Unboxing: Iron Warriors Warsmith Terminator

A little something arrived in the post today: the newly released Iron Warriors Warsmith in Cataphractii Terminator armour! 

I thought readers might like to see the unboxing of this one.

The first image is of the outer shell of the box itself. For the curious, it measures 14cm tall by 9.5cm wide to the outer edges of the plastic shell. 

The forge world resin contents are shown in the second image. That graviton crusher hammer is absolutely almighty. The sheer size of it is bewildering. And probably spells contempt for any budding Imperial Fists. I don't quite know how taken I am with the side arm of the combi-grav, but for the sheer rule of cool I'm happy to pay the points cost!

I think my only gripe is that the striding version of the model with the hammer in both hands is a Warhammer World exclusive. That said, this one is still posed very nicely to survey the battlefield and lead from the front, so who am I to deny it is a beautiful miniature. Its certainly going to be leading my Iron Warriors going forward - once I assemble and paint it of course!

Wargames Gallery: Not Skalathrax

Skalathrax would be years later. Yet the shadow of the sorrowful breaking of the former legions could be seen in the height of the Heresy where the loyal World Eaters took vengeance against the traitorous Emperor's Children on an alien world for the right to plunder and re-supply the armories. Chain blade rattled against chain axe. Falax blades wove through phoenix spear. And no quarter was given. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Autilon Skorr

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5/5 stars. The original delegatus, and shining brightly in small points games in second edition!

Background.

Appearing in the scrolls of honour for the Great Crusade no fewer than seven times, Autilon was the go-to man when a brand new world needed to be brought to compliance. This frequently happened with a bit of chaos and one well placed round to the head. After the Heresy broke out, he failed at the debacle at Epsilon Stranivar IX, and was removed from Alpharius' side, sent to the outer rim to try to regain glory. 

Strengths.

If you are playing small points value games, the Delegatus consul is really amazing. He provides a way to bring Master of the Legion to such games and as such, I stand by my original rating for the Delegatus here as well. 

Autilon Skorr has some special rules in comparison to the standard delegatus. Once per battle, he can make a Ld teast at a value to 10 to rally all his troops (falling back, or pinned) that have line of sight to him. This is unique in the game pretty much and can be a game winner if played right in smaller points games. 

The ability to make a reaction at zero cost every turn (even if limited to a nominated phase before the game begins) is very strong. The Feel No Pain rule that gets better every turn is also powerful. 

Weaknesses.

His S=5 AP=2 axe is not so amazing except against mortal and mechanicum troops perhaps. But it'll still hurt where he needs it to. I'd suggest burying him in a big mob of Alpha Legion troops or elites (or perhaps snipers at a vantage point in the middle of the table) and act accordingly. 

Overall.

I really liked Autilon Skorr in first edition and played a lot of games at lower points values with him. He did very well. In second edition, his rules have been tweaked, but he is still a force to be reckoned with and worth the points values. Master of the Legion is invaluable at these levels and he is a great exponent of what is possible with this, alongside potentially game changing rules. Certainly a must-take for sub-1000 points games for the Alpha Legion commander! 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Nârik Dreygur

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 stars. The original Praevian returns under legacy units! 

Background.

Loyal to the Emperor now, but shattered on Isstvan and rebuilt with extensive augmetics. Dreygur survived but was tossed aside by Perturabo as any broken toy would be. Bereft of command he finally broke when the Alpha Legion nearly killed him later on and became a pseudo-Blackshield. He's complex. 

Strengths.

Dreyguy is a consul with a host of special rules above and beyond the typical Praevain in second edition. As well as being a master of the automaton, he gains some A and stubborn bonus when close to Cassian Reborn and can also be taken as a Blackshields marine rather than a loyalist Iron Warriors choice. 

He has a bunch of special equipment like his power fist that also contains haywire (very nice). The cortex controller and designator help a lot with mastering the robots around him whilst the refractor field and artificer armour makes him more survivable. 

Weaknesses.

This is not a long ranged character. Sure he has a master crafted pistol, but he really needs to be in close combat with some robots. Take some Vorax or Castellax to go with him, and get him to where you need him to be (which could be tricky). 

Overall.

Not bad overall, but a bit limited considering the wider builds possible with the Praevian consul overall. You need to get him in position and his robots to help him in close combat realistically to make the most of him. Otherwise, perhaps take a fortification where he can man some longer range weapon and simply use the power fits as a deterrent (a bit of a waste really). The ability to take those robots is great though and not to be wasted; whilst the ability to take him as a Blackshields should not be overlooked either!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Erasmus Golg

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.5/5 stars. Rounded up. Very reasonable, but stuck with a fixed warlord trait. 

Background.

A survivor of the newly found Primarch's decimation, Golg really didn't mind the brutality that much. In fact he embraced it. What he really did mind a whole lot was not being recognised for his talents. He never made it to the inner circle of Perturabo. And he is rather tetchy about it all the time. At his core, he's quite the bully. And on the battlefield too. 

Strengths.

W=4 is certainly a massive boon here. He acts as a praetor in cataphractii terminator armour and has all the pros and cons that you might otherwise associated with such armour. Interestingly he carries both a nuncio vox and an augury scanner, along with his amazing AP=2 and S=10 chain blade fist thing. 

He has a bunch of special rules including hammer of wrath (2), stubborn and relentless which are very reasonable. 

Weaknesses.

The choice of warlord trait is fixed as blood-handed. This is okay, but a choice would have obviously been better. The combi melta is excellent and makes him a massive danger to tanks in general. 

As a terminator, you will also have to think about how you will get him into position. There's a certain rite of war that springs to mind about terminators though (Pride of the Legion). 

Overall.

A very reasonable warlord choice for the Iron Warriors. What stands out here though is that he can be selected for both traitors and for loyalists alike. Hence if you have a terminator squad around him, then this is a warlord you are going to like a whole lot. Fundamentally, he's an anti-tank hero that can readily double up to be a massive melee threat as well. Little not to like other than the fixed trait. 

Second Half of World Eaters Assault Squad

They are brutal. Hardly cunning though. And there's chain axes, and big monster power maul. Plus red. Red everywhere. 

In particular, I like how the red had splattered nicely over one half of some of the models, including the torso and the beakie helmet. The dynamism in the squad is similarly pleasing with all the models looking like they are ready, willing, and able to carry out the Emperor's duty and forge compliance in the best way that they know how. Or perhaps the Warmaster's darker compliance. Either way, that's the squad of ten assault marines complete! Very pleased with this overall.