Kitbash: Another Deathskull Looted Rhino

 

I will admit to being tempted by those new Red Corsairs. Sometimes... you just get bored, and space pirates are fun. Then that mutated into a more general interest in capital C Chaos, as a modeling project. I even got some models to test out a few paints, but it didn't quite come together. That might be for the best. At time of writing, mid-March, it's clear 11th edition is  approaching and it is therefore massively dumb to start anything 40k related, but I still needed to do something. Then I tried a freeform scratch build, and that didn't come together either. So, I went back to something I'd shelved.

 

You see, as much as I love Orks, I've basically done everything. Not beast snaggas admittedly, but near enough, and I dunno if 11th ed will change that. Although Yarrick is back, that's pretty cool. Really brightened a Monday. Anyway, that leaves either reclamation/modernisation projects like today's subject, or more modern and thus more expensive plastics. The former isn't that exciting, and it's hard to justify the latter. Especially as I'm not playing 40k regularly just now. So, the best thing I could find to do was rebuild an old predator/rhino hull into a "counts as" trukk. This would bring my count up to 6, which is likely to be as many as I'd ever need, and, you know, having a couple of rhinos makes sense for Deathskulls. As Warboss rides and such. Fortunately, this proved to be a fun little distraction of a project, that people seemed to like too.

 

As I'd already orkified this once, the main things I had to do here was expose the crew compartment and to add a wreckin' ball.  This makes it a less thorough rebuild than the last one, but truthfully less structural work was needed. This was then painted in my usual manner, if only to stay in practice. I mixed my own metal paints for the hull, and mud paint for the undersides. Perhaps the most significant thing I did was paint in the grilled(?) headlights with a tiny wee brush, which is the kind of detail I’d avoid in the past. I didn't do it that well, now I look at the photos, but paint mistakes are fine with orks, I suppose. I touched those up later on.

Job’s a good ‘un.

Transformers: Age of the Primes Venin is Something That Exists

 The Transformers 1985 Venom toy

 

OK. I'm not surprised that Venin is something that exists. I am surprised that he is both a new mould, and not some form of exclusive. Here's the thing. Hasbro has spent a few years modernising the big three Insecticons again, the famous G1 robobug swarm. At the same time, they took the opportunity to revamp the much, much much MUCH more obscure other four. Four toys not made by Takara, and thus had no real fictional appearances to speak of. Comic book scene fillers at best. I don’t think I've ever actually seen the toys in person either, TBH. This was mainly achieved via retools released in exclusive multipacks, until Venom, now Venin for legal reasons, turned up. But is he any good? Well, he got bumped by Bone Shaker, so that should be a hint, but read on to find out.

I suppose I should expand at bit more on the context here. Venin's first toy, much like Jetfire, originates with the late Takatoku Toys, and the obscure Armored Insect Corps Beetras toyline, a bug themed mecha property. As such, Venin and his ilk don't resemble the best known Insecticons except by theme, and went through a few substantial colour changes when Hasbro licensed them. To the best of my knowledge, Beetras has yet to experience any form of post-80’s revival, so Venin is the only significant attention that series has ever had, and only then by a technicality. And it's a fairly faithful modernisation, very much a G1-plus-actual-articulation job. And, that's pretty much the review. It's the original toy put in the modern deluxe price point, with the quality of life stuff common of that size class. This means the transformation is fundamentally the same, the look is fundamentally the same, and the flaws are fundamentally the same.  Just with ankle tilts. This sadly means that Venin in robot form suffers for that distinctive belly-wing arrangement, that hampers articulation in the arms. I suppose you could have them hang up front like an apron, but that doesn't look great. All four limbs have substantial hollowness for transformation purposes, and the head doesn't do much for bug mode. A flaw seemingly unique to this version though is how the fists are merely tabbed in, rather than pinned in place, so they detach often. One wonders if someone had a budget cut, or a monkey's paw? On balance, its rather mediocre as deluxes go. That said, while I can't make a direct comparison, it turns out that this is actually a head larger than the original. Maybe this is a more complete upgrade than I initially thought…

Maybe it is. I went looking for videos of the original, and there are a few differences I want to highlight. The torso has been redesigned to skinnier and more angular, going from a Parks & Rec' Chris Pratt to a MCU Chris Pratt.  Some of it is now translucent too, which works very well with the existing colour palette. It's not a common colour scheme, but it works, benefiting from some nice tampographs. I do like how the odd hand axe combines with the gun for a better axe. The bug mode, in this case a Cicada, is basically unique among decepticons, with all legs articulated at the base, plus the wings. The head is also articulated, but given that this is just the robot mode head, that's a less of a positive, just something inherited from the source material. And thus far, this is the only unique Insecticon mould, that counts for something right?

Overall, Venin feels like an earnest attempt, but is being faithful to a fault. It's like what happened with Needlenose, but not as severe. Venin is at least an interesting starting point, and is doing OK at what it's choosing to do. But I can't help but question if this was the right call. This dude got this level of attention? Really? Sure, that's a nice note to end the Insecticons on, but why this guy? As opposed to, say, three other Insecticons. Or almost anyone else, from any continuity you care to name. Fair play to the design team for doing something different, we need more of that, but Venin isn't gonna win many new fans as is. Interesting, but not especially good, Venin is merely something that exists.

Gunpla: The gMS-01 Sugai's Gelgoog (GQ)

OK, it looks like I'm gonna have to explain the painfully named Gundam GQuuuuuuX. It's still very new, so hopefully I won't get sidetracked too much.

GquuuuuuX is the Gundam multiverse series. No, not Turn-A. Nor Build. Or Super Robot Wars. No, it's the one explicitly about alternative universes and canon, although it doesn't immediately present like that. Initially, it presents as a "what if Zeon won" story, imaging a different story route for the original 1979 anime, but parallel worlds and time-whimey elements consume the narrative. At which point, it's not really a warstory any more, nor a real robot show, because realities are being created or destroyed seemingly at will. To give a spoiler free analogy; GQ is akin to a Spider-Man story where someone is repeatedly resetting history to keep Uncle Ben alive and ensure Peter Parker never becomes a superhero. It's the kind of story you write when you understand the letter of canon, and have memorised the apocrypha, but don't actually understand why any of it was important in the first place.

The "Gelgoog" is a good example of how self-regarding the show can be. It's the Zeon made mass-produced version of the original Gundam, a GM in all but name. The original Gelgoog was of course the Zeon answer to the Gundam, and the name has been applied here..... just because? This rather like Nazis knocking off a Sherman tank and then calling it the King Tiger. It makes sense for Zeon to apply it's own naming conventions, don't get me wrong, but that's typical of the self-referencing stuff GQ does. As to why it looks like it does? Well.... just because? GQ designs kinda look like that. Yes it does put me in mind of the difference between 80's Transformers and Michael Bay's Transformers. And to make it better, or possibly worse, this is not the stock colour scheme. That’s a stereotypical green affair on a limited release. No, this is Sugai’s colours, a Federation ace who has somehow settled on a paintjob not otherwise present in this universe, which makes it look as much as possible like a GM …just because? Its the ouroboros of grunt suits. 

GQuuuuuuX, as a series, sets off my autism something fierce. All this having been acknowledged, I feel I should mention that I actually kinda like the Gelgoog on its own terms. I like how the legs exist mainly as frame for some rocket engines. I like the odd offset(?) joints; they are very Syd Mead. I like the forearm shields, and the fact you can John-Woo this guy with twin pistols. I like that all the weapons store.  No, the white bits on that exaggerated collar aren’t beam sabers, those are greeblies. I even kinda like the finger harpoon thing. Had GQ been it's own narrative, its mecha designs would have been viewed as modern and fresh. Or at least something interesting by the Evangelion guy. A subtle homage maybe? Instead, everything in the series exists in a context where it is unavoidably compared to a genre making classic, and the creative team behind this was, perhaps, not up for that comparison. Either that, or I’m just desperately trying to justify my own hypocrisy in buying this.

 

So, all that having been said, fucking hell, three paragraphs just to place this properly in its incestuous continuity and I didn't even mention Sugai! Oh well, let's skip that. She was only in one episode, I dunno if she actually matters that much, and I've written too much already.   

Ahem, so, all that having been said, how is the Gelgoog as an actual kit? Interesting and boundary pushing. The high parts count is used to create a layered effect in the details, in often creative ways. It's complex, but not needlessly so. It comes with a decent selection of hands and weapons, even throwing in a Darth Maul gimmick just for the kit. Colour accuracy is 99% ideal; there’s a few areas that need some black paint, like the inside of the leg thrusters, but that’s really nothing remarkable. I'm not a huge fan of the black plastic, and the odd choice of opaque plastic for the sensors, but this at least on the level of that Origin GM, but with no stickers. The joint design is a notable highlight, with no polycaps used and some clever locking taps used in places. With the backpack thrusters the ball joints like to come off, but all load-bearing joints seem great. It takes a while to get everything done, there’s a lot here due to its  unconventional design, but if you want a quality example of what Bandai can do with a Gunpla, here it is.

The Gelgoog was very impressive build, which honestly did not need much work to look good.  I did a basic weathering job, that possibly goes against the vibe of its series, but its fine.  I wasn’t able to fix the backpack issue, but that’s manageable. Also, I realised upon writing this that the thighs should probably not have that horizontal seam, that's something for the colour variants. Oh well, too late now, and its still a good kit. Pick it up if you like the looks of it.

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....