Horus Heresy 2e Review: Gal Vorbak Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
5/5 stars. Yes: I am giving out one of my rare top marks to the Gal Vorbak! The remnants of the Shattered Sun Chapter shine brightly in second edition.

Background.

The Shattered Sun chapter of the Word Bearers stared too hard and too long into the darkness on the ancient world of Cadia. The darkness stared right back at them. Those who survived found themselves infiltrated by the powers from beyond and not so much possessed as those who would come after them, but rather hosts who entered into coexistence with them. Their forms are able to bloat and swell, grow hideous claws, and form weapons to help them as they bound and leap across the battlefield.

Strengths.

An almighty three wounds each coupled with extra pips in S, T, WS, I and movement makes these marines very notable from the outset. They come with free tainted talons (only AP3, but with rending and murderous striking), and bolt spitters to enable them to have a versatile battlefield role. They are corrupted, naturally, so they cause fear and are treated like the daemons they should be. Alongside this are a small array of special rules ranging from rage and relentless, through to feel no pain and chosen warriors. Naturally they can only be used by the traitor side. 

For the points cost, these corrupted space marines are simply brilliant. Unless you're running loyalists, you will want to take these. Heck, even Alpharius wants to take these with the Rewards of Treachery if he needs some heavy hitting marines for close combat. 

Weaknesses.

For what they do, they are fantastic. They are fundamentally a close combat unit, but here in second edition they can chip in with short ranged fire fights as well. They also have a neat array of upgrades they can take as well. They can be used as both hammer and anvil in the right circumstances. I guess the 3+ save is a minor issue, but who cares. They also cost slightly more than first edition. Again, no biggie given their improvement here. Finally, you also want to think about how to get them where they need to be: they lack a transport option. Use the associated rite of war to cure this. 

Difference to First Edition.

They get bolt spitters! They drop plasma guns, and other things have shuffled around. They do cost more points, and they can't all have double tainted talons sadly. They're still amazingly good though. 

Builds.

5 Gal Vorbak, 1 power fist (290 points).

Hard hitting with plenty of potential rending on the charge. Swap out one bolt spitter for an extra tainted talon to gain 1 more attack each and turn them into a bit more of a close combat focused squad for the same points cost. 

10 Gal Vorbak, 2 Warpfire Blasters, 2 power fists (600 points).

Very expensive here. Potentially vulnerable to large blast high strength attacks. My thought would be to run minimum size squads instead since there's not points cost gain to be had, and thus you should think of this build as illustrative only. Spend 300 points each for 2 units. This unit is a flexible one. Swap out the blasters for melta guns if you are after anti-tank potential. A very flexible choice.