The next wave of releases from the far-off land of Grand Cathay join the legions of the Celestial Dragon Emperor, while support elements of the Solar Auxilia bring heavy weapons – both mechanical and biological – to the front lines of the Horus Heresy.
Astromancers of the Celestial Court
Wizards in Grand Cathay learn much of their magic from texts written by the Dragons themselves, and the Celestial Court is the centre of their scholarship. Astromancers study many different types of magic and twist it into forms far more refined than those of the Old World wizards, thanks largely to the Celestial Dragon fettering and stilling the Winds of Magic so that his courtiers can more easily manipulate them.
This set contains two plastic Astromancers – one on foot and one on horseback – plus a Crowman familiar. Both Astromancers can choose between two different heads, each has two options for their right arm, and they can be used to represent Astromancers or Supreme Astromancers on the tabletop.
Iron Hail Gunners & Crane Gunner Teams
If you prefer shooting to sorcery, you’re in luck – the firearms of Nan-Gau are the envy of the world, and the warriors that wield them are some of the most skilled and disciplined gunners a general could hope for. Crane Gunners work in pairs, with one carrying a long-range rifle while the other defends them with a heavy tower shield. Iron Hail Gunners instead form up into small squads of elite warriors and close quickly with the enemy’s ranks, unleashing devastating bursts of close-range firepower that shreds through armour.
Each set of Iron Hail Gunners & Crane Gunner Teams comes with 12 Iron Hail Gunners, to pummel enemy infantry formations at close range, and eight Crane Gunner Teams, to pick off characters and monsters.
Peasant Levy
Peasants mustered from the rolling countryside and scattered villages of Grand Cathay make up a large portion of most armies, as many thousands can be called up at a moment’s notice and quickly arranged for battle. Despite their lack of formal military training, peasant levies are still much more disciplined than peasantry from other regions, as the will of the Dragon Emperor instils great bravery in even the lowliest of fighters.
Each Peasant Levy box contains 20 multipart plastic miniatures that can be organised into two squads of 10 or one big consolidated unit. All 20 can be equipped with either a long spear so they can Fight in Extra Rank, or a warbow to unleash volleys of arrows upon your foe. Each set of 10 can also choose between 12 bare heads and 12 heads with straw hats, giving you lots of options for customisation.
Learn more about these reinforcements with our handy guide, and grab Arcane Journal: The Breaching of the Great Bastion for their Warhammer: The Old World rules.
Charonite Ogryn Section
Units of Charonite Ogryns are among the most effective shock troops in the Solar Auxilia ranks, melding natural brute strength and resilience with biochemical and cybernetic enhancements from the Dark Age of Technology. They come equipped with a wide variety of close combat weapons melded onto their forearms, with their standard Charonite claws able to scythe through power armour like paper and bisect the Space Marine within.
Each box contains four Charonite Ogryns with interchangeable weapons – six Charonite claws, two Charonite blades, two Charonite crushers, and two Charonite shredders – and cosmetic options to personalise your brutes.
Rapier Fire Support Battery
Rapier Carriers bridge the gap between the Solar Auxilia’s man-portable firearms and vehicle-mounted cannons, allowing infantry sections to move heavy weapons to the front lines without the need for heavy and cumbersome tanks. The Rapier Fire Support Battery comes with two platforms, each able to mount one of two indirect fire weapons – the classic rapid-fire quad launcher, or the mole mortar, which fires its shells through the earth to explode beneath weaker armour plates.
Each platform also comes with a separate Gunner crew miniature, who has multiple cosmetic options.
Rapier Direct Fire Battery
There is also a version of the Rapier Carrier that focuses on direct-fire support weapons, with each of the two platforms able to mount a gravis heavy bolter battery, a gravis multi-laser array, or a laser destroyer. This gives infantry-based armies tools to tackle a wide variety of enemy units, from hordes of lesser chaff to heavy tanks – at a very competitive cost in points.
Each platform also comes with a separate Gunner crew miniature, who has multiple cosmetic options.
Journal Tactica: The Battle of Tallarn Part One
What began as an Iron Warriors invasion expecting assured victory blossomed into the single largest tank engagement of the entire Horus Heresy, leaving the formerly verdant world of Tallarn a dusty wasteland littered with thousands of wrecked vehicles. Journal Tactica: The Battle of Tallarn Part One chronicles the opening stages of this apocalyptic war, and includes extensive background lore as well as a new Legendary Mission that pits a squadron of Iron Warriors vehicles against a crushing ambush from Tallarn resistance fighters.
This book also includes a new mission pack for Armoured Spearhead engagements, which are designed to work with armies packed to the brim with tanks and armoured vehicles. Accordingly, there are also rules for Dracosan Command Tanks and Spartan Prometheus Command Tanks, as well as the new Solar Auxilia Rapier Carriers and Charonite Ogryns.
White Dwarf Issue 524*
This month, White Dwarf gets magical with a big focus on wizards, expanding the Anvil of Apotheosis with new options for custom Collegiate Battlemages and rules for an exciting new mini-game – Arcane Duel. There’s also an in-depth focus on Armageddon, as Ghazghkull Thraka bears down on the planet and unleashes his best and brightest against Commissar Yarrick’s defenders.
Additionally, there’s a new Kill Team Joint Ops scenario where your operatives need to escape from a sinking Ork submarine. That kind of situation gets a crisp ‘hell no’ from us, but, luckily, kill teams are made of sterner stuff, and they’ll be able to make it off the rickety contraption before it sinks… right?
This week on Warhammer TV, we double-dip into Trazyn the Infinite’s labyrinthine archives with both a new episode of Trazyn’s Tesseract Trials – finding out whether Astra Militarum tanks can beat massive Tyranid monsters – and a behind-the-scenes look at how the series is made on Da Mekboy’s Workshop.
Loremasters steers well clear of the enigmatic archaeovist’s shenanigans, but ends up at possibly the only place less safe – the War for the Cadian Gate. Kravek Morne has set about enacting Perturabo’s grand plan with gusto, and it’s probably a good idea that we keep an eye on their progress so far.
Here at Warhammer Community, we’ve got more from the new edition of Warhammer 40,000, including miniatures reveals, and something very special on Friday – you won’t want to miss it!
* White Dwarf is delayed in Australia and New Zealand.
