Greetings one and all,
The Horus Heresy has so far brought us a glut of new models, which I for one am not complaining about. One of the newest models to be released was the Legion Predator so let’s have a look at it, how it’s built and how it’s best used on the tabletop.
Legion Predator
I’m very happy that Gamesworkshop decided to release one of the OG Space Marine tanks. This is made even better by the fact it’s based on the Forgeworld version with the rounded turret, which is a style I really like. It fills the role of a medium tank, in a Space Marine force and packs a good amount of firepower. That said, it won't survive a concentrated effort to kill it, so it’s best hanging out at the back of the board, but more on that later.
I suppose if I was to point out a flaw it would be that we only have access to the Predator Cannon, Graviton Cannon, Volkite Macro-Saker and the Gravis Lascannon. This is only 4 of the 9 weapons that can be turret mounted, so I guess we’ll be getting another Predator release with the other 5 weapons in it?
Building
The Predator kit comes on 5 sprues, 4 of which are for building the tank itself and the 5th is the vehicle upgrade sprue that is included in every vehicle kit now (not that I’m complaining).
As to be expected for a tank built on the hull of the Rhino, they share the same issues during the building process, namely the tightness of putting the bottom plate into the sides of the tank. Because of this I would strongly recommend having a couple of elastic bands handy to prevent gaps in the hull.
The weapons are fairly easy to construct with the Volkite Macro-Saker being the most complicated, but even still, it wasn't that hard to put together. On the topic of the turret though, you might notice that the ammo box on the back of the turret changes depending on the weapon you have mounted. It’s really easy to make this part swappable though as you only need to cut a single tab and you can change them out with ease.
The sponsons are the same as those on the Sicran and so are incredibly easy to magnetise, I used 3mm x 1mm neodymium magnets which fit nicely into most of the holes, but you might need to slightly widen some of them as the fit can be a little tight. When I magnetise the sponsons I tend to cut the pins off the top and bottom parts, then just glue them straight onto the sponsons.
The turret-mounted weapons were easy enough as well. I used the same 3mm x 1mm magnets, filled in the back of the weapons with greenstuff and then drilled 4 holes; 2 in the gun and 2 in the turret. I then popped in the magnets and I was done. The longest part of the process here was waiting for the green stuff to set, so if you try this method yourself bare in mind this will add extra time to the process.
Tabletop
As I’ve said before, the Predator fills the role of a medium tank in your Space Marine force. With a front armour of 13, sides of 12 and rear of 10, it’s not the best-armoured thing and won’t last long if subjected to determined anti-tank fire especially when you consider it only has 3HP. However, the point of the predator isn’t to take a shed load of damage or to even be up front, it’s job is to be a cheap source of firepower. At only a 120-point base, it's a steal. At base, it’s armed with the Predator cannon, which is heavy 4 and rending (6+) and sponson Heavy Bolters, which are passable (especially for Imperial Fists).
However, it is the variant decked out with the Lascannon that I feel will be the most common type, at only 160 you’re getting 4 Lascannons on a mobile platform that can sit at the back, picking off other tanks, Dreadnoughts and other tough units, while our opponent has to pick between dealing with the Predator or another bigger threat. I think that's where the Predator is really going to shine. It's not a big enough threat to be focused on if you have anything even slightly more threatening, but it'll still do damage to your opponent on the tabletop.
Summary
The Legion Predator is an easy vehicle to put together, with a wide range of options. It's a cheap way of fielding some serious firepower and I can personally see it being very popular. I do wish that all the turret options were included though, but that just be me being greedy. Overall, I think it’s great to see this tank finally getting some love.
Hi, thank you for reading my article. I hope you enjoyed it and that it was useful to you. Articles like these take a lot of time to research and write, so if you did enjoy it or found it useful maybe you’d be so kind as to drop me a donation. That way I can continue to fund the products and books I need to keep delivering high quality articles like this.
You can donate to me at https://ko-fi.com/graypaints
For updates when I release an article, why not Subscribe and join us on our Social Media pages?