Review: Primaris Space Marines Company Heroes & Sternguard Veteran Squad

After the monopose Sternguard Veterans from the Leviathan launch box, we now get a multipart version of the Sternguard Veteran Squad. Additionally, there’s another reissue of a popular Firstborn Space Marines unit, the Company Heroes box, which includes a Command Squad with a new Captain and Primaris Ancient. In this review, we’ll take a look at what these two new kits have to offer. For the Emperor!

The new Primaris Space Marine models will be available for preorder starting Saturday, September 30, 2023, and go on sale not one but two weeks after (so a preorder window of two weeks).

Space Marines Company Heroes review

The spiritual successor to the Firstborn Company Command Squad contains five models on 40mm bases, including a new multipart Primaris Captain and a new Primaris Ancient. The box includes two medium sprues, and a new transfer sheet containing iconography for Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, Salamanders, and Raptors.

On closer inspection, however, it is noticeable that most of the models are monopose, and apart from interchangeable heads and shoulder pads, there are not many options.

• Model 1 makes the Captain. He can wear either a tabbard or a sword sheath between his legs. There are three right hands with (what appears to be) a regular Bolter, a Plasma Pistol, and a Neo-volkite Pistol. The left arm has a choice between a Power Sword or a Power Fist. There are a helmet and two bare heads.
• Model 2 makes the Primaris Ancient. This model is completely monopose, only the right shoulder pad is interchangeable. There is one helmet and one bare head to choose from.
• Model 3 makes the Company Champion. There is one bare head and one helmet, otherwise, no options.
• Model 4 makes the Company Veteran with bolt rifle. Here too there is a choice between helmet and bare head, but otherwise no extra arms or weapons.
• Model 5 makes the Company Veteran with heavy bolter. There is a helmet and a bare head, but no other heavy weapons.

All models have flat contact points for the arms and separate shoulder pads and heads. These are compatible with other models from the Primaris range, but apart from the two/ three heads per model, the Company Heroes kit offers no extra cosmetic options. Too bad, but as a Space Marine collector you certainly have a full bitz box.

Sternguard Veteran Squad

What the Company Heroes box lacks in customization, the Sternguard Veterans more than make up for. There are 5 miniatures on 32mm bases included, divided across three medium-sized sprues. The new transfer sheet is also included here. The Sternguard are pretty much what you expect them to be when you’re familiar with their monopose easy-to-build cousins from Leviathan, but offer so much more variety.

The kit contains the following:

• 5 bodies and backpacks (the leg armour is separate, and each body includes an additional shin guard with different designs, adding extra variety)
• 8 interchangeable helmets (including 1 in MkVI and 1 in MkVII design)
• 7 interchangeable bare heads (including 1 with a half-mask)
• 10 shoulder pads with space for chapter icons, 1 studded shoulder pad, and 5 shoulder pads with Crux Terminatus icons
• 5 arm pairs with Bolt weapons, along with 5 drum magazines and 5 sickle magazine pieces, some with attached scopes
• 5 arm pairs for combi-weapons, along with two interchangeable Combi-flamers, two Combi-meltas, and two Combi-plasmas
• One pair of arms with a Heavy Bolter or Heavy Flamer.
• For the Sergeant, there is a right arm with a Heavy Bolt Pistol (plus a holster) and a Bolt Rifle, as well as left arms with a Power Sword, Chainsword, and Power Fist, along with an extra tilt shield for the shoulder pad, and a back banner or small Crux Terminatus icon for the power pack
• 7 belt pouch parts, 5 Crux Terminatus pendants, 7 belt pendants with various icons, 8 purity seals, and two extra helmets for attaching to the belt, which you can freely distribute to the models

Wow, that’s fantastic, and there are plenty of useful parts left for other models as well.

Value

Both kits have relatively high prices for Primaris Space Marine boxes with 5 models. With the Company Heroes, you get two previously individually available character models in one box, which makes them more attractive in terms of price, but the customization options are limited. It’s a different story with the Sternguard Veterans. Here, so many weapons and bits have been packed into the kit that you can better accept the high price.

You can find the new Space Marine releases at our partner stores 🇬🇧/🇪🇺 Wayland Games, 🇬🇧 Element Games and Firestorm Games, at 🇩🇪 Taschengelddieb, 🇩🇪 /🇪🇺 PK-Pro, and at 🇺🇸 Noble Knight Games with a welcome discount of up to 20% over RRP. Using our links helps to support Tale of Painters at no additional cost to you, so thank you very much for using them!

I hope you found this review helpful, feel free to leave a reaction or comment below, or post your questions here or discuss on our Discord channel.