Your top three kits in need of an update

[Red_Shift]

I've been watching Kirioth' s range review videos on YouTube and it has really brought home to me how outdated some of the kits are. In some cases it can really put off somebody collecting a particular faction. IMO 40k has been somewhat neglected over AoS unless you are a space marine, something that hasn't effected me over much as I have a large IF collection. So if you could update three kits, which you choose and why?

 

1. Eldar Guardians - I feel this kit is lacking in so many ways. The poses are limited, the detail lacking and there are no real options. Bizarrely, the helmetless head options are larger than the helmets. I feel the shuriken magazine redesign from 2nd edition which originally looked cool, now makes the wargear look less sleek and alien, particularly with pistol design. It could do with a kabalite warrior esque redo.

 

2. Catachans - an old kit that has the right bits but hasn't stood up to the test of time. I have fond memories as a teenager of building and playing with these and I would love a come back.

 

3. Another eldar kit, Striking Scorpions. Over the years there has been some great artwork for these guys including the iconic piece where they are fighting tyrannid warriors. Done right these guys could give off a real menacing, predator vibe but the models fall flat imo. Which aspect needs replacing doing first is very much a matter of preference though as they all need a bit of work.

 

So what do you guys think? What are your top three?

Edited May 7, 2020 by Red_Shift

[FormelyKnownAsSmashyPants]

Definitely Catchans as you’ve mentioned.

 

Even though they’re currently not an option in the codex, rough riders. Even though they’re not in the codex, they could be with a new kit, units have disappeared from codexes and returned with a new kit before.

 

Equal third place is Cadians and Eldar Guardians, with Ork Boys close behind.

 

There are other units that need updating, like Aspect units, especially Shining Spears, but you said to pick three.

 

Edit: Beserkers need an update more than Cadians and Guardians, so I suppose they take third place and the others take fourth.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Captain Smashy Pants

[firestorm40k]

Khorne Berzerkers (21 years old now)

Catachan & Cadian Imperial Guard/Militarum (kind of obvious for the Catachans, but I also think the Cadians, while still looking good and a versatile kit to work with, need updating to match the scale and detail of recent kits)

Noise Marines (a *proper* Noise Marine kit, developed using the new digital techniques GW have at their disposal, could look *amazing*)

[Hfran Morkai]

1) (And never likely to happen) Space Marine Scouts. The plastic sculpts are so ugly (though maybe that's intentional given they're not human nor in their power armour so the proportions are deliberately weird). They're so bad though that I'm buying up metal old school Scouts and looking at using Necromunda Enforcers as a base...

 

2) Ork Kommandos (though pretty much a bunch of their kits). I have a soft spot for Kommandos because its absolutely hilarious imagining sneaky Orks. Would love to see a plastic kit with lots of different pose options including maybe a "snipe-uh".

 

3) I'll agree with Catachans, the command squad box is pretty awesome but the troopers let the side down and they're what you'll be buying most of.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Hfran Morkai

[BadgersinHills]

1. Berserkers. Even buying for bits, they look chunky as heck. 

 

2. Guardians. 

 

3. Shock Troops squad. 

 

These last two could be fantastic if they were given the light of day.  I do think they'll be remade at some point since it's pretty much guaranteed success to make them, but who knows with GW? 

Edited May 7, 2020 by BadgersinHills

[Marshal Rohr]

Imperial Guard

 

Ork Boyz

 

Eldar Guardians

 

 

Runners Up:

Necron Warriors

Khorne Berzerkers

Noise Marines

[Magos Takatus]

I think I'd have to pick the following:

 

Flayed Ones: I've make no secret of the fact that I think the current Flayed Ones look awful. Those ugly bladed hands, the goofy shears and the downright ridiculous one that has a dead guy riding on it's back. Give me back those creepy hands with long surgical blades for fingers instead of comedy scissors. I'm not even a Necron player and I'm passionate about this one.

 

Ork Kommandos: Though I like the design of the Kommandos on paper having to actually clean up and assemble those models was a nightmare task. I feel I spent as much time cutting away excess resin and filling in obscured detail  as I did actually painting them. A plastic kit would make them a lot easier to prepare before painting.

 

Eldar Avatar: Ignoring the models created by Forge World this model hasn't had an update since 2nd edition 40k and while the sculpt isn't abysmal it is really suffering from a bad case of scale creep. Compared to modern sculpts the Avatar is a bit dumpy and inelegant which is the opposite of what Aeldari are suppose to be. The pose of the model is static for a giant space elf ragemonster. I have a lot of nostalgia for the GW Avatar but I upgraded to the FW Avatar with spear a long time ago which fits in a bit better with everyone else's centrepiece monsters and daemons.

[MARK0SIAN]

I’d say Berzerkers are at the top. There are others that definitely need updating but I’d say these have stood the test of time far worse than cadians or Orks. So I’d say:

 

Berzerkers

 

Eldar Guardians

 

Flayed ones

 

I’d just add in response to the OP that if you’re worried about a lack of posing options in the current kit then a new kit is unlikely to solve the problem. Pretty much everything they’ve released as a new kit is mono-pose and I think that will continue.

[ranulf the revenant]

1. Bikes

2. Guard Infantry in general

3. Berserkers

[Red_Shift]

I had forgotten about the bezerkers, they must be the oldest plastic kit in circulation, I think they came out right around the same time as the 3rd edition tactical squad? Still not one of the ones I personally have interest in but I agree they deserve an update.

 

Ork Kommandos would be great as a plastic kit, always an amusing concept let down by the current metals.

 

Cadians are interesting as they have not aged as well as some much older kits but for me personally I would prefer a new more 40k regiment in preference to a cadian update.

[Redcomet]

From the two limited edition models Catachans are nr 1 on my list, followed by:

 

Eldar aspect warriors and their Phoenix lords (more than one kit I know, but they all need it)

 

Eldar avatar. I want a large suit of animated armor to lord it over the lesser races with.

[Sandlemad]

1. Berzerkers. They looked dated even compared to the last iteration of plastic CSM. Good broad aesthetic (blunt, stripped down, blocky) but bad proportions to the point where bits used as flavour for other kits stand out awkwardly. GW's put a lot of effort into Khorne's design language in AoS so this ought to be an easy win. The Mandalorian helm is a classic but a lot of the other details are very rough indeed, even compared to contemporary or earlier sculpts.

 

2. Noise marines. It's a metal/resin + plastic hybrid kit that doesn't even get you enough gear for what you want. Does it even work easily with the newer CSM? Moreover it suffers from an underdeveloped aesthetic (these guys should be bizarre and OTT) and falls down in terms of sculpting quality compared to what can be done with fabric, accruements and other Slaanesh gubbins. Look at the AoS kits and it's apparent that something close to the excellent noise marine artwork could easily be achieved nowadays.

 

Better yet, go all out and make them close to the kakophoni we see in the Fabius Bile books: psychically-enabled and surgically modified mutants, obviously physiologically different to normal astartes. Bloated rib-cages to allow for expanded lungs, weird sense-organs, guns that are all but built into their bodies, faces that no longer resemble anything human. There's an clear difference between a late-stage plague marine and a CSM with the mark of Nurgle. Do something similar for the kakophoni.

 

3. Eldar guardians. Yeah, these are bad. The style is fine and it's not like they need more detail but they've just been outpaced in sculpting ability. At this stage they almost look like crude third party sculpts compared to what we have with modern eldar stuff. This really would be a refresh. Finer sculpting, better proportions, a few more interesting poses and gubbins.

 

3. Flayed ones. Changing my vote here because I forgot how bad these guys are, a kit that took a visual step back from the earlier metals. I also think that they ought to be closer to a light, CC variant of warriors than the elites they are now, and the idea of a Flayed One-centric Maynarkh horrorshow of an army is a more attractive one than the admitted necessity of an eldar guardian update.

 

--

 

Ork boys I think actually hold up. They're nothing on the nobs and other recent ork kits but as a horde of basic troops they're ok. Could do with a wider range of heads though, the numbers of dudes required make them look a bit samey. 

 

Guard are a weird one. Catachans really, really need it and Cadians need it (3rd party head changes work wonders for alleviating the fatigue that comes with ubiquity) but if we had a guard reset to match the modern baseline human scale set by the skitarii, I'd rather it was for a new and faintly more gothic guard force. Not entirely so, not as much as the Vostroyans, the guard should still be utilitarian and have room for fitting in all the milsf tropes the fanbase loves, but something with a bit more breadth of influence and use.

 

Something that could represent the post-GS Cadian diaspora would be cool. Cadian-esque but not entirely tied to Cadia, a bit more room for variability and taking some of the lessons of the command kits. Something that could make dudes who'd recognisably match the better Cadian artwork but also have scope to veer away from them, a bit like the changes between the old and new AoS chaos warriors. Preferably sold in semi-reasonably priced boxes of 20 dudes, like the AoS Ossiarch infantry.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Sandlemad

[Robbienw]

Space Marine Bikes - so old, need to be updated to the standard of the RW Black Knight bikes.

 

Standard Space Marine Terminators - need updating to the same standard as the deathwing terminator kit.  The Space Marine Heroes Terminators were kind of an update, but need a more multi-part version with the full range of weapons.

 

Cadians.

[Marshal Loss]

1. Possessed
2. Noise Marines
3. Defiler

Reasoning is pretty simple: Possessed are such an important and unique unit for CSM and they deserve to have models matching the scale and quality of the latest kits. Noise Marines need one just as badly (as do Berzerkers, but I'm an EC fan). The Defiler also deserves to fit in alongside the latest generation of daemon engines, especially given its pedigree.

[Ishagu]

Necron Flayed one are absolutely the kit most in need of an update.

 

Guardsmen of all varieties need a refresh, they are popular and common but are very dated.

 

3rd place is contention between multiple kits.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Ishagu

[Scribe]

What Sandlemad said.

[Scammel]

Definitely Ork Boys in terms of importance. Guardians and Guardsmen are long in the tooth but ultimately fine (especially as non-flashy troops), I've never been one of those who hates the Cadians. Boys just look terrible, especially alongside newer Ork/Orc facial structures, and they're perhaps the iconic unit of Ork armies. 

[Noserenda]

Flayed ones, Berserkers and Noise Marines suck but they are getting a revamp sooooooonish according to rumour. Marine scouts have awful heads but those are easily replaced, though a modern frame with both kits, not awful heads and some more options would be shiny. Marine bikes are the oldest kit still going (Apart from maybe the falcon or vyper?) but Primaris versions are coming.

Myyyy choices...

1. Guard Infantry, either Catachans or Cadians get redone with better proportions, or, i think more likely, a new Regiment which is a lot more 40k coded. The Core infantry for a fairly popular army are both awful kits as it stands with giant heads or biceps thicker than power armoured super soldiers. Limited weaponry aint great too, a spread of specials and maybe one heavy weapon you can use standing with minimal parts? 

2. Rough Riders, GW hates horse cavalry these days even in AoS but i think its a great unit to emphasise the madness inherent in the munitorium, make them a dual build with classic Lancers and considerably more sensible carbine & special weapon toting scouts, hell chuck in a banner/officer/medic option for a command squad too. Same Regiment as 1.

3. Sisters of Silence, Maybe not the full range Custodes got but adding a second unit would do a lot, either by revamping the current basically monopose kits and adding veteran/officer parts/options or adding an entirely new kit, preferably beast handlers or jetbikes, though Oblivion knights with the axes in semi terminator armour also great :D  

[Noserenda]

Tbf there was that whole era of basic plastic troops that havent aged well to various degrees that could really benefit for a revamp. Of course GW isnt that into revamping old kits these days, i guess based on the Success of Primaris/AoS but some of these units are still absolutely core.

[Scribe]

See, for Guard I would think thats more of a full range reboot. Not a kit here or there. They absolutely need it though.

[Tyriks]

Tbf there was that whole era of basic plastic troops that havent aged well to various degrees that could really benefit for a revamp. Of course GW isnt that into revamping old kits these days, i guess based on the Success of Primaris/AoS but some of these units are still absolutely core.

Outside of loyalist marines they have been revamping kits.  Chaos Marines got some new kits but they also got new Sorcerer, Havocs, Terminators, CSM.  Eldar got revamped Howling Banshees and Incubi.  Daemons got a few revamped kits also.  So, they definitely still do it!  

 

If we got new Flayed Ones and Berzerkers I'll be ecstatic.  Both are currently atrocious.  There are so many good choices for a third I don't think I could narrow it down.  

[Sergeant Centurion]

1-Legion of the Damned, this will not happen i know.
2-First Born Terminators.
3-Space marine Techmarine and servitors. 

[Noserenda]

 

Tbf there was that whole era of basic plastic troops that havent aged well to various degrees that could really benefit for a revamp. Of course GW isnt that into revamping old kits these days, i guess based on the Success of Primaris/AoS but some of these units are still absolutely core.

Outside of loyalist marines they have been revamping kits.  Chaos Marines got some new kits but they also got new Sorcerer, Havocs, Terminators, CSM.  Eldar got revamped Howling Banshees and Incubi.  Daemons got a few revamped kits also.  So, they definitely still do it!  

 

I should be more specific, they arent replacing _Plastic_ kits generally, all of those examples were metal/finecast (Or in other cases monopose/easy build for starters etc) except the terminators, which are a bit of a mystery to be tbh as they really added nothing much compared to the original plastic kit, id thought they might take advantage of Abbadons rescaled terminator armour but nope, basically the same as the last kit except for the combi weapons, very odd.

[Tyriks]

The CSM kit is another that was plastic.  I'll take your word for the others, though.

[Bryan Blaire]

Is it Finecast? Then it needs to be made plastic.

 

Then:

Is it older than 12 years? Then it needs to be updated.

 

Hopefully these are all already underway for designs, and we are merely waiting for the Manufactorum at GW to have its full capacity increase realized and initiated. Once that’s fully going, we may see kits released faster.