The Master of Executions is... actually... not... bad?

Image from GW, because the atmospheric pics are awesome

There's A LOT of chatter on why the Master of Executions(MoE) is not a good HQ.  Or that he'd see even less time if he was a different unit type, such as Elites.  Just go ahead, and dip your toe into any of the more popular sites/discussion boards and you'll see exactly that.

"HE'S NO GOOD!!1!... WHY?!"

Yes... he is limited in wargear, you can't modify it at all, he has no invul save, AND he doesn't have an aura of any kind.  Unlike Lords, or the other Character hunter Exalted Champions.

For a lot people, he is an automatic no for their lists, and I can totally see why.  The above reasons are very valid considerations.  However, I think this model has the potential to wreck some face given the right combo of Warlord Traits and Relics.  There are two in particular that I have been kicking around with some list builds.  One jumped out at me as soon as I got Vigilus Ablaze, and the other sort of came about recently.

I know with his initial reveal on the Community site, lots of people thought he was going to be for World Eaters.  I was more curious if he was going to be available for everyone.  So when the new codex confirmed this for me I was very happy about that fact.  I was a little bummed that you couldn't modify his wargear, and I was not sure about the head scuplts for his model at all.  For some reason though, I couldn't write it off.  Something was making me comeback to looking at him as a valid choice.

Once I got Vigilus Ablaze in my hands I quickly figured out why.  Renegades, and specifically the Flawless Host.

Talk about making a blender bot.

Take a MoE, make him Flawless Host, give him the Mark of Slaanesh... which you should anyway because he's Flawless Host...then make him the Warlord to give him Ultimate Confidence, and then the Intoxicating Elixir Relic.

As soon as you make him Flawless Host, he gets Death to the Imperfect(DttI) Legion Trait... get an extra attack on a 6+ on everyone.  This also STACKS with Death to the False Emperor(DttFE).  So normally he would generate +2 attacks on Imperium models.  The Flawless Host Warlord Trait "Ultimate Confidence" increases the extra attacks from DttI.  It goes to +1 attack, to +3 attacks.  So now you're generating +4 attacks on Imperium models.  Give him Intoxicating Elixir to bump up his base Strength to 5 and get an extra attack as well.

So what you get is a 6 attack model, with exploding 6s generating +3(non-Imperium) - +4(Imperium) additional attacks, hitting on 2s at Strength 10, wounding most infantry on 2s and 3s for everything else while also getting Mortal Wounds on those 6+ Wound Rolls as well, -3AP, and D3 Damage.  If you direct that much damage at a singular enemy character... the likely hood of it straight up dying are good.  I've been practice rolling a lot, stuck at home from some minor medical issues, using Custodes as a base target because they are tough, have multiple wounds, and have a good invul save.  The most damage I have caused so far is 28 damage with 4 Mortal Wounds.  That could kill a Knight.

That's an incredible amount of damage from one, 70 point, model.

That's what strikes me the most.  He's 70 points.  Roughly half of Kharn's cost but doing almost equivalent damage without having to use a strat to fight again.  You can use a strat(We Cannot Fail) to reroll all failed hit rolls in the fight phase if you really need something dead.

Now what happens when you take a Supreme Command Detachment of them in a Rhino?  the other 3-4 MoE won't hit as hard as the Warlord but all of them running around like that is scary and can't really be ignored.  

And I know... everyone is absolutely RAVING about Red Corsairs out of Vigilus Ablaze.  They do have a sweet set up, but mostly for me it's that Advance/Charge that the other Renegades don't get.  A MoE could go really well with them, or in a Renegade Chapters army.

Alternatively you can tweak this build by just switching out the Ultimate Confidence warlord trait with Flames of Spite from the CSM codex.  You drop 2 extra attacks... so +1 attack on everyone, and +2 attacks on Imperium... BUT you're now generating +2 Mortal Wounds for evey 6+ Wound Roll.  Less attacks for potentially more Mortal Wounds.

For either of these builds, but especailly the first one, add Prescience(preferable) and/or some Dark Apostle Prayers(either +1 to wound or the 5++) for extra hilarity.  If you go for an extra Relic, might I suggest The Flawless Cloak for a nearby Apostle to bump his aura(s) to a 9" bubble?

Cheaper than a Black Legion Chainlord/Smash Captain by 23 points, but not as mobile, doesn't have a reroll aura, or an invul save... but could potentially dish out 18-30 attacks, and a 6" Heroic Intervention to an enemy Character should not be discounted either.

To me, this one model encapsulates 8ths ability to throw a lot of dice to force your opponent to start missing saves.  Just in the Fight Phase instead of the Shooting Phase.  So now I want my own little cadre of Executioners running around be a major nuisance.  I think it would be glorious.

Anyway, I couldn't wait for the official pre-order/release so I've converted my own up, and just have to figure out which head to use.  Chaos chariot Slaanesh head, or one of the Slaanesh heads from the now out of production Forsaken kit.  Maybe I'll pick up one actual MoE and convert up one more from Shadowspear like I did for this one.  He's since gotten a right arm holding a head, and is pretty much ready to be primed once the humidity drops a bit.

Blackstone Fortress!!

Here it is at last, after an agonizing 2 weeks of waiting... (drum roll please)Blackstone Fortress!!  The initial, quick, perusal of the box is actually rather intimidating.  It is packed full of hobby goodness.  Most of which is for the game itself, and all the things needed to play it.  All the books, counters, and dice*.  Someday... I'll probably play a game or 2 with 40kDave.  But today is not that day.

No.

I'm mostly(read all) in it for the haul of Chaos miniatures in that box, and all the possibilities that come with it.

On a 32mm, not bad, only feels slightly cramped.

I mean, just scale wise Mallex is a beast.  Absolutely huge, and feels like a Chaos Lord should.  Big, imposing, and ready to eviscerate with no notice.  Given that, a 40mm base does seem a little large.  Just a little.  A tad, if you will.  He is just Primaris sized, but would still feel ok on a 32mm base I think.  Now, stylistically... whats up with all those tubes on Mallex?!  For an Iron Warrior Chaos Lord I could really see that as an aesthetic the design team would want to pursue.  It could be seen as just this side of Fleshmetal without going full on Oblit.  In that context all those tubes make sense, as well as the Thunder Hammer.  All in on that Iron Warrior vibe with maybe a Mark of Nurgle, or Slaanesh for the hentai factor.  It just seems odd for a Black Legion Chaos Lord to be... well, to be that model.  All the tubes on the body?  Ok.  All in the arms, that also go into the weapons?  Not so much.  I don't want to talk about the backpack.  At all.  Face is great.  Top knot is top notch. 😀  He's rocking the "lord cape".  As I stated earlier, he feels like a Chaos Lord should.

But, I already started converting mine.  Mallex is on a simple sprue.  He's not broken up too much to not be able to do some things with.  That said, the easiest thing to do is arm swaps.  You will need to trim, and clean up, that shoulder guard rim on the left side.  Once you do that you have some options.  Glue your load out on, and be done with it.  Oh, and a normal CSM backpack.  Prime that sucker and get busy!

Or...

Just tacked in place for now.

Pack some green stuff(GS) in that shoulder cavity on the left, let it cure, build up both side just a touch with GS for a better mounting point for Raptor arms, finish out that fur on the right a bit, and then prep both sides for magnets.  That way he can be whatever you need.  If you're really careful cutting that trim off for his Thunder Hammer arm, you could glue on to the Thunder Hammer arm and then magnetite that load out as well to take advantage of the Data Sheet. 🙌

Same goes for his Legionnaire bodyguards, they have some options.  Bigger, imposing marines, but not too mutated.   A nice stop design-wise before going full on Chosen-banding everywhere and/or Lord-tubes.  They have a normal-ish gorget area for their chest armor.  So... incoming head swaps!

Now for the rest of the minis... wow.  The Rogue Psykers, Traitor Guard(TG), and Beastmen** are fantastic.  Although I will admit that 7 is an odd unit size for the TG.  I mean now I have another 2 Malefic Lords, another Cultist/Militia squad(-6), and Beastmen(-6).  Ideally*** I'd like to get a few more TG and Beastmen to make 20 and 10 strong squads, respectively.  That's not including potential Champion models either.

Now given all this love for Chaos that GW has given us... I do have a few things I don't like about these minis.  I already touched on the problems with Mallex.  The other part is scale for the human sized models.  They're just too damn big.

So as you can see from left to right... Cultist, converted Scion for an Enforcer, Traitor Guard, Beastman, and Rogue Psyker.  That Traitor Guardsman would be taller than the Scion if he was standing straighter.  That Beastman should be on a 32mm base... and also move 7", but whatever!  The Rogue Psyker is only on a 32mm for stability.  When putting marines on 32mm bases first came out, it was a great idea.  Now that Primaris are here, and the bulging of CSMs are happening, some of the human models are being made bigger.  Design wise, I think that's a mistake.  Yes, it allows for more detail.  Although for Traitor Guardsmen, how much detail do they exactly need?  When we size up Mallex to humans, here is what we get...

I'm sorry but in my head that Cultist feels like the right size, the size we always read about for the groveling mortals serving their transhuman masters.  That size frame works.  The TG is just too tall.  Given that, they may find a place as a Disciple Squad in my Renegades & Heretics army.  They might just end up as another Cultist squad.  I definitely need to clip some of those spikes off, since a few of them just seem stuck on because Chaos is supposed to be spiky or something.

Anyway, I do like these models a lot and it makes me excited for whats coming down the pipe for Slaanesh Demons and CSMs in the near future.

How about you guys?  Any thoughts about where the Design Team is heading for 40k, or the setting in general?

*... AND that stupid envelope, which I haven't opened... yet... but, oh did I think about it!!
** Why the hell are Beastmen not M7?! They have animal legs for gods sakes, they should be little faster than a human, but not faster than a Possessed with their move of 8.
*** I really don't want to get another box, I will just have to wait a bit.  So it's eBay, unless of course GW releases everything separate later.

Starting from scratch... sort of...

Hello... 40kChris here.

You may, or may not, remember me from my other blog A Host of Word Bearers, and the hobby content I was doing there.  Over the years, as my tastes in Chaos grew and expanded they unfortunately left me feeling somewhat disenfranchised with the Word Bearers Legion as a whole.  So much so, that I've changed my paint scheme and have rededicated my Chaos Space Marine forces into a mix of shooty Black Legion and more close combat Renegades in the heraldry of The Flawless Host.  I have paired all my demons down to only Slaanesh Demons and use my Renegades & Heretics primarily as a detachment filled with heavy guns because why would I use militia when Cultists are better?

Anyway

My goal by moving here is to have the blog reflect the more all encompassing view I've been taking of, not only Chaos, but my hobby time as a whole.

I collect 40k Chaos*.

It's as simple as that.

So the blog should reflect that.

Sure... I will have a Chaos Kill Team, possibly a Commander for it.  I am definitely getting Blackstone Fortress, and running that Chaos detachment at least a few times.  I mean come on... it's a Chaos Lord WITH A THUNDER HAMMER.  Chaos never gets Thunder Hammers.  I've already planted the idea in the local GW managers ear about splitting the Wrath and Rapture box thats coming out later.  I want those new Fiends.

Basically... there's a lot to cover, more to paint, and even more to get excited about as GW seems to keep hitting it out of the park release after release.  Blackstone Fortress is awesome.  Wrath and Rapture has me pumped for those new Fiends, the harp playing Herald, and what ever else is in there.  That should mean a plastic Keeper is on the way AND it looks like maybe new Oblits/Mutilators in  today's Rumor Engine.  I mean it's basically saying Flesh Metal in the description FFS.

Sure, the tournament scene is making the rules sort of a mess... but... they kind of brought this on themselves.  But this does effect me and my main 40k squeeze Dave.  Dave and I have been playing for about 10 years now, we'll call him 40kDave, and he's into Mechanicus, Knights, and now... Custodes. 😱  Seriously, the only thing I can think of is dropping a max Slaanesh Cultist squad next to them and hitting them with Prescience for the double-tap assist, and them make them shoot again.  If ya'll got any other suggestions, I am all ears folks.  We have started frequenting the Warhammer Store here in Columbus.  Mike, the manager, is a great guy.  Energetic, and great to talk to.  Enough that Dave and I have talked about venturing out of the house and going to play in a public setting.  Like grown ups. 😂

So I hope you stick around and maybe even ask some questions, I enjoy the interaction.

Thanks,

40kChris


*I might, very strong on the might here, get an occasional AoS game with my Slaanesh Demons.  Maybe.