After years of waiting and a few cheeky fake-outs along the way, the Arvus Lighter is finally actually coming to Warhammer: The Horus Heresy in a full-size plastic kit. Those with a strong history of supporting humanity’s finest mortal warriors will already be planning their upcoming airborne escapades with barely contained glee, but if you’re new to the Solar Auxilia and the Age of Darkness, you may be wondering what the fuss is about.
After all, it’s just a flying box, right?
Though one of many patterns of orbital shuttle in use by the Imperium’s armies, the Arvus Lighter has garnered a particular reputation for durability and reliability in the field – earning it affectionate nicknames like the ‘Flying Swine’ or ‘Little Pig’ from its crews. This is largely owed to its surprisingly resilient armour and powerful engines, which ensure elite troops and officer cadres can be deployed right at the front lines without ground fire posing too much of a problem.
A lack of weapons and other fancy equipment might seem like a drawback, but the sheer frugality of the Arvus design is its greatest strength. Cutting back on resource-intensive upgrades means commanders can field them in considerable numbers for much greater operational flexibility, while losses are easily replaced.
It has a longer range, too, carrying full life support systems for orbital travel and hazardous planetary environments. In some reported cases, crews of a downed Lighter even survived for several weeks before rescue by using their craft as a makeshift shelter.
The Arvus is especially prized by Veletaris Storm Sections, whose powerful short-ranged weapons work best from behind enemy lines. This goes double when these elites-among-elites are deployed as part of the Solar Pattern Cohort doctrine found in Liber Imperium – The Forces of the Emperor, which uses flexible Auxilia Veletaris Tercios mounted in Arvus transports as its main Line Troops option. If ranks of elite human troopers storming out of airborne transports is your kind of party, accept no substitutes.
For maximum carnage, its capacity of 12 models makes it just big enough to cram in two Cyclops Demolition Vehicles and their operators. These remote-controlled explosive charges are terrifying enough to enemy armour as it is, and dropping them halfway across the board behind some convenient cover makes them doubly dangerous for tank removal on a budget.
Despite its status as a workhorse vehicle with few frills, the new plastic Arvus Lighter is a magnificently detailed kit that has loads of room for customisation with unit emblems, weathering, and a fully modelled interior that we’re sure you definitely won’t hide behind a glued door. This new version is also the first to feature an optional rear door gunner, finally giving this venerable vehicle a weapon to clear the landing zone with.*
The new plastic Arvus Lighter is up for pre-order this weekend, alongside a pair of new tanks for the Solar Auxilia and the Boreas-pattern Deredeo Dreadnought.
* It’s just a multi-laser, don’t get too excited. Rules will be available to download in PDF form shortly.