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. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Iron Havocs

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 stars. Good rules, but perhaps not quite the same as the previous edition. The extra BS pip really helps them shine and makes them worth taking overall. 

Background.

These marines are the elites of the heavy support squads within the Iron Warriors. They lay down withering lines of fire with heavy weapons to saturate the battlefield and lay waste to everything in front of them. This is also a legacy unit and a break from our usual reviews. 

Strengths.

Choose between shrapnel cannons, las cannons, missile launchers or auto cannons. The BS=5 on these marines is excellent. 

Precision shots is really nice to have - especially for the auto cannons. 

Weaknesses.

Not so great leadership values. You will want to watch out for incoming close combat units who might not want you in situ. 

Builds.

5 Iron Havocs, sergeant with nuncio vox, marines with Shrapnel Cannons or Auto Cannons (145 points).

A baseline build that is effective.

5 Iron Havocs, Vexilla, Augury Scanner, Sergeant with Nuncio Vox, Las Cannons (240 points).

Very expensive in comparison to the plain heavy support version. The BS upgrade will certainly mean that you pretty much get rid of your target though, so yay!

10 Iron Havocs, Vexilla, Augury Scanner, Sergeant with Nuncio Vox, Artificer Armour, Power Fist, all with Missile Launchers (335 points).

For when things just have to die on the first turn. And for subsequent turns with a power fist to create some deterrence. Very expensive. Very effective long range option. 

Half Squad of Heresy World Eaters

Today's painting features a half squad of Heresy World Eaters marine. The other half is coming soon, so enjoy the first half. I've shown a few of these on their own before, but very happy to see them come together like this. 

Three standard marines coupled with the sergeant with falax blades and a marine with a power spear / power lance. Several of them are standing on top of orange barrels, possibly toxic, and green coloured terrain which is to reflect some of my own scenery. There is a dynamic quality to each of the marines, posed might fight, or charging in to the fray, as befits this legion.

The other thought that is lurking in the back of my mind about this force is that they would probably make some nice Blackshields. Yes, I know they're painted in World Eaters colours. But perhaps the narrative here is that after being betrayed, but before ridding themselves of their iconography, they are out for themselves reeving the galaxy with the remnant chain axes of their former legion. Not sure where I'm going with this thought, but I might add Endryd to this force to see how he looks ultimately. 

Hope you like the set, looking forward to showing the second half of the squad soon!

Heresy Pre-orders Day

Good morning (to those of you in the UK; or a very late evening to my mates Down Under). The new pre-orders for Horus Heresy are available to order today! I am actually fairly blown away that there's such a lot being released in one day. These include:

Traitor and Loyalist Overseer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Traitor and Loyalist Herald ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Iron Hands Praetor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars for all praetors, not specifically Iron Hands)

Iron Warriors Warsmith ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Space Wolves Caster of Runes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Arquitor Magisterium ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Secutarii Axiarch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

and a Mechanicum Heavy Support Force

Links to the above units and my reviews of them can be found by clicking above. I've also included my own evaluations here in case anyone is pondering. 

For me, I've made an order for the Iron Warriors Warsmith which has been on my list for a long time and its really nice to have that in place. I've also taken the plunge for an Overseer since I wanted to make a small lasrifle section for fun and this was one of my goals for the year ahead. I was on the fence about the Iron Hands praetor for my shattered legions. I already have a conversion and think I will keep it in place - doubly so given that Shattered Legions are not really playable. 

Looking forward to building these to say the least, most especially the Warsmith (can't lie).