Join me after the break for the images, as well as some quick impressions.
First up is this wonderful/horrible thing:
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| Yessssssss |
- That is a big weapon. Hopefully it has reach! I'm interested to see how they'll model it holding that. I'd really love to see some kind of double handed pose, but that's not very likely with the way warjacks work in-game (i.e. two distinct hands that you need to be able to identify at a glance.) It'll probably end up posed like Beast-09, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
- Based off of how unique this model looks, and coupled with what we know about Dynamo, I'd imagine this will be a new character warjack. Some have posited that this could be Zerkova's or even Old Witch's character warjack, due to the bits and baubles. While those theories make sense, I think all of that is offset by: 1) the Kodiak-chassis, which more closely links it with someone like Butcher, and 2) the preponderance of grisly totems (heads and the skinned Circle wolf thing on it's shoulder) which really lean me towards believing this is Butcher's warjack.
- I absolutely love that creepy face on it's left hand. I have zero clue what the hell it is or could be, but I love the creepy factor it has.
- This is pretty clearly a Kodiak - note the feet, upper leg plates, shoulder pad shape, and shoulder spike configuration - so hopefully that means this guy comes along with at least Pathfinder. If it comes with Heavy Boiler as well I'm gonna do a little dance.
- I am extremely happy that PP has opted to return to metal/resin hybrid kits for their character heavy models. This guy could have been a conversion kit (you can all but imagine it being the mace and the facehand as the new bits,) but you would have lost out on all the character that's going to come across with the dings, dents, and baubles that they'll be able to put on it now. This is the first heavy in awhile I've been excited to get, just to paint.
A day or two later, this beast of a thing popped out of the other vault:
I can honestly say that I didn't see this coming. I remember hearing vague rumors about a Rhulic Battle Engine awhile ago but I kind of thought that dream died (and/or became obsolete) when the Earthbreaker showed up.
I have a friend who's a Merc player and when the Rhulic Battle Engine rumors were floating around he threw out the idea of some kind of immobile gun embankment. Damned if he didn't guess right!
Quick thoughts about this thing:
- Although I haven't seen it formally confirmed anywhere (though not that I've looked terribly hard,) I think it's very safe to assume this is a Battle Engine. Just the size of it alone heavily implies such, and I think the base being included as part of the concept art helps to drive that point home.
- Speaking of the base being included in the art, this is the first time I've seen that. I'm curious as to why that is. My best guess is that it's there to illustrate how the model will actually sit on the base, which seems to imply that you can really make the model seem like it's dug into the ground (note the clearance between the bottom of the "feet" and the actual base.)
- Related to that, I'm very interested to see how mobile this thing is. It doesn't look terribly nimble, so I'm thinking this will be one of the most "gun platform"-y of all the Battle Engines. I don't think PP would risk making it totally immobile (being unable to redeploy or push for scenario areas would be kind of terrible,) but I could see it being pretty ponderous (SPD 3, maybe even 2.)
- I am delighted to see that another Battle Engine is actually going to have to use the "field of fire" rules with it's weapons. I really enjoyed the Gun Carriage initially because of how much it felt like a Battle Engine due to the need to manage arcs of fire, and having a cool rule like Weapons Platform. I was disappointed that so many Battle Engines that came after it didn't really have the same feeling; most of them operated just like big, powerful solos. This thing is pretty clearly going to have to manage arcs, and that brings a smile to my face (plus it has small guns to offset that a bit.)
- Those are some big honkin' side guns. I can't even begin to speculate as to what they might do - they could have some really cool rules, or they could just be boring 'ol AOE guns - but I do think they'll have some solid range to offset this thing's likely slow speed. Depending on how many shots the little guns kick out, this thing could bring some serious firepower.
- Finally, this Battle Engine is much more interesting after seeing the Transfinite Emergence Projector, Meat Thresher, and Sacral Vault. The initial run of Battle Engines were interesting, but I feel like they were hurt by the timing of their release; most of them filled roles that became immediately redundant upon the release of colossals. The Battle Engines designed since colossals have come out have been more thoughtfully designed to be compelling, though admittedly in the case of the Meat Thresher and Sacral Vault they aren't hedged out by Gargantuans. I'm very interested to see how PP is going to make this a compelling choice in a faction that has access to two top-shelf colossals. Especially since it's likely that other factions may be able to take this thing as well (Cygnar feels like a lock, Khador has access to many Rhulic models, and Protectorate isn't out of the question.)
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Two very awesome, very surprising sneak peeks this week, thanks to the most recent league vaults. We're starting to get into a transition period where the Hordes hype will be winding down (as their big book release just happened) and the Warmachine hype should be spinning up (with a new book coming sometime next year) so hopefully there will be more interesting tidbits in the coming weeks and months.
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