18 Years Blogging

I don't do these posts very often as I tend to be very forward looking rather than backward. But I'll make an exception today. Warpstone Flux has been in existence for slightly over 18 years now!

Originally I started the blog as a record of what I'd been up to in the hobby space, some painting, games reports, collections, and a whole host of other things. It has gone through expansions into Dungeons and Dragons, roleplay games more broadly (including Sequestered Industries as a spin off - check out drivethrurpg), a period where I didn't post much at all, where my mate "Eldrad" took over for a bit, being part of the From The Warp blogger collective in the very early days, infamous Army List Challenges, and lots more besides. 

It is now quite the reference manual for the Horus Heresy game and those reviews have pushed the blog ever onward to greater heights. Perhaps this is no surprise. As a veteran, my love of 40k still remains, but for me the Heresy game is simply superior now, even though there are quirks to 3rd edition that I think are a degrade compared to 2nd or 1st edition - there remains a lot to be having fun with in third. 

The image on this page is one of the first that I ever posted: a blue-in-pink horror of Tzeentch. I still own the model of this in the collection. In my opinion the Juan Diaz sculpts of this period are some of the best that have existed for chaos. This is not to say that the current range is bad - it is not. But the older miniatures really communicate something that the newer range don't: something a bit more primal. Would love to see these kinds of sculpts make a comeback in plastic to be honest! 

And over the years I've sold quite a bit of my collection too. My old Death Guard amies for instance have long since departed. I have no regrets as they've made way for newer Heresy armies. I also knew that I wasn't going to continue with 40k Death Guard in the long term as the newer sculpts were just too jovial and exaggerated compared to the older grim dark nature of chaos that I loved the aesthetic of decades ago. 

Paints have also changed. Goodbye to Goblin Green and Hello to contrast paints and everything inbetween. Now we also the newer tone pro paints too. I'm yet to road test them in a serious way; I'll have to get back to you! 

More of the same is down the line as well. I have not finished reviewing Third Edition Horus Heresy by any means for instance. There's lots more painting yet to do to establish a couple of armies and detachments that I want to complete. I might sell some too - undecided. Its half tempting to reintroduce some roleplaying game elements back as well, but I'm sticking to Heresy for just the time being so as not to dilute the strong audience. 

Speaking of which, I would likely have given up on Warpstone Flux a long while ago if it were not for the regular readers, commenters, and generous support that it has received over many years. I very much appreciate you being here, and reading to the end of this, what must be quite the tiresome read! Back to normal imminently!!

Dreadtober 2026: Iron Hands Saturnine Dreadnought Complete

Its over the line! The Iron Hands Saturnine Dreadnought is now complete. 

The key two parts of the final detailing are the battle damage and the plasma. 

For the battle damage, there is a strong scoring effect on the left hand side (as looked at) along the shoulder. The idea here is to provide depth to the wound through painting alone. Rest assured that I didn't do anything to the plastic itself. I think this pays off very well.

For the plasma, I wanted to have a sheen of reflection along the main hull of the dreadnought. I lined this up visually and applied progressively lighter blues and whites to get the effect in a modestly haphazard manner. For the weapon itself, this provided a bit of a challenge. I eventually went with the lighter blue, painted the recesses with thinned white so it would flow and then applied darker blue in select central areas to suggest mild cooling away from the core heat. I also think this has worked when viewed from most angles. 

Less was also more for the base. I only added a couple of very minor green shrubs to finish the base off and stuck to the otherwise cracked earth established a few weeks ago. 

Very pleased overall and I hope readers like the outcome as much as I do!

Happy Dreadtober to everyone celebrating!!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Thanatar Siege Maniple

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are great. 

Background. 

More a mobile artillery platform than an actual combat unit, the Thanatar is a force to be reckoned with. Other than the plasma weapon originating on Ryza, little more is generally known about their backgrounds save rumours about where the Calix variant hailed from (within the sects of the mechanicum itself).

Strengths.

Incredibly, the toughness and strength is 8, with 10 wounds, combined with a 2+ and 5++ saving throw. Importantly, the BS is 4 here, even though the WS is only 3. Firing protocols and firestorm are nice too.

The basic armament are shock chargers and twin mauler bolt cannon. The latter pumps out 6 lots of S=6 for both pinning and shred each turn. Very respectable. 

You also have to select one of two configurations.

The Cavas configuration provides a plasma mortar. This is a nice large pie plate with ordnance on range, breaching and barrage for S=8 and 2 damage, but only at AP=4. 

The Calix configuration gives a Sollex heavy-las and graviton ram. Of course, the graviton ram is nice in close combat with armour ban, AP3 and 2 damage. Given the base S=10 for these attacks, it will be collapsing rhinos with ease. The heavy las is also S=10 for 2 ranged attacks. Ordnance on damage, shock, suppressed, and armour bane all rolled in with native AP=2. 

The choice between them is therefore whether you want significant cover fire, versus something a bit more targeted and close combat orientated. Both are viable. 

Weaknesses.

WS is three, but presumably you don't care. They also explode, so watch out. 

Builds.

Thanatar Cavas (225 points). 

Sit back and fire.

Thanatar Calix. (245 points).

More focussed hits and close combat potential. But you have to get there with a movement rate of 6. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Castellax Battle Maniple

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are great. 

Background. 

These robots have long featured at the forefront of the Mechanicum's armies. So much so, that some in the Imperium saw them as a sleeping threat should Mars ever decide to break away from the deal struck with the Emperor. The Heresy quashed that in short order though.

Strengths.

The stat line is strong with 6's in both S and T which immediately makes these robots incredibly strong. When combined with 4 wounds and 3+ save, they suddenly become a big problem for opponents. 

Special rules include firing protocols, firestorm, and a phased reactor shield which will improve their invulnerable save against ranged attacks. 

They come armed with 2 bolt guns (upgrade to flamers possible, but not required), mauler bolt cannons (4 shots at S=6 with shred and pinning which is very nasty when done well), and shock chargers which can be upgraded to power blades (which depends a little bit on taste to my mind). 

Weaknesses.

WS and BS are only three, but players will be fine with this overall in all probability (and good die rolls). They also explode. But hey, that's the territory. 

Builds.

2 Castellax (100 points). 

I genuinely see little case for the upgrades, but perhaps the flamers might be nice on occasion. Given the movement rate though, I think of Castellax as a fundamentally ranged unit, so stick with the bolt rounds?

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Thallax Cohort

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are good.

Background. 

Cyborgs that have been produced only via grim dark trauma, the Thallax retain some of their original human individuality thanks to the brain being moderately preserved. However, they have replaced most of everything else in favour of becoming shock troops for the Mechanicum.

Strengths.

The stat line has 4's where it matters and a 5 in toughness. Double wounds, attacks, and I=3 with reasonable 3+ save and 6+ invulnerable. They have deep strike natively thanks to the jump pack which also enables a movement rate of 10. 

Thanks to Aegis of Pain, they cause fear when they are modified with statuses which is an interesting option. 

The basic armament is a lightning gun which gives S=5 and 3 shots which also causes suppression and shred. Nice. Upgrades include the always useful multi-melta, a photon thruster (S=8 armourbane armour breaker and suppressive with a vital AP=2) or a phased plasma fusil (breaching at S=5 with three shots - which is okay).

Chain bayonets for the lightning locks are entertaining, melta bombs for the unit are fine for dedicated units, and one praetorian should be taken merely for the leadership boost. 

Don't forget the Reductor advantages here. They are significant. Wall breaker really turns them in to tank and fortification destroyers with ease, whilst the prime advantage boost the invulnerable save to 5+ and increases the leadership by a further pip. It is well worth taking the Reductor apex detachment merely for this and kitting out your thallax accordingly. 

Weaknesses.

In all honestly, for the poinst cost, what you are getting is worth it. 

Builds.

6 Thallax including 1 Preatorian, 6 Multi Meltas, Melta Bombs (250 points).

A melta build. Can also be a distraction carnifex. Doesn't need extra models really. 

9 Thallax including 1 Praetorian, all with lightning guns and chain bayonets (208 points).

Tactical flexibility here.

6 Thallax including 1 Preatorian, 6 Proton Thrusters (220 points).

A slightly longer ranged option for your armour busting enjoyment. 

6 Thallax, including 1 Praetorian, 2 Proton Thrusters, Melta Bombs (190 points).

Mixed threat.  

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Tech-Thrall Covenant

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️ 1.5/5 stars, rounded down. The rules are poor and points cost not worth it. 

Background. 

Not servitors so much as cyborgs, this is the fate that awaits the regular population of a Forge World should they offend their masters. Or, your know, when the need arises possibly as well. Simply put, these are expendable troops. 

Strengths.

Human cyborgs of the grim Lacrymaetra. They have a 5 in toughness and 12 in cool, but that's about the only thing I have to write home about. 

They are expendable, and don't suffer leadership tests in the same way as others except in terms of panic. Feel no pain is handy, but hardly an advance on the 6+ native save. 

For armaments they have a las lock with throws out S=4 ranged hits. It is okay. 

At best, this is a tar pit unit and a distraction. 

Weaknesses.

Lots of weaknesses here realistically. The 2's in both WS and BS are massively problematic. S=3 and I=2 means they don't stand up in combat. The 6+ save is pathetic. They need boosted to even get a basic job done. And they move only at a rate a 5. They just can't do things other than serve as a screening unit. Even a non-augmented unit of mortal humans could probably do better. I question the Mechanicum's vision here. 

The real problem here is the points cost. A unit of 10 costs the same as a space marine squad and they are nowhere near as effective. The poinst cost needs to be halved for me to roughly change my rating for this squad. 

Unfortunately therefore, my view is that this unit is simply not worth the points cost unless you want a really fluffy army. 

Builds.

20 Tech-Thralls (200 points). 

A large screening unit that you need a magos or arch magos with to get to function at an acceptable level. Honestly not worth it. 

Dreadtober 2026: Iron Hands Saturnine Dreadnought - The End Is In Sight!

Appreciable progress this week with getting the Saturnine Dreadnought close to completion. And as can be seen, the legion of choice here is the Iron Hands!

The Eshin Grey base coat has been slapped with layers of Nuln Oil and a black wash to give the dreadnought the legion's characteristc look. I have gone around the edges of the larger plates with an equally large highlight brush of eshin grey once more. This is intentionally not meant to be perfect. The idea is to illustrate age and irregularities on the armour that have built up over time. The decals, of course, give the entire game away about which legion this is. I did consider for a long time having stripes of white across the shoulders, but in the end decided that the white decals themselves were prefectly sufficient here. 

I have also applied white in to the recesses of the plasma. These will be better made into a feature in the final step. Indeed, my brave and probably a bit stupid plan is to have the plasma light up parts of the black armour in an irregular fashion to highlight the left hand side of the model where the light would catch it. I am also planning on trying out some large scale battle damage through painting and some wear and tear in general, but the black colours of the Iron Hands makes this tough to stand out - I will give it some thought this weekend. I might also apply some white to the helmet to help it pop and stand out a bit. Perhaps the eyebrow ridge. Not made my mind up. 

Once done, I will combine it with the base from earlier on. I am planning on adding a couple of small green shrubs to the base, but otherwise will keep it minimal.

In short then: the end is in sight! I am very confident of meeting the deadline on this and having the dreadnought to a good tabletop standard next week, even with the risks I am planning on taking around the plasma highlighting and lighting that I am putting in scope!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Tech-Priest

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5 stars, rounded up. The rules are solid. 

Background. 

Adepts of the Cult Mechanicus. These are the lower ranking priests of the orders and arcana. Their jobs are much more mundane than the magos or arch magos that they might ultimately serve. Perhaps one day they might even upgrade themselves sufficiently in rank and cybernetics to get there themselves. Until then, they herd the robots and the thralls, and otherwise labour away in the forges until war comes for them. 

Strengths.

With 5's in S and T, and 4's i nWS and BS, the humble tech priest is able to achieve a multitude of roles for the Mechanicum player. 

They have a bunch of special rules like feel no pain, comptroller, battle smith, and master of machines - all of which you might have guessed at. They also have firing protocols as well which means you can use two ranged weapons. This is easy to overlook but can potentially be exploited.

Otherwise their major strength is customisation. Take what you like from the Mechanicum wargear section. Stand outs include the cortex controller, cognis-signum, cyber familiar, servo arm, and nuncio vox (although rad grenades are very tempting too). They can have one item from the Rites list hence they gain access to some of the old tech magics. Overcharged reactors will probably remain a favourite. One pistol can be taken (bolt, volkite, or plasma are all fine here in my opinion) and one ranged weapon (again, all are nicely viable). One melee weapon can be taken as well and here the thunder hammer or power fist both look like reasonable options, but a power weapon is also nice.  

Weaknesses.

I=3 and 2 wounds with only a 3+ save (6+ invulnerable). They might not last long. But at least they are cheap enough to field a lot of! And in third edition, I think having several of them as troops is a really good prospect for a player. 

Builds.

Tech Priest, Thunder Hammer, Cortex Controller, Rad Grenades, Overcharged Reactors (80 points). 

An arcana-agnostic close combat variant with a cortex controller to plug and play with! This also illustrated the issue with the Tech Priest: the points cost can rapidly add up, so you will be thinking about stripping back the points (potentially the rad grenades?) in oder to make them more points efficient.

Tech Priest, Plasma Pistol, Melta Gun (55 points). 

Mid ranged with no further upgrades is still enough to cause a headache when embedded in a larger squad. 

Of course, building with specific arcana in mind is also certainly encouraged!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Ursarax Cohort

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5 stars, narrowly rounded down. The rules are reasonable. 

Background. 

Thralls, rather than servitors, these beings are purposed as a close combat unit in service of the magos. Formed from human remains of selected people, they retain just enough ability to make good tactical decisions, but need regular grim-dark neural anesthetics to cope which they periodically get. Grim. 

Strengths.

The stat line is mostly 4's with T=5 and 2 wounds. 

They come with a pair of Ursarax Claws with give A+3 and breaching. This is very reasonable overall. However, it is certainly tempting to get the Ursarax Fists for S+2 and a native AP=2 with 2 damage and the expense of I-2. A mixture of the two options might be even more attractive. 

The volkite incinerators are very close range S=5 shots which are nice, but you need to get there. Helping that is the movement rate of 10. And related further: deep strike is a native option too here which can be taken advantage of. 

The real stand out in the special rules is Vanguard (3) which argues strongly for a up front approach and risky plays. Do it! Also: don't forget the arcana boost!

Weaknesses.

I=3 is a mild issue, but offset if you take the power fists upgrade in which case you're going last regardless, so might as well.

Builds.

6 Ursarax, 2 Power Fists, 1 Alpha (160 points). 

Swift and broad ranged enough to takle most enemy infantry.

9 Ursarax, 9 Power Fists, 1 Alpha (235 points).

Cheap enough to take, and potent enough to do damage when positioned well. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Castellax Destructor Maniple

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are great. 

Background. 

Thought of by some as a potential internal threat should Mars ever go against its agreement with the Emperor, the Castellax were a mainstay of both siege warfare and shock troops for the Mechanicum. This worry never arose thanks to the Heresy and they were never made in sufficient numbers ever again to pose an internal threat, but their potency was never much doubted thanks to the sheer aggression of the internal machine spirit.

Strengths.

With 6's in S and T coupled with 4 wounds and 3+/6++ these robots are going to be tough to dislodge - but not impossible. They have a stand out cool value of 12, but have the usual weaknesses elsewhere. Interestingly the WS and BS are 3's.

Customisation means you can optimise your unit for both ranged weaponry and close combat. The shock chargers are good as a baseline entry since they generate S=8 hits. The power blades upgrades give breaching and shred instead which might actually be more useful overall.

The mauler bolt cannon is useful on its own with S=6 hits and pinning. Upgrades here include the dark fire cannon which is always welcome with AP=2 and S=8 with suppressive despite the lower firing rate. The multi-melta pushes this further into anti-tank territory but is obviously shorter range. 

Weaknesses.

The WS and BS being 3 are mild issues. But the points cost remains attractive. At worst you can use them as distraction carnifexes. 

Builds.

6 Castellax (300 points).

Yes, no upgrades. Also yes: viable. 

3 Castellax, 3 dark fire cannons (195 points).

Long range options. 

3 Castellax, 3 Multi Meltas, 3 power blades, 3 flamers (225 points).

A close combat variation for taking out transports and dealing with the contents. Of course, mixing the builds up is also viable. 

Wargames Gallery: Purification

The Word Bearers close with flame units on the Iron Hands positions. Both praetors are weighing each other up. Meanwhile the planet itself looks like it is about to emerge against both sides in the conflict! Will the Word Bearers flames be enough to undertake a thorough purification of either?

Dreadtober 2026: Saturnine Basecoated and Metals

More progress has been made with the painting of the Saturnine Dreadnought!

The undercoat was done in black - as might be expected for many legions. The base coat here is Eshin Grey for the main parts. And therein is the biggest clue to which legion I am aiming for here. Guesses welcome and its probably obvious perhaps given my other painting. The edges are picked out in lead belcher silver, as have the joints with an irregular sponge approach. 

For the armaments, I have taken the sponging approach further. A base coat of lead belcher has been followed up by sponging irregular gold over the top of the colours to provide a worn effect overall. I quite like the outcome here. Although clearly it is metallic paint, it really does have the old and ancient vibe going on which is what I wanted. 

Next steps will be the inking and washing down with lots of dark colours and the perennially useful Nuln Oil. Stay tuned!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Myrmidon Destructor Host

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are great. 

Background. 

A sub-sect of the Myrmidons that are dedicated to heavy weapons and the rendering of vehicles and buildings to slag. They were heavily used on both sides of the war, and even by some who would seek to avoid joining either (cross ref: Anvilus). 

Strengths.

Secutors have 4's and 5's in most places on the stat line. Of note is S=5, T=5 and W=4 which makes for a potent combination combined with a 3+/5++ save. The unit's Lord also gains a pip in BS and WS which is very nice. 

The regular armaments are volkite culverins (magnificent range with 3 lots of S=6 shots and heavy on FP too) and shock chargers (close combat for S+2 which is solid enough). 

The upgrades are where the attraction to this unit gets increased though. Irradiation engines are a template with panic, poisoned, and phage on toughness. Clearly this is a close combat choice though. The dark fire cannon is very attractive with 2 lots of S=8 shots and AP=2 which causes suppressive and has heavy on damage. This can cause some very serious problems from a good range. And then there is the conversion beamer which just gets better with longer range. Very tempting. 

Weaknesses.

The Myrmidax trait is already built in. Overall the points cost is nicely balanced and this is a great unit. However, I am unconvinced about the close combat build (with irradiation engines) as I feel other units can do close combat better. I see this unit fundamentally as a long range unit. 

Builds.

3 Destructors, 3 Conversion Beamers (195 points).

I just really like the idea of a trio of conversion beamers taking out things at long range. I'm not even sorry. 

3 Destructors, 3 dark fire cannons (210 points).

The dark fire cannon is similarly good at long range but the purpose is much more (laser!) focussed. 

10 Destructors, all with Volkite Culverins (465 points).

Remember the rule of thumb about Volkite weapons: go big! 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Myrmidon Secutor Host

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are great. 

Background. 

The Myrmidon Secutors regard war as something to be computed with cold logic. They praise the Omnissiah through well executed battle plans and test themselves against new opponent in the arts of destruction. They have no master for long and during the Heresy could readily be found on both sides of the conflict. 

Strengths.

Secutors have 4's and 5's in most places on the stat line. Of note is S=5, T=5 and W=4 which makes for a potent combination combined with a 3+/5++ save. The unit's Lord also gains a pip in BS and WS which is very nice. 

They come armed as standard with power axes (nice), and twin maxima bolt guns (5 shots at S=4 and shred) which is a strong mix of ranged threat and close up potential. 

Vanguard (3) is beautiful to see here. My advice would be to go big in order to wip an opponent's unit in a single turn where possible.  The Lord gains battle meditation which provides feel no pain in a challenge, which is enhanced when their WS is out-matched. 

Beyond this, there are options to upgrade to twin phased plasma fusils which provides 3 lots of S=5 with breaching at 5+. Pretty solid and worth the upgrade. Or, take twin graviton guns for the same cost. These are only single shot, but are blast weapons at S=6 with breaching, and shock that causes pinning. The AP is only 4 here though, so I'd mildly favour the plasma upgrade for regular marine opponents, but the graviton blast template is absolutley worth it for the pinning and blasts. Tough choice. But the good news is that they can be mixed and matched. 

Weaknesses.

Note that the Myrmidax trait is already built in here. There's no downsides overall and the points cost is reasonable overall. 

Builds.

3 Secutors, 3 Twin Graviton Guns (210 points).

Lots of blast templates basically. 

10 Secutors, 2 Twin Graviton Guns, 2 Twin Phased Plasma Fusils (545 points).

The mixed threats makes sense, and the large numbers will all but ensure Vanguard (3) triggers most of the time against reasonably selected opposing units. You just need to get there. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Domitar Battle Maniple

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are really good. 

Background. 

A late entry to the mechanicum's strength before the fires of the Heresy would gut everything. The Domitar was designed as a line breaker. Able to smash into enemy lines and tanks alike, their purpose was one of swift engagement and destroying key elements of the enemy.

Strengths.

With 7's in S and T, these are combat beasts that will stick around long enough to cause serious damage to many opponents. The BS and WS is the same as a space marine and with 4 wounds and a good save, they will provide a solid front line. 

They come armed with a Cyclone Missile Launcher as standard. These are handy for the choice between frag, krak, and also flak missiles - the latter being the sky fire option. Hence they provide even a strong ranged threat to all. The domitar fists in melee give AP=3 at S+1 with breaching and armour bane which is good enough to take care of light tanks and many space marine equivalents. And the graviton hammer helps all this along with a variant option. 

A feast of special rules includes fear, vanguard, firing protocols and impact on attacks which is glorious. Add on there fire storm for not having to make snap shots and this beast is a great deal overall.

Weaknesses.

It will explode! The movement rate is 7, which is good enough, but I'd like it faster ideally. Still, you get what you pay for here and it is a very good deal overall. Take them. 

Builds.

There are no build to discuss. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Echidnax Servo Maniple

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5 stars, rounded down. Useful repairs, but I want to call them Echidnas. 

Background. 

Drones that follow their master around and are helpful by automating repairs. They also have some basic battle field programming that can help with in close combat or at range when required. 

Strengths.

Weaknesses.

The drones have limited autonomy. Hence if a sniper or similar removes the commander from play, they will just sit there in the same way that rocks do for the rest of the game. Hence they can be quite vulnerable. On the other hand, they are also cheap enough to not get too upset about this possibility. 

Builds.

10 Echidnax, 10 bolt guns (120 points).

Ten members here to make the best use of the battle smith special rule which gets its maximum advantage when 9 or more members of the unit are present.

Dreadtober 2026: Saturnine Built, and Base Based

Dreadtober has progressed!

The Saturnine dreadnought has now been built and assembled. I liked the choice of parts for the dreadnought which was nice to have. Some of the bits are certainly fiddly though with the shoulder pads being one of the prime examples. I would also politely contend that it doesn't need as many bits as it is supplied with, but hey, as a veteran I don't mind that either as it gives extensive possibilities. 

I have posed the dreadnought in a slight walking (baseline) pose with the left arm swivelled to the side to point at a target and the head looking in exactly the same direction. This is a dreadnought in the middle of shooting and destroying!

As for the base from last week, I have dolled it up with some cracked surfacing. My pro tip here is to use watered down PVA glue to ensure that the cracks stay where they dry rather than peel off. Works a treat. I will put the dreadnought on to the base at a later point and come back to add some flora later on. 

So after one week of Dreadtober, I can safely say that significant progress has been made, but there is much more yet to do!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Scyllax Guardian Maniple

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are good. 

Background. 

If you drew a Venn diagram of cyborgs, robots, and servitors, then the Scyllax might sit at the intersection and be a bit mistrusted by large parts of the mechanicum for their icky origins. There are claims that over time they gain something of self-awareness despite their minimal organic components. Their purpose is as a Magi's bodyguards and a melee unit. 

Strengths.

With 5's on the stat line in most places, the Scyllax are are strong proposition for the poins cost and like enhanced marines otherwise. 

The come equipped with a combat array for AP=3 with breaching. This is made worse for opponents due to the inherent rad furnace to reduce their toughness. The phased reactor shields are interesting as well for improving the invulnerable save against attacks to 5+. 

Beyond this, there is the option to upgrade with a bolt gun. This is so cheap it is in the category of "why not". 

Weaknesses.

The poinst cost is cheap enough to not be that bothered if they grind to a halt, and they can be effective even with 2 wounds and a 3+ save in many battlefield locations and situations. Obviously stronger in close combat than in ranged shooting - they just need to get there. The "Compact" rule will help if you need to transport them. But even as abalative wounds considering their retinue status, they are useful if not outstanding. 

Builds.

5 Scyllax, 5 bolt guns (135 points).

I selected 5 members only because it gives a final number divisible by 5 when upgrading to bolt guns. Otherwise this is a pretty standard unit. 

 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Arcuitor Magisterium

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 stars. Lords of the Malagra give excellent bang for the points cost. 

Background. 

In effect, these are the judges of tech-heresy and lords of the Malagra. Over many years they have become as close to the machine god as possible and are known as the grandfathers of the Malagra. Magi in their own rights, they are (socially) powerful and respected. On the battlefield, they are advisors by nature and rarely in command.

Strengths.

It is worth pointing out the WS=6 in the stat line here. This is the epitome of the Malagra - ready for close combat. The rest of the stat line is similar to a Magos, but with I=4 and A=5.

A well placed Arcuitor can cause serious WS and BS issues to nearby enemy units, and this combined with their own stat line makes them a clear threat. Combined with infiltrate, and you have the makings of something quite spectacularly deadly. 

The customisation is strong here, but for full effect the character will need to be kitted out for close combat. 

Weaknesses.

For the points cost, this character is as good as it gets! Hence 5/5 stars from me. 

Builds.

Arcuitor Magisterium, Thunder Hammer, Overcharged Reactors (135 points). 

A baseline build for close combat and buffing.

Arcuitor Magisterium, Thunder Hammer, Overcharged Reactors, Melta Bombs, Rad Grenades, Rad Furnace, Flamer (190 points). 

A more maximal version. The flamer is purely for the tactical status. The rest is mainly achieved through radiation poisoning and the thunder hammer. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Magos

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. Solid choice with or without an Abeyant. 

Background. 

The Magos Dominus fill a gap between the Archmagos Prime and the rest of the army / feuding states / technocracy. They are masters of the cybernetica and build the cortex automata for the Mechanicum. Some are at the very edge of heresy themselves thanks to all the body modifications that they put themselves through, and most are eccentrics and obsessive about their technologies.  

Strengths.

As with the Archmagos, there is a glorious amount of customisation available for the Magos. I will refer readers back to the Archmagos for some general thoughts. 

The stat line here is less than an Archmagos as might be expected: 5's are everywhere, with 4 wounds and WS=4 and I=3. Intelligence is still 9 which is important for commanding Mechanicum and their cyber rites. 

Weaknesses.

WS=4 is an issue for combat, as is I=3. I therefore regard the Magos as more of a support character choice than a full-on commander. 

Builds.

Magos, Conversion Beamer (130 points). 

Very much a ranged character, but I do like it a lot. Add some rites to taste. 

Magos, Abeyant, Rad Furnace, Thunder Hammer, Melta Bombs, Rad Grenades, Overcharged Reactors (200 points). 

A close combat version. The danger here is spending too many points on a single character who is not the archmagos to be honest.