One of the benefits of the Combat Patrol magazine is that they have an “extra” unit for each of the nine Combat Patrols that can be used in regular Combat Patrol games. This magazine features the first of these extra units, the Tyranids’ Parasite of Mortrex. However, unlike the Premium Issues, this is a regular issue of Combat Patrol magazine, so that means all subscribers get it AND we get the usual Combat Patrol narrative materials. As always, thank you to Goonhammer and Hachette for the opportunity to review these models and materials.
Narrative Materials
The narrative materials start off with an explanation of the Great Crusade, fronted by the cover of the novel “Master of Mankind.” The Great Crusade was the grandest undertaking Mankind had ever known, as they reunited previously lost civilizations and slayed the Emperor’s foes without mercy. “All were forced to recognize the authority of the Emperor, and those who resisted were met by the full might of the Imperium’s formidable military.”
The article briefly touches on the early alien threats – the Rangda, Hrud, and Ullanor Orks. They do not discuss what the wars against the Rangda were called. Incidentally, the issue then does something that irks me: In most Warhammer 40K documents, The Emperor’s pronouns are capitalized. Not so in Combat Patrol magazine. I suspect that links up with the magazine’s general distaste for the Imperium’s superstitious fascism, but it is unusual in the context of Warhammer publications.
The second narrative article is “The Enemy Within,” in which a squad of Guardsmen are searching for a defensible position; however, they are slowed down by the badly-injured Trooper Jones. Trooper Jones had saved the life of the viewpoint character (Cutter) from a Parasite of Mortrex, and is not feeling so hot.
The squad fights their way into a bunker, but then a Ripper Swarm bursts out of Trooper Jones, which proceeds to chow down on the Squad. Trooper Cutter then takes her grenades and blows herself and the Rippers up.
We then return to the Silver Templars and Bonds of Honour Part 5, as the various aspirants are led into the Silver Templars’ austere fortress-monastery. The storyteller explains to the aspirants the value of the “tactical withdrawal,” and how “we must fight not for ourselves bur for our brothers, our commanders, and our Emperor,” and compares it to how the Silver Templar Sergeant Askarton set aside the loss of his beloved Bolt Rifle in order to complete his mission. The Silver Templar intercessors come across a nearby squad of Silver Templar Infernus Marines, who proceed to barbeque the Tyranid Swarm.
“You see, no matter how great your cunning and intelligence, it all comes to naught when you’re set on fire.”
The narrator then explains it’s a good idea to fire on fleeing enemies, because they could be trying to regroup to return fire.
Grim!
Hobby Materials
This week we get a Parasite of Mortrex, one of the newer Tyranid bugs. This model goes together pretty quickly and has a relatively open pose. It paints up very quickly. It’s also adorable, like most of the rest of the Tyranid Combat Patrol.
The issue also has the usual name and history charts. Rolling on the magazine’s various charts, the first result led this monster to be named “The Screaming Killer.” Since the Screamer Killer is a completely different Tyranid unit, we are going to reroll. On reroll, this Parasite becomes the Writhing Hunger, which produces particularly fast-growing rippers that devour their way out of their prey with horrible speed.
Gaming Materials
This issue explains how to use the Parasite of Mortrex in a Combat Patrol. The Parasite replaces the Barbgants in the Varanghest Swarm Combat Patrol. This takes away the main shooting/control unit and replaces it with an additional melee anti-infantry character, though this one has stealth and deep strike. The Parasite has a single S3, Anti-Infantry 3+, AP -2 attack and 6 S5, WS2+, AP -1 attacks. The Tyranid Combat Patrol thus has a grand total of two different shooting attacks: the Psychophage’s S6 Torrent Weapon and the Termagants’ S5, AP0 Fleshborers.
This issue’s gaming mission, Scenario 15: Alpha Strike tests the Tyranid Combat Patrol (minus 10 Termagants) against the Space Marine Combat Patrol (minus the Terminator Squad). Once again scoring is on Hold 1, Hold 2, and Hold More. The Tyranids go first.
Once again, Combat Patrol slants the mission in favor of the Tyranids. The Tyranids have twice as many models and twice the number of units, and thus the Marines are forced to commit in multiple directions without being able to support each other.
The Final Verdict
This issue retails for $15 and the Parasite of Mortrex retails for $42. In addition, the Parasite is also not part of an edition starter set and thus not quite as likely to be sold for below retail cost as the Leviathan models. While I found the gaming scenario a bit lacking, the issue does have the rules to use the Parasite in Combat Patrol games. And lastly, the lore section of this magazine continues to impress. I was quite fond of it.
Next week, we look at the extra Space Marine unit and close out the first two Combat Patrols. Thank you once again for reading, Combat Patrolers!
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