Horus Heresy 3e Review: Varagyr Wolf Guard Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Rounded down. The rules are sound overall, but the lack of upgrades a real issue. 

Background.

The personal guard of Russ, hand picked, and to a man each a legend in his own right. They forego the right to lead their own squads and no longer seek glory for themselves but lay down their lives for the primarch of the Space Wolves and act where he direct his personal pack.

Strengths. 

Cataphractii style terminators with fear and vanguard (4) that also entertainingly come under Elites for the Space Wolves. The frost axes will also slice through enemies with contempt. 

They come with the Lordsbane special rule which means that if the Thegn survives a challenge, then you get bonuses for the combat resolution per surviving Varagyr. This means that you should always be aiming for large style squads where possible. 

Weaknesses. 

The points cost adds up fast here thanks to the frost axes and suite of special rules. I'm torn about this facet since other terminator squads can do the job better, but by the same token, you are nearly always going to win combat resolution if the Thegn survives his challenger. The sheer lack of customization is surprising too. 

Builds.

10 Varagyr (475 points). 

A scary proposition, and a lot of points. Limit it to 5 members if you are playing a smaller points value game. Note explicitly here that there are no upgrades to take. Surely this has to get an Errata soon?

Salamanders Disintegrator Squad

One completed Salamanders squad armed with disintegrators!

Sure, the colour scheme for the rifles is certainly non-standard, but I think this is a strength. They are easy to pick out on the table top set against bolt gun toting space marines from the same legion. There's also a certain element of "popping" with the complementary colours. 

The contrast paint has also held up well to highlighting and more recess work with Nuln oil too which I am pleased with. Overall, a very nice addition to my Salamanders and shattered legions forces. I'll try to see how they play soon as well. Which is to say, will they blow themselves up before accounting for another unit or not?! 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Wolf-Kin of Russ

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. The rules are average. 

Background.

There are no Wolves on Fenris. 

Except the humans who might or might not have mutated into new forms. Freki and Geri are two of the largest versions of them, whatever the Fenrisian Wolves origin. 

Body guards - certainly. Pets? Perhaps. Huge giant creatures that are also intelligent and capable of snapping mortal men in half with their teeth - absolutely. 

Strengths. 

Only Leman Russ can join this unit, and they come with an array of special rules and a nice stat line. 

Geri is that stand out with WS=7, but Freki is also good with WS=5. The latter also has one more attack. 

Their teeth and claws come with breaching and 2 damage to cause some serious carnage. They also have fear, heedless, feel no pain and are fast. 

Weaknesses. 

Loyalist only of course. They are fast at movement = 10, but their advanced characteristics leave them open to statuses. 

Overall.

Think of them as extra wounds for Russ and you are probably doing well. The points cost is reasonable as well, although clearly the saving throws are not superlative. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Caster of Runes

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Great psychic powers peculiar to the Space Wolves. 

Background.

They may protest that they are channeling the heart of Fenris all they like. The truth is that they are just as much a psyker as the Thousand Sons are. Except they lie about it. Does this make them worse?

In other news, Sanguinius was a mutant, but we all agree to look the other way, don't we? I'm sure this will all hold until it doesn't.  

Strengths. 

The caster of runes gets immediate access to the unique Rune Casting discipline. This grants Wrath of the Death Wolf, and Stormwrought. The former is a template weapon that inflicts stun (it's basically cone of cold for anyone dungeons and dragons familiar). This is actually really strong due to the condition, and S=6. The latter is a psychic reaction that reduces incoming shots to snap shots - this is similarly powerful.

The character is, otherwise, a psyker, and can also have access to Biomancy, Divination, and / or Telekinesis. My recommendation is to take Rune Casting, and possibly one of the others depending on the points cost you have available. 

A force staff and frost axe come as standard. 

Weaknesses. 

I actually really like this character!

Overall.

The points cost is a little more than a standard librarian, but you do get a useful Will Power of 10 for the price as well as the frost axe upgrade and the ability to choose access to the rune casting discipline - and why wouldn't you choose that? The discipline is quite powerful really and very flavourful to the Space Wolves. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Geigor Fell-Hand

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. Average fare. 

Background.

It is now Third Edition. And I still have the same problem about this guy's name. I can't help keeping on calling him "Gregor"! Maybe it is the fault of Game of Thrones?

Anyhow.

Geigor is a Thegn of the Space Wolves who has a bit of a history with the Thousand Sons. When fighting alongside them, he lost his war pack and thought to himself that he had been betrayed by his allies. At Prospero, he therefore went a bit zealous with the orders from the Warmaster to execute them all.

Strengths. 

Officer of the Line (2) is valuable here, and he comes with the fell-hand which is a fancy power claw that has breaching at 4+ and shred at 5+. This is nice. 

The stat line is otherwise what you might expect except for Ld=10 and 9 in will power (probably from fighting the Thousand Sons). 

Weaknesses. 

He is distinctly average, but a nice Space Wolves upgrade on the usual Centurion. Is he worth the extra 25 points or so? Possibly. Just about. 

Overall.

A Space wolves upgrade for a Centurion. You will likely end up taking him in Third Edition over a regular Centurion, just because. Equally, that's all he realistically is. Get him into combat with equal footing enemies and he should do okay. 

Praetor Challenge: Iron Hands vs Iron Warriors

Praetors assemble! This week's challenge is one of iron: Iron Hands against Iron Warriors to be specific. They are fighting over an ancient world for mineral resources to advance their way across the galaxy. There is nothing left other than mutual annihilation to be had here though. This turn will likely decide the winner of the game. The Iron Hands are to play and the Iron Warriors have 1 reaction in hand. The Iron Hands need 2 unit kills for the game. Here is how the board looks:

[And yes - those are computer fans mounted upon some styrene - a great bit of scenery in case any one wants to copy the concept!]

Left to Right:

Iron Warriors:
1 Rhino. All hull points intact.
Tactical Support Squad: 5x Plasma Guns. 
3x Siege Tyrants (1 with 1wound remaining, the others at full strength). 
1 Contemptor dreadnought with las cannon and gravis fist. 3 Wounds remaining. 

Iron Hands:
Medusan Immortals x10. 2x Flamers. 
1 Praetor embedded in the Immortals Squad (could be detached). Thunder hammer. No wounds taken. 
5x Heavy support squad (auto cannons). 

The Iron Hands have already moved and are entering the shooting phase. 
What move gives them the best option to delete 2 Iron Warriors units from the board without losing a unit themselves? (If they lose a unit, then they will need to remove 3 Iron Warriors Units for the win instead!). 

This might seem like an obvious solution, but I'm actually not so sure the more that I look at it.