I am very new to “Epic” scale GW products. Let’s make that clear right off the hop. Don’t expect any deep cuts about how it compares to classic “Space Marine” play. I can’t comment on how it doesn’t have the same variety of factions as Epic did. I can nod my head in agreement that it doesn’t have a focus on big Titans like “Adeptus Titanicus” did. Though, since this was originally written they created the “Titandeath” game mode which I have yet to try out). I never played any of the previous games in this scale. I am also a Goose who developed the ability to type, so keep that in mind.

 

Previously, if I wanted to play games that were scaled extremely itsy bitsy teeny weeny I reached for Battletech. Which, scale-wise, clocks in at somewhere between 6mm, 8mm, 1/285th scale, Z-Scale or “It’s Battletech” scale.*

 

*Dependent factors include:

 

  • Whom you ask?
  • When?
  • What phase of the moon is dominant?
  • Is mercury is in retrograde?

 

However, I’ve been listening to a lot of Horus Heresy audiobooks lately. For whatever reason the bug bit me to take a chance on a new system. While my Age of Darkness box continues to languish in perpetual “I don’t have time to start a project this big right now.” I decided it would be fun to dip a toe in the shallow end and see how the water felt. So on a whim I grabbed a box of Legions Imperalis Questoris Knights from a hobby shop that I was visiting. (The Zoom Room, shout-out to them)

 

Initial Impressions

 

The back of the box highlights some exemplar paint schemes with suggested paints, and shows some of the variants you can build
Just imagine saying to someone that you bought Three Questoris Knights for the price of a squad of Hormagaunts. It will be hilarious when they see the size of the models, and then proceed to cause bodily harm to you for the joke.

 

The back of the Legions Imperialis Questoris Knights box does you a couple solids right off the bat. A 1:1 scale representation of the final models is a nice touch, and the exemplar paint schemes being displayed on the box (in colour) makes it a lot simpler than piecing together the greyscale they use for the instructions.

 

Overall, the box presentation looks great and certainly made it seem like it would be a fun project to test out.

 

But then, I cracked open the box…

 

The Sprues

 

A sprue so beautiful it could bring the Omnissiah to tears
A sprue so beautiful it could bring the Omnissiah to tears, (*Ensure your Omnissiah’s tear ducts are readily lubricated every 10,000 years for optimal warranty coverage)

 

Whatever I was expecting, this wasn’t it. This sprue looks magnificent.

 

Not confined to only a few small customizable pieces, this kit looks like it will be just as free form as the best of GW’s products. Enough guidelines and nooks in the plastic to get the default poses easily, and plenty of meat for those who want to really make it their own. The one drawback I can see by initial inspection is the single piece legs. They have an angle that canbe sliced up, if a more dynamic pose is what you’re looking for. It would have been just a bit nicer overall, if they could have split the legs up at the knee joint.

 

Another nice touch is the base designs provided in the kit.

 

The second sprue and the bases provided with a built-in design
The bases are very nice looking for out-of-the-box bases.

 

I was concerned about how I would scale down the basing supplies I had on-hand to fit the scenery but thankfully, it’ll just come down to a few passes with the brush to make the bases look good enough for general play. I would probably like to add some bits and doodads to the terrain but that would probably require significant paring down to make things fit.

 

Instructions

 

Beyond the sprues, a simple greyscale instruction book is provided with a few neat tricks that I hope become the standard in all GW products going forward.

 

The different configurations of Questoris Knight are highlighted in detail, so you can make sure you don't accidentally your Paladin into a Warden
The different configurations of Questoris Knight are highlighted in detail, so you can make sure you don’t accidentally your Paladin into a Warden

 

That’s right, they actually point out which configurations you’re building, and more importantly:

 

The instructions provided name the weapon configurations. Something GW should do in EVERY instruction booklet for the smooth brained avians among us.
The instructions provided name the weapon configurations. Something GW should do in EVERY instruction booklet for the smooth brained avians among us.

 

You can finally say, without a doubt, that you’re building a “Rapid Fire Battlecannon”. Or, “Yes, that’s an Avenger Gatling Cannon” when you select bits to assemble. I know those examples seem pretty easy to differentiate, but I have lost count of how many models I have built with incorrect weapon configurations. Now, is that because I didn’t know my Eta-Carns from my Plasma Calivers? Yes, but you can hardly blame me for that. Afterall, I am a goose. All GW kits should take a page from this one. It doesn’t take much more ink to have each weapon named and highlighted. It would be a big help to the smooth brained avians among us. (Me. I’m talking about me.)

 

There is also a single page rulesheet in the box. Along with a very, very tiny transfer sheet that chills the spine to look at. I will probably be sweating bullets trying to line up a checker board pattern the size of a gnat’s eyelash but we’re gonna try.

 

A cardstock rulesheet for the units and a very tiny transfer sheet with common iconography
Seriously, you’re gonna need the micro-micro sol for these lil’ guys.

 

There is still a lot to do with this kit. I’m super excited to get stuck into building my Questoris Knights. I’ll likely have two more parts to the review (Part II: Building and Part III: Painting)

 

 

 

That’s all for now, *HONK*