And so the Internet is awash with the pictures of the new Grey Knights.
People seem fairly happy with the Terminators and the normal marines are well recieved the problem lies with the new unit. The Dreadknight.
Now personally I like it, yeah it has a look of the power loader from Aliens but as I think that film is as close to Sci Fi perfection as you get I don't see a problem with it but of course the internet is full of people complaining about it.
The reasoning is varied from it doesn't have the same look as other Imperial Walkers (which it doesn't) to its stupid because the driver is so exposed. So do all Imperial Vehicles have to look alike? Well for all these years we have been told they are produced from the Standard Template Construct so yeah they should really, the mechanicum of Mars specifically isn't looking for new ways of doing things. So where is this new crazy design coming from? Who knows.
The other one however is a more searching matter and it links in with another much maligned (on the internet) unit. Thunderwolves. 'I hate thunderwolves because they are so unrealistic' its a shout I have seen time and again, 'Phil Kelly must think we are stupid to include them'. Does realism actually have a place in 40K? The imperium is surrounded and we believe that 1 million super solidiers manage to hold them back while the Guard just day to slow them down?
I don't really have an answer instead I am sending this question out to the Warp, why worry about Realism in the crazy world of 40K?
i think that it does have a place, but only to a point. if a model or unit type obeys the basic laws of physics then i am usually willing to suspend my disbelief.
ReplyDeletehowever, if a model or unit type violently contradicts material that GW have printed before, particular since the revamp around 3rd ed, then i will usually have serious misgivings.
Similarly, if a model or unit type has rules or wargear that does not mesh with the rest of the universe's fluff, i may have issues with it.
to use the new Grey Knights as an example, i love the normal power armoured models, with the exception of the storm bolters. this is because the storm bolters are a) unrealistic, they are huge, and the recoil would rip arms off, b) they do not fit with the wargear of other armies, normal marines struggle to carry and fire full size storm bolters, why should the Grey Knights be any different and c) they frankly look a bit stupid.
i have seen many complaints about the CC weapon options, mainly that they are not all halberds like 'the good old days' but i do not have an issue here. Grey Knights would surely use the equipment that suited either the situation, or the individual fighter. there are no fluff problems or realism problems here.
as for the terminators, i think they look incredible, and the storm bolters are much more realistic and to scale on them.
the dreadknight though, i dislike purely because i think the model looks like poo. it looks nothing like the powerloader :( if it did i wouldn't have a problem! with its fluff though, i have no issues. i don't actually mind GW making units up, as long as it doesn't contradict anything they have previously written. with the dreadknight specifically, i see no reason why the Grey Knights wouldn't design and field this thing to help fight larger deamons.
I like the Dreadknight too, hell I want it's force sword for my libby dreads.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think the Heavy metal paint job is quite poor!
Hhmmm, realism. A good question! Obviously we play a game where space-aliens and demons (sic) from the warp (the scary unreality, not the blog...no, hold on...!) are commonplace. I think the most unrealistic thing about 40k are the Space Marines themselves, but we go with it cos they do look cool!
ReplyDeleteFor me, for a model to look 'wrong' it has to blatently contradict basic engineering principles, and I can't actually think of anything that that applies to. As the other chaps have already mentioned, the fluff does a fantastic job of giving reasonable reasons (can a reason be anything other than reasonable?) for everything they produce. The simplest way out of course is that we are dealing with technology 39,000 years in the future! Of course, suspensors, anti-grav and miniaturisation would all be commonplace. Even with the caveat that the Imperium is in a state of technological stagnation and outright techno-fear, there was still 28,000 years of developments made prior to the Horus Heresy. Just look at what we've done in 200 years since the industrial revoluition!
So back to the subject in hand - the Grey Knights. I personally love the new models, and the Dreadknight in particular. What I like most is that it, and the Stormraven too, show that GW are pushing boundaries and coming up with all-new designs, rather than simply rehashing Rhino and Land Raider varients (yaaawn!). In fact, I hope that these recent couple of additions herald the start of a period of re-invention and new ideas from our favourite games company!