With a the end of the year and the winding down of work and tournaments I’ve got the time to make my way through some of the new releases that I picked up through the year. I bought the Chaplain on release because I liked the model and not with a competitive focus. It’s taken a little while to get to him while I finished a couple of projects.
Warhammer hero or leader kits are packaged either as a small box, like here, or in a blister pack. I think that the kits with more components are typically boxed, for example the Chaplain Terminator is boxed but the Master of Possession, released at the same time, is a blister. The Master of Possession is a much simpler kit.
The Chaplain is highly detailed down to separate greaves (front of the lower leg) and hip armour panels.
Even better the kit gives options for the right hand – Storm Bolter or Shield and 2 versions of Crozius for the left hand.
The Storm Bolter is a S4 AP0 D1 weapon while the Shield adds a wound to the model. Both options are modelled with a separate hand making the kit a great basis for conversions or parts. The only issue is that the Crozius is in the left hand and the Shield/Storm Bolter in the right, that’s consistent with Terminator kits but not with some others (Grey Knights).
The shield is easily repurposed if you wanted to build a Kaldor Draigo. Fitted with the Storm Bolter and Crozius this kit would easily make a Grey Knight Chaplain (I’ve got another one to build for just that reason).
The Crozius is in two styles, what I’d call the more modern “Primaris” style and the more traditional “winged” version. The wings are separately fitted.
The kit comes together well, there is a little less guidance than on the Company of Heroes kit but most separately fitted parts have nobs or detents to help align them properly. The arm/shoulder connection doesn’t have any guidance which I appreciate. It makes it very easy to pose the arms.
The tops of the shoulders have three pins projecting upwards – these aren’t actually pins, there are no receptacles on the underside of the pauldrons but they do make sure there is a solid connection with the arm which is sometimes an issue.
It was a very easy to assemble kit with a good level of detail. I’ve gone with the rule of cool, using the shield and older style of Crozius
I then finished him the colours of the Subjugators, a lime green, on both his pauldron and shield. The model is easy to paint quickly, the pose doesn’t hide any significant detail. Like most Space Marines edge highlight is a breeze. All up from start to finish with assembly and painting I was able to complete him in 3 short sessions.
Now the question is what to do with him?
The Chaplain in Terminator Armour can lead Terminators or Assault Terminators. He grants reroll wounds for melee attacks and a 4+ FNP for mortal wounds. He’s competing with the Captain (Reroll Charges) and Librarian in Terminator Armour (Sustained Hits 1). Terminators cost enough without a leader, I’m not sure there is room for one in a lot of lists. I personally think that the reroll wounds with the 4+ FNP against all mortals is better than the Librarian. 4+ FNP will help with both Tank Shock and Grenade stratagems.
P.S. I know a light box is almost essential for good photos, it’s a space issue.
