hey guys jay here welcome to eons of battle a little while ago i talked about my five
favorite 40k models and the five worst but i left out characters now i think it's time
to deep dive into the bowels of 40k and make a new list and this time oops all characters
one thing that really drives my level 40k is the role-playing element a big part is that
i find myself identifying with the heroes the leaders it is particularly satisfying when you
get your commander in a position and absolutely wreck your enemy and it is doubly disappointing
when they are removed from the battlefield as a casualty in the heat of dice rolling i am
the general heroically leading my troops making genius tactical decisions that lead to victory
or committing blunder after blunder and getting swept turn 2. when i was first getting into 40k
and collecting necrons i always steered clear of hqs i thought they were cool but i did not
have the skills to paint them and they were so expensive for one model that i would rather
save up just a little more money and get a tank or a whole squad of infantry instead
now that i have a full necron army and a few others too i find that i only buy hqs
i think that they're more interesting to paint and allow me to really stretch my artistic muscles
and it makes for a gorgeous cherry on top of a finished 40k army so that's what i think of hq's
let's get down to my top five none of these models i own sometimes it's easier to drool over the
things you don't have rather than appreciate what you do number one inquisitor karamazov this guy
is a legend and not just because of how hilarious he is in the wonderful show if the emperor had a
text-to-speech device by bruva alphaboosa grimdark is a mostly meaningless phrase but for me this
is grim dark gothic sci-fi i also love when something feels like it exists in the universe
and having his throne built out of a dreadnought body is wonderful theodore karmazov sitting atop
a porcelain throne of judgement with a sword he could not possibly be using is amazing flanked
by a triple-barreled melta and a servitor writing down his less than heroic deeds is just fantastic
i also like when a character looks like they are a monster on the table top usually characters fall
into two categories an or a bubble battery to give troops a plus one or a re-roll or
is a one-punch knockout close combat monster but this guy actually reads like he could cause some
serious damage also his throne's feet are shaped like little inquisitor symbols and that's fun
number two keros fate weaver this model is a really fun burb i love all the greater demon
models they are such monstrous monsters and physically impressive on the tabletop i love
flagship models the thing that lives in the back of your mind that you are always continuously
building towards for all the years it takes you to put together an army as you buy a box
of brimstones you know in the back of your mind that when you are awesome and experienced and
have watched every youtube video on the planet you will get that model and your godlike hobby powers
will bring it to life in all its zincian glory the model is eight or nine inches tall and an absolute
titan on the battlefield all the greater demons are the best but this double-headed bird is the
best of the lot also his loincloth that covers his bird junk has feathers and leads me to the
suspect that it is part of his body so that's fun number three the swarmlord i don't know if any
model looks like more of an absolute badass the tyranid swarmlord is a master duelist step aside
general grievous this monster has you beat four swords try five swords the fifth one is attached
to his face when i think of 40k this model is on top of the list among models like orc boys eldar
guardians and of course primary space marines few models look quite as unstoppable as the swarmlord
even when it is built as the flying hive tyrant it does not feel like such an immovable object
as the mighty ball of blades that is the swarmlord configuration he is absolutely
dense i can only imagine what horrible poisonous fumes spew out of his chimneys and inside his
head lurks the full might of the tyranid hive mind while he is mopping the floor with a pleb like you
he is orchestrating the invasion of several worlds i would love to see the tyranids get a revamp some
of their models are looking their age but the swarmlord is perfection it can also be equipped
with a fleshy super soaker and that's fun number four adrax agatone the newest model on this list
is my favorite of the new primaris captain supply drops after a bit of a weak sauce first round of
primaries characters games workshop has corrected the ship and given us some immaculate space marine
models i also love when there is a system and most of the popular space marine chapters are getting
their unique heroes and it's awesome although games workshop where is my black templar marshall
get on it while the first few primaris captains look like weak kit bashes this model is inspired
his pose tells the story of the artist going all out on him the slightly elevated bass the cape
blowing in the wind the fire turning into a ribbon that draws the attention right down to his face
this model is 99 perfection and the only reason i hold back one percent is it does not come with a
helmeted head i like his head but i get that not everyone prefers to paint a face and a
custom salamander's helmet would have been dope i also like that he has a tiny toy hammer that
hangs off his crotch that's fun and number 5 the jackal alphys this isn't the most jaw-dropping or
over-the-top model but when i look at it it just works for me the badass slightly futuristic bike
the cobble together bolt action sniper rifle or the fact that it all fits on a tiny 60 millimeter
oval base which is just a stretch 32 millimeter it is tiny this model lives in a more normal reality
than most of 40k sure it's a tyranid infected human hybrid but it's basically just a guy
and that's really neat i like that the jean sailor cult are the underdogs of whatever fight they're
in they make up for it with dirty tricks and aliens spunk even though the model is more normal
than a space marine or eldar he still is dripping with practical details like a jerry can he uses if
he runs out of fuel a couple sticks of dynamite for some recreational blasting or some kind of
long-range walkie-talkie no high-tech ospecs or vox channel here just one step above two cans on
a string i hope he's got 5g also his sack lunch is tied up with bungee cords and i think that's fun
those were my top five favorite character models in 40k now on to the five that i think are a bit
crap this list was difficult to put together there are a lot of models where i can see the
merit i can see why they're cool they're just not for me but i did find five models i don't like
at all and in addition to fun lists like this we make wargaming tutorials each and every week
and if you want more the best way to support us is over on patreon over there we get to vote on
what i paint live on youtube some behind the scenes and other exclusive contents number one
tour gyaradon i wanna like this guy i really do but everything is a bit wrong and i think most of
it can be chalked up to his massive power fist now power fists have always been too big usually about
the same size or bigger than the torso of the marine wielding it but it's always looked kind of
all right-ish on the old squatty marine body now updated to sit on the primer's frame the old power
fist has never looked so awkward it looks like he is taking all his effort just to lift the thing up
and i seriously doubt that he could throw a good punch with it this model has a lot wrong with
it but perhaps this is a bad model that i might actually buy this is the marine to get if you want
a character with some absolute chunk maybe with a head swap get rid of the grav gun get rid of
the power fist get rid of everything and maybe it can make a decent captain in gravis armor also his
face is obviously chip hazard from the movie small soldiers so that's funny i guess number 2 oricon
the diviner now don't get me wrong i adore oricon the character the infinite and the divine is my
favorite black library book but this model is not oricon his face is alright and his staff sure has
five points but why does he have a weird little monkey body he is hunched over the top of a small
rock and he looks more like gollum from lord of the rings than the most powerful chronomancer in
the entire necron race also the necrons were the biggest loser when it came to failcast they are
a mess of sprue gates thrown right over important details and it takes a master sculpture just to
get one of those good enough quality to put paint on i want to see him get a hot revamp
maybe a double box with tracy in the infinite effernel stern and kyganel got a double box the
two crankiest necrons in the galaxy deserve some love oricon is obsessed with achieving immortality
and becoming a god perhaps a levitating crisscross applesauce meditation pose or have a sitting pose
for regular oricon and an extra model for oricon empowered basically a hulked out necron also he
sculpted in a permanent jump but the sculptures called it a day when they left the bottoms of
his feet completely flat no texture so really good job number three inquisitor eisenhorn we're taking
the hobbits to eisenhorn i read the eisenhorn trilogy and i thought it was fine i thought the
least interesting character was eisenhorn he's cool i guess and it's an interesting introduction
to the world of the imperium but he's just some guy and this model doesn't do anything for me his
pose is awkward he's looking down at the ground his arms are stretched out at his sides and his
legs are in a weird middle of the walk cycle like he was photographed right between taking steps
these might be nitpicks but for me i just can't find anything to latch onto with this model
he's just a fella absolutely decked out with decorations it's not quite an action pose it's not
quite a meditation pose it's not a thinking pose it's just whatever also if you look closely at his
legs you can see the bottom of a coat underneath his coat that he's wearing underneath his coat
he must be a chilly fella number four anva master of the undying spirits i hate to pick an old
model because it's mean old models just look worse because of time but these guys are bad not just in
a poorly sculpted half-assed paint job kind of way these guys are conceptually bad to me i think if
when games work shopping makes this kit they will re-imagine it because the old towel on a rascal
scooter flanked by two scrawny tail bodyguards is just weird those two tau hunks look like they
would get their butts kicked by an unusually tough grot are those two twigs really going to
stop an orc war boss or a tyranted hive tyrant from stomping their leader of the whole tao race
probably not if i were in charge of the reimagining i would have him in a silent
king kind of setup with an absolute swarm of shield drones instead of these two tau meatheads
he should be flanked by some tau strategic geniuses masters of the tau technology who
can take his sage advice and manipulate the tau technology on the fly to turn the tide of battle
i also like that his throne is parked on a convenient rock makes for a very majestic model
number five blood angel primaris lieutenant tolmaron the fifth slot includes this guy and
basically all the early primaries characters games workshop just did not know how to make
these guys look interesting in the beginning all of them primaries lieutenant zechariah primaris
lieutenants with power sword even the original primaris captain they were so plain and uninspired
and what i mean with uninspired is that their decoration does not function it does not add to
the pose i suspect that games workshop intended us to pick the one we liked enough and then
kit-bashed them into a proper captain but it's just not how it works you can't fix bland with
bling it just makes for a well-decorated turd all the new primaris captains on the other hand are
awesome i already talked about adrax agatone he is perfection but also dark angel's master
lazarus is amazing just a straight up redo of zechariah cara cerro khan is unbelievably good
and iron father pharos is outstanding and every single character from indominus is top notch
games were trapped didn't know how to make him back then but hopefully we have seen
the end of vanilla primera's captains what a sorry list of characters now i'm in a bad mood
so let's end with some honorable mentions to bring me back up and these honorable mentions are in
no particular order the judiciar this guy is a straight-up anime character and i love it he is
strutting down the street with his executioner sword and his hourglass counting down the time
you have left i love the idea of young chaplains during the most dangerous assignments looking
to prove themselves before they transition into grizzled old veteran chaplains junith aroweda it's
a floating pulpit with a double flamethrower this model is perfection i love the idea of an adeptus
sauritus screaming prayers to the emperor while burning away the filth and heretical in her way
mephiston i've said it before mephiston lord of death is a perfect model and a perfect rework of
an old model it's the perfect blend of old and new and the little horn skulls that have been
on sagar since rogue trader have been lovingly copy pasted to his collar and the avatar of kane
now obviously this guy isn't winning any beauty pageants although he was legit 20 years ago i love
him because one day games workshop will drop the most amazing the most impressive avatar of kane
god model on us and that day will be glorious well those were my top 5 best and worst 40k character
models games workshop really knows how to make them it was a tough task to find 5 that i really
disliked but i made it happen let me know in the comments how wrong all my picks were and tell me
what your favorite models are i hope you enjoyed the video and as always thanks for watching