40K REVIEW: Blood Angels Baal Predator Kit

I finally got my new Baal Predator in on Saturday. (Still no BA White Dwarf Subscription if you are following that story. GW is really dropping the Baal on their subscribers.) Lets take a good look at the new kit.

Upon opening the box, the first thing that slapped me in the face was the warped Rhino sprue! Normally I would just chalk it up to a casting rarity, but I am bringing this up because I opened up a Sanguinary Guard box set as well, and that sprue was warped. I cut off a Power Weapon to put on my Sanguinary Priest, and it has a nice bend in it. Two BA box sets, and two warped sprues. Is this a sign of things to come? Hopefully it is just an accident.

Inside the box are the usual Rhino sprues. The true beauty is the Baal Predator sprue. I also want to make a quick note about the new GW instructions. They are fresh, sharp and easy to read. Thanks for taking the leap into the 21st century GW!

Back to the sprue. The first thing I noticed were the decorative pieces. There is the big clunky angel piece that is depicted on the cover of the box which to me is ho-hum. And then there are the other two parts! One is a grail with an Iron Halo behind it and a little scrolling below, the other is a nice set of angel wings in the BA icon. Both of these pieces are beautiful additions to any BA tank. The only problem will be in getting enough of them! For these decorative pieces, GW gets my second thank you of the day.

Now for the assembly. The rhino went together pretty simply. I don’t know if they did a redesign of the mold, or if I have simply become a pro at assembling these damn things. All the parts fit well. The warped sprue was not much of a problem. The warped pieces were the sides of the tank, and they snapped together well enough to straighten out the warp. Just a couple minutes later and I had a nicely assembled rhino.

The other parts on the BA sprue are beautiful. The flame storm cannon looks sick! Be careful though, I broke a tube off the igniter part that glues onto the nozzle of the flamer and I was using very little force. The rest of the cannon went together flawlessly and fit well into the newly designed turret. I also love that they added a plastic assault cannon. No more having to pin and pray that it is straight. Probably the coolest parts are the flame cannon attachment on the back of the turret and the sponson guns. The flame tanks make the turret look badass and the Heavy Bolters and Heavy Flamers are redesigned. The bolters look more streamlined and deadly and the flamers are longer then the old stubby ones. I think the old bolters were clunky and squat. The redesign is fresh and cool.

Oh, and another couple bits of notes, the gunner looks good too. He has a Blood Angels chest plate and helmet. There are also two helmetless heads that look like the standard issue son of Sanguinius. Lastly, they included a new plastic shoulder pad with the Blood Angels symbol. This one is simple and stylized like the original logo. If you like more basic design and want to get away from all of those sculpted flowing shoulder pads in the DC and SG box sets, then here you go! It just looks like a 3d version of the original logo. I think it is much more appropriate for your foot slogging tactical marines. Not every Blood Angel will have ornate wings on their shoulders, and this will allow you to get away from those messy, ill fitting transfers.

The only con I would say, aside from the warping sprue, is that I would like to see more of the decorative stuff! BA are the most artistic chapter and these little bits are going to be few and far between. I doubt we will see it, but I am hoping to see some sort of upgrade pack. Give me a kit with 10 of those shoulder pads please GW! I also don’t want to have to buy 10 packs of Death Company just to get a right handed power weapon. They can throw a nice little upgrade pack with nothing but fancy bits and pieces for 20 bucks, and I will buy up a pile of them. Give us more bolters, CHAINSWORDS and shoulders without Death Company Xs on them GW!