Hold on to your wallets folks, Forge World have released yet more Horus Heresy loveliness…
First up the we have the merry bunch of cyborgs called the Mechanicum Thallax Cohort. £28 for 3.
The Thallaxii are heavily augmented cyborg shock-troops used by the Mechanicum Ordo Reductor, and they differ from the Skitarii regiments both in purpose and the unique degree of their augmetics. The Lorica Thallax was developed from power armour technology and requires a robust human specimen.
The Lorica encloses the major organs, nervous system and cerebrum, but entirely replaces the skeletal structure and limbs with armoured bionics powered by an internal reactor-core. Surgical excision of the subject’s pain sensors, emotions, and normal human sensory apparatus and the agony caused by the Lorica’s implantation, leaves the Thallax a cold, calculating killing machine (albeit one that retains a degree of independent thought).
To some among the Mechanicum, this operation skirts the edge of abomination, yet the baleful Ordo Reductor continue Thallax conversion regardless; using suitable Forge Guard, fallen Skitarii, and other subjects obtained from more mysterious sources.
Next up the Space Marine MKIV Recon Squad. I was pretty sure they used scouts during the Heresy but I guess Legions get the luxury of both. Not that a fully power armoured scout is very subtle… These bad boys are £32 for 5 and the unit leader’s head is shit.
Space Marines experienced in operating independently and behind enemy lines form dedicated Reconnaissance squads within the Legiones Astartes. Equipped with a variety of specialised wargear including long-range sniper weapons, stealth gear, and augmented sensor-auspex devices, Legion Recon Squads function as scouts, gathering intelligence and mapping enemy movements and strengths.
Reconnaissance squads also serve their Legion as pickets, saboteurs, raiders and snipers where needed, striking at high-value targets of opportunity. In open battle, they are expert in sudden flanking manoeuvres and infiltration attacks in support of the main strength of the Legion.
And finally the MKII Breacher Siege Squad. Again, £32 for 5.
Combat that takes place during boarding actions amid the cold void, or into a breached fortification, can prove lethal beyond even the endurance of the Legiones Astartes. For this reason, specialised formations and wargear have been continually developed to better survive these ‘Zones Mortalis’ since the earliest days of the Great Crusade.
The Breacher Siege Squad is one such unit. Clad in augmented power armour based on the Iron pattern and bearing great ablative shields, these squads act as a vanguard in such lethal missions, and are often additionally equipped with powerful breaching charges and lascutters or melta weapons to destroy strongpoints and forge a path for the force’s main strength to follow.
