When looking at the new Horus Heresy Starter set sprues, we may have just seen a new plastic Land Raider Proteus hidden in plain sight as well!
We recently got a look at all the new plastic sprues coming in the Horus Heresy starter box. While that was cool to see when you take a closer look at the Spartan kit, only one of the actual sprues says Spartan; the rest just say, Land Raider.
New Plastic Land Raider Proteus Tank Spotted!
These new pictures were sourced from Miniwars and apparently appear in the new Horus Heresy rulebook. From the look of it, both versions of the new Land Raider Proteus really keep the essence of the old Forge World kit.
As you can see, this really keeps the styling of the old kit plastic kit from the 80s as well as the Forge World ones from the 2010s with the somewhat bulky design, but it looks slightly refined. We’ll also take a look at the sprues again, and see what might need to be added in the upgrade sprue to build this from the Spartan kit. The main differences though are single stack Lascannons and the front ramp situation.
This is the current kit and it’s very similar, but one thing to note, is building treads in resin isn’t always the most fun… So, having this in plastic will hopefully reduce some of those building woes. It also looks like the old epic-styled side sponsons are being retired, but the Proteus is getting a glow-up with a front assault ramp version, along with the armored front as well.
Comparing the Sprues
The new Horus Heresy starter set sprue pics were revealed recently by GW influencer Tale of Painters and appear to have clues to future kits.
As we said, the main differences are the front, the ramp, and the Lascannons. However, the way the Spartan sprue is built, the Lascannons can be single or double stacked (meaning it can be used for the Proteus),
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 actually 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.
Below is the tank accessory sprue that we may see in a number of Horus Heresy kits, as we have seen that hatch missile launcher pictured on the Deimos already (above). Next to it is the weapon sprue that comes with the Spartan.
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.
Now take a look at pieces 10 and 16. It looks like the two bits marked 16 are used to mount the quad las assembly to the top and bottom of the chassis, while the bits marked 10 are shorter and could be used to just mount the two of the double Lascannons and not the quad configuration of four on the Spartan.
From there the floors and tread sprue are also marked Land Raider, and could perhaps omit parts from the Spartan build to make a potentially smaller profile Proteus tank.
Lastly, the chassis walls and armor sprue is also just marked Land Raider, however, if this is for the same kit, you would be able to use the similar engine block and exhaust stacks as well, but that’s not anything too out of the ordinary.
You can also see that the side hatch and weapons mount will work for the Proteus and the Spartan as the sponson mount appears to be universal to that sphere clip.
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 tank.
Either way, we will know soon enough if we see a plastic Proteus, and some of the sprues inside look familiar!
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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!
