Legions Imperialis - Sicaran Tanks for the Sons of Horus

A detachment of Sicaran tanks, ready to prowl the gaming table in support of the Warmaster's war of liberation...

When you manage to obtain a "Legions Imperialis" starter box, you are likely to really love the models, but maybe be a little...perplexed...at the inclusion of four Sicaran tanks, niche vehicle designs of relatively recent design for GW's "Horus Heresy" setting. Like, why no Land Raiders? Well, whatever...even if it's an odd choice to include in the core starter box, the Sicaran tanks ARE very, very cool vehicles in the 30k setting, and the models are really, really neat. Naturally, given my collection preferences, I opted to paint the first ones I assembled for the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. 

Similar to the Predators, you have choice of weapons for the turret and for the sponsons. The classic twin-autocannon loadout, in addition to providing some terrifying fire support, is also intended (I think, at least) to serve as an AA weapon against flyers in the game. The plasma loadout, meanwhile, give this tank a powerful anti-tank capability. 

A "classic" Sicaran loadout - with a commander in a cupola to signify a squadron leader, should such a marker be needed on the table.

The choice of main weapon can be augmented by choice or either lascannons or heavy bolters for the sponsons. In all, you can opt for a Sicaran that is designed to wreck other tanks, or a more classic Sicaran that is designed to wreck enemy infantry and light vehicles - and (I think) aircraft. With this detachment of four tanks I opted to split the difference, with two each of an anti-tank and more classic anti-infantry weapon selection. 

I think these are called "Omega plasma arrays" (or something, I can't recall exactly) but the main takeaway: big time anti-tank firepower.

Assembly of these models can be tricky - there are some very, very small components on these sprues. All of the usual warnings about building these little models on or near a carpet - especially one of any shade that matches the grey plastic - definitely apply. But as with the Rhinos, and with the Predators, the quality and detail of these little kits is really remarkable, and as long as you are a little careful and a little patient (both areas where I struggle, but still), you are going to end up with a great little bit of 30k kit. 

Another view of the detachment, showing some the detail on the rear deck and engines. 

I might have the terms wrong, I think these can comprise a "medium armour detachment" for the Space Marine Legions, which can be added on to the various formations (such as the Legion Demi Company). And Legions Imperialis holds the promise of letting players use the Sicaran tanks in the fashion they are intended - a fast moving tank option, faster and hitting harder than Predators, but slower and hitting a little less than the various versions of the Land Raiders. 

That's all for now - thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more!

Some Legions Imperialis Loyalists

A brewing little "demi company" formation for the Imperial Fists in Legions Imperialis.

"Legions Imperialis", GW's (much-delayed) reboot of the classic Epic game, has been out for months now - and I haven't even tried the game yet! There are reasons for this, most of which I can't control. For one, it is very, very challenging to acquire the models. For another, the order in which GW is choosing to release these models is, at best, perplexing - the Solar Auxilia, for example, still do not have the troop-carrying models (unless you count those stupid little Arvus Lighters - and I don't). But there is another block - not having the stuff painted - and that is not on GW, that's on me! I did a few bits for the Sons of Horus, during the most recent edition of the Painting Challenge, but there are no opponents on my shelves. Time to change that! We get a bit of progress to share here, with this small batch of Loyalist Space Marines painted in the colours of the VII Legion Astartes, the Imperial Fists. 

To get a force on to the table, I need to get a legal "formation" together, and the most basic and flexible one for the Space Marines is the "Demi Company". We have some (but not all) of the basic elements for such a formation here - an HQ stand, a tactical detachment and a light armour detachment, with Rhino APCs to provide a lift for the infantry. 

A Space Marine HQ stand - and a ride for the boss!

The HQ element is just a single stand (if dramatic). The GW sculptors have faithfully recreated all of the favourite Space Marine HQ figures - the Praetor, the banner, the medic, and a couple of "veteran" marines with bolters. I don't know that this one stand will do much in a game, but you need to have one - and it is fun to try and paint all of these little characters.

The basic tactical detachment, with a pair of Rhino APCs for a ride.

The basic tactical detachment is comprised of the four infantry stands. Various elements can be added to beef it up, but the little group of 20 tactical marines is the core element. I'll need another one of these to round out the formation - especially as, by all accounts, stuff dies in piles really fast in this game - but at least the first one is done!

Tactical chaps with their ride...

The Rhinos will be key to get these little chaps around the table - and of course, they are iconic bits of kit! Unfortunately, they are very difficult to come by in any reliable fashion. I am rationing the ones I was able to score between the Sons of Horus and the Imperial Fists I am working to paint up, and keeping my eyes peeled for more boxes of them. I should note that I don't necessarily think I you will need tons of the things, but I want some bulky infantry detachments, and Rhinos to transport them. 

The battle-taxi of the Horus Heresy battlefied...

(Product note - of course, you can also use the Land Raiders and Spartans to transport the Marines, but the rules for those vehicles were not in the main rule book...they are in "the Great Slaughter"; I'm sure it's not hard to track even scans or details down, but FFS GW, why do you have to be absolute twats about this kind of thing? It certainly points to what a f*cked up set-up that surely exists in that Company...)

Predator light-armour detachment. 

These models have fiddly bits...but wow, these kits really are something.

Then we have three Predators, classic bits of light armour for the Space Marines. You have choice of weapons on these vehicles (the kits are tricky with small, fiddly bits, but wow, they are remarkable) - and it should be noted you get a double dose of turrets, so you can swap those out if you like! I opted to build two of the tanks with an AT weapon loadout (all lascannons), and a single tank with the classic auto-cannon/heavy bolter sponson loadout. 

That's all for now - but stay tuned for more, including (hopefully) more progress on Legions Imperialis models, as I really can't wait to try this game! 

30k Thousand Sons Librarian Consul

Thousand Sons Librarian Consul for GW's Horus Heresy setting.

So there has been a little pause in the blog-posting, but the brushes are still moving, and the theme and setting will be familiar - more 30k! Here we have a "Librarian Consul", and you can see by the very busy and ornate armour set, this chap was designated to serve in one particular Legion Astartes, and that would be the 15th Legion, the Thousand Sons, reputed for their mastery of/abuse of warp powers, lore, magic, general knowledge and other dangerous things! This is a 28mm resin figure from GW/Forge World.

"You can't escape! I have a fancy cloak!"

This is a lovely sculpt, replete with the features Space Marine players have come to expect on their Librarians (scrolls! a staff! a big, fancy cloak!) and on the Heresy-era Thousand Sons generally (faux-Egyptian symbols and arcane-adjacent accents!). The figure is busy with all of these details, but still manages to stand distinct from the Egyptian-beyond-space-parody look of the Thousand Sons of GW's later 40k setting. Not an easy balance to strike, and I tip my hat to the sculptor for that.

"I have a staff too! A staff! And scrolls!!"

I also love the "vowing-revenge-adjacent" pose of the figure. In the Horus Heresy stories the Thousand Sons do see themselves as betrayed, after all, so this pose really works well.  

"Sure, the warp might be dangerous - but it keeps my cloak nice and clean!"

My collection of HH-era Thousand Sons began with the very excellent box game "The Burning of Prospero". It has expanded since then, but apart from one exception, all of the reinforcements have been infantry elements - and the exception is still a thing that walks. In many ways, the strength of the Thousand Sons comes from the Marines themselves and their access to spooky arcane powers, but they will need vehicles to make a proper showing on the tabletop. I would like to paint up some vehicles and other accent elements to build this into a useful/viable force for an Age of Darkness game sometime. But those ambitions will have to wait until I can figure out a way to safely spray primer on to vehicle models at my new home location...so the Sons of Prospero on my shelf will have to content themselves with this lone reinforcement for now. At least he has a very tall helmet...right...?

30k Praetor for Imperial Fists

"So the guy walked in with a sword..." - Praetor for the Imperial Fists.

The procession of new 30k character models continues. Today we have a Praetor for the VII Legion Astartes, The Imperial Fists. This is a multi-part plastic figure from GW's "Age of Darkness", the rules and model range for the Horus Heresy setting. This figure was originally released with the big "Age of Darkness" box set, and is also now available on its own. 

Nice Volkite blaster to participate in the shooting fun with his friends...

The Space Marine Legions of the Horus Heresy setting copy many features of the old Roman Legions from history - for example, the senior officers are "Centurions" and the many specialist characters are found under the umbrella of "Consuls". In keeping with this theme/inspiration, the senior command figures of Space Marine Legions are known as "Praetors". Whereas the Preators of antiquity were not necessarily warriors, in the Horus Heresy setting the Praetor is an even scarier, tougher and more capable super-human Space Marine warrior. This type of character will commonly represent the core command/HQ element of a given Space Marine force on a 30k tabletop.

Love the WWE-sized decoration on the "belt" at the middle segment of the armour.

When GW issued the new "Age of Darkness" game, they included two new plastic Praetor designs. I nicknamed one "The Axehole". This is the second Praetor design, and for reasons that are probably pretty obvious, this figure tends be known as "The Sword Praetor" - not as catchy, I guess, but it delivers.

If you are particularly sharp-eyed, you might say "hey, I think that figure is a re-paint!" and you would be correct. I had originally painted this fellow up in Sons of Horus colours, but have come to see his weapons, pose etc. as more appropriate for the Loyalist side. Besides, the Sons of Horus has "The Axehole", and already have a large assortment of other officer-type figures, whereas my Imperial Fist collection was a little light on command characters. I also really wanted to have this model in a game sometime, so he has been updated to fight for The Emperor. 

Or maybe he is just an Alpha Legion operative...? Anyway, I wonder what dice karma this figure will experience on the table...

Gotta have a nice cloak, right?

Sword guy here has, well, an insanely large sword - so large, in fact, I don't even think he could sheath it and still carry it around. That is a pretty nice match, though, for the insanely large cloak! And for fun, he is also carrying around some manner of Volkite-type blaster, to deal with opponents who are not worthy of his bladecraft...

These new Praetor models - both "The Axehole" and Sword Guy here - are great fun. Where the new Mark VI "beakie" Marines are modest and plain, these Praetor figures are over-the-top characters - big blades, big guns, big cloaks and big attitudes that set them apart well from their more common charges. It all comes together so nicely - I just see a lovely homage to the original 6mm figures from the original "Space Marine" game all those years ago...

Another VII Legion Astartes group photo from my shelf...the collection is continuing to grow!

My only quibble is the terrain piece that comes with the model - I hate infantry models with built-in terrain, and dislike how that trend appears to be accelerating in the GW design studio. But that is pretty small beer - overall, these whacky plastic fellows are a fine addition to the diverse assortment of Horus Heresy character models. This fellow, with a giant sword, huge cloak, scary ray gun and a defiant pose stands ready to defend The Emperor, his Palace on Terra, or any other Important Place (tm) in the wars of the Horus Heresy.

That's all for today - thanks for reading!

30k Sons of Horus Consul and Apothecary

New additions to my XVI Legion Astartes collection. 

We continue the mini-parade of Space Marine Legion Officialdom in this post, featuring a sinister friendly "Dark Emissary Consul" and an Apothecary, both painted in the lovely colours and symbols of the XVI Legion Astartes, the Sons of Horus. These are 28mm multi-part resin figures from GW/Forge World, part of their "Age of Darkness" Horus Heresy setting.

Dark Emissary Consul

"Let me be clear about the Warmaster's intentions here..."

The liberation of humanity - indeed, the entire galaxy - from the tyranny and oppression of the False Emperor is a big job. While of course we know Horus Lupercal is up to this challenge, he is still a team player, and to help ensure the sheep his big-tent coalition can keep moving forward in the right direction he has a band of sinister ideological enforcers trusted assistants to help ensure his loyal followers keep their "eye on the prize"... 

Skullz dipped in gold. A totally normal thing to carry around with you. Right?

Many of the new specialist figures released for the "Age of Darkness" range are faction/Legion-agnostic, this fellow is clearly designed with the look and feel of a single Legion in mind. Given his role, that makes sense...thus we have the "Eye of Horus" displayed prominently on the armour, and on the backpack, and on the staff, and on the..."chain-bound-hand accessory"...you obviously know who this fellow speaks for when he talks! That staff will get your attention...even if he has to strike you with it...

What a striking accessory! The chain really makes it easy to carry around, no doubt...

We see a lot of the "Cthonia" themed elements seen on the Sons of Horus on this figure too - the skullz (taken from defeated enemies, dipped in gold and kept as trophies), and the coins (also markers of...defeated enemies). Sense a theme here?

While the armour is amazing and ornate, one thing he is not wearing is a helmet. I almost always opt to put a helmet on a Space Marine figure, because space and war are dangerous and Space Marines should wear their damn helmets! But in this instance, I went with the helmet-less head. After all, the Warmaster understands the importance of a personal connection with his subjects, and he will expect his Emissaries to meet the same standards. No helmet shall be a barrier to his message! It's all about the personal connection, right?

Apothecary in Mark V Armour

Is that Mark V armour? A new Apothecary for the ranks of the XVI Legion Astartes.

We've covered the lovely fun of the Apothecaries in the 30k setting many times in the blog, so not much to add here. This is the second half of the new Apothecary set GW released last month. 

You can see all of what one might call "the tools of the trade": the chainsword (useful in a fight, to be sure, but also helpful for larger scale, um, "battlefield surgery"); the "narthecium", an armoured-appearing gauntlet boasting yet another saw blade as well as several other bits and bobs useful either for patching up Space Marines, or extracting the key gooey bits from the fallen ones which will be necessary to create replacements; the helmet with extra lenses; the lamp over the shoulder; he various "fluid" containers and drips on the belt and pack; the blood-splattered tabard/cloth; and of course the medic symbol on the shoulder and power pack.

A view of the detail on the power pack...a lot going on back there.

What was most notable about this figure for Horus Heresy fans was the armour variant he is wearing - the so-called "Mark V" plate. The lore around the armour worn by the Space Marines of the Horus heresy has been fairly fungible - changing, it seems, depending on what kits GW is seeking to sell - and I am OK with that. Seeing that there is a sculpt in Mark V for the current range inspires hope/speculation that we might one day see plastic Mark V armour kits? Who knows? That is probably silly speculation - but that kind of speculation is the most fun after all! 

You can't miss the studs on the Mark V plate...

The Sons of Horus in my collection can count on a pretty-well-staffed Apothecarion detachment at this point - which only makes sense, as naturally the Warmaster would ensure his forces are well-provisioned. Given the sorts of hijinks the Apothecaries have provided on our gaming tables over the years, it would be fun to deploy the full lot of them in a game some time!

That's all for this one - thanks for reading, and watch for more in the coming weeks!

30k Imperial Fist Consul and Apothecary

New specialists for the VII Legion Astartes!

Well, another edition of Curt's Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge has come and gone! While my own production levels were significantly down from prior years, as a group the Conscripts once again stepped up to rack up some incredibly impressive submissions and point-totals - well done team! I encourage everyone to browse through the Challenge, or just check the posts on this blog for the past three months, to see some truly awesome stuff. 

Now we come to the part of the year where Challenge participants have a few projects that were "meant for the Challenge" - minis and models you prepped, and even started to paint, during the AHPC but you did not finish in time. My Painting Challenge run was interrupted by a house move, so my assortment of these kinds of projects is rather larger than usual now that spring of 2024 is here. Time to start moving along on those - and here we have a couple of them. This is a Loyalist Champion Consul and an Apothecary for GW's Horus Heresy setting. These are resin 28mm figures from GW/Forge World (which is the same thing, but somehow still of different...whatever...).

Loyalist Champion Consul

"Anybody up for some sword practice?" - Loyalist Champion Consul for the Imperial Fists.

In the "Age of Darkness" game the Space Marine Legion players can access all sorts of specialized characters under the heading of "Consul". These range from medical specialists to communications experts to...well...what you see here - a guy with a big sword, fancy gun, and something of a menacing air, even by Space Marine standards. This is a "Champion Consul".

It's not all blade work...fancy combi-bolter is on hand too...

Even amid the incredible tumult of the "Age of Darkness" battlefields, where ranged weapons of every imaginable size, type and calibre/power level rake the ground, the Space Marines are still big into finishing off their enemies in close contact. The "Champion Consul" takes this to the next level, running around and issuing challenges to enemy Champions and other officers, slaying them and moving on their next one...as you can see, he has a Great Big Sword (tm) to assist in this role.

View of the sword, the holstered bolt pistol, and a handy grenade is also on his belt.

Even though the sword is the focal point, he can still join in with the shooting fun, as he is also carrying a combi-bolter, which features a nice little melta gun. Slagging some enemies with deadly melta blasts will help conserve energy for the next really important sword fight...

This sculpt is faction/Legion agnostic, although in name it is intended for the Loyalist side of the conflict, and the looks of the figure, with the sword, the tabard etc. would support this. I have painted him up for my growing collection of VII Legion Astartes, the Imperial Fists - although given the prominence of the sword I opted for more black armour, aping the Templar Brethern look, as I can see him hanging around with those fellows between duels.

This kit comes with options for either a helmet or (of course) a bear-head. I opted for the helmet, as I nearly always do, because space is dangerous, war is dangerous, and Space Marines should wear their damn helmets - especially if your job is to run around fighting duels on a Horus Heresy battlefield! I just love that it is a "beakie" style helmet too - always want to support the "beakie" renaissance!

This is a really, really nice sculpt and I enjoyed painting him up. As a newly painted figure, I'm sure he will not do well in his first duel on the table top - in fact, I can imagine him getting hit with a macro cannon or something prior to even getting close enough to duel anyone...but all the same, it's great to have him in the collection. I'm sure the Templar Brethern will be happy to have him!

Legion Apothecary

"Anybody call for a medic?" - Legion Apothecary for the Imperial Fists.

Ah, the Legion Apothecary! Where would the Space Marine Legions be without these hard-working chaps? As noted above, the battlefields of the Horus Heresy are awash in the fire of terrible weapons - and if one of those doesn't get you, some nut case with a large sword might! Yes, of course The Emperor has created you as a science-fiction super soldier, but even if you have a backup hear, a spare lung, and all sorts of other Dark-Age-of-Technology enhancements, you'll get hurt at some point...when that happens, enter the apothecary!

It's not all saws...it's gooey fluids too!

Not only will he heal your wounds - no, he does so much more! If the prognosis is severe, he'll make sure you can still serve. And if the wound(s) is/are really, really, really severe he'll provide you with "The Emperor's Peace" to ensure no lingering pain or time for contemplation. It's all about "wellness", Age-of-Darkness style!

Is that all? No! There is more! He also helps with recycling! Once a mighty Space Marine falls in battle, the Apothecary ensures that gene-seed-bits used to create him are recovered and returned to the Legion, ready for use in a new recruit. In that moment where some kind of Volkite ray slices a Space Marine in half, he will expire knowing a new recruit will take his place in service of The Emperor, all thanks to the Apothecary!

This model is part of a new two-figure apothecary set released by GW as they continue to round out their "Age of Darkness" range. Fans were pleased to get an apothecary wearing the Mark VI "beakie" power armour, and the sculptors did a wonderful job with the figure. The Imperial Fists on my shelf will be pleased to have another healer/helper on hand as they prepare to defend The Emperor's palace on Terra.

My collection of Terra's doomed defenders, awaiting deployment at their assigned staging area on the shelf... 

As you can see above, these two fellows have taken their place amid the yellow-and-black armoured ranks of my collection - and they await further reinforcements! More to come on that in the weeks ahead. Thanks for reading!