World Eaters Terminator with Power Maul

The conversion from yesterday is now fully painted! This is a World Eaters terminator decked out in the pre-heresy colour scheme for the legion, but also replete with a lot of dirt and blood to give it a grime filled, mid-action look. 

The decals are direct from the World Eaters range, and the blood is, of course, Blood for the Blood God which is simply amazing for this kind of work. I've applied it in both clumps of large gore, as well as splattering it across key areas in a lighter handed manner. I am very pleased with the vibe here and the theme. Even for pre-heresy, this is a nasty terminator who can readily be imagined bringing compliance in the only way that this legion knows how to do. Up close and personal without remorse or quarter. 

Tartaros Terminator with Power Maul / Mace

I've borrowed a little bit of inspiration - and bits - from the Dark Angels range for this terminator conversion. The basis is a normal Tartaros Terminator in plastic, but with a right hand swap for a Dark Angels power weapon. 

The difficult part of the conversion is the ranged weapon. Here, I have taken the combi-bolter and attached it to the left hand of the sergeant's power sword hand in order to create a left handed ranged weapon. This involved some careful slicing of the hand away from the power sword, and disguising it through an appropriate pose where the focus is on the melee power weapon.

This marine will be part of my World Eaters force (allied detachment) that I am constructing. 

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.