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Hi all,

Just seen this model released and well I’m not sure what to make of it. I’m not an AM player but I don’t think it fits in with any other AM models I’ve seen. Just feels like it’s gonna look out of place at the head of any AM force I’ve seen.

I don’t think it’s a bad design idea, I can see an army of Solar warriors in thematically consistent armour being led by this dude but catachans, Cadians, the other horse dudes. And then does it even make sense that this guy shows up to lead your army

I think I get the idea that all armies now have a big bad boss in the codex but I dunno if this works for me. Maybe if they are planning a troop of solar soldiers to accompany him it might work.

I think someone else said that they should make AM like the deathwatch of the AM and it’s made up of the best of the best from regiments across the galaxy which is why it’s such a mosh mash. Then at least it makes more sense

He looks too smooth, IMO. I look at the model, and I just think it's too many smooth surfaces and soft edges.

Terrible terrible model. Doesn't look appropriate at all. If they wanted to go the golden knight/Napoleon crossing the alps look, there are plenty of models from their own back catalogue to base it around.

I've seen much better conversions in my day of the old Brian Nelson Archaon to a shining knightly paragon than this... thing that looks like it teleported out of AoS.

The double irony there being that Valten3, Kurt Helborg or Ludwig Schwarzhelm (hell, Schwarzhelm looks far more 40k than this guy, dude even has a cherub holding up the banner) look far more appropriate to proxy as this guy with a couple of weapon swaps.



Seriously, how is this guy with some minor conversion work a better fit than what we got? The mind boggles.

Hey now, AoS horse-mounted lords look better than this guy, don't lump him in with us!

It looks like a AoS figure, not 40k. It would even work for WHFB, so I agree with the sentiment that he does not fit.

It looks way too much like a Fantasy/AOS model. Even when looking at the details, it just seems like they took something meant for the Empire, tweaked the horse to be more robot like, and slapped it on a 40k base.

Nothing wrong with having an aristocratic looking general, but maybe not have it look like its from the renaissance.

 Vankraken wrote:
It looks way too much like a Fantasy/AOS model. Even when looking at the details, it just seems like they took something meant for the Empire, tweaked the horse to be more robot like, and slapped it on a 40k base.

Nothing wrong with having an aristocratic looking general, but maybe not have it look like its from the renaissance.

Too much steam not enough punk.

Would have been nice if he head some kind of crazy sci-fi weapon instead of just a power sword. Like a melta lance or void spear

Is yarrick still in the codex?

mrFickle wrote:

 Vankraken wrote:
It looks way too much like a Fantasy/AOS model. Even when looking at the details, it just seems like they took something meant for the Empire, tweaked the horse to be more robot like, and slapped it on a 40k base.

Nothing wrong with having an aristocratic looking general, but maybe not have it look like its from the renaissance.

Too much steam not enough punk.

Would have been nice if he head some kind of crazy sci-fi weapon instead of just a power sword. Like a melta lance or void spear

Is yarrick still in the codex?

it doesnt even seem that its a powersword, theres no emitter on it lol. At the very least, he shouldve had an actual pwoersword/chainsword. But ideally it wouldve been a pistol or something more 40k

I'm not a fan. This model needs a lot of help. It just doesn't fit in to 40K. So it's perfect for modern 40K in that it doesn't resemble a model intended for 40K.

As said in the other thread I hate it and think it belongs in another army.

I don't see how its a reference to Napoleon crossing the Alps. Its just a generic guy on a horse waving a sword. "But its a robot horse" - who cares?

If the whole new Guard Range looked like this - or there was meant to be a big combination of styles like some of the old art - then maybe it would be fine. Probably not for me - but at least its cohesive. But instead you've got a sort of WW1/WW2/Vietnam to Starship Troopers look... and yeah, a guy who escaped a renaissance faire.

Agreed with those saying it looks like an AoS figure. Its a decent sculpt - but not for 40k, or at least not for Astra Militarum. It looks nothing like any other miniature in the AM range (except maybe the old Lord Solar Macharius mini, who also looked out of place), and has nothing that suggests "grimdark future" to me. Basically needs a lot more John Blanche in its design, otherwise its too clean and polished.

Basically the only one of the new guard minis I dont love (or, for that matter, like).

Tyel wrote:
If the whole new Guard Range looked like this

You know, I think it does. Maybe not the new Karskin, but I see a crapton of similarities with the new Cadian Shock Troops and even the Rogal Dorn. They all have this strange not-quite-streamlined but rather... I dunno how to put it... sterile look. The overemphasized collars and buttons, the weird thick noodle-like straps, rounded everything with these smooth flowy surfaces, etc. Yeah, now that I'm comparing the Lord Solar with the Shock Troops they fit together quite nicely - the Lord Solar with dark green clothes and less shiny metal surfaces would be just a fancier Shock Troops commander on a horse, really.

Looks fine for me in that he resembles 40Ks anachronisms and fantasy roots nicely.
When people say "he looks too much like fantasy for a Sci-Fi setting" I'm like "yeah, that’s what 40K is about."
Marines in grav tanks are more out of character for the Imperium than this guy.
I understand though that he doesn't really fit with GWs line of IG soldiers. Well, I wouldn't be surprised to see 3rd party solutions for that problem shortly

 AtoMaki wrote:

Tyel wrote:
If the whole new Guard Range looked like this

You know, I think it does. Maybe not the new Karskin, but I see a crapton of similarities with the new Cadian Shock Troops and even the Rogal Dorn. They all have this strange not-quite-streamlined but rather... I dunno how to put it... sterile look. The overemphasized collars and buttons, the weird thick noodle-like straps, rounded everything with these smooth flowy surfaces, etc. Yeah, now that I'm comparing the Lord Solar with the Shock Troops they fit together quite nicely - the Lord Solar with dark green clothes and less shiny metal surfaces would be just a fancier Shock Troops commander on a horse, really.

Maybe. I'm sure someone will magic up different paint colours and we'll see - just like the Rogal Dorn.

I just feel like I'd ditch the armour, ditch the sword, have a different head - and at some point... I've just got a completely different model.

Sgt. Cortez wrote:
When people say "he looks too much like fantasy for a Sci-Fi setting" I'm like "yeah, that’s what 40K is about."

It's not what 40k is about. 40k is about anachronism, not fantasy. It's about WWI tanks with plasma cannons. It's about advanced power-armored super soldiers on anti-gravity jetbikes flying into battle to hit people with their swords. There's a clear visual clash between the primitive and the futuristic that defines the 40k aesthetic. But this model has none of that, if GW had just shown off the picture without any context you would have assumed it was an AoS release.

It just needs something, like if the hose breathed fire or its body was a big plasma cell and it could fire plasma bolts.

Or a total redesign of the AM model range

Well, he definitely has a pistol as thd article gives its name: "Sol's Righteous Gaze".

Other than that, he's clearly an attempt to capture aesthetic of Macharius, a previous Lord Solar.

Definitely not my thing.

From what I've seen, guard commanders tend towards either regular flak armour (with some modifications/embellishments) and/or just military uniforms (again with some embellishments). However, this guy seems to be wearing armour and clothes from a completely different time period to all other guardsmen.

Maybe some people like the medieval-warlord look but personally I prefer it for characters that are, you know, medieval warlords. I don't mind seeing elements of the past but I'd much prefer seeing them built into a military uniform, rather than just being ported wholesale from Age of Sigmar.

The horse is cybernetic... but in a way that's barely noticeable, let alone visually or thematically interesting. Might it not have been better to have only some of its legs be robotic (indicating that they're replaced when they fail or are damaged)? And perhaps make them more obvious. Hell, you could have made this thing vastly more creepy by replacing most/all of its face with creepy robotics.

The worst part for me, though, is how utterly boring it is. The pose is boring, the expression is non-existent, the weapons are characterless. There are barely any details - no collection of medals, and barely any decoration beyond the massive imperial symbols. In fact, all the design work seems to have gone into the base, rather than the model itself. Moreover, it looks way too clean. I get that he's high-ranking but he's still a guardsmen, right? And, given that he has a model, a guardsman who apparently rides into battle (rather than just overseeing it from orbit or a command centre far behind the lines). Where are the cybernetic implants on the dude himself? Where's the dirt on his horse's hooves? Where is the damage to his mount or armour? He might have good repairmen and such but not so much as a ding or scratch? Really?

For 40k use he strikes me as the command figure for a squad of similar looking Rough Riders.

Hmmm. I wonder how much work converting a squad of him would be....

And if the leaks are right, you can only get Scions as Troops if you take Lord Horseyman as your Warlord?

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
And if the leaks are right, you can only get Scions as Troops if you take Lord Horseyman as your Warlord?

Or take a $cions™ only army.

I think he just needs a different paint job.

Also the horse should've been WAY more mechanical looking, almost to the point that the Skitarii have.

Thing is, he's fething rich, why wouldn't he have the best the Imperium has to offer.

He's also a Lord Solar so even mastercrafted would be for his underwear.

Racerguy180 wrote:
Thing is, he's fething rich, why wouldn't he have the best the Imperium has to offer.

He should. But the best the Imperium has to offer should still be grimdark anachronisms, not an AoS model with a token eagle icon on it.

New lord solar's existance offends me. Litteraly this model is so bad it's offensive.

For the price they will charge this is an offensive model.

Any idea what the price will be? If it's more than 5$ it's offensive.

I'll reserve judgment till I see bare plastic and what the sprue looks like. There is no way it would look like it does when/if I decide to buy it.

I won't be using it for 40k anyway. My 30K Militia need a leader to fight the forces of the Warmaster.

They are definitely going for a more classical look rather than the mix of baroque , gothic and near ww2 era, typically seen in 40k.

I am not an art historian in any way, but I I immediately thought of Marcus Aurelius' statute in bronze. Looks like the horse is in practically the same pose as well.


I agree that the model feels anachronistic from a visual design standpoint, but I have no problems with the model itself aside from disliking the helmet.

I'm not angered by this mini like some people apparently are, but then again I don't play Guard. I look at it and it doesn't do it for me though.

It's an incredibly boring model and really just looks like the designer was going through the motions.

Saying it looks like an AOS model is an insult to all the good mounted sculpts that exist in AOS. This really does look like doing the bare minimum to get the desired concept/idea across. If anything he should be more gaudy and ostentatious, the horse should look more cybernetic, it needs a better pose, he needs more elaborate armour (or just more of it), the cloak could be billowing in a more interesting fashion and his actual pose and facial expression are so bloody boring.

Like GW have a vast catalogue of excellent mounted hero models to draw reference from, they even showed off another new one on the very same day of Warcom articles with the StD stuff, and this is all they could come up with?

The one big miss of this recent Guard refresh; everything else has looked great for the most part (Attillan heads notwithstanding)

You know what, I'm going against the grain here. I really like it, seems really well sculpted. Yes it may be lacking detail but I suspect it's so he could represent any IG army the customer has.If he was too bionic/pompous/savage looking we'd probably have the same crowd moaning he'd look out of place in their force.