Hello Combat Patroleers! After last week of having paints, this year we get back to new models. This is the last issue of May, and thus this week we will discuss the package’s special gift. This week also features my favorite model of the Space Marine Combat Patrol, the Librarian in Terminator Armor. Let’s see what this issue contains! As always, thank you to Hachette and Goonhammer for the Opportunity to review these models, magazines, and other assorted materials.
Package Bonus
Issues 7 through 10 came with an additional gift: a Binder for each these very fragile magazines. The Binder comes with several inserts denoting the “Build”, “Paint”, “Read”, “Collect”, and “Play” sections in the magazines. The Binder assumes that you are going to separate each magazine into it’s individual pages. I was not assuming that, but considering that some of these issues were about to disintegrate when I got the binder switching to the Binder’s preferred organizational method. Of course, now I have several magazines to split up and stuff into the binder.
Narrative Materials
In this issue, we learn about the Ecclesiarchy. The writer for this magazine clearly has Thoughts on the Ecclesiarchy, and does not hesitate to make those thoughts known. The issue explains that, “The Ecclesiarchy worships violence, death, and righteous sacrifice,” and that, “For untold billions, belief in the Emperor and his power is the only thing that keeps them from utter despair, instead filling them with righteous hatred.” Even before getting to the text of the article, the subheading and picture captions let us know that the Ecclesiarchy is objectively a Church of Evil. The text of the article is not much kinder, noting that, “While the Imperium relies on military might and brutal depression to keep its population in line, it is faith in the Emperor that truly drives the majority of Imperial citizens.” There’s some additional information on how the Ecclesiarchy maintains its control, and has a little advertisement/caption for the long-out-of-print Sororitas Battle Sanctum. I would normally hope this augers GW re-releasing that kit (1), but we have not seen it yet in the Made to Orders.
The article then turns to the completely unrelated subject of the Space Marine’s Devastator Doctrine, showing off Hellblasters, Desolators, and Armor and how they are very good at long-range firepower. While an integral part of 40K Lore and Gameplay, it is not an integral part of the Leviathan Combat Patrol, which is all about Tactical and Assault Doctrine units.
Hobby Materials
This issue has two different hobby materials: a Librarian in Terminator Armour (the Leviathan model) and a Citadel STC Medium Base Brush.
This is the second brush offered by the magazine, following the Starter Brush from Issue 5. This brush offers a bigger tip than the starter brush, but it’s given in the subscription *after* we are told to basecoat 25 different models. I’m not sure I would have gone that route, to be honest.
The miniature in this issue is the Terminator in Librarian Armor, which was (in my view) the second coolest miniature for the Marine side in the Leviathan box. The armor is interesting with it’s runes and power channels that just calls for trying to add some form of OSL to the armor. My problem with my Ultramarines/Codex Compliant Space Marines is that the OSL I want to put on this miniature is light blue, and it did not work quite as well as I hoped for Librarian Septimus. Luckily, I had a second shot at this miniature and made it into a Rune Priest. I modified it with a spare wolfy head and it’s ready to go do absolutely nothing because apparently it doesn’t attach to Wolf Guard Terminators.
While I was rolling up the story for my Librarian in Terminator Armor, I was talking with Alice “RagnarokAngel” Lirette and asked her to roll the name for me; so this Librarian is Septimus the Golden Sabre. Septimus has memorized his Chapter’s entire (authorized) history, and he is a living repository of vital tactical advice who often counsels generals.
Gaming Materials
This issue introduces weapon special rules: The issue explains the rules for Pistol, Rapid Fire, Assault, Blast, Torrent, Heavy, Devastating Wounds, Psychic, Assault, and Hazardous.
The mission is Scenario 06: Mind over Matter. This mission features the Space Marine Librarian in Terminator Armor versus a unit of Von Ryan’s Leapers, Termagants, and Winged Tyranid Prime. The Librarian starts off within close range of the Von Ryan’s Leapers, on the other side of the board from the Termagants, and in the opposite corner from the Winged Tyranid Prime. The Terminator Librarian is required to use the focused witchfire profile of his psychic weapon. The mission has the Space Marine player as the Attacker, and the Tyranids as the Defender. The Magazine strongly recommends having another player play as the Tyranids.
Space Marine Turn 1: The Terminator Librarian moved up, and fired his focused Witchfire at the Von Ryan’s Leapers. Four shots, three of which hit, two of which wound. The Leapers saved one shot, and failed the other. This did a total of one damage to the Leapers. The Storm Bolter did nothing, and so the Terminator Librarian charged. On the charge, Brother Septimus’s mighty Force Axe did work, finishing off the wounded Leaper and killing a second. On the strike back, the last Leaper hit Brother Septimus for two wounds.
Tyranid Turn 1: The last Leaper withdrew from battle, while the Winged Tyranid Prime and Termagants marched forth. The Termagants fired their mighty fleshborers, making 4 hits and a total of one wound with AP 0.  The saving roll from Brother Septimus? 1! The Winged Tyranid Prime then rolled two sixes on the charge, and proceeded to hit Brother Septimus with 6 AP -1 strikes – hitting on 2+s and wounding on 3+s. This was too much for Brother Septimus to overcome, and he fell in his first battle. The Hive Mind…was victorious!
This scenario was good for teaching the various special rules attached to weapons. The problem with the scenario is that it relied on the variability of the Terminator Librarian to teach those rules. Unfortunately for Brother Septimus, the model’s rules were written for a unit that had tools designed to minimize the pitfalls of variability but the scenario’s rules did not grant those rules. And since the Terminator Librarian’s shot number and damage are all variable, the unit struggled. By contrast, the Tyranids mostly do chip damage for their various scary claws and guns but they have so many attacks on weapons that are designed to prey upon Marines. Indeed, in this scenario the only weapon on which the Tyranids are not wounding Brother Septimus on a 4+ are the Termagant’s melee attacks. That being said, I suspect over the next few issues we are going to get access to Oaths of Moment.
Final Verdict
This issue is officially A Bargain (TM). It’s $15.00 for a $40.00 model and an $8.00 brush. So the cover price is one third the MSRP value of the contents. That’s a good deal! And furthermore, the model included is one of the cooler character models in the Space Marine range, while a new brush for (effectively) free is something no hobbyist is ever going to reject.
Also, next week we will not have the Combat Patrol Review. The June materials will not arrive until early next week, and I’m going out of town next week.
Until next time, Combat Patroleers!
(1) The only out-of-print unit I want them to bring back *more* than the Battle Sanctum is the Fortress of Redemption.
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