Phat Thoughts – NEW Astra Militarum Reveal

A new, yet, somewhat familiar look for the Cadian range of Astra Militarum have been revealed! Here are my first impressions on all of the new models shown at Warhammer Day.

After weeks of patiently waiting for the Warhammer Day reveals and knowing that there would likely be information on the upcoming Astra Militarum release, I woke up this morning to much more than I had been counting on. Here are my big take away’s from the event.

Boxed Set Release – Like the Black Templars, Orks, and Leagues of Votann before them, the codex will be released with a box set containing brand new models from the updated Cadian line. While I do like the idea of a box set release that will get you started with the models you need and the codex, these box sets are limited upon release and with the anticipation for the iconic Astra Militarum 9th edition release along with the new models, its bound to be a chaotic and heartbreaking experience for a lot of gamers.

Updated Cadian Designs – The new Cadian design is close enough to the current line that players should have no issue mixing in these new sculpts with their existing armies. The previous line of Cadian models were released way back in 2003, making them almost 20 years old at this point. The new models seem to be an effort to true-scale the line while bringing dynamic poses to a traditionally statically posed army. The models bring a mix of Colonial Marine a la Aliens and the classic metal Cadians from day’s past. The models feature backpacks, extra armor on the shoulders and knees, and longer lasguns. Overall, I am VERY happy with this updated design and will be updating my current Cadians with the new line of models.

Field Guns! – Something new and frankly, AMAZING. We will now be able to bring Field Guns to the tabletop (non-Forgeworld), something that I had wish listed in my previous Astra Militarum article. While we do not have any rules or stats for the guns just yet, just by looking at the different versions they are bound to be VERY powerful. You can get a couple of these in the box set mentioned above.

Scout Sentinels – A while back when Games Workshop revealed some of the new Cadian releases after a potato camera leak, people were wondering if the new Sentinel kit would have an option for the iconic Scout version. Well, we now see that yes, Scout Sentinels WILL be an option with the kit. I would assume just like the armored version there will be new weapon options available as well. Just like the new Cadian infantry models, these new Sentinels closely resemble the current line but feature a couple of design updates like longer legs and an elongated torso.

New Commissar, Small Hat – We also got confirmation that we suspected from the leaked photos that there will be a new Commissar model released. This is a bit of a swing and a miss for me, they lost the iconic hat and while he IS standing on a tactical rock which is cool, there’s not a lot of dynamic movement that we have seen from previous Commissar models. I do hope the kit comes with multiple head and weapon options. There have been several newly released Commissars recently like Gaunt so I’m not too worried about getting one that fits into the new aesthetic.

New Heavy Weapon Teams – The iconic two man team is back with the updated versions of the Cadians. Now, its hard to tell if the models themselves have scaled up since we haven’t seen any comparison pictures or if the base sizes have been reduced due to the models being scaled down, a la Adeptus Sororitas models. Either way they look amazing and if the scale HAS changed on the bases I will likely be updating my army with the new ones.

Regimental Doctrines are Back! – That’s right, like the days of yore, you will be able to mix and max different regimental doctrines to match the feel of your army. You can mix different regiments like Catachans, Cadians, and Krieg together into one army if you wish and pick doctrines that would make sense for them.

This is just a taste of things to come for the Astra Militarum, as Games Workshop has said this would be a complete revamp of the current line of models. We’ve already seen the Kasrkin models (they also have an upcoming Kill Team) and a new special Character Ursula Creed. I have high hopes that the Catachans will also be getting an update but only time will tell. What are some of the new models you are most excited about? What would you like to see that hasn’t been revealed yet?

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