Horus Heresy 2e Review: Horus Lupercal

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. He is the character for which the game is named, after all.

Background.

There is little to say about the big guy himself that cannot be found elsewhere. He is the Primarch responsible for the entire series, the Heresy, the Civil War, and more. The most favoured son, the Warmaster, and the Breaker of Tyrants. Call it how you will: Horus is the crux of the entire setting moreso than any other character. 

Strengths.

Undoubtedly the best stat line in the game combined with some really rather outrageously good rules makes Horus a force to be reckoned with. But in the Second Edition, it could be even better since there is an upgrade cost that can be paid to obtain "Horus Ascended" - an even better stat line combined with further rules for the man.

Lupercal's warlord trait grants all infantry +1 Ld which for this game can be immense. The addition of the Stubborn rule is excellent too. 

The ability to deep strike is not one of overlook either and might be played by the more tactical Sons of Horus players. Better though is his ability to increase the reaction allotment by +1 in every phase in which he is the reactive player. This has the potential to be near game breaking and for this alone the increase in points cost versus the first edition is almost worth it (don't forget the Advanced Reaction for the Sons of Horus here too). 

Splitting his attacks in close combat is excellent, and his weapons are solid. The Worldbreaker maul is the go-to weapon of choice here since it has benefitted from having Sunder and Brutal (2) added to the profile compared to first edition. Meanwhile the Talon has got slightly worse since it no longer affects an opponent's WS. Not to worry though - the Warmaster will be hard to beat in combat regardless. 

Weaknesses.
None.

Regarding the Ascended version - I would contend that this is not quite worth the points investment. Yes, the stat line improvement is excellent. His personal buffs are good as well - feel no pain and rage are excellent, A Dark Fate enables him to come back (and the opponent reap Slay the Warlord twice!), obtaining T=S=10 once per game is near broken, and the ability to grant the Corrupted sub-type is okay I guess. Just not sure its worth the points. But I can see fluffy players going for it. 

Overall.

Excellent! The rules here are superb, and are a significant departure to the First Edition.

Difference to First Edition.

Neutral to Improved. Can't quite make my mind up if the changes in the rules mean that things have improved here, since alongside this, the points cost has gone up a few notches as well. We will therefore be seeing slightly less of Horus in games since he will not appear in games below 2500 points -- and Horus Ascended won't appear below 4000 points (which is truly Apocalyptic scales!).