I've been really excited to get into Planetstrike from the first time I read the book. To me, the cinematic style of gameplay is very appealing and the game structure itself seems to create a story for each game instead of fighting over nameless objectives as you might in regular games of 40k. The terrain for Planetstrike is also very cool. I don't think I've met anyone who didn't like the Fortress of Redemption, even if they didn't play Dark Angels. The standard bastions look good as well but for me, I wanted something more akin to the Fortress for the rest of my buildings. While I'm not suggesting that this kit replace the Imperial Bastions completely I guess they look a little too Guardsmen for my tastes and Dark Angels deserve some nice gothic terrain. Enter the Witchfate Tor kit from Warhammer Fantasy.
To me, this kit just screams Dark Angels. As always, click the images for bigger versions.
This kit is chock full of awesome details. Below, the Grim Reaper wielding a scythe is very appropriate iconography for Dark Angels.
Lots of skulls are fairly standard fair for most Games Workshop products. These ones remind me of the Dark Angels chapter standard or the Fortress of Redemption where the Angel is depicted standing atop a pile of skulls. Very cool.
The robed statue holding the downward pointing sword at the left of the picture below can't really get any closer to Dark Angels iconography except for maybe losing the little combat shield.
Even the bricked up symbol of the Dark God Tzeentch isn't completely out of place considering their dark history at the fall of Caliban.
One of the few things that doesn't fit entirely well with Dark Angels are the symbols adorning the crenelations. You could always file them off and either leave them blank or replace them with something appropriate. If not, I'm sure it wouldn't be a stretch to think up of some fluff to explain it. The falling meteor could very well symbolize the orbital bombardment at the fall of Caliban.
The pattern on the roof looks more Black Templar than anything but it looks so awesome that it really wouldn't bother me. If it did, you could always paint the roof in a more subtle way so the pattern is less obvious instead of picking out the interior with red as it is done below.
Summary: The kit is more expensive than the standard Bastion, coming in at just over twice the price but it has far more than twice the detail. The footprint is also a bit bigger than your standard bastion so considering those two factors I would be inclined to buy one and use it as a centerpiece. The thing that really sold me on this building was that it has a detailed interior that looks fantastic. If you didn't glue the levels together (why would you?) you could even put your occupying units inside it. I can definitely see me getting this kit at some stage.
Stay tuned for more.
- Dugatron