Horus Heresy – Age of Darkness Infantry

After covering the content of the Horus Heresy - Age of Darkness boxed set in our unboxing, I'll cover the plastic kits in three reviews - the Infantry, the Contemptor Dreadnought and the Land Raider Spartan. Beginning today with the Space Marines on foot.

You can find all the pictures of the content in the unboxing, but we're going to build some miniatures from the different sprues of the Legion Space Marines in Mark VI armour, the Praetors and Terminators in Cataphractii armour.

So, let's get started with the two praetors. Each one comes in a sprue containing a single praetor, one with sword and the other one with a power axe, along with 32mm round bases. Both wear artificer armour.

Building them is straight forward, yet removing all the mould lines can be a bit tricky, as they have a lot of details and went a bit overboard for my taste. The model is glued together just the way it is shown. A few things are noticeable, the proportions are a bit different from both the First Born and the Primaris Marines. For example, the skulls hanging as a trophy from the belt plate are really, really small. For comparison a skull from the Citadel Skull set, is about twice the size.

The praetor is armed with a power sword and a volkite charger. No options or variants here. Not for the weapons, nor the decor.

Now for the back pack and cloak. I suggest that you leave these off until you actually paint the miniature, as it will obscure other parts. The only option you have with this praetor is the head. You can either go for the bare or helmeted variant. With the bare head having an optional pony tail.

I went with the helmet variant, as I really don't feel the moustache wearing head with a pony tail fits in anyway how I imagine a Space Marine - of any time line.

The second praetor has a really large power axe and a holstered archaeotech pistol. Once again, straight forward build, as you have no other weapon options. And a lot of details. It is nice, that they included a bit of a base topper.

Again, with this one, I would leave of the cloak until the very last. The trophy rack on the backpack is a nice touch. And like with the other praetor, the only option you have is going for either a bare or helmeted head. With the top knot it fits the Sons of Horus from my point of view.

The two praetors side by side. I am honest, I am not the biggest fan of their design. Compared to the others they are really a huge design change, and I don't only mean the Mark VI armour. For example, compare them with the ones by Forge World, who are with the exception of a few really impressive poses and designs. So, these are a bit of let down and that's not just because they are trying to be generic. The axe is too large for my taste, as is the moustache face a bit weird. You could see the monopose from the Betrayal at Calth praetors, but they did a decent job and the fit the ranks of their peers better than these.

Next up the core of this box. Forty Legion Space Marines in Mark VI corvus armour. They go into detail on the lore in the rule book (along with the Warhammer Community page) and compare it to the other marks and its predecessors. During the end of the Horus Heresy and the Siege of Terra, the Mk VI was the most numerous power armour among Space Marines, with some legion specific exceptions. With Mark III and Mark IV already available in plastic (and re-released as squads of 20 for the launch), it was a most logical choice.

The main sprues pack five soldiers each, with rather set poses and beaky helmets. In the core sprue, only bolters and chainsaw bayonets are included. No other options. All the options for sergeants are covered in the accessories sprue - but no special weapons or heavy weapons. Those are left with the according sprues, available separately. The sprue gives your sergeant the option for a power sword, power fist, power claw and plasma pistol. No chain swords or further weapon options, beside some gear for the belt.

With that said, we start building two Mk VI marines, straight from the sprue. It is interesting that the studded shoulder pards are two pieces. A proper choice as injection plastic production has certain limitations, regarding undercuts and splitting the pad makes it more plastic / rounder, with more convincing studs. The arms have tongue and groove connections, so they align properly with the weapons. A regular line marine and a sergeant with helmet crest, power sword and pistol.

As for the accessories, new designed backpacks and some grenades and a holstered pistol. And the choice between the two different variants of bayonets.

And to give you an idea, where the scale is nowadays. That's the new Legion Mk VI marine, next to a beaky Veteran First Born and the first Space Marine there was, the LE02 Marine. I could have added further scale comparisons, but Stahly from Tale of Painters already did a good job on that one and no need to copy that (yet, choosing the broad standing pose makes it blend more in line with the other marines as the other walking /upright standing poses). Besides, I don't have that amount of Space Marines anymore for an appropriate broad comparison.

And with that in mind, that this was how the "first" Space Marine looked like, I think it is quite fitting that these reconnect in design. As you can see from the side-by-side comparison, they still share a lot of design elements. Yet, of course with a huge scale difference.

Move on to the heavy guys, the Terminators. These are not new models, but repacks from the Betrayal at Calth release from 2015. Still, a proper kit, 5 Terminators in Cataphractii armour per set of two sprues. The cataphractii were not that widely available across all legions, but with the Sons of Horus being one of the poster boys and the need to have something for the Spartan to drive around, it is a fitting choice.

The sprues cover the options for close combat layout with power claws and the most known setup for terminators, with power fist and storm bolter. In addition, you will find a power sword for the Sergeant, chain fists for the whole squad, and a heavy flamer as an optional heavy weapon.

Build is pretty straight forward once again. What is nice, that they have a ball joint for the upper body, so you can build more dynamic poses, especially fitting for close combat load out.

And as you can see, some variation shown here, with the different weapon options. Really nice square build, wide shoulders, as you would imagine a Terminator.

For scale comparison. From left to right, a Tartaros resin Terminator body (from Forge World), the Cataphractii from this kit, a 2nd late 90s Terminator and an early 90s RT Grey Knight. Compared to the Space Marines, the Terminators haven't grown that much.

And now for a scale comparison across the box. As you can see the praetors are easily the tallest. But they get a bit of boost due to the base toppers. Yet, the Mk VI Marines are on eye level with the terminators and that is not how the story describes them. Especially if you have read the first three books of the Horus Heresy, there are repeated mentions of how Abaddon and the Justaerin would tower over the regular marines. This creates a bit of a logical bottle neck and probably will have the need to be retconned.

Conclusion

The content of this kit is impressive. The 40 Space Marines alone have a retail value of 125 EUR (if we use the Mk III and Mk IV price of 62,50 EUR per 20 as a base line), the Terminators are 47,50 EUR each, and the praetors from plastic will probably be around 24 to 31 EUR (depending if you count them like Fafnir or like a Primaris Captain). That alone gives you a retail value of 274 just for the infantry and that's far more than the retail price of the boxed set itself, not counting the dreadnought, Spartan or rule book. And a huge saving compared to the former Forge World resin kits.

Of course, the special gear and legion specific gear will raise the price. You will need the special and heavy weapon sets of 34 EUR each, but they will carry you a long way, as they give you 60 special weapons or 20 heavy weapons. As for the upgrade on helmets and shoulder pads, I don't see them as a must have, as you have the option to get your hands on a really filled to the rim decal sheet at 25 EURs. Those are reprinted from the old Forge World releases and incredibly well made, with a far more artistic approach compared to regular Warhammer 40k decals.

It is going to be interesting, how the Mk VI design is maybe a starting point for a reboot. Compared to the regular plastic range from the early 2000s, the Forge World resins for Horus Heresy were a bit slenderer. But now we have these true scaled, slightly slender resins by Forge World, the rather bulky mid 2010s plastic kits from Betrayal at Calth and Burning of Prospero (who fit in very well with the First Borns) along with the updated 2022 Mk VI (with longer arms and legs, and more realistic proportions) all in one melting pot / combined range. And then there are of course the terminators, which would be a bit too small in direct comparison, especially next to the Mk VI.

Yet, lovely, lovely miniatures and to give you an idea, where the boxed set starts. The two starting forces are not balanced as you have 1070 points on one side (the Imperial Fists package) and 605 for the other one (Sons of Horus). But if you combine both / build the whole box as one legion, you are on a proper way for a starting army. Actually, add a specific unit for your legion and maybe a tank, and you're already within the grasp of the first 2,000 points.

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

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.