Horus Heresy 3e Review: Marduk Sedras

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Rounded down. Mildly over-costed.

Background.

A very old space marine by any standard. He's seen it all - every battlefield and configuration imaginable. He has even fought alongside the Emperor himself, and many of the other legions to boot, and also during the Unification. Upon offered promotion to join the council of masters, he asked to remain a regular master rather than join the central core of the legion as Eskaton of the Dreadwing. 

Strengths. 

Sedras has a praetor like stat line with T=5, W=5 but a movement rate of 6. 

In terms of equipment, he has a plasma burner (nice), phosphex bombs (also nice), and The Death of Worlds (which exchanges initiative for S+5 at AP=2 and 3 damage which is incredible - for S=9 attacks!). But with WS=6, he may lose out of other opponents. 

He is slow and purposeful, and also has Ancient of War which gives hatred to traitors to his unit which is a quality additio. 

Weaknesses. 

To be clear, those S=9 attacks in close combat are truly amazing. But you have to get him there. And his movement hampers this. He will slaughter things in challenges short of Corswain (who costs less) and Primarchs. And therein is the issue: he is over costed. Unless you are putting him up against monstrous opponents in which case you have found his niche! I wish he had Officer of the Line or similar or just one more perk to make the points cost super attractive. But that T=5 is excellent, admittedly. 

Overall.

If he costed the same as Corswain or slightly less he'd be very attractive. As it is, he is a true monster hunter and will do well if you don't have another named character. He is also very fluffy if you bring along the rest of dread wing!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Corswain

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. Rounded up. A superlative close combat beat stick. 

Background.

All of the legions have recognized "names" that their brothers and cousins will instantly know. For the Dark Angels, Corswain's name is one that echos still some ten millennia later such was his skill. Caliban born, but not an ingrained scion of The Order, he was able to bridge the gaps in his legion and was the commensurate paladin. 

Strengths. 

Starting with the stat line, WS=7 is superlative for a mere mortal! Corswain combines this with his weapon, called simply The Blade, to have an effective S=6, AP=2, and 2 damage with duellist's edge. This makes him an excellent challenge monster. 

The Armour of the Forest serves even better in a duel. The damage of incoming attacks are reduced by one (to a minimum of 1). Outside of Primarchs, this is very notable. 

Weaknesses. 

Corswain is a close combat paragon. He doesn't do much else (although he has BS=5 and Ld=10). So you need to get him into combat as soon as possible. He is also a loyalist through and through. 

Overall.

Outside of the Primarchs, he is one of the most notable close combat characters in the Heresy. And he probably has a shot at some of the weaker primarchs too, if we are being honest. He may well lose, but what I'm saying is that he has a better chance than many depending on your die rolls. He kills stuff in combat whilst his armour tends to keep him alive. A true beat stick if ever we saw one. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Lion El'Jonson

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. I've rounded up. He is a great opponent. 

Background.

The Lion was ever the ruthless pragmatist. Brought up on the death world of Caliban, he hunted fearsome monsters to their graves and learned that once he committed he had to follow through or perish himself. This attitude bled into his Dark Angels legion and made them a relentless force that destroyed the enemies of mankind without remorse. 

Strengths. 

The stat line here is solid with WS=8, S=7 and similar in I and A. This marks him out as an impressive close combat opponent without anything else added.

His side arm, the Fusil Actinaeus is very respectable for S=7 and breaching at 4+. Arguably one of the best out of the Primarchs. 

You then get the choice between either The Lion Sword, or The Wolf Bane. The Lion Sword gives S+1 (to make S=9 which is super impressive!), AP=2 and 2 damage (with Sword of the Order), whilst the Wolf Bane is only AP=3 but has shred, breaching at 4+ and reaping blow (as well as Sword of the Order). The former is therefore your standard duelling weapon with the latter being for big squads. I recommend The Lion Sword accordingly. 

He comes with Stasis Grenades. This dishes out I-2 for enemies that charge you - but only the first in the game, only once, and not in challenges (oddly enough since you'd think he'd lob one at his brothers given half the chance).

The Lion's Choler is a gambit you can take when he reaches 2 wounds or less. You ignore wounds differences and gain a +2 to the focus roll. This makes for a good finish. 

As Sire of the Dark Angels you gain prime advantage if you have at least 1 of each of the core troops selections (breacher, tactical, and assault). Also, your reserve rolls for Jetbikes and Outriders get +1 which is a nice manipulation. 

Weaknesses. 

As with some of his brothers, he has T=6, and so is gambling on winning the fights before he is killed. His gambit helps offset this. 

Overall.

A great contender amongst his brothers and worth the points cost to be paid. Easy to see why he was feared by many. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Dark Angels Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. Very average rules overall with some shining lights. 

Background.

The Dark Angels are the First Legion and hold a lot of the organization of the initial formations over compared to other legions. Horus saw to it that they were well out of the way when the Heresy began. They soon rejoined and were drawn into the Thramas conflicts with the Night Lords. Unleashing their forbidden weaponry, they would eventually crush them, but were unable to head back to Terra and instead found themselves at the side of Sanguinius and Guilliman in Ultramar. They set about countering the traitors and this would lead them to destroy many strong holds including Barbarus of the Death Guard and Chemos of the Emperor's Children -- the passage of the Angel of Death. Purging galore in fact. Then they realized they could also get back to Terra. But were a touch late, because reasons. 

Armoury. 

Blades of the First Legion cover the calibanite warblade which is excellent and like a better power axe (take it), and the terranic greatblade which is okay and has 2 damage which is nice for anti terminator duty. 

Plasma Burner and Plasma Incinerator are typical fare with 2 profiles (the second being for overload which gets you a better breaching profile. I like the damage=2 on the incinerator in particular. In Legacies there is also the Plasma Repeater which has a shorter range and added to the Special Weapons for your support squads to take. The wealth of shots here is the real attraction that makes it good. 

Paladin of the Hekatonystika is a Prime Force Organization slot for WS+1, Terranic GreatSword, and Orders of the Hekatonystika. Icons of Resolve and Slayers of Kings seems to be nice here. Legacies extends this to terminators to get the Great Sword. 

Tactica. 

The Angels of Death streamlines the Dark Angels compared to previous editions by limiting the negative effects that can be applied to their advanced characteristics. Ld can't go below 6, and Fear (X) is always Fear (1) instead. This is okay overall, and fluffy, but distinctly average (and perhaps sub par) compared to other legions too. 

Gambits.  
Sword of the Order shows off the legion's talents with swords and grants the exchange of A-1 for Critical Hits (6+). This is also in the regime of okay. 

Additional Detachments. 
This is where a lot of streamlining has happened. The 6 hexagrammaton parts of the Dark Angels each have their own additional detachments, and each of them operates how you might anticipate. These six give the controlling player a lot of tactical build possibilities. I see the Deathwing Conclave as probably being the most popular, but if I'm being honest, they are all viable and they do allow a multitude of builds to be created and this is a real strength for the legion.  

Advanced Reaction. 
Vengeance of the First Legion is a saving grace for otherwise on par or below par rules here. Once per battle, you get to fight close combats a second time instead of going to the pile in phase. You discard combat resolution from the first round to do so though (except challenges). If you have Swords of the Order, they gain shred in this second round. This is a clincher and can turn the tide when timed well. 

In third edition then, the Dark Angels have had a bit of a nerf applied compared to previously. Its best to regard it as stream lining. It was also probably a long time coming. They remain a bit of a swiss army knife, but what is really setting them apart now is the build flexibility rather than a single special rule - and that is the puzzle that players need to optimize (along with the amazing advanced reaction). 

Warhammer World: The Fall of Outpost Sigma-12

One of the newer displays (to me at least) at Warhammer World was the fall of Sigma-12. This is Cthonia. And it is also one of the last battles of the Heresy since immediately afterward the Siege of Terra began. Traitor forces of the Sons of Horus undermine (literally) the defensive positions of the Imperial Fists as their subterranean forces emerge. The loyalists fight on to extract as high a toll as possible and make the traitors victory Pyrrhic. 

The whole scene (above) is a rather incredibly put together diorama. I liked the assault being conducted by the Sons of Horus - it looks exactly like the tip of an armoured spear as I might envisage it. 

The Imperial Fists won't like the holes in those walls!

Nor will they like the termites that are coming!

But the loyalists are clearly making the traitors pay across the board and backline!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Arquitor Bombard

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. The rules are average. 

Background.

An infantry support platform designed to keep up with the foot slogging members of your army and provide powerful fire power. Enough to down blobs of enemy infantry and crack hard sieges, this engine in the fluff has it all at the expense of it not being a well armoured vehicle. 

Strengths. 

The Morbus Bombard gives you HE shells with S=9 and a slew is special rules including large blasts, ordnance on D, Barrage, breaching (at 6) and pinning. The Phosphex is S=5 with blast poisoned at 3+ and breaching (5+) with panic (3). Both are solid, but the phospex is shorter range with the valuable AP=3.

The graviton charge cannon is also S=9 with AP=3 which is valuable. Double damage shock and pinning are similarly great with heavy on D. It is reasonably good, but short range.

The spicula is much more interesting with a range of 72 inches combining with S=7 and a super large blast radius with barrage and suppressive. 

Weaknesses. 

The bombard is surprisingly sturdy with AV=13 on the front and 6 hull points which makes other rhino chassis based armour cry a little bit. You need to watch your positioning though in order to protect your rear. A marked improvement from second edition too, but I still prefer the Vindicator just about. 

Builds.

Arquitor with Morbus Bombard (150 points)

I am tempted by the autocannon sponsons here to be very honest.

Arquitor with Graviton-Charge Cannon (165 points). 

Not my favourite, but could be good. 

Arquitor with Spicula Rocket System, Autocannon Sponsons (175 points).

Add search lights to taste. This is one you sit at the back field and fire all game long. Recommended more than others for sheer suppressive capability.