Never ones to squander their Legion’s ranks in bloody attrition or vainglorious frontal assaults, the Thousand Sons Legion, and indeed their Primarch, had long acknowledged the usefulness of the unliving might of Battle-automata as obedient, resilient and ultimately expendable shock assault units. As with every other facet of warfare, the use of such Battle-automata was something the Thousand Sons believed they could improve upon with the application of their psychic arts as a method of control and perhaps direct augmentation, freeing them potentially from the need for the techno-arcane lore of the Mechanicum to be directly called up in these machines’ construction and fielding.

Designed to be psychically responsive with a certain degree of self-will, eliminating the necessity for cortex controller-equipped superiors, the Castellax-Achea Battle-automata with Æther-flame Cannon is an ideal choice for a Thousand Sons Legion army list. An impressively posable resin model featuring a great deal of movement in the legs, waist and arms, it features power claws which can be modelled closed or open – both options include inbuilt bolters with Asphyx shells. The Æther-flame cannon itself, mounted on the right shoulder, is connected to the power pack on the model’s back via thick, industrial cabling.

This resin model comes as 29 components, and is supplied with a 60mm round base. Rules for this model can be found in The Horus Heresy Book Seven – Inferno.