Unboxing: Durango Heavy Rail

Union once again shows itself as the best faction, getting the first non-starter release. The box comes out to 60£, slightly more than other behemoths, probably due to the giant pile of resin. You also get 2 armour sprues so you have some tonks to put on your little train.

The Model

Overall, a great cast, as usual from Warcradle. Detail is crisp, there’s little in the way of flashing, and I have yet to see a bubble ruining detail. One of the Rockridge flatbeds is slightly warped, and the head popped off the turret gunner, but those are easy fixes.

 

Alas poor Yorick

I love the design, it really sells the more industrial look. Multiple doors also sell the scale better, though it is a bit taller than I’d like (but that seems to be part of union design language in general). Finally, the Gunner on the AA Turret is amazing. I’d love it if we could get something similar for the carriages as well. The detailing on the Rockridge also impresses, particularly the (non-functional) articulation on the ramps.


There is, however, one issue with the trains. Please, give us an extra connector piece so we don’t have to build designated cabooses. I’m begging.

Assembly

There was a small issue with putting together the Durango. On my cast, it looks like the engine body was slightly too long to fit properly onto the hover element. This came out during dry fitting, so it wasn’t much of an issue to figure it out.

I started with assembling the rear skirt and coupling. Then I test fitted the engine on top until I was sure where it wasn’t fitting. This turned out to be the front wings above and to the sides of the union symbol, as well as a tiny bit on the rear light. A quick bit of trimming there fixed it, and then the engine piece slotted in nicely from the top. Overall, a nice model.

I ended up trimming the red areas down a bit

The Rockridge sadly also had issues, this time on the central connector. The piece is cast with a 1 piece mold, which means that height can vary. And in my case, it varied towards too tall, leaving a decent gap between the hover elements and the flatbed. Cutting it down is doable but an absolute pain, so I’ll probably just fill the next one and accept the unevenness. As always, use breathing protection when sanding or sawing resin.

 

I see daylight!

Raw Resin


 

Rules

This is still the beta rules, but I don’t think much is going to change there.

A toughness of 24 hits is nothing to sneeze at, especially with Durable on top. However, it has the same degrading profile as the Lakota, losing its top profile after only 8 hits. Consider that you’ll probably be attacking with the middle profile at best. Combined with an 8” move at 160 points and there’s definitely something there. You also don’t need a bolstered slot for it, making it easy to fit into lists.

Sadly, the Attacks aren’t exactly much to write home about. Devastating makes for nice AA, the light attack is a bit anemic if degraded, and the impact is the same as the Lakota’s. That would suggest a supporting air defence piece, delivering some Newhavens and then dealing with anything buzzing around.

However, Full Steam Ahead doesn’t care about how degraded you are. Bring some carriages along and suddenly that Impact profile is looking much tastier, and cheaper than the Lakota to boot. This could make it a decent way to bully enemy infantry off an objective, followed by dropping your own Newhavens on it. Even heavy infantry like Dragoons, Armigers, or Heavy Constructs are going to have a hard time killing it when charged, so they’ll probably get pushed back.

The Heavy Rail Auxiliary Battlegroup looks like more of a meme, but oops all infiltrate has been strong before in lots of systems. The opportunity cost of an Aux slot isn’t nothing, but our faction battlegroup has good bolstered slots and the best ability so trying it out isn’t going to hurt too much. I could see castling up around objectives or blocking the best routes for your opponent (being Large, the carriages stick around after being killed).

Finally, the Rockridge looks like more of a narrative pick. I could see bringing one as a LoS blocker for Artillery or to buff Rolling Thunders with Ammo Supply. You can also stick one in the middle of a train and buff everything (couplings count as footprint, so it barely works if you place it as the 2nd carriage in line). Finally, there’s the meme of sticking mechs on it and gloriously charging out, or the mobile artillery broadside (though that just makes more expensive versions of the gun carriages).

Conclusion

I’d pick up one for having the flexibility of a cheaper Lakota and some more Newhavens, but don’t feel like it’s a must take. It’s a great model overall, and I definitely need more trains!

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