As Warhammer: The Horus Heresy’s latest edition nears its first birthday, Games Workshop shows off its plan for the year ahead
In for the long haul with Siege of Cthonia.
It may be hard to believe, but it wasn’t even a year ago that Games Workshop’s Warhammer: The Horus Heresy crawled out of the murky pits of Forge World specialist games and into the blinding light of mainstream Warhammer with its second edition and Age of Darkness boxed set.
Since then, we’ve been treated to a steady parade of releases to bring everything bang up-to-date for the new edition, including plenty of previously resin kits being replaced by newer, more affordable plastic incarnations.
GW kicked off its Warhammer Fest 2023 Horus Heresy presentation with a brand new addition to the ranks of updated plastic kits in the form of the Cerastus Knight Lancer. Fast and elegant, at least by the standards of giant Mechanicum war machines, the Lancer is designed to make quick, decisive strikes with its shock lance. It’s exciting to see something outside of the Space Marine range get a new plastic kit - hopefully this is a sign of things to come.
More information on the forthcoming Siege of Cthonia campaign book was also shared, including the reveal of two resin miniatures representing the commanders of the Loyalist and Traitor forces. While the Imperial Fists and Sons of Horus are the main legions involved in the siege, there will be representatives from (and rules for) all of the legions, alongside full Zone Mortalis rules for smaller, more tightly-packed encounters.
One of the most interesting aspects of Horus Heresy has always been the detailed look at the forces involved, including the variant gear and iconography that developed over the course of the conflict. A spread of new helmet heraldry for the Space Marine legions was shown, which we were told signifies Marines that were quickly fielded once the war had kicked off - and may have flaws due to the rushed processes used in creating and training them.
GW also showed off early renders of plastic Assault Marines, an addition that will be welcomed by many Warhammer 30,000 players. Space Marine troops in 30k come in four core squads: Tactical, Assault, Despoiler and Breacher. At present, only Tactical squads are available in plastic, with the others requiring upgrade kits from Forge World or third-party companies, or conversion from the 40k range. Since Despoiler squads are basically Assault squads without jump packs, this new kit will massively increase the availability of these bread-and-butter troops.
A surprisingly comprehensive roadmap teased further Horus Heresy releases for the next year, including a new plastic kit that was heavily hinted at being the Deredeo-pattern Dreadnought, and a mystery army release in the winter.