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Hi folks,

I got back into 40k a few years ago. This was at the time of the Space Hulk 3rd edition release, which was followed by Dark Eldar and Tyranid army updates (in that order, iirc). Since then we've had a whole phase of army updates in 40k - SW, BA, DA, Tau, Eldar, SM, CSM, Chaos Daemons, Necrons and now back to Tyranids.

This is the first time I've followed the hobby for long enough to see an army release come back around, so it got me thinking which ones I've thought were best and worst from the point of view of new models in this phase. For me it would be :-

Best
Dark Eldar. They seemed to get lots of new stuff across a few waves. The waves were nicely themed too, with the kabals and wych cults coming first, followed by the haemonculi covens later. The models were excellent too. The wyches looked very detailed for basic troops and there was tonnes of variety between the different units. Things like Sslyth and Khymerae looked weird and wonderful, whilst the scourges and transports looked really fast. This release was enough to get me to put aside my AOBR Space Marines and start a new army, which I've been slowly painting ever since, but enjoying it a great deal.

A runner up would probably be the Space Wolves for me.

Worst
Maybe I'm being blinded by the new release, but the Tyranids are quite disappointing for me. There isn't much there! Filling the obvious flyer gap was always going to happen and the other models are quite boring. Add in that crazy big mouthed thing and it's left me feeling a bit let down. It's a shame because I was looking forward to seeing what they would come up with, particularly as they are going to be my main opponents, if I ever finish painting my Dark Eldar!

Obviously this is just my opinion, I know some others on the forum really like the new models - which is fair enough. I'm interested to hear what others think, and why!

Hard for me to say something since I have been playing for a year only so I don't really know exactly what the old molds looked like before but based on the popularity of the books I would say the best would be Tau or Eldar.

I say this just because they got really popular and I like the sculpts of the obvious new units such as wraithknight, riptide etc.
The negatives of their releases would be the fliers, they look cool but are subpar.

I think the worst might be chaos space marines or daemons. I just don't like the chaos marine sculpts to much. Daemons have awesome models but I think the codex was just mediocre compared to the other releases.

I find it hard to say the best and worst model wise releases because I like almost all the new stuff except 1 or 2 on every army.

You make some good points. I'd agree with the Chaos releases actually - they are a REALLY important faction in 40k, and I think they got a bit of a cartoony release.

Best release - absolutely Dark Eldar. They languished for many years, and when GW finally gave them attention, they got a (decent) codex and arguably the most aesthetically pleasing and technically impressive model range GW has ever done.

Worst release - I have to say Chaos Marines. Even Dark Angels fared better in my opinion. CSM had been saddled with a bland, disappointing codex since 4th edition and their rank and file units were showing their age considerably (regular marines? havocs? metal dreadnoughts?). Not only did the codex fail to really address any of the issues with the old dex (even reinforced some in my opinion), the model release was largely focused on crap units no one really asked for (dinobots), resulting in an incoherent mess of aesthetics. The icing on the cake was the loyalist marine codex, where GW proved that it IS possible to do fun, fluffy, reasonably balanced chapter traits. Why couldn't the chaos legions have gotten the same attention? Totally disappointing release on every level, and every new 6th release filled with interesting options and nice models just twists the knife further.

I'd say that the Necrons had the best set of new releases with their last codex. One of the vehicles looks a little silly, but they got a load of really good sculpts, all of which were significant improvements on the old range.

Dark Eldar probably improved the most, but they started off as pretty much the worst range GW offered.

I've been very impressed with the new ork stuff too. Every kit (apart from the Stompa, which is merely OK) has been absolutely brilliant. I was especially blown away by the new bomma, which is possibly the best flyer kit I've seen from GW, maybe the best kit they have done ever.

As for bad releases, Marines in general have been fairly uninspired recently. Vanilla marines got the terrible centurions and ugly-as-sin aircraft. Space wolves got a whole bunch of wolf stuff. Grey Knights did worst of all with some rather awkward basic infantry and the truly dire Dreadknight.

My bests would have to be Tau and Necrons (Lizardmen got great kits for WHFB!).

Tyranids are just sub-par. The flyer is terrible looking, looks far too heavy/bulky to be a convincing organic flying unit, and the other models weren't particularly attractive. The Haruspex is the only thing bizarrely attractive enough to warrant a purchase by me. I had hundreds of dollars set aside for the Tyranid release and it looks like I'm only buying one single box. Oh well!

Ranked from best to worst

- Dark Eldar - Basically, GW redesigned this long-neglected faction from scratch, and the results were, simply put, amazing.

- Necrons - Another army in dire need of attention. When the update finally came it didn't go in the direction I expected (I was hoping they'd drop or at least downplay the Egyptian theme and focus on the machine-insect-skeleton) but nevertheless produced a solid and visually impressive range.

- Eldar - From both technical & aesthetic standpoints, the Wraithknight has to be one of the best kits GW has ever pulled out. The fliers are sexy. Same can be said of the Wraith Guard. Pity the rest of the range remains trapped in the 1990s.

- Chaos Space Marines - Yep, I happen to love the dinobots. At least, unique Chaos units that are not spikey versions of their Imperial counterparts. Given a half-decent paintjob, these are impressive things to behold. The new raptors and aspiring champion continue the aesthetic trend set by Dark Vengeance, which in my opinion is as good as things can get. I'd rather pretend the mutilators never happened, though.

- Tau - Riptide. And that's about it.

- Space Marines - Robot babies' cheeky buttocks notwithstanding, the new plastic Librarian has become one of my favorite minatures in the game. The revised tactical squad was a noticeable upgrade from its past incarnation. The Sternguard and Vanguard Veterans boxes are a pair of amazing kits. Centurions and AA tanks? Not so much, but not painful to the eye either.

- Tyranids - Disclaimer: I don't quite like Tyranids. That said, the Hive Crone looks like a disturbingly well endowed dragon and the thing coming out of the Haruspex's mouth makes me want to throw up. But on the positive side, Tyranids are meant to be slightly revolting, so I guess it's a good thing.

- Dark Angels - While the Nephilim/Dark Talon and the Vengeance/Darkshroud strike me as the laziest dual kits ever released (just slap some ill-fitting faux gothic bits to a slightly reworked Space Marine vehicle and call it a day), the awesome Deathwing and Ravenwing Knights redeemed this release for me.

- Chaos Daemons - Seems like the shifting monstrosities from the Warp got all the cool toys in august 2012, leaving all the duds for their codex update in 2013. While the Nurgly botflies are not bad and I've learned to live with the Khornecycle (despite never having met one on the tabletops), the Tzeentch flying disk thing is inexcusably ugly.

The Dark Eldar releases were really amazing. I doubt GW is ever going to make such an awesome release again.
It had everything: Good rules, good fluff and most importantly, awesome models.

I wasn't around for the Dark Eldar release but considering how great their models look, especially compared to their older incarnation, I would also consider them the best release.

Not too sure about the worst one. Dark Angels seemed pretty lackluster though.

DE hands down,

They literally redid the whole range, barring Drahzar i think.

Still a few things missing (certain HQ's, Voidraven) but no biggie.


Hopefully the Ork release when they eventually get around to it will look good too. Some of the recent (for orks) releases like the Bommas and Kanz/Dredd look amazing, but some of the range is still stuck in 2nd ed (buggies i'm looking at you..)

I must be the only person on here who actually liked the CSM release (dinobots ftw!), but it could have been so much more. Ditto the Eldar release.

Nice models, but that's all?

It's good to see the different opinions on here. It's clear that there's lots of variety out there at least!

I strongly agree with some of the points about the DA release. The Flying Chapel thing looked a bit stupid, however the knights looked really cool, so it kind of balanced it for me.

I felt similarly about the vanilla SM release. The centurions almost put the ball on the slates for me, however it was redeemed by the infantry. The veterans and basic marine kits are excellent. I really liked the Lord Executioner model too - one of my new favourites!

I also agree with Agent_Tremolo on the Eldar range. The wraith* kits in general were really good - I particularly liked the new close combat ones. The Aspect Warriors will need an update whenever that release rolls back around again though.

 Agent_Tremolo wrote:

Spoiler:

Ranked from best to worst

- Dark Eldar - Basically, GW redesigned this long-neglected faction from scratch, and the results were, simply put, amazing.

- Necrons - Another army in dire need of attention. When the update finally came it didn't go in the direction I expected (I was hoping they'd drop or at least downplay the Egyptian theme and focus on the machine-insect-skeleton) but nevertheless produced a solid and visually impressive range.

- Eldar - From both technical & aesthetic standpoints, the Wraithknight has to be one of the best kits GW has ever pulled out. The fliers are sexy. Same can be said of the Wraith Guard. Pity the rest of the range remains trapped in the 1990s.

- Chaos Space Marines - Yep, I happen to love the dinobots. At least, unique Chaos units that are not spikey versions of their Imperial counterparts. Given a half-decent paintjob, these are impressive things to behold. The new raptors and aspiring champion continue the aesthetic trend set by Dark Vengeance, which in my opinion is as good as things can get. I'd rather pretend the mutilators never happened, though.

- Tau - Riptide. And that's about it.

- Space Marines - Robot babies' cheeky buttocks notwithstanding, the new plastic Librarian has become one of my favorite minatures in the game. The revised tactical squad was a noticeable upgrade from its past incarnation. The Sternguard and Vanguard Veterans boxes are a pair of amazing kits. Centurions and AA tanks? Not so much, but not painful to the eye either.

- Tyranids - Disclaimer: I don't quite like Tyranids. That said, the Hive Crone looks like a disturbingly well endowed dragon and the thing coming out of the Haruspex's mouth makes me want to throw up. But on the positive side, Tyranids are meant to be slightly revolting, so I guess it's a good thing.

- Dark Angels - While the Nephilim/Dark Talon and the Vengeance/Darkshroud strike me as the laziest dual kits ever released (just slap some ill-fitting faux gothic bits to a slightly reworked Space Marine vehicle and call it a day), the awesome Deathwing and Ravenwing Knights redeemed this release for me.

- Chaos Daemons - Seems like the shifting monstrosities from the Warp got all the cool toys in august 2012, leaving all the duds for their codex update in 2013. While the Nurgly botflies are not bad and I've learned to live with the Khornecycle (despite never having met one on the tabletops), the Tzeentch flying disk thing is inexcusably ugly.

I dunno. I don't really feel like the Necron new models are that amazing at all. The flyers are somewhat nice and fit the aesthetic brought about by BFG...but the rest of the releases are mediocre at best. I really think the Eldar and Space Marines and even Dark Angels should be above Necrons and the others you ranked higher than those (Tau and Chaos Space Marines). I really feel like the Tau flyers aren't nice looking at all, and the Riptide suffers from reverse T-rex syndrome. And the CSMs, IMO, are terrible looking. Just my opinion, obviously.

Both Grey Knights and Dark Eldar were really amazing, so I'll let them split the "best model release" throne.

Worst is Templars; mainly becuase it never materialized.

Best: Necrons
Worst: CSM

For reasons already posted on dis thread.

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
Both Grey Knights and Dark Eldar were really amazing, so I'll let them split the "best model release" throne.

Worst is Templars; mainly becuase it never materialized.

I'll second that; they could have done loads of cool stuff like Sword Brethren Terminators with two handed swords and tabards, or a plastic PA Sword Brethren set, or a Crusader boxed set, with 10 Initiates and 5 Neophytes (all Templared up ofc), but they didn't . The fact they let the DA continue in their own dex only added insult to injury (they should have put them in the C:SM as well, giving them their own chapter tactics and their special characters, with Belial and Sammael allowing them to take termies and bikes as troops respectively).

/end rant.

I'd probably have to agree on the DE for best release though, absolutely fantastic models compared to the distorted and disproportionate junk they had before. The number of times I've had to restrain myself from buying a box of Wyches or Warriors I can't even count, which is especially surprising since they're filthy, insidious xenos.

I think necrons got some of the best. The new vehicles are why I started them!

Daemons were pretty damned underwhelming. We still have the same gakky greater daemons, though the new plastic daemon prince is nice. We got some plastics of kits that used to be metal or were nto sold (screamers and seekers) but beasts and fiends are still screwed with finecast that is too expensive.

The chariots were some of the new hotness, which is unfortunate because they all are just not too hot. We STILL don't have plastic flesh hounds, or skarbrand and kugath models.

Plague drones look awesome, but I feel like I am the only person who really enjoys using them on the table.

 Banzaimash wrote:

 AlmightyWalrus wrote:
Both Grey Knights and Dark Eldar were really amazing, so I'll let them split the "best model release" throne.

Worst is Templars; mainly becuase it never materialized.

I'll second that; they could have done loads of cool stuff like Sword Brethren Terminators with two handed swords and tabards, or a plastic PA Sword Brethren set, or a Crusader boxed set, with 10 Initiates and 5 Neophytes (all Templared up ofc), but they didn't . The fact they let the DA continue in their own dex only added insult to injury (they should have put them in the C:SM as well, giving them their own chapter tactics and their special characters, with Belial and Sammael allowing them to take termies and bikes as troops respectively).

/end rant.

I'd probably have to agree on the DE for best release though, absolutely fantastic models compared to the distorted and disproportionate junk they had before. The number of times I've had to restrain myself from buying a box of Wyches or Warriors I can't even count, which is especially surprising since they're filthy, insidious xenos.

I'll second your point about BT. There's loads of potential for great BT models. It seems a big strange to be using the upgrade kit still - given how good the new tactical marine kit is.