Formations in Horus Heresy?!

By now, I know that many readers will have already seen the Horus Heresy "formation" that has been published on to the Facebook group of Games Workshop Halle (Germany).

There is some excitement over this as, if it proves to be true, represents a number of interesting developments for the Horus Heresy. Firstly, and most obviously, it shows that 30k is going down the 40k route. I'm a little uneasy about this personally, as I think that the way that Forge World are pulling off 30k is fine as it is and does not require formations to spice it up. Indeed, being a very old timer, I remember that formations were originally introduced via Apocalypse. From there, they appear to have leaked directly in to mainstream 40k. I don't actually like a number of the formations in the current meta-game for 40k as I think they're a bit broken (too many freebies for too little effort -- particularly in certain space marine demi companies, for instance). I much prefer the formation-free approach (the "classic" approach) that 30k has taken with basic army lists and everything priced very fairly. This move seems to be GW encroaching on territory.

It also is suggestive that this might be part of a bigger 30k publication of formations that might be coming out soon. Or perhaps part of a campaign.

Alternatively, it could simply be just an in-store campaign.

The one thing that strikes me is some of the discrepant language used in the publication.
Not only are they using "Praetor" (a 30k term), but they are using 40k specifics as well.
Read down to the bottom of the image and they use the term "Chapter" (usually associated with 40k, but some evidence of that in 30k as well).
The artwork is very 40k, having been used numerous times in the past.
The headings and margin artwork is highly 40k.

So what is going on here?
I'm going to say "in house rules" for a GW campaign. Happy to be proven wrong as always though! I wouldn't mind a full publication based on 30k. But I want FW to publish it, not GW. But I'm biased :)

Legion Bundles with Betrayal at Calth

Following on from yesterday's post, the Forge World tease was about the new bundles that it is releasing. In brief, they contain the Betrayal at Calth board game, plus enough components in resin to convert the 30 space marines in Mark IV armour to one of the legions (i.e. shoulder pads, helmets and torsos). There's a few other bundles featuring armoured upgrades, but the main part of them are the legions (minus Thousand Sons, and Space Wolves, of course).

Each of the main bundles costs GBP225. Is it worth it?

The main board game is GBP95.
Each torso plus helmet plus shoulder pad set of 10 is GBP44. Three lots of these would therefore be GBP132.
Hence this represents a saving of 2 pounds over the normal price.

Alternatively, we could price is as GBP11.50 for a set of 5 torsos. Hence that's GBP69 for 30.
Three lots of helmets at GBP11.50 for 10 comes out at GBP34.50 for 30.
And then there's three lots of shoulder pads at GBP10 each, or GBP30 for 30.
That is GBP228.50 in total. A saving of 3.50 pounds for the bundle.

Hence there is a price saving, but its not very significant - some one per cent.

Tomorrow, your allegiance will be tested

In an email from Forge World just moments ago, an excellent graphic of (what seems to be Isstvan V) legionaries fighting across a ruined city dropped.

Alongside the graphic came the words:

"Tomorrow, your allegiance will be tested" as the email's title, and then in the substance of the email:
"Traitor or Loyalist, your Legion awaits."
"Betrayal is just the beginning…"
"Saturday 7th November 2015  10:30AM".

Anyone know what's happening? What is this teaser about? I'm stumped!

Horus Heresy Review: Ceratus Knight-Lancer

Background. 
Combining speed, agility and a certain amount of grace (well, at least as much as a Knight class chassis can manage), the Ceratus is a bit of a departure from the other Knights in terms of both its height, configuration and purpose on the battlefield.

Strengths.
The shooting attack from the lance of the Ceratus has a concussive component that is excellent against large targets like monstrous creatures. In close combat it also gains a bonus to initiative which is a slight edge over other D class weapons regularly toted by other Knights.

Again in close combat, the Ceratus gains an invulnerable save. This means that this Knight wants to get in to close combat as soon as possible and start to slay things. With a penalty of -1 to other superheavy walkers to hit it, this is a knight that can certainly go toe to toe with enemy knights and come off better.

Weaknesses.
It is necessary to remember that the lance does not have a pie plate associated with it, unlike certain other knights. It is heavy 6 though, which makes it nice in form of compensation. Yet still rather short range.

Builds.
There's not too many options here, so I would go for the basic naked knight for 400 points. In terms of household ranks, I would certainly be thinking of the HQ Seneschal. Although other options might be nice, I would only use them if I had another HQ already selected (which presumably would be a second Ceratus Knight-Lancer in the army list!). In that case, I could be tempted to give a second Ceratus the Aucteller rank. An Arbalester could also be tempting in a pinch too.

Horus Heresy Review: Questoris Knight Styrix

Background. 
For some Houses, the Styrix is a blood lusting machine whose only concern is the death of infantry. In some eyes, this makes them less "worthy" of the title of Knight. But not in all cases. I'm sure the Night Lords would eagerly serve alongside them. Enough said.

Strengths.
There is a clear synergy between the weapons here. The graviton gun is excellent at getting to grips with any type of infantry (whilst potentially doubling up for tank duties), trapping them whilst the volkite chieorovile (and potentially the rad cleanser) mop up the poor survivors.

The only real question here is whether to swap out the Hekaton siege claw for the rad cleanser. This is a big choice as it means giving up a class D melee weapon. Equally, the wrecker rule is not doing much here as this is clearly an anti-infantry Knight.

Weaknesses.
Being so very highly tuned to an anti-infantry rule, one cannot help but think that there are better units out there to deal with infantry. At worst, there are pie plates from other weapons and other classes of Knight that could double up for this duty. It is also one of the pricier knights overall.

Builds.
There are only two choices here: whether to swap out the D class melee weapon for a rad cleanser, and whether to take the ocular augmetics or not. I'm on the fence for the former, it could be really a good idea to take the rad cleanser if one can get close. The lack of torrent is a pain though. The ocular augmetics are okay.

Hence my favoured build here is probably to keep the basic knight (405 points).

In terms of Household Ranks, I would contend that the Preceptor is probably just about the most appropriate for this Knight. I could also see it as being an Arbelaster as well as a Seneschal HQ choice. Then again, it would do as a simple troops choice as well to be fair.

Hirst Arts: Cracked Floor Tiles

Digging through the collection, I upturned my old Hirst Arts moulds. Happy Accidents! So this weekend, my daughters and I got together and made some castings. I decided that I needed to do some castings to help with basing some of my current miniature projects that I've got on the go - especially the Alpha Legion 30k army that I've been working on and off with for most of this year. 

If you have not come across Hirst Arts before, then I'd thoroughly encourage you to check out their web site. In brief, the company retails latex moulds from which the hobbyist can cast their own pieces. Its a bit like making lego blocks to be honest. You can see some of my earlier efforts with these pieces in earlier posts where I create a fieldstone bridge as well as some buildings. 

This particular mould that I've got pictured here is the cracked floor tiles (mould number 203 in their catalogue). We used only simple modelling plaster for these. The main problem encountered here was the air bubbles that you can see pictured in the resultant tiles to the side of the mould in the picture. I've clearly forgotten some of my earlier techniques ("wet" water usage, as well as the continuous tapping to move the bubbles to the surface). Moreover, the mixture was not quite optimal as it probably had too much plaster powder contained in it -- its slightly over dense compared to what I've been able to cast in the distant past. I really must get around to trying out some dental grade plaster. Regardless, my daughters and I had a lot of fun creating these. And they will no doubt get a kick out of painting them and using in craft projects of their own! I will be using these in basing, probably sliced up a little bit too (which will render the air bubbles not such a great issue) and gluing them on bases as part of my growing 30k force.