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.

The sabre tank is a light armoured vehicle, and based upon a heavily modified Rhino chassis. With a variety of different weapon options and systems, along with brand-new developments of the Mechanicum, like advanced cogitator arrays or multi-axle drive cores, it can be operated by a single Space Marine. The canon of this vehicle was a bit ret-conned for Horus Heresy, as during the Rogue Trader years the Imperial Sabre Tank Hunter was basically a tank destroyer, recreating something along the lines of a StuG or Jagdpanzer IV, upon a Rhino chassis, and with the release of Horus Heresy the kit was recreated in a new, leaner design as a resin kit with different weapon mounts - and would be a candidate to be released in plastic just like we've seen the Sicaran or Kratos.

But let us get back to the Legions Imperialis range and the Sabre Strike Tank Squadron. These can be as small as four tanks per formation and enlarged up to 8 tanks. With this boxed set, you get two identical sprues, an instruction leaflet and a large decal sheet.

The sprue is properly filled, no empty spaces and proper details. There are some minor issues regarding the orientation of some pieces, but we will come back to that in detail further below.

As this is a Legiones Astartes vehicle, we get the much larger decal sheet for Legions Imperialis, with a total of 1,130 decals. This sheet covers all 18 legions legions, with black or white (in some cases both) insignia, and a proper amount of numerals and honour markings. While the choice of black and white prints work with some legoins, others would benefit from more colours.

Due to the open track sections, the build is a bit different to some of the other tanks, where you assembly the centre hull and add the sides. The front is build from two parts and the top armour plate, similar to the Sicaran tanks, should be properly pushed down during assembly to not leave a small gap.

But the real tricky part comes next, as these two pieces really put your patience to a test. The inserts for the main weapon have rivets right next to the connection towards the sprue, making it quite difficult to clean those pieces without damaging any details. And you have to repeat this step 8 times per box. Similar with the small pins for the heavy bolter and multimelta, the later is more prone to being damaged, so take your time.

A bit irritating are the missiles, as I thought these would be optional. They aren't, they are just a bit fiddly to assemble. But the smal inserts on the side armour provide a good guidance.

And a scale comparison of the current Astartes vehicles, including the termite.

The sabre strike tank in two configuration as it is currently available.

Conclusion

I honestly think they would have been able to add in the volkite option into this sprue. And maybe arrange some items differently, as the alignment really makes cleaning the mould lines / sprue connection unnecessarily hard on some parts. I can understand that they went against the pintle mounted options, the full scale kit offers, as it would put to many dice rolls and rules on a small unit like this. But I like the design, it is a nifty little tank and can surely pack a punch.

Beyond that, we have a rather small vehicle with 8 models per 41,00 EUR, which isn't cheap and moving out of reasonable, if you are not able to grab them with a discount.

The Horus Heresy and Legions Imperialis are brands by Games Workshop.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.