Horus Heresy 2e Review: Pursuer Cadre

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️

2/5 stars. Doesn't quite hit the mark for me.

Background.

These are the ladies that you call when you want someone sniffed out and hunted down. With beasts. And orders to kill on sight. Without remorse. 

Strengths.

If you want to play a fluffy unit, or are playing a very small points level game with a strong narrative, or similar campaign, then this is a really nice unit to have. Otherwise, I feel its too "out there" to use. 

There's nothing particularly wrong with the sisters here. They are rather standard and come with the Chamber of Oblivion. The rules as stated mean they can take one animal per pursuer and mistress, and you get the choice of mastiffs, felidae, caiman, or raptors. The feel no pain on the caiman is nice enough I suppose and along with the T=5 and S=5 with 2 wounds, it is likely the best pick of the menagerie. The mastiff is a distant second pick for me thanks to furious charge. Although rage on the felidae feels good, the 6+ save isn't. And the raptor can just stay at home to be candid. 

Weaknesses.

Truthfully not so playable in large points games which is a pity given how flavorful the unit is.

Builds.

Pursuer x6, Caiman x6, all with execution blades (215 points).
Probably the optimal unit? Take a transport. 

Pursuer x3, Mastiff x3, Augury Scanner, Nuncio Vox, Mistress with power sword (110 points).

I don't have any point to make with this unit. It is simply an illustration of an alternative build that I would simply not play in games above (say) 1000 points. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Kharon Pattern Acquisitor

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. A rare full 5/5 stars from me - I genuinely love this dedicated transport.

Background.

The background states that this transport is not truthfully a battlefield vehicle. It is more of a paramilitary design. It is easy to see why. With sleek sides, and a bunch of special rules, they can easily sneak up on targets unawares!

Strengths.

AV=13 on the front, coupled with an impressive movement rate of 16 and a similar transport capacity. This transport is very special, but not for the stat line alone.

It is an assault vehicle with deep strike and outflank for starters. Add on some night vision and the same Chamber as the unit it is carrying and it is already fairly good. 

I will single out the spectra distort shield here. This makes it 8 inches further away for the purposes of shooting. In effect, this nullifies melta guns. Hence you are going to have to expend las cannon shots and similar to get the better of it from long range - they really should be shooting at other things. Of course, it is not immune to close combat, but with a movement of 16, can your army do much about it?

The weaponry it carries is very reasonable as well: a pair of missile launchers coupled with a heavy cannon array will certainly do some damage. But the real strength is delivery of its cargo with solid confidence. I think this is almost the best dedicated transport in the game for the above reasons and is also why I'm giving it my very rare 5/5 stars. The rule of cool also applies here, and I simply like the way the vehicle looks and appears! [This may or may not have influenced the award of 5/5 as well!]

Weaknesses.

Rear armour of 11. But honestly, if you are positioning well, this should not be a problem. 

Builds.

The only option here is to swap the cannon for a twin linked multi melta. This is down to your personal taste and I can certainly see both options being useful in game!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Vigilator Cadre

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Rounded down - but only just.The rules are reasonably good, but the points cost is slightly high.

Background.

The more senior members of the mainstay of the Sisters of Silence can be found on the battlefield with big swords! They hunt down their targets systematically, up close and personal. 

Strengths.

These Sisters are kitted out for close combat thanks to the Execution Blade and the Oblivion Chamber rules help this through against daemons very nicely. There is some nice flexibility on builds here as well with hand flamers and needle pistols possible. I also really still like the compression tanks here. 

Weaknesses.

As with the other troops, they are expensive (compared to space marine troops) given the T=3 issue. But they wealth of extra rules does make up some ground here. Take a transport to help. 

Builds.

Vigilators x5, 5 hand flamers with compression tanks, Mistress with Neuro Lash (120 points).

I have a thing for the flamers with compression tanks. Can't lie. The Neuro Lash clocks in with S+3, which is the same as Sx2 in the case of the power fist - they are interchangable for S purposes, so it comes down to the AP, or deflagrate. 

Vigilators x10, Mistress with Power Fist (135 points).

The base line build in my opinion. Take a transport and go do your thing. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Prosecutor Cadre

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars.The rules are average on balance given the points cost. 

Background.

The mainstay of the Sisters of Silence. Foot soldiers of the black ships and used in open battle wherever and whenever required.

Strengths.

There is some nice customization that is possible here. Although they come as standard with bolt guns, there's a good case to be made for having some snare guns and other special weapons in the squad. I'd also be tempted by the dedicated transport most of the time as well. 

Weaknesses.

For the price tag, I think that this squad is a touch on the expensive side - even for T=3 troops. The price hike is due to all those special rules that they come bound up with. Of these, stubborn stands out along with fleet as being very useful. 

Builds.

Prosecutor x10, 2 Snare Guns, Mistress with Power Weapon (125 points).

I regard this as the baseline build. I really like the snare guns for what they do on the battlefield - they are fluffy and acceptable to all players. A power axe or similar is a good idea here, but given their stat line weaknesses, I'd opt for a power sword most of the time as a threat to space marine standard saves. Take an augury scanner and nuncio vox to taste. 

Prosecutor x15, all with Assault Needlers, nuncio-vox, augury scanner, Mistress with hand flamer and power sword (275 points).

Ouch at the points cost here! The needlers are hilarious with poisoned at 3+ and assault 3. You will be causing wounds here. The hand flamer has some obvious uses too and the power sword is the icing on the cake that you will hopefully not need to make too much use of. 

eBay: Ancient Striking Scorpions

Anyone care for some very old Striking Scorpions? 

If so, you're in luck on eBay this week! And they come with the era-defining goblin green painted slotta bases - what more could you want. 

Still got some stuff up from previous weeks including a Zombie Dragon, a Dornian Heresy Iron Hands test model, and a Great Unclean One from Realms of Chaos era!

Emperor's Children Commander

Painting up this command for the Emperor's Children was a good exploration of how to use (and not use) purple colours. Originally I thought about going for a bit more of a metallic sheen, but in the end the purple that came out was not metallic whatsoever. I'm comfy with that. 

The contrast paint was used more as a shade for the phoenix purple base colour in the end which proved a good move. The gene stealer purple was then freed up to use as an accent. The gold and the white on the marine provides a really good accent colour to the deeper purple and this has come out really well overall. Coupled with a steady hand to get the eyeballs looking right and I'm more than happy with this miniature. It will serve as either a Praetor or consul for the Emperor's Children allied detachment that I have constructed - more on that in a later post. 

Assault Squad and the Rule of Cool

I've been itching to get my hands on the new assault squad for a while now and invested in two boxes worth - one for the Emperor's Children, and one for the World Eaters. This particular build is for the Emperor's Children. 

Before anyone accuses me of not building a super-optimal squad I feel the need to defend myself and say "Rule Of Cool". I trust this will fully and completely explain the presence of the combat shields! Yes, I know they're not points cost efficient and that an extra warm body would be much better for the points. But just look at those shields! They are wickedly awesome! How could I go past them? And yes: I've added some Space Wolves power axes in there for extra chopping. Looking forward to getting these painted up!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Eradicator Cadre

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars.The rules are good.

Background.

From the chamber of vigilance come the literal veterans of the Sisters. These women are the vanguard to take on severe threats from psykers across the galaxy and are readily deployed to face such threats with an array of weapons. 

Strengths.

To me, the real strength here is the flexibility of the builds coupled with the precision shots. Given the special rules, you can readily infiltrate, so the only question is which weapon to tote. This is almost ideal for a "melta-cide" squad format!

Weaknesses.

T=3. Pretty much basic stat line for a Sisters squad all round really. 

Builds.

Eradicators x5, all with combi-meltas (115 points).

A classic melta-cide squad.

Eradicators x5, all with combi-plasma (115 points).

Same but different. The plasma is for other targets than the melta-combi's above. Take a power axe on the Mistress to taste. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Oblivion Knight Cadre

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars, rounded up. The rules are solid.

Background.

The martial elite of the Sisters of Silence. They are like the power armour elites of the space marines - battle hardened through seeing too much. 

Strengths.

With WS=5, the obvious use of this squad is to get them into combat. You will probably want to take a transport to do that. 

There are a bunch of upgrades to pick between, but the most valuable asset here is going to be the power weapon choice - take some axes for access to the AP2 and you will do very well. 

Weaknesses.

T=3. For a squad like this, I would have expected 2 wounds each, but I guess we cannot have everything?

Builds.

Knight Cadre with 5 Power Axes (100 points). 

Cheap, cheerful, and AP=2!

Knight Cadre, 10 members all with Power Axes, 5 Hand Flamers, 5 Plasma Pistols (325 points).

A maxed out squad. Getting on the expensive side though - especially considering T=3, W=1, and a 3+ save each.

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Knight Vestal Covenant

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Good!

Background.

Warriors, but also responsible for the health and well-being of their Sisters. Let's not beat around the issue: they are apothecaries for the Sisters of Silence under a different name. 

Strengths.

I want to explicitly note here that the FAQ ensures that the Knights can split up and join other units prior to the game, hence this tidies up the wording that was present in the original publication that was just a bit weird to my mind. 

Fundamentally, these Sisters are apothecaries and should be treated as such. Sure, they have a bunch of nice rules including fleet and the usual anti-daemon clauses along with a pair of bolt pistols, but you are paying the points here for the Narthecium - which is cheap enough!

Weaknesses.

T=3. 

Builds.

Knight Vestal with Power Weapon (45 points). 

Sure, you can take them with no upgrades at all, but I figure a power weapon will be useful to hide on this character for close and personal encounters. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Raptora Cadre

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are good.

Background.

These women are deployed against serious malignant threats. Examples include alpha level psykers who have gone rogue and daemonic incursions of the nasty kind. They are also the honour guard of Krole herself when the need arises. 

Strengths.

The oblivion chamber retinue squad in short. Double wounds and WS=5 with a base of voidsheen cloaks along with execution blades. Pretty nasty all round. 

This is a squad that really wants to get into combat as rapidly as possible, but also has some equipment to help it get there. But don't be put off from purchasing a dedicated transport with the points in order to do this. 

Weaknesses.

T=3. 

Builds.

Raptora Cadre x9, 2x Power Fist, Augury Scanner, Nuncio-Vox (295 points).

Maxed out build with little not to like. 

eBay this week: Slann, Dornian Heresy Iron Hands, Death Guard OOP model and more

Continuing my Spring clear out (which will probably progress relentlessly through the year) I have added a number of different models that I hope someone out there will find tempting enough to place a bid on so that they can find a new home!

Digging deep, I've located a whole lot of Slann! These are designated as Cold One Riders, and date back many decades to the original Warhammer Fantasy Battle. They're really rare these days an an individual one of them sells for over 10 pounds each. This is a job lot for 12 of them. Hope that they can find a home where they don't languish without any play!

I'm also auctioning off my Dornian Heresy Iron Hands test model conversion! The Dornian Heresy is an alternate heresy where Dorn is the main heretic and protagonist. Herein, the Iron Hands went a bit too far with replacing their flash and melded with some necron technology. This miniature is a one of a kind conversion and although I'm loathe to part with it, - its time. The marine has a gauss weapon and is mounted on a resin base. I could see it being used in 40k, but if I'm honest, I think the attraction would be to build a Blackshields force for 30k / Horus Heresy around this kind of concept (think: Xenos weapons coupled with being automata essentially - the Oaths are there to be used!). 

I've also dug out a Death Guard plague marine in metal from the early 2000's which is unpainted an assembled. Starting bid in Nurgle's sacred number, just because. 

Re-listings are also up for items like a Great Unclean One, and a pair of Plague Ogryns in resin. Oh, and the Zombie Dragon. 

Wargames Gallery: Is There Such A Thing As Too Many Lernaeans?

Is there such a thing as too many Lernaeans?

Possibly. Or Not?

Painting With Decals!: Iron Warriors Rhino Dedicated Transport

Sometimes I feel that decals have really spoiled me. This Iron Warriors rhino is essentially "paint by decals" - which if its not a thing already it really should be. 

The rhino follows a standard Iron Warriors colour scheme with a variety of tones of silver ranging from lead belcher through to a more glittering silver, all toned down with washes of Nuln oil. Black and silver accents abound.

What really is interesting here are the decals. On the top hatch, I have taken one of the four very large decals and sliced it down the middle (and trimmed the upper edge a touch) to fit on the hatch. I had to carefully slice around the hinge joints to made this fit overall, but the effect is strong. Less obvious are the Iron Warriors skulls on the circular side doors which also follow the split-in-half approach. I still like them like this, but overall its not quite as effective as the upper hatch I think. Some hazard stripes and roman numerals round out the front of the tank. Overall a great job, but the decals have really done the hard work for me here. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Questora Cadre

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Strong choice.

Background.

Dedicated to the Great Tithe and to hunting down those pesky rogue psykers, this Cadre passes judgement on not only those psykers but all around them as well. 

Strengths.

These Sisters are the Judgement Chamber's personal retinue for a HQ. They bring stubborn and precision shots along with the chosen warrior rule for extra interest. 

The stat line is double wounds here which make them excellent, although the BS drops to 4. They tote Vratine bolt guns which have the psy-shock rule. Arguably the biggest strength is the degree of customization possible. I'd be tempted by the assault needler myself for the pinning option alongside its chief effect. Compression tanks are cool if you're taking flamers too. I am also rather partial to the snare guns. 

Weaknesses.

T=3. Given the WS=5, this is probably a good bet to get into close combat as soon as possible and the power weapons make good options here.  

Builds.

Questora Cadre x3, Flamers with Compression Tanks (95 points).

I'm not claiming this is amazing, but it gets my vote just for the compression tanks. Not even sorry. 

Questora Cadre x5, Assault Needlers, 2 snare guns (130 points). 

I just like it once again. 

Questora Cadre x9, Power Weapons, 2 Heavy Flamers with Compression Tanks, Augury Scanner, Nuncio Vox (260 points).

Getting maxed out here. Change the heavy flamers to another option to taste and ignore my obsession with compression tanks. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Silent Fury

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars, rounded down. Cheap enough and solid choice. 

Background.

A jet bike mounted sister of silence! What's not to like? She is essentially the scouting element of the force and directs other elements of the army to where they are needed the most. When not in battle, she will be hunting down rogue psychic power users for the Tithe. 

Strengths.

The real strength here is the swift movement rate of 18 inches. Otherwise she shares most properties of the Silent Judge in the state line and the special rules. 

The jet bike component also allows for deep striking which is nice but not always needed given the movement rate, so perhaps the outflank rule is better used here?

Weaknesses.

T=3 once again which I find a bit odd since usually mounted characters like this get a T or W boon. Not here though. 

Builds.

Silent Judge, Power Weapon (75 points).

This is the baseline build. The standard snare cannon is actually a reasonable choice here for the jet bike too. I might be tempted by the needle cannon from a pinning point of view too - could be really a powerful choice.

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Silent Judge

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. Cheap and average rules. 

Background.

These ladies are the interrogators of the Sisters of Silence. Which I find odd given their silence? Anyhow, they find all those hidden psykers in the population and carve their way toward them relentlessly. 

Strengths.

An average profile for a human leader, but with BS=5 and WS=5 which is nice. 

Their special rules include some precision shots and strikes which is nice, along with hatred of psykers, daemons, and the corrupted. They are stubborn and from the Chamber of Judgement which means they will like going toe to toe with those that they hate. 

Weaknesses.

T=3.

Builds.

Silent Judge, Power Fist, Heavy Flamer (85 points).

I like the power fist for the close encounters (although with the base stat line of S=3, its not exactly amazing). I also like the heavy flamer for nice attacks and fluffiness, although this doesn't take advantage of the BS=5, so maybe replace with an archeotech pistol just to try out those precision shots and BS=5 that way? Can't complain at the points cost. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Knight Centura

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Nice and cheap, yet still effective enough. 

Background.

Battlefield commanders from within the Chamber of Oblivion. These commanders field their own mission forces and can be responsible for many Sisters. 

Strengths.

As with other entries in the series, I want to highlight the cheap points cost for this character. The stat line has WS=BS=5=I in place which is impressive for a non-Astartes.

In essence everything else is broadly similar to the Knight Abyssal except for being slightly less powerful.

Weaknesses.

Lack of access to a paragon blade and T=3 are issues here. 

Builds.

Knight Centura, Power Weapon (60 points).

The baseline build. The power weapon might be an axe here to challenge enemy characters a little (you may die though - but you are playing Sisters). I'd opt to take something like the hand flamer if you think you might be taking on hordes, but otherwise embed this character in a large-ish blob and go on your merry way. You can't go too wrong for the points cost here realistically. 

Painted Possessed

A batch of painted possessed completed recently. These marines follow the off-centre colour scheme started with my Gal Vorbak which features blue flesh, alongside more typical Word Bearer colouration coupled with a head replacement on one of them for a more human touch which I think makes it more fearful and imposing. The blue could do with a touch more highlighting, and the reds a touch more shading to be honest. But they're tabletop ready otherwise. 

I plan to use them as a second unit of Gal Vorbak ultimately. They are of roughly the same size and scale as the Gal Vorbak and can certainly take a spot alongside them without too much issue. That said, I would be the first to admit that I prefer the Forge World sculpts of the original Gal Vorbak, but these do rather well. 

eBay this week: 2x Rogue Trader Chaos Dreadnoughts and Zombie Dragon!

Okay everyone, I'm selling off my Rogue Trader era Chaos Space Marine / Renegade Dreadnoughts! These have been languishing in my collection for literally decades (since the 1980s). They have not seen the light of day, nor been played with since the late 1990s and its honestly time to sell them off to a new home. They've got milliput inside, and pins, but I wouldn't expect any problems with postage since they're very blocky and robust. 

I've also got a squad of Eldar Swooping Hawks in metal that need to be sold, as well as a job lot of Fire Dragons. 

And finally, a 1985 Zombie Dragon! I feel old just writing that. 

There's also the re-listings from things that haven't sold from previous weeks. Hopefully they'll find a happy new home as I carry on clearing out the decks to make space for newer projects!

Painted Iron Hands Praetor / Siege Breaker

One painted Iron Hands Praetor or Siege Breaker (to serve as either)

. 

Standing on a broken las cannon, this praetor features a thunder hammer and bolt pistol. The paint scheme is the same matte approach that I've taken previously with the black actually being dark grey in colour and liberal amounts of Nuln oil also being used. The hammer has an accent of some blues, and the decals round out the miniature along with some edging and chipping on the model. 

Originally, I was going to have this marine as part of my Shattered Legions force. But having seen the new rules, it is deeply unlikely I will field any Shattered Legions forces now in Second Edition - its just a mess from what I've read. That's a review for a different day though. Maybe I'll just field them as Black Shields and be done with it. Equally, I do have enough miniatures for allied detachments regardless so I'll probably stick with that. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Knight Abyssal

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Beautifully cheap. 

Background.

Strong psychic nulls who can evoke dread in even the non-sensitive humans. These are the leaders of the Sisterhood and had a wealth of experience at bringing down daemons and psychics alike. 

Strengths.

I want to list the points cost here as the major attraction. It is seriously good for the cost!

The stat line has 6's in both BS and WS which already makes the character formidable, but once you count in all the extra rules, it gets more interesting. Chief among them are the Ex Oblivio rule which will serve you well here for eliminating enemy characters. Fear and Fearless are similarly strong, and the precision strikes and shots really nice. 

The wargear is good, and the option to take a paragon blade superlative!

Weaknesses.

T=3 is as much a problem as ever here. The 2+ armour save will help, but if you take a weight of fire, you might well be dead. Obviously, take a retinue or embed in a large blob of troops. 

Builds.

Knight Abyssal, Paragon Blade, Archaeotech Pistol (105 points).

The pistol can be dropped if you really need the points, but otherwise this is the main build to consider here. Really strong at enemy praetor elimination where needed - you just need to get into the right location. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Jenetia Krole

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The Soulless Queen rocks. 

Background.

Went to get Magnus. Slew lots of the Thousand Sons herself. Called upon in times of great need by the Imperium and she always answers. Silently. 

Strengths.

To be totally honest, if you're not a primarch HQ, then The Soulless Queen is probably going to kill you. And make back more than her points. She is simply deadly. The stat line is okay with WS=6 and 3 wounds (but a cheap price tag to match the T=3). If there's daemons or corrupted on the field, or even psykers, she grants preferred enemy to the army against them. Without, she grants infiltrate to herself and three units. This is amazing. 

Her list of special rules is extensive. Eternal Warrior is the stand out here which can offset the T=3. But she also gets scout and fear on top of this, as well as some precision striking and shooting. She also grants +1 reaction allocation in the assault phase to boot. 

Her weapon is great with AP=1, and her 4+ invulnerable is solid and increases to an amazing 3+ for template weapons, so you're not going to kill her with a vindicator. She also outdoes the Alpha Legion by being 6 inches away from a shooting attack. 

Weaknesses.

T=3 is the real problem here. You need to kill before you are killed. Don't tackle a primarch - Jenetia will probably end up dead. But most things short of that should be fair game for her to charge at and challenge to death thanks to the WS impact she has on her opponents via Ex Oblivio (which I should have included in Strengths, but hey, I got to here and remembered it!). 

Overall.

Shoot her with lots of bolt shots and she will die. Probably. If she makes it into combat, you're dead. If she smells corruption on you, you're more than dead. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Sisters of Silence Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are good, but require some thought and planning. Consider warlord traits carefully. 

Anathema.

All Sisters in this army are psychic blanks. This is given the name Anathema in the new rules. Non-psykers find them chilling, while daemons and psykers are actively repelled and suppressed by them. The first component of this is that no psychic power can target them. Nor can an area of effect psychic power get them (but can get other units). Even if there's one person in the squad with this rule, everyone benefits. They also cannot be hurt by force weapons - although they treat them as regular power weapons all the same. However, a unit that they're with that lacks this rule is at Ld-2 (and units in a small radius at Ld-1 - unless they're corrupted in which case they're also at Ld-2). Even stubborn units suffer penalties. The kicker is that although it doesn't stack with itself (just take the worst penalty in other words), it does stack with fear. The loyalist Night Lords just found their best friends in other words. 

Chambers Militant (Sisterhoods).
There are 3 chambers - Vigilance, Oblivion, and Judgement. Players get an allocation of treble the number of units per HQ for each chamber (except Vigilance which is always available). In other words, if you have 2 Oblivion HQ selections, you get 6 other choices of units with the same Chamber. 

Vigilance - These units gain Scout or Infiltrate (take infiltrate and run them with loyalist Alpha Legion and Raven Guard for extra friends). 

Oblivion - These gain fearless when locked with daemons and corrupted - almost perfect for daemon hunting armies - or loyalist Word Bearers perhaps?

Judgement - Gain fearless when locked in combat with Psykers. Mortarion and Angron would approve. 

Warlord Traits.

Maiden of Blood. An odd exchange. Take d6 wounds on your own unit at the end of combat and if anyone survives, they get an additional attack before the combat is resolved. Comes with an additional assault reaction. An interesting trait, and one that forces you to play hard and get into combat as soon as possible - take with Vigilance for the infiltration rule perhaps?

Maiden of Resolve. Once per game. Don't move. Don't run. Gain Feel No Pain. Gain Eternal Warrior! Pass any pinning and morale test. Very nice and the shooting reaction is good here. This is amazing really and could be a default choice.

Maiden of Sorrow. Gain Move+1 and A+1 for every unsaved wound up to +4 per turn until the end of your turn. Grant the enemy zero victory points for death in combat. The bonus movement reaction is strong. This trait begs to be used in a large unit that gets locked in melee. Take Alpha Legion loyalists for extra giggles? (The Mobius rite of war doesn't apply though - NB). Certainly a default choice here for large sisterhood attack units!

Overall.

Some really nice rules here, and several strong ones. If you know you're going to face off against psykers, daemons, and corrupted, you will ruin their day. If not, the Chamber of Vigilance is strong enough on its own with infiltrate. 

Wargames Gallery Showcase: Shattered Legions

The image below showcases my (very modest) Shattered Legions forces to date. 

I find myself in a bit of a quandary about what to do next in the absence of the new rulebook! Hopefully that should arrive sooner rather than later though. I have a bunch of Iron Hands that I have assembled, but I don't know if to configure them as a Veteran Squad, or a regular heart of the legion tactical squad just yet. 

Regardless, the image shows a complete Raven Guard and Salamanders tactical squad, a double melta gun contemptor for the Salamanders along with a terminator character; a More Deythan squad, and vigilator for the Raven Guard, and a freshly painted Iron Hands praetor. 

The gaming mat and terrain accessories are from Game Mat EU for the curious. 

eBay this week: A single lonely Zoat / Rogue Trader Era

This week on eBay, I have a single lonely Zoat dating back to approximately the Rogue Trader era. It is both assembled, and painted (a bit poorly, I'll be the first to admit) and has been in my collection since goodness knows when (certainly the 1990s). The listing is here for anyone interested! Hope I can find a nice new home for him?

I've got a bunch of re-listings still on eBay that folks are also welcome to bid on such as an ancient Great Unclean One from the Realms of Chaos era, and a pair of Plague Ogryns (one of which is well painted). 

Wargames Gallery: Moon Station Alpha

On a distant moon, an Alpha Legion strike squadron and their transport docks to take care of business - and possibly re-fuel as well. 

Iron Warriors Cataphractii Terminators

Finished painting the squad of Iron Warriors Cataphractii Terminators!

These hardened warriors are kitted out for close combat duty with 4 of them sporting twin lightning claws, and the fifth a heavy flamer and power fist. Perhaps in hind sight I should have just gone with all five of them as lightning claws, but I do like the heavy flamer in a close combat squad regardless. Not only for softening up the enemy before charging, but also as an anti-charge deterrent. 

Perhaps the most novel feature of the paint scheme here is the wet blending on the lightning claws, combined with dry brushing of reds up the arms to where the yellow and black hazard stripes are located. It is meant to give off a theme of red hot claws capable of slicing through anything. The chaos lord arms in particular work very well here indeed. I've also applied the same approach to the flamer. I am not quite as sold on the approach here, but what it does do well is to tie the squad together in a cohesive painting scheme which the bases round off nicely. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Legion Warmonger Consul

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. A great way to bring in a deep striking force - especially as an allied detachment.

Background.

A small break in the regular reviews today to consider the warmonger consul. They are depicted here as either headstrong and eager for glory, or headstrong and respected for throwing themselves into the midst of it all. 

Strengths.

This is a regular consul upgrade for power armour and terminator consuls alike. The cost is attractive, and for that, the consul gains and Aetheric Juncture Splicer. This is technobabble for a hand held teleport device I think! Fundamentally, this is a great way of getting deep strike into play without having to take a specialist rite of war and should be played as such. 

Weaknesses.

The problem with the splicer is that the technology is not very stable and lacks the calibration of a true teleport room. Hence when arriving from deep strike, the unit must roll a die and suffer a wound on a roll of a 1 with only invulnerable saves permitted. This is not a bad trade off overall, but it does force the player to think about the sort of unit that will accompany the warmonger. At this point, all manner of terminators look very attractive in my opinion!

Secondly with the Tip of the Spear special rule, they always have to charge in the assault phase. So you will want an assault unit with them.

For legions like the World Eaters, you are spoiled for choice. For other legions like perhaps the Iron Warriors, it is a little less obvious what to teleport. 

Builds.

Warmonger with Two Lightning Claws (120 points).

If you're going to charge all the time, then you might as well swing away with some deadly claws?

Warmonger Tartaros Teminator with Chain Fist, Combi-Melta (145 points).

Good for deep striking and killing most things. 

Warmonger Cataphractii Terminator with Thunder Hammer and Grenade Harness (150 points). 

The grenade harness might not be needed if you have a squad of terminators that already has one?

Personally, I like the idea of the power armour with a horde of other units like Rampagers or a Thousand Sons cabal. The terminator armour is just excellent though and the invulnerable save means they will take less wounds - hence I'd always be opting for terminators. I'd prefer tartaros just for the sweeping ability. 

Wargames Gallery: Iron Hands Push

Pushing out from the forge, the Iron Hand breachers squad demonstrates their stone-like grim intent. 

eBay Listings this week: Tinboyz, Plague Ogryns, Ral Partha Darksun, Dragonlance, Great Unclean One and more!

I am having a bit of a clean out - not only today, but over recent weeks, and possibly more in future weeks too. This week I have multiple offerings available on eBay. These include the following!:

Tinboyz. Wow, I haven't dug these out in literally years. Possibly a decade or more. The narrative for Orks used to be that their Mekboyz built these robots in the form of other races to mock them. Why don't they exist any more? They are a very cool concept. This is a job lot listing for 8 Tinboyz, including marines, eldar, and squats. Rather rare as well.

Plague Ogryns. A listing for a pair of Plague Ogryns from Forge World. One is well painted to a very good standard and has seen action on the tabletop despite a naked base. The second is assembled, but that's it. Rare these days as they're long since OOP, but can readily be used in 30k and 40k (think: daemons, spawn, etc.). 

Darksun Ral Partha Miniatures. Arguably the highlight for this week is a large set of Ral Partha Darksun miniatures. I'm selling my entire Darksun miniature collection in one job lot. Some used, some a bit knackered, most in good shape and not painted. I've not seen the likes of this on eBay in a long time. And frankly, I need the space, so help me out here!

Ral Partha Cyclops. Continuing on the same theme is a trio of Ral Partha Cyclops. Painted a long time ago, but not used in ages. A bit bent in places. 

Dragonlance Time of the Dragon. Original boxed set complete for advanced dungeons and dragons second edition. Can't lie: the outer box is damaged, but the interior contents are used to excellent condition. 

And a re-listing for a metal Great Unclean One of Nurgle to finish off. 

More to follow in future weeks. Enjoy!

Exodus Painted

Exodus was a pleasure to paint! My take on him follows the standard Alpha Legion approach that I've worked on over the years with metallic blue main parts, silver edging, and highlights as appropriate. 

The Instrument is not so picked out here - I was aiming for a plainer approach overall which is complemented nicely with the Armageddon Dunes on the base in terms of the colouring. The decal on the tabard is from the standard transfer sheet. 

For the cape of the model, I decided on something much more original!

Behold a pointillism colour transition! The idea here is straight forward enough. Stripes of colour from black to blue and back again have been done diagonally across the cape. These have then had points of colour from the adjoining colours applied to them to help blend them together. From a distance the effect is beautiful. Even close up, it still works, but it becomes obvious how the transition has been accomplished. And maybe that's how Exodus' technology works: pixels of colour that change like a chameleon. Just my take on the concept anyway. Hope you like it!

World Eaters Warmonger / Praetor

A new conversion today - this time for the World Eaters! Plans are afoot for a small allied detachment of this legion. This particular miniature will serve as either a Praetor (in which case the weapon is a paragon blade) or as a Warmonger - primarily for the use of the teleport device (in which case the weapon might be an excoriator?). 

The bits used are most obviously a Red Butcher body. The arms and weapon come from the Dark Angels terminator range. The shoulder pads are Forge World resin Tartaros armour. I wanted this guy to suggest violence incarnate combined with martial skill and intimidation. I think it does so in droves. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Ares Gunship

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Prodigious firepower. 

Background.

This is a flyer that has been in use since the Unity wars on old Terra. The firepower alone was enough to make the Chancellor of the Antipodean Penninsula (wonder where that is?) capitulate and surrender to the Emperor. 

Strengths.

In many ways, this flier is similar to the Orion. It has 7 hull points with front AV=13 and an eclipse shield.

But the thing that really shines here is the pure firepower. The whole craft is built around two heavy blaze cannons and a magna-blaze cannon. These things are deadly. Lots of shots at S=9 and S=10 (destroyer) with exoshock means that this will kill tanks and other armour with contempt to spare. 

Weaknesses.

The firebomb clusters are nice, but very much not needed here - this is a shooting gunship and not a bombing gunship really. That, and you will probably have your footsloggers in position before the gunship arrives in the game. It is a great addition if you are thinking about having a Lords of War, but I think the Orion just about edges it in a competition between the two. It still looks very cool though and I've seen one or two in the wild - a gorgeous model!

Builds.

There are no options to consider here. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Orion Assault Dropship

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Worth it. 

Background.

Specifically creates for the Custodes. This is a drop ship that can carry a whole load of them into the fight, precisely where they need to be and fend off on-coming attacks whilst scouring a landing zone simultaneously. 

Strengths.

With front armour of 13 and 7 hull points, this is a craft that should make it to where it needs to be. Helping this out is the eclipse shield which functions a bit like a flare shield but with added shrouding sauce in case of bad outcomes. 

The transport capacity of 24 stands out here. You're going to fit a lot in. 

In addition to this the fire power is fairly prolific. Blaze cannons, bolt cannons, and bolt launchers combine to make 40 (I think I've calculated that number correctly) S=6 shots per turn. Ouch. 

Weaknesses.

You will need to carefully consider what it is transporting in those 24 capacity slots. And then worry about positioning so as to not get shot in the relatively more vulnerable sides and rear. It is not going to go down fast, but a weight of firepower from an enemy can prove devastating. 

Builds.

There are no options to consider here. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Telemon Heavy Dreadnought

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️

2.5/5 stars, rounded down. Not as good as it should be. 

Background.

Hand crafted by the Emperor himself (well - at least one part of the armour is), the Telemon is an exceptionally rare beast. Only the most remarkable Custodes gets to be interred, and the order would sooner the dreadnoughts remain unoccupied than some lesser Custode pilot it. Truly a waste of resources!

Strengths.

With 8 wounds, this is a dreadnought much like a Leviathan but with bonus durability! The stat line is seriously impressive - and intimidated.

The best part are the ranged weapons. The accelerator with S=8 and AP=3 is the pick of the bunch to be honest. That's not to say the rest of them are bad, they're just too short range. Except for the default bolt launcher which is still nice.

The melee weapons are deadly to say the least. S=10 and AP=2 is excellent. Even nicer is the sunder rule, just a pity we miss out on brutal to be candid. 

Weaknesses.

The movement rate is 6. I'm going to repeat that. The movement rate is 6. It is just too slow to get where it needs to be, sorry. And the weapons range is too short. This is not a unit that is realistically going to see much play, even though the model is epic and cool. I mean, play the model, but just don't expect much?

Builds.

Telemon with Iliastus Accelerator Culverin (390 points).

Expensive. Slow. But nice range and melee potential. The main problem is that the core of your army will get there first. 

This Week's eBay: Primus Medicae, Great Unclean One, Dragonlance, and Quantum Gothic

This week on eBay, I have several items for sale. As per usual, I am selling older bits and pieces that haven't seen much recent use and I want to turn them into cash to fund the next additions to my collection. Or as my wife says: I have to get rid of things before buying new things. So help your bro out?!

The first one is a Mint Condition Primus Medicae. Now, I suspect my long time readers will wonder why on earth I want to sell this one rather than use it? In truth, I've not quite figured out how to best use it. I originally bought it to slot in with my Alpha Legion Lernaeans - the extra IWND rolls are crazy good in principle, but my use of the elites slot usually counts against me here I have to say. Hence the Primus Medicae has been sat in his box for half an eternity - I basically bought it upon release. This is unopened in its box. 

The second one is one of my treasured possessions. A metal Realms of Chaos / Rogue Trader Era Great Unclean One of Nurgle. Why sell such an item? I actually have two of them, but neither have been used in a decade. I don't intend to use them either. So its time. He has seen many battles and many victories and defeats. He's also a little delicate, so I promise to wrap him carefully for postage. 

 

The third one is a Catalyst Missile Launcher from Quantum Gothic. I've been using it as scenery and terrain on and off for years. But given how I've never painted it, and how I've got plenty of other terrain, it is surplus to requirements. I've seen some interesting conversions for Whirlwinds and similar using this piece, so go wild if you want!

And finally on the roleplaying game front, I am offering up the core of my Classic Dragonlance collection. Classics volumes 1, 2, and 3, as well as Dragonlance Adventures as a single job lot. I haven't so much as opened them up in a decade and my younger family don't show too much interest. Plus I need space on the shelves. I hope these will find a great new home as they have certainly been well loved over many, many years, and over no fewer than three total play-throughs with a variety of RPG groups over the years prior. If you buy this, please play it and give it life once more - I'd love to hear if your group plays them through!

Good luck to anyone bidding! I'll have more up in future weeks as I clear out some older stuff to make way for newer items.