Friday, December 22, 2023

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Lord-Castellan Evander Garrius

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 stars. Although some of the rules are downright odd, Garrius is fundamentally a character to be reckoned with.

Background.
Unification veteran. Unliked by Dorn due to his brutality. Seconded to garrison duty. And then given the opportunity to prove himself (with relish) at the Siege of Cthonia. Which he sets about doing as effectively as any Imperial Fist Lord might!

Strengths.
Garrius has a praetor like stat line but with T=5. More than this though, what stands out is his equipment. The power fist is basically an AP1 S=8 with brutal 2 and reaping blow. This alone is impressive. It gets better with his volkite weapon which gives assault 5, deflagrate along with rad phage! The rad in particular is going to be amazing here. Meanwhile his armour gives him feel no pain in combat and still lets him sweep despite its bulk. He also has several nice special rules including admantium will at 3+ and relentless. 

Weaknesses.
The Unfavoured Son special rule is downright odd. He cannot be part of a detachment containing Dorn. This won't come about unless an allied player is playing Dorn! But if this happens, then he can potentially gain Fearless and IWND - but the likelihood of this ever triggering is zero (but let me know in the comments if you've had it happen?). 

The Butcher of Larissan warlord trait is not necessarily a weakness, but also comes under the category of odd here. When trailing in victory points, he gains rage. This is, of course, nice. There's also some shenanigans where he can cause victory points earned by the enemy to reduce to zero under certain circumstances and die rolls. This cannot be depended upon though. At least the assault reaction bonus is nice. Taken together, the warlord trait can be beneficial to claw your way back to victory in a game, but its just not reliable.

Naturally, he is also a pure loyalist.  

Overall.
A strong character, yet one that is also optimised for the book in which he appears. He is useful, no doubt about it, but the odd rules don't sit well for me. He's probably still worth the points when played aggressively. 

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