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.
Legions Imperialis – Solar Auxilia Medusa and Basilisk Batteries
We are doing a double feature for the Solar Auxilia today, covering a kit in both Legions Imperialis and Horus Heresy scale. We're building the Medusa and Basilisk, once as a battery and one time as a single miniature.
For Legions Imperialis it is a set of 8 models, covering both Medusas and Basilisks in a single box.
You might be irritated to see a Basilisk on a Leman Russ chassis. The variants we know from Warhammer 40k are much younger, based upon the chimera chassis that wasn't around during the civil war. The Leman Russ was the work horse of the Imperial warmachine and thus provided for vehicles in its weight class the base for example the self-propelled-gun variants, we talk about today. And in addition to the the many, many different alterations of the Leman Russ himself, there were further derivations for example tank hunter variants, with hull mounted weaponry as well and even recovery vehicles like the Atlas.
Horus Heresy – Solar Auxilia Medusa and Basilisk
While we're waiting for the release of the Malcador Variants of Infernus and Valdor in Horus Heresy scale, we fill the gap with the Basilik / Medusa kit for the Solar Auxilia today - in a double feature. Because not only do we cover this one in Horus Heresy scale of 32mm, we do also have you covered for Legions Imperialis today in this review of the Medusa and Basilisk Battery.
During the civil war of the Horus Heresy, the Leman Russ was the work horse of the Imperial warmachine and used as a chassis to build various variants and derivations, for different purposes, like the self-propelled-gun variants, we talk about today. The chimera chassis, which was developed later would take over some of the variants, therefore the Basilisk in 40k looks different than 30k. And with the Solar Auxilia Leman Russ plastic kit we have the chance to see these as new full plastic sets and not resin or hybrid set.
Games Workshop repurposes some of the sprues to cover these variants, we see this today with the Medusa and Basilisk, where the track sections and parts of the hull are re-used, and we will see this with the Malcador later this week. But let us open up the box and see, what is inside.
Legions Imperialis – Solar Auxilia Stormhammers
In case you are looking for something heavier than a Baneblade, there is an option for the Solar Auxilia in Legions Imperialis - the Stormhammers.
Like the other super-heavy squadrons, this boxed set covers two vehicles as well, both are build as Stormhammers. This set of two sprues is available at a RRP of 41 EURs / 31,50 GBP.
Initially this tank was build as a massive anti-infantry tank during the Great Crusade and fulfilled this task reliably against the Orks and later during the civil war. And even 10.000 years later, this tank pattern is still in service, just not with the Solar Auxilia but Astra Militarum. While there are different variants and armaments for the vehicle, within Legions Imperialis it has only the option between multi-laser or lascannon sponsons.
Legions Imperialis – Solar Auxilia Malcador Infernus and Valdor Tank Destroyer
While we covered the Dracosan Transport and the main build of the Malcador for the Solar Auxilia, it is now time to give the Malcador Infernus and Valdor Tank Destroyer for Legions Imperialis a closer look, especially as both were just teased in plastic for full scale Horus Heresy.
This is a mixed kit, featuring two of each Malcador specialised variants for a RRP of 41 EUR.
Both tanks are named after important characters / heroes of the Imperium, the main tank and chassis itself after the Sigilite, Malcador and the tank hunter variant after Captain-General Constantin Valdor of the Legio Custodes. These variants are a usual thing and often seen with historical tanks as well, using a widly produced chassis and repurposing it to various roles needed on the battlefield, for example the PzKpfw. V Panther was build as a regular battle tank, but also as the tank destroyer variant Jagdpanther, with a hull-mounted weapon (the Allies mostly went for turret mounted tank destroyers). The Allies did similar with their battle tanks, for example the Churchill Infantry tank had a variant with a mounted flame thrower and fuel-trailer, the Churchill Crocodile, which pretty much is the template for the Malcador Infernus.
Legions Imperialis – Solar Auxilia Dracosan Transport Detachment
As we have covered the Legions Imperialis transporters for the other forces, like the Rhinos for Legiones Astartes or Triaros for Mechanicum, it is now time to take a closer look upon the Dracosan for the Solar Auxilia.
We have already reviewed the Dracosan for Horus Heresy on this blog, so it is a neat addition to cover the smaller epic scale kit as well.
Legions Imperialis – Solar Auxilia Leman Russ Exterminator and Annihilators Squadron
And we're covering the third Leman Russ plastic kit, the Exterminator and Annihilators, for Legions Imperialis, after the Leman Russ Strike Squadron, the Executioner and Demolisher today.
All four new variants are included as formations in the new Devastation of Tallarn campaign supplement. They start out as squadrons of four and can be upgraded to a squad size of 10. Note, these can not be mixed, each squadron consists only out of one variant. With six different variants of the Leman Russ covered, the only one missing would be the Leman Russ Incinerator, with the Volkite Macro-Saker.
Legions Imperialis – Solar Auxilia Leman Russ Executioner and Demolisher Squad
Along with Shadowsword and Sicaran, the second of three Leman Russ tank kits for Legions Imperialis is available for pre-order as well. While we have the regular Leman Russ Battle Tank and Vanquisher since the starter set, we now have access to the Executioner and Demolisher, with an further upcoming release of the Annihilator and Exterminator later this year.
The Leman Russ is one of, if not the work horse of the Imperial war machine. The chassis is used for multiple variants, mostly the Leman Russ battle tank with various turrets (And even beyond the 6 mentioned above, there are still further variants to explore) and before the chimera chassis was developed used for artillery and self-propelled guns.
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