Weigh In: Maloghurst the Twisted and Imperial Fist Praetors

A bit of a bumper edition today, as I cover the two latest releases for the Heresy; Maloghurst the Twisted and the Imperial Fist Praetors! 

Just before we get into the meat of this article though, I'd like to apologise for the complete lack of content recently. Life has been getting in the way of me doing what I wanted to do, but expect a bumper crop of articles in the coming weeks to make up for it! So without further ado, let’s get to it. Firstly, Maloghurst.

[Credit: Games Workshop]

As someone who is planning to start a Sons of Horus army with Maloghurst as a centrepiece, this model is right up my street! It’s a very good character model, and one that looks very distinct *cough cough Saul Tarvitz*. It conveys the idea of Mal being a cripple well, with him leaning on his Eye of Horus which marks him out as Horus’ personal equerry. It's a good fit for the few images we have of him as well, particularly in his respirator and cabling design. He’s portrayed during the late years of the Heresy, helping him to fit in well overall with the rest of the Sons of Horus range, even if the current paint job makes any real attempt at comparison a bit jarring. What’s most suprising to me is that Forge World have finally decided to make a model for this character. He’s had rules since Book 2, and one of the models in the Sons of Horus Command Squad is supposed to be modelled off him, so it seems a bit strange to me that he has only just been given a model. Maybe this is a sign that more characters from the older books are being given offical models?

Next, the two Imperial Fist Praetors.

[Credit: Games Workshop]

As a self-respecting Line of Duty fan, I think I have to start this by saying “holy mother of God”. These guys are absolutely beautiful models! We have a Praetor in Artificer armour armed with a Paragon Blade, and a Praetor in Tartaros armour armed with a Paragon Blade and Storm Shield, both decked out in lots of Imperial Fist bling. Their posing is nice as well, they look very dynamic, with running poses and flowing cloaks that’ll be a pain to paint (but honestly it looks like the effort will be worth it), without suffering from hero-rock syndrome like some of the latest releases we’ve seen.

[Credit: Games Workshop]

The mix of symbols is nice as well, some more Templar-based iconography on shields and helmets, along with more baseline Imperial Fist gauntlets and laurels. I think these two will mesh very well with the existing Imperial Fist range Forge World does, with the Artificer Praetor taking clear stylistic hints from Sigmusund and the Templar Brethren, and the Tartaros Praetor being the perfect model to accompany some Storm-Shield terminators into battle. I know some have questioned the choice of Taratros over Cataphractii, however the shield makes up for any defensive deficiencies Tartaros has, whilst keeping its manouvrability.

Overall, I think Forge World has knocked it out of the park with these releases, and I can’t wait to see what the Legion Dispatch will bring us next! Until next time,

The Paint Crusader