Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 stars. (The rules are strong).
Chosen by the Dark Gods (Traitor Only).
This Sons of Horus trait has two components: one for the warlord himself, and one for the army. For the warlord, he gets to roll 1d6 every turn. Anything but a 1 means +1S and +1T. A 6 gives a wound back. A 1 subtracts a wound. This, therefore, is a solid personal buff and recommended. The army wide buff is to gain another reaction in the movement phase. My opinion here is that this is a strong trait to take and comes recommended with almost any style of army, but most especially one that is close combat focused -- which players will likely be running anyway!
Wolf of Luna (Loyalist Only).
Great to see a loyalist entry for the Sons of Horus, and fittingly it is attuned to the old ways of thinking that were contained within the former Luna Wolves. A +1A on the charge against traitor legions or when charged coupled with a bonus reaction in the assault phase make this a fitting counter point to the trait above, and equally strong in its own ways.
The Armour of Pride.
When removed, the player can take a Ld test to bring the warlord back with some remaining wounds instead, but doesn't work against instant death, so don't try it. Add in a bonus reaction to the shooting phase to boot. In all honesty, I don't think this is as powerful as the above traits, but the bonus reaction in the shooting phase is very strong and not to be overlooked. The personal warlord aspect to it is unlikely to get much action since there will be a lot of instant death kicking around in Horus Heresy games, but who knows - if the Warlord can ride in a transport and stay in combat, then those power fists won't be the end of him either. So it can have strong utility when played actively.
Rites of War.
The Black Reaving.
Rage (2), Reavers as Troops, and Justaerin with deep strike makes this rite of war one that will almost be an auto-pick for Sons of Horus players. Negatives are the need to take a master of signal (not much of a negative if you ask me), and that there must be more fast attack than heavy support. This is also fine. I like this rite, and it is very much a good translation of the first edition and arguably fractionally stronger as well.
The Long March (Traitor Only).
Gaining an increase in movement, and enabling terminators to be non compulsory troops with outflank is a nice touch (remember the outflank assault is now a thing as well). The drawback is that heavy supports have to be in transports or brought in as reserves. Despite the name of this rite, there is not much in common with the first edition. I think this rite is okay, without being outstanding. Not sure it will see as much play as the Black Reaving, but that increased movement rate does have its place, to be clear.
Difference to First Edition:
Neutral. (On balance, the rules are about the same in terms of raw power ... but I'm gutted for those players who used to love full on terminator armies here - why the heck can't Justaerin find a way to be scoring any more?).
2 comments:
Just worth mentioning but when taken as a Retinue, one Justaerin can take a legion standard to give the whole unit Line
Agreed. There's also a Consul choice that can do similar which would help in the same regard. Not quite the same as whole Justaerin armies though. Such a shame.
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