Long, long ago, when I was still a relatively young man. I was one of the thousands of gamers who managed to pick up a box of the then new plastic Space Marines (RTB01) while attending Games Day. A remarkable leap forward for the hobby as a whole and containing some absolutely ground breaking models, the set contained 30 highly detailed plastic Marines that could be assembled in an almost endless variety of ways. The old plastic Marines stayed with us for many years and proved to be one of the best sellers from Games Workshop for a long time. But all things must eventually change and a few years back, when the 2^nd edition of Warhammer 40,000 came out, the models where re-designed completely.

The last Marines where very cool models, but seemed to lack the distinctiveness of the old boxed set, and due to the fact that they where quite static left little scope for the modeller.

Well its that time again! A new and improved version of Warhammer 40,000 is about to hit the streets all over the world on 10^th October and the game will once again include plastic Marines, but this time in a completely new format that pays homage to the original in almost every way.

The new plastic Space Marines are also available separately in the form of the Space Marine Tactical squad. Comprising of a sprue of the Marine bodies, with separate sprues for the arms and backpacks, as well as banners and decals.

Assembling the Marines is the fun part, but please be warned, once you start the hours can fly by! There is almost no end to the possible poses that you can position your new Marines in, as arms, torso and legs are all separate pieces themselves, giving you complete flexibility in animation.

The main sprue contains not only 5 different torsos and 3 different legs, but also 6 different heads, and Bolt pistols, telescopic sights, pouches, knives and even purity seals. The torsos sections are made up from a front and back piece which fit together well (having a male and female coupling on them) with a cup like section at the base that fits perfectly to the legs and still allows a fluidity of movement when choosing your final pose. The torsos will also play a large part in the Marine forces in the future as a variety of metal replacements are planed that will allow you to field Marines from specific Chapters by adding the appropriate breastplates.

The legs are also well posed to allow a variety of stances for your Marines, and when you add the torso to them, they really do come to life. Some of the leg sections are decorated with purity seals and others have kneepads rather than just plain shin sections. Atop each of the legs is a slightly rounded area that fits up into the cup shaped section of the torso.

The new Marines come with 6 different arms and 3 Bolters so that they can be attached to the bodies in a wide range of positions. Unlike the last attempt from GW at arms, these can actually hold onto a weapon or accessory with no problems. A good tip when building up your marines is to position the arms in the style you want too but not to glue the weapon into place until after you have painted the body and any details on the chest.

Speaking of weapons. The new bolter look really great! Each of the 3 styles is highly detailed, with safety catches, ammo ejection slots (on both sides) and skulls and such. These small details add great weight to the set, and help to make the plastic Marines stand out from their metal cousins. When you add the extras to the Marines you can build up a wide range of stances without repeating yourself.

The box also includes a separate sprue that allows you to convert some of the Marines into a Sergeant and a heavy weapons troop or even a specialist Marine holding a flamer. The new Flamer looks very much like its been lifted directly from the Aliens movies with a long sleek looking barrel and a canister tucked neatly away underneath. The missile launcher is a vast improvement over every other launcher that has been released for the Marines.

The specialist sprue also includes a MK8 torso for you to use on your sergeant as well as the bolt pistol, Chainsword and banner pole. Over all this is an excellent edition and the sergeants head looks as if he is about to bellow a charge to his brethren. Great stuff.

There is some much one can do with these gems that one can barely touch on the surface. The addition of the accessories, give much scope and its great to add all these pouches, scanners and such to your models, but try not to overload them as they may end up looking cluttered. The backpacks also look great, with some of them plain while others have skulls on them and one even has a flat plate so you can attach a Bolter or missiles!

Plastic is the single best medium to work with for the modeller who wishes to convert his miniatures. Its a lot easier to cut and snip away at plastic, than metal and arms and legs can be cut and bent or extended with ease, allowing a great deal of versatility and indivualisum for your models.

The box also includes a set of decals and back banners to add a little spice to your models and help unify them in various Chapter colours (Ultramarines, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, etc).

Jes Goodwin is the man behind all of the Space Marines and these are perhaps his best work to date in the range! The animation and detail is second to none and I challenge anyone to come up with a better looking range of plastic kits in the same scale. Games Workshop plans to release a wide range of plastic troops for its 40K ranges, with Dark Eldar out soon (also in contained in the new game!), followed by an all new plastic Ork set, and even Imperial Guard and Sisters of Battle. But it doesn't stop there! Tyranids and Eldar will also get a new make over in the coming months, proving that plastic is one of the mediums of the future.

If your new to the worlds of Warhammer 40,000 or a seasoned player, you cant go too far wrong with this excellent set. Highly recommended!

Detail 10 out of 10

Animation 10 out of 10

Value 10 out of 10

Overall 10 out of 10

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