If you missed it, there are new Warhammer 40k rules the character models in Blackstone Fortress Escalation. How will they fit into your army?
Blackstone Fortress has taken off with multiple expansions under its belt. The latest expansions coming to the game, called Escalation, features more Chaos baddies along with some Imperial characters.
Imperial Adventurers
Aradia Madellan
The Psyker out of the bunch is a T3 body with four wounds. Aradia also has a rule that lets a Commissar pop her melon if she dies from a Perils of the Warp. For her psychic skills, she can cast and deny a power each turn and comes with her own psychic ability called Psychic Augment. This lets an Astra Militarum unit add 1 to hit rolls for attacks. Scions will be hitting on a 2+ and Bullgryn will be even more of a beatdown squad!
Daedalosus
Daedalosus is a Tech-Priest character with 5 wounds and a 4+ armor save. He gets the Canticles of the Omnissiah rules and even has a 5+ invulnerable save. He’s got a once per game tool called the Archeotech Device that can heal or deal D3 mortal wounds to something within 3″ of him. On top of that, friendly Admech around him can add 1 to the hit rolls of a target he designates with the Omniscanner. Not too shabby!
Neyam Shai Murad
The Rogue Trader out of the bunch is the new Imperial gunslinger with two Negotiator pistols. If she doesn’t move, these are boosted to four shots a pop for a total of 8 -2AP shots! On top of that, she can get on any transport she wants and enemy units don’t get a cover bonus. For a little T3 body, she’s able to pop out of any ride and hose down some screens.
Gotfret De Montbard
For the Crusader, he doesn’t have any ranged attacks. However, his power sword has exploding 6’s to hit, can reroll everything when he finds combat. and has a 3++ save. What’s also nice is that he gets a free Deny the witch ability. (Although it’s only on one D6 so this will probably never be relevant).
He’s a character which means that he can’t be targetted too easily and is on the cheap in terms of points. You can throw this guy on an objective and be fairly confident that he’ll be able to defend it for a turn or two.
Servitor X-101
Finally, the Servitor only has 2 wounds and ISN’T a character. With that said, it’s doubtful he’ll be as useful as some of the other options available. In terms of regular Servitors, he’s pretty awesome though. He’s got a rapid-fire grav-gun and has two attacks at S8. But with his 5+ WS and a -1 to hit on the claw, it’s really not as scary as it seems. He does get better with a Tech-Priest nearby, but the other models out of the group might be a hotter commodity.
Blackstone Points
The highest points cost you’ll have to pay out of the Blackstone group is 50 pts. With that said, some of the coolest units we’ve seen that could be in 40k’s meta might be:
- the Primaris Psyker Aradia (40 pts): She will be able to make Bullgryn squads even scarier and can even buff up a Guardsmen squad to shoot at the same quality of Marines or better!
- the Crusader Gotfret (35 pts): melee powerhouse considering the cost. a 3++ invuln and multiple wounds mean he’ll be able to go toe-to-toe with other light infantry objective grabbers.
- Rogue Trader Neyam (50 pts): She’s like the GSC Kelermorph LITE. With eight shots at -2 AP if she stands still, she’ll be able to blap smaller squads on-foot.
Overall, the Blackstone units aren’t game-breaking. However, they seem pretty efficient for the points cost. Which unit looks best to you? Do you think some of these characters will have a place in 40k’s meta?
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and sign up to get your free hobby updates newsletter (with discount coupon codes) each morning as well!
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
