Games Workshop brings us deeper into the Gallowdark with the Soulshackle boxed set, following in the footsteps of Into the Dark and Shadowvaults. This time around, the Adeptus Arbites Exaction Squad takes on the Drukhari Kabalite Hand of the Archon operatives. Most importantly, there’s a cool table. This review will take on the box contents: the terrain, models, and the other gubbins contained therein. Many thanks to Games Workshop for providing a preview copy of Soulshackle for review purposes.
Unboxing Soulshackle
Following the pattern set by the previous boxes, Soulshackle contains the core set of wall terrain (with a two upgrade sprues unique to this box), as well as two new Kill Teams.
The Models
We have three sets of models to cover in this review:
- Adeptus Arbites Exaction Squad (including an absurd transfer sheet).
- Hand of the Archon Kill Team – this is a Kabalite squad with a new upgrade sprue.
- Killzone Gallowdark Terrain.
- A terrain sprue with breakaway walls and a cool table.
As the Drukhari kill team doesn’t have much new (though there is a cool bird), we will focus on the Arbites kill team.
The Terrain
First off, this box contains the prerequisite core of Gallowdark terrain. As we’ve noted before, this could be a good thing or a bad thing – two Kill Team boxes will give you everything you need for 40k boarding actions games – but it may get repetitive if you are only buying these for Kill Team. There is 2x of a new sprue, which contains some breachable walls, terminals, and a table that has a projection of a little Gallowdark table on it. While it doesn’t have the density of scatter of the previous box, the pieces in here are very characterful.
The Arbites
GW continues its streak of extremely customizable multipart kits here. Unfortunately we haven’t had a ton of time with this box, but we will hit on the things that immediately stood out to us:
- There are plenty of extra options in this kit to add variety – extra heads, multiple build options for each body, and most arm options can be used on any operative.
- You can build build all ten operatives with a shield and maul, or a shotgun.
- The arm joins are flat and the the torso widths are pretty standard – so this kit should be amenable to arm swaps / mining for bits.
- The head connections are reasonably close to new cadian heads. Swaps might require a little bit of clipping.
- Swaps with the Necromunda Enforcers are tough – the heads are different styles and the arm joins are a bit different. It looks feasible to put an Enforcer boltgun on an Arbites model.
It’s great to see the Arbites getting modern sculpts (with plenty of accessories). I’m excited to dive into the kit – and we will follow up after we figure out what we can do with it!
The Other Contents – The Rules
Soulshackle includes the basic rules for playing in the Gallowdark, as well Killzone rules that add mechanics for the new upgrade sprue. If you are looking to see how the new teams fare on the table, we’ve got coverage of the kill team rules for the Adeptus Arbites and the Hand of the Archon as well.
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