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I'm a bit meh over the DA upgrade sprue and the transfers themselves, having just bought the DV box since I'm starting a mixed DA army ( with greenwing for when I want to use tacticals ) I find it quite annoying with the route they are going with this release, if there had been a tactical box set ( even if not with this release I'm confused if we are still getting one or not regardless of when ) here I would have been far more excited.

My reason behind this is fairly obvious but it comes down the fact currently ( aside from the veterans having HALF chapter markings on their pads ) is fully sculpted, that is to say the deathing, the ravenwing, and the DA that come in the DV box all have their chapter sculpted markings on the pads, not only that I would have been VERY excited if we had actually had the tactical, devastator and assault markings included on these sprues. Outside of upgrades being difficult due to the molding of the DV tactical marines ( it's tough add arms to the sgt, plasma cannon and plasma gun guys without serious filling and cutting of the insides of their pads to use them, and this is a problem because all your other tactical marines will have crisp tactical and da pad markings while the swaps you do will have decals and they WILL stand out dif and that is annoying considering how easy it would be to simply add a double sprue blister, one of individual chapters pads and one of squad type markings, this to me would have been a far better choice vs outdated meh decals.

For example I really want to kit out 4 tactical greenwing squads, I know DA mainly are into plasma in the fluff but the DV sgt's will be hell removing their chainsword arms because the power maul ( still fluffy ) from the veterans box extends past that wrist with the braiding, the plasma 2x guys are formed in a way that its also tough to add in existing arms without damaging tons of the tactical pads, I just see this as stupid when they could have done so much more and yes the metal pads already exist for tacticals and devs but those are failcrap or metal and also outdated, should have done the whole thing right. I mean you would literally have to round out the inside of the pads to fit the existing ( or new coming ) dev weapons to work with them. The only other way I can see doing it would be slicing off the pc right arm at the pad and slightly drilling into it then inserting another arm from a heavy weapon into it this is all serious work compared to simply cutting a wrist off with tons of existing wrist weapons.

The chapter banner decals are ok I would personally paint over top of them better as freehand and simply use the decal as a guide, the rest is worthless other than maybe the actual gothic numbers which are much easier to paint by hand than symmetrical tactical or assault markings or wings.

Again its highly annoying because for the most part SW, BA and UM are taken care of with their tactical boxes and other kits generally handling anything you would want outside of a few random heavy weapons being more generic marked, but there is enough bits already that they are easy to upgrade with chapter bling, DA is actually the one chapter that is slightly lacking due to the aging ravenwing and veteran upgrade sprues, I mean they are not terrible but they are aging vs the newer plastics and for sure the first ravenwing upgrade is far dif than the black knights and the DV ravenwing ( which are actually superior sculpts to the upgrade frame even the plasma is drilled out! ).

The upgrade sprues are not there for building squads; they're for making heroes and command squads.

That's really all there is to say in regards to them.

 Mort wrote:

 Zewrath wrote:
Actually, yeah... 700 transfers! Holy gak that's a 1 time purchase and you're set for life!

Let's go back a few years...

"This baby has a 100mb hard drive! I'm set for life!"

Dude... I remember when I was a young boy and my father told me about the whole new diskettes that replaced the old floppy disks and how nothing could top that, since it could contain an entire library worth of text!

 Kanluwen wrote:
The upgrade sprues are not there for building squads; they're for making heroes and command squads.

That's really all there is to say in regards to them.

Not so sure about that considering what is on each sprue, its clear for SW and BA that there already exists commander upgrades in fact the current 2nd company BA captain ( a VERY weird choice considering the chest and legs they use for him has a BA power sword and plasma pistol already there which are better suited ) makes use of generic captain weapons and backpack along with normal sgt ba legs and chest.

There is already more then enough DA captain and master models out there both in plastic, metal and failcrap and the DA upgrade is not even complete at best you can use the vet bodies with it but it lacks the chapter master body for a true upgrade, given the fact there is 10 shoulder pads on these they seem more geared towards tactical or squads in general it's a bit weird actually the choices and how small the sprues are...guess time will tell what happens with more/existing things like the ravenwing and veteran sprues.

If anything the space marine plastic commander is older now too and that is something that needs a bit of an upgrade unless this whole release is a tie over till a real DA tactical squad or simply for upgrading pads themselves and failcrap pads get phased out and metal run out...some of it is quite puzzling due to option choices and bits in general.

 casvalremdeikun wrote:
oh look at that, a Sisters whiner in a completely unrelated thread. No one has seen that before.

Come on man, that was the first time in at least a year I whined about Sisters of Battle. Is there a Sisters of Battle Still Haven't Come Out Yet Megathread somewhere that nobody goes to because of its redudancy that I can be relegated to? That sounds swell.


Also, it's not completely unrelated considering there are rumors of a Sisters release coming this summer/fall, involving a campaign book even. A campaign book involving Chaos Daemons. That's why it drew the connection for me.

 Quarterdime wrote:

 casvalremdeikun wrote:
oh look at that, a Sisters whiner in a completely unrelated thread. No one has seen that before.

Come on man, that was the first time in at least a year I whined about Sisters of Battle. Is there a Sisters of Battle Still Haven't Come Out Yet Megathread somewhere that nobody goes to because of its redudancy that I can be relegated to? That sounds swell.


Also, it's not completely unrelated considering there are rumors of a Sisters release coming this summer/fall, involving a campaign book even. A campaign book involving Chaos Daemons. That's why it drew the connection for me.

Just giving you grief, nothing malicious. There are always sisters rumors. It boils down to a ton of wishful thinking. They should have come out around the same time as Blood Angels since they were involved in the Shield of Baal campaigns.

Ordered me some sweet upgrade bits and the decals for the dark Angels totally looking forward to it

Chappy should be here too!!

"You were not wrong."

Nice.. sort of. Not sure I like the hood coming over his face like that.

What mini is that staff from to the chaplain's right (far left of picture)

Supposedly a new TDA librarian.

I would have much appreciated more robed marines. I think its weak sauce they only have one hooded head on the upgrade sprue. Not impressed at all with the product when compared to what it could have been. Mostly just shoulder pads- great. The sword is cool only it should say angel and not angels so that it could be more Slayer. I mean SLAYER.

I'll probably pick up the decals.

I'm mixed about the codex as I have to buy both. I think I should be disciplined and finish minting some stuff before I re up on codexes.

Revenant78 wrote:
If anything the space marine plastic commander is older now too and that is something that needs a bit of an upgrade unless this whole release is a tie over till a real DA tactical squad or simply for upgrading pads themselves and failcrap pads get phased out and metal run out...some of it is quite puzzling due to option choices and bits in general.

Just put DA transfers on regular tactical Marines, that's how you get a DA tactical squad. Or is there some fluff I missed that dictates that every single Dark Angels Marine wears a full robe and hood now?

We don't really need a unique tactical squad box for every chapter, and especially not before other races get their ancient plastic troop boxes replaced. Between the new upgrade sprue and existing kits like the veterans I think DA have more than enough options, and I fail to see what a DA-specific tactical squad would provide that the new upgrade sprue doesn't. Unless you want them to go over-the-top like GW did with the equally unnecessary BA tactical squad and put chapter-specific icons and bits on literally everything so that every lowly tactical Marine is decked out like a captain. It's stuff like this that really makes me think Marine players are just spoiled rotten.

Personally I like my Tactical Marines to look different from veterans. The veterans should have robes and stuff while the regular tac marines haven't earned theirs yet! I myself will probably order one upgrade sprue and perhaps the transfer sheet (although in general I hate decals, especially on SM shoulder pads). Looking forward to actually not being hamstrung if I bring Dark Angels to a tournament.

Huh, normally a new Dark Angels release on the horizon is when my resolve begins to crack and I dip back in to 40k for a bit... this time, not so much.

I might give a glance to it in the FLGS if nothing else. I never even got up the motivation to finish painting any of the stuff from the last DA codex.

Kind of sad, the DA have been my army for ~20 years at this point and this is probably the first time I will let a release slip past without giving things a second glance. Oh well, hopefully for those that still play this is the first codex the Unforgiven get that is actually worth a damn after it's released (on the plus side it isn't an initial release for a new edition).

 Sidstyler wrote:

Revenant78 wrote:
If anything the space marine plastic commander is older now too and that is something that needs a bit of an upgrade unless this whole release is a tie over till a real DA tactical squad or simply for upgrading pads themselves and failcrap pads get phased out and metal run out...some of it is quite puzzling due to option choices and bits in general.

Just put DA transfers on regular tactical Marines, that's how you get a DA tactical squad. Or is there some fluff I missed that dictates that every single Dark Angels Marine wears a full robe and hood now?

We don't really need a unique tactical squad box for every chapter, and especially not before other races get their ancient plastic troop boxes replaced. Between the new upgrade sprue and existing kits like the veterans I think DA have more than enough options, and I fail to see what a DA-specific tactical squad would provide that the new upgrade sprue doesn't. Unless you want them to go over-the-top like GW did with the equally unnecessary BA tactical squad and put chapter-specific icons and bits on literally everything so that every lowly tactical Marine is decked out like a captain. It's stuff like this that really makes me think Marine players are just spoiled rotten.

I wish they would sell the snapfit models from Dark Vengeance separately. The Dark Angels models in the DV box are actually fantastic. They're nicely posed, easy to assemble, look great painted, and they have nice DA adornments. The bikes are nice and simple too! But if you could get the DA half of DV for half the price, with no rulebook and no templates, that would be great. Likewise for the Chaos half (which is actually much better to keep playing with, IMO).

I'm not saying as an "instead of", but rather a "in addition to" kit. I know a lot of people who are really intimidated by "having" to put together multiple tactical squads, because of all the pieces, messing up configuration, etc.

DV DA units are in abundance on ebay. I basically filled my DA force with them. A few conversions to the bikers (although I can't see fixing the plasma gunner unfortunately) and using the extras from a DW knight/term sqd to adjust the extra termies and you have a cheap, decent starter force.
Just flesh out accordingly.

I hope DA get real Sternguard Veterans now. There is no reason for those terrible vets they used to have...

 tommse wrote:
I hope DA get real Sternguard Veterans now. There is no reason for those terrible vets they used to have...

Cheap suicide squad? Not much else but it's something.

Heh. I use my DA models from DV as test models for different painting techniques on Marine armor.

 themonk wrote:
"You were not wrong."

Easily the best 40k novel.

Cool guy, I hope he's not the only plastic they get.

 lord_blackfang wrote:

 themonk wrote:
"You were not wrong."

Easily the best 40k novel.

Cool guy, I hope he's not the only plastic they get.

I assume this refers to Boreas?

While I don't usually like Gav Thorpe's writing, that book was pretty fun and revealed some interesting things about the Dark Angels' dark secret.

 angelofvengeance wrote:

 lord_blackfang wrote:

 themonk wrote:
"You were not wrong."

Easily the best 40k novel.

Cool guy, I hope he's not the only plastic they get.

I assume this refers to Boreas?

While I don't usually like Gav Thorpe's writing, that book was pretty fun and revealed some interesting things about the Dark Angels' dark secret.

If I remember correctly, that quote is from Sapphon, the Master of Sanctity. While Boreas was a typical Dark Angel, Sapphon is written very intruiging... smart, not as indoctrinated and still "dark angely". The exact opposite of Asmodai (which I learned to despise through the Novel).

Asmodai is fething nuts lol. Like seriously mentally broken! Seriously, you'd think the Librarians would say something to Azrael about it.

 angelofvengeance wrote:
Asmodai is fething nuts lol. Like seriously mentally broken! Seriously, you'd think the Librarians would say something to Azrael about it.

Spoiler:

Sapphon passes Boreas' message on to Astelan

And still that has value in itself, as even Sapphon admits. Asmodai has the respect of the rank and file and he is the best in the torture chamber. Only.. let's say.. a wee bit.. focused?
Anyway, I want Sapphon in the new Dex! Some kinky rules, showing his mental fortitude and his ability to inspire the marines around him. Maybe his willingness to tread less doctrinated paths. They really could flesh out Asmodai in that regard (providing a 6" hatred bubble to Dark Angels?) and as an opposite give Sapphon the other way around (like fearless in 6-12")

 Thairne wrote:

 angelofvengeance wrote:
Asmodai is fething nuts lol. Like seriously mentally broken! Seriously, you'd think the Librarians would say something to Azrael about it.

Spoiler:

Sapphon passes Boreas' message on to Astelan

And still that has value in itself, as even Sapphon admits. Asmodai has the respect of the rank and file and he is the best in the torture chamber. Only.. let's say.. a wee bit.. focused?
Anyway, I want Sapphon in the new Dex! Some kinky rules, showing his mental fortitude and his ability to inspire the marines around him. Maybe his willingness to tread less doctrinated paths. They really could flesh out Asmodai in that regard (providing a 6" hatred bubble to Dark Angels?) and as an opposite give Sapphon the other way around (like fearless in 6-12")

You mean in the way the Dante and Seth are polar opposites of each other?

I've got basically no knowledge of our reddish coloured Brethren, but I'd assume so

 Thairne wrote:
I've got basically no knowledge of our reddish coloured Brethren, but I'd assume so

Google Azkaellon (Blood Angels) and Nassir Amit (Flesh Tearers)

 Sidstyler wrote:

Revenant78 wrote:
If anything the space marine plastic commander is older now too and that is something that needs a bit of an upgrade unless this whole release is a tie over till a real DA tactical squad or simply for upgrading pads themselves and failcrap pads get phased out and metal run out...some of it is quite puzzling due to option choices and bits in general.

Just put DA transfers on regular tactical Marines, that's how you get a DA tactical squad. Or is there some fluff I missed that dictates that every single Dark Angels Marine wears a full robe and hood now?

We don't really need a unique tactical squad box for every chapter, and especially not before other races get their ancient plastic troop boxes replaced. Between the new upgrade sprue and existing kits like the veterans I think DA have more than enough options, and I fail to see what a DA-specific tactical squad would provide that the new upgrade sprue doesn't. Unless you want them to go over-the-top like GW did with the equally unnecessary BA tactical squad and put chapter-specific icons and bits on literally everything so that every lowly tactical Marine is decked out like a captain. It's stuff like this that really makes me think Marine players are just spoiled rotten.

Exactly this and if anything DA is the one chapter that deserved it most, as for many many years our tactical has been ignored, the last time that I'm aware we got anything was the metal vet sgt in the plastic hybrid box when the first metal robed guys came out, I still remember it was around 1992 or late 91 that GW released the metal tac boxes DA came last I think and the rest of them really were blinged out for the time period. Fast forward to now and DA outside of ravenwing and deathguard still has the lowest options for tacs...I'm not saying they deserve it nor does any marine chapter, but if we look at all of them...including ultramarines DA has the least visual options for tacs if you do not count DV ( I'm not simply because those are static and we got static ultras last time and before that too ).

Sure I could buy 20 or so metal tactical shoulder pads ( if they don't go oop soon ) and 2 upgrade sprues and a ultramarines tactical squad, but it's still not the same and in fact would cost more than any of the other tactical marines boxes, the BA and SW tactical boxes are how you do it right, keep in mind how old the BA DC box is now and how blinged out that still is, the SW one is similar and well yea...now of course DA is noted for DW and RW and I won't fault GW in that area for those options but I really would like a dedicated DA tactical box to bling out assault, tactical and dev marines with.

On the flip side if you want to go really fluffy DA and limit yourself with plasma only, you can easily fill out a DA tactical company for some 60 odd dollars..maybe 100 if you go devs and assault with nothing but plasma, this would be next to impossible to do with that money on any other marines, the downside is you would have to accept your 8 pc and 6 plasma tacticals in mono pose, but it is indeed so cheap that you might as well get them before DV is finally gone just to have for those what the hell days lets do an entire company for dirt cheap, which is sorta what I am doing half done now.

Chaos badly needs an update in 40k, I organized my noise marine plastic metal hybrids last night and ugh those marines are ugly as hell and really showing their age, the detail is crap on them. Seems like we will be getting that sometime in autumn, there is other armies who need stuff ( I play deathskulls, dark angels and nurgle for 40k ) and I would finally like the ork boyz to be redone and chaos since I feel those two troops need it most right now.