Games Workshop Lift The Veil On Warhammer 40,000: Shadowspear
March 4, 2019 by dracs
The new Warhammer 40,000 battlebox Shadowspear heads up for pre-order in a week's time and now Games Workshop have lifted the lid to look at the two armies inside.
Shadowspear gives you everything needed to play out a clash between the forces of the Vanguard Space Marines and the heretical Daemonkin.
Starting with the Daemonkin, we get a closer look at how the forces of Chaos have been updated.
For me with this force, the Greater Possessed really steal the show.
These guys look horrifying, true mixes of man, daemon, and metal. Imagine being a regular guardsman and having that charge towards you!
Unfortunately, my greatest disappointment has to be the Obliterators.
I've heard a lot of people praising them, but they just give me unfortunate flashbacks to the Minotaurs from Warhammer Fantasy (now Bullgors).
Of course, the forces of the Emperor have plenty of new models too.
Although I would question bright blue when you're infiltrating enemy lines, these models are really effective and you could imagine them venturing into the ruins of a wartorn city ahead of a larger company of Space Marines.
There is one sculpt though that does make me chuckle.
"Er, Sarge? You know that smoke grenade you asked me to throw?"
Alongside the two forces, the battleset comes with three booklets, two mini-codexes and one campaign book.
I'm loving these thematic mini-codexes Games Workshop have started including in their boxed games. Not only do they let you field a thematic force, they mean you don't have to go out and buy the full Space Marine (etc.) codex if that force was all you wanted.
Will you fight for the Emperor, or turn heretic?
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I really like those new Chaos models. Death to the False Emperor.
Everything here is great imho. I think the obliterators suffer from the hellbrute posing from dark vengenance but are still good. As for the infiltrators being bright blue, GW addressed it in the comment section on facebook saying it was purely for a cohesive army for their books, magazines, and displays so its a practical thing (rather than theoretical, anyone get the joke no?).
I’m loving the mini codex concept, so handy and kinda collectible.
As for the grenade thing it looks like he is dropping it like down a cellar door, bunker or from a height more than anything.
It’s a bit like Infinity. It’s supposed to be a special ops, stealth/infiltration style game but every faction bar two wear really bright colours. But it makes the game better by having that recognisable look to a faction, even if it doesn’t really work as camouflage.
At the end of the day real stealth v real stealth is all black and drab. With infinity its kind of the art style though isn’t it? Bright and anime?
With 40k its more photography and selling the range as a cohesive ad
I think the colours apply equally to both games. Bright, easily recognisable colour schemes helps make the models stand out and helps sales along. It’s a stylistic choice that goes against our understanding of Battle Dress but it works within the parameters of the game.
Well we could take it a step further with a Raven Guard stealth force: bases, based beaufitully with sand, rock, grass, and tufts. All washed and highlighted. With no marines on top of said bases.
The TAU stealth suits … easiest model in the world : just add empty bases to your army 😉
“Of course you can’t see it … it’s hiding”
One thing that needs to be said that back in the real world we do have creatures with bright/neon glow camouflage that looks silly but is very effective in their actual environment : tropical fish. The clown fish with its bright orange and white stripes is one such example.
I have to say, these are the first Primaris models that I like the look of, except for the floating cannon barrel guys. Finally they have something going on with their armour, instead of bland, uninspired space opera kind of flat panels. I’m neither impressed by the Obliterators, nor the Primaris Possessed. Overall quite good.
Smoke Grenade, I thought he was drinking a hot cup of tea from a thermal flask.
All look good except the obliteraters….but never liked them
@questoflegend Even Astartes need a star tea, no?
….I’ll get my coat………
Are those marines compensating for something ? 😉
As much as I like the contents of this box I’m not thrilled to see that you need to buy it in order to gain access to the new kit & profiles.
It’s almost as if we get punished for buying the initial codexes/codicises … 🙁
Can we get squats now ?
Or at least a few new kits for Eldar ?
That’d be nice.
#bringbacksquats
I don’t mind the Obliterators. Although I think they look like they’re wearing armour and weapon mounts rather than have the weapons forming out of their flesh. I think that was the lore with the first models they got? That the weapons were essentially forming from the warp? I might be completely misremembering that.
I’m tempted by the overall set but I’ve heard the models are snap fit and that the shoulder pads are molded on. That puts me off if I can’t use my Dark Angels upgrade kits on them without a lot of hacking.
Well I think it’s safe to say that they are snap-fits, all of GW’s startetrest that don’t use old miniatures are snap-fits.
This is a bit hit and miss for me. The Chaos faction looks like a rerun of one of GW’s lines from the 90s. I don’t like the lobstermen or those cow blokes who look like they belong in AOS, not 40K. I much prefer the Death Guard from Dark Imperium to these. Now those sculpts are superb. However, that spider thingy in the background of the first picture does look interesting, I shall keep an eye out for that. As for the Ultra Marines’ Vanguard troops; the first picture of a marine with bolter and knife looks fantastic, nicely… Read more »
Looks nice but not for the price
The new GW figures are great looking an the chaos Marines well they don’t look to bad either with the corruption in full force.
This set is a bit hit and miss for me. I like one of the possessed with the big slanneshi claw, but I’m not too keen on the toothy guy in the jazz-hands pose. The baby spider tank seems cool though, though I think those Bullgors are way cooler! They’d be ideal I’m a DnD labyrinth. I’m more interested in the Primaris side of the box, but the flying guys with the oversized guns are so badly posed they just look like they are hanging in a baby bouncer. I love the sneaky scout-style primaris, but the sneaky theme is… Read more »
It’s all OK as far as I’m concerned. I know not everyone wants to or has the skills to, but converting the autocannon guys into standing positions wouldn’t be too hard. Even with the snow shoes. All round Nice stuff. Good to see they can still come up with some original uses for power armor. I am a recent re convert to GW since 5th Ed 40, and one think that grips mah shit: the same people who complained about 40k be stale and just pumping out the same kits every year with an accessory sprue, are the same people… Read more »
Meh. Chaos guys are too busy… again. Nothing useable for me in this lot, except the scouts(?) without the bell bottoms. Even then, they’re wearing so much armour they can’t help but look stiff.
I like the new leader, he looks pretty cool. I also quite like the smoke grenade pose.
As for the obliterators, I think they get away with it in a way the minotaurs don’t. They look like a demonic mutation bursting out of the armour, they don’t need realistic human musculature because they’re not human. I think they really work.
I’m not a fan of the flying heavy weapons, they look a bit silly. I think it’s the size of the guns.
I have no idea why GW are insisting on anything new with the ‘fly’ keyword has to be on a flying base. Those guys would look well cool doing a full on hero pose, firing on the advance.
Chaos are great (in physical proportion finally instead of missing a third of their torso and a 1/4 of their legs ha ha).
Vanguard whilst perfectly great models .. don’t look like Space Marines, or 40Kish. They’re really just generic sci-fi now and that’s sad.
Do we know if the new “basic” chaos marines are the same height as the new Primaris Marines (we wants to know). I know the new Abbadon sculpt is of a similar size.
Good to see GW move away from the constant stream of Nurgle Chaos to revamping the more basic Chaos Marines. Like to know if the new Chaos Marines in the other GW box set are the same scale as the ones in Shadowspire?
@dracs glad you recognised it was a Smoke Grenaded, I thought he was spilling his tea!
The Nobby Nobs of Primaris Marines , though you could imagine a little Nobby inside with little gears and pistons developed by Leornardo of Quirm to work it.
I know we all sort of take it for granted when GW roll out a new starter that it will be well presented, but full credit to the painting team on this one.