Warhammer 40K: Penitent Engine Focus
Games Workshop has a new Sisters of Battle update and this time we’re focusing on the Penitent Engine. Get ready to repent or die tryin!
Only the penitent man shall pass according to Dr. Jones. But in this case, the price of admission might be worth more than the “Reward” on the other side. In today’s Battle Sister Bulletin, GW is taking a closer look at the brand new Penitent Engine in all it’s righteous retribution.
“In this Battle Sister Bulletin, we’re checking in with everyone’s favourite execution machine of excruciating death – the Penitent Engine! This particular model features in the Adepta Sororitas: Sisters of Battle Army Set, which is on its way in November, so today we’re taking a closer look at the miniature’s incredible design.”
Penitent Engines are BRUTAL. It’s a cruel cross between a guilty convict and a weapon of war. Once the “Pilot” is strapped in, there is no escape. I think GW sums it up pretty nicely with this sentence:
“From that point onwards, the hapless sinner becomes little more than a pain-fuelled berserker, wildly lashing out at cruelly engineered projections of their own crimes as they seek desperate penance in an apoplectic, terminal rampage.”
When you’re using words like “pain-fuelled berserker” and “terminal rampage” you’re either listing off song titles from a Black Metal Album or describing a truly horrific fate. The Penitent Engines are not for the faint of heart. Furthermore, because the pilots are basically criminals on a death march, the Sisters have no problem using them as expendable line-breakers, too. Brutal and effective. Sounds like the Imperium to me.
The Model
Now, let’s take a more detailed look at the upcoming model itself.
This new model is packed with details. And because it’s all in plastic, it should be a lot easier to assemble vs it’s old metal cousin. On top of that, the fear of it shattering into a million bits of metal if you happen to bump the table should be a thing of the past.
The old Metal Version. You can see the family resembelance.
I don’t know what this poor soul did to get strapped into the Penitent Engine, but they are certainly paying for their crimes against the Emperor. The details on this model are pretty impressive! I’m wondering if the scars are just part of a great paint job or if those are actually on the model. The chains and locks are also impressively detailed.
The head gear reminds me of the Machine-Spirit orb you might find on other models – but this one is attached to a human’s skull. Which does kind of make sense. This machine-spirit is no machine!
The Machine-Spirit on the Lord Discordant
The flamers and buzz saw might have you thinking that an Ork Mek designed this weapon system, but in reality, it’s far more elegant than ork technology. I’ll let’ GW explain:
“Even though the Penitent Engine has a stripped-down aesthetic for massed production, the weaponry is still more advanced than the crude buzz-saws and burnas of Ork Deff Dread and Killa Kans. The circular blades, in particular, feature deep indentations to ensure that they won’t get clogged up with viscera or the torn hulls of the Penitent Engine’s victims.”
Those grooves serve a purpose. As gruesome and gory as that purpose is, the indentations are there so it can be a more efficient killing machine. The Penitent Engine brings the pain one way or another!
This new model is slated for a release in November – I hope you’ve been behaving or you might find yourself on the receiving end of a Penitent Engine.
The Penitent Man shall pass, INDEED!
