Legiones Astartes: Siege Assault Battle Group Review
- Nicholas Smith
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
Greetings one and all,
I've been sitting on this one for a couple of months now, and as the boxset is now up for preorder, I can finally get some nice pictures of it. So, without further ado, let's dive into the Legiones Astartes: Siege Assault Battle Group and break it down.
Contents
So everyone and their mother knows what's in this boxset, but I'll cover it for brevity.
The box contains the newly designed Cataphractii Terminators,12 of them to be precise. 10 of the brand new plastic breachers (oh thank you gw it's about bloody time!) which I think means all the troop choices are now in plastic, and finally, a Leviathan Siege Dreadnought with Claw & Drill Weapons (is it me or is GW really pushing the Leviathan at the moment?).
Breakdown
Let's go over each of the units in a bit more detail, looking at the sprues first and then moving on to the rules. After that, I'll give my thoughts on the unit.
Breachers
We’ll start with the shiny new Breachers. These guys in plastic have been long anticipated and, in my opinion, long overdue.
The models use the MK III armour as a base and then have an upgrade sprue which includes the Breacher Shields, Boltguns, arms, special weapons and helmets. Shields follow the normal design we’re all familiar with that begin with the hand separate from the shield and the arm, much like the combat shields, and are all of the same design. I really like the Drum Mag Boltguns that come with this unit; in my opinion, it adds to the feeling that this is a specialised squad.
If I were going to nitpick though, I’d say it would have been nice to get two Lascutters and Gravition Guns as well, as these are the only places I'm aware of that you can get those weapons in plastic.
As for their rules, they're interesting. They basically function as a really tanky tactical squad, while only having line (1) and no Fury of the Legion special rule. The 5+ inv save is nice, and them being Heavy means you're less likely to suffer from tactical statuses. Overall, put these on an objective, and they’ll be a nightmare to push off.
Terminators
The new Cataphractii Terminators are very cool. The basic design isn’t too different from the old one, but the models have a more “modern” feel to them in how they’ve been cast. A six-man unit is spread over three sprues, with the main body being on two and the weapons and arms being on one. Here, on this weapon sprue, we find the main difference in the two versions of the new Cataphractii Terminators. One is armed with Power Fists, Combi Bolters and a Heavy Flamer, while the other has Volkite Chargers, Power Mauls, and a Reaper Autocannon. Both sprues have a range of power weapons and a Thunder Hammer for the sergeant, as well as a Chain Fist attachment.
Now, I’ll throw the normal range of issues at this unit that we throw at every unit with dozens of loadout options.
The kits don't allow you to build them how you want (unless you want a Power Fist or Power Mauls). If, for example, you wanted them all armed with power axes, you’re out of luck here. There doesn’t seem to be a Plasma Blast Gun option at all in either kit. And lastly, though this isn’t a bad thing and more an oddity, the Power Maul unit has a Chainfist attachment… The unit that doesn’t have Power Fists… It's an odd choice.
As for rules, well, it goes without saying they're hardy, toughness 5, 2+ sav, and a 4+ in, very small arms can forget killing these guys reliably. They’re bulky (2), so take up more room in transports, and vanguard (3), so are perfect for taking contested objectives. Implacable Advance makes it so weapons that don’t have the heavy or ordnance type gain assault in the volley stage (so you can volley fire those Combi Bolters), and finally, slow and purposeful makes it so you can't pursue an enemy if they break in combat. So overall, these guys are for pushing enemies off objects and then keeping them off.
Leviathan Siege Dreadnought with Claw & Drill Weapons
This isn’t a new model, but it seems to be one GW is pushing hard for some reason (much like the Sentinel). This used to be the biggest, baddest walker in the Legion's arsenal and although it’s since lost that title, it’s still a unit of a model. Toughness 8, wounds 7, and a 2+ sav and 5+ inv means it needs dedicated anti-tank weapons to bring down. This is tied with the fact it has some very heavy weapons; Grav-flux Bombard, Levithian Storm Cannon and the Cyclonic Melta Lance, and not to mention the Siege Claws and Drills that the one in this box comes with mean it hits very hard no matter what the target is.
Final thoughts
I like this box set. It’s priced well at £129 RRP, and at a guess, if the models were all bought alone it would probably cost about £200. The new models themselves are very nice and allow for many Legions to get easy access to breacher-like units, such as the Iron Hands Immortals for example, without paying the silly cost that Forgeworld would usually charge (sorry I mean 15+ resin), and finally rounds out the core troop choices of the Space Marine Legions.
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