Originally when I was forming the list in my mind I included the legions Varagyr terminators being the obvious choice for a Jarl’s honour guard. However as I was taking Hvarl the Red Blade as my primary character for the event it seemed strange having him armoured in Tartaros pattern armour and his guard in the heavier Cataphractii plate. It was purely an aesthetic thing. The Tartaros plastic kit doesn’t have the same visual impact as Forgeworld’s Varagyr sculpts, but with a few extra adornments and modifications I was really happy how they came out. The most notable difference was the helmets which were from the plastic Dwarf Ironbreakers set. This was not an idea I came up with, but was based on a fantastic conversion I saw online by another collector. I thought it really stood out so incorporated it into my unit. As for the Varagyr, they will have their time rest assured.

The Tartaros do however have the advantage of being able to keep up with their feisty Jarl as presses forward from their dedicated assault transport.

Assault ‘longboat’

The Spartan is a hugely iconic transport in the Horus Heresy, effectively an elongated heavily armoured Land Raider up-gunned with armour-shredding quad las-cannon and heavy bolters. The Spartan can transport a full twenty-strong unit of legionaries, or ten in terminator armour. The list I chose to take restricted me significantly on the number of heavy support units I could take, but has the benefit of being a ‘dedicated transport’ choice for Hvarl’s terminator bodyguard and therefore not taking up a slot.

There’s no denying the Spartan is a chunky block of Forgeworld resin and even though the current iteration of the design is significantly better having the tracks already molded into the side assemblies, it can still be a challenging kit to assemble. This is especially true with the rear resin gates on the track assemblies and the fitting of the front assault ramp.

Persevere however and you will have a tank worthy of the warmaster (or Emperor) from which to spearhead the great crusade (or heresy). Your legion, your rules. There is the infamous longboat list which features no fewer than three Spartans at the heart of the Rout, but I’m not sure I’m quite up to that just yet. Until next time.

Fenrys hyolda!