Horus Heresy 3e Review: Blood Angels Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. I almost gave a higher rating. The Blood Angels are strong in third edition when built and played as intended. 

Background.

To me, the Blood Angels are almost a loyalist version of the Emperor's Children (or maybe it is the other way around to some of you?). They have a predilection for art and the finer things in life, having hailed from the wastes of Baal. Their primarch's gene-helix raised them high but at cost. Vampires in all but name, they got bogged down at Signus by the Warmaster and after a little sojourn in the Unspoken Empire, made haste to Terra to defend the throne at incredible cost. 

Armoury. 

Inferno Pistols are a very short range melta shot with S=8 and a valuable AP=2. Great for causing damage on the way in, and as an accent to a melta-cide unit. 

Blades of Perdition are power weapons set on fire basically. Aflame causes a leadership penalty when hitting a target unit and this is certainly valuable for combat purposes. Worth taking. 

The Iliastus assault cannon is similarly nice and has a place in heavy support squads, veterans, command squads, terminators, predators and leviathans. Sponsons and pintles are similarly good quality for this cannon. Overload (1) is a risk if you use it on maximal, but that's the gamble. 

Revenants is a Prime Force Organization Slot upgrade that gives Fear (1). Handy in some circumstances and often a surprise to opponents who don't regularly play against Blood Angels to remind them that they eat others' flesh. You will be causing routs with this when combined with the Blades of Perdition and the Tactica below. 

Tactica. 

Encarmine Fury returns in third edition . You get a flat S+1 in the turn you charged. This is still solid, but not as good as first edition, and equal to second edition. 

Gambits.  
Thrall of the Red Thirst lets you ignore focus negative modifiers caused by wounds lost but you don't get outside support. Its a trade off that sometimes works, but not really a top pick. 

Additional Detachments. 
Revelation Host is very specific and fluffy: you get up to 2 assault squads and 2 dawnbreaker cohorts. 

Advanced Reaction. 
Wrath of Angels allows you to get closer to the enemy that shot at you. Take a full move toward them. Its that simple. Oh, and if you get very close (6 inches) force them to take a cool test or be pinned in place by your glory or vampiric disposition (delete as appropriate). 

I regard the Blood Angels as really rather good in third edition. The combination of blades of perdition, revenants, and encarmine fury is excellent. Layer on top of this wrath of angels to get you closer, and long range support from S=6 auto cannons with breaching and heavy (FP) and you have an army that can tackle most comers. 

Building Ferrus Manus

One of my latest projects was Ferrus Manus; Primarch of the 10th Legion: the Iron Hands. Made by Forge World a considerable time ago, this is a primarch that has a number of the hallmarks of previous primarch builds in the sense of:

(a) instructions that are no longer available;

(b) when you find the instructions, they only help a little bit, and some parts amount to "put it all together!".

I have used two pins here. The first is in the rock on Ferrus Manus' left (forward) foot -- or rather the rock that it is attached to. I have pinned the rock horizontally to the other rocks after a lot of slicing away of excess resin to make it fit. It was quite fiddly, and I still might apply some green stuff before painting. The other pin, unsurprisingly, is in the haft of the hammer and into his hands to provide stability. The hammer joint is much to flimsy otherwise in my opinion. 

Other pain points included the back pack wherein I was not quite sure what slotted where and how it would hang on his back, but I got there eventually with a lot of dry fitting. And those pturges. Exceptionally fiddlesome and tough to know where and how to slot a number of them (under the shoulder pads, and some on the waist as well. 

There is also a rock that I have left off at the front so that I can model or at least make the diorama between Fulgrim and Ferrus (their bases literally join by intent to make a duel pose and diroama possible). 

All in all, slightly better to assemble than Fulgrim, perhaps on par with Angron, but not really near the modern primarch models that Forge World have released. 

Gaming Gitz: Lectio Primus Vorias

I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Gaming Gitz over the past little while to generate ideas and discussions. It is a superlative YouTube channel that I have followed for some time, so you can imagine my delight when we started talking properly about all things Horus Heresy.

When asked whether I had a character in mind who might be under-explored in a short, I eventually settled on Lectio Primus Vorias of the World Eaters: their chief librarian during the Heresy. He occupies a particularly grim position within the Legion. The World Eaters librarians were lucid enough to witness their brothers descend further and further into blood-madness (largely since they didn't take the Butcher's Nails without perishing), even as they themselves remained loyal to Angron and to the Legion’s wider cause. It is a bleak and fascinating vantage point, and, as ever with the World Eaters, it does not end well.

Gaming Gitz tells that story in Lore Told Poorly here.

A big shout out to Rafiq and the team at Gaming Gitz. If, like me, you are a something of a Horus Heresy and Warhammer fanatic, then this is a channel that I really favour and can whole heartedly recommend to you! Check it out at https://www.youtube.com/@gaminggitz/featured , click subscribe, and give the team support over there with some likes! 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Araknae Quad Accelerator Platform

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are very good.

Background.

New for third edition is the massive gun platform to outshine the tarantula: the araknae. 

They are serious gun encampments that the legions used to clear landing zones, hold back enemy advances, clear the airways, and establish footholds. Handy if you, say, wanted to fight other legions on Isstvan 5. 

Strengths. 

Ten shots at S=7 per turn is very impressive. But its better than that because they come with sky fire, breaching, and rapid tracking, making for a very formidable platform. 

With BS=4 and 5 hull points, they will also stick around for a while whilst causing that damage. 

Finally, it also has atomantic pavise to provide an invulnerable save of 5+ in a bubble around it. Handy for holding a position when you have some troops on top of an objective. 

Weaknesses. 

The platform gloriously explodes on a 4+ when dead and gone. Try not to be taking advantage of the 5+ pavise at that point in time. 

Builds.

There are no builds to discuss here. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Deathstorm Drop Pod

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️

2/5 stars. I genuinely used to love death storm drop pods in previous editions, but they're not as good in third edition.

Background.

Its a drop pod. 

Instead of transport capacity, it has a missile launcher system integrated inside it and had its prototype in place by the Raven Guard legion before the rediscovered of Corax..

Strengths. 

Deep strike from orbit and then immediately make 5 shooting attacks using the death storm system. Each shot is d3 shots at S=6 and causes pinning. Pinning is great! But the range of the death storm isn't so good. 

The pod is therefore excellent for a one turn pinning effort against tightly crowded enemies. But then it falls silent. Therein, the major (and overlooked strength) is to provide line blocking and funnel your opponent down attack lanes of your choosing. This tactical advantage shouldn't be overlooked. 

Weaknesses. 

I would like further shooting in subsequent turns (perhaps using the out of ammo rule from second edition), better BS, and simply more utility to bring the number of stars up. Otherwise its not going to be great in third edition beyond a one turn shock and awe tactic for anyone who hasn't seen it. But honestly: it is still great against big infantry blobs that are marching close to each other like the World Eaters. 

Builds.

There are no builds to discuss here. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Techmarine

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

2.5/5 stars. Rounded up. Average rules for a utility choice.

Background.

Trained in the arcana of the Martian mysteries, the techmarines are responsible for the supply and repair of the armouries of the legions. On the battlefield, they can conduct emergency repairs to tanks which for some legions will be very useful, but for others you are probably never going to take this unit.

Strengths. 

The Techmarine brings Battlesmith (2) to the field. This is for repairing vehicles and similar and results in them gaining 2 wounds or hull points, or alternatively restoring them to their original condition by removing up to 2 statuses. 

Their stat line is average with 2 wounds and an 8 in intelligence. You can also boost your intelligence tests with a cyber familiar which is almost an auto-upgrade given the Techmarine's function. The servo arm gives you an extra wound restoration which feels really redundant, whilst the power axe is nice. 

Weaknesses. 

I think I would sooner play a threat or a distraction than such a utility overall. Often taking more offensive as opposed to the ability to repair is a superior option, but that might just be a reflection of my own play style and you might like to play more defensively and out last your opponents. 

Builds.

Techmarine with Cyber Familiar (60 points).

About the best build in my opinion.