8th Ed Warhammer 40k Plague Marines

Well it took me six months, but I finally finished my first squad of 8th Ed Plague Marines! And are they ever gorgeous models: a real treat (and challenge) to paint.

This squad is from the new Starter Kit (I just snagged the squad off of ebay.) These fellas are considered "easy builds" and I have to agree, they were very easy to assemble and glue. Now painting them on the other hand... I have no idea how any beginner would stand a chance against such detailed and complex models.

I have to say as a half-decent painter myself, these minis were just fantastic to work with. There is a lot of detail, and each mini is very unique. Honestly, it is like painting an HQ option each time.

Now that of course comes with it's own downsides. Each of these minis took me between 4-6 hours to paint. Keeping in mind that I don't paint quickly and like to take me time; gauge that for yourself.

A major difference between the new plague marines and the old plague marines is size. The new guys are quite a bit larger. Whether that is the difference between 28mm and 30-32mm as the newer figures seem to be, or they just envision them being larger than they were in the past, there is a noticeable size difference. Since I have a 3000pt Plague Marine army made up of mostly the old pewter figures, I am actually using these guys as a squad of Chosen Chaos Space Marine with Mark of Nurgle to account for the size difference.

There are a lot of nods and tips of the hat to the older miniatures in these figures designs well. Many of them wield their bolter in one hand, just like the old True Grit rule used to let you do. They also feature wood paneling on their weapons, many head shaped grenades to represent Blight grenades, etc. etc.

They have even included more bells, and the large spikes that you see on the Plaguebearer Demons. I think they are great touches and just make them look that much more horrendous.

There was also an interesting focus on their backpacks. They all have unique backpacks (ok two of them have the same one) all designed to resemble the older backpacks from 2nd/early 3rd ed in some way. It makes the minis look that much more ancient and I love it.

In the end if you are just getting started with Warhammer, then I wouldn't start with the Plague Marines. They are a difficult paint job, and it can be very frustrating. However, for the avid painter looking for a challenge this is the army for you!

Written by: Andrew Gregory