Horus Heresy 3e Review: Ursarax Cohort

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5 stars, narrowly rounded down. The rules are reasonable. 

Background. 

Thralls, rather than servitors, these beings are purposed as a close combat unit in service of the magos. Formed from human remains of selected people, they retain just enough ability to make good tactical decisions, but need regular grim-dark neural anesthetics to cope which they periodically get. Grim. 

Strengths.

The stat line is mostly 4's with T=5 and 2 wounds. 

They come with a pair of Ursarax Claws with give A+3 and breaching. This is very reasonable overall. However, it is certainly tempting to get the Ursarax Fists for S+2 and a native AP=2 with 2 damage and the expense of I-2. A mixture of the two options might be even more attractive. 

The volkite incinerators are very close range S=5 shots which are nice, but you need to get there. Helping that is the movement rate of 10. And related further: deep strike is a native option too here which can be taken advantage of. 

The real stand out in the special rules is Vanguard (3) which argues strongly for a up front approach and risky plays. Do it! Also: don't forget the arcana boost!

Weaknesses.

I=3 is a mild issue, but offset if you take the power fists upgrade in which case you're going last regardless, so might as well.

Builds.

6 Ursarax, 2 Power Fists, 1 Alpha (160 points). 

Swift and broad ranged enough to takle most enemy infantry.

9 Ursarax, 9 Power Fists, 1 Alpha (235 points).

Cheap enough to take, and potent enough to do damage when positioned well. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Castellax Destructor Maniple

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are great. 

Background. 

Thought of by some as a potential internal threat should Mars ever go against its agreement with the Emperor, the Castellax were a mainstay of both siege warfare and shock troops for the Mechanicum. This worry never arose thanks to the Heresy and they were never made in sufficient numbers ever again to pose an internal threat, but their potency was never much doubted thanks to the sheer aggression of the internal machine spirit.

Strengths.

With 6's in S and T coupled with 4 wounds and 3+/6++ these robots are going to be tough to dislodge - but not impossible. They have a stand out cool value of 12, but have the usual weaknesses elsewhere. Interestingly the WS and BS are 3's.

Customisation means you can optimise your unit for both ranged weaponry and close combat. The shock chargers are good as a baseline entry since they generate S=8 hits. The power blades upgrades give breaching and shred instead which might actually be more useful overall.

The mauler bolt cannon is useful on its own with S=6 hits and pinning. Upgrades here include the dark fire cannon which is always welcome with AP=2 and S=8 with suppressive despite the lower firing rate. The multi-melta pushes this further into anti-tank territory but is obviously shorter range. 

Weaknesses.

The WS and BS being 3 are mild issues. But the points cost remains attractive. At worst you can use them as distraction carnifexes. 

Builds.

6 Castellax (300 points).

Yes, no upgrades. Also yes: viable. 

3 Castellax, 3 dark fire cannons (195 points).

Long range options. 

3 Castellax, 3 Multi Meltas, 3 power blades, 3 flamers (225 points).

A close combat variation for taking out transports and dealing with the contents. Of course, mixing the builds up is also viable. 

Wargames Gallery: Purification

The Word Bearers close with flame units on the Iron Hands positions. Both praetors are weighing each other up. Meanwhile the planet itself looks like it is about to emerge against both sides in the conflict! Will the Word Bearers flames be enough to undertake a thorough purification of either?

Dreadtober 2026: Saturnine Basecoated and Metals

More progress has been made with the painting of the Saturnine Dreadnought!

The undercoat was done in black - as might be expected for many legions. The base coat here is Eshin Grey for the main parts. And therein is the biggest clue to which legion I am aiming for here. Guesses welcome and its probably obvious perhaps given my other painting. The edges are picked out in lead belcher silver, as have the joints with an irregular sponge approach. 

For the armaments, I have taken the sponging approach further. A base coat of lead belcher has been followed up by sponging irregular gold over the top of the colours to provide a worn effect overall. I quite like the outcome here. Although clearly it is metallic paint, it really does have the old and ancient vibe going on which is what I wanted. 

Next steps will be the inking and washing down with lots of dark colours and the perennially useful Nuln Oil. Stay tuned!

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Myrmidon Destructor Host

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are great. 

Background. 

A sub-sect of the Myrmidons that are dedicated to heavy weapons and the rendering of vehicles and buildings to slag. They were heavily used on both sides of the war, and even by some who would seek to avoid joining either (cross ref: Anvilus). 

Strengths.

Secutors have 4's and 5's in most places on the stat line. Of note is S=5, T=5 and W=4 which makes for a potent combination combined with a 3+/5++ save. The unit's Lord also gains a pip in BS and WS which is very nice. 

The regular armaments are volkite culverins (magnificent range with 3 lots of S=6 shots and heavy on FP too) and shock chargers (close combat for S+2 which is solid enough). 

The upgrades are where the attraction to this unit gets increased though. Irradiation engines are a template with panic, poisoned, and phage on toughness. Clearly this is a close combat choice though. The dark fire cannon is very attractive with 2 lots of S=8 shots and AP=2 which causes suppressive and has heavy on damage. This can cause some very serious problems from a good range. And then there is the conversion beamer which just gets better with longer range. Very tempting. 

Weaknesses.

The Myrmidax trait is already built in. Overall the points cost is nicely balanced and this is a great unit. However, I am unconvinced about the close combat build (with irradiation engines) as I feel other units can do close combat better. I see this unit fundamentally as a long range unit. 

Builds.

3 Destructors, 3 Conversion Beamers (195 points).

I just really like the idea of a trio of conversion beamers taking out things at long range. I'm not even sorry. 

3 Destructors, 3 dark fire cannons (210 points).

The dark fire cannon is similarly good at long range but the purpose is much more (laser!) focussed. 

10 Destructors, all with Volkite Culverins (465 points).

Remember the rule of thumb about Volkite weapons: go big! 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Myrmidon Secutor Host

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars. The rules are great. 

Background. 

The Myrmidon Secutors regard war as something to be computed with cold logic. They praise the Omnissiah through well executed battle plans and test themselves against new opponent in the arts of destruction. They have no master for long and during the Heresy could readily be found on both sides of the conflict. 

Strengths.

Secutors have 4's and 5's in most places on the stat line. Of note is S=5, T=5 and W=4 which makes for a potent combination combined with a 3+/5++ save. The unit's Lord also gains a pip in BS and WS which is very nice. 

They come armed as standard with power axes (nice), and twin maxima bolt guns (5 shots at S=4 and shred) which is a strong mix of ranged threat and close up potential. 

Vanguard (3) is beautiful to see here. My advice would be to go big in order to wip an opponent's unit in a single turn where possible.  The Lord gains battle meditation which provides feel no pain in a challenge, which is enhanced when their WS is out-matched. 

Beyond this, there are options to upgrade to twin phased plasma fusils which provides 3 lots of S=5 with breaching at 5+. Pretty solid and worth the upgrade. Or, take twin graviton guns for the same cost. These are only single shot, but are blast weapons at S=6 with breaching, and shock that causes pinning. The AP is only 4 here though, so I'd mildly favour the plasma upgrade for regular marine opponents, but the graviton blast template is absolutley worth it for the pinning and blasts. Tough choice. But the good news is that they can be mixed and matched. 

Weaknesses.

Note that the Myrmidax trait is already built in here. There's no downsides overall and the points cost is reasonable overall. 

Builds.

3 Secutors, 3 Twin Graviton Guns (210 points).

Lots of blast templates basically. 

10 Secutors, 2 Twin Graviton Guns, 2 Twin Phased Plasma Fusils (545 points).

The mixed threats makes sense, and the large numbers will all but ensure Vanguard (3) triggers most of the time against reasonably selected opposing units. You just need to get there.