The View from the Turret

AT-43 – The Second Wave

Posted on 07Apr07 Updated on 01Feb08

The second round of AT-43 releases are generally available now. This round includes the Accessory: Expansion Set 1, the Therian Bane goliaths, the U.N.A. Steel TacArms, Fire Toad MK.02, and Fire Toad MK.03.

The Therian Bane goliaths are the first of the new Therian infantry units. The Bane goliath ships three to a box and includes two unit cards although neither has a leadership value. One figure has a removable back plug that can be swapped with the leader back plug. All the figures are armed with dual nucleus guns. It is a well done figure overall and very large. They are on the same sized base as a Games Workshop Terminator but quite a bit larger. Overall it is an imposing figure especially when next to a Steel Trooper. The paint job is more like the original OD paint scheme than the newer golems. It is black with an orange wash and very dark gray highlights. The face is painted in a cream color and the various blades are touched with silver. Overall the paint job looks quite good. My only complaint with the Bane goliath is that it is rather bendy compared to the other figures. This is good for durability but a number of the figures we got were misshapen in various ways. See our article on how to straighten out your figures. The paint quality does vary from box to box and figure to figure so if you buy them in a store be sure to look through all the boxes and choose which ones you like best.

The U.N.A gets their first heavy infantry unit with the Steel TacArms. These also ship three to a box and include one leader torso that can be swapped to make a leader figure. The leader torso includes some different sensors on the front plus a triangle marking but the biggest difference is the backpack that looks like a radio as opposed to the soft packs of the regular troop units. The arms have laser guns attached and are keyed for a set pose but this can be easily changed with a hobby knife. The set also includes two unit cards (one troop and one leader). The TacArms are almost the same size as a Games Workshop Terminator. There are a lot of mold lines on this figure compared to any previous figures but for the most part they are along the edges and thus not as noticeable as they could be. The paint job is ok with a gray base with a white overspray and black paint chipping. The packs are a tan color with grenades. The paint quality does vary from box to box and figure to figure so if you buy them in a store be sure to look through all the boxes and choose which ones you like best.

As I noted with the first expansion figures, if you are proud of your paint jobs then think of the AT-43 stuff as pre-assembled and pre-primed figures. If you do not like painting, are unhappy with your painting, or are more concerned with playing the game I think you will generally find the AT-43 stuff good enough or easily tweaked.

The U.N.A. also received two new Fire Toad variants, MK.02 and MK.03. They ship one to a box with a dark gray storage container and four unit cards. The models are the same model as the 01 unit in the OD set but they seem a bit cleaner (less orange wash) although one of mine had a wash that seemed to go bad with some pooling on it. The MK.02 unit includes an eight ball decal and also comes with optional light grenade launchers. The MK.03 unit has a slightly different camouflage pattern and was much cleaner than the others. It has a bulldog decal and comes with optional light machine gun weapons. It is nice to have some weapon variants but it would have been preferable to have all the weapon options included in each set.

Lastly is Accessory: Expansion Set 1. Set 1 includes eight dice, the same tape measure from the OD set, and a 10cm template. We dislike the tape measure and most players certainly have plenty of dice so the only reason to buy this set is for the template. One could easily make a template out of acetate but the one included in the set is well done. Unlike the Warhammer 40K templates you can see through this one and it is marked off with radius and sector lines. Overall it is handy for play but too bad they do not just sell it alone.