On Monday, Games Workshop revealed two different Space Marine battle group boxes for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy, each one bursting with power-armored space soldiers. While we don’t yet know what Games Workshop will charge for these two sets, we’ve summarized what it would cost you to buy their contents separately from the Warhammer webstore, and how many points each set will contribute towards your army.
The last Horus Heresy battle group set, the Maximus box set, had an MSRP of $220 / £140. The two new sets, the Vanguard Assault Battle Group and Heavy Assault Battle Group, are slightly bigger than Maximus, so an MSRP of $250 / £165+ seems likely.
Legiones Astartes: Vanguard Assault Battle Group
| Unit | $ | £ | Min Points | Max Points |
| Tactical Squad (Mk VI) x 20 (or two 10 man squads) | $94 | £57 | 200 | 356 |
| Assault Squad (Mk VI) x10 | $76 | £46.50 | 140 | 190 |
| Legion Praetor with Power Sword | $37.25 | £22.50 | 130 | 155 |
| Contemptor Dreadnought | $67.50 | £41.50 | 150 | 190 |
| Rhino | $58 | £36.50 | 60 | 110 |
| Predator Battle Tank | $82 | £49.50 | 100 | 180 |
| Total | $414.75 | £253.50 | 780 | 1,181 |
If you’re building an army from scratch, the Assault Battle Group is a credible starting point for any all-rounder Space Marine Legion. The contents make a legal list right out of the box, and you can build the kits into a 1,000 point force without having to utterly load down every unit with upgrades. It’s a rounded force: the Tactical Squad (or squads) are objective holders and points scorers, the Assault Squad takes objectives and scores points with its (recently buffed) Vanguard Rule, while the Contemptor Dreadnought is a durable all-rounder and the Predator provides dedicated long-ranged fire support.
Legiones Astartes: Heavy Assault Battle Group
| Unit | $ | £ | Min points | Max points |
| Tactical Squad (Mk III) x 20 (or two 10 man squads) | $83 | £52 | 200 | 356 |
| Breacher Squad (Mk III) x10 | $76 | £46.50 | 140 | 230 |
| Legion Command Squad (MkIII) x 5 | $55 | £33.50 | 85 | 218 |
| Cataphractii Terminators, Volkite Chargers and Power Mauls, x 6 | $72 | £44 | 150 | 210 |
| Land Raider Explorator / Carrier | $100 | £61 | 220 | 310 |
| Total | $386 | £237 | 795 | 1,324 |
The Heavy Assault Battle Group leans mostly on heavy infantry with short ranged guns, which is going to speak more to Death Guard, Iron Warriors, Salamanders, or Sons of Horus players, or to players who want to add a Zone Mortalis force to another army. Strictly speaking there are no Command models in the box, but you can run one of the six Terminators in the box as a Cataphractii Centurion, and once again you’ll have a legal army in a box.
Horus Heresy is balanced around 3,000 point armies, so buying both of these boxes will get you most of the way there. However you decide to finish it, it’s a list that will lean very heavily on Troops, which is a good excuse to cap off your list with a Primarch, since they all provide buffs if you go wild on Troops slots.
Of course, that assumes you aren’t sitting on a huge pile of unfinished warriors from the last box set… If you’re making progress through your plastic potential, why not share some pics in the Wargamer Discord community?
Source: Wargamer
