Review: Horus Heresy: Saturnine

Time to unbox the hottest release of the year: the new Saturnine box for Horus Heresy. The set includes a weighty new hardcover rulebook, a bucketload of sprues, and introduces the reimagined Saturnine Terminators, who bring a hefty (and controversial new silhouette to the 31st Millennium. In our review, we take a close look at all the new kits, with ultra high-res sprue images and scale comparisons that show just how these new designs measure up – quite literally – to their predecessors.

Horus Heresy: Saturnine will be available for pre-order starting Saturday, July 12 2025. The pre-order period lasts two weeks, with the official release date set for 26 July 2025. The RRP is £195 / 245 € / $315. Saturnine will be a permanent item in the range, like the Age of Darkness box (review here) during the previous edition of the Horus Heresy.

Included in the box are:

• 50 plastic Citadel miniatures (1 Saturnine Praetor, 1 MkII Prator, 6 Saturnine Terminators, 40 MkII Legionaries and Veterans, 1 Saturnine Dreadnought, 1 Araknae Quad Accelerator Platform)
• The 352-page Age of Darkness hardback rulebook 
• 4 rules reference sheets
• A first game manual (that also includes the assembly guide)
• Weapon templates cast in clear orange plastic (the classic large blast, small blast, and flamer)
• 20 D6 plus 1 scatter dice
• A new hard plastic range ruler
• 40 tactical status and objective tokens 
• 1 Salamanders/Iron Warriors transfer sheet

Saturnine – unboxing the models

Saturnine is genuinely large and heavy. The box’s size matches the last edition’s Age of Darkness box, and it’s at least as weighty. Along with the hardcover rulebook, the box weighs over 4 kg. Let’s take a closer look at the contents.

Saturnine Terminators

The biggest eye-catcher in the Saturnine Box is certainly the eponymous Terminators, a brand-new elite unit for the 31st Millennium. Inspired by old Proto-Terminator Rogue Trader era designs, the re-imagined Saturnine Terminators have now grown into the largest and most heavily armoured Terminator variant yet.

The design is certainly polarising, and it takes some getting used to new ideas in an established setting. I felt similarly, but after having the models in hand, I must say that I find them incredibly cool and substantial. I also think the proportions aren’t completely over the top. Just look at the comparison graphic above without the gigantic shoulder pads. From an anatomical perspective, I can imagine that a slightly larger Astartes could fill out the armour (you’ll have to ignore the ball joints, they’re more due to the technical nature of the kit).

The scale comparison shows how much the new Saturnine Terminators tower over the current Cataphractii and Tartaros pattern models. During the Saturnine Preview event, a teaser was shown that strongly resembled a revised Cataphractii kit. This will certainly orient itself more towards the new, larger 40k Terminators in terms of proportions, bridging the gap.

A Look at the Kit

The box contains 6 Saturnine Terminators. The sprue, consisting of two medium-sized halves, contains 2 models each on 50mm bases, and is included 3 times.

Each Saturnine sprue contains:

• 2 identical bodies
• 4 helmets (1 with a bionic eye, 1 with spikes and a mouth grill)
• 2 left-handed disruption fists (with both open and clenched hands, plus 2 optional particle shredders)
• 2 plasma bombards
• 2 disruptor cannons

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

Assembling the Saturnine Terminators is complex, as many of the individual limbs need to be put together from multiple parts. However, even though the body parts (apart from the helmets) are all identical, you can create a lot of variety due to the high posability and freely interchangeable weapons. The shoulder, elbow, and hip joints are ball joints. The legs consist of two parts and can be glued together at the knee in three different angles, and the feet are also on ball joints. This means you can build the legs alone in at least six different combinations.

Given that the parts (apart from the heads) are all identical, the sprue layout into two (almost) identical halves doesn’t seem entirely optimal. The disadvantage of the double sprue is that the spiked head, which is particularly suitable for traitor Legions, is only present once per two models. It would certainly have been possible to fit a complete model with all heads onto a single sprue half, and simply include that six times. Alternatively, three models could have been distributed across three sprue halves. This would have provided extra sprue space to include each of the ranged weapons twice, and perhaps even alternative unadorned chest plates. I think aquilas look somewhat wrong on traitors.

Saturnine Praetor review

The Praetor kit is an absolute highlight of the box for me. It offers an incredible amount of customisation options. Besides two different base / leg poses (with or without a tactical rock) and various weapon options, you can build the model either very plain or completely kitted out from top to bottom. If you cut off the nubs on the ball joints, there are even more posing possibilities. For some reason, the assembly guide only expains building the pose with the tactical rock.

The model comes on a medium and a small sprue, as well as a 50mm base.

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

The following parts are included:

• 4 helmet variants
• Optional loincloth: Variant 1 in linen, Variant 2 with pteruges, plus 1 plain belt buckle ornament and 1 with a cross
• Optional cape cord for the chest armour: Variant 1 in rope, Variant 2 in chain links
• 1 plain left and right shoulder pad, 1 left shoulder pad with a scroll, 1 right shoulder pad with a winged skull motif
• Optional pendants for the shoulder pads: Round medals on the right and left, as well as pteruges on the right and left
• Optional cape
• Optional Iron Halo
• 1 pair of arms with a Saturnine concussion hammer (with a choice of two heads, plain and skull motif) for the right arm, plasma blaster for the left arm
• 1 pair of arms with a Saturnine war axe for the left arm, plasma blaster for the right arm

Saturnine Dreadnaught review

The largest model in the box is the Saturnine Dreadnought, whose kit spans two large sprues as well as a medium-sized weapon sprue and a 100mm base. The weapon sprue contains a heavy plasma bombard and disintegrator cannon, which together form the Chiron configuration. The Ophion configuration, which swaps out the weapon sprue, has already been announced on Warhammer Community.

Besides the weapon options, the kit offers a multitude of cosmetic options:

• 4 torso gorget pieces (2 unadorned, 1 loyalist with aquila, 1 traitor with Eye of Horus)
• 1 head with a choice of 2 face plates, 1 head with the choice of a studded or plain forehead piece
• 3 chest armour plates (1 plain, 1 with Imperial-style lightning, 1 with spiked studs)
• An optional sculpted halo to sit above the head
• Plain or lightning bolt trims for the shin armour
• 2 photonic incinerators or 2 concussive resonators on the torso (these are on the Chiron weapons sprue, so the Ophion configuration will come with other hull weapons)
• The disintegrator cannon and heavy plasma bombard can be put on either arm (as an extra detail, you can put an extra rail piece to either the left or right side of the bombard depending on which arm you mount the gun), plus you can choose to raise the bombard’s vents or lay them flat

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

Assembling the Saturnine Dreadnought is incredibly complex, but the way the parts interlock is very satisfying. Care has also been taken to ensure that mould lines are generally on straight edges, so very little clean-up is required. The legs have small nubs that allow you to build a pre-set pose. However, you can also remove these and position the legs freely. The knees can be bent to a certain degree, and the feet and hip joints are ball joints.

The “elbow joints” of the arm weapons and the dome pieces of the “upper arms” and shoulders have 5 x 1 mm recesses for magnets (like Contemptors); you’ll need 12 pieces in total for both arms. The shoulder pieces don’t have provisions for magnets, but are simply pushed into the torso. This holds quite well but can loosen over time, so you might need to glue the shoulders in place. If you don’t magnetise the arms, you’ll have to glue everything, as there’s no push-fit system.

The two hull weapons also have recesses but require the size 3 x 1 mm. To magnetise all two sets of hull weapons, you’ll need 6 magnets. Without magnets, you’ll have to glue these too.

Garfy has already built his Saturnine Dreadnought, and mine’s also in the works. At approximately 115 mm tall, it towers over even a Leviathan Dreadnought by quite a bit. It’s an absolutely brilliant model, easily my favourite Dreadnought design so far, alongside the classic Castaferrum and Contemptor. And all the optional details really top it off.

Centurion in MkII Power Armour

The Centurion in MkII armour comes on a small sprue and a rather crammed feeling 32mm base. Like the two plastic Praetors from the previous edition’s Age of Darkness launch box, the Centurion features a very “maximalist” design. His mastercrafted armour is covered in detail, complemented by a proud banner and a flowing cloak – more is definitely more here.

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

The servo-skull is optional and can be left off (which is probably what I’d do) and there’s a choice between a bare head with a rebreather or a helmet with an ornate crest. Aside from that, the model offers no build or posing options.

Legionaries in MkII Power Armour review

Saturnine includes 40 of the new Legionaries in MkII “Crusade” power armour.
As with the MkVI and MkIII Marines, you get 5 models on a medium-sized sprue. This sprue is included 8x, allowing you to build a total of 40 models on 32mm bases. In addition, the box contains 4 of the infantry upgrade sprue and 2 of the new disintegrator weapons sprue.

Each MkII sprue contains:

• 5 MkII power armor bodies
• 5 helmets plus 1 helmet with a connector for the plume from the accessory sprue
• 1 bare head with facial scar
• 10 identical shoulder pads
• 5 identical backpack modules
• 5 pairs of arms with 5 Phobos pattern bolters, and a pair of arms for the melee weapons from the accessory sprue
• 5 bolter chainblades

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

The updated MkII design was already been spoild at via the vehicle accessory sprue – at least when it comes to the torso and arms design. The biggest change, alongside the more modern proportions, is the leg armour though. On the old models, the armour plates overlapped, whereas now they’re segmented. I quite like the change – it gives the armour a slimmer profile compared to the bulkier MkIII Iron Armour.

The five poses per sprue follow the same poses as with the MkVI and MkIII Marines: two walking, and three with both feet planted firmly on the ground. The arm poses are also identical. You could criticise this as copy-and-paste design, but it ensures compatibility with all the weapons upgrade sprues.

The upgrade sprues

The familiar infantry accessory sprue makes a return, included four times. This lets you equip ten models each with bayonets, holsters, and grenades. There’s also a Vexilla, Vox Nuncio, heads, and melee weapons for the sergeant.

New is the disintegrator weapons sprue, included two times. We don’t have the new Liber books fore reference yet, but it seems that disintegrator weapons will be an option for Legion Veteran Squads. The small sprue contains 10 disintegrators, 2 heavy disintegrators, 2 disintegrator combi-weapons, 1 left-handed and 1 right-handed disintegrator pistol, as well as 10 disintegrator ammo pouches. Perhaps it would have been more practical to include all weapons five times on the sprue, so you could also build Heavy Weapon Squads with heavy disintegrators. But it’s cool that we finally have more combi-weapons in plastic now.

Araknae quad-accelerator review

Last but not least, we have the Araknae. A medium-size sprue contains the gun carriage and the four legs, plus a large sprue with the quad-accelerator autocannons. Due to the sprue layout, it’s fair to assume that more weapon options for the Araknae platform will be released in the future.

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

The autocannon turret simply sits on the circular recess of the base and can then be rotated; additionally, the turret can be tilted up and down. While the Araknae is manned, no interior detail is provided so you have to assemble the turret closed. But overall, it’s a really cool design. I like that the Tarantulas now have a big brother – it adds more depth to the range (and the Legiones’ armouries).

A look into the new Age of Darkness rulebook and accessories

The new edition of the Age of Darkness rulebook keeps the same format as its predecessor and clocks in at 352 full-colour pages – roughly the same length. The page layout remains unchanged, but why fix what isn’t broken. The first part of the book is a lore section spanning nearly 150 pages, largely carried over from the previous edition. However, some of the artwork has been updated – notably, all schematic illustrations of the different armour marks and Legionaries have been adjusted to match the proportions and details of the new plastic kits, including MkIV and MkV, which have yet to be released in plastic form.

The main bulk of the book is, of course, the new rules, covering just under 110 pages. Thankfully, both the structure and order have been reworked for better clarity, and most core rules now start with short bolded summaries before diving into the full explanation. Still, as is typical for Games Workshop’s Specialist Games, the rules remain dense and long-winded, with some awkward phrasing. By comparison, The Old World’s rulebook was at least more accessible in terms of writing style. And if you were hoping for paragraph-numbered rules, icons, diagrams or flowcharts like in the current Warhammer 40,000 or Age of Sigmar books, you’ll be disappointed – the pages are still walls of text.

The remaining 70 pages cover the new army selection rules, feature a few beautifully curated sample army showcases, basic missions, and a core set of special rules, psychic disciplines, and a comprehensive glossary.

The Saturnine booklet

In addition to the Age of Darkness rulebook, the box also includes two handy reference sheets printed on thicker card (please, Games Workshop – we need these for every game!), as well as the Saturnine booklet. This provides a step-by-step tutorial mission using the models in the box to introduce the core mechanics of the game. The unit entries and weapon profiles are heavily simplified and include almost no additional special rules.

The booklet also contains the assembly guides for the included models.

Tokens and accessories

Tactical statuses are deeply embedded in the revised rules. Saturnine contains two large sprues with a total of 40 tactical statuses and objective tokens in grey plastic.

The familiar blast and flamer templates made of transparent orange plastic are also included. The popular red “whipping sticks” have been replaced this time by a two-pronged plastic measuring tape, which was previously seen in starter boxes in the 2010s. However, it’s quite large and bulky.

Value

Saturnine comes with an RRP of £195 / 245 € / $315. While it’s one of the most expensive boxes Games Workshop has ever released, it pleasingly sticks to the same price point as the previous Age of Darkness box – despite offering a similar amount of content. However, where Age of Darkness included older kits like the Cataphractii Terminators, every model in Saturnineis brand new.

As usual, individual prices for the included kits haven’t been revealed yet. But judging by Age of Darkness, which offered around 50% savings compared to buying everything separately, we can expect a similar deal with Saturnine. So despite the high price tag, this set is a bit of a no-brainer – and since it’s not a limited FOMO box, chances are good you’ll be able to grab one from our partner stores with an extra discount:

You can find the latest GW releases at our 🇬🇧/🇪🇺 partner stores Wayland Games, Element Games, and Firestorm Games, at 🇩🇪 Taschengelddieb and 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.