Range Review - Imperial Fists

[@TheOuterCircle]

Important note, I really feel I misspoke when I called them kite shields. They are really more of a heater shield, aren't they?

[@dking6021]

went to go point that out lol, cause also Kiteshields would actually work great, as they cover nearly the entire body, and would protect the legs to which are usually ignored by 40k shields

[@arielnir2679]

I can see them both as kite shields and as heater shields.

[@Nelrath]

Oh boy. This'll be a long one.

[@magicianman534]

I do think it's really funny that Dorn had the most vanilla wargear a legion officer can have. "What? A bolter and chainsword not good enough for you? It's good enough for your sergeants." That really does feel like something Dorn would do.

[@williamhanna9718]

Dorn never was one for stylish tactics, makes sense he would go for the utilitarian weapons as well

[@MrConna6]

One thing I liked about phalanx warders is the helmets have no outward vents as they spend their time in space, I like to imagine it also has better filters to avoid gasses and gas grenades in shipboard combat

[@TeutonicKnight92]

Really, people don’t like Dorn’s pose. I thought it was just about perfect for him. I’ve always imagine it as him standing on the walls of the palace after the latest traitor assaults been pushed back, his cloak fluttering in the breeze wondering “how as it come to this?”

[@MrConna6]

Yeah but that is pretty excluded from the game, lore is not everything here

[@theylivewesleep.5139]

Some people prefer dynamic models to static ones. Dorn is very far down on the static side of the spectrum. I personally really like his model. His one and the Lion’s are excellent.

[@MrConna6]

@@theylivewesleep.5139 the Lion may be more static but it is a combat pose, Dorn is literally stood there… If he was just taking a step or picking his sword up instead of doing nothing it would be static and, imo, much more popular

[@theylivewesleep.5139]

@@MrConna6 I never said the lion was more static or particularly static.

[@MrConna6]

@@theylivewesleep.5139 No I know but tbh I thought it was more static, I just googled it and its not really static at all it’s just really well balanced

[@Sean-yn2ok]

Btw, Fafnir Rann is still available in the UK and US. For some reason they took down the page for Australia, which is really odd in my mind.

[@morgymomo8535]

Great video. looking forward to the 5-minute iron warriors video!

[@taranwright3493]

He has already done it.

[@DeusExMachina10001]

No hate for thinking Sevatar is more interesting than Curze, though I think Curze is one of the most interesting Primarchs because he's one of the only ones with an interesting backstory and philosophy. I would however, disagree that Sevatar is more interesting in that I think they represent opposite sides of the same coin. Most of what makes Sevatar interesting IMO is how he plays off of Curze; how for instance he essentially became what Curze wanted his Astartes to be after having an argument with Curze. How he realized that Curze was, while not strictly wrong, also not right, and that there was a better way to be a Night Lord than what Curze ended up embodying in his madness. Compare that to, say, Kharn and Angron; Angron is barely a person because of the decisions the writers made regarding how the Nails function. Kharn, like Sevatar, is interesting primarily in how he plays off of Angron, but there's no question there of who is the more developed character.

[@lokenontherange]

Curze is a bit too stupid tbh.

[@darko-man8549]

haevily agree

[@walt_man]

Templar Brethren are some of my favorites! I have two sets, still require Despoilers. Don't know how new IF players sill make due?

[@theylivewesleep.5139]

The heads, like some others, are designed around the new MK III, but were sold as MK VI for some reason.

[@williamtimonen6814]

Its so weird how they werent just sold as ”Legion Name Heads 2” or something.

[@theylivewesleep.5139]

@@williamtimonen6814 it’s especially strange when some of the legions actually had the beakie-style heads, but some didn’t.

[@jamesmcmillanclyne391]

Havent watched the video yet but I've got to say the new intro is awesome. Whenever it comes on I always think how it's the best KZbin intro

[@toastle8005]

They’ve had a history of good intros, I can still hear the eerie groans and space creature noises from the old Getting Started series, it was a really good one too :)

[@magicianman534]

Just like with Rann, I think Garrius might be a preview of what we can expect from a future Cataphractii redesign.

[@riddlie787]

I don’t think too many people would even be against it, tbh.

[@loltwest9423]

Because of course Dorn has to be the special boy who gets his special boy base. Anyway, there’s a reason I picked the Fists and it wasn’t the size of their range. It was because they had a damn good range. I used a lot of Forgeworld parts in Crimson Fists. I love the shields, the pauldrons, the helmets and so on. It isn’t overdone, it’s just enough to get the flavor across, and personally, I liked the uniformity of the shields. They are pieces of equipment, not the actual armor itself. Leave the custom heraldry from the individuals, not the weapons they carry. All of that being said…why the fuck do we have a tank commander?

[@toastle8005]

I don’t know, brother... I don’t know. I just want to have my stubborn little tonka truck boys that stood against the apocalypse and kept refusing to die. Caked dirt, scratched and rent plate armour, lost limbs, fighting demons in hand to hand combat with a boltgun as the tunnel collapses around them. I wanted Dorn, who wasn’t that good of a fighter, but stayed awake for weeks organising and holding the defense. I didn’t want to be the clean, perfect yellow boys who were so much better than everyone else and beat everyone no matter what. I didn’t want to become Ward Ultramarines (another tragedy), where all we ever see are yellow and sea-green models and all we ever hear about are the glorious and smug Imperial Fists. I didn’t want Dorn to fight, and beat, Daemon Fulgrim in person. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to play with my Tonka trucks, and be left alone.

[@wiggy5209]

Whilst I agree with you for the storm shields IE variation ...they also seem like a giant form of badge of office ..instead of a little icon shield by one of your shoulders ..you can tell they are huscarls because they hold that shield ....thanks to all the cataphractii I have ...all of them in my collection have swords as well ... pretty nice looking unit

[@wiggy5209]

Then = huscarls

[@jamesespinosa690]

Damn. I love the original IE heads. They look awesome. Gives me a really solid look.

[@warhounds]

as a night lords fan i can say i dont care that you like Sevatar more than Curze, cause to us both are interesting and i think world eater fans think the same

[@geoffreywhitehead503]

The new head upgrades look like bladeguard Veteran heads with wreaths

[@toastle8005]

Quite. Not really what I think of when I think of what I want my Imperial Fists to look like. I can actually kind of see them working in a one-off, Templar-tactical sort of army, where a small contingent of young Fists and Inductii in a section of the defense all leant into this aesthetic- but that’s exactly the problem. It’s unusual, and a cool visual distinction from what you expect from Imperial Fists, not what the base universal upgrade set they’re pushing should be. This sort of thing would work perfectly for being an STL, where someone decided they wanted specialised units of Volkite gunners who all had this helmet, or wanted to theme their army around this Knight in yellow plate armour with a boltgun vibe. 3D printing is perfect for that sort of niche. I can even feel them growing on me as I think about it. But it’s a niche, and a rare one. It should not have been what they push ALL Imperial Fist infantry to look like if you’re a new player.

[@nathanfee9644]

Looking forward to the Night Lords review!

[@wiggy5209]

Have 20 huscarls thanks to that cataphractii storm shield kit ....

[@toastle8005]

Nice

[@darko-man8549]

@24:20 - turn that right arm into a power claw maybe [thinking face]

[@toastle8005]

Damn, that actually might look pretty nice

[@marshalaldric1254]

Really annoyed i never got around to buying the old tartaros praetor, really nice model and pose.

[@scales-of-war]

Saw on another video that apparently the IF tartaros terminator was Simon Egans first 3d sculpt during lockdown but no one thought to check the size of it before production 🙄

[@toastle8005]

🤦‍♂️

[@MrConna6]

Garrius was the beginning of the end imo, or was that zephon and rann and we just didn’t realise? Idk, either way his armour looks ‘soft’ like it is a bit too hot, it seems to hug way closer and more organically than other cataphractii, maybe I could get over the armour changes if it wasn’t but it screams nu gw to me

[@toastle8005]

A shame. As a relatively new player to the GW scene, who was introduced through mainly Primaris and newer 40k sculpts, Heresy kinda staggered me with just how much better everything looked, in a way I can’t quite describe. When I look at the Iron Hands Legion MK III squad, or old Cataphractii terminators, or Phoenix terminators, I just feel a profound sense of loss.

[@MrConna6]

@@toastle8005 you and me both brother, I am 23, for years I played 40k and was too scared of resin. I never even really looked at the hh kits but checked out a lot of fw on the school computers between 2010-2015. The feeling of loss and frustration I get looking at old kits I theoretically could have bought can hit pretty hard.

[@mersenniusprime]

No argument that the terminator mismatch is bizarre, but it ends up generally working out better than you would expect. Huscarls are terribly overrated - not because there's anything wrong with them, but because they are outperformed almost universally by a Tartaros command squad with hammers and shields. The Tartaros squad performs better against everything but Custodes, is faster, can sweeping advance, and has line from the banner, at the cost of maximum unit size and a special rule that really should not come up that often. As such, I end up using Tartaros for my bodyguard units (matching better with the Tartaros praetor) and using my cataphracts for Pride of the Legion deepstrike spam.

[@toastle8005]

Huh, that’s quite interesting to hear.

[@TheOuterCircle]

It's a little more nuanced than that. Don't forget the boosted toughness, battle hardened or more resilient units. For example, Gal Vorbak, Justaerin/SoH Terminators, biomancy buffed terminators, Morlocks etc. The ability to still double them out whilst being battle hardened and able to take even a strength 9 hit on the chin is incredibly rare. They can tank contemptor fists when charged, for instance. The Salamanders have the same save, Morlocks have the same resilience, but basically nobody blends all of these attributes, especially not for the points. Also, when boosted with Solar Marshal warlord trait and becoming weapon skill 6, it further improves that buff to the stratosphere because now the number of incoming hits and the outgoing damage both increase by a fair clip.

[@mersenniusprime]

@@TheOuterCircle You can take solarites on any unit that can take a power fist or thunder hammer, including far cheaper squads that could make use of the extra attack. They are only battle hardened in a turn in which they are not engaged in melee and then are charged. As a deep strike melee assault squad, this should almost never be happening. If you charge something worth using your elite terminators, there is a very good chance that you will not kill it and it will not run because it will inevitably be stubborn or fearless. In this instance, Iron Bulwark does not activate, as you are already in combat. In order for this rule to be useful, you have to come out of deep strike, kill something in a round, and then immediately get charged by another that is a meaningful threat, which essentially requires your opponent to have two separate death stars (otherwise, why didn't you charge the good unit?). I cannot see this as anything other than a novelty when considered in the context of an actual Imperial Fists army. If you are taking Huscarls, you are deepstriking them. If you are deepstriking one unit of terminators, you're going to be teleporting in a whole lot more than that. If you're actually using Iron Bulwark, it means that something has already gone very wrong. The only time I can see it being of use is if you somehow have Huscarls basically alone in the middle of your opponent's entire army and, for some reason, you don't want to use your advanced reaction on them. Also, any unit at all in IF can benefit from Solar Marshal. Again, I'm not saying that they're not good. In any other legion, they would be THE top tier. In IF, they are let down by essentially being a combination of things I can get off my wargear page and a single rule that should almost never come up if you use them correctly. Iron Bulwark might actually be good in an army where no other unit has deepstrike. In an army that tosses it around on any terminator and with a special RoW that exists just to throw deepstrike on absolutely everything (which does not actually confer the Shrouded (5+) to Huscarls, by the way), they just don't provide anything new and worthwhile compared with a Tartaros command squad with shields and hammers led by a Solar Marshal. If you play in a meta that sees a lot of Gal Vorbak or massed SoH terminators, you can just take Solarites on them or a mix of hammers and gauntlets. Gauntlets are strictly worse than thunder hammers against everything not T5 or a vehicle, though, and the fact that Huscarls are required to take them (or power weapons if you're insane) and are saddled with a rule that doesn't really work with how the unit "wants" to be played just makes them disappointing in IF. The fact that I can take a generic unit, load it down with my legion's unique wargear, and tailor their loadout to the exact role I need them in for the same cost just makes them sad.

[@01oo011]

Here we go!

[@wiggy5209]

With the templar upgrade kit,you can barely make them work with standard plastic MK3 ..had to do all sorts to make them compliant

[@darnokx9277]

Not enough love from FW for the poor Fists, they really deserve a couple more Praetors and the like.

[@charmlessgentleman]

Should this one be renamed rage review?

[@briandavion]

Dorn has a bigger base because he's the real star of the heresy

[@maxmagnus3793]

I wish the vigil Storm shields had some differently posed arms

[@lokenontherange]

I hate beakies so the best upgrade for MK.6 is a completely different scheme.

[@willsham45]

Lord Castalan...Special Armour or Early Models that will eventally be a terminator revamp?

[@jojomerou4075]

Let's be honest still no Legion specific Leviathan... IF need more release to be on pair with other legions... all together

[@itsallpointless6501]

Re: sigismund, it's because one of his legs is longer than the other

[@bigcoliber4864]

this gon be good man

[@robbiefleming2326]

My theory is the left over IF Mk6 heads are reinforced by artificers over thousands of years and are worn by the Emperors Champion. From what I can tell the set is 10% too small imo but mine are from Ukraine lol

[@SIMONK479]

So frustrating they don't make more special units for each legion and allow different types of MK and terminator armour to use dame equipment instead of kit bashing loads

[@theylivewesleep.5139]

I remember pre-ordering fafnir rann. GW screwed up and didn’t register it properly so they decided my order would take a third of a year to arrive. I cancelled the order and got one on eBay after that.

[@vaultatropos116]

Fafnir is still being sold, at least in America

[@aleksandersokal5279]

Same in United Kingdom.

[@toastle8005]

Yep, it is indeed still sold in both of your fine countries ...but not over here lol I think our Forge World representative must have gotten punched by a kangaroo or something, there is genuine hatred in the way they treat us these days

[@Sciontabier]

I'm surprised that this video isn't an hour long.

[@lokenontherange]

Needs more models then.

[@toastle8005]

As an IF player, don’t you DARE tempt fate

[@lokenontherange]

We do need more models.@@toastle8005

[@Wanten-the-stormtrooper]

Wait, are they actually not producing the Fafnir Rann model only a year or 2 after bringing him out?!

[@styrodot5578]

No he's plastic and still avaliable on GW's website not Forgeworld

[@Wanten-the-stormtrooper]

@@styrodot5578 Yeah, I checked right after watching the video and he's indeed still there. Still was a shock to hear, though.

[@toastle8005]

Just not in Australia, lol They really, really seem to hate us

[@Wanten-the-stormtrooper]

@@toastle8005 Yep... Glad I don't have to endure that ire!

[@styrodot5578]

@@toastle8005 it's probably a mistake or supply issue I'm sure it'll be fixed soon, probably, maybe

[@aleksandersokal5279]

I would argue that the templar-style helmet fits the Fists better and it could be accepted as their Legion variant. Imperial Fist look absolutely does not fit standard Mk IV and VI look.

[@darko-man8549]

but don't let GW hear that, they need to push MKVI as spread throughout the IF legion

[@toastle8005]

I kind of agree, but it should be a niche, like an STL for the rare player who wants to lean into this aesthetic. Mk 4, and other styles of Mk 4 helmet replacements, can actually look really good respectively in if colours- and personally, I think the occasionally yellow beakie armour and helmet looks quite good when you don’t overdo it. But it shouldn’t really be the aesthetic they push for the main line upgrades. They’re growing on me, but I’d theme a small force of Inductii and young marines around these helmets- they aren’t something I’d be dying to I put on all of my marines above the generic beaked look. I don’t know, man... just feels like a waste of opportunity, but I don’t resent that they exist, as they’ll now alway exist in STL form.

[@basition]

Nah man, i thought about servatar too.

[@roberthorvath9371]

The templar and other upgrade kit what kills new IF lists visually,the wardens are worst ..i built and painted a nice siege of Terra IF only infantry list. mk2,3,4,new characters and tartaros..the height difference is so great i needed to make 5 different height versioned base to fit them all and be somewhat realistic to books/artwork..

[@abbadonslostarms-kbd1393]

Banana raggamuffins

[@toastle8005]

Suspiciously yellow fellows

[@heresyhobbyist]

I think the design of the phalanx warders is so dumb. Smaller breaching shields with the weapon cutout but equipped with axes? The design of the helms, chest and axes are great, but conceptually its such a mixed bag for me.

[@jameskennedy3886]

They have bolters as well, but the kit doesn’t come with them, because it used to be a choice between the bolter or the power axe in HH1. So the cutout is for the bolter or special weapon if you were to give them one of the shooty specials instead of a thunder hammer. A thrusting weapon would make more sense with the shield cutout (like in the Angron primarch novel where their breachers use spears), but they’re supposed to be like, proto-executioners, so… the axe is there to illustrate that. Mechanically the axe also doesn’t render your expensive breacher unit utterly helpless against 2+ armour, but with GW rules writing being what it is, I expect that was accidental.

[@LongWarEnjoyer]

As an imperial fists player/fanboy, I apologize on behalf of all yellow boys. 😢