General ideas and thoughts about the upcoming starter

Heya 

Let's start with the Dark Angels. 

Model-wise the Dark Angels' composition is quite an interesting mix. We could see 2 HQs right off the bat (excluding the Limited Edition Chaplain) which are impressive sculpts for snap-on miniatures. The Terminators are also interesting that they are perhaps the first instance of a 'Heresy' mark of Terminator armour with lots of studs on their armour. However the Ravenwing bikers and the Marines is what pulled the overall impressive look of the miniatures down as the Ravenwing bikers and Marines do not look any different from the normal mooks.

For some reason I think of the Chappie as an Iron Chef....

However, game-wise we could see that there is a lot of game mechanics involved in the Space Marine repertoire (teleporting, bikers, plasma, psychic, etc) thus allowing the newbies to get a feel of the many myriad rules of 40k. and. In addition, it seems that this could be some foreshadowing of Dark Angels as being the plasma-kings of the Imperials as befitting their fluff. Perhaps it could be the cheapest/strongest option in the book that could not be ignored. Only time will tell.

Termies cool, Ravenwing not so....

As for the Chaos guys, model-wise GW have truly outdone themselves this time. Seriously I am throwing money on my computer screen and screaming "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!"

DAYUM

Even without the Red to make the models pop out even more, the sculpts is truly impressive and put all the normal Chaos Marine stuff  (and even the loyalists) to shame. Seriously....this is just too much. The Hellbrute is the one the internet is most amazed about as it is a truly dymanic model with a lot of details on it. The Chosens are stunning as well and the Chaos lord can be a Chosen champion if the need arise in the new Chaos codex.

The true jewel of the starter set.

However, the main honourary mention actually goes to the Cultist as right here is essentially what I consider as the best deal in the whole starter box. With the cultist, you can essentially start a third army/Allies in the form of Traitor Guard or even use them as Penal Legionnaires with the proper conversions. There is also the visual brilliance that you could get some Empire Flagellants and Catachans/Cadians and make the squad even more chaotic than before to complement their overall looks. These guys....just brilliant despite their humble looks.

Gamewise, the army is geared to work in close combat with the Chosen being very powerful if the balance is to be considered within this starter set. We could also deduce that this is in effect for the new Chaos Marines book. The Hellbrute looks to be a buffed Dreadnought and is perhaps the general counter to the whole marine list as only the Terminators could take it down with any amount of certainty. The Chaos Lord's role is something I find a challenge to figure out as there must be a mechanic in place that makes it the equivalent of 2 Marine HQ, but what mechanic could make that is currently unknown to me.

The Cultist in my opinion serves to become a form of buffer for the Chaos Marine elements to work their magic. In addition it appears that they come in two flavours; Close combat and shooty. Perhaps they could be given marks to make them even more useful than before, perhaps Chaos will get a form of the Skaven's shooting at enemies trapped in close combat.

What do you guys think about the starter set as a whole?