Horus Heresy – Solar Auxilia Aethon Heavy Sentinel

With the Aethon Heavy Sentinel an entire new unit comes to the army list of the Solar Auxilia with the release of the new Solar Auxilia Battlegroup. We've seen this unit already with Legions Imperialis, where it is part of both, the starter set as well as the Solar Auxilia Infantry boxed set.

The Aethon is a heavy variant of the regular sentinel class bi-pod walkers and will later be accompanied by further lighters variants, like the Hermes Light Sentinel, including the up-armoured Veletarii variant.

The assembly instructions of the battlegroup cover not only the steps to build your Aethon Heavy Sentinel but the rules for it as well, so you don't need to wait until the release of the Battle for Beta-Garmon campaign supplement. But Games Workshop released them as a free download on Warhammer Community as well. As you can already see from the instructions, you will have quite the number of options with this kit.

The Aethon Heavy Sentinel is spread across to medium sized sprues, with a good use of the sprue themself. Both sprues cover two variants for the sides, Aethon Missile Battery or Hunter-Killer Missiles, and six different main weapons: Volkite Culverin, Autocannon, Heavy Incinerator, Lascannon, Multi-Laser or Melta-Lance.

Casting is well done and the few mould lines will quickly be removed to their technical design.

The main hull is sturdily built and interestingly cut to provide maximum detail. Clever and more stable than I expected at first.

And this frame quickly gets more stable ones the first side panels and preparation for exhaust pipes and cables are added to the hull.

These are stabilized with strong side walls, that pick up the trim heavy design of the Solar Auxilia vehicles. There is an axle in the middle, on which the main weapon of the Aethon is put upon. This piece is not glued between the two side walls, but just put in place and can be slightly elevated / pointed down, and holds in place by friction.

Both legs are multi-part and very posable. To make it easier to begin, Games Workshop has two suggested poses for the legs and therefore casted little pins on the individual pieces of the legs, on hip, knee and upper ankle. It even comes with a moveable piston, to adjust to any alignment of the feet. Great dynamic and more convenient to build than the old Sentinel kit.

The instructions give you a closer introduction on how the system works and the base poses are meant to be build. The hip socket even comes with two pre-casted slots so you wouldn't even need to cut these pieces for alteration. The ankles on the feet are ball joints, so you can properly align them to the base / base decoration. I assume with a bit of knife work you could even have the toes wrap around obstacles.

This already provides a sturdy stand for the model, but there are additional pistons on the back of the upper thighs. They are movable as well, so when you choose a different pose, these will adapt to that as well.

As we only knew about the Missile Batteries for the Aethon Heavy Sentinel so far, due to the Legions Imperialis release, but the full-scale model comes with Hunter-Killer Missiles as well.

The sockets for the missiles come with small insert, where a 3mm round magnet perfectly fits in. They even come with two pin positions, so the weapon systems are properly aligned.

And there are further options for the main weaponry, but upon the top of the sentinel. You can choose from six different weapon systems: Volkite Culverin, Autocannon, Heavy Incinerator, Lascannon, Multi-Laser or Melta-Lance. So far we only knew of the Multi-Laser from the small Legions model. These weapon hold in place by friction, but you could magnetize them for a tighter grip.

A few scale comparison shots. First all with the "little brother" from Legions, as well as the classic Sentinel (that's an eBay rescue and needs a bit of love).

And the comparison within the other models from the Battle Group, and I'm happy about the addition of this sentinel to the Solar Auxilia army list, as they didn't have a flexible weapon platform that can take a bit of a punch.

Conclusion

Interesting addition to the range, especially with the further extension through the Hermes Light Sentinel. This closes the "gap" between rather light infantry and the armoured vehicles.

The design captures the overall feel of the Solar Auxilia pretty well, picking up the trim around the armoured plates and having it as a rather "clunky" walker, is a much more fitting design than going for a light dreadnought or armoured suit like the Sisters of Battle have. The aspect that we have a lot of options right from the start and the preparation for magnets is the icing on the cake.

As the squadrons of the Aethon can be up to 3 large, buying the Battle Group multiple times is a valid option, especially as you save quite a few quids and reducing what you paid for this model, compared to the assumed later RRP of about 35 EUR / 27,50 GBP.

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

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.