I would once again like to thank Goonhammer and Hachette Partworks for the opportunity to review these magazines, materials, and paints!
Narrative Materials
Without any models in this issue, Issue 4 takes the opportunity to choose to discuss the narrative of many elements of the combat patrols. Both the Space Marines and Tyranids special characters for the Combat Patrols have some small tables to generate additional backgrounds.
The Captain, having been given a name and personality via a table in Issue 1, now gets an epithet. I rolled a 2. Captain Marius, the coldly logical and calculating precise Terminator, was the last survivor of a desperate assault and earned his position in the battle when is predecessor was slaim. He has since avenged his fallen battle-brothers as the Indmoitable.
My Winged Tyranid Prime, Specimen 45, also gets an epithet. In addition to unleashing visions of pure terror via its very presence, Specimen 45 whips the lesser entities enthralled to it to fight with an almost self-destructive vigour, as Specimen 45 is That Brings Hate.
The issue also has epithets for future characters. I will roll on those tables (for the Terminator Librarian, Chaplain on Bike, and Parasite of Mortrex) when those issues arrive.
The issue also introduces the readers to the Silver Templars, which is the partwork’s focus chapter (besides the Ultramarines). We find out that the Silver Templars are very keen on their wargear, and build all their own guns themselves.
Hobby Materials
Issue 4 is our first paint issue. We get three colors: Macragge Blue, Wraithbone, and Barak-Nar Burgundy. While I have not used Barak-Nar Burgundy before, Macragge Blue and Wraithbone are colors I am quite familiar with. Macragge Blue is an excellent-covering, relatively desaturated blue that is advertised as the main Ultramarines paint. Wraithbone is a warm off-white that while it doesn’t have the best coverage in the world, it is good enough when it’s not chalky.
The issue also contains a guide on how to use paints: It recommends getting a paint pallet, water pot, and various brushes. The magazine recommends readers use the since-discontinued Citadel pallet pad, alas. It also has a guide on how to undercoat the paint pots directly onto the bare plastic models, since GW does not have a brush-on primer anymore and I don’t think Goonhammer has yet done a review of Monument Hobby’s Brush-On Black Primer. (1) The model examples are Macragge Blue for the Space Marines, and Wraithbone for the Tyranids. This seems reasonable to me, with GW’s product lines the way they are.
Gaming Materials
This issue is about having the Infernus Marines fight the Von Ryan’s Leapers. In Melee. The issue recommends starting out with three Infernus Marines punching at one Leaper. The issue goes through the hit rolls, wound rolls, and save rolls. The issue has a graphical error in that it shows the Space Marines wounding on a 3+, while the text correctly notes that the Marines wound on a 5+.
So I set the Infernus Marines of Squad Fabian against one of the Von Ryan’s Leapers.
Turn 1: The Infernus Marines make a desperate punch against the Leaper. Five attacks strike true, while it dodges out of the way of four. Two of these hits strike key areas, but the armor of the fiend protects the Tyranid horror! The Leaper slashes with its talons, striking five blows! Each blow strikes true! While the armor of two of the Marines blunts the blow, the Leaper pierces the softseal suit of the third Marine! He dies instantly, his transhuman physiology driven far beyond the saving point.
Turn 2: The Infernus Marines strike again! For the two remaining Battle Brothers, five blows hit, and two blows hit the fleshy innards – and punched through! Screaming in anger, the beast flails. While its talons strike on the armor, only one talon pieces the armor.
Turn 3: Renewed, the Infernus Marines punch. All blows hit, two smashing through the creatures’ rent flesh. The Leaper’s hypermetabolism is nowhere near enough to withstand the fury of the Adeptus Astartes, slaying the beast.
The game also gives a discussion of terrain and line of sight blocking, but these rules and restrictions do not come into play in the gaming scenario.
Final Verdict
The highlight of the issue is the Silver Templars story. The epithet table is nice, but three of the models are not out yet. The scenario is kind of boring, even with the variable number of models allowed for it. And while the paints are a good value, they just are not that interesting to me.
Until next time, Combat Patroleers!
(1) If my editors will let me go onto a tangent: I got a pot of Pro Acryl Brush-On Black Primer at Adepticon which I used to prime my promo Grey Hunter. The stuff works fairly well – the paints I used all stuck to the miniature afterwards, and I did not have any issues drybrushing paints onto the model.
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