Victrix – Ancient Greek Hoplites
At the beginning of the year, Victrix Miniatures released new Greek Hoplites (VXA050) as a plastic kit. Although the previous version is still available, it is also one of Victrix's oldest kits.
As typical for Victrix, the minis come in a larger plastic bag. The bag contains 48 Hoplites, consisting of six different bodies that can be combined with pairs of arms with spears or swords. 15 arms are armed with spears, seven with a sword.
Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team – Hivestorm
Kill Team's latest edition went for pre-order today and will be shipped in two weeks from now on October 5th. While a lot of the new components are available as individual items, there is a new starter set called Kill Team - Hivestorm as well. And just this set will be covered in today's unboxing review.
With Hivestorm we will see the 4th edition of Kill Team, which introduces two new Kill Teams, new terrain (called Killzone: Volkus Terrain and an updated set of rules. The two factions battling each other in this boxed set are the Tempestus Aquilons, the elite of the Astra Militarum equipped with Grav Chutes and the Vespid Stingwings, the updated insectoids of the T'Au Empire. And on top of that, we even get a new equipment sprue, with further scatter terrain and various grenade markers (along with the updated templates).
Just a quick heads up, as covering the Hivestorm box already went up to 70 pictures just for the unboxing, we're going to split the content into multiple articles.
Age of Sigmar Stormbringer Magazine 32 to 37
On Friday, August 30th of 2024, the 7th package of the german Stormbringer magazine by Hachette arrived, covering the issues 32 to 37. With this shipment we get the second bigger premium content out of four, along with a shift of the Stormbringer content away from the Stormcast Eternals vs. Kruleboyz towards some of the other factions of Age of Sigmar.
Horus Heresy – Mechanicum Thanatar Cavas Siege-Automata
Along with the individual kits from the Mechanicum Battlegroup there are three novelties for pre-order this Saturday, the new supplement for Horus Heresy - The Martian Civil War, an Archmagos Prime and the Thanatar Cavas Siege-automata. The last one we're going to build today.
The Thanatar Automata is the largest walker, that is not a Knight, within the ranks of the Mechanicum and a former resin kit, available in the Cavas or Calix Siege-Automata variants. With the Cavas being the first to the produced in plastic. But don't worry, you will see it further below, the kit (or rather the sprues) are designed in a way, that the armament can be swapped and the Calix variant will likely be covered with a weapon sprue of its own.
Legions Imperialis – Solar Auxilia Leman Russ Exterminator and Annihilators Squadron
And we're covering the third Leman Russ plastic kit, the Exterminator and Annihilators, for Legions Imperialis, after the Leman Russ Strike Squadron, the Executioner and Demolisher today.
All four new variants are included as formations in the new Devastation of Tallarn campaign supplement. They start out as squadrons of four and can be upgraded to a squad size of 10. Note, these can not be mixed, each squadron consists only out of one variant. With six different variants of the Leman Russ covered, the only one missing would be the Leman Russ Incinerator, with the Volkite Macro-Saker.
Legions Imperialis – Legiones Astartes Termite Assault Drills
And the third kit in this wave is are Termite Assault Drills, a unit for the Legiones Astartes.
The Termite Assault drills are an underground transport vehicle, often used in sieges or during similar heavily fortified scenarios. It is classified as an Imperial Subterrain Vehicle, and not the only one of its kind. Back in the Rogue Traders days, some armies had access to the Mole (used by the Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum and Squats) or Hellbore (Mechanicum and Squats), with variants like the Hades Breaching Drill.
Legions Imperialis – Legiones Astartes Sabre Strike Tank Squadron
A new type of tank for the Legiones Astartes, with the Sabre Strike Tank Squadron for Legions Imperialis. These have been expected for quite some time now, as their very distinguished shape was used for the Light Armour units icon.
In this boxed set of 8 Sabre tanks we have the choice between hull mounted neutron blaster or Anvilus autocannon, which means this kit is missing the volkite option, just like the three Leman Russ kits. The rules for the formation of Sabre Strike tanks can be found in The Devastation of Tallarn supplement, and the boxed set will set you back 41,00 EUR / 31,50 GBP RRP.
Warhammer 40,000 – Space Marines Terminator Squad
With a bit of delay, we take care of the Space Marines Terminator Squad for Warhammer 40k, and these are the Indomitus pattern models in a fitting Primaris scale, introduced first with the release of Leviathan as push-fits, and later followed by this multi-part kit with more options.
This is a really interesting release, especially for me as Terminator were something that was completely out of reach when I started the hobby. Back in the 90s the models were only available in metal, and a single terminatur was 18 DM (9,2 EUR but 15,10 EUR with inflation) and a box of 5 was 85 DM (42,25 EUR, but 71,30 EUR with inflation) and that was quite an amount of money for a teenager for a single unit. Just by that comparison, the new RRP of 55 EUR is cheaper than the metal models were back then. But the "first" plastic terminators (there were plastic terminators from Space Hulks first edition) were already a huge improvement, as you could get 10 of them from a box of Space Hulk (99 DM), later as an individual kit, and they were part of the battle force that was released in 1998, which made them much more accessible and dropped their price below retail.
Horus Heresy – Mechanicum Triaros Armoured Conveyor
And last but not least, we want to take a look upon the Triaros Armoured Conveyor. The largest model from the newly released Mechanicum Battle Group and another huge improvement for the range, as the former resin kits of this size provide a serious challenge for the hobbyist.
Among the vast range of walkers and robots within the Mechanicum, there are still tanks and tracked vehicles available for roles like tanks, self-propelled guns or transporters. There are multiple patterns and vehicles, where the Triaros Armoured Conveyor with its transport capacity of up to 22 models (for example tech thralls or light automata) shares his chassis with the Karacnos Assault Tank. Other tracked vehicles, like the Krios use a different chassis, but a similar design.
Horus Heresy – Mechanicum Castellax Battle-automata
The third infantry unit from the new Mechanicum Battle Group are the Castellax Battle-Automata. Another former resin kit, recreated in hard plastic.
While being quite bigger and carrying a heavier punch than the tech-thralls and thallax cohort, these still count as a troop choice and you can use a single miniature as a maniple of its own and add up to 4 further Castellax Battle-Automata to that unit.