Games Workshop has revealed updated miniatures for the Space Marine Terminator Assault Squad, plus a new banner-bearing Space Marine Ancient in Terminator Armor, which will first be available as part of a new ‘Crux Terminatus’ Battleforce box set. Space Marine players have been waiting for these models since GW revealed the modern redesign of Terminator armor in 2023, which debuted in the Leviathan launch box set for Warhammer 40k 10th edition.
The new Assault Terminators are built on the same lumbering armor chassis as the regular Terminators – in fact with the digital sculpting techniques now used for Warhammer 40k, they may well be forked off from the same original model files – but they’re equipped for close quarters violence.
I love that revised Terminator armor design – the new Terminator Captain in the Leviathan box made such an impression on me it literally inspired me to become a better painter. They just look heavy, like the bastard offspring of the Iron Man suit and a freight train. They’re obviously not fast, but you can tell that when they get moving, they’ve got momentum.
Assault Terminators can be equipped with either a Thunder Hammer and Storm Shield for the ability to mash up elite infantry or medium vehicles and tank an extra wound, or Twin Lightning-Claws to blend through chaff troops. These are new models for an existing unit, and all their stats are available in the Space Marines’ current Warhammer 40k Codex.
The Ancient in Terminator Armor is a new multipart kit, again replacing an existing model with rules in the current Marine codex. Though you would be forgiven if you’ve never seen one of these on the table before – the last Terminator Ancient wasn’t easy to get hold of.
The last Ancient in Terminator Armor model that GW released was part of the Space Marine Heroes collectible miniature series; it was sold bundled in with a paint set in Japan in 2018 and in blind-purchase boxes elsewhere in the world in 2019. If you missed that, your only way to get one was to order the entirety of Space Marine Heroes Series 2 direct from GW during a Made To Order window in December 2024.
The first place you can get your hands on these new miniatures will be the Crux Terminatus Space Marine Battleforce box set, which GW states will be “coming to pre-orders soon”. It will contain 18 Terminators (plus three markers for their Teleport Homers):
- Terminator Assault Squad x 10
- Terminator x 5
- Ancient in Terminator Armor
- Chaplain in Terminator Armor
- Captain in Terminator Armor
- Teleport Homer markers x 3
Not a bad start if you want to build a force based around the elite first company of a Space Marine Chapter, all told, though we’ll have to see a price point before we know what the value proposition is really like. If you’ve got a Space Marine army that you’re planning to add this elite detachment to, we’d love to see your pictures in the Wargamer Discord community!
I like Space Marines enough that I’m not one to grumble when they get yet another new release – but all of their shiny kits show just how tired the model lines look for some of the more neglected Warhammer 40k factions. Pour one out for the Grey Knights, the original all-Terminator army, and now the smallest of the Space Marines.