Games Workshop 99120105069" Start Collecting Militarum Tempestus Miniature

Product Information

The Start Collecting box that gets our vote for “the next one to be discontinued,” there’s not a ton this particular box has to offer. Tactical Marines just don’t have much value when you’d rather run Scouts or Intercessors, the Terminator Captain doesn’t bring much to the table when you have other, more mobile, better-equipped, cheaper options, and the Venerable Dreadnought is only OK. You’re better off skipping this one for the Marine half of the Dark Imperium Starter.

The Craftworlds box is extremely weird. It’s an incredible saving over buying the kits individually – if you want any two of them, you might as well buy this instead and get the others essentially free – but as a place to do what it says on the tin and start collecting Craftworld Eldar it’s woeful, since there’s no actual Troops in here. There’s only two elves, even, and one of them is piloting a War Walker. Still, most of the units are at least passable to good, and it’s quite a hefty chunk of points, too. However, some Scholas use more esoteric methods of selection. For example, the Abbot Prime of the Schola Progenium facility on Sanctus Omega is a known reader of the Emperor's Tarot, and uses the mystical cards to steer his judgement or decide upon a cadet's path.You ready to fight the galaxy, private? Hell if I care. Cork your sniffling and get down that ramp lest you find out what happens when Commissar Horst gets upset. He’s an emotional man. Very sensitive about cowardice. Starts quoting the Imperial Infantryman’s Uplifting Primer at you.” Exceptionally skilled warriors descended from the very finest of the Imperium's noble bloodlines, both Tempestus Scions and Commissars obey and enforce the will of their superiors with merciless efficiency. The Imperium of Man holds a million worlds and takes its tithe of military personnel from every single culture within its bounds.

The Orks box has the dubious honour of being the only Start Collecting without a legal HQ choice in it, thanks to force organisational changes in 8th edition. The contents aren’t terrible however and if you’re building an Ork horde you’re going to need savings wherever you can get them. Nobz may not be an especially optimal unit for Orks right now, but it’s an extraordinarily characterful kit full of useful bitz. To join the Adeptus Ministorum is an honour beyond measure; from amongst their ranks, the most devout leaders of the Imperium are born. Individuals of a more scholarly bent, as well as those whose minds are suited for the grinding tedium of clerical and logistical roles, will instead spend the rest of their lives in the Adeptus Terra. Each trained adept has not only an exceptional mind, but also a solid grasp of the military arts due to his time in the Schola Progenium. Though for many Tempestus Scions, a parade beret will suffice, when a unit fights in particularly inhospitable climates, they will opt for masked Omnishield Helms through which nutrient gruel and oxygen can be piped. Since they rarely experience times of rest between missions, Tempestus Scions take with them the means to sustain themselves.Selection Days in the Schola Progenium mark the point at which a cadet is assigned their destiny. Cavernous voidships descend into planetary orbit, ready to export progena to their new roles. From dawn to dusk, amidst the slow incantation of ancient litanies and clouds of incense, cadets are divided according to their selected path. The majority of these cadets are assigned to the Schola Tempestus, where they complete the gruelling training necessary to become Tempestus Scions. The death rate amongst each year group of recruits is high, for the Schola Tempestus is as merciless as it is efficient.

Chart depicting the structure and organisation of the various organisations of the Imperium of Man.

Summary

The Schola Progenium takes a constant influx of war orphans from the embattled worlds of the Imperium of Man. These young individuals are officially known as Progena Novum. Mindscaped, schooled and trained to an almost inhuman degree, those who pass their Trials of Compliance and make it past Selection Day are then split off to serve in the different organs of the Imperial hierarchy. Contents: 1 Farseer (HQ), 5 Wraithguard/Wraithblades (Elites), 1 Wraithlord (Heavy Support), 1 War Walker (Heavy Support) However, it is always a concern when a cadet shows too strong an unwillingness to properly conform. As reward for their independence, they are often released into the training grounds only to be hunted down by their former comrades. This serves as much to bond the remaining cadets as it does to punish individuality.

Each graduate has a highly specific role within the Imperium at large, and such skills need to be discerned well in advance of the Trials of Compliance -- the most important stage of a cadet's time at the Schola Progenium. This is not at the extreme end of remedial punishments. In the Schola Progenium facility on the world of Brellex, the products of one incident remain forever enshrined. Due to a faulty batch of mindscaping chemicals, a whole year group rose up against the dictates of their masters. The halls of the Schola Progenium are not filled with the dregs of forgotten hive cities, nor do these ancient Imperial facilities flood assigned war zones with the sort of rank-and-file chaff commonly seen amongst the ranks of the Astra Militarum. Instead, the Schola Progenium takes in the many orphaned children of Highborn Imperial citizens.Making up part of the Astra Militarum, the Militarum Tempestus fits into any Imperial army. This means the army is fully playable with the Guard, Catachan armies, Cadian armies, Mechanicus armies and Officio Assassinorum armies. The Commissar fits the elite slot perfectly, and the Scions can be transported in the Taurus! Technically, no one role is considered more prestigious than another, though Commissars are generally held to be the most redoubtable of the Schola's trainees. When they are dropped into a war zone, these warriors take to war with equipment every bit as specialised as they are. Garbed in baroque Carapace Armour with moulded plates of armaplas and ceramite that almost entirely cover them, Scions are better able to endure the rigours of battle. The command squad offer you the option to gain some additional special weapons and various other specialist dudes. I rather enjoy having things like a medic around just for the flavour of it, but this box is also important because it’s got some weapons in it (specifically, the heavy flamer, meltagun and plasma gun) that you won’t find in the regular infantry sprue.