New Sekhetar Guardian Robot Discussion

[Teetengee]

I'm really curious about how their assembly will work. If a lot of the armor plating can be easily cut off/not attached, that really opens up their options as a starting point for conversions.

[Xenith]

I've split out the Robot discussion from the 'What do we need' topic into it's own as it was deserving. 

 

 

[Xenith]

The TS colouration is definitely a win for these guys, the cream/bone is too weird and unlike the faction as a whole. I'd be interested to see them in preheresy Thousand Sons colours/Sons of Magnus warband in 40k. The red energy pack on one's back is almost certainly some kind of heat weapon (as red = hot).

 

I know GW is trying not to have the same units repeated across ranges, but it's a real shame to not have Castellax- Achea in the army instead of whatever these are. Or perhaps some old Legio Xestiobax black iron core (Illegal secret AI controlling titans) shenanigans?

[Ahzek451]

I would love to ask the studio team what was the thought behind the paint scheme. Not to berate them, but out of genuine curiosity. 

A lot of the sentiment from people are you love em, hate em, or think they are ok. I sit somewhere between ok and love em. I've looked at a lot of youtube videos commenting on the new bots, I've seen a lot of calls for why these things are not like the Castellax Achea. I totally get it. The Achea is gorgeous, beefy yet elegant. I geuss, for me there are 2 reasons why I am good with not getting a Tzeentchified Achea:

1. There is precedence in a BL novel(the title escapes me at the moment) where the T.sons/Magnus has led a large force against the Space wolves and basically burned through all the robots so there is an argument that they are gone for good in present times. (you could also argue that its a BL novel is not actual cannon too).

2. The white dwarf article also sets these things up as robots that pre-date the imperium. Much older than the Achea and way different.  It sounds like these things have been sitting in the vaults of Tizca for ages and had not seen action until now. Probably because the T.sons were still tinkering with them even back then before the burning. 

In my mind, the argument for a new Achea just doesn't fit based on the above. But besides that, I just like new and different. Not everything needs to be a 40k update from 30k heresy. Sometimes its cool to get something completely new. And in this case, I am mostly pleased. Wish the footing was a bit different and little surprised not to see some more iconography on the shoulder pads(due to the bone white color I am sure). But overall, pleased. The way that these things are more slender and nimble looking when compared to Achea also makes me imagine how utterly creepy this could be on the battlefield. Imagine for a moment....achea are lumbering, a touch slow and cumbersome. These things stand eerily quiet and utterly still like sentinels awaiting the presence of an enemy or command. And due to their build(double jointed legs), at a moments notice they spring into action with alarming speed, covering large distances in a blink of an eye and every movement with fast jerk-like mechanical precision. 



As far as rules, others have already touched on the tidbits already given. Some kind of defensive protocol for sorcerers, able to hide and wait to ambush the opponent, decently armed. There have been comments about the durability in comparison to obliterators based on size. Valid and logical conclusions, but might I add....GW isn't exactly known to be super consistent with defense to size. As guardians, it is possible that these things could have a sort of shield or otherwise. 

They did mention melta, but that could just be the special rule attached to the gun and not that it is a melta gun in all respects. The weapons in general are very different looking from imperial design and harken back to the dark age. If indeed that is a twin heavy warpflamer mounted on the side, it looks radically different from what we have seen so far. I hope for a profile that has a longer range/stats. The missile rack I don't except to be different from the terminators, even though it is slightly bigger. 

I believe our codex is next in line. Hoping that we get more info on WARCOM either this week or next.  

[Archaeinox]

3 hours ago, Ahzek451 said:

These things stand eerily quiet and utterly still like sentinels awaiting the presence of an enemy or command. And due to their build(double jointed legs), at a moments notice they spring into action with alarming speed, covering large distances in a blink of an eye and every movement with fast jerk-like mechanical precision. 

 

 

It reminds me of Unreal Tournament combat robots. Rigid in pose but protocols adjust movement style, making full use of capabilities if needed

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

Having looked at them more, while I don't love them the way I do say Magnus I do still like them. I think the paint job did a poor job showing them off. I can see why people think there is a Tzaangor element to them but I think it's more just a Tzeentch element. I like the static pose myself (and I find assembly is a lot easier when a model has two feet on the ground). 

 

I think GW ultimately set themselves up for people being dissatisfied by overhyping as they often do (year of Chaos...sure) and the fact TS players rightly are not happy that several years after release all the faction has had is a Sorcerer varient and these robots - neither of which has been an overwhelming success on the design front. I think these robots/automata are bearing the brunt of a lot of people's frustration with GW and the way they have essentially just ignored TS since thier return. Two models in 7+ years is unacceptable (but the reality if you aren't Space Marines sadly). 

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

@Ahzek451 I was not aware of that lore. I wonder if GW has designed other things that are waiting for release in the future rhat are also from the Dark Age. 

[Ahzek451]

53 minutes ago, The Praetorian of Inwit said:

@Ahzek451 I was not aware of that lore. I wonder if GW has designed other things that are waiting for release in the future rhat are also from the Dark Age. 

A few pages back in the "what we need for 10th" subforum I posted some pics of subtle lore dump GW dropped in a white dwarf a few months back. 

Using robot designs that predate the heresy certainly is...an avenue but not one I would have guessed. I am mostly speaking to the specific part about pre-heresy. I think this factoid is kinda neat. 

Agreed, very few will argue against such a slow release pattern for non-marines. That being said, I get that GW is playing the long game, releasing miniatures over time to prolonge release cycles, but once in awhile....it wouldn't kill them to throw in one extra unit for armies sitting around for extended periods of time without a new toy. There seems to be just 2 options: range refresh or single unit/model release. We already know that GW is willing to sit on new models and wait to release them as they see fit. So it could be very possible that a few T.sons units are waiting on the shelf.

I had hoped for a unique flyer in the form of doomwing/fire lord bomber, which would be perfect for us. But I'm starting to doubt this. I can't recall the last time I have seen a new flyer model for an army and flyers seem to be progressively getting worse across the board each edition. I have a small theory that GW is trying or wanting to phase out flyers. 

I'm also starting to lose a bit of hope on a dreadnought. We will see..