New Berserker unit concept

On with the first hobby-related post in some time! :)

Sadly I still haven't been able to get hold of the new BA codex. There is just the one hobby store in Korea, it's possibly the only shop in the entire country that doesn't do mail order, and it's a 5 hour drive from where I live.

Anyway, now I've got the excuse out of the way as to why I still haven't read a codex that everyone else has since moved on from, the real reason for this post. One of the interesting facts I've picked up on while reading about changes to the BA with the latest codex, is the greater versatility when choosing Death Company weapon loadouts, beyond the 'one size fits all' of the previous book. As I use the Death Company rules to represent Berserkers, this is obviously great news!

One of the more interesting changes is the ability for DC to carry a boltgun along with the 'relentless' rule which allows them to fire and still charge. Following on from this, I stumbled across this piece of art from the HH card game, called a 'rampager squad'. I love the styling and the level of aggression that the artist has managed to put into the marine. Although they were a Sons of Horus unit, I could easily imagine a similar style existing within the World Eaters; perhaps long term veterans, used when a breach was needed in the enemy line, massively aggressive but experienced fighters.

I love the idea of these guys jumping out of their transport, weapons blazing into a crowd of enemies, and then charging in to crumple them in close combat!

Couple this with the new mk3 armour that FW has released (again, I love the aggressive posing of these models, and the helmet is somewhat similar):

Although I think these are great models in their own right, I think they could benefit from some customisation (to try and fit the theme of the card art), and to make them appear more like veterans (although I am concious of overdoing it in a force that is rather minimalistic in style for the most part).

A chap called Dave (Wolf Lord Mjol from the Great Crusade forum) has put together a quite excellent pre-heresy Space Wolves force. See here.

One of the standout aspects of his army (which I was fortunate enough to play against, see the 'battle reports' section) was his use of cloaks on the marines. They are made from the rear part of a chaos warrior body, adapted to fit a marine torso.

My idea is to use something similar to this (although a generic animal fur rather than specifically a wolf one), and add some chainmail interlaced through it - something similar to the card art, and also to tie it to the other units in my force.

I also want to use different shoulder pads to the FW ones, to make them look a little beefier.

I'm not to sure about a involving a character, although perhaps a 'unit veteran' (some grizzled old sergeant, who has refused promotion in order to stay with his unit, but nevertheless has the power of a captain rank soldier). If anyone has read the book and has comments on what character (special or otherwise) might be appropriate I would love to hear it! :)

When will these guys get started? I have absolutely no idea, but I'm keen to give them a try as soon as I get the opportunity!