his preview has a lot more going on than a normal light teaser. So, if you play The Old World or Horus Heresy, there is real substance here.
Grand Cathay continues to fill out with the sort of units the army needed. Meanwhile, the Solar Auxilia get more support pieces that feel tailor made for grim infantry warfare.
Grand Cathay and the Solar Auxilia both get deeper, smarter support options
The Old World side of the preview is all about making Grand Cathay feel broader and more complete on the table. First, the Astromancers of the Celestial Court finally bring in more of that polished Cathayan wizard identity, with a plastic set that includes one mage on foot, one mounted mage, and a Crowman familiar, plus options to field them as Astromancers or Supreme Astromancers.
So, it is not just a character release, because it helps sell the whole courtly magic theme that makes Cathay feel distinct from Empire wizards. Then the ranged core gets a serious boost.
Iron Hail Gunners are presented as elite short-range shooters who move in close and rip through armour with concentrated fire, while Crane Gunners operate in paired teams for longer-range precision work, protected by heavy tower shields. That split is smart, because it gives Cathay both a brutal close shooting tool and a cleaner long-range specialist role.
After that, the Peasant Levy brings in the cheap bodies every big fantasy army wants, but with a very Cathayan twist. They may be peasants, yet the lore stresses that they are still steadier and braver than most common levies thanks to the will of the Dragon Emperor.
On the tabletop, the box builds 20 models with either spears for extra-rank fighting or warbows for massed shooting, which feels like exactly the kind of flexible backbone a Cathay collection needed. Meanwhile, their rules are tied into Arcane Journal: The Breaching of the Great Bastion, so this is clearly part of a wider push rather than a random model drop.
On the Horus Heresy side, the Solar Auxilia releases feel just as practical. Charonite Ogryns look like proper terror troops, with brute force mixed with biochemical and cybernetic enhancements, and the kit includes four models with multiple weapon options, from claws to crushers and shredders.
They sound like the sort of unit that turns a grinding infantry line into a real threat.
Then the Rapier batteries add the dependable heavy support layer. The indirect battery offers either quad launchers or mole mortars, while the direct-fire version can take heavy bolters, multi-lasers, or laser destroyers.
So, infantry-heavy Auxilia armies suddenly get a very clean way to reach out and solve different problems without defaulting to tanks. That is before the Tallarn book even lands.
Journal Tactica: The Battle of Tallarn Part One covers the opening of the campaign, adds a Legendary Mission around an Iron Warriors armoured column being ambushed, and folds in a mission pack for Armoured Spearhead games, plus rules for Dracosan and Spartan Prometheus Command Tanks alongside the new Rapier and Ogryn kits.
