Horus Heresy 3e Review: Argel Tal

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are good. With a slightly better stat line I'd go even higher. 

Background.

Belonging to the doomed Serrated Sun chapter of the Word Bearers, Tal gazed into the abyss and it gazed back to turn him into the lord of the Gal Vorbak. Not possessed like his brethren in 40k are, but a symbiote, his form is dominated by a large pair of wings sprouting from his back when in combat. He was also one of the first to paint his armour red -- the colour of the Word Bearers' betrayal. He was also best buddies with Kharn of the World Eaters and had lots of fun fighting alongside him. 

Strengths. 

Those wings are fantastic and grant Tal an impressive movement rate of 14. With 5's in most other places and WS=6, he is a close combat monster all told. His daemonic talons slice at AP=2 and 2 damage each, although there's no S bonuses or anything else to speak of here (the talons are noted to be psychic though!). But he still has Krak and Frag grenades which is nice. 

The special rules are reasonable, especially feel no pain at 5+ and fear. Naturally, he can also deep strike. 

Weaknesses. 

Classed as Malefic, he's not going to be joining the regular rank and file of the legion of course. 

Overall.

You want to play him aggressively. Perhaps with malefic assault marines for company. Or other of his Gal Vorbak. He is Master of the Legion, so could also be taken as your overall daemon friendly commander if you went down that route. You would have to think carefully how you are going to handle heavy tanks in such an army though. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Erebus

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are good. With a slightly better stat line I'd go even higher. 

Background.

If there is a singular figure that blame for the Heresy can be attributed to, then Erebus would take it. It was he who counselled Lorgar that if the Emperor didn't want adoration and worship then there were other beings - true gods - who did. When Lorgar trod the path to damnation it was he that again counselled caution and planning rather than diving head first in to rebellion, declaring for the darker powers immediately and spreading the word of the Primordial Annihilator to the Galaxy. And it would be Erebus who became the architect of Horus' downfall as well. But on top of this, he is also a servant and a puppet of the Dark Powers. Little more than a pawn to be used by them as their plans came to fruition (albeit through him).

Strengths. 

He is a native psyker with anathemata (so take some daemons in your roster!). Uniquely, he can actually take the daemonic manifestation auxiliary detachments - plural - natively. I strongly feel Lorgar should also have this to be very honest. And why can't Magnus either for that matter? Oh well. Erebus is it. For this reason alone he is worth taking. Naturally, he can also join Malefic units which is great for him! 

The Crux Malifica is a psychic weapon with phage on strength (which a lot of the legion has access to) and comes with S+3 at AP=2 and 2 damage. This is fantastic. The plasma pistol at this point is almost decorative. 

The stat line is reasonable with 5's in WS, BS and I and solid advanced characteristics. 

Weaknesses. 

Sure, he isn't quite Abaddon or similar. He's more like a psychically enhanced command unit than a native high command one (Praetor's WS is strictly better!). But summoning lots of deamons whilst attached to Gal Vorbak or similar is an attractive prospect to be very honest. 

No master of the legion is also an issue here. 

Overall.

Fluffy, deadly, and a very valid choice for the Word Bearers. What is not to like? Oh yeah. He is Erebus. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Kor Phaeron

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

2.5/5 stars, rounded up. The rules are okay but he's not a full Astartes. 

Background.

Kor Phaeron is the Father figure of Lorgar himself. He was too old to be fully elevated to an Astartes, but this didn't stop Lorgar and co from gene crafting him into an almost Astartes and gifting him some specialist equipment so that he could take his place by Lorgar's side.. 

Strengths. 

The Patriarch's Claws grant shred and AP=2 which is great. But not so much due to his innate S being only 3. The digi flamer is excellent though and a real surprise to most. 

He comes with the special rule of Dark Oratory. In shouting range he can grant a unit hatred of loyalists (handy) or give them Cool+2 and Leadership+2 which is similarly solid enough. 

With Jealous Command you gain W+1 and leadership goes up to an impactful level of 11. 

Weaknesses. 

With only 3's in S and T, Phaeron is vulnerable in a way that almost no other high command figure in the heresy is. 

Overall.

Fluffy, certainly. Useful, certainly for assured hatred of loyalists. Worth the points? I'm on the fence. He S and T are real issues, so only the most ardent player is going to play him as the high command option, otherwise he would be circumstantially useful against loyalists. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Lorgar

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. As with previous editions, Lorgar is not one of the most powerful Primarchs, but he certainly can still pack a punch if you underestimate him. 

Background.

Lorgar Aurelian and his Word Bearers had cause to turn traitor, but no one could have particularly seen just how far he would fall, how fast, and how many he would also be taking with him along the way. Once creating compliant worlds out of faith to the Emperor, our orator of the word was rebuked and spat out with devastating results for him, his legion, and half the other legions to boot. His is the original guilt for the entire civil war. 

Strengths. 

With 6's across the board, Lorgar's stat line is nothing to write home about. His cool of 11 is reasonable though. 

Devotion (his side arm) is impressive with S=8 combined with shock and pinning thanks to being a graviton weapon. Don't forget to fire this one. Meanwhile Illuminarum is impressive by granting S+2 and 3 damage along with phage on strength (which frankly Lorgar needs to be competitive), critical hitting and reaping blows. He can and will cause damage in close combat, but his brothers will generally be a match for him. Even Alpharius. 

He comes with Hatred or Loyalists as standard which will help him against loyalist primarchs at least. He also has access to the Anathema Discipline which means you should be thinking about what daemons to take in an army list along with Lorgar so he can summon them at a convenient time. You will need how to think to include daemons in your force chart though.

Through the Power of the Word, he is able to join Malefic units, and as Sire of the Word Bearers, bonus prime slots arrive through tactical squads and despoilers which is fitting. Everyone also passes leadership tests on the first turn in the Word Bearers that accompany him. This is nice. 

Weaknesses. 

As a primarch, he is undoubtedly one of the weakest. He will likely lose challenges against most if not all of his brothers, even with Phage and Hatred running. The WS=6 holds him back, and I=6 won't cut it all of the time. Illuminarum is powerful, to be clear, but landing those blows in the first place (due to WS=6) is an issue against many of his brothers. 

Overall.

I like the possibility of Lorgar being able to summon daemons mid battle. This is very fitting and shouldn't be overlooked as a possibility to help him directly in combats. Just don't expect to win against his brothers too often, and his points cost is actually not too bad overall. He is still a primarch, and able to waste entire lesser units on his own, after all. Choose your battles well. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Word Bearers Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars, but rounded down. Good and solid rules with some outstanding entries when timed well. 

Background.

The origin of the Heresy. The traitor's traitor legion. Once held in high regard by all, and venerating the Emperor as a deity, the legion was laid low by the same man at Monarchia when he demonstrated the error of the legion's ways through a rather extreme censure. This ultimately caused them to explore beyond their faith in the Emperor and to (re)discover the chaos gods. Lorgar, his close friends, and the legion more widely spread the rot from which the Heresy would flourish and wrote their names in infamy from Isstvan to Ultramar and beyond. Welcome to the Primordial Truth that existed long before the Imperial Truth. 

Armoury. 

Burning Lore. In exchange for their very souls, high command characters can gain psychic powers. Not bad and a small points cost!

Zealous Assault gives prime slots impact (strength). This might not seem much, but trust me: this can be a game changer. 

Warpfire Weapons return via legacies. These are mild upgrades for officer weapons, special weapons and heavy weapons. They are generally interesting and give breaching and shred so are worth the cost. 

Tainted Weapons are also from legacies and give your squad sergeants phage on strength for a solid points increase. This is also generally worth while, but you need to factor in your opponents. 

Tactica. 

Unwavering Conviction is a different take on the zealotry of the legion and gives +1 combat resolution. Importantly, this stacks with other sources of resolution. Therefore your army is already looking like melee orientated and infantry heavy in the main part.

Gambit.  

Beseech the gods is solid but only applies in the first combat round. You get S+1 and A+1 if you pass a willpower check. Hopefully you will do that. Fail and you take a wound. 

Additional Detachements. 

Exalted Conclave brings you bonus troops and elites with prime slots on the troops. This is incredibly flexible and spot on for the legion. 

Advanced Reaction. 

Glorious Martyrdom is potent stuff. Once per battle a brother puts himself in the line of fire to take all incoming shots from a fire group(s). He probably won't survive. But he has sacrificed himself for his brothers and the rest of the shots go to waste. This can be game changing when played and timed well. It is really that good! Arguably one of the best advanced reactions in the game to my mind. 

The Word Bearers are actually quite a potent close combat force in third edition 30k; and one where you can also sacrifice a brother to save a squad from incoming shooting which is amazing and can be game changing. I think the Word Bearers are actually really under estimated in third edition and much more powerful than many players give them credit for! 

Emperor's Children Terminator Lord or Praetor

A conversion that I've been thinking about undertaking for a long time has finally taken shape! This model is an Emperor's Children terminator. Possibly a Praetor for 30k or a chaos lord for 40k. It could work either way (although obviously traitor aligned for the Heresy era). 

The parts used include:

Tail: Daughters of Khaine Blood Sisters (Age of Sigmar)
Body, Head, and Cape: Chaos Terminator Lord
Lightning Claws: Dark Angels
Shoulder Pads: Regular 40k Terminator

The core idea here is that this is a Lord or Praetor who is treading right down the chaos path toward the dark prince. He is clearly mutated already, but his brothers don't care and regard it as perfectly natural, or perhaps a level of perfection for them to all aspire to! 

I might use him along side the thunder hammer and storm shield Emperor's Children Indomitus terminators that I have already assembled and painted. The painting here uses the exact same formulation of my standard approach to the Emperor's Children in Horus Heresy, so he does at least slot in nicely in terms of the colour scheme, but perhaps a bit less so with the mutation! I'm reasonably content with how it turned out, but I do acknowledge that some finer details could do with touching up (e.g., the eye of Horus in the centre of the chest and some more highlighting on the tail perhaps).