The age of the plastic titan has arrived with the new Eldar releases, which have just been unveiled to the world. The Wraithknight is both a blessing and a curse. The part of me that's still 15 (circa 1990) exploded with fanboy joy when seeing this immense walker as it truly is the scale of scratch built scout titans of that era - perhaps even larger.
The trouble - and the curse - from a current day perspective is that this is a further example of GW's embiggening philosophy. How will it be possible to play 'normal' games with hulking great machines like this on the regular roster and therefore on the table?
I suppose that's a question for the tournament players and those who follow the latest edition rules with a three line whip. I can't see how a game with one of these would get past the 'whoever kills the other's titan wins' problem. A game like that might be fun once in a while, but as a regular aspect? I don't buy it.
But perhaps that's because I'm more interested in playing a mash-up of current game mechanics with the army lists and stats from Rogue Trader/2nd edition - a smooth game with character, variety, and armies more suited to a tabletop game than a 'floor war'.
My goodness, that's big! I like it, but it reminds me of the Series 9 Manga Spawn from McFarlane Toys (one of my all time favorite action figures):
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spawn.com/toys/spawn/series9/mangaspawn/images/series9_mangaspawn_photo_01_dp.jpg
Does current 40k have armour / hit-point locations? Treat each weapon / limb as a separate model, which is separately target-able, / destructable and it might become playable rather than game-defining. Titanics / Battletech / 40K:RT mashup.
RE: Hit locations - Don't think so?
DeleteI have a Tau Riptide which I will be assembling soon, but I think these giants are really just treated as "Monstrous Creatures" with X number of wounds.
(Not sure if that is right though as I haven't got a game in with the Riptide yet!)
The images here will give you a sense of the scale of the Riptide next to Tau infantry - the the Eldar walker above is even bigger than the Riptide. I bet any Space Marine, Imperial Guard release will be even bigger!
That's an interesting idea for a house rule, zhu bajiee. Squeek is probably right that under 6th edition these are treated as monstrous creatures as opposed to vehicles - zhu, those have front / side / rear armour values and something called hull points which lead to critical damage when depleted (although it's possible to take down a vehicles with one lucky shot).
DeleteAnd it does look like the Manga Spawn :-)
DeleteI play for fun and facing one to three of these will not be that. Hell my Necrons and Khorne armies won't be able to take this down along with whatever else is running around doing stuff. Things like this are cool for big games, but not regular play. Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Great to collect and paint, but likely to seriously impair playing for fun.
DeleteHave a look at the latest White Dwarf, the Eldar army in the sales pitch I mean battle report has two big robots, two tanks, two aircraft, a squad of wraithguard, a squadron of jetbikes and small units of Dire Avengers, Howling Banshees and Guardians.
ReplyDeleteThats six heavy duty vehicle/monstrous creatures units to ten Guardians. Not the game I fell in love with. The 6th edition rules allow you to play good old-fashioned games and have fun, but only with an agreeable opponent on the same wavelength. I wouldn't turn up to a club night for a drop-in game for a free Wraithknight.
It's the 'awesome-sause' sales pitch similar to the mega armies battle that's in the 8th edition WFB rulebook. I'm completely with you - not the game I want to play. It's good though that I'm not the only person who can see some real potential in the latest 40k rules for some old fashioned fun.
DeleteNeither the riptide, nor the wraithknight are anywhere near as tough ruleswise as their imposing models look. The riptide costs a little more than a venerable dreadnought, and not even the wraithknight costs as much as a land raider. GW sure wants to sell us big and imposing models, but they seem reluctant to assign them points costs that reflect their size.
ReplyDeleteIt's an odd arms race isn't it? Everyone gets something big - massive - but there's a strong undertow of profitability that impacts on in-game usability and vulnerability.
DeleteConsider the Keeper of Secrets.
170 pts in the current Chaos Daemons codex. 900pts in Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness
Sure, GW want to make overwhelming kits and keep them easy to shoehorn into a competitive list.
DeleteThe Riptide relies on the whole nova charge thing, the randomness of that makes it likely to be lethal but with a chance of bad stuff happening which can be reflected in the cost. It is part of an evolving pattern with GW, pushing the awesomeness levels up but without pricing stuff off the table points-wise. More and more randomness is creeping into the game (as part of a concerted plan if you believe Jake Thornton!)
No idea whether the Wraithknight is cost effective as I have only glanced at the book but I am willing to bet my left nut there is enough potential awesome in the rules to tempt Eldar players to buy one, regardless of it's whopping size. I can't imagine them making it soft and it was causing havoc in the WD battle report.
That's a very interesting point. I'm all for vulnerability through randomness, if that makes sense. It makes gaming sense to me in that tactics and strategy will always need to be altered in light of fortune, good or bad.
DeleteIf GW are using that to lower points that's to be expected I suppose. They want to sell loads of £70 mini titans after all!