March 2025 review
A quarter of 2025 is over. Lets do a recap.
Asmodee Germany sent me these boxes for Marvel Crisis Protocol and Star Wars Shatterpoint. During Adepticon they gave a great update on the roadmap for the two games (have to be honest, the X-Men starter caught my eye), as well as the Outer Rim Outpost terrain kit for Shatterpoint, along with Star Wars Legions (with the strategic token set coming in 2026...).
Age of Sigmar – Realmscape Terrain
Part of the terrain items from the Stormbringer subscription (issue 55 to be exact) was a sprue of the Realmscape terrain from Age of Sigmar, in this case half of the Domicile Shell. This is meant to be part of the settlements, that the forces of order are building on new realms or reclaimed areas.
The sprues and other complementing pieces were used in various starter sets and expansions. This particular sprue came often with a variant B that would create a medium sized building in progress, along with two statues. We will see the statues in the Stormbringer subscription as well (in issue 65 and 74), but from my understand not the second wall sprue but another copy of this one in issue #69.
With this massive sprue, we can build an L or rather U-shaped ruin. It comes with quite some additional pieces to enhance the amount of detail and not just making it a flat ruin, but provide some depth. Casting is good, reasonable amount of detail and a lot of parts you can easily dry brush. The mould lines are present, but that is usually the case with the terrain due to the thickness of the parts.
Horus Heresy – Mechanicum Heavy Support Force
Early in february we saw the teaser for the next Horus Heresy boxed set - the Mechanicum Heavy Support Force! A bit as a surprise, because we mostly saw regular battle groups so far with Legiones Astartes or Solar Auxilia, now the Mechanicum even gets some tactical reinforcement.
Interesting combination regarding the content, as we get variants of existing kits with the Karacnos and Thanatar, and an entire new plastic kit with the Krios Battle Tank / Venator, for a price of 110 GBP/ 145 EUR.
Age of Sigmar Warcry – Kruleboyz Murknob with Beltcha-Banna
Not just the Stormcasts should have a banner to rally around, but the Kruleboyz as well. For that reason I picked up a Murknob with Beltcha-Banna.
This one is from the same Dominion Starter set from 2021, the third edition of Age of Sigmar, as the Knight-Vexilor, and is currently available as part of the Kruleboyz / Orruk Warclans Spearhead.
Age of Sigmar Warcry – Stormcast Eternals Knight-Vexilor
While the Stormbringer subscription covered some characters for the Stormcast, with still having to be released, it does not cover a bannerman. But this role is so significant, even on skirmish level, that I wanted to add one to my collection.
There are different Knight Vexilor models around, but I like the one from the 2021 3rd edition Age of Sigmar starter set "Dominion". But I don't need the entire box, so I grabbed one from eBay for a few bucks.
Age of Sigmar Warcry – Stormcast Eternals Knight-Incantor Regis Fulbringer
Not everything for the Warcry warband was used from the Stormbringer subscription, some items were sourced differently. For example I picked up Regis Fulbringer with the Getting Started with Age of Sigmar magazine - along time ago around 2018-2020. And then again, after that magazine was sold out, trough the Arena Mortis supplement for Warhammer Underworlds during the Beastgrave season.
WarCry – Gloomspite Gitz Part 5
If you started your Hachette subscription last year, you also received the Stabba Grot in the first delivery, which also happens to be the cheapest model in WarCry, at least if you play greenskins. As he just about fitted into my line-up and I kind of liked the model, he saw some paint soon.
Horus Heresy – Solar Auxilia Malcador Infernus
And to complete the preview on the upcoming Solar Auxilia releases, the Malcador Infernus will be reviewed today, in addition to yesterdays Arvus Lighter and Valdor Tank Hunter.
The Malcadur Infernus uses the chassis of the Malcador heavy battle tank and is an alteration to fulfill a certain role on the battle field and mounted with a larger weapon system in the hull, just like the Valdor. In case of the Infernus, it is armed with a vehicle-sized flamer, the Inferno Gun, which is sometimes even used on titans like the Warhound Scout Titan.
While it dates back to the Age of Strife and was produced during the Horus Heresy on both Forge Worlds of Voss and Mars, it was relegated to strategic reserves and second line units during the civil war, and within the 40th millenium only in service by a few Imperial Guard units due to tradition, as it was mostly replaced by the faster more reliable Hellhound tank. The concept of a flame tank is not sci-fi, and was in fact put into reality during both world wars (yet more or less only prototypes in world war 1) with the very similar Churchill Crocodile, which was a converted battle tank with a fuel trailer.
Horus Heresy – Solar Auxilia Valdor Tank Destroyer
This week is packed with Solar Auxilia. We had the Medusa/Basilisk earlier, the Arvus Lighter as well today and going to have the sister-tank to this one, the Malcador Infernus tomorrow.
But today - today is about the Valdor Tank Destroyer, as it is available for pre-order this saturday and will be released / delivered on Februar 1st.
The Valdor Tank Hunter, named after Captain General Constantin Valdor of the Legio Custodes, uses the Malcador heavy tank chassis and was developed during the Horus Heresy, to provide the Solar Auxilia with a weapon to counter the heavy armoured vehicles of the traitor legions. It is armed with a Neutron Laser Projector, which was mounted upon the Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer and Sicaran Venator tanks of the Legio Astartes as well.
This tank pattern was used beyond the Horus Heresy, during the Great Scouring and put into service as a rare relict with the Imperial Guard, and saw action among other campaigns on Vrak in the final phases of the war.
Horus Heresy – Solar Auxilia Arvus Lighter
What's the difference between a Hippo and a Zippo? One's really heavy, the other's a little lighter.
Well and today we're covering the Arvus Lighter for the Solar Auxilia. It is going for pre-order today and will be delivered on February 1st of 2025.
We don't cover aircrafts that often on the blog, if it is vehicles it is mostly tanks. But during the release of Aeronautica Imperialis we covered the resin variant of the Arvus Lighter in epic scale by Forge World. But in preparation for departure into a review covering almost 80 images, be certain that your seat back is straight up and your tray table is stowed.
The Arvus Lighter was so far only available as a resin kit from Forge World in 28-32mm and a rather niche option, as it is primarely a small cargo shuttle, mostly used to transfer supplies and small units, in between vessels or to planets. They are equipped with strong engines, to carry even the heaviest load, but it has no armaments as it is not expected to engage the enemy. Yet in this iteration, it is armed with a multi-laser in the back.
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