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Looks like a reasonable solution. Now they only have to have stock to sell to me.

What this also sort of confirms is that any future MkII/IV/V kits are going to be exactly the same as the MkIII/VI kits. Just slap a forearm modification on the sprue and hiphiphooray we can use the (obscenely priced) weapon upgrade kits 5 times.

The heavy arms are a separate sprue from the weapons so a more radically different armour is still possible, but they'd have to put new arms in with the tac box or rebox the heavies.

 Snrub wrote:
What this also sort of confirms is that any future MkII/IV/V kits are going to be exactly the same as the MkIII/VI kits. Just slap a forearm modification on the sprue and hiphiphooray we can use the (obscenely priced) weapon upgrade kits 5 times.

Do we really want release slots eaten up by the same special weapons just with rivets on the hands? I'd much rather those sprues go towards something more useful like additional rider sprues for bikes, maybe as part of an outrider kit but swappable with the mk 6 sky hunters. Or plastic universal melee and special melee wwapon kits and breacher squad upgrade sets.

 Snrub wrote:
What this also sort of confirms is that any future MkII/IV/V kits are going to be exactly the same as the MkIII/VI kits. Just slap a forearm modification on the sprue and hiphiphooray we can use the (obscenely priced) weapon upgrade kits 5 times.

I'm not sure about that. The additional plate Mk.III has makes masking the Mk.VI arm dead easy. Is the same going to be true for the other marks?

Most likely we're looking at the reason why GW so happily added redone Mk.III armor just over a year after Mk.VI got release. Recycling the same upgrade sprues is obviously a cost-cutting measure, one that works decently with this mark of armor. Not sure the others will be so lucky. They might straight up have to use the Mk.VI arms, settle on resin special and heavy weapons or, worst case scenario, simply not show up for a long time until GW can justify making matching upgrade sprues.

Where's this idea that the weapon kits are obscenely priced?
Are we talking about the same things where before you'd have to spend like £15 to get five heavy weapons of a single type and now you spend less than £30 to get 30 heavy weapons in most boxes?
Even if you aren't specifically using the other weapons in the boxes at that time, you're still spending less and getting three times as many weapons.

Gert wrote:Where's this idea that the weapon kits are obscenely priced?

Maybe not obscenely priced by UK standard, but the weapon kits here are $80 each here. They shouldn't be anywhere near that price.

Geifer wrote:I'm not sure about that. The additional plate Mk.III has makes masking the Mk.VI arm dead easy. Is the same going to be true for the other marks?

For the MkIV I think it'd be that simple. One piece that runs the full length of the forearm with the end sticking out over the wrist.
MkII might be different as that tapers in towards the wrist. Not going to be able to cover that in the same way, so where we're gak out of luck and deal with it or they add extra arms to the MkII kit for heavy weapons (unlikely I think). We'll have to wait and see in that regard.

Most likely we're looking at the reason why GW so happily added redone Mk.III armor just over a year after Mk.VI got release. Recycling the same upgrade sprues is obviously a cost-cutting measure, one that works decently with this mark of armor. Not sure the others will be so lucky.

I don't see why reusing the same CAD files for Mk's II and IV wouldn't be any less viable then it was for MkIII? Just have to reshape the armour like they did for the III's. Why would GW go to all the effort of designing another 2 or 3 sets of power armour when they could just reuse the same CAD file again and again like they've already shown they're prepared to do.

MajorWesJanson wrote:Do we really want release slots eaten up by the same special weapons just with rivets on the hands? I'd much rather those sprues go towards something more useful like additional rider sprues for bikes, maybe as part of an outrider kit but swappable with the mk 6 sky hunters. Or plastic universal melee and special melee wwapon kits and breacher squad upgrade sets.

No i'm not saying we do. And I wasn't implying that they should (nor is it even what I want to happen) I would also 100% much rather additional armour Mk's for jetbikes/outriders or a breacher unit/etc. What they did by having the weapon kits is arguably the best way to go about it in the long run. I was just really just being pithy about appearing to be doomed to having the same handful of poses across all armour variations.

lord_blackfang wrote:The heavy arms are a separate sprue from the weapons so a more radically different armour is still possible, but they'd have to put new arms in with the tac box or rebox the heavies.

True enough. Not out of the realms of possibility, but I don't like our chances.

 Snrub wrote:
What this also sort of confirms is that any future MkII/IV/V kits are going to be exactly the same as the MkIII/VI kits. Just slap a forearm modification on the sprue and hiphiphooray we can use the (obscenely priced) weapon upgrade kits 5 times.

God I hope not. I don't want any more mark updates with the exact same pose, one was pushing it as is.

Just wanted to add that the arms in the Heavy Weapon sets (and the arms in the resin Despoiler CCW upgrade set) are actually not MkVI. They have rounded elbow armour (reminds me of MkVII), and are supposed to be generic.

So even with the vambraces, the elbows will still look slightly different as the new MkIII Marines have trimmed elbow armour (I wonder why they didn't just gave them the same round elbow armour as the Heavy Weapon arms to be consistent). But it's still nice they thought about it.

MkIV doesn't have additional armour plates on the arms, and their elbow armour and vambraces are shaped differently, so they would require a new set of Heavy Weapon arms. But I expect we'll have to use the generic arms when MkIV gets redone at some point.

PS: Full review of the Battle Group box with all assembly options and high-res sprue pics is coming on Tale of Painters on Saturday morning.

There is a non zero chance some enterprising soul makes printable arms for the plastics

Out of interest, while it's tangential to the subject at hand, how readily usable are the special weapons on the (now) old MkIII and MkIV kit? Do you need to do much work to make them fit? Now that I've been thinking about it, it's not something I've seen much said about.

 Snrub wrote:
Out of interest, while it's tangential to the subject at hand, how readily usable are the special weapons on the (now) old MkIII and MkIV kit? Do you need to do much work to make them fit? Now that I've been thinking about it, it's not something I've seen much said about.

Main concern is that old kits have right hand on the gun, left hand on the arm, while new guns have both hands on the gun and match up to specific sets of arms. At minimum you are going to chop left hands off the old arms.

Personally I appreciate how two handed weapon arm sets on the new models have a key to line them up and then slot in the appropriate bolter/plasma/volkite. My collection of old Mk III and IV arms got mixed together, and figuring out which pairs go together and getting them to line up is a nightmare.

 Snrub wrote:
Out of interest, while it's tangential to the subject at hand, how readily usable are the special weapons on the (now) old MkIII and MkIV kit? Do you need to do much work to make them fit? Now that I've been thinking about it, it's not something I've seen much said about.

If I recall, the special weapons take some amount of work, certain heavy weapons work quite well with very minimal or no fiddling. (I have Volkite Culverins on the old MKIII for instance and they went together fine)

It's not a massive amount and nothing that a bit of trimming or green stuff won't fix.
I've put the new Calivers on some older models with Mk3, Mk4, old CSM and the Firstborn Sternguard arms.

 Snrub wrote:
Out of interest, while it's tangential to the subject at hand, how readily usable are the special weapons on the (now) old MkIII and MkIV kit? Do you need to do much work to make them fit? Now that I've been thinking about it, it's not something I've seen much said about.

It works, but not without converting, as there will be quite a gap at the wrist. I tested it in my review of the Special Weapon set: https://taleofpainters.com/2022/06/review-legiones-astartes-special-heavy-weapon-upgrade-set/

 lord_blackfang wrote:
There is a non zero chance some enterprising soul makes printable arms for the plastics

can already get completely printed figures with all weapon options

 lord_blackfang wrote:
There is a non zero chance some enterprising soul makes printable arms for the plastics

Well, yeah they did, and then some.

I am well aware of the current options. I meant arms specifically matching any new plastic Mark that comes out to the plastic heavy weapons.

Yeah, ok, I thought that "just use the same upgrade kits on everything" would be the way forward as it's the quickest and easiest method and certainly better than making shelf-warming upgrade boxes for every armour mark they happen to produce.

But this solution is far more elegant. Well done GW.

A solid compromise to make those heavy weapons usable instantly. Well done indeed.

I'm hoping that the vambraces will also fit on the despoiler arms- I'm saving my sets for the Mk 3 release

I only just caught up on this - I was wondering how they were going to handle this issue. It's a good solution, but those of us with OCD will still need to add the 2 rivets to the back plate on each hand (or remove them from the models with bolters).

The new Mk III Marines are growing on me - they look especially good with special / heavy weapons. The Pickelhaube still seems very Chaos-y, however - I guess my loyalist Mk IIIs will have to have different helmets.

I plan to just shave the spike down off the top. Should be easy

Xirix wrote:

 Snrub wrote:
What this also sort of confirms is that any future MkII/IV/V kits are going to be exactly the same as the MkIII/VI kits. Just slap a forearm modification on the sprue and hiphiphooray we can use the (obscenely priced) weapon upgrade kits 5 times.

God I hope not. I don't want any more mark updates with the exact same pose, one was pushing it as is.

I'm fine with that if it means the upgrade kits are cross compatable.

 MajorWesJanson wrote:
I plan to just shave the spike down off the top. Should be easy

Yeah. It's nice to have for Death Guard players and it's easier to remove the spike than to add it. It won't take much to get rid of it.

I'm yet undecided what to do with mine if I can lay my hands on a box.

Behold New Horus Heresy Space Marines and Dreadnoughts Painted by the Masters





MK3 looks odd with a smooth chest.

What do you mean smooth chest? Isn’t that how they’ve always looked?

 GaroRobe wrote:
What do you mean smooth chest? Isn’t that how they’ve always looked?

No collar and the rivets are less obvious, plus no decoration.

The BA ones look badass tho

Sure looks more flattering with some legion color schemes than others. I like these three:



Seems to me some of the Space Woof woes are down to painting style. Too flat for empty surfaces, which the new Mk.III have plenty of. Without sculpted detail, you have to put your brush to work a little more. The Salamanders manage a lot more depth and look better for it.