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I recently had a large order done during tax time through one of the larger FLGS that consisted of a shadowsword, 2 leman russ and 3 basilisks.

At first the items were delayed because the store only had a single basilisk on sale, but then when my group heard back we were told that he would not be getting more basilisks in (so I settled for another LRBT and a demolisher) because GW had sent out the last of their stock and they would not be printing another run because they were planning on doing a new kit with all the artillery tank components included.

I had heard the possibility of Imperial Guard being one of (if not the last) codex released this year, so that timetable makes sense for them not printing another run of basilisks.

I did check on the GamesWorkshop website and the basilisk is listed as shipping in 24 hours, but I'm not sure how often they update such things.


I'd also like to throw out there that I'm not entirely found of GamesWorkshop's new direction with kits that have all the components to make one squad of multiple different units....
while it would be nice to not have to shell out $75 to forgeworld for a medusa, I don't think I want to shell out $66 to Gamesworkshop for a plastic one...because you'd be paying for a lot of plastic you can't use. Like the deathwing command squad they made for dark angels that costs $15 more than the regular terminator boxes. While one could argue it is easier on logistics and store shelves to have everything in one box, they are also getting an extra $15 out of you....so if you wanted to make a unit of each you would have to buy that box 3 times....so they made an extra $45 compared to if they had a different box for each unit.

I'd like to know if anyone else had heard about Basilisks being unavailable, and if its maybe a regional thing (I'm east coast US) and also see if anyone else shares my thoughts on the multi-unit kits.

Well, it is a bit of a loss for the people who don't have the time, skill, or desire to do a lot of modelling work. So, most people.

For those that do, though, this new way is a gold mine. Not only do you get bulk bitz for cheaper, but it also drives down the price on bitz sites.

 Niner009 wrote:
I recently had a large order done during tax time through one of the larger FLGS that consisted of a shadowsword, 2 leman russ and 3 basilisks.

At first the items were delayed because the store only had a single basilisk on sale, but then when my group heard back we were told that he would not be getting more basilisks in (so I settled for another LRBT and a demolisher) because GW had sent out the last of their stock and they would not be printing another run because they were planning on doing a new kit with all the artillery tank components included.

I had heard the possibility of Imperial Guard being one of (if not the last) codex released this year, so that timetable makes sense for them not printing another run of basilisks.

I did check on the GamesWorkshop website and the basilisk is listed as shipping in 24 hours, but I'm not sure how often they update such things.


I'd also like to throw out there that I'm not entirely found of GamesWorkshop's new direction with kits that have all the components to make one squad of multiple different units....
while it would be nice to not have to shell out $75 to forgeworld for a medusa, I don't think I want to shell out $66 to Gamesworkshop for a plastic one...because you'd be paying for a lot of plastic you can't use. Like the deathwing command squad they made for dark angels that costs $15 more than the regular terminator boxes. While one could argue it is easier on logistics and store shelves to have everything in one box, they are also getting an extra $15 out of you....so if you wanted to make a unit of each you would have to buy that box 3 times....so they made an extra $45 compared to if they had a different box for each unit.

I'd like to know if anyone else had heard about Basilisks being unavailable, and if its maybe a regional thing (I'm east coast US) and also see if anyone else shares my thoughts on the multi-unit kits.

1. never had an issue with MPPK's with xtra's. i personally think it is a bonus. in otherwords i don't have to sloppily cut out the templates needed for conversions, as they are already included in the kit.
2. judging from what i have seen GW updates their website every few months.
3. your going to shell out money regardless, if you had of decided on or either, then you'd be modelling instead of telling people about this issue (though it is informative, i am not sure if it actually needed to be said/typed, that said someone may find it useful)
4. regarding multiple boxed sets: regardless you will have to buy more if you want 15 terminators, DW or not. also there are parts included ie extra arms/weapons/heads etc, if your worried about savings etc buy x1 DW terminator box and x2 generic terminator boxes (you'll save $30 by your own math)
5. the only way to buy cheaper is 2nd hand, but there is a possibility of something missing or broken or is fully glued together ie not manetized. in the end it is cheaper more effective to just pay the amount of money needed for actual minitures in the box.

anyway that is my thoughts on the matter

The unavailable artillery variants didn't bother me much; Manticores are patently better, and of the three gun variants, the Basilisk is probably the best one, pound for pound.

The medusa has poor range and durability, though bastion breacher shells have their use. overall, an actual LR Demolisher is a better choice in my books; much more resilient, though less killy with Lumbering Behemoth gone. Colossus is only really for fighting marine foot sloggers, which is an uncommon niche, and griffons are "ok," a nice budget option, but they don't have the lethality I demand in artillery.

What I need is a bloody plastic Hydra. It's the flyer edition, and the premier AA vehicle remains unavailable, boggles the mind. It'd sell like hotcakes, even when it isn't quite as good as in 5th ed.

 MajorStoffer wrote:
The unavailable artillery variants didn't bother me much; Manticores are patently better, and of the three gun variants, the Basilisk is probably the best one, pound for pound.

The medusa has poor range and durability, though bastion breacher shells have their use. overall, an actual LR Demolisher is a better choice in my books; much more resilient, though less killy with Lumbering Behemoth gone. Colossus is only really for fighting marine foot sloggers, which is an uncommon niche, and griffons are "ok," a nice budget option, but they don't have the lethality I demand in artillery.

The Basilisk is only better than the Medusa against bog-standard Marines. Everything else, the Medusa beats it against. 36" range is still plenty. Anything that moves out of your opponent's deployment zone is a target.

The Colossus is better than the Basilisk against Every infantry unit except Plague Marines out of cover.

 MajorStoffer wrote:
Colossus is only really for fighting marine foot sloggers, which is an uncommon niche,

I couldn't disagree more. It's AP3 and ignores cover, which means that unless it's wearing terminator armor or has an invuln, it's dying outright. It also has enough strength (6) to wound practically all infantry in the game on a 2+. I used the Manticore for a while, but the S10 is just overkill on nearly everything and the fact that it's only AP4 meant that practically everything was getting a save, since stuff with 4+ or worse armor tends to use cover more.

Medusae give the enemy cover saves, and have to strike the frontal armour of vehicles, due to not being barrage, and colossi lack the strength to hurt vehicles or high toughness targets, and the only cover they negate that a basilisk doesn't is area terrain.

It's the age old utility vs specialty argument, it's hard to argue the basilisk has more utility, especially if, like me, your group has a lot of Apocalypse battles. But this isn't the place for such a discussion. It's good that GW is finally making the kits available, but I can't help but feel a Hydra is a more useful kit at the moment.

 MajorStoffer wrote:
The unavailable artillery variants didn't bother me much; Manticores are patently better, and of the three gun variants, the Basilisk is probably the best one, pound for pound.

The medusa has poor range and durability, though bastion breacher shells have their use. overall, an actual LR Demolisher is a better choice in my books; much more resilient, though less killy with Lumbering Behemoth gone. Colossus is only really for fighting marine foot sloggers, which is an uncommon niche, and griffons are "ok," a nice budget option, but they don't have the lethality I demand in artillery.

What I need is a bloody plastic Hydra. It's the flyer edition, and the premier AA vehicle remains unavailable, boggles the mind. It'd sell like hotcakes, even when it isn't quite as good as in 5th ed.

sometime last year there was a product list leak that had, if the list was accurate, a plastic hydra as well as a box of plastic stormtroopers, so hopefully that will be coming soon

and I wasn't so much complaining about the fact that they're making the kits as the fact that them doing so drives up the price of the individual units in an already expensive game. I think what they should do is split the options up between two kits - like how we have the leman russ kit and the leman russ demolisher kit - rather than having everything in one box, because if they do that then we will probably be seeing basilisks that cost as much as valkyries

and in the discussion on the merits of the units, while a demolisher is probably superior than a medusa and the basilisk is generally inferior to the leman russ (because it has a minimum range of half the table) Basilisks do really shine in apocalypse because it is then that the 20 foot range really shines.

But generally I field mostly standard leman russ tanks

Considering the cost of plastic is absolutely negligable, it is certainly annoying when they make more multi-part kits with increased variations, and increased price.

When it's something simple like, for instance, the new Hammerhead/Skyray combo will basically be a different turret setup which'd be easily magnetized by even a skilled ape, the various Guard artillery pieces won't likely be as modular, given their very different aesthetic, and incorporation into the gun shield and whatnot. Chances are, there'll be no way to easily swap parts, so you'll be stuck with spare artillery you can't really do much with, and that's my gripe. Throw more bits in there I can use, swell, throw more bits in there i can't really use without buying a new chassis on Ebay or something, and I find a higher price more annoying.

Man, now I wish the Medusa carriage was still the old 24''-120'' barrage weapon it used to be, for 100 points it was a killer deal.