Horus Heresy Review: Calas Typhon

Once a librarian in the Death Guard, and also one of the first in his legion to succumb to chaos, Typhon would eventually become Typhus the Traveller. But in the crusade and heresy era, Typhon is the master of chemical death, embodying the deathly chemical war traits that the Death Guard became synonymous with.

Typhon is one of the pricier sub-commanders available in Massacre - coming in more costly than Kharn or Eidolon. He is equipped in some ways like a Grave Warden terminator, but also carries a master crafted death shroud power scythe.

In addition to this, he has the power to call down a chemical bombardment since he is the master of the Terminus Est. A large blast with poison and no cover saves is a great wound inflictor, but a different beast to a regular blast. Hence he gets Ordnance 3 to make up for this.

Finally, he also has "Witch Blood". This means he is a low level psyker. The only issue is that he cannot use his abilities on the battlefield if Mortarion is also present before the primarch's fall to chaos.

Is he worth the points in comparison to a praetor with terminator armour? Possibly. I think the combination of being a psyker coupled with the orbital bombardment just about cuts it to an even level between the two points wise.

Tactically, I think Typhon wants to be getting in to combat later on in the game, after calling down his bombardment. His access to telepathy should help with this. I would think he would want to be with other Death Guard terminators (Grave Wardens or Deathshroud terminators) but could be equally effective with a large blob of regular tactical squad troopers who are footslogging across the board. And moreover, he is also a very fluffy choice for a traitor player (he cannot be selected by the loyalist side after Isstvan) that can inspire dread in an opponent due to his fame in 40k. But he doesn't get any plague zombies of his own to command here!

Horus Heresy Review: Grave Warden Terminator Squad

Carrying the foulest of Terminus' Est's armouries, the Grave Wardens are Nurgle Terminators in all but name and toughness bonuses.

All of them are armed with an impressive array of weapons. Not only do they have power fists as standard, but they also have the Death Cloud (a toxic template weapon that ignores cover) and an assault grenade launcher.

It is important to note that all of these weapons have a short range -- 18" in the case of the grenade launcher. Hence the Grave Wardens are fundamentally a close combat squad and therefore need to be on board a land raider phobos or spartan for maximum effect (not withstanding any Orbital Assault rite of War). That said, I feel these terminators can take on most things in the game and come out smelling of … yuck.

Upgrade wise, the chain fists are attractive for maximum damage potential against all types of units in the game. The heavy flamer with chem munitions is attractive, but might be overkill. The combi-weapon for the chem-master is a nice choice and could conceivably be either a melta or flamer component (which in turn could also be given chem munitions as well). More members is also a good option, particularly for a land raider spartan.

Here are a pair of potential builds.

5 Grave Wardens, 2 chain fists (210 points)
Probably the baseline build here, but still very effective so long as they get in to the optimum position. Highly points effective too.

10 Grave Wardens, 2 heavy flamers with chem-munitions, chem master with combi-melta, 4 chain fists (415 points)
A large squad for a land raider spartan. This can take on anything in the game technically.

Horus Heresy Review: The Kakophoni

In short, the Kakophoni are the early iteration of noise marines with psycho-sonic weaponry. But instead of the 40k Salvo style sonic blasters, they have the Cacophony -- effectively a heavy 1 weapon instead.

But the bonus in 30k is that these guys have a special rule called bio-psychic shock. In short, if you cause wounds on your target, the target must take an Ld test modified by the number of wounds caused. Failure indicates more wounds that have AP2 and instant death. Hence the optimal tactica with Kakophoni is to have a large squad of them to ensure the maximum possible hits, the maximum possible Ld modifier, and hence the maximum amount of damage. A large squad of these marines can readily take down squads of enemies with some good die rolls.

The only real upgrades available are for the Orchestrator (squad sergeant). Given their sonic shriekers, I think a power weapon is probably the optimal choice, but can also see that a power fist hidden in a larger squad might be beneficial.

I'd suggest a build along the lines of this:

10 Kakophoni, Orchestrator with power weapon and artificer armour (265 points)
A back field unit with sufficient range to take out enemy infantry squads. Place in cover, or take a rhino and drive closer to your target before unleashing that bio-psychic shock!

Alternatively, a slightly smaller squad drop-podded in to the enemy would also be a nice way to deploy them. So perhaps:

6 Kakophoni, Orchestrator with power fist, artificer armour, melta bombs (195 points)
A squad to drop pod in with Orbital Assault rite of war and take down some light tanks and their contents.

Horus Heresy Review: Lord Commander Eidolon

As skilled as he is arrogant, Eidolon is almost everything that one might expect of a lord commander of the Emperor's Children.

The first thing to note is that Eidolon has a force multiplier ability for his warlord trait: +1 to charge distances within a bubble of 12" is an excellent addition to the Emperor's Children, and can be combined with other bonuses to make his Legion particularly rapid on the battlefield.

Not withstanding his archeotech pistol, Eidolon has subjected himself to the attentions of Fabius Bile and as such has a template weapon than can pin and rend -- but only once per battle.

Naturally, he is also only available to the traitors.

But the real stand out thing is his ability to ignore the cumbersome effect of his master-crafted thunder hammer on the charge. This means that whatever role you choose for this HQ, he should ideally be getting the charge in when he goes. So, we should be tactically thinking about placing him in a land raider phobos or spartan along with some honour guard or terminator squad to make best use of his excellent close combat abilities.

His points cost is moderately high, but, I think, justifiable. And he will certainly live a while to tell the tale on the battle field. But he's certainly vulnerable to characters like Kharn wielding gore child, so his use (as with much of the Emperor's Children) has to be highly tactical.

Horus Heresy Review: Phoenix Terminator Squad

Terminators locked in to the quest for perfection within the Emperor's Children legion, these individuals are the elite of the elite.

They come armed as standard with phoenix spears. These unique weapons are reminiscent of power lances in the sense that they gain a nice upgrade (+1S, AP2) on the turn that the unit charges in to melee. Otherwise, they function as power weapons. Hence the deployment of these units necessitates getting the charge on an opponent rather than being charged. As such, they are vulnerable to enemy terminators who can guarantee AP2 all the time, as well as other enemies with "hidden" power fists and the like. Therefore, I cannot underscore enough that this unit must be taken with a land raider phobos or spartan to ensure such an eventuality. Otherwise they are expensive points sinks that might act as little more than meat shields for Fulgrim.

I think there are at least two build that merit consideration.

5 Phoenix terminators, Champion with grenade harness (275 points)
I think that this is the baseline unit to charge out of a land raider phobos. Ensure you get the charge. And even if its drawn, you still win thanks to the unit's living icon special rule.

10 Phoenix terminators, Champion with grenade harness, all with sonic shriekers (490 points)
This is the maxed out squad! Place in a land raider spartan and go forth!  Its worth noting here (again) that the Horus Heresy sourcebooks encourage large units and this can readily be seen here with the ability to upgrade the entire squad with sonic shriekers for a set price (rather than per terminator). 

Horus Heresy Review: Kharn The Bloody

Before he was the Betrayer, he was a voice of reason: a calming influence on Angron, and a skilled duellist. After Angron slew most of the other senior officers on rediscovery, it was Kharn alone (as a mere line captain) who talked him around.

In the game, Kharn can be taken either with the Cutter (an AP 3 weapon) or with Gorechild (a better option, but costs more and only available so long as Angron is not also on the board). Naturally, Kharn can only be selected as a traitor in any narrative that follows the canon course of events.

His points cost is comparable to a well armed and armoured Praetor. But more than that, his WS is excellent and he also has the boons of Rampage in addition to an invulnerable save and his plasma pistol. Coupled with the World Eaters special rules, Kharn is an excellent beat stick in close combat and will be able to take on most infantry in the game (more so with gore child in his hands). Plus, he is an incredibly fluffy choice for any World Eaters army before, during or after the Isstvan campaign. Hence, even if one thinks that the points cost is a fraction too high, I think people will still take Kharn for the name and his ability to inspire fear in the enemies ranks (figuratively speaking).