Horus Heresy Review: Ultramarines Nemesis Destroyer Squad

Editorial Interlude. With the announcement of the new rules for the Horus Heresy, I was a little undecided as to whether to review the final few units published on Warhammer Community for the current rules set. I decided I'd do it for the sake of completeness as it would otherwise hang over me as being utterly incomplete otherwise and that would not sit easy with me. Rest assured that once the new rules come out, I will commence a new set of reviews under the new rules set - this will be a future grand endeavor though. 

Background.

As with other "chapters", there exists within the Ultramarines entirely dedicated squads who train for one purpose. The Nemesis chapter is once such sub-division and features primarily bolt guns rather than regular armaments for destroyer squads. Happily, these bolt guns come with experimental ammunition.

Strengths.

The "standard" ammo here is a Nemesis round. although S=4, they come with the Harrower rule which means that they inflict a leadership test as if they suffered 25% casualties. Moreover, wound rolls of 6 are resolved at AP=2. With assault 2, it is therefore likely that massed firepower could win the day here against many opponents. Rad grenades are the icing on the proverbial cake here and make a good unit into one of rather high quality to say the least.

Weaknesses. 

Very little other than being regular marines with a 3+ save and 1 wound!

Builds.

20 Nemesis Destroyers, 4 Rad Missile Launchers. Sergeant with Thunder Hammer. (460 points).

There's just something about massed firepower that I can't move past here!

10 Nemesis Destroyer, 2 Melta Guns, Melta Bombs, Sergeant with Power Fist and Artificer Armour. (270 points)

Take phosphex bombs to taste, and a rhino to get places. 

Horus Heresy New Edition Announcement

I am beyond thrilled to see the formal announcement and reveal of the new edition of the Horus Heresy. The theatrical trailer has just blown me away. I've watched it so many times that other members of the household are concerned for my on-going sanity. 

And then there's the miniatures. 

Superb levels of detail abound in the new "Beakie" power armour. Even putting to one side the sheer gorgeous sculpt, the dynamism is impressive and the little touched such as the trigger discipline is a pleasure to see. 

I'm very excited to see what the future holds for the Horus Heresy line! 

Dark Master Progress

It has been very slow progress to get to this point, but happy with the Dark Master Be'Lakor thus far. 

There are some fiddlesome bits to the build, to be clear. The most obvious being which left arm to select for the build. There are two left arms, and each requires a different chest. It is therefore vital to figure out which chest is required for which left arm -- this might not be totally obvious from the instructions, so always dry fit these two components in combination with each other before gluing into place. 

I personally like the details on the blade and around the face. This one is going to be great to paint up once I reach that stage. That said, I'm not looking forward to the chain mail armour parts or the chains in general - they always feel awkward to get looking right. Regardless, the miniature is a gorgeous build and it is easy to see why this particular kit has proven so popular. 

Horus Heresy Review: Fafnir Rann

Background.
There are a number of characters in the Horus Heresy who at first glance don't feel like they belong in their allocated legion and probably should have been recruited to a different one. I have a bit of a soft spot for these kind of flavorful characters who otherwise break the generic mold: Fafnir is one of them and in this case it is the Space Wolves rather than the Imperial Fists that he should probably have been allocated to. 

Fafnir earned the moniker of Dorn's executioner and was a superlative commander for the loyalist forces during the Siege. His tally was high and he was as effective on the offensive as the defensive, and known for his sheer mastery of using twinned axes and being able to swap to axe and shield when the situations called for it.

Strengths.

Not messing around here: Fafnir is a great close combat character. He has different attack profiles for using his twinned axes versus one axe and a shield (replacing the rampage rule with the shield master rule which give -1S to opponents as well as acting as a regular boarding shield - a really nice combination). The AP2 means Fafnir is deadly to almost any opponent short of Primarch and other notable commanders. 

The executioner's tax deserves a mention here as well for its uniqueness. Any unit charging against him suffers multiple S5 hits for doing so at I=10. Few in the game is able to replicate this kind of action realistically. 

The warlord trait of +1WS is just the icing on the cake for accompanying Breacher and Phalanx Warder squads, let along taking one as troops. As if that wasn't enough, he even gets hammer of wrath combined with a good stat line.

Weaknesses. 

I guess he hasn't got more than S=4 or T=4? 

Other than that, it is important to consider how you want to use him. He has the unusual option (outside of Night Lords) of taking a teleport transponder for 10 points -- this is a nice way of making use of him short of a land raider.

Overall.

Well worth the points: he can wreck squads with the right timing. But beware of massed incoming fire. 

Horus Heresy Review: Dominion Zephon

Background.

With his career in the Blood Angels cut short thanks to a Xenos blade, Zephon was sent to Terra as one of the Crusader Host. His new bionic limbs didn't integrate with his remaining flesh initially. Until Land himself too an interest in Zephon. Land fixed up his bionics just in time for the siege of Terra where he rejoined his legion whole heartedly.

Strengths.

Zephon is a Master of the Legion with everything that that brings with it. His warlord trait means that he chooses a destroyer squad as his own personal retinue and they all gain the chosen warrior rule. This is not very powerful, but fitting given the background of the character. 

Zephon's main strengths are in close combat. His AP2 S5 hits will cull many enemy squads, whilst his jump pack will mean his is more than a simple distraction -- he has the potential to insert himself (and his squad) just where needed and cause a lot of havoc. He comes with rad and melta bombs as standard, along with artificer armour and an iron halo.

Weaknesses.

Ranged weapons are not Zephon's strength here, although the 10inch range S5 gunslinger will do reasonably well before charging. Blind and Deflagrate are just the icing on the cake.

Overall. 

Zephon is a commander with a very specific style: close combat and destroyer squads. Take a good quality destroyer squad with jump packs and he is ready to cause mayhem wherever the controlling player wills it. He is a strong choice for the Blood Angel loyalists and will perform well for the points cost. There is no much not to like here, and candidly, I would dread playing against him since the rad grenades make things tricky. I'd probably be thinking of large vindicator pie plates or massed arms against him and his squad. But then again, he'd stand a chance of surviving and massacring whatever shot at him. Seriously: Zephon is a good choice for a particular Blood Angels style of play. 

Horus Heresy Review: Inner Circle Knights Cenobium - Order of the Broken Claws

Background.

Released alongside the Mortus Squad in the rules updates of legendary battles that the Warhammer Community is releasing, this Order are some of the remnants in the Dark Angels from the fights against the Rangdan. They are charged with guarding the victories of those fights and the relics that remain. Much like other Cenobites, they are a hidden order within the Dark Angels. 

Strengths.

Much like their brethren, this is a really good unit choice for 30k. I regard this unit as one of the best in the game - not from an efficiency point of view (but there is certainly a case there), but from a finely balanced point of view - they do what they do, and they are very good at it. 

Fundamentally these are terminators in cataphractii armour, with Terranic greatswords, and backed up with plasma-casters (that can overwatch too). Plonk them in a land raider, and go hammer opponents (literally). Coupled with Stubborn (at Ld=10), adamantium will, they can be arguably among the better terminators that any legion has to offer. This squad's specialism is big game hunting and anti-deamon crusading. And they are good at it. +1 to wound rolls are very welcome, and the +1 to vehicle damage is pretty amazing. 

Weaknesses.

The plasma-caster has a range of "only" 12 inches. The terminators therefore need transport to have maximum effect. They also only have 1 wound each, but the terminator armour makes up for this. 

Builds.

I only have 1 build for this unit, but I rather like it. 

5 Knights, 2 with thunder hammers, 2 with Advex-Mors Greatswords, Preceptor with grenade harness and Paragon Blade (307 points).

A nasty squad that is more than capable of downing monstrous enemies in close combat, as well as whittling them down using the plasma casters before charging. They also pose a threat to lighter vehicles. Take a land raider phobos or spartan to taste.