a completely new thing, screen accuracy in robot mode is a total non-issue too. Bone Shaker is not bound by fan expectations, or the silly desire to match cartoons from the 80's. Well, the car mode might be, but I've talked about that already. That leaves us with the basic matters of visuals, posability and play value of that robot form. On the visuals front, Bone Shaker clearly favours his altmode a touch, but there's a lot of character. It's hard to lack character when you have a skull for a chest, shoulder wheels, and a gearstick to beat people with. More gray and orange comes into play, and there is a very nice headsculpt up top, with a mouthplate and exhaust ears. As a whole it works; it's definitely my kind of metal, although given the altmode, perhaps this is more of a greaser? Like Fonzie? Yes, there is kibble and quirky proportions, but from such imperfections comes more character. Articulation meanwhile is decent, but not quite ideal. Wrist swivels would have made a lot of difference, but otherwise it's post-Siege standard. However Siege style 5mm ports are, like the altmode, conspicuous by their absence. I don’t buy many beastformers or Studio Series toys, so maybe that’s just me, but I was honestly surprised. This means we're just working with the fundamentals, but Bone Shaker has good fundamentals, and a presence. A good robot mode overall, which, despite the weird feet, compares well with the car mode.

Now, I want to note one concern, before I end this article on a positive note: I'm not entirely sure why this costs 20% more than a contemporary deluxe. I have cynical suspicions, also excuses, but not certainty. Its perhaps just the paint, and the license. However, Bone Shaker does make a good go at earning that premium. It is, frankly, refreshing to see a Transformer designed this way. It puts the car first, with a clean sheet design, and not learning so heavily on nostalgia of the Transformers nature, while also doing right by the robot form. Yes, 5mm port functions are gone, but I no longer care. Bone Shaker does little wrong, a lot right, and I would love it if Generations as a whole took this path. I mean, just look at it. We do want interesting things in Transformers, right? Do I actually have to explain the concept of awesome, as it pertains to this toy? Yes, its a crossover toy, and benefiting from crossover appeal. But cool car, and cool robot, equals good toy. And what flaws it has, are at least interesting. More please.

 

3D Print: The Lancer Battle Tank by Culverin Models

Here’s a project that just didn’t quite come together.

One happy bit of news amongst the constant <waves arm vaguely at the world at large> is that Culverin Models has returned to trading. You may remember them? Lots of dieselpunk vehicles and such for 28mm games. Seemingly made completely in-house, with a clear house style, rather than merely a 3D printing outfit? Never the best technically, but always having a good mix of cheap and cheerful. So when they came back and had a sale in the run up to Christmas, I impulsively opted for their new Lancer. The Lancer is a tank with roughly the same footprint as a Hydra, with a very strong inter-war vibe. While I picked it up for use as a Leman Russ proxy, and the turret guns are very russy, it needed some weapon swaps to be one.  And for the most part, it's pretty good, but it didn’t go smoothly.

So here's what happened; I noticed the drive wheels were a touch misshapen and this caught me on a bad day. Not in any immediately obvious, or ask for a refund kinda way, but in an Autism-triggering cannot-be-unseen kinda way.  So I tried to fix it. What I ended up doing was filling the gap  between wheel and hull, obscuring the area with bits, thus concealing the imperfections. But I may have made it less good in the process, and I did consider shelving this project. Then I realised/remembered that none of my 3D print projects ever went smoothly, and that picking such a thing for relaxation in December was probably not the best idea.  

Anyway, I'd planned to modify this into something approximate to a Leman Russ Vanquisher, yes I am something of a hypocrite, and this would mean the mounting of a kitbashed HK missile, lascannon and heavy stubber somewhere. I'm not happy with either, especially the HK, which I had to move, although the coaxial lascannon works OK. The two mini-turrets, the elements that had drawn me to this, were initially gonna be plasma cannons, but I decided against it, at least for now. Two entirely serviceable flamethrowers were included, and glue wasn't mandatory, so I took the path of least resistance. I can add different weapons later if I wish, and 11th Ed is supposedly happening next Summer… TBH my heart wasn't in this.

I think as a gaming piece this is OK, but its not my best work. But it happens I suppose. And people on the interwebs seem to like it too, so maybe I'm being too hard on myself.

Gaming: Cultic (PC, Steam)

Something I enjoy learning about, enjoying playing, but I am not much good at, is first person shooters. While I do better at specific examples or broad types than others, these are quick reaction games that I struggle with. The difference is often if the game is balanced for mouse aiming or not. That is a powerfully precise form of control, but I don't like the keyboard requirements that come with it. It works, but it doesn't feel intuitive. On the other hand, console shooters have spent decades balancing for dual analogue sticks, which also works, but brings it's own issues because it's inherently slower and less accurate. Both approaches are valid, but I will admit to preferring games where I don't have to aim, or I can play things slow and tactical. Cultic is a game that wants you to aim really FUCKING quickly and be tactical. It kicked my arse a lot  to begin with. And throughout. And it wants you to use mouse & keyboard. But I kinda love it.

 

Let me step back a bit. Cultic is a retro style shooter made by one person, plus a few helpers around the edges, and sold for a budget price on Steam. It has a very distinctive art style, a purposefully grainy look with a mix of digitised photos, pre-rendered sprites, and voxels. This is used to depict a sort of 1960's cosmic horror type affair, out in Nowhere, USA, fighting cultists and worse. The levels are large and intricate, aiming for believable locations with secrets to find. The obvious comparison to draw here is 1997’s Blood, with has many of the same themes, but there's lots of survival horror in there too, like Resident Evil 4 or so. The atmosphere is consistently dark and oppressive; the game doesn't really do jokes like those two, your character starting in a mass grave and things not really improving. While purposefully ugly, Cultic"s art style is clearly achieving what it set out to do, and most importantly, it's always intelligible. You will know what's shooting at you, you will know when something is dead, and with a recently added map function, you won't get lost either. Cultic, beneath the grime, is very refined. This refinement  is most obvious in the combat and the weapons you use in it. Your weapons are powerful, but in a 1960's way, and the cultists have them too. Enemies aren't that bright, but they can certainly kill you quickly. The game wants you to headshot things. Several guns are great at it, and the game often triggers bullet time if you do. It's awesome. Do it right, and you can wipe out a mob before you need to reload, taking out problem targets with badass precision. Get it wrong, and they will shred you while you reload.  I love the lever action rifle more than I do the shotguns in this game; its so good. Then come the more dangerous enemies that are smarter and/or headshot resistant, and it's hit & run time. But the levels may not let you though, and the guy whom made this knows how create a combat encounter. How do you put the odds in your favour? Usually fucking dynamite. That's where most of the Blood comparisons come from, that plus some recent dlc, and you can do things with the stuff you may not of thought of. Also, lanterns make for improvised napalm grenades, it's amazing. Mechanically, this is as good as anything I’ve played like it. For a lot of the time however, the game feels punishing.

To go back to that first paragraph, I'd say a lot of Cultic's challenges for me come down to control inputs. Like I said, I'm not very good. I hit a wall with the Chapel level, a significant challenge with respawning foes, a tank that can one-shot you, and quick saving suddenly turned off. I simply could not maintain that pace, and while the previous level had been building up to this, it was a still a major difficulty spike. So, I restarted the campaign, with the controls tweaked, upgraded my weapons differently, came into the situation with more ammo, and hit exactly the same wall. Yes, there's a checkpoint, but it doesn't help. Defeated, I dropped down to "Casual"  difficulty and prayed for forgiveness from Gork & Mork. I haven't had to do something like that since Metal Gear Rising: Revengence. Anyway, this obviously made for a much more relaxed time, so much so I was reminded of the earliest  Doom levels or the hand-holding Half Life likes to do. I had played through the same six levels multiple times by that point, I had the basics down pat, but I was swimming in medkits. Maybe there is a discussion to be had about how important difficulty is to the gameplay experience, but for now, let's just say that Cultic is a game for people whom do this sort of thing a lot. Even then, the reminder of the first episode on casual wasn't without it's deaths. The scale of the game expands significantly, bringing in new foes, with level design being a constant joy. By itself, chapter one is as an extremely worthwhile shooter that I wish I was better at playing. I had however also brought chapter two, and I was committed now. Coming several years after the first installment, with a bonus level in-between, this is not merely more of the same. Its, well, even bigger. It's almost an expand-alone sequel. I'm tempted to describe it as a Doom 2 situation, an already great game has received additional weapons and enemies, but that undersells it. Level design is even more impressive, resulting in frankly huge locations and endless variety of combat encounters. Survival horror elements feel if anything stronger this time around, with ammunition seemingly less common, deeply disturbing atmosphere, and levels simply lasting that much longer. There’s a few things I want to highlight here, like the shopping mall, the slaughterhouse, and the fairground. And its great, its just keeps on surprising you with its ambition and sheer proficiency. My issues with the controls still remain however; I actually sprained my left arm taking on that helicopter mutant! I tried the gamepad again after that one, which helped for that one boss, but the first cultist ambush immediately thereafter killed me in seconds. Back to keyboard & mouse then. Holy shit, Cultic, stop breaking my balls.

 

Conclusion 
When you hit your grove, Cultic is an intoxicating experience. Those moments when the level design and combat mechanics come together to create an intense experience. It's also something of a creative marvel, taking what is an outdated style of game and perfecting it. The game is simply so very good at what it's choosing to do. And I enjoy it despite the fact the mouse & keyboard setup annoys me more than a manual gearbox, and I had to turn down the difficulty because I suck at it. Try the demo, see how it feels, if good, buy both chapters without fear. Then maybe die a lot, but I think you'll enjoy it.

Plamo/Kitbash: Ork Oddments

 

 

Now, I'm playing 40k with less regularity than I used to, as I am trying to do new things. When I have played however, my Orks have over-performed. I've done so well, that I'm worried about getting cocky. Taking a bunch of Boyz in trukks was a pragmatic choice given what was table-ready. I kinda thought that this was a basic bitch set-up that I got lucky with. But with subsequent additions I seem to have unconsciously gravitated to some of the more efficient units. Maybe playing guard so much taught me about objective play, I dunno. However, I didn't have a solid 2000 point list ready to go, I needed a project, and so here we are. A bunch of things that don't really justify an article by themselves.

I rummaged through the bitz box, and bodged together another mob of ten Boyz. Boyz seem to be good Battleline units, although compared to your average tourney list I seem to be taking a lot more than most. Maybe it's a holdover from earlier editions, but it feels somehow uncomfortable not to have as many Boyz as I can. I wanted another 10 so I might more easily scale up to 2000 points. There's few things to briefly mention, like I was trying a few new paints. The presence of stikkboms is a vestige from the 7th codex IIRC, where tankbusta boms where a distinct upgrade, foreshadowing 10th ed box locking. Speaking of Tankbustas, I'd initially planned to reuse one for this squad, but it broke, so I had to kitbash another lad with a rokkit launcha. I think I could easily make another squad of ten if I wished, but beyond that it's either paint stripper or new plastic... Anyway, these are fine. I always find that starting these is more difficult than finishing, but this was an OK thing to dip in and out of. I did however have issues with the gun barrels though.

 

Speaking of new plastic and paint stripper, I also sourced some "new" Black Reach era Nobz. I’ve used these a lot for conversions over the years, as their moulded weapons have never been viewed as optimal. I wanted a few more to replace some troublesome metal ones, while taking the opportunity to give them Power Klaws. While Nobz with big choppas is both effective and funny, Klaws hit an important breakpoint. These Klaws were mainly salvaged parts that had been Dettol-ed, although one was recut, and the biggest was a Ramshackle Games piece. This required pinning the joins, and concealing them with green stuff. There was also some modest head swapping and personalisation. You don't get much variety with these, but I wanted to get what I could. I did however have the same issues with the gun barrels though. Maybe I need a new drill bit. These were painted in the same optimised manner as the boys, but only after I decided to do something else for a bit. 

Said thing was a Trukk. This was a more thorough salvage job, as it was an old kitbash that had not endured storage well. The wheelbase and flatbed was intact, but the frontend and weapons were a total loss. Rebuilding it as a closed cab style vehicle was the path of least resistance, requiring the hot glue gun and other scratchbuilding techniques. While paint brings it all together, I do acknowledge the slight mismatch between the scratch components and the GW ones.  People seem to like it though.

Hmm, while a worthwhile distraction, I find myself at little introspective about all this. The most satisfying aspect of this was undoubtedly the trukk. Not only did I have the most fun making it, social media feedback suggests it was the better of the three, not that the other two are bad. None of these three mini-projects are especially clever, see the first paragraph, but the vehicle kitbashing seems to play to my strengths. So either need to find a way to make the actual orks in my orks more interesting, or I need to go heavy on the hulls. Something to think about.

 

Transformers: Gobots are Something that Exists

Righty, lets try another doubleheader review. Featuring two repainted toys on a common theme. Well, two common themes. Let’s start with Crasher.

 

OK, let's pull on the obvious thread: Crasher is a Gobot. You may not have heard of the Gobots, but the short version is that they had a console war thing with Transformers back in the day, and lost. Think of them as the Digimon to Transformers’ Pokemon, if Digimon had died a few years into it. I'm long since past caring about that rivalry; I didn't see much of Gobots as a kid, some of the toys were nice, but people can be really effing weird about it. Good robots is good robots, you know? Hasbro, again, short version, it's messy, owns most of the Gobots I.P and thus Gobots turn up occasionally in Transformers media. Often these can be mean-spirited Hi-&-Die cameos, loving tributes, prolonged fanwank by FunPub, or whatever the hell Tom Scoli was trying to do. This has also meant a non-zero amount of toys, mostly in the realm of exclusives. These aren’t super common, the legal aspects and relative obscurity kept it that way, but they are definitely more common of late. Much like Diaclone and G2, Gobots has become another vector for repaints of G1-inspired moulds. This is how Crasher comes to us today, as a former exclusive repackaged for Age of the Primes.

The other thread is that, and I realise certain people may have a reaction to me even raising this matter, is that Crasher is a girl. Yes, a female coded character. Not in the awkward Smurfette sense, but more in the "this character is a girl, so are several others, why are you asking?"  sort of way. This is something that Gobots just did much, much, MUCH better than Transformers. It wasn't until Beast Wars that we got female character toys in Transformers, and truthfully a mere handful since. Gobots did that from day one. Crasher is probably the best known girl, having a highly placed antagonist role like Evil Lynn or the Baroness. As her name implies though, she's a bit more brutish than those examples. This toy is based off the Kingdom Mirage mould, itself a retool of the Siege version I've talked about previously. As such, the figure is basically competent, but not spectacular, robot with a F1 Racer mode and a lot of faux kibble bits. It's a mould that seeks to ape the cartoon model, but does not transform like it. All the modern conveniences are are there, with a more refined altmode than the Siege toy, but loosing the shoulder mounts in the process. The toy uses the Diaclone style head and a buttload of paint to create something that looks great in both modes, approximating the best known Crasher toy as best it can. With three accessory weapons, too. It is not admittedly the best possible Crasher. That would have a new head, a fairly obscure car mode, and possibly require a court ruling. But it is definitely on the realms of good enough, and I'm struggling to think of a modern deluxe that would fit Crasher more, and there is precedent here. The entire reason Hasbro is using a Mirage here is because it worked so well before, way-back in 2008. I just wish mine clipped together better in altmode. I don’t like that longitudinal seam on it, and I found this toy tricky to photograph. Its the white and glossy black.

Pathfinder meanwhile is what prompted me to finish this article as a double feature, as another female Gobot executed as a repaint. This was an impulse purchase at TFN, this being an orphaned member of a multipack, as I hadn't played with this mould before. As I’ve already mentioned femme coding and legal matters, I'm gonna talk more about the toys here, because frankly I have far less knowledge of the character. And, I didn't actually know this going in, it's not actually a good representation of Pathfinder. A friend of mine pointed out, and I made a point of checking, that these blue & yellow colours are derived from a Cosmos prototype, whereas Pathfinder is more grey & black. This originates from a trendsetting eHobby set, which did a lot of stuff like that, skirting around potential legal issues, not using names on the box, but the basic logic here is Pathfinder = UFO. See also: Scrounge. But, we're arguably starting from a worse position than Crasher above.  In 2004, Gobot fans were so desperate for anything that a Japanese-exclusive based off G1 prototypes, with a hint of being Tonka, was the best thing ever. You would not believe how far Fun Publications ran with this idea. But maybe it wasn’t the best thing ever. Because, and this is perhaps a subtle distinction, while Crasher had compromises, it was an earnest attempt. This feels more like Player 2 Colours Cosmos. A new head would have made all the difference. Pathfinder instead makes do with the Guardian logo on a flag/gun.

That said, a new head may not have been practical. This mould is noted on the wiki for it's usually low number of parts and sprues. Originally the Speedia 500 Cosmos was intended to be a Bumblebee retool, but clever design allowed for a completely new toy with the same budget. Reuse possibilities may have been cut out. The base toy is therefore something of a minor marvel, a triumph of necessity driving invention. In so far as basic functions and appearance goes it's got a lot going for it. But it's not without compromises, the hollow forearms being the most obvious. There's also  elements of faux kibble in both modes, the joint and 3mm port count is a touch low and the UFO mode needed some wee castors. You might also find the proportions to be a bit of a marmite; it's very round in robot mode, and feels somehow exaggerated in UFO mode, like a pug. The yellow paint doesn't look brilliant on the blue plastic, but it rarely does, does it? She's pretty good, but one suspects exclusivity may be giving the mould undue hype. Also: a tricky toy for me to photograph. That yellow just eats the sculpted detail.

So which is better, Crasher or Pathfinder? The answer is nuanced. Both are exclusive repaints of exclusive toys, and are subject to a degree of hype or confirmation bias. Crasher is definitely the most thorough and earnest of the pair. The base toy however isn't my favourite, and there's signs of mould degradation. Pathfinder is much, much, much lazier as a repaint, but the Cosmos mould is far less common and more interesting as a concept. Both suffer with faux kibble issues, but Crasher has arguably better fundamentals and more accessories. Both are nice, but not the Ironfist & Carnivac nice. I would probably give it to Crasher, but it's a close run thing. Crasher is kinda mid deluxe with a spectacular paint job, whereas Pathfinder is a good/interesting deluxe with a mid paintjob. In any case, Crasher and Pathfinder are something that exists.