The Dark Angels are the most secretive of all the Space Marine Chapters, pursuing a clandestine agenda of persecution and redemption that marks them apart from the rest of the Adeptus Astartes.
With the Deathwing Assault box available to pre-order this weekend, we’re lifting the lid on a handful of those mysteries. More precisely, the mystery of what you can expect to get in the box with the Deathwing Knights and Dark Angels Upgrade Frame.
We start with the most obdurate of the Dark Angels, the Deathwing Knights. These unyielding warriors come five to a unit and can be built with a mace of absolution or a power sword, each a powerful weapon ideally suited for striking down heretics, traitors, and other targets of the Dark Angels’ ire.*
You get a choice of 12 heads – two bare, five hooded, and five helmed.
Their formidable unit leader is a Knight Master, who wields a mace great weapon or a relic weapon. His ornate armour is set off by a choice of two tilting plates, and he comes with a choice of helmed, bare, or hooded head.
The Deathwing Assault box is the first place you’ll be able to find the new Dark Angels Upgrade Frame. You get two in the box, and each comes with 61 cosmetic accessories you can use to coat your Space Marines in lovely Dark Angels gubbins.
There are shoulder pads and heads for a variety of armour types, tilting plates, an underslung Terminator plasma cannon, icons for your vehicles, tassets*, Ravenwing upgrades, tiny relics, and a Watcher in the Dark, a mysterious little guy who can join your army for unknown purposes. Seriously, who are these robed creatures?
With all of these options, and iconic characters like Azrael, Asmodai, Belial, and the Lion himself, your Dark Angels army will be one of the flashiest forces to teleport onto the tabletop when the full range is released later in the year. You can get your first taste with the Deathwing Assault box, which is available to pre-order on Saturday.
* Ooops! An earlier version of this picture said maces were WS 3+. They're really WS 2+. Even more deadly!
** Armoured plates for the upper thigh.