Horus Heresy 2e Review: Lion El'Jonson

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars, rounded down. The rules are very good!

Background.

The Lion was ever the ruthless pragmatist. Brought up on the death world of Caliban, he hunted fearsome monsters to their graves and learned that once he committed he had to follow through or perish himself. This attitude bled into his Dark Angels legion and made them a relentless force that destroyed the enemies of mankind without remorse. 

Strengths. 

The Lion does a little bit of everything. He applies some force wide buffs, while also being a significant personal danger. As Sire of the Dark Angels, he grants crusader (nice!) as well as a leadership buff to anyone who sees him - what a guy. The shooting reaction bonus is solid. He also gets to pick which hexagrammaton type he is every turn which is sublime. Keep him alive in turn 1 with dreadwing, and then move him to deathwing to get that +1 to hit when you need it most. You probably don't need the others?

His state line is beautiful and the envy of some other primarchs - WS=8 is triumphant for instance. He has a choice of weapons - the Lion Sword (which is a threat to everything) and the Wolf Blade (great for chewing up power armour blobs, but really its not as good a general choice as the Lion Sword - so take that instead). The armour allows a re-roll of the first failed invulnerable save per player turn which is cool. His side arm - the Fusil Actinaeus - grants blind with rending at 3+ making it one of the better weapons carried by the brothers. 

The point of the blade allows him to always charge 8 inches regardless, which will get him into combat plenty of the time. Hi choler also results in increased numbers of attacks when his wounds are reduced (up to A+2 at W=2). The stasis grenades meanwhile are cute and impose I-1 some of the time (but only usable once per battle). 

Finally, he also has adamantium will at a 3+ level which is remarkable.

Weaknesses.

He is not the best of his brothers in combat. Horus, Ferrus, and others are strictly better than him. I would place him in the upper half, maybe even in the top third (NB: math hammer still to be fully worked through). He is not a massive army buffing primarch either - but that crusader buff sure can be potent. He does a bit of both and well enough to get away with a lot of things. He is worth the points cost - although they are a bit steep at first glance, do pay them gladly! - and will serve you well. 

Overall.

Take him.

Difference to First Edition.

As with first edition, The Lion is something of an all-rounder who is able to be a bit of everything ranging from buffing his army through to being a close combat monster. In this regard, little has changed, and perhaps this is not surprising given that The Lion was published in First Edition comparatively recently (he was the final primarch to be released with a miniature and rules, after all). Sure, some things have changed here, but overall he feels about the same to me in the context of second edition.