Horus Heresy has given us some truly awesome kits, but due to a perfect storm of shifting rules, updated sculpting and just bad timing, there is one kit we will never get.
My very first box of space marines was the RTB01 box, the first plastic space marines, which gave you 30 marines in MKVI “Corvus” armor. These “beakies” as they were affectionately called could be assembled with bolters, flamers, missile launchers, or pistols and power fists for the sergeants. This kit was formative for me, as it was for so many others, and sometimes I take a look at what it would cost to get my hands on a few more, but the price of nostalgia these days is too high to indulge:
I have long held out hope that GW would re-release this set or an updated one in some capacity. Believe it or not, when I was a kid I called GW more than once to ask if this would ever happen. I watched with growing excitement as GW plastics entered a totally new and exciting phase. Multipart kits, compatible with other multipart kits, made the modeling side of the hobby a true treat. Then suddenly we started getting Horus Heresy games and entire plastic kits for marks of space marine armor that had only ever been released as metal minis, and perhaps only in a single pose. Fast forward to today and there are more plastic beakies in production than ever before! Tactical marines are sold in boxes of 20, command squads and assault squads are their own, multipart plastic kits, which are all compatible with one another, as are a wide variety of special and heavy weapons. All is well as ends well, right? Almost. We were so close to the holy grail of beakie kits, but to understand how we missed it, we need to take a quick look at the development of plastic space marines post-RTB01.
In 1998 Warhammer 3rd edition was released and with it came a sea change for GW plastic kits. Unlike the push-fit or single part minis of 2nd edition, the infantry in the 3rd edition box, Dark Eldar and especially the space marines, were multipart, multi-pose plastics that would also be release in box sets. Here is a look at those early sprues:
Look at them, they’re glorious! Multipart, multi-pose, subtle differences in just about every torso, head, jetpack and set of legs. Bits galore, flamer, missile launcher, sergeant parts, this was huge! A whole new generation of space marine enthusiasts were raised on this kit. And GW built off it for decades! This set would be re-released many times over the years, each time with new additions of bits and wargear. Other plastic kits would eventually be released that would be compatible with it as well, including Devastators and Assault Squads. The set was not only added to but improved. Originally all the wargear came with the handles and triggers modeled on, but eventually the brilliant move was made to model the hands onto the guns, rather than onto the arms. Here is the final iteration of the tactical marine squad:
Loads of bits, loads of options, loads of wargear! The missile launcher has as specialized backpack. There are combi-weapon options for the sergeant. And, for the very first time: a MKVI studded shoulder pad! This kit had always had a mix of armor bits from different marks, but with this final iteration of the kit you had all the pieces to make a single MKVI marine. This was big news at the time for a certain set of hobbyists, but it was quickly overshadowed by even bigger releases. Betrayal at Calth and The Burning of Prospero gave us full plastic sets for MkIII and MkIV armor, respectively. These were made in the image of the tactical marine sets of standard 40K, with tons of wargear and bits options. They were a spectacular windfall for HH enthusiasts and veteran hobbyists alike, and they gave a burning beacon of hope to everyone who had longed for a new MkVI kit for years.
But changes were brewing in the way GW structured its games and its sets. Truescale had been a byword among hobbyists for decades, arguing that the size of the minis did not reflect the lore. Then Primaris marines arrived and towered over their human counterparts. At the same time, army lists in 40k began dropping multi-faceted squads in favor of specialized formations of identically equipped soldiers. Whole squads armed with weapons previously deemed “special” became common, and 30K would soon follow suit. With the release of Age of Darkness a new era of Horus Heresy was born to great fanfare. And, joy of joys the MkVI marines were reborn in plastic, and at truescale proportions!
These kits are gorgeous, and like so many others, I bought them immediately. I love them and I am so glad they are back, but I can’t help thinking of what we missed. These new beakies have a single piece torso and legs, giving you only five base options. There are a wealth of excellent arm configurations to vary them up, as well as loads of bits, but the base kit only comes with bolters and some basic sergeant options. A large number of special and heavy weapons have been released since The Age of Darkness set came out, but they are separated into three different kits. Want a heavy bolter? You need to buy a box with ten of them, and ten missile launchers. Want a plasma gun? You need to buy a box with 60 special weapons in it. These models and the wealth of plastic options for them are amazing, but I will forever rue how close we came to getting a boxed set of beakies, loaded with wargear options, in the mold of the old tactical marines box.
And remember, Frontline Gaming sells gaming products at a discount, every day in their webcart!
