Painted Emperor's Children Praetor Tartaros Terminator

Regal purple mixes with exquisite threat in the pose for this Emperor's Children praetor in tartaros terminator armour!

The miniature itself was very easy to put together, and the painting almost did it itself. The purple follows my standard recipe. However, it is almost drowned out by the gold that adorns the praetor himself. Obviously this is a guy who wants to not only own the battlefield, but looks like a mythological figure while doing so. There's also some gemstones and robes around the character which to me feels like Ancient Greece vibes in some ways. And the Laer style sword hints at the early signs of falling to chaos here without actually having sworn feality (potentially). I've picked this out in the same green tones that I've used for the gemstone (which I'm interpreting here as something a bid Eldar in nature). 

Although gaudy and regal, it somehow still works and comes together to still present a threat and a perfection of martial skill ready to take on the enemies of the Imperium. Or of Fulgrim at least. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Tylos Rubio

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are good. 

Background.

Rubio was the first to be recruited to the Knights-Errant by Garro in his quest to assemble his team of misfit, yet unquestionably loyalist cousins from across all of the legions. It was during the Betrayal at Calth that he finally agreed to join up, having been forced to use his psychic powers to save his brother Ultramarines against the edict of Nikaea. Ironically enough, Guilliman had just concluded that breaking the edict was necessary to fight the warp space aliens at the same time. But too late for Rubio. He was shunned. And left with little option but to join Garro.  

Strengths. 

The codicier comes with telepathy and divination which is a solid combination. 

Polaris, his blade, is a force weapon with breaching, AP=3 and S+1 which makes him a reasonable combat challenger. The paragon bolt gun is also rather good at range. Enhanced by his powers, these are better still. 

Weaknesses. 

I would prefer an inherent WS=6 instead of WS=5, but WP=10 is welcome. 

Overall.

Rubio is cheap enough for what you get which is why I am giving him 4/5 stars here. He is a "typical" psyker for his level (codicier) and is a solid performer. Great for the Knights-Errant, just a pity he doesn't get classed as Ultramarines like my tag here otherwise suggests!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Nathaniel Garro

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are good. 

Background.

Much has already been spoken of Garro. The former Battle-Captain of the Death Guard. The Captain of the Eisenstein. The person who brought word of Isstvan III to the Imperium. The one who bent his knee of Malcador and became the first of the Knights-Errant. The one who would gather the other unique Knights to his banner.  

Strengths. 

A strong stat line (including WS=6 and 5 attacks) combines with his weapons to make Garro a direct close combat challenge threat. 

Libertas has Duellists edge at 2, and critical hitting supplementing S+1 (for S=5 hits) at AP=2 which is vital for challenges. Eternal warrior also helps him stay in the fight.

At range, his bolt gun is called a paragon bolt gun and fires at S=5 with shred. This is impressive and you need to fire it often. 

Weaknesses. 

The only very mild negative is that Libertas is limited to 1 damage per unsaved wound. 

Overall.

Garro in third edition (Legacies) comes with the Knights-Errant and Loyalist keywords (the former having as much power and impact as the latter - to be clear). He isn't a Death Guard (despite my tag here) and sadly cannot be taken in a pre-Heresy or loyalist Death Guard contingent which makes me sad. He is a solid challenge contender otherwise and a decent high command choice with a more than reasonable points value associated with him. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Ultramarines Nemesis Destroyer Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Good rules and potential for board control in  multiple small units.

Background.

The Ultramarines possessed many chapters within their structure. Some were dedicated to a very specific type of warfare. The Nemesis Chapter was one such configuration. They feature primarily bolt guns but were otherwise a destroyer sub-division replete with rad grenades. Their bolt guns, however, were manufactured to use experimental ammunition that had a strong influence on the Calth war. 

Strengths. 

Looking like regular bolt guns, the Mortifier Bolter has a shorter range in exchange for causing panic. These are very useful and can impact a good amount of board control when played right.

There are multiple upgrades available, but the rad missile launcher is nice for being assault, poisoned, phage on toughness, and has AP=3 making it break regular marine formations. 

Phosphex and / or melta for the sergeant is icing on the cake really. The only real decision to make here is whether to tool up further for close combat or not. My instinct is not - keep them as a mid range panic and toughness phage inflicting threat and accompany other units to finish them off if needed. 

Weaknesses. 

They're nothing special realistically: 3+ armour save marines with 1 wound each that cost a bit more than regular marines due to the equipment. 

Builds.

10 Nemesis Destroyers, 2 Destroyer Missile Launchers (195 points).

Take nuncio vox and similar to taste. Upgrade to more members and kit the sergeant out for close combat if you wish (thunder hammer by preference), but my take would be to run multiple of these squads and leave the melee to a more dedicated unit (but equally the bolt pistol and chainswords are good enough against phage inflicted regular marines, so just go for it anyway!). Take phosphex bombs to taste - melta bombs are better elsewhere probably unless you're really taking 2 melta guns? 

Rubble Basing from Unused Bits

If you are anything like me, then your bits box is probably overflowing with cast off bits and parts that you have kept "just in case" and has inevitably accumulated over time. I often have half a mind just to sell a random bag of bits on eBay, but then I don't do it for whatever reason my brain says. 

But this week I broke my habit of endless accumulation of bits in a very specific way. Basing! Okay, this is not a novel idea by any means. I will freely admit that. I like how it has turned out though.

The vibe that I am aiming for here is war strewn rubble. Perhaps even Isstvan inspired at some level. The bits seen here consist of cork (to at least provide one level location for a foot to be attached to on two of the bases), drop pod remnants, chain swords, rhino door, random eagles and eyes of Horus, broken Custodes weapons and shields, Imperial sector cast offs, there's even a marine that I've slice in half, one or two age of Sigmar bits that plausibly look like building works, servo skulls, bits from vehicle accessories frames, unused heavy weapons, bolt guns, and close combat items, and random small accessories bits. And those are just the ones that I remember and see easily. There's lots more besides all cluttered together on these bases upon close inspection, and layered as well. I fear positioning feet on some of these will be a challenge, but that's a problem for the future!

Creeping Vines Use and Basing

Creeping Vines are sold by Warhammer in a boxed set to help with scenery and basing. What is immediately striking about them is the sheer flexibility that they offer. The plastic which is used is very flexible and can be bent into twisting shapes to adhere better to existing scenery. 

The base above shows a flying stand with rubble (cork and actual stones and grit) plus old bits of the plastic imperial sector painted up. Surrounding this, I've twisted the creeping vies to create some foliage and suggest the these ruins have been around for a while and nature is starting to take back over. In hindsight, I probably should have opted for a more brown colour on the trunk of the vines, but the green is good enough here!

The second image shows that vines on the sprue. I painted them like this because it was easier to spray paint them with the undercoat before applying liberal amounts of contrast in red and green to create the final detail. The frame doesn't do justice to the flexibility of the plastic used here. I did accidentally break one of them due to forcing it too hard - so fair warning, don't be like me and just gently bend them! Glue helps them stick in place once the positioning is right. Overall a great product and one that I will certainly be thinking of returning to in the future.