Legions Imperialis Solar Auxilia Buyer’s Guide

Updated 2025/12/06

Introduction

The stars of the Horus Heresy are without a doubt the Legiones Astartes, however they represent just one slice of the forces arrayed against each other in the civil war. Games Workshop supports several other factions and in Imperialis the faction that launched along side the Space Marines were the Solar Auxilia.

More elite than the Imperial Guard of Warhammer 40k, the Solar Auxilia are (primarily) human soldiers armed and armoured with powerful weapons of war.

I really love the Solar Aux range in Imperialis, they are extremely competitive with Space Marines with a wide selections of vehicles, and some very useful infantry.

If you’re looking to make a force that isn’t just more Space Marines the Auxilia is a great place to go. You do have fewer options than the marines but I don’t think that’s entirely a bad thing with how large the Astartes range has gotten.

Legions Imperialis Buying Guide Index

Overview
Legiones Astartes
Solar Auxilia
Mechanicum (Coming soon?)

Note on points and prices:

All points given are approximate, they can vary a bit depending on unit options and how you split models up. It’s a pretty small band in LI but consider the points list below as +/-5%. Additionally a lot of the boxed sets have the Solar Auxilia Support box which is hard to fully use if you’re going What You See is What You Get, so in terms of usable points in any given game take some off the total.

For prices I’m sticking to USD and GW’s MSRP. You can get these cheaper in the states, and other countries obviously have their own pricing, but the savings from a box set should be consistent across all of this.

Solar Auxilia - General Notes

Unlike Astartes or Solar Aux in 30k there are no sub-factions here, at least not in the rules. Pick the color scheme you like and go with that. Warhammer Community had a 4-part series (1, 2, 3, 4) on the color schemes of Solar Auxilia units. Some are associated with the 18 Legions, some are not. If you want to pick one to go with your Astartes that’s cool, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

For an overview of the army Goonhammer has an intro guide, which got an update for the Liber Strategia. I think when starting your Solar Aux force there are a few things to keep in mind.

  1. Infantry, infantry, infantry - Solar Auxilia’s core infantry box is also the core of the faction. You can take very large units, up to 16 stands in a unit, and those stands can mix in various types of model. You really want to start any list with a strong core of infantry, it’s key to holding objectives and they’re dirt cheap. Solar Aux also have some of the best close combat infantry in the game.

  2. Tanks too - Solar Auxilia has very good tanks, most are on a 2+ save meaning a squadron of Leman Russ are extremely tanky, it’s rare to see an AP higher than -2 so even then you’ve got a 4+. Your other tanks tend to also be pretty solid and again have a 2+ save, and many with 2 or more wounds so I think any Solar Aux player is going to want a large armoured formation.

  3. Actually just take planes - Aircraft are one of my favorite parts of the Legions Imperialis rules and the Marauder Bomber is, in my humble opinion the most interesting and fun unit in the game. Using planes can be hard but they have an incredible amount of firepower and are very flexible in where they apply it. I highly recommend any Solar Aux player try and work some aircraft into their list, they’re a lot of fun and figuring out how they work is important.

This isn’t to say that Solar Auxilia are overpowered, they have a lot of weaknesses with weak moral, more restricted orders, and no Rhino-equivalent. But I think they’re an extremely rewarding army to paint and play and I highly recommend them to players new to the game. It’s a great way to field that massive Imperial Guard army you’ve always wanted but can’t afford and don’t want to paint.

Boxed Sets

Legions Imperialis: Solar Auxilia Battle Group (Out of Print)

Price: $170
Value: $265
Points: 1412

This was a limited box released in 2024. I’m including it in this list as some local hobby shops still have them, and you could get it on Amazon for $151 right now. Note that the photo on the left is inaccurate. This is the same box as the Combat Force but comes with 6 Dracosans rather than 3. With the same MSRP if you can find this at the same price as the Combat Force this is the box to buy.

So take everything I said about the Combat Force and add 3 Dracosians to it.

Warhammer: The Horus Heresy – Legions Imperialis

Price: $215
Value: $359
Points: 1708
Solar Auxilia points: 589
Warhound points: 300x2
50:50 split value: $179.50

Starting with the most complicated box to talk about, we have the Legions Imperialis starter set. So there are a lot of numbers above, but the core ones are the price, what that comes to if you bought everything separately, and then what you’d be looking at if you split this. And splitting this gets complicated when there is one rule book.

So, where does that leave us? I think the starting set is a fine set. Warhounds are okay, very cool, not bad, but expensive for the firepower they bring and not as mobile as you might think. The other things is that it gives you half a box of Leman Russes and Malcadors, unlike the Space Marine side 4 Russes and 2 Malcadors are both perfectly viable units bringing 4 2+ save wounds. You do have build options for the tanks, I’d recommend Leman Russ Vanquishers with lascanons. For the Malcadors the standard variant or the Annihilator are fine, I’d keep the Demolisher cannon for both and go with autocannon or lascannon sponson weapons respectively. Always skip the pintle heavy stubbers.

Things get better from there with a full box of Solar Auxilia infantry, this gives you a bunch of different units, all of which are worth having and as with the Marines the infantry box is something you want multiple copies of as soon as possible.

If you’re looking to get into the game because this comes with a rule book and some decent options getting 2 of these boxes to split still makes sense. You’ll each get a rule book, over 1000 points of your army, and 2 Warhounds. Two Warhounds is probably overkill, but it’s still not a bad deal and I really love the Warhound models. Alternatively, you could get one box, split that, and split a second rule book’s price. That avoids the Warhound issue but does leave both players with fewer models.

The last note that needs to be made is on the tokens this comes with, they suck. They’re very thin paper and you don’t want to use them. There are a lot of 3d printed options, some acrylic, and GW’s new plastic ones. You’ll want to get one of these options, see the appendix at the end.

Legions starter box

Legions Imperialis: Solar Auxilia Combat Force

Price: $170
Value: $238.50
Points: 1286

The Combat Force boxes are not limited release so this is something you should be able to buy in the future. And it’s a good place to start. You get the Infantry and Support boxes, a box of Leman Russes, 2 Baneblades or Hellhammers, and 3 Dracosian.

What it comes with is solid. Dracosians are over-abundant in Solar Aux products, you’ll be happy to get these 3 but if you buy another boxed set or set of Dracosians and end up with 9 you’re unlikely to use them all. Getting the Infantry box is always good. The support box is fine but also something you can end up with too many copies of. Both Baneblade and Hellhammers are viable so that’s good, follow your heart.

The 8 Russ tanks are the basic variant which you can end up with too many of, but the Leman Russ Vanquisher is the best Leman Russ so having 8+ of them is good. The Strike Tank was buffed recently and it’s… fine.

This isn’t a bad box to buy twice. You want the Infantry, going to 6 Dracosians is good. The extra super heavies are a mixed blessing but running 3 in a unit is pretty appealing. A second support box lets you fill out some rapier WYSIWYG units. The Russes while one of the better units in this box are probably what you want duplicated the least, but running 2 units of 6 or 8 Vanquishers is very viable.

Solar Auxilia – Combined Arms Battle Group

Price: $215
Value: $318
Points: 1796

This is a pretty great boxed set. Overlapping with other boxed sets are Infantry, Support, and Dracosian boxes, but then everything else is not included in other boxed sets.

First up we have 8 Leman Russ tanks but these have the Demolisher cannons or plasma Executioners, I recommend going all in on Demolishers with heavy bolters on the hull. These are surprisingly good tanks, one of the few units in the game that can damage buildings and with 8 of them you can usually one-shot a building to flush out the defending infantry.

Next up we have Shadowswords, the anti-superheavy superheavy. They’re not the best of the Solar Aux super heavies but they look amazing and are a big threat to enemy knights, titans, and super-heavies. With Marines recently getting a number of super heavies their stock should rise.

The last new unit is Lightning Fighters. Lightnings are not my favorite Auxilia aircraft but they’re by no means bad. Personally I’d equip all 6 with lascannons, then I usually mix under-wing weapons as no one really cares to check. Lascannons pair well with Hellstrike or Skystrike missiles for an anti-ground or anti-air role. Unfortunately I don’t think the Phosphex bombs are worth taking, they don’t have the dice needed to be worth it and make the fighter much harder to use. Additionally, 6 of them is a lot, I don’t really recommend taking that many in a game, it will skew your list and they don’t have the firepower some other planes have, so if you’re only taking 3 or 4 keep in mind the point total above will be a little optim

Overall I think this set is a great complement to the other boxes. I think the best way to start Auxilia is buying this and one of the other boxed sets, that will get you over 3000 points with a lot of options.

Noteworthy Unit Boxes

This section is going to cover some boxes that are not included in the above sets, or are something you want more of than those sets will give you. These units are very much not a tier list, but a guide to building a balanced force, or fitting a Legion’s theme.

  1. Solar Auxilia Infantry (264 points)
    These come in all the boxed sets above, but are still worth mentioning here. Infantry are the heart of Imperalis and having enough is important. I’d not build an Auxilia list until you own two sets of this box. You just need dudes.

  2. Stormhammer Squadron (190 points)
    Stormhammers are the best Auxilia super heavy. The just have so many shots. I’m not sure if you need to get these right away if you’ve got some Baneblades or Shadowswords from a large boxed set, but at some point you should pick some up.

  3. Marauder Bomber Squadron (170 points)
    King of the air is the Marauder Bomber, GW recently changed it from 1 to 2 wounds which makes it so much more viable and causes it to outshine many other aircraft. These things just get buckets of dice, up to 10 attacks per model. The Colossus variant allows you to take out buildings which is pretty powerful and the one-shot nature of it’s bomb is less of a downside than it seems with how games play out. Marauder Destroyers are also very good as a stand-off aircraft deploying to the map to lay down fire support.

  4. Medusa and Basilisk Squadron (250 points)
    There is some community disagreement on how good these are. We can start by saying the Basilisk is the better choice. And I’m including them here as this is the only true artillery unit in the game. They can fire 90” and indirect so anything on the table is a target. They’re best if you get several boxes and run them in the dedicated artillery formation, but they’re fun regardless.

TL;DR Buyer’s Guide

Without a doubt you want to start with one of the boxed sets above. Most will get you over 1000 points which is enough for a starting game. If you want to expand from there to 2000+ points here are some options.

Just Getting Started Route

  1. $170 Legions Imperialis: Solar Auxilia Battle Group (or Combat Force if you can’t find this)

  2. $53 Solar Auxilia Infantry

  3. $53 Marauder Bomber Squadron

    Total: $276, ~1700 points

This is a solid starting foundation that lets you build a few different 1500 point lists and lots of options at 1000.

Splitting Starters Route

  1. $215 2x Legions Imperialis Starter Set (split with another player)

  2. $170 Solar Auxilia Battle Group

    Total: $385, ~3200 points

This is one of the cheaper ways to get to 3000 points (with 600 coming from Warhound Titans) and will give you a good mix of units. Getting 3x copies of the Infantry box is great.

A Bit of Everything

  1. $215 Solar Auxilia – Combined Arms Battle Group

  2. $170 Legions Imperialis: Solar Auxilia Battle Group

  3. $107.5 Half of Legions Imperialis Starter Set

    Total: $492.5, ~4000 points

This will give you a huge number of units and options to go in any direction you want. This hits 3x copies of the Infantry box, and 2x copies of the support box, along with a small parking lot of tanks. You’ll have options for 3000 point lists and a ton of choice at 2000.

Starting List Building

List building is a big subject and I can’t cover all the permutations above, but here I want to provide a little guidance on what to aim for early in your collection. In this section I’m going to present some basic list building blocks as well as talking about what you need to worry about.

This first list is based on the “Just Getting Started” list above. This should be a pretty effective all-comers list for small games. It demonstrates the challenge of these boxed sets that come with the Support Box. The units in it are good, but they have a lot of load-outs and are hard to fit them all into a list because of how many are in the Bastion unit slot.

List building pillars:

  1. Infantry to hold objectives

    This is the name of the game. LI missions are based around holding objectives and infantry are best at it. Not to say tanks can’t hold them, but tanks can’t contest them, and infantry in buildings are extremely durable for their low points cost.

  2. Ways to get infantry on mid-field objectives

    For all their positives, infantry are slow. You want a way to get them up to objectives outside of your deployment zone. This can be done via transports, or infiltration. The Pioneer Company formation gives infiltrate to units and you’ll be taking it a lot. Otherwise they’ll be hoofing it or need transports.

  3. Ways to get infantry out of objectives

    Having now read those two points, assume your opponent knows the same. They’ll have infantry on objectives, in buildings for that juicy cover save. Your list should have a plan for this and the three I’d recommend are:
    Close combat units (Ogryn Charonite Section or Veletaris Storm Section)
    Ignores cover weapons (pretty limited options here, Malcador Infernus and Auxiliaries with Flamers)
    The Demolisher special rule (Demolishers, Hellhammers, Marauder Colossus, Dracosans)

  4. Ways to deal with super heavies and titans (1500+ points)

    Your opponent in larger games will likely have some big bads and you want a way to deal with them. Here you have a lot of options but massed Leman Russ Vanquishers aren’t bad. For more narrowly targeted units Shadowswords and Malcador Valdors.

  5. Ways to deal with flyers (1500+ points)

    I’ve said it before but flyers are very good and you need anti-air units to contest them and deny space to them. Tarantulas with anti air missiles and your various fighters are what to look for here.

Expanding and Reviewing the List

On the left we have an expanded list for 2500 points. We’ve taken the Just Getting Started Route contents and added a Combined Arms Battle Group.

  1. Infantry to hold objectives

    We’re now up to 3 boxes of Solar Auxilia Infantry which is great, it has let us add another Tercio to the Pioneer Company, which can Infiltrate. We also added a few models here and there to other infantry squads and went from 1x8 to 2x6 units of Ogryn.

  2. Ways to get infantry on mid-field objectives

    We’re mostly relying on the Pioneer Company here. We do have Dracosians still, but an important thing to remember with them is they don’t have Assault Transport so infantry can’t charge out of them, making them underwhelming for close combat units, so they’re still transporting a Tercio.

  3. Ways to get infantry out of objectives

    This list isn’t the strongest here but has some options. If the Ogryn can get to the building they can do good work, we also have a unit of Veletaris who can clear a building. We also now have 8 Leman Russ Demolishers who have a good chance to collapse a building though it’s best if they can combine fire on one.

  4. Ways to deal with super heavies and titans (1500+ points)

    Yup, good on this one. The list has 24 armored vehicles all with guns that can threaten heavily armored targets, and 2 of those vehicles are Shadowswords.

  5. Ways to deal with flyers (1500+ points)

    We’ve added a second unit of anti-air Tarantulas and have 3 Lighting Fighters, should be pretty hard for an enemy to use their air power.

At the end of the day this isn’t a list that would win a tournament, but it should have game against most opponents and you’ve got a good number of options. My next buy for the list would be another squadron of Marauders, Destroyers or Colossus. A 4th Infantry box would also be quite helpful. And switching eaither unit of tanks for Stormhammers is an upgrade.

Legions Imperialis Buying Guide Index
Overview
Legiones Astartes
Solar Auxilia
Mechanicum (Coming soon?)