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.
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.
Horus Heresy – Mechanicum Thallax Cohort
The next bigger unit from the Mechanicum Battle Group after the Adsecularis Tech-thralls are the Thallax Cohort.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Mechanicum or the individual units, these are no robots, but heavily augmented cyborgs. While the Tech-thralls are almost lobotomized in the process of their creation, the Thallax retain a degree of their independent human thought. The Lorica Thallax which encases their major organs and nervous system, replaces the skeleton and limbs entirely, with an armoured mechanical system.
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.
Legions Imperialis – Solar Auxilia Leman Russ Executioner and Demolisher Squad
Along with Shadowsword and Sicaran, the second of three Leman Russ tank kits for Legions Imperialis is available for pre-order as well. While we have the regular Leman Russ Battle Tank and Vanquisher since the starter set, we now have access to the Executioner and Demolisher, with an further upcoming release of the Annihilator and Exterminator later this year.
The Leman Russ is one of, if not the work horse of the Imperial war machine. The chassis is used for multiple variants, mostly the Leman Russ battle tank with various turrets (And even beyond the 6 mentioned above, there are still further variants to explore) and before the chimera chassis was developed used for artillery and self-propelled guns.
Legions Imperialis – Legiones Astartes Sicaran Arcus and Punisher Squadron
The only release for the Legiones Astartes among this weeks pre-orders for Legions Imperialis are the Sicaran Arcus and Punisher tanks.
With the starter set, we already have the regular Sicaran and Omega variant of the tank, now adding the missile launcher of the Arcus and rotary cannon of the Punisher to the Astartes battle tank. Thus covering all known variants, beside the Venator, who replaced the turret mounted weapon systems for a hull-mounted neutron-laser.
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