Tyranid Infestation Part 1/2: Towers

I bought the killzone expansion for the Tyranid Infestation terrain. And I am very pleased with this purchase indeed. These pieces are really rather fabulous. Not only are they nicely detailed, but they glue together superbly well and can be arranged on the gaming table to excellent effect. 

The first batch of terrain that I painted up was the towers. These only have a few parts to them each (and the tallest twin towers sits on another piece of the terrain on its own). 

The painting here is straight forward in some regards. The undercoat is corax white. I've then applied two base coats, both using contrast paints in red and stone coloured. 

The the stony colouring, I've gone back into the recesses with a much darker contrast paint set to give them a gradient. Every notch starts out dark and works its way brighter as the eye takes you upward. This creates a very organic look to the terrain and makes it look evolved over centuries rather than quickly during a tyranid invasion. I've also applied some dry brushing in eldar flesh to the upper most surfaces and upper notches to really make the contrast as strong as possible.

The reds are supposed to be a bit fleshier in places. As well as the contrast paint, I've worked darker reds and blacks into the recesses, some dry brushing of lighter reds, and selective application of blood for the blood god to give it a subtle slick look. 

Overall this produces the desired result: terrain that doesn't look overtly "tyranid" in some regards and would look entirely in place on a desert planet for instance. Or maybe Murder. With the Megarachnids that proved to almost doom the Blood Angels, Emperor's Children, and Sons of Horus. At least that's where I'm going with this particular terrain in the back of my mind.

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Sons of Horus Reaver Aggressor Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are quite good considering the jump packs. Much like their on-foot analogues, their flexible builds mean you can have access to lots of deployment options. 

Background.

An evolution of the despoiler squad mixed with assault squads, with Horus' name and the Cthonian ganger background writ large across it. The Reavers are individuals clubbed together in their own squad which is a war band in and of itself as you might expect of their Cthonian origins and specialize in hit and run tactics designed to decapitate the enemy. 

Strengths. 

Chain axes and bolt pistols as standard coupled with WS=5 a nice complement of attacks and 2 wounds each. 

The squad features a high level of flexibility in builds and can take lots of sergeant weapons and pistols if you have the points value available, along with special weapons to boot. 

Weaknesses. 

The armour save of the reavers remains at 3+ and means that they are vulnerable to the more elite shooting and melee attacks of other units. 

Builds.

10 Reavers, 1 Nuncio Vox, 1 Vexilla, 3 Power Weapons, 2 Thunder Hammers, Sergeant with Lightning Claws (370 points).

A go-to build, but quite expensive points wise. Given WS=5, I think this is a squad that should be focused on melee. Sure, you can go melta-cide if you wanted, but I still like this one. 

Perfection

One of the issues with the older Forge World models is that the instructions for building them come in one of two flavours:

(a) Step 1: assemble everything.

(b) The instructions are online at this (now no longer existent) web address. 

I feel Angron was a case in point for case (a). Fulgrim is a case of (b), although also partially (a) as well. There are, however, some repositories for the instructions. Only because some very kind hobbyists had the foresight to download the relevant pdfs and make them subsequently available. 

Regardless, here is the perfection of Fulgrim in all his assembled might. 

There are hard parts here, to be clear. I have to pin Fulgrim's narrow triangular standing point where his foot meets the ground into the main part of the resin base to provide stability. The fiddly little bits at the bottom of the leather straps in the shape of the legion symbol were a royal pain. The other hard part was the cape. I had to pin that to the main body as well due to a poor fitting that no quantity of heating or re-shaping would cure. Otherwise, this model was actually okay after a lot of dry fitting. Well, okay, there were serious issues that I suspect a beginner would not appreciate in the slightest. Now that it is done, I am more relieved than anything!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Sons of Horus Chieftain Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are good. 

Background.

Chieftain was a term taken on by the gangs of Cthonia to designate and grant honour to an individual who showed loyalty. Now within the Sons of Horus, the same title has carried over and marks individuals such as squad leaders out as worthy. They are sometimes assembled into squads themselves to safeguard a leader. 

Strengths. 

WS=5 and 2+/5++ is a strong combination with 2 wounds each. 

They come with bane strike bolters, boarding shields, bolt pistols and the ubiquitous chain swords. They are marked out by the special rule "Honour above all else". This grants +1 to wound for the entirety of the squad when one of them is engaged in a challenge. This is excellent! And it really calls for this unit to get into combat as swiftly as possible. 

The upgrades are all worth thinking about: chain axes are solid enough, power weapons handy, and power fists great. The ability to take the legion standard is an almost auto-upgrade. 

Weaknesses. 

Not too many weaknesses realistically for what you are getting, but the points do escalate quickly. 

Builds.

5 Chieftains, 2 Power Fists, 2 Power Weapons, Legion Standard (225 points).

Something of a baseline build to provide access to whatever tools are required in a situation. 

10 Chieftains, 2 Power Fists, 8 Power Weapons, Legion Standard (410 points).

A fully upgraded squad. Nice and deadly and not merely there to serve as ablative wounds for a character. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Diabolist

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. The rules are average. 

Background.

Near the beginning of the Heresy, the Word Bearers were already dabbling in things that maybe they should have left well alone. The diabolists were a symptom of the dabbling; creating powers never seen before and tearing at the frayed edges of real space.

Strengths. 

The diabolism discipline comes with 2 powers and fear. The first power is hellfire which is a nice short range shooting attack with deflagrate and breaching (but a bit random since you get 1d3 shots). The second is dark channeling which boosts your friends by giving them aflame (reducing your enemies leadership by a pip) and feel no pain. This is useful and calls for a close combat style play - which no doubt you were already using. 

They also come with damned which translates as malefic if you want it to which is an odd choice mechanically. 

This is all rounded off by a force weapon and a pistol upgrade if you wanted one. 

Weaknesses. 

Overall, they feel like a limited librarian without any word bearer summonings like you'd otherwise want to have. I honestly feel the ability to summon daemons would be a better option if you are headed down this route and the diabolist will often be overlooked for better psychic command characters. I'd really only play one if I had the room on the roster and wanted that Leadership modifier against the enemy from aflame along with feel no pain. Potentially great for jump pack equipped space marines I suspect. Even so, I'm yet to see a diabolist played on the table top. Maybe you have?  

Builds.

Diabolist with jump pack (135 points).

The jump pack is to help get stuck into combat quicker and to run with similarly equipped men. 

Diabolist in Cataphractii Armour (135 points). 

Take a combi-weapon of your choice to taste. 

Diabolist on Scimitar Jet Bike with Multi-Melta (175 points).

A touch expensive here to be honest, but it is still functional. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Ashen Circle Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Rounded down, just. Average rules. 

Background.

An echo of what the Word Bearers once were: iconoclasts who tore down not merely worlds, but also their culture and replaced them with the Imperial Truth. Later, that replacement would be something more sinister, but they remain arguably the most representative of what the legion once was. They traditionally work alongside destroyer squads and specifically hollow out enemies who hold cultural positions such as standard bearers and eminent leaders.

Strengths. 

Movement of 12 is nice to have here of course, and combined with the weaponry, they are a great close range squad.

The hand flamers give you panic which should be taken advantage of. Whether to upgrade this to an inferno pistol for the Iconoclast is a bit of a personal decision, but I have the feeling other squads do melta better, so I'd err leaving it at home (even so, I'm still torn since AP=2 and S=8 is excellent). Phosphex bombs are a personal taste choice overall, and plasma pistols are probably out-shined by the inferno pistol here. 

The axe-rakes give S+1 which makes the squad quite deadly against enemy space marines alongside critical hitting. Phage on movement is a strange design choice, but certainly fluffy I guess?

Harbingers of Truth causes a modification of the firepower to +1 during volleys. This is quite sweet really! And Vanguard of 3 is the icing on the cake. 

Weaknesses. 

With only a 3+ armour save, they will die fast with one wound each, but they do get to deep strike which is good. 

Bitter duty means that they're probably not going to be joined by their local Praetor sadly. 

The points cost increases quickly here in comparison to other squads to be very honest.

Builds.

5 Ashen Circle (125 points).

You really don't need any upgrades for this. 

10 Ashen Circle, Iconoclast with Inferno Pistol and Phosphex Bombs (250 points).

The fully upgraded squad.