This new Mandrake model by GW is quite frankly amazing and as soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have to for my Dark Elves. In my mind that thing would make a perfect counts-as Shadowblade.
I've always said that Shadowblade has to have some form of magical abilities, given the fact that he's able to hide effortlessly amongstthe likes of Dwarfs and Undead without detection. Now it's ok for him to hide in the ranks of the likes for High Elves, Empire, Bretonnias, or any basically man-shaped force, but to remain undetected amongst most of the races out there, there has to be some magic at work.
Surely the Vampire controlling hordes of undead would notice there's a still-living mind sneaking about in his army?
Surely the Black Orcs notice that Gabnutz actually looks a bit skinny and pale?
Surely the Lizardmen notice that one of their number doesn't have scales?
Come to think of it, most DE Assassins don't make sense to me. For example, you can hide an Assassin in a Witch Elf unit. But you'd think the Brides of Khaine would notice that one of their sisters was actually a bloke and wore rather a lot of clothes, or at the very least the enemy would be able to see the black hooded and cloaked figure in the sea of pale elf flesh.
All this has always cemented in my mind the idea of magical concealment - it doesn't matter what the Assassin looks like physically, because it's magic that's really concealing them.
Which is why I feel Mandrakes would be perfect for representing them. I'll be watching rather closely to see what other Mandrake models they bring out, I may get a few, one for Shadowblade and a couple for 'mundane' assassins, but at the very least I'm getting this one for the Master Assassin himself. I can just picture how epic it'd look leaping up out of the enemy ranks, throwing off his magical disguise as he plunges his blade into the chest of the enemy general...
Just wish they'd hurry up and put it on pre-order already!
The only magic power in play here is clearly the Somebody Else's Problem field. (and if you don't know what that is, shame on you for not reading Douglas Adams)
ReplyDeleteAs for the dark eldar, looking at them, a lot of them make excellent fantasy figures. Many seem to have no technology at all, just big meaty blades.
I know exactly what you're on about and now that you've said it, it makes perfect sense.
ReplyDeleteIt'd certain explain why my dice rolls seem to be controlled by a backfiring Improbability Filed
With regards to the model, I'm sure if it's a deliberate ruse on GW's part to hook Dark Elf players in, or if it's just a side effect of the creation of the new look for them, but they've certainly made the right choice from a marketing point of view, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten any money out me from this release apart from the codex. As such, now I'm planning to pick up two lots of Lelith, a couple of boxes of Wyches (for Witch Elves) and some Mandrakes, all for use in my fantasy army.
I do so wish wyches looked more like witch elves. 40k blatantly needs more softcore.
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