Commander Farsight - O'Shovah Review

Commander Farsight, Shas'O O'Shovah, leader of the Farsight Enclaves recently received an update to his model and it blows his previous two out of the water (caste. Sorry). 

Credit: Warhammer Community, Games Workshop

Even by the standards of the Tau, this new suit feels high tech and the base details feed into the whole Japanese rōnin samurai feel he has with the Eight. His right pauldron is also reminiscent of samurai armour with the overlapping panels.

There was some clean up required while assembling this model, with some mouldlines along the back edge of the Dawn Blade and on the leg armour panels, but these areas are largely hidden away regardless so were not strictly a necessary step. The back of the jetpack thrusters also had some minor gaps that needed filling but they're honestly so minor that even the primer would have sufficed to cover them up. Overall, the actual quality of the sculpts are great.

The assembly itself was a bit of a mixed bag. Each 'sub-assembly' went together fine, but it kind of fell apart when it came to putting it all together. The high-tech gyros that allow his arms to float away from his torso have notches in them to allow them to fit nicely, but they are so subtle that even just the use of plastic glue eats too much into the plastic, affecting the positioning. I achieved the ox art pose in the end but it was certainly in spite of and not because of the design. Similarly, my O'Shovah's legs set a bit too far apart using the intended grooves, but there was enough give in the plastic that I could just plug the pins on his feet into the holes in the rock scenic base. Definitely dry fit as you go and allow plenty of time for the glue to set to prevent any drooping of the limbs; there is a lot of weight to them!

One thing about the head is that it feels a bit incomplete to me. There is kind of just a flat nub jutting out from underneath the top of it and I actually thought I was missing a face plate to fit over it. It does look much better once painted up, especially if you can get a lens painted inside of the vision slit.

In game, Farsight is a solid commander for a Farsight Enclaves army, although he is arguably a worse choice than just taking a generic Crisis Commander in place of him. If you do take him, his rules encourage tagging along with a large squad of Crisis Suits and buffing them up which is kind of what you want to do with Tau regardless, so not a bad plan. The Dawn Blade allows him to punch surprisingly effectively in melee, especially for a Tau, and he can help defend your Crisis suits from anyone who manages to tag them in melee.

All in all, this new model is the best rendition of Commander Farsight we have received yet and it's his first full plastic kit. I ran into a few issues while assembling the miniature but I can heartily recommend picking the kit up if you are a fan of Farsight or want to add him to your collection.