Games Workshop recently released a refreshed version of Apocalypse with a new rulebook, super heavies and terrain. Forge World have just refreshed their Apocalypse book and this review takes a closer look at the new Forge World book. More after the jump.
Firstly the hard back full colour book is larger then the rulebooks that Games Workshop produce. It’s a good couple of inches taller and wider. It’s 160 pages long and costs £30. The introduction mentions this is a replacement for their previous Imperial Armour Apocalypse books and features rules compatible with the latest incarnation of Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse including unit classifications and hull points.
They’ve also added an extra classification called Warhammer 40,000. Where you see this icon on a unit entry this means it’s an official unit to be used in standard games of Warhammer 40,000. Things like Spartan Assault Tank, Contemptors, Daemon Princes, Tesseract Ark, Tomb Citadel, Malanthrope, Dark Eldar Tantalus are just a few of the standard Warhammer 40,000 units in this book. So if you’re not into apocalypse but want to add some forge world models to your games of 40k then this book is great.
In total I counted 97 data sheets and formations. The pages aren’t as beautiful to look at as the pages from the new Apocalypse book from Games Workshop, they’re kinda plain and simple but do the job. They have painted pictures of the models in each datasheet. They’re cut out with no backgrounds. I prefer the in-situ shots showing some action in the GW book if I’m honest.
Some interesting things to point out are chaos get some official access to imperial vehicles with some chaos rules like the Thunderhawk Gunship with it’s Daemonic transport rule or the Chaos Storm Eagle that can take a dirge caster, warpflame gargoyles or daemonic possession. Plus loads of others including the Contemptor that can dedicate to a chaos god. But my personal favourite thing about this book is the special rules for the Hierophant. A model of this size and stature deserves some upgrade options and Forge World have made this happen with a page of rules. You can now make it a transport with Swarm Incubation Chamber and/or give a hellstorm sized bioplasma plus a few more options.
There is a reference area towards the rear of the book with all the weapon summaries.
The really interesting thing about this book is the inclusion of a War Zone at the rear of the book. In the Apocalypse Rulebook you got Warzone: Armageddon. Imperial Armour Apocalypse gives you the rules to play Warzone: Vraks with your Chaos and Imperial forces battling it in huge games of Apocalypse. There are a few pages of fluff, all the rules for the special characters of the conflict. Rues for Unnatural Disasters and finest hour rules and three new apocalypse missions. This is a nice addition to the book but it’s small and seems inferior to the quality of Warzone: Armageddon. It’s only 23 pages and reuses art from previous publications. Warzone Armeggedon is over twice the size and includes way more fluff, special units and data sheets specific to the conflict.
Conclusion:
If you like playing games with Forge World models then this is a great book. You can use some of the models in regular games or any of the models in apocalypse games. The addition of a Warzone at the back of the book is nice but it feels like a hash of existing images and fluff and generally stinks of a cobbled together afterthought. General presentation is ok, but Games Workshop have finally over taken Forge World in the quality of their hardback books. I love the Forge World illustrations in the Imperial Armour books but they’re missing from this book. For £30 I can’t complain and it’s worth the money.
Read my reviews for Apocalypse using these links: Apocalypse Rulebook. Unboxing the Tesseract Ark. Apocalypse Templates and Stategic Asset Cards.
Do you like our tutorials and reviews? Here is what you can do to support us: Check out our sponsors in the upper right corner of our blog or place your next Wayland Games order by clicking here or on the banner on the right. Thank you very much, we appreciate any help to keep us going!
6 Comments
Leave a Reply
Tale of Painters is the unofficial Warhammer hobby magazine run by hobbyists like you. Support our work by using the affiliate links from our 🇺🇸 / 🇨🇦 partner stores for your next orders so we can continue to bring you fantastic FREE content every day:
Or support us directly:
depends when and where you got your rules from. mortis contemptors are only BS4 now, i don't remember about the others offhand.
I know D weapon flyers like the eldar vampires are super amazing now, since it'll be a pain to shoot them down for anyone but pylon necrons.
warhounds are still great, but vampires w/ holo fields and immunity to blasts is a lot stronger now in relative terms.
Are the contemptor dreads different from their old rules? I'd like to avoid picking up the book if they are the same rules that I already have
………..god some of the nerfs in this book
1) Nid malantrop……great same point cost and rules but changed from MC to INFANTRY (your kidding me right ?)
2) Lucious drop pod……yay no more charging after deepstrike……..wait why are we paying double the cost for the pod then ??? lol
SIGH
Could you please tell me if there are any rules for the Red Scorpions? It would be nice if they compiled them into one simple book.
Some good and some nerfed updates for many of my models were contained in the updated FW Apoc book. But in a constantly evolving game, that always has to play catchup to changes in rule sets this is to be expected as the norm now. I am glad the Lucius was fixed, but am gutted in the changes to the Warp Hunter and Cobra. My first draft Apoc unit is now not so good (Cobra) although its still good, its not packing the punch it had previously, and has an increased points cost. However, the Eldar Holofield are pretty much the only thing that can stop Str D guns which is good.
The book itself is nice, I thought pitched at the right price as well. Some good images of the FW Studio painted models but agreed I like to see them on a battlefield, not cut out on a white background. Not read the Vraks bit yet.
As an Apoc fan, this was a needed addition to the collection.
Looks quite neat. As for the mainstream gw/forge world comparison I doubt you can read too much into it. This seems more of a compatibility update than anything else. As for the war zone bit I'm sure they want you to pick up siege of vraks for the background etc in full.