I’d imagine I’m not the only collector that saw Morathi’s new model and immediately felt the primal urge to add her to my collection. The new models are outstanding, just look at that…
Impressions of the Kit:
I enjoyed building Morathi more than most big monsters I have constructed for the relative simplicity of her kit. I think GW have done a decent job of combining a great look with a nice kit for both experienced and novice hobbyists. The exception being the wings which made up most of the build time as they refused to stay in place, constantly shifting or falling just as I thought them well and truly glued. (But hey, you have to get that extra value for money somewhere.)
Having just begun to paint the kit I might recommend that people paint the wings/rest of the model separately as once in place the wings make getting a paint brush through and onto Morathi for some of the detail work quite difficult for even fine detail brushes.
For my colour scheme I have chosen a fairly cold palette of blues, grey’s and lilac with silver being the predominant metal colour. So far I am pleased with the results but I will post more updates as I continue to paint her.
Impressions of table top play:
I have only very limited experience fielding this model as I have only been able to play a very small battle against one opponent. What I can tell you is that she felt terrifyingly strong. In her Shadow Queen form she obliterated almost the entirety of my opponents Death army single handed. While formidable with both magic and melee attacks I think the main strength of the model is the Heart of Khaine: this ability prevents Morathi from taking more than three wounds in any one turn meaning that she has good staying power in the thick of any battle. With her ability to ignore wounds she seems like a good choice to tie up strong units in combat (as her Shadow Queen form) dishing out huge damage while taking very little in return.
The best way I can see to counter her would be to target her High Oracle form from range and try to land the three wounds. That way should she transform into the Shadow Queen she would already be on half health due to the wounds doubling rule that comes as the price of transforming. Which might make her stronger against predominantly melee armies than armies with strong ranged abilities
So these are my initial impressions, I could be very wrong but that remains to be seen.
In addition to Morathi I have also purchased one set each of the new units that came with the Daughters of Khaine update and will be posting my progress on assembling them in the not so distant future.
Thanks for reading!
Hugh
Hugh Mccormick 