While some armies in Warhammer 40K are centered around stunning advanced technology, cruel demonic monsters, or the bio-engineered might of Space Marines, there's one army that fights the spread of Chaos with pure numbers: the Astra Militarum! Made up of regular humans taking up their bolters to defend humanity, the Astra Militarum flows like a sea of green and brown amongst the worst nightmares the galaxy can provide. Games Workshop sent us a batch of new Warhammer 40K Astra Militarum models to check out, so read on for our thoughts!
Warhammer 40K Astra Militarum - Lord Solar Leontus
No model in the Astra Militarum is quite as magnificent looking as Lord Solar Leontus. Leading entire armies of Astra Militarum from atop his mechanized steed Konstantin, Lord Solar is one of the strongest commanders we're likely to see on the tabletop. Armed with a pistol called 'Sol's Righteous Gaze' and a sword called 'Conquest,' where this model really shines is in its special abilities. With his 'Artificer Refractor Helm' he has a 4+ invulnerable save, and each time an attack is allocated to him you halve the Damage characteristic (rounding up). He also sports the ability to swap out Agendas or Secondary Objectives after your opponent has revealed their objectives, allows friendly Astra Militarum Core units within 6" of him to re-roll hit and wound rolls of 1, and can issue up to three Orders in your command phase.
Beautiful to look at, this model is definitely one you want to keep safe and protected for as long as possible, as his field benefits (including some we haven't even mentioned here) far outweigh his battle prowess on the field. Keep him close to your Core units, and let the Orders fly!
Warhammer 40K Astra Militarum - Lord Castellan Ursula Creed
Ursula Creed is the Lord Castellan of Cadia, and she's as tough as nails! An expert strategist, Creed is another great commander for your army who can issue up to three Orders per Command phase. With a power sword and her pistol "Duty and Vengeance" (gods, what a name!) she can hold her own on the battlefield. But like Lord Solar, her special abilities are what truly set her apart. Her ability "Lord Castellan's Fury" adds a bonus any time she issues an Order to a unit. With every Order (and remember, she can issue three per Command phase) the target of that Order adds +1 to the Strength of all of its ranged attacks. This could mean the difference between your shots firing home and bouncing off your enemies' armor. Other benefits like the ability to give the Command Re-roll Strategem twice per turn (instead of the normal once per turn) make her a formidable Commander on the field.
We also just absolutely love the look of Ursula. Grim and determined, she stands atop a pile of rubble issuing commands. The sprue she comes on allows you to build her with a helmet on or off, but let's be real - you've got to let her stern visage show to strike fear in even the most ruinous Chaos monstrosity.
Warhammer 40K Astra Militarum - Cadian Heavy Weapons Squad
While powerful commanders and rolling thunderous tanks (which we'll cover in just a moment) can whittle down most opposing forces, there's nothing quite like the Heavy Weapons Squad to rain down bolter fire on your foes. What's so nice about this unit, which consists of three gorgeous models, is the customizable nature of them. The standard build sees these models wielding a Heavy Bolter, but you can swap them out for an autocannon, lascannon, missile launcher, or the devastating mortar. We decided to build one Heavy bolter, one lascannon, and one mortar for our unit, but the ability to customize based on the needs of your army makes this unit extremely viable for different kinds of builds.
Do you want to spread bolter fire across the battlefield, tearing your enemies to pieces? Or do you want to keep them hemmed in and hammered down with missile launchers and mortar? Maybe a mixture of both! The choice is up to you when you field units of Heavy Weapons Squad models in your Astra Militarum army.
Warhammer 40K Astra Militarum - Rogal Dorn Battle Tank
Rounding out the new models Games Workshop sent along is the absolutely mammoth Rogal Dorn Battle Tank. With a whopping 17 Wounds, each tank comes kitted out with a castigator gatling cannon, a heavy stubber, and a twin battle cannon. But there are so many ways you can customize your tank, swapping out the twin battle cannon for an oppressor cannon and a co-axial autocannon, the castigator cannon can be switched for a pulverisor cannon, and you can add on meltaguns, heavy bolters, and more. You can even equip it with armored tracks, which add 1 to the armor saving throw when attacks with a damage characteristic of 1 are made against it. This is rolling death, plain and simple, and is here to punch a hole through even the toughest lines of foes your enemy can put in your path.
Though involved, this was a relatively easy model to build, and we enjoyed putting it together with three men in view on top (though there are options to keep all hatches closed if you prefer the way that looks).
What Are Our Final Thoughts On These New Warhammer 40K Astra Militarum Models?
These new models are just what we want for our Astra Militarum armies. The heavy weaponry units hit hard (like... really hard), and the Commanders are walking, talking, Order-assigning machines. We loved putting everything together, and found the builds relatively simple and straightforward, and they add another layer of tactical acumen to our Astra armies.
Want to learn more about the Warhammer 40K Astra Miliatrum army? Check out our look at the Army Set that released a few months back!
The products used in the creation of this review were provided by Games Workshop.
Review Summary
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Giaco Furino joined the TechRaptor team as a Staff Writer in 2019 after searching for a dedicated place to write and talk about Tabletop Games. In 2020, he… More about Giaco
