Horus Heresy – Mechanicum Adsecularis Tech-thralls

Let's start with the individual reviews of the content of the Mechanicum Battle Group for Horus Heresy. You saw the unboxing of the entire boxed set, and we will go through the individual kits one by one, begining with the Mechanicum Adsecularis Tech-thralls.

The Tech-thralls form the core of the infantry, as an expendable mass, as these cyborgs are armed with basic weapon systems and often created from prisoners or criminals. While this unit had options in the first edition of Warhammer The Horus Heresy, the Liber Mechanicum keeps it close to the chest, as they have fixed weaponry, without any upgrades. The only choice player has so far, is adding another 20 Tech-thralls to the mininum size of 10 of their covenant. As long as the unit is not larger than 20 models, it may use an Triaros Armoured Conveyor as a dedicated transport.

As such, the Tech-thralls are five models per sprue and we can expect them to be boxed at 4 sprues and a similar price tag to the Solar Auxilia infantry (which is currently 62,50 EUR).

The sprues are properly filled and have minor mould lines. The amount of detail is proper and the bayonets of the Las-Locks are sturdily designed, so they don't break when you remove them from the sprue. You get a total of four of these sprues with the battle group along with 20x 25mm round bases.

The core bodies have quite a lot of parts, I didn't expect these to be sliced that way. But each "core" body is fixed, and there are five different poses whos bits can not be mixed, and have no variants / options beside the fourth body with an optional bionic leg instead of a "soft tissue". The fifth body can optionally choose a different human head and not a helmet, as this is not designed in the splitted front and back halves. Due to the slot, that head could probably fit any of the other bodies.

I like the poses so far, as the shuffling legs give them a proper tech-zombie vibe, and I can already see them being used for a variety of projects beyond the Mechanicum.

While the las-locks are very similar designed, you need to build them according to the instructions and can not mix them across the poses, as the connection points to the arms and cables to the power packs on the back are individually designed on each pose. And I have to add, the way these fit together might be the best fit so far on weapons with additional cables on any of the infantry kits. I have built Devastators and other units over the years, and as smoothly, without any gaps or annoying fiddly pieces, as these - well done!

And these weapons come with bayonets. They are no optional upgrades, but fixed with the new design. Of course you can leave them off, if you don't fancy them. But they are properly casted, have a good connection to the weapon and are not to thin that they instantly break.

The last step gives us the variants we have access to with this sprue. Per five bodies you have six different left arms and ten different face plates / face fronts.

To give you an idea of the size, here are the new plastic models next to an older Forge World Tech-thrall with a Mitralock (a dropped weapon option), a Mark III Astartes and a Jackal. As well as next to a Thallax and Castellax Battle Automata.

Each sprue will provide you with a spare leg, a spare left arm and six heads / face plates for your bit box.

And some angled shots of the Mechanicum Adsecularis Tech-thralls.

Conclusion

From a design point of view, they are very well made. All the detail, all the things that formerly would only be castable in resin is very well translated into this plastic kit. Especially the power cables of the laslocks are well sliced and come with good connection points that don't leave you hanging with ugly gaps or areas you need to clean up or cover. This comes at "a cost", assembly takes a bit of time for a mass unit that doesn't provide that many points. But that is something I can look post. While you do get some options with the face plates, I would have loved some more variation on these. You probably won't notice it to much in a herd and they are certainly not a unit that needs a champion or somebody to stand out.

I do think, these have a very high potential for further conversions. From using these as servitors, maybe mix them with the Hive Scum sprue and build very characterful servant or tech-zombies for the Underhive, or salvage bits and pieces from the Deadwalker Zombies from Age of Sigmar or Brethren of the Bolt from Warhammer Underworlds, for a rather necromantic Dark Mechanicum project. This kit has a lot of potential, and I myself will use the battle group to build a Necromunda Guild and will convert some of the laslocks into arms with tools or other weapons.

Warhammer 40,000 and The Horus Heresy are brands by Games Workshop.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.