Horus Heresy 2e Review: Blackshields Oath: Panoply of Old

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. The rules are sound. 

Background.

These blackshields have carried across some specialist equipment from their old legion. Perhaps it gives them meaning. Perhaps they're just tools. 

Rules Evaluation. 

Choose your legion and gain access to their unique wargear options. I like this option, but it really depends on which legion you choose. Get those chain axes from the World Eaters perhaps? Or the power daggers from the Alpha Legion might be a good character option for you for that extra close combat attack. 

Combinatoric Analysis. 

The Eternal Vendetta: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. Works well thematically for me. But the Vendetta rule is weak on its own and you might go for something else. But perhaps you're using the weapons of your old legion against them. Very fluffy if you ask me. 

Panoply of Old: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. Take more than one legion to borrow from for your blackshields! I'm not sure how characterful this can be, but it is a reasonable option. 

Only in Death Does Duty End: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. This goes really well thematically to my mind.

The Spoils of Victory: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. This works to some extent and in combination is a good option. 

 

An Eternity of War: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. This goes really well!

The Flesh is Weak: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. Full stars if you have chosen Iron Hands for both. 2/5 stars for almost any other legion combination to be honest. 

The Legacy of Nikaea: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. Full stars if you choose something fluffy like Dark Angels, White Scars, Blood Angels, or Thousand Sons. Less so for other legions. 

The Broken Helix: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. I do like this, but for me it only works well if you're thinking Raven Guard, or similar. 

In Disgrace All Are Equal: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. A reasonable choice. 

Pride is our Armour: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. Middle of the road combination for me once again.

The Taint of the Xenos: ⭐️⭐️. 2/5 stars. Tough to decide how I feel about this combination. You've already got a legion, and you're topping it up with weapons from xenos. I don't like this. 

The Weapons of Desperation: ⭐️⭐️. 2/5 stars. Doesn't work for me - you've got weapons, but you're also desperate. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Blackshields Oath: The Eternal Vendetta

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️

2/5 stars. They're actually good rules, but their applicability is limited. 

Background.

These blackshields despise a particular legion and seek nothing more than their elimination from history. And the future. The present too. 

Rules Evaluation. 

Choose a legion and then gain +1 to hit with close combat weapons against them. You have to declare a charge against this target if you can, and can't be in any allied detachment as them. This is a nice advantage and can be quite critical against your selected legion. But you simply don't know if you're going to be facing them or not, and therefore selection of this oath will likely have very limited applicability to the more competitive players. Therefore this is one for the narrative players mainly (but not exclusively). 

Combinatoric Analysis. 

The Eternal Vendetta: ⭐️⭐️. 2/5 stars. If you hate one legion, why not double your chances by taking a second hated legion? Or perhaps there's a combination here that makes sense like not like the sneaky ones (Night Lords and Raven Guard), or the psychic ones (Thousand Sons and Blood Angels), or similarly themed?

Panoply of Old: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. Take the same legion for laughs? You're using their weapons against them, despite being one of them. You must really despise them. Or perhaps you're from a legion that simply won't ally with them ordinarily anyway (Alpha Legion and World Eaters combination?). 

Only in Death Does Duty End: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. This goes really well thematically and on the battlefield, as well as makes up for the limited applicability. 

The Spoils of Victory:⭐️. 1/5 stars. Doesn't work thematically for me very well, but I can see some narrative here.
 

An Eternity of War: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. This goes really well!

The Flesh is Weak: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. I like the notion of some Iron Hands or Iron Warriors who have gone too far done the bionic replacement path also hating their parent legions. 

The Legacy of Nikaea: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. I also like the idea of Thousand Sons haters wielding psychic powers against them. Just deserts and all. 

The Broken Helix: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. Going along with the narrative a bit further, I like the idea of abandoned Raven Guard mutants hating their parent legion so much that they have a vendetta against them. Perhaps mutated Word Bearers as well. Cloned Emperors Children too?

In Disgrace All Are Equal: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. I like this combination - a group of rogues seeking vendetta against a legion bound together by common cause. 

Pride is our Armour: ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 3/5 stars. Middle of the road combination for me.

The Taint of the Xenos: ⭐️⭐️. 2/5 stars. Not sure what the theme would be here. You're taking up arms against your hated legion ... from Eldar? From a necron tomb? Perhaps would be good for Iron Hands in a necron tomb? Not really sure. 

The Weapons of Desperation: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. 4/5 stars. This goes really well for me!

Dreadtober 2024: Leviathan based coated in World Eaters colours

Dreadtober continues! Progress has now included applying the base coat to the Leviathan dreadnought to bring out the legion identity! As can be seen, I've settled on World Eaters here. 

In addition to the base coat of blues, whites, and iron, I have also started to pick out the recesses using Guilliman flesh. This is deliberately sloppy in application. As well as going into the recesses of the armour, there's also a stain around these recesses which will accentuate the dirty / "in action" vibe that I'm aiming for with this miniature. 

The next step will be to get some World Eaters decals in place before progressing to some edge highlights and other fun stuff. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Blackshields Warlord Traits

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. Average rules.

Bloody Tyrant.

The first of the three special warlord traits available to the Blackshields. This one is for those marines who decided to try to grab at their own kingdoms for themselves and rule through fear. 

The warlord gains fear (1) which affects everyone - even models on his own side. If they fall back or are pinned, then the Tyrant just (presumably) shoots one of them, and no further effects are felt as that miniature is removed from the board. This one is flavourful, but also self-defeating I think! The additional assault reaction is okay but not enough to offset my thoughts about not really wanting to use it.

Forgotten Hero. 

This is for the idealists who could not stomach what their parent legions were doing during the Heresy - on either side. 

If the warlord is allocated a wound (regardless of it being saved) from shooting, then the unit gains WS+1 and S+1 until they charge for the next close combat. I think this is very good, but it risks the warlord's entire unit being targeted in order to remove them rather than activate this bonus I think. The shooting reaction is good enough. 

Twisted Strategist. 

For those who operate from the shadows, or otherwise have twisted motives / trying to fulfil a prophecy / chase a plot maguffin. 

The warlord grants one special rule per turn to one of his units. This could be shrouded, rampage, counter attack, or precision shots. Each is nice in its own way, but not overly powerful, and is further restricted in that each rule can only be used once at the right moment. The movement reaction bonus is excellent. I really like this warlord trait a whole lot. But I also like the Alpha Legion, so what would I know.

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Blackshields Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Rounded down. We begin our reviews of the Battle for Beta-Garmon with the best faction: the blackshields and their rules!

Background.

The Blackshields are marines that have undergone a schism with their parent legions. There is no singular cause for this, but rather it represents a major crisis of faith within the established legions. 

The book describes four major types of Blackshield forces. 

Many are simply Renegades. They have forsaken their legions and their Primarchs, but are not simply loyalist World Eaters or traitor Dark Angels. They're something else entirely having got rid of their previous alignments. 

Marauders are those marines who are simply self interested. Unlike renegades who fight for either side, the marauders are in it for themselves and act as pirates and raiders. 

Atavists are strange marines who have reverted to the Great Crusade and have blank grey armour to pursue compliance in the outer reaches of the Galaxy. They're rare and strange, and still fighting to create a unified Imperium like the original plan was supposed to be.

Finally there's the Damned. These marines have taken up previously forbidden weapons, machinery, psychic practices, artificial intelligence, or deliberate mutation (perhaps by cloning). Its all going to end in tears for these marines, but in the mean time, they're going to leave very little left for either side of the conflict!

Special Rules. 

All marines have the special rule of Legiones Astartes (Blackshields) which means that they are their own faction. 

Beholden to None means that Blackshields count as both Loyalist and Traitor - at the same time - when they are the primary detachment. As an ally, they have the same allegiance as the primary detachment. But they count as distrusted allies (and count everyone else as the same). And you can't play them alongside agents of the Emperor or Warmaster either. So forget using Sisters alongside them (drat). This is very flavorful and flexible in my view. 

A Terrible Purpose gives access to the Oaths of Vengeance and Wrath which replace rites of war entirely. Courage of Conviction sees them have access to special warlord traits that they may choose if desired. Although I don't like losing rites of war, the Oaths are superlative! More on them in the near future I hope.

No Lords, No Masters.
This is the Blackshields advanced reaction. When you get charged by an enemy that consists of a Primarch, a Unique unit sub-type (i.e., named character!), someone with Master of the Legion, or the enemy Warlord, you can activate this reaction to gain fearless, A+1 against characters, or A+2 if you are facing a unique unit. This is reasonable without being outrageous and might plausibly keep you alive a little longer than you would do so otherwise. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Clade Vanus Infocyte Assassin

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️

1.5/5 stars. Rounded down. Doesn't work for me. 

Background.

Combine the Alpha Legion with the Raven Guard and throw in a bit Mechanicum and you have an Infocyte. These assassins are the masters of manipulating things from behind the scenes whether it be direct control, or coercion based on secrets they've found out about the target and urge them onward. After all, the best assassin is the one that gets others to do the dirty work for them. 

Strengths.

There's a whole lot of special rules here. The first one - the Auspectre - protects you from infiltrators at a 18 inch radius. This is very nice. They can also get an interceptor attack as an advanced reaction, but they're firing las pistols. 

The Noospheric Interloper means you can take a leadership test to inflict wounds on robots. And then inflict some more potentially if you eliminate that first robot. Great, if a bit situational.

The Sympatic Dataspikes are a melee weapon that is actually really nice - well worth it. But you're probably not going to get close enough before getting squashed. 

The Autotomic Servo Limbs grant hit and run once per battle should you need it. I can't think it would be needed unless you're charged and somehow survive.

Weaknesses.

Who cares if an interceptor fires las pistols? I can't name many off the top of my head, but I'm sure there must be some that would fear two las pistols. The range is not good either. 

I love the idea of this assassin being toxic to tanks, but in all honestly, he or she or they are never going to pull this off against an alert opponent. 

I'm sorry to say this is another assassin that is not going to see much use on the tabletop outside of very fluffy narrative games. This is fine, of course, but I wish the character was more similar to what the books portray. 

Builds.

There are no builds available to discuss here. I don't regard this assassin as playable in the game.