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It’s the Las Vegas Open again, so what LVO reveals do we have to behold? I have to admit that I get really excited for these reveal shows and always look forward to them, no matter what time of day they happen to land at. Fortunately, I don’t live far from Las Vegas, so this was an easy 10:00pm.

Kill Team: Night Lords vs. Drukhari

We had heard rumors about this one but even so I was very pleasantly surprised by the models. Of course, we’ve seen the Night Lords before, so they aren’t new, but the Drukhari Mandrakes are some very cool-looking miniatures. They are, I would have to say, some of the only Drukhari that I actually like. I’ve got an issue with Drukhari (aside from their lore of depravity), and it’s that all of the vehicles look great and the Dark Eldar themselves look terrible.

But these guys are a whole new look, and aside from their skin-skirts, you might never know they’re Drukhari. In fact, they look more like they would live in Age of Sigmar more than in Warhammer 40k. I’m not sure what faction they’d fit into, but they’re just very not Drukhari.

I like them. But I don’t like either faction in this box enough to get it, and the terrain that comes with it is big and blocky and lackluster.

Warcry: Nighthaunt vs Lumineth

I love me some Nighthaunt. I’ve had two full Nighthaunt armies in the past, and I just can’t get enough of these ghosty little guys, and when you slap them in manacles or chains, even better. So I was quite pleased to see that they are getting a Warcry release, especially when I made it a goal on my Ovelist to get into Warcry this year. Nighthaunt–especially these Nighthaunt–really seem like a good entry point for me.

The Lumineth Realm-Lords? Not so much. There are things that I like about the Lumineth, but it’s mainly all of the creatures. This is the same issue I have with the Idoneth: I like the critters, but I don’t love the elves. These are kind of cool? I guess? The armor looks neat but even then, only half of them are wearing armor.

The terrain piece that came with it was cool, with the big Slaan head, but it’s not a piece of terrain you can play on, just around, and that seems like a waste of space. So basically, I won’t be buying this box, but I will be trying to get my hands on the Nighthaunt, maybe split up on eBay.

Cities of Sigmar/Dawnbringer V

I haven’t really been keeping up with all of the Dawnbringers, but they routinely have cool models accompanying them, and I’m happy to see that my Age of Sigmar army of choice, the Cities of Sigmar, is getting a little love with Callis and Toll. Or, at least, I would be if these models were not so lackluster.

I mean, they’re fine? They’re decent sculpts, all of them, but even as I was scrolling through the figures to grab a screenshot there was not one of them that really jumped out to me as exceptional. I don’t really have plans to add them to my Cities of Sigmar army unless something in the meta makes them a must-have (and honestly, I don’t care about the meta that much.)

Krethusa the Croneseer

I get the impression from listening to the announcers on the livestream that I’m supposed to get really excited about this model and I’m just not. Well, to be fair, I don’t like the Daughters of Khaine generally. But this model really isn’t as good looking as they were making it out to be.

It’s cool, I guess. I don’t like the hair coming down over the face, and the physics seem off–it doesn’t seem like she’s actually standing on that rock–it seems like she really ought to be slipping. The crows are a nice touch, but I have no interest in picking this one up.

Underworlds

Underworlds never disappoints, however, and even though I’m not a zombie guy, I really love these sculpts. I don’t know if they have a separate team at Games Workshop that just works on Underworlds, but whoever they are, they’re really good at what they do. I think it’s partially because they’re unconstrained by the strictures of a faction system. They don’t have to make models that fit into an army list. They’re just playing pieces on a board game, and they work really well as that. So while I won’t be buying these, it’s mainly because I don’t play Underworlds and not because there’s a single thing wrong with these undead boys.

Warhammer 40K: Kroot Army Box

Anyone who has been around Warhammer 40k since the early years has been waiting for the Kroot to finally get their day in the sun. This was supposed to be the whole point of the T’au Empire–that they weren’t a single race, but many.

And the Kroot always had great promise of being the close combat arm of a shooty T’au army. And I’m SO excited to see that these Kroot are not only getting a refresh but getting a major refresh. Because in the livestream they said that all of these Kroot that we’ve seen at LVO–the War Shaper, the Flesh Shaper, the Carnivores, the Krootox, and the Rampagers–are only HALF of what is coming for the Kroot. That’s fantastic.

And what’s not to love about these sculpts. I thought the Carnivores were a little gangly and lackluster, but this War Shaper and especially this Rampager–these are chef’s kiss. So the Kroot are not only back, but back with a vengeance.

Unfortunately (for me) I will very likely never paint any because I have an aversion to T’au–too much edge highlighting and panel lining! It makes me crazy!

(I’m just bad at painting.)

The Horus Heresy

Now comes the main event, which is really pretty cool and is BY FAR the most enticing thing about this entire reveal show: The full Solar Auxilia range. (Or, at least, a lot of it.) We got the Solar Auxilia troops, the command squad, the Dracosan, the Leman Russ, the Leman Russ Assault Tank, the Sentinel, and the Malcador.

I absolutely love the Solar Auxilia troop design–and I realize it’s not new because you could get them from Forge World, but that’s kinda what I like about it. They look like old sculpts but sculpted by new sculptors, if that makes any sense at all. Essentially, the models look old, they look lived-in. They look like they’ve been around forever–all of which is perfect for the Warhammer 30k Horus Heresy troops. They just look like they’ve been updated by the latest and greatest sculptors. So, old design aesthetic, new polish.

The tanks are really magnificent. Even the Leman Russ, which is a tank we’re familiar with, is different enough to look, again, old. The Dracosan is the kind of absurdity we get in the Warhammer universe, where it’s a transport for ten men, but it also has a Demolisher cannon on the front of it. The Malcador is everything that the Leman Russ is, but more so. I really, really love the *extra* that we get on these tanks. 40k Leman Russes don’t get gold trim, but in 30k we get a lot of gold trim. But even then it looks antique.

The only misfire, and I feel bad saying this because this is a model that was designed by Forge World ages ago so they were stuck with it, is the Sentinel. It just doesn’t look right. I didn’t think so when I was assembling them for Legions Imperialis and I feel even less so now that I see it full scale. It looks like it’s missing arms, or missing something. The crew compartment seems too low to have such high shoulders–I really don’t know what those shoulders are for.

BUT: Will I buy into the Solar Auxilia? I don’t know. I already have a full strength Blood Angels Horus Heresy Army and, while I realize that I can add the Auxilia on as auxiliaries, I just don’t know if I want to build that army out any larger than it already is (it’s already very very big, well over 4000 points).

Closing Thoughts

Coming out of every reveal show I always have a list of things that I want to buy and this time my list is… half the Warcry box? And even then I don’t know if I need it. I just like Nighthaunt a lot. The Solar Auxilia is tempting, but that’s not adding to an army, it’s starting an entirely new army, and that’s daunting.

Then again, it’s probably healthy for me (and for my wallet) to have a reveal show where there’s not a lot of must-haves.

Time will tell.