We saw the rumors for a while now, but GW announced a new plastic Land Raider Proteus kit for Horus Heresy- check it out!
You may remember when we looked at the sprues in the Horus Heresy starter box, we saw that the Spartan kit actually only had one sprue named Spartan (because the rest were just called Land Raider). So that got us thinking about the new Proteus kit, and now GW confirmed it!
Warhammer Community just unveiled the new model but not an exact release date.
New Plastic Land Raider Proteus Kit Confirmed by GW!
Before the Spartan Assault Tank, before the Termite Assault Drill, and before the mighty Mastodon, there was one true king of armoured troop conveyance – the Land Raider. Many patterns of these lumbering tanks exist in Legion armouries, but none have the pedigree of the venerable Land Raider Proteus, which now returns to the Age of Darkness with a new plastic kit.
In more practical terms, the Power of the Machine Spirit can take over targeting duties, so each weapon can fire at completely different targets. The Land Raider Proteus is an excellent tank-killer in its own right, with a pair of lascannon sponsons and a choice of hull-and-pintle-mounted guns.
GW actually did a great job with the sprues on the Land Raiders as all they have to do is switch out a single sprue or maybe two. So, we also hope GW does the upgrade sprue as they have been doing with the Dreads.
But what if you don’t want to slam a squad of Terminators face-first into the thick of the fighting? Assemble your kit as a Land Raider Proteus Explorator instead, and you’ll trade your hefty assault ramp for a dozer blade to clear away battlefield obstacles,* together with a sophisticated explorator augury web to gather detailed terrain data.
Then with the kit, you’ll be able to also create the Explorator, which does make the sprue bigger, so it might be more expensive for the upgrade compared to the other ones out there (which were only one small sprue).
Fans of a certain vintage will spot that the design of this Land Raider owes much to the original plastic version, released in the 1980s, during the very first edition of Warhammer 40,000. The classics never die.
Overall, it’s great to see more of the kits coming in plastic!
Comparing the Land Raider Sprues
The Horus Heresy starter set sprue pics were revealed recently by GW influencer Tale of Painters and appear to have clues to what this kit will look like.
This is the main section with those front and top tank differences and they could easily just replace a single sprue to make the Spartan sprues become the Proteus. With the pictures spotted, it also means they have this ready to go!
As you can see, this sprue is actually called Spartan. The interesting thing about this sprue is that it has all the front parts to make the tank bigger.
Above, you can see how the front of the tanks between the two classes are different, but this is the only sprue named Land Raider but also stamped Spartan,
You can see the seamline in red, meaning this is a separate bit to extend the front. So, considering that’s one of the main differences, and it’s a different part, in theory, it could be easy to make a different set of front parts to make a plastic Proteus from the rest of these Land Raider sprues.
If you look close, you can see the weapon sponson sprue is actually marked Land Raider, well technically they all are, just some have Spartan stamped in the parts area too. So we have a great idea of exactly how the sprues will be set up.
So, in theory, it could be easy to make the Proteus kit with all of these sprues minus the one marked as Spartan, swapped out with a sprue to make the front and top of the hull specific to that class of Land Raider tank.
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Here’s the most up-to-date list of new Horus Heresy Rules & Product Leaks. Click on the gallery above to see new Horus Heresy models and rules rumors!
- 4 New Plastic Horus Heresy Starter Box Sets
- All the Horus Heresy New Models & Rules
- Horus Heresy Legion Rules
- Horus Heresy Weapon & Unit Rules
Are you excited to see a Plastic Land Raider Proteus for Horus Heresy?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
