Liber Mechanicum Reveal

In a word: impressed. The Liber Mechanicum preview revealed today promises the return of many of the favorite 30k units alongside the Knights and Titans that we have grown to love over many years. 

As would be expected, the Mechanicum can be found on either side of the Horus Heresy conflict, and in great numbers. I am delighted to see the contents of the book has retained almost all of what I was wanting to see out of it, alongside what appears to be tasty new rules for advanced reactions for the sects and warlord traits to boot. I think this will be another "must have" for me personally!

Age of Darkness Roadmap

One of the things that I really appreciate as a member of a number of fandoms is when the creators put out roadmaps of the immediate and intermediate future. Games Workshop has done just this today for the Age of Darkness and 2nd Edition Horus Heresy (by the way: we're all calling it 2nd edition now, right?). 

Although this road map is only illustrating the very immediate future, it does seem it is bright! The next couple of black book codex type releases are confirmed (Mechanicum, as well as Forces of the Emperor), alongside multiple downloads that will be available.

While I am somewhat sad that Daemons will not be getting the physical copy treatment, it is great that they are not being ignored either. I think this side of the Horus Heresy has been under-used in the first edition outside of certain army builds with the Word Bearers and narrative campaigns with the Blood Angels. 

The news that certain older models that will no longer be produced by Forge World will still be supported is similarly good news here and one that I certainly applaud. I only wish the list was a little bit longer, with some more estimates and predictions of what we might expect for the rest of the calendar year, and perhaps a rough idea of what 2023 might bring. Otherwise, this is great news and bodes well for the future of the game!

Painted Mor Deythan 6/6

The final member of the squad is a kneeling melta gun toting battle brother. For this marine, I've gone slightly further with the dust and mud on the greaves than some of the previous entries in this series. I think it has paid off since it really starts to show a marine who has been adopting this shooting position regularly on the sands of some forgotten place (maybe the Dropsite Massacre at Isstvan - and yet, I know in the canon it is meant to be black sand, but artistic liberty takes precedent here). 

Very happy with how this marine turned out, including the heat flare on the tip of the melta gun - this looks a lot more natural than some of the previous efforts. The eye lenses are also right here with the red as the base colour, orange for accent, and a slight dot of white in the corner. Highlighting has also worked well along the edges of the white panels (e.g., the hand) and the overall effect is very sound. 

30k Pre-Orders Available

In case anyone is just waking up, the new 30k Pre-Orders are available from Games Workshop right now.

I managed to get in, but there is a queue system in place, and check outs must be completed within 10 mins of logging in, which is a bit of a mad panic if you also want to think about paints, and have lost your password or similar. 

Naturally, I've ordered the new boxed set along with the army rules. Warpstone Flux will be providing a thorough, in depth review of the units contained within the new rules. We will not be rushing this to beat other people out as we will do this in significant depth as we have with the first edition and therefore re-establish this blog as one of the preeminent deep thought resources for the Horus Heresy game available. We look forward to more interactions with you in due course on this front!

Painted Mor Deythan 5/6

The kneeling position of these marines is a good "innovation" for the game in my opinion. There are now several kneeling legs available throughout the miniature range and they interact well with the rules at a fundamental level whilst also providing some realism. That said, I think there would be complaints if all miniatures in an army adopted such a position and maybe rightly so?

This battle brother is adopting the kneeling position on top of a base constructed from cork to give it a bit of extra height and to counteract some of the negative views that can arise from folks using kneeling positions within the game. The extra height gives the miniature a better view, and also makes him as vulnerable as many others within the game. The painting here follows the pattern already established, and I'm happy at how the Raven Guard iconography stands out on the shin and the helmet thanks to the grimy recesses that have been employed here. The edging also helps to pick out the armour on the wrists and shoulders nicely - both for the black and the white colours. The dust of the base ties it together as the final touch. 

Painted Mor Deythan 4/6

Nominally the squad sergeant, this Mor Deythan model goes without a helm, presumably lost much earlier in the drop site massacre that he and his squad are desperately attempting to survive. 

The main feature that I wanted to try to get looking good here are the eyes - looking slightly downward as if evaluating the terrain or scanning the dead body of a traitor they've just eliminated. I think I've got the look just about right to my mind, but there's a slight concern about the iris size here. Think I have just about got away with it. Otherwise, the painting follows the previously outlined approach with the blacks and whites, coupled with the heat colours at the tip of the Melta gun, as well as the general dusty look that has been applied to the feet, cape, and greaves. A nice addition to the squad overall!