Good day Combat Patroleers! We are at Issue #6 of the Combat Patrol magazine, and that brings us to the end of the first full monthly package. And with that, I needed to toss the bag the four issues came in. But it was a bit heavier than I expected: it turns out that Hachette had included the first free gift in this package. What is it? Is it worth it? Read on, and thank you to Goonhammer and Hachette for the opportunity to review these models, magazines, and hobby supplies.

Narrative Materials

This issue has a few different story notes: It begins with a discussion of The Emperor of Mankind, as He exists in the 41st Millennium, and how The Golden Throne is the only thing keeping Him alive.   The issue’s discussion is relatively direct and to the point: “Imperial citizens worship the Emperor without question.  Even in the heat of battle, they pray to Him for guidance.  To defy the will of the Emperor is to commit heresy, for which the sentence is death.”  It’s a succinct summary, but it lacks some of the blunt flavor of the earlier issues that I really enjoyed.

The issue then turns towards a discussion of the various Tyranid Hive Fleets, focusing on Hive Fleet Behemoth and the First Tyrannic War.  The magazine explains Tyranid Hive Fleet conquest/assimilation strategies, and why Tyranid Hive Fleets fight each other.  There is also some cool and inspiring artwork of the Behemoth!Swarmlord (1), and how he was able to outwit Marneus Calgar.

There is also the Barbgaunt datacard and story generator. The issue refers the reader to pick a name for the unit from the Issue #2 Tyranid name generator, and then get a background from Issue #6. My Barbgaunts are the Clicking Slayers, and they are uncannily alert and react to incoming intruders with hails of fire.

Hobby Materials

This issue comes with five Barbgaunts. These feel like scaled-up Termagants (which we’ll get to next week). That means they’re a larger six-limbed bug person with a giant rocket launcher. These guys are mostly hunched-over, on four limbs. This means you have to remove them from their bases in order to actually get to the soft underside of the model. These models are fine, but with the upcoming 22 Termagants over the next couple of weeks it can feel a bit monotonous. The Barbgaunts also have a controlling organism riding them and, well, wired into their heads. These parasites are a separate organism, and so I painted these in a unique color. I do not believe the magazine calls out painting the controller different in this issue, and only shows off the organism in one picture in the magazine. I am having fun painting these models, though I haven’t finished painting them yet because I was busy with my Space Wolves Infernus Marines.

The first full package also came with a set of Citadel clippers and a small metal mold line remover.   The clippers were fine: they’re small, and very much a cheaper set of clippers versus the wonderful pre-2023 Citadel clippers.  But free is free. The metal mold line remover works, but if you’re going full-into this subscription you should really get a good hobby knife.  The metal mold line remover is also basically just a large-ish dull blade, and is therefore a fair bit harder to handle than the classic Citadel mold line remover.   I don’t know why they did not include the (original) mold line remover, but oh well.

Gaming Materials

The Scenario for this issue is “Live Fire Operation”, in which five Barbgaunts are shooting at five fleeing Infernus Marines. The Barbgaunts have d6 shots each, hitting on 4s and at S5, AP nothin’, one damage. The Marines have a save of 3+. The Barbgaunts have four rounds of shooting to kill three Marines, or else the Marines win. The issue ends with a discussion on how splitting fire works when fighting against multiple units.

I did not have the time or energy to test out this particular scenario, because it struck me as fairly boring.  There was no interaction from the Marines to the Barbgaunts: they do not get to return fire, they just have to run away.  That does not feel very Space Marine-y to me.

Final Verdict

A box of five Barbgaunts costs $45 retail, and is currently eBaying for over $20 new on sprue. So on that basis, getting them for $15 is a pretty good bargain.  These are not my favorite models to build and paint, but I think that’s more a function of how big the Tyranid combat patrol is and the way Barbgaunts are designed similarly to the Termagaunts.   The other “elite” infantry unit in the Combat Patrol, the Von Ryan’s Leapers, had more movement and character and were sufficiently different from the most common model in the ComPat to be a lot of fun.  Additionally, I have to admit that I am surprised at how the issue de-emphasized the controlling parasite organism, and seemingly went out of its way to hide the parasite organism from the pictures.  Since that makes the unit unique visually, it’s a missed opportunity.

I did not think the mission in this issue was particularly interesting, but I thought the narrative materials did a good job in showing off Hive Fleet Behemoth and it’s scheme.  I am, however, biased in favor of Hive Fleet Behemoth because that is how I am painting my Tyranids.

The hobby tools provided with this package are *there*.  I’ll probably toss the clippers into my travel bag, so that I can build models while I am on the go.  They would not replace my more reliable clippers, though.  I don’t really have a use for the ComPat mold line remover, but I suppose it’s necessary in order to get the magazine as self-contained as possible.

Until next time Combat Patroleers!

(1) And the Swarmlord/(Winged) Hive Tyrant is the “premium” bonus model for the Tyranids…

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