Horus Heresy: Solar Auxilia Aethon Heavy Sentinel Rules Show How Tough They Really Are
The Solar Auxilia is calling in the Aethon Heavy Sentinel and it’s going to bring the beef to the tabletop one way or another!
The Aethon Heavy Sentinel was first released in Legions Imperialis as part of the big launch box. It didn’t take too long before the Aethon Heavy Sentinel made the jump to Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness with a new 40k scale miniature. This unit is clearly one of the forefathers of the modern 40k Sentinel — but beefier. And bring the beef it does. The rules are out now so let’s take a closer look!
Sentinels are the secret sauce of the Solar Auxilia, armoured walkers that can race over rough terrain that would burn out the engine of a Malcador Heavy Tank from sheer exertion – provided they tread carefully. Aethon Heavy Sentinels may look ungainly, but these bipedal bombardiers really strut their stuff on the battlefield.
Aethon Heavy Sentinel
Before we dive directly into the rules (which you can download here) this unit is introducing a new unit type: Mechanised.
These new Mechanised units are a bit of a halfway house between “true” vehicles and just really well armored units. They do have some benefits like being resistant to Fleshbane and Poison attacks. Additionally, they can fire all their weapons (even during a reaction in fact) and heavy weapons don’t even slow them down. They can still move and fire those, too.
However, there are also some drawbacks. They are more vulnerable to Armourbane, Haywire, and Detonation attacks. Basically anti-tank weapons are going to be even more effective at taking them out vs say heavy infantry. So, with that new rule explained let’s check out what else this unit can do!
To kick things off the stat block is pretty solid. At 70 points it’s a T6 chassis with 5 wounds and a 2+ save. This really makes it tougher than say a Terminator but maybe not quite as tough as a dreadnought. As a weapon platform it’s got BS 3 which is on par with the Solar Auxilia. And it’s packing quite a few weapon options to dig into. That said, even the basic one is a solid 70 points with a multi-laser and missile battery to start.
Now, if you want to invest more points you can end up with one really mean weapon platform. Both the Heavy Incinerator and Melta Lance are good upgrades and make this a more focused unit. The Heavy Incinerator can really mess-up an infantry squad while the Melta Lance can chew on armor and threaten the flanks of tanks with easy.
Considering you can take 3 of these in a single Heavy Support slot you can really pack in some serious firepower. It all goes back to what role you want the Aethon Heavy Sentinel to fulfill. Do you want a strong anti-infantry option? Heavy Incinerators or Volkite Culverins. Do you need some Anti-tank? Lascannons and Melta Lances. What about just an all around cheap generalist? Take the base version or swap out for Autocannons. The choice is yours.
And don’t forget about those Hunter-killer missiles…
The Aethon Heavy Sentinel is coming to the Horus Heresy tabletop soon!
