Review: Horus Heresy Tarantulas & Rapier Batteries

In this post, I unbox and review four new heavy support kits for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – the Tarantula Sentry Guns, the Tarantula Missile Battery, and both Rapier Weapons Battery sets. With redesigned sculpts, a generous array of weapon options, and some clever design touches, these kits aim to bolster your Legion’s firepower in style. Let’s take a closer look at what’s inside the boxes.

The Tarantula and Rapier Batteries will be available for pre-order starting Saturday, 14 June 2025. The pre-order period lasts two weeks, with the official release date set for 28 June 2025.

Tarantula Sentry Guns unboxing and review

The Tarantula Sentry Guns box includes two identical medium-sized sprues plus an instruction sheet – no bases or transfer sheets are provided. Each sprue builds one Tarantula, with the choice of twin-linked volkite culverins, twin-linked heavy bolters, twin-linked lascannons, or a sentry melta array. Every sprue contains all the weapon options required, so you can arm both Tarantulas identically if you wish.

Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.

The weapons are attached to the turret via round pegs and hold in place well even without magnets, though magnetising is easy too, as the turrets come with pre-moulded 3 mm holes. The turrets sit on top of the gun carriages without glue and conveniently fit into recesses like the one on the Scorpius tank.

Tarantula Missile Battery unboxing and review

The Tarantula Missile Battery is packed just like the other Tarantula box – two identical sprues and an instruction sheet. Each sprue includes all the parts needed to build either the Hyperios Missile Launcher or the Orios Frag Missiles. The missiles attach via a square peg connection and hold reasonably well even without glue – though for magnetising, you’ll need to get out the drill.

Rapier Laser Destroyer and Quad Launcher Battery unboxing and review

The Rapier weapons platforms have been completely redesigned and now resemble tiny Land Raiders or Sabre Strike Tanks. Each box contains two identical medium-sized sprues to build one Rapier each, one medium-sized crew sprue (identical across both Rapier sets), two 60mm bases, four 32mm bases for the crew, an instruction sheet, and a transfer sheet featuring infantry markings for Sons of Horus and Imperial Fists.

Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.

Each of the two identical Rapier sprues includes enough parts to build either a laser destroyer or a quad launcher, so you can equip both models the same way. Magnetising is possible, but requires cutting the weapon mounts and adding holes for magnets due to the way the weapons insert.

The crew sprue includes:

• 4 torsos, one of which is kneeling, plus 4 left and 4 right shoulder pads and 4 identical backpacks with scanner antennae
• 1 pair of arms operating an extended cogitator (the cogitator connects to the backpack with a telescopic arm)
• 1 right arm also operating an extended cogitator (connected in the same way), and 1 left arm holding a trigger
• 1 pair of arms holding binoculars in front of the face
• 1 right arm making a closed fist, 1 outstretched pointing right arm, 1 right arm with an underslung Tigrus pattern bolter, 1 right arm operating an auspex
• 1 left arm with auspex, 1 left arm with binoculars
• 4 helmeted heads (two with bionic targeting lenses, two without), and 1 bare head with bionics
• 4 holstered bolt pistols, 4 holstered bolters, two small ammunition crates, and 1 servo-skull that can be attached to a backpack

As the heads sit on ball joints and the arms have flat connection points, the included parts can be freely mixed and matched, and are also compatible with other Horus Heresy Space Marines. Only the cogitator arms clash with the kneeling torso, as they get in the way of the bent knee.

Patreon bonus content: Ultra high-res, uncompressed versions of these sprue images (and backsides of the sprues) can be downloaded here.

The design of the crew is certainly… unconventional. It’s really hard to say which mark of armour they’re meant to represent. Based on the design of the backpack and the cabling across the chest, I’d say it’s a specialised variant of MkVI. The slotted knee and elbow pads are also a clear nod to the Imperial Space Marine from Rogue Trader, which received a modern collector’s model a few years back. However, the thin trims on the shoulder pads are more reminiscent of MkIV, and the Tigrus pattern bolter is typically associated with MkIV as well. Meanwhile, the segmented front of the helmets brings to mind MkVII Techmarines. The designers were probably aiming to create a unique type of armour that would fit into any Legion. But perhaps a classic MkIV would have been the more “safe” option.

Rapier Quad Heavy Bolters and Graviton Cannon Battery unboxing and review

The contents of the Rapier Quad Heavy Bolters and Graviton Cannon Battery are identical to the other Rapier box: two identical medium-sized sprues, each building one Rapier, the crew sprue, two 60mm bases, four 32mm bases, and a transfer sheet.

Each Rapier sprue contains enough parts for both quad heavy bolters and graviton cannons, allowing you to equip both models in the box identically. The crew sprue is the same as in the Laser Destroyer and Quad Launcher Battery – see above for build options.

Value

In terms of price, the Tarantulas come in at an RRP of £36 / 45€ / $60, while the Rapier Batteries are priced at £44 / 55€ / 70$. That’s fair for what you get, even though neither the Tarantulas nor the Rapiers are particularly large kits. Up until now, there’s been a sense that Horus Heresy models were slightly more affordable than similarly sized Warhammer 40,000 plastic kits. That doesn’t seem to be the case with this release, though – perhaps a sign of things to come for the next edition?

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