Greetings one and all,
Well, what a weekend. The pre-order of a whole host of the next edition of the Horus Heresy. This has been met with a great deal of fanfare and support from a large part of the community. The anticipation was only further increased by the announcement of a plastic Leviathon Dreadnought (one of my personal favourite models). In this article, I thought I would go over the models that have been announced for the new Warhammer The Horus Heresy as well as a speculative valuation of the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Age of Darkness boxset.
The setting
Warhammer The Horus Heresy takes place at the end of the great crusade, during the Emperor's War of Conquest across the galaxy. At the forefront of the Great Crusade are the mighty Space Marine Legions, each led by a Primarch; a demigod of war and the Emperor's genetically created sons. It is at the end of the Great Crusade that the Emperor gives command of the Imperium Military to his most trusted and favoured son, Horus Lupercal.
Unfortunately, Horus was corrupted by the God of Chaos and waged a devastating civil war over the course of eight years, that only ended with his death at the hand of his father on board the vengeful spirit over Terra itself.
With this new edition of the Horus Heresy, you must choose your side; loyalist or traitor. Then it is time to choose one of the many legions that make up either side that you will join to battle your enemies.
On the side of the Loyalists are; Dark Angels, White Scars, Space Wolves, Imperial Fists, Blood Angels, Iron Hands, Ultramarines, Salamanders and the Raven Guard. While the traitors can call upon; Emperors Children, Iron Warriors, Night Lords, World Eaters, Death Guard, Thousand Sons, Luna Wolves, Word Bearers and Alpha Legion.
Releases
The last few weeks have seen a plethora of announcements for new model kits including huge amounts of previously Forgeworld only ones. Plastic seems to be the future of the Horus Heresy, as many of the older resin models are given a new plastic design to replace the old ones. Let's look at what has been announced so far.
Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – The Age of Darkness
The centrepiece of the Warhammer the Horus Heresy launch is this amazing boxset at £180 RRP. It’s not cheap, but the savings involved are quite substantial (more on that later).
Overall, it’s a great way to build up a nice sized force of this new addition, or go halves with a friend and get more people into the hobby.
Praetor with Power Axe
This Praetor is really unique, the armour style is like nothing else out there and it just drips with menace. I can just see this guy cleaving his way through loyalists with ease in order to get to a more worthy opponent.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess an RRP price of £24 which is in line with many of the other Space Marine HQ choices out there.
Praetor with Power Sword
This Praetor is more what I would have expected, that’s not a bad thing. To me, he exemplifies the noble heroism of the Great Crusade and would make a perfect leader for any of the noble idealistic legions out there; the Ultramarines and Blood Angels come to mind.
Again as with the Praetor before him, I’m going to guess at an RRP price of £24.
MKIII Tactical Squad
Not a new kit by any means. In fact, if memory serves, this was one of the first 30K kits to get the upgrade to plastic. The main difference now though is that they come in packs of 20 for £47.50, which is rather nice for all the Iron Warrior fans out there (Iron within, Iron without brother).
MKIV Tactical Squad
Another kit has been given the same marvellous upgrade as the MkIIIs previously, these came in the original Horus Heresy boxset all those years ago and now come in a box of 20 for again, £47.50.
MKVI Legion Tactical Marines
Brand new to this edition of the Warhammer the Horus Heresy the MkVI is the last iteration of mass-produced power armour during the Horus Hesery. This again comes in a nice size 20 man boxset and as an added bonus, comes with a full range of special weapon upgrades, and heavy bolter and missile heavy weapon upgrades too.
There is no word on price for these guys yet, but I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say £47.50 like the two boxes beforehand.
Special Weapons Upgrade Set
Oh boy, now this is a sight for sore eyes. As you are able to field entier squads of marines armed with special weapons, this upgrade box is a welcome sight. It includes Flamers, Meltaguns, Plasma Guns, Rotor Cannons, Volkite Calivers and Volkite Chargers, and you get ten of each per pack. I can see these being very popular for both 30K and 40K, especially at £26 a pack.
Heavy Weapons Upgrade Set – Missile Launchers and Heavy Bolters
Another nice upgrade pack, Heavy Bolter and Missile Launchers are a mainstay of many space marine heavy weapon squads and again, there are 10 of each plus the ars you need to upgrade your existing MK VI marines. At £26 though I think these might be a tad overpriced. Maybe if they had added another heavy weapon type then I’d be more inclined to say these were well priced.
We’re also going to see the other heavy weapon released later as well. These will come in two packs and include; Heavy Flamer, Multi-Melta and Plasma Cannon in one box, and the Lascannon, Autocannon and Volkite Culverins in the other.
Cataphractii Terminators
Another old plastic kit. Thus far we don't have a box size or a price for these models, but we do know these are the same models as came out in the Betrayal at Calth boxset all those years ago. Before they were taken down everywhere, a box of these was between £38-45 for 5, which was a little steep if you ask me. If we’re lucky we might get a box of 10 for about £70, which seems a little bit of a better deal.
Leviathan Siege Dreadnought
As I mentioned before this was one of my favourite models. In fact, it was the model I brought with my first ever paycheck, so you know I'm super happy to see it getting a plastic release. For a load out, it comes with Grav-Flux Bombard, the Cyclonic Melta Lance, and the Storm Cannon for the arms, and I’m really hoping that we get two of each of these though I’m not gonna hold my breath. It also comes with two integrated hull weapons – paired Heavy Flamers or twin-linked Volkite Calivers, and a Phosphex Discharger for everyone that wants to make sure nothing lives in the area this is deployed to for the next 10’000 years.
Yep, I am a happy man with this.
Again there is no mention of price, but it’s roughly the size of the Redemptor and so I think the cost will be about the same, I’m guessing about £50-60.
Contemptor Dreadnought
Another one of the early plastic 30K models, the Contemptor came out in the Betrayal at Calth boxset. Back then though, it was a very static model, but that is no longer the case. The new model not only comes with a huge range of arm-mounted weapons; Lascannon, Autocannon, Heavy Bolter, Multi Melta and Power Fist (not to mention the Missile launcher), this thing is loaded to bear and with a few magnets, you can swap out the weapons as you wish so you're not confined to only one type of loadout.
There is no price out yet but I would feel safe in saying between £35-45, which is just slightly higher than it was before it was removed from the store.
Deimos Pattern Rhino
Who hasn't wanted one of these Rhinos? Only the price held me back from fielding a company's worth. Well, now they should be more reasonably priced and they carry 12 marines instead of 10 (I’m guessing the extra two just sit on another marines lap?). furthermore, it's a bargain at only £28.
Sicaran
Now, this was a surprise to me, I honestly wouldn’t have thought I’d see a plastic Sicaran this early in the releases. Thus far it seems like only the base version is coming in plastic, but let's be honest, the rest are on their way. Gamesworkshop has been knocking it out of the park with these releases. This Sicaran comes with the turret-mounted Accelerator Autocannon, a choice of sponson weapons, Heavy Bolters, Lascannons, Heavy Flamers, or Volkite Culverins, as well as a whole host of pintle-mounted weapons with the Havoc Launcher, a Multi-Melta, a Heavy Bolter, or a Heavy Flamer.
As of yet no mention of the price, so I’m forced to guess but I wouldn't be surprised to see this at £40-45.
Spartan Assault Tank
Oh, now we get on to one of the big boys. The Spartan is a Land Raider on steroids with its massive troop-carrying capacity, and with those 8 Lascannons in 2 quadruple mounts, this thing can drive right into the heart of the enemy battle line and deliver your troops to where they’re needed most. I think the thing I’m looking forward to most is the fact the tracks will be plastic, as the old resin ones had a bad habit of snapping.
I would be shocked if we saw this for less than £80, and I can honestly see this pushing £90 and over.
Kratos Heavy Assault Tank
If the Spartan is the Land Raider on steroids, then this thing is the Sicaran, albeit much slower and way more heavily armed. The Kratos is a brand new model for the Horus Heresy and I’ve got to say, it fits the era really well. I think that adding a new tank to a period of Warhammer Lore that has been so well established is a difficult process, but it really has been well received and makes sense as a vehicle that the legions would have. It’s armed with one of three turret weapons; the Kratos Battlecannon, Melta Blast-Gun, or Volkite Cardanelle, as well as a pair of hull-mounted Heavy Bolters, Lascannons, or Volkite Calivers and lastly has a huge range of pintle-mounted weapons; a Havoc Launcher, Heavy Bolter, Heavy Flamer, Multi-Melta, or a combi-weapon with five configurations (Bolter, Flamer, Melta, Plasma, or Volkite). It also comes with a whole host of extra bits for the hull, from searchlights to Dozer blades.
This comes in at £75, which is what I’d expect given the size and detail of the model.
Cost and savings
I said that we would have another look at the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – The Age of Darkness boxset and see what the savings would be and here's that time.
In the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – The Age of Darkness boxset you get the following;
– Praetor with Power Axe
– Praetor with Power Sword
– 10 Cataphractii Terminators
– 40 MKVI Legion Tactical Marines
– Contemptor Dreadnought
– Spartan Assault Tank
– A 336-page hardback Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Age of Darkness Rulebook
– Two 4-page Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Reference Sheets
– 20 six-sided dice and one scatter dice
– Three weapon templates in translucent orange plastic
– Two red plastic measuring sticks
– One Warhammer: The Horus Heresy transfer sheet, with more than 300 transfers to customise your miniatures with the iconography of the Imperial Fists and Sons of Horus
– A 36-page construction guide which also features an introductory army list
Breaking down those things that we can know or at least guess the RRP price we get looks something like this:
– Praetor with Power Axe = £24
– Praetor with Power Sword = £24
– 10 Cataphractii Terminators = £70
– 40 MKVI Legion Tactical Marines = £95
– Contemptor Dreadnought = £35-45
– Spartan Assault Tank = £80-90
– A 336-page hardback Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Age of Darkness Rulebook = £42.50
– 20 six-sided dice and one Scatter dice =£24
– Three weapon templates in translucent orange plastic = £9
Taking into account that I have had to estimate some of these prices (though I am rather sure that I’m in the right ballpark), this comes to a grand total of £403.50, plus or minus £20 in my opinion. That means that with the boxset cost £180 you're saving a whooping £223.50… Wow, that is a huge saving. In fact, I had to go back and check my maths to make sure I was right.
I don’t think there is anything you can complain about when the boxset is this good. The models are amazing and the amount you are getting in it is honestly the biggest disparity I've ever seen in a boxset from Gamesworkshop.
So what are you waiting for? This looks to be a great game and the support for it seems to show no sign of running out anytime soon.
This is the of my Horus Hesery series, which will be released every two weeks on Fridays starting 24/06/2022. We’ll look at each legion in turn, their strengths and weakness, and how to paint them.
I look forward to seeing you all there.
Written 06/06/2022; all prices were correct or unreleased at the time of writing and publishing.
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