Horus Heresy Review: Sicaran Venator Tank Destroyer

This variant of the Sicaran Battle Tank is a tank destroyer, as might be summized from the name. And significantly, it actually does what its name suggests it should!

The main weapon of the tank is one of the best of its class in the game: a S10, AP1 neutron laser beam that is Ordnance 2. Alone, this is going to cause some serious level of impact on many tanks in the game. But its use is not just limited to this. With the "Shock Pulse" rule, the neutron laser beam can cause any tank it scores a penetrating hit on to only be able to take snap shots the next turn.

I really cannot underscore enough what an incredible effect this is. Really. If you manage to get a penetration on any tank -- including any super heavy that you like -- they can only snap shot the next turn. Hence even if you don't destroy a target tank, it is entirely possible to take them out of play (effectively) in terms of shooting for an entire turn. This is absolutely amazing in Warhammer 40,000 and I don't know of another example like it anywhere. It can absolutely ruin an opponent's day and hand an super heavy a crushing negative effect that cannot really be countered in any concrete way (correct me if I'm wrong on that, please).

In terms of builds, there are options to add on side sponsons, but given the main weapon is an ordnance weapon, this probably isn't such a good idea unless we want to provide an alternative "weapon destroyed" result. The other upgrades are situational, but okay.

Here are a couple of example builds to think about.

Sicaran Venator Tank Destroyer (190 points)
The naked version to spoil a super-heavy's day. Take a Hunter-Killer missile to taste.

Sicaran Venator Tank Destroyer, Armoured Ceramite (210 points)
This is probably about as much upgrading as one wants to do, and is purely defensive.

Sicaran Venator Tank Destroyer, Armoured, Ceramite, Heavy Bolter Sponsons, Auxilliary Drive, Dozer Blade (245 points)
Probably too many upgrades here to be honest, but placed here as an illustration of the kinds of upgrades that can be possible for this tank.

Horus Heresy Review: Achilles-Alpha Pattern Land Raider

There are many similarities with this unit to the Achilles Land Raider that shares its name.

It has a transport capacity, it is what you'd expect from a land raider with AV14 all around, and so forth.

On the front, it is a little bit different, mounting a quad mortar, and it also exhibits volkite culverins on its side sponsons (twin linked).

The main draw back here, in my opinion, is that we can only take a single Achilles-Alpha for the unit composition. For the land raiders, recall that we can take 1-3 in a single unit to make up a full squadron.

I'm not entirely sold on the loss of the meltas either - the quad mortar will certainly be nice against horde armies (Orks, Tyranids, etc.), but against mechanised space marines of the Heresy era, I'd much sooner have the meltas.

The only major benefit here is the ability to re-roll dangerous terrain checks and the enhanced ferromagnetic rites that have been applied.

Overall, I'm therefore not that sold on this unit. I think I'd prefer to run a regular land raider squadron and take the base line Achilles. But that's just my opinion. 

Horus Heresy Review: Legion Fire Raptor Gunship

This is a variant of the Storm Eagle Gunship. And it makes the Storm Eagle seem unworthy of the title "Gunship" to be perfectly honest!

At its base, this gunship is AV12 all around with a nice 4 hull points for durability. Although it is vulnerable to dedicated anti-aircraft fire, it is one that will be likely to hang around.

The really amazing thing about this unit from my perspective is the sheer amount of weaponry that it holds -- even without upgrading it.

Let me give just a brief overview of what this gunship is capable of shooting off every single turn:

(a) Seven S6 AP3 shots (twin linked);
(b) Twelves S5 AP4 shots (also twin linked);
(c) One shots: Four S6 AP4 sundering shots.

I really think that this is an incredible amount of firepower for the price tag. Indeed, I don't know why we're not seeing plenty of Fire Raptors on every gaming table! Probably the model cost in real life, I suspect.

There are a number of upgrades possible as well. A reaper auto cannon battery can be taken, reducing the number of shots in (a) above, but increasing to S7. This is probably not worth it (arguably) as the AP3 at lower strength is going to be more valuable in Heresy era gaming (and in 40k as well, I'd wager).

Armoured ceramite is usually a given for ground based tanks, but for fliers, I just don't know. It kind of depends on whether we are thinking melta guns are going to get in range, or lance weapons are going to be an issue. This could, therefore, be skipped without too much risk I would contend.

A search light is always nice - and certainly cheap. But given that most points costs are done in multiples of 5's these days, we'd probably be wasting 4 points (unless we have similar upgrades available elsewhere!). It could always be valuable against Night Lords, of course.

The hell strike missiles depend on taste to some extent. I do like the basic tempest rockets, but can certainly see why one might wish to upgrade.

Add in to that mix that it can do a strafing run (BS5) as well as fire at different targets and the bolt like weapons don't contribute to the amount of weapons that can be fired per turn, and we're looking at an excellent unit here.

Overall, I would think that the baseline unit is therefore completely viable. But more than that: this unit is really a very powerful one. I'm totally surprised we don't see more of them - they are really rather good.

Horus Heresy Review: Legion Kharybdis Assault Claw

Primarily, this is a ship to ship assault vehicle, delivering its cargo to where its needed by burning its way in through metres of bulkhead and outer spaceship layers.

The (not upgradable) price of the Kharybdis places it as equal or slightly more expense than a land raider. Is it worth such a price tag though?  Well, despite the AV13 all around, it does feature an impressive 5 hull points.

But the primary reason for taking it is probably going to be the ability to take a whopping 20 space marines on board. This is a full tactical squad - all ready to be placed in to position and even use Fury of the Legion when they arrive (perhaps).

In terms of weapons, it has the heat blast and fire sweeping ability that the Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pod does, but in addition, has five "storm launchers". In short, they're S6 heavy 2 and twin linked. These are significant and can provide a half decent amount of fire power for the legion for the price of the assault claw. To be clear: its not a game winner in itself, but can certainly add to the firepower of anything it is transporting.

Finally, it also has frag launchers as well as a "melta ram" ability that provides it with a good amount of tactical flexibility.

I primarily see its use as one of two things:
(i) to get a 20 man squad in to a certain position and let them open fire on turn one. This could work very nicely for tactical squads, but also for smaller sized tactical support squads armed with meltas or plasma guns. Or even volkites - which could be very nasty at short range against hordes!
(ii) getting a close combat orientated squad in to position to charge in on turn 2. Squads of ten strong terminators are an obvious choice here!

Horus Heresy Review: Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pod

The Dreadclaw provides the rest of the legions access to a flying drop pod that was previously (in Betrayal) only available to the Sons of Horus in the form of the Dreadclaw Drop Pod itself. The key difference is a lack of frag launchers here.

For a nice baseline cost of 100 points, the Anvillus pattern gives the legions a pod that has not only the usual drop pod assault, but a decent heat blast for a S6 no cover saves hit in a modest radius (or in a line if its moving).

Their capacity is typical for drop pods, but they can also hold contemptor dreadnoughts if the orbital assault rite of war has been selected. Regular dreadnoughts are no problem though.

I'm not sure what else to write about this unit to be honest. There are no upgrades available and its a pretty standard drop pod transport in 30k that I'm sure will see some play by certain legions and certain styles of play. Other than that, it will be shunned by legions that prefer full-on tanks, or slogging it across the battlefield. Enough said really. 

Unboxing a Contemptor Missile Pod

Although the box is labelled as a contemptor pattern missile pod, in 30k, this will be treated as a havoc launcher for contemptor talons, or contemptor-mortis dreadnoughts. It is broadly a popular choice for fire power based contemptors as it can add an extra layer of firepower to ensure that enemy units are whittled down before they can pose a serious threat.

Alternatively, they can provide a contemptor that has two dreadnought close combat weapons with some extra firepower that is able to soften up an enemy unit prior to the dreadnought charging at it. 

The image displays the contents of the missile launchers straight out of the box.

There are two sprues contained within. The upper one are the two upper covers for the missile launchers which sit either side of the bit / sensor array that sits directly on the centre of the model. 

The lower sprue consists of (Left to Right): missile pod, a contemptor head, the central bit / sensor array, and the second missile pod.

To put them together, its simply a case of gluing the missile pods to the central bit / sensor array and applying the upper covers to the pods. The head can be used as a direct swap for other contemptor heads and features a zoom-in telescopic augmetic fitted over the eye. In all, very simple to put together, but perhaps needing some hot water to slightly re-shape the upper covers if necessary.