Of all the fighting forces across the Galaxy during the dark years of the Horus Heresy under the umbrella of the Imperial Army, the most well known are the regiments and cohorts of the Solar Auxilia. Formed during the years of the Great Crusade to protect the Sol Sector, the Solar Auxilia now fight both for The Emperor of Mankind and Horus The Warmaster in the cataclysmic civil war.

Up for pre order today are the first plastic releases for the Solar Aux, having previously been available just in Forge World resin – and launching the range is an awesome new Battle Group box!

In this post we’ll be taking a look at the Solar Auxilia Battle Group box, checking out the kits and seeing how they look compared to some other models in the range.

Massive thanks to Games Workshop for sending us a free review copy of the box to check out on the site. If you would like to support the site then why not order your Solar Auxilia through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself some money too?

We’ve also filmed a full unboxing video which you can watch below or over on YouTube

So without further ado let’s crack open the box and see what is inside!

Solar Auxilia Battle Group Unboxing and Review

The Solar Auxilia are an army I have wanted to assemble for The Horus Heresy for a very long time – though as most people know, as the army was fully resin it was very expensive to put together the number of models needed for an entire army.

But now, after a range of plastic Legines Astartes models, the Specialist Games Studio are now releasing models for the Solar Auxilia in plastic! To kick things off we have the £130 Battle Group box up for pre order which is chock full of brand new plastic kits. While I believe this box is going to be a limited release, these individual kits should be released separately very soon – however you do usually get a discount for buying these boxes.

So what’s in the box?

Dracosan Armoured Transport

First up we have the Dracosan Armoured Transport, a rather beefy dedicated transport choice for the Solar Auxilia. This thing is a lot bigger than you originally think it’s going to be, being longer in length than a Land Raider. This can be built as a 20 man transport with a lascannon main weapon or as a 10 man transport with a Demolisher Cannon. What’s great about this kit is that it is very easy to make the main weapon swapable by using something as simple as blu-tac. Yeah, you can add magnets and the like, but its very simple just to put a blob of blu tac and swap out the entire weapon

The Kit, like with a lot of other Horus Heresy kits, does some clever things with sprues by making the core components that will be used to create the Malcador tank variants on separate sprues to the Dracosan parts – meaning that we will likely see the Malcador and it’s varients come bundled with a different sprue that allows you to make that variation. By creating the sprues in this way it makes releasing new vehicles much more efficient and easier for them to release soon after this one, which is a great touch.

Leman Russ Battle Tank

The Dracosan is not the only tank to be released in this box however, as we also get a Leman Russ. This is not the existing Warhammer 40,000 Russ however, but is in fact a brand new kit based on the Mars Alpha varient – an early model of the Leman Russ from the Heresy era that is outfitted with Trench Rails to match the Dracosan and Malcador.

It’s a lot more ornate than the standard Russ with some more trim and fancy details to paint, and the assembled model is very very close to the resin Mars Alpha that was originally released for the Death Korps of Krieg. Personally, I love this variant of the Russ far more than the standard kit, so the fact that it is now available in plastic is a massive win for me, as it is by far my favorite look for it.

There are some details that are omitted such as the dust filter on the engine and weapon housing, but side by side they still look great.

Again, like with the Dracosan, there’s going to be multiple varients of this tank that will no doubt follow shortly after the release of this box.

Aethon Heavy Sentinel

Something that was a surprise to many with this box is a brand new unit choice for the Solar Auxilia, the Aethon Heavy Sentinel. Introduced in Legions Imperialis, the Aethon has its rules in the upcoming Beta Garmon supplement, but there is also a free download of it’s rules on Warhammer Community and the instruction manual also contains the full rules profile for it

At 70 points they are pretty cheap and offer a range of different weaponry. Yes, they are in the very full Heavy Support slot, but the Solar Auxilia have lots of ways of freeing up space in those slots, and it wouldn’t surprise me if a new Cohort is introduced in the supplement that allows you to take them in a different slot.

The Aethon kit is really well designed with the main top weapon being attached onto an integrated pin (Meaning you can just push the weapons in place and swap them between games) and the side weapons having pre drilled magnet holes. The side weapons lock into two different positions too letting you mix up the look of a unit of them. I love it when Games Workshop have features like this on kits, as it makes the models a lot more adaptable with you able to switch up the loadout between games.

Solar Auxilia Rifle Section

The bulk of a Solar Auxilia army is going to be made up of Rifle Sections, and the new plastic kit is made up in much the same way as the Legiones Astartes spures. They consist of 5 poses with all of the weapon options available on the single sprue – I do wonder if these will form the core of some of the variants we see within the book, as they certainly also form the core of the Command Section (More on these shortly)

They are gorgeous models, but I have to admit they are a little fiddly to build, with the instructions not being super clear on the arm positions – though it is well worth it once they are built up! While like the marines they only have 5 stock poses, I don’t feel theres much of an issue here as heads can be posed and there are multiple equipment pouches that can be placed in various locations to mix up the profiles of the models

Enough frames are included to build 20 troopers.

Solar Auxilia Line Command Section

The final unit in the box are the Line Command Section. This is an upgrade frame for the Rifle Section and allows you to build a Command Section which can be taken either as a HQ choice or a unit leading your Troops units. What isn’t actually detailed on the box however is that this frame also builds a Marshall in addition to the Command Section. The Instructions suggest the Marshall is an alternate build for the leader of the Command Section – but you actually get enough parts on the upgrade frame to build him in addition to the full Command Section as you get an extra body included on the sprue. This is ace, as it means with just this kit you have access to both HQ units available to the Solar Aux.

To get the most out of the kit, follow the instructions to build the Marshall, and then for the squad leader use the instructions to build the body of the standard Rifle Section leader, but use your left over arms and head from the command section to make him look the part

There are lots of weapons for the Marshall on here too, meaning you can outfit him however you want. Sadly, the same isn’t true for the Companions who just get their stock weaponry. I suspect we will see a plastic weapon upgrade frame that allows you to equip them with the other weapons they have access to later down the line.

Again, the models look brilliant in the flesh, and there’s enough parts such as different banner designs to make sure that multiple squads will look different across the army.

Summary

An entire new plastic army getting released for Warhammer The Horus Heresy, and Games Workshop have knocked it out of the park with this box. Not only do we get an awesome new infantry kit (with a command upgrade sprue) but we also get 2 tanks and a walker in this box. At the time of writing this review I don’t know how much the separate components will cost, but based on the pricing of other similar Horus Heresy kits, I reckon you’ll be getting the Sentinel and the Command Squad free compared to buying them separately, which is a great bargain.

Now the elephant in the room is if there will be enough stock of these boxes for everyone who wants one to be able to get one. The Legiones Astartes Battle Group box sold out very quickly, and I fear that this will also be the case here – but I hope that I am wrong, as I think lots of players will want to use this box as a springboard to put together a brand new Heresy army.

On the plus side, if this does sell out quickly I don’t think that the full wave is going to be too far behind this allowing everyone to get their hands on the kits – though I know that will sting for people wanting the discount.

Assuming you can get your hands on one, I highly recommend picking up this box as not only are they gorgeous models, but this is a perfect allied detachment for a Heresy army that can then later be expanded into a full force.

The Solar Auxilia Battle Group box is up for pre order today and is released Saturday 16th March

Games Workshop provided Sprues & Brews with a free copy for review purposes.