Warhammer 40K: The New Astra Militarum Units Are Kind Of Weird
Let’s talk about the new Astra Militarum units announced. They are most… unexpected.
Look I love the Astra Militarum, or as us old timers know it, the Imperial Guard. It’s the army that I play the most and feel a real loyalty towards. It’s no secret that I have a lot of thoughts about them and their future. I’ve talked about them a fair bit recently. So of course I was excited to see the announcement of some new, upcoming, units for the army. However there are some really odd things about this release that raise a lot of questions for me. Let’s take a look at the new units.
Ursula Creed
Ursula Creed, the daughter of Old Man Creed, is the most normal thing here. There is nothing really odd about having a new character join an army. With Creed out of action for now, it makes sense for Guard to get a new “faction leader” sort of model. I do think this might be the first time, or at least the first in a long time, that we’ve gotten a character that’s the decedent of another. I guess the passage of time IS real in 40K after all.
Sentinels
Next up we’ve got the Sentinel. This is a bit of an odd choice for me. GW has struggled to make sentinels a relevant part of the Guard army for many editions. They are one of those not very good, but occasionally useful units. They don’t get a ton of play and in modern 40K are woefully underpowered. If I had to pick a unit to redo in Guard, Sentinels, with a servicable model already, wouldn’t be my top choice. Yet here we are.
What’s interesting is that they don’t seem to really be up gunning them at all. We do see one new weapon, and what is either a secondary weapon or smoke launchers, but that’s about it. Unless these guys are getting some jazzed up weapons, paying a ton of points for a single plasma cannon or heavy flamer, isn’t normally worth it. Still, I guess its an OK choice. It does look “sleeker” – by AM standards compared to the previous one, so thats good. It is possible that this new armor aesthetic may be a design leader for future Astra Militarum vehicles.
Kasrkins
OK, here is the really odd one for me. Kasrkin. Up until this point Kasrkins have just been another name for Stromtroopers, I.E. Tempustus Scions. Rules-wise they are the same. So far at least this seems to be still true, the new models have hot-shot lasguns and carapace armor. At best they might have slightly different rules. What makes this such an odd choice is that Scions are some of the newest models in the Guard army. They are a whole fresh line. Why, given a limited number of units to remake, would you put out what is essentially new models for the newest units in the army?
Overall they seem like just a really odd choice. Now, maybe Scions are getting spun off into their own army. That could make sense. Maybe these new Kasrkins are meant initially for Kill Team (could this be why their bases are different from the rest of the army in the picture?) and will have a limited 40K release. But so far it seems like all three of these releases are focusing around the fringes of the army and not replacing any of the really core models.
Is There More?
Of course we are likely getting more than just three new units. At least I hope so. The picture that GW released might have some hints to new units. If you look behind the Kasrkin you can see what initially seems to be an infantry squad. Now, the picture isn’t great, and they are in the background, but looking at them more and more, I feel like they aren’t a normal infantry squad. Take a closer look.
The poses, weapons and heads look a little off from the normal Cadian infantry squad. They also seem to have the same knee pads as the Kasrkins, but clearly differnt guns. They almost look like Elysian drop troops to me. Could this be a new infantry unit? Maybe its a combination kit with the Kasrkins. Perhaps Veterans and Kasrkins in one kit? I don’t know but I can hope.
Let us know if you think that’s a new unit in the background, down in the comments!
