MkIV Maximum Power Armor returns to the tabletops of the Horus Heresy – and they’re compatible with all the Horus Heresy weapon upgrade kits.
What did Horus Heresy players need? A fourth plastic kit of basic Space Marines! I’m not kidding, us ‘Heresy sickos live for this stuff.
A Storied History
Plastic kits first came to the Horus Heresy all the way back in 2015 with the release of Betrayal at Calth. This set pitted plastic MkIV armored Ultramarines against World Bearers in a board game that was a prelude to the beginning of Horus Heresy as a mainline game with hard plastic kits.
In the years since, we’ve seen numerous oother Marks join the armories of the marines and with them, an increase in detail and scale. When the second edition of Horus Heresy released in 2022 with new plastic MkVI armor, the old MkIV kits were retired. They were smaller, less detailed, and while they had been fantastic at the time they were relics of an earlier age of model engineering.
Still, it was sad to see them go. MkIV power armor is an iconic sight on the battlefields of the era. At the time of the betrayal on Istvaan III and subsequent Dropsite Massacre on Istvaan V, MkIV was a widely distributed armor, particularly among the traitor legions. While MkVI became a common sight over the years of the civil war, it’s predecessor variants were still in wide-use.
One of the joys of playing Horus Heresy is that it offers a chance to play science fiction battles while dipping a toe in the waters of historical wargaming. A lot of us really love building armies and playing scenarios set in specific eras of the Heresy and being able to equip our troops in a manner appropriate to the “historical” elements of those games is a big part of the fun. If you’re insane like me, it is, anyway.
MkIV Maximus Pattern Power Armor
At any rate, I’m super excited to see MkIV armor return as a new up-scaled kit, designed to be compatible with all the Horus Hersesy weapon upgrade kits. Even better, we’re getting both tacticals and assault marines in short order.
Sure, the MkIV assault marines no longer have the single-turbine jump packs they once had in resin but I can live with that. Frankly, it’s truly wild that Heresy players can currently buy four (4!) variants of basic Space Marines. This is insane, folks. These variants have absolutely zero differences in rules and are purely aesthetic options. This is real labor of love stuff and I can’t really bring myself to begrudge GW for not wanting to engineer an entirely new jump pack sprue instead of choosing from the existing ones. We’ve got MkII and Mk VI jump packs already. This is an embarrasment of riches.
Maximus Battle Group Box
Our first chance to get our hands on the new MkIV will be in the upcoming Maximus Battlegroup Box. This new set will contain 20 tactical marines, 10 assault marines, a Sicaran Battle Tank, and a Contemptort Dreadnought.
This looks like a really fantastic box set whether you’re starting a new army or adding a detachment to an existing one and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. My own beloved Sons of Horus are largely MkVI themed but I think this is going to be my cue to finally add some allied World Eaters.
Ugh, I’m so excited about this. MkIV was one of the few major missing pieces left in the Horus Heresy range and I’m deeply pleased to see them return.
What’s your favorite Space Marine armor Mark?
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Simon Berman has been a wargamer since 1993 and has worked in the tabletop games industry since 2008 as a staff writer for the first three editions of WARMACHINE and HORDES. These days he’s the General President of the Brush Wielders Union, a worldwide organization of miniatures painters of all skill levels, a freelance games writer who has contributed to a number of roleplaying games like Eclipse Phase, Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, and The Hammer and the Stake. He runs his own small-press publishing company, Strix Publishing, and paints more miniatures than he can keep track of. Simon lives with his wife in Tacoma, Washington along with a number of cats and a pack of savage wiener dogs.
Source: Bell of Lost Souls
