I'm sure there's much more peaceful ways for artifacts from the Protectorate to end up in Imperium hands. Areelu did want a profitable relationship...
CLASSIFICATION: *Secondary Level Information*
DATE: *956.M41*
AUTHOR: *Inquisitor Lorquai, Ordo Xenos*
SUBJECT: *Product Review of The Workshop 2nd Edition 2-Player Starter Set and 2nd Edition Legacy Datasheets*
Preface: This set of objects were purchased from the Van Yastobaal Rogue Trader Dynasty at a surprisingly reasonable cost, given the information within. Areelu Van Yastobaal has agreed that it should only be sold to sufficient ranked Inquisitors and equivalent; I will convey any interest in purchasing further copies (which the Rogue Trader has) to her.
Product: The 2nd Edition 2-Player Starter Set is a 22.5 × 6.0 × 30.5 cm box, with a well detailed art of heretical mutants fighting Tyranids amongst a ruined Imperial city with the title and the tagline 'In the grim darkness of space there is only war'. Inside, there are:
Eighteen sheets of grey shaped placard, which are meant to be reassembled into the form of a single intact STC hab-bunker, a partially destroyed hab bunker, and seven STC stockades. Sixty pewter unpainted miniatures, consisting of nine 'Cult Warriors', nine 'Jahkals', two 'Mutant Champions', eight 'Bezerkers', and one 'Cult Psyker', representing the 'Servants of the Powers', in other words heretics and traitor Space Marines, ten 'Neophyte Hybrids', seven 'Genestealers', one 'Magos', three 'Tyranid Warriors' and ten 'Termagaunts', representing the Tyranids. One 'Starter Set Handbook' which contains brief but accurate information on the heretical forces and Tyranids, plus information on painting the miniatures. One 'Core Rules Booklet' which contains information on how these miniatures are to be used in a sort of wargame, including what I have been told is a rather accurate description of how Psykers operate. 2 modified measuring sticks and 10 six-sided dice, meant for using in the wargame. 2 reference sheets, one for the Servants of the Powers and one for the Tyranids, that summarise the information in the Handbook for playability. The Legacy Datasheets, meanwhile, are intermediate in form between the Handbook and the reference sheets, refraining from more than a short paragraph on descriptions, but contain far more than the five units per book that the Handbook has. The books I was able to obtain are for the Dark Eldar, the Orks, and oddly enough the Valhallans.
Usage: This is clearly meant to be a wargame, as often used for training, but the level of detail placed into the enemies of the Imperium far exceeds any of those the Militarium uses. Van Yastobaal let me play against her with a fully painted set; playing as the Tyranids, I found the rules led me to make decisions logical for the Xenos in a way that none under the Emperor's aegis would, and while I possess little knowledge of heretics and daemons beyond their existence I must admit the rules for them also brought much sense to what descriptions of their activities I know.
Reading the Handbook and the Legacy Datasheets, I remain surprised by how well they summarise the key points regarding the xenos as well as the lone Militarium representative. It is faster to list what flaws I did find: the Tyranids overly emphasise the use of Genestealer cults as a vanguard, as we know once Tyranids are in an area they are capable of spreading even without the subversive xenos, and the Wych Cults of the Dark Eldar are treated as more important and powerful than my observations have indicated. Nonetheless, this is an extremely well detailed resource for any member of the Ordo Xenos and potentially the Ordo Hereticus if the heretical side is expanded upon. I have instructed the Rogue Trader to contact me if an expanded version (indicated in the Handbook as a 'Codex') is to fall into her hands.
The miniatures themselves also serve quite well to illustrate the foes of the Imperium to novices. Many of them benefit from lack of knowledge of their appearance, and the dynamic posing gives a better idea of the kind of silhouette to watch out for than the flat anatomical diagrams commonly used. Van Yastobaal had sets of unpainted Dark Eldar, Orks and Valhallans at hand, and I purchased one each of the Xenos for this purpose.
Conclusion: This 'The Workshop' product contains information valuable to any member of the Ordo Xenos. While more detailed treatise exists, having them all compiled into a single volume, with the additional utility of playing out hypothetical scenarios, is unprecedented. This information is, naturally, too dangerous to be freely given, but Van Yastobaal has agreed to not sell to any rich noble looking for a pastime. I would request my colleagues in the Ordo Hereticus to review the heretic forces, as I have no knowledge of them.