40K: The Missing & Imprisoned Armies
GW has done something very odd with both Kroot and Mechanicum ranges; and I think something is up…
We all lament the sad tale of the Squats.
The one and only Warhammer 40,000 army cut down in it’s prime – and lost to the apocryphal mists of time. GW said never again would another range be removed from the game and they have stuck to their word. There have been no *entire* armies removed from the game but with two factions something kind of odd is going on…
Kroot Mercenaries – The Lost
Hey everybody, remember Kroot Mercenaries? They used to have an entire armylist back in 4th Edition and had a pretty solid range of ForgeWorld minis that hit the scene with The Taros Campaign book back in 2005.
The Kroot used to have a full featured army back in the day, and a Forge World range full of the rare stuff like Knarloc riders, Great Knarlocs and more. It was a very cool low tech army – that rounded out the Xenos options. Best of all – hey they were Mercenaries who traveled the galaxy – so you could shoehorn them into almost any type of campaign or setting.
Then 8th Edition arrived and they were missing. No mention of them from the Forge World books – which is very odd as the launch Index books included all kinds of rare stuff like the 30th Anniversary Imperial Marine and the Primaris Rhino. Now the non-Forge World Kroot Army list had been long gone and was mostly based on conversions of the Kroot Carnivores kit – but still – it was very odd that all the Knarlocs got the cold shoulder.
Horus Heresy Mechanicum – The Imprisoned
Moving on we reach maybe the odder of the two cases. The quite large and impressive Forge World range of Mechanicum models that are restricted to the Horus Heresy setting.
Now I know that GW likes to keep the FW and Studio kits segregated a little, but this is just odd. The vast majority of Forge World kits like the Contemptor Dreadnought, Sicaran, and Leviathan Dreadnought are dual use in both 30K and 40K. With Adeptus Mechanicus just getting a new shiny codex – everyone was hoping for a transport, and some new tanks.
It’s funny because they have existed for years, but Forge World just won’t give them 40K rules. Over on the 30K side of things we have everything a 40K Ad-Mech player could ever dream of. From transports like the Triaros up there, to tons of Robots, new infantry like the Thallax – all the way up to the big Lords of War like the Ordinatus.
An automoton for every budget…
Now THAT’S how you deal with a Primarch!
What is Going On?
Both of these begs the question – WHAT IS UP? I think we have to take these in turn.
Kroot Mercs are a force who needs to return. I can see why GW might not want to release a faction that is mostly Forge World and conversion based, but there should be no problem just allowing the Knarlocs as Tau units.
There have been whispers of a White Dwarf return of the Kroot Mercs list and GW has been hinting at new xenos of late... time will tell.
On the Mechanicus front – I have NO IDEA what’s up. This is just literally lost revenue for GW. The plastic Ad Mech range is a little light and the unit roles of the large Mechanicum range fit the bill perfectly. Almost every other 30K unit has a 40K rules counterpart. I say let the funky units come over and play.
~What do you think about GW retconning away some factions and segregating others to either 40K or 30K only?
