Horus Heresy 2e Review: Tech-Priest Auxillia

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. A very reasonable entry in the elites section.

Background.

Tech priests come as a covenant within the feudal ranks of the forge worlds. They are the lesser magi and magos of the worlds and are frequently enginseers, although others also exist. 

Strengths.

The best thing here is the Battlesmith rule all round. The ability to upgrade to a Magos Auxillia is a good thing as it then provides access to artificia cybernetica where required. The servo automata can also be upgraded to better suit the unit's needs.

Weaknesses.

The BS=3 can be upgraded with the Magos, but the baseline of this is a problem. The servo automata are interesting with T=1, but only a 5+ save makes them risky to take multi meltas on each of them. 

This fundamentally is a unit that you need to think about what you're doing with it. Pity that the magos or priest cannot be taken as an individual cheap enginseer really. Can't have everything I suppose.

Builds. 

Tech-Priest Auxillia, 2 additional tech priests, 1 magos with cyber familiar, automata with servo arms (160 points) 

A general purpose enginseer squad. Choose Reductor here and add on a graviton imploder? The beamer is interesting, but tough to make work in the elites slot as a backline unit?

Tech-Priest Auxillia, 2 additional tech priests, 3 graviton guns, 4 multi-meltas (250 points).

Very, very expensive. Probably plenty of better approaches. But take Lachrimallus to stay alive a bit longer to cause mayhem. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Calleb Decima Invictus

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are worth the points cost.

Background.

Calleb arrived late to the Sons of Horus fleet as they were making their plans to rid the original four traitor legions of their loyalist components. As a loyalist, he was naturally shot down as part of the first wave. He survived and fought south of Choral City on Isstvan 3. Even besides this, Calleb was always thought of a sinister within the Mechanicum, even though he is a total loyalist.

Strengths.

Calleb is an arch magos prime on foot, but with a lot of upgrades. He comes with a machinator array and melta bombs plus master crafted upgrades. On top of this, he has a slew of special rules above and beyond the standard arch magos prime. These include most notably granting move through cover to those within 6inches around him as well as taking a guardian retinue.

He belongs to the Reductor high order and has all the rule relevant to that, as well as hatred of traitors and further special rules that add up to more than the points value in my opinion.

Weaknesses.

Not many, but similar to other arch magos prime. Take care of his positioning and think carefully about what you want to accomplish. This is presumably smashing buildings to one side and moving freely among the wreckage that he leaves behind himself. 

Overall. 

He is a good character that is demonstrably worth more than the points cost that you will be paying for him. As for his utility, this might be more questionable for some battles, but he is a fluffy choice for Isstvan 3 battles. Worth taking for this alone. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Magos Dominus

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars rounded down. A solid - if not outstanding - lower tier HQ selection. 

Background.

The Magos Dominus fill a gap between the Archmagos Prime and the rest of the army / feuding states / technocracy. They are masters of the cybernetica and build the cortex automata for the Mechanicum. Some are at the very edge of heresy themselves thanks to all the body modifications that they put themselves through, and most are eccentrics and obsessive about their technologies.  

Strengths.

They come with a modest stat line and 2 wounds. The basic version has only a las pistol and a power weapon as well as a bunch of nicer special rules like feel no pain and firing protocols along with the Patris Cybernetica (which means you will want them to accompany some robots!). They can choose between Artificia Cybernetica (take this one) and two others that you probably shouldn't over-consider before choosing Artificia Cybernetica. As with the Archmagos, they have a good range of upgrades possible.

I note here that I won't be distinctly reviewing the Magos Dominus on Abeyant other than to note that the upgrade is worthwhile thanks to the boosting it gives to the stat line and the relatively minor losses to the special rules. 

Weaknesses.

WS=3 is very poor in this game and you need to think what you are doing with the character here. However, for the points cost, the character is highly efficient indeed which is why it gets the number of stars right at the top of this review!

Builds. 

Magos Dominus (Artificia Cybernetica), conversion beamer (100 points). 

Many people learn to love the back line conversion beamer, and in the Mechanicum army it can really shine alongside a unit of other back-liners.

Magos Dominus (Artificia Cybernetica), Graviton Gun, Servo Arm, Cyber Familiar (115 points).

Slightly more of an all-rounder build to go along with robots. I like the irad-cleanser as well for the weapon choice. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Archmagos Prime on Abeyant

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. Same rating as the Archmagos!

Background.

An Abeyant is a floating device that uses anti-grav technology to carry an archmagos across the terrain. It is a relic of the old age of technology and plugs directly into the archmagos to help with this like staying alive and such. It serves primarily as a command platform and in game yields some bonuses.

Comparison to Archmagos.

The archmagos is incredibly similar to the one on an Abeyant. It is for this reason that we won't be reviewing the Abeyant in the usual manner since the only significantly differences are (1) the stat line; (2) the inability to take a jump pack; and (3) a few of the Orders are not available and you lost firing protocols. 

What we have in effect is a 30 points upgrade to the archmagos which yields T+1 and W+2. These increases in the stat line are worth the upgrade, but you must make your own mind up about the losses (which probably are not all that bad).

Overall then, a worthwhile upgrade!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Archmagos Prime

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. The rules deliver flexibility like a legion praetor and you will want one of these in your army in all probability!

Background.

These unique individual are the high adepts of the machine cult of the Omnissiah. They have likely upgraded themselves for the purpose of war and might have gone as far as placing their remaining organic components inside the equivalent of a dreadnought. Armed and armoured with the best Forge World available kit, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Strengths.

The stat line is reasonable, with mostly 5's and 3 wounds. The basline weapons are nothing special with a power weapon and volkite serpenta. Where the character starts to shine is in the special rules department with battlesmith at 4+ and firing protocols 3 to mention but two immediate boons. Of course you also get your choice of a high order, along with one of three cybertheurgist disciplines. Finally the customization ability here is great and this is fundamentally the greatest thing about the unit.

Weaknesses.

The WS=4 in the stat line will hurt if you are thinking of constructing a close combat monster. Malagra will make up for this if taken though (and this is recommended). 

Of course, the archmagos is not the same as a space marine Preator, but it has much of the same feel to it in the sense of customization. 

Builds. 

Archmagos (Malagra, Artificia Cybernetica), rad grenades, master crafted paragon blade (185 points). 

A straight forward close combat fighter. Reductor is also a reasonable choice here.

Archmagos (Macrotek, Artificia Cybernetica), augury scanner, master crafted conversion beamer (190 points).

Move buildings around to create a line of fire, then shoot from great range. 

Archmagos (Cyber all round), melta bombs, chain fist, Incunabulan jet pack, cyber familiar, rad furnace (235 points).

A bit of a maximally upgraded archmagos. Getting expensive here. Jump around the place and blast things or bash them up in melee. Your choice. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Cybertheurgy

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. The rules are average, with some notable powers and some distinctly less so.

Background.

Cybertheurgy is much like psychic powers, but they don't come from the warp. Instead, the Mechanicum have ways to talking to machines and getting them to do what they want. They risk feedback loops though - which makes them exactly like perils of the warp in functional terms - but they're not effected by any psychic modifiers. 

Artificia Machina.

Gives you battlesmithing powers at 12 inches which can be very nice. There is a ranged attack here at a similar range that has AP1 and haywire which will certainly work a treat against may vehicles, but there are probably better ways of breaking open tanks.

Artificia Cybernetica.

At the top of my recommendation pile, this discipline allows you to over-ride the usual robotic restrictions and allows you to have reactions by your robots! Yay! The 12 inch range shooting attack is also deadline at S=10 and AP=1. Hence highly recommended.

Ephemera Incursus. 

The ability to control enemy vehicles at 12inch range is an entertaining one and can be game changing in the right circumstances. The ranged weapon is a bit poor at S=3 and assault 6 with zero AP and some odd associated rules. A fluffy choice perhaps, but weak.

Ephemera Lacyraemarta.

This one lets you move your stuff in your shooting phase and gain hammer of wrath and other rules which are cute, but hardly amazing. The weapon here is a close combat boon which is very good though. You really need a close combat army to choose this discipline.

Artificia Reductor. 

Crack open a transport and force its contents to disembark and take a pinning test! Utterly glorious and a complete pain to your enemies. Top marks from me just for the sheer Alpha Legion level of shenanigans it can cause. The weapon here is a close combat one with S=10, AP=1 and nice rules like armourbane and exoshock which will give many opponents pause for thought. 

Overall.

I like both reductor and cybernetica a whole lot. Lacyraemarta is okay, machina is similarly fine overall but is rivaled by other parts of the army, and incursus won't be popular outside fluffy lists. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: The Orders of High Techno-Arcana

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars, rounded up. Several excellent choices here, but also a couple that are far less than stellar to balance it up. All are useful in the right circumstances though and most can be useful. 

Background.

Each arch-magos can take one of the orders of high techno-arcana. This choice is one that has the potential to be army defining, but some of these choices are certainly better than others. 

Archimandrite.

The ability to take an allied detachment is thanks to the Bonds of Vassalage that this arch-magos has - he is a ruler of worlds after all. He also gains an additional cybertheurgic arcana which is nice and grants battlesmiths two extra abilities: share his BS or gain power of the machine spirit. Both are useful although can be situational.

Cybernetica.

Gaining Line is a massive boon for your castellax. They also reduce the cover save of targets by -2 which is impressive. The preservation protocols yield Patris Cybernetica along with the ability to ignore precision shots which is very nice indeed. A solid choice for the robot lovers among you.

Lacyraemarta.

No one can spell it, but it reduces the effects of rending, poison, and fleshbane which is cute. The Opus Viscera helps battlesmiths restore lost wounds or move faster, while granting the Ephemara Arcana. Not a stand out choice to my eyes to be honest. 

Macrotek.

Tech priest auzilia as troops but they choose the enginseer arcana. Most amazingly they can MOVE terrain before the game commences. Wow. This is such a unique effect and is very game defining which is why I regard this choice as one of the most powerful possible. They also get to repair buildings and reduce the effects of breaching, exoshock and rending. 

Malagra. 

Get a data spike for minor points. Tech priests as well and with a scouting bonus. Take up to two additional arcuitors for a good points cost here and you have a merry band of assassins under your control. Preferred enemy, monster hunter, and precision strikes are a great bonus, but the icing on the cake is WS=5. Strong with the right build, but won't suit every army.

Myrmidax. 

Secutors as troops, destructors as elites. A Thanatar as a HQ to boot with W+1 and bonus combat resolution. The arch magos himself gains hatred of everything along with bulky and more wounds. Entertaining for sure, but middle of the road otherwise.

Reductor. 

The ability to do a lot of damaging things to buildings and vehicles (including dreadnoughts) is excellent. The ability to reduce the effects of cover from buildings is amazing though and turns them difficult and dangerous. This is a strong trait overall!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Mechanicum Traits and Advanced Reaction

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars, rounded up. The rules here have some very strong components, but some of them are a bit average. Many will require a bit of planning and consideration as to what flavour of army you are bringing to the table top.

Background.

The Mechanicum found themselves on both sides of the civil war of the Horus Heresy. The rules contained within the Mechanicum rulebook are therefore good for loyalist and traitor alike as they comprehensively cover most (non daemonic) aspects of the forces that they are able to field. 

Core Warlord Traits.

The Bloody Handed warlord trait is a solid trait that might find default use from time to time for the more close combat orientated army lists. It grants +1 to the number of wounds within a large bubble of the warlord for combat resolution purposes and gains an advanced reaction in the assault phase. Not outstanding by any means, but solid enough. 

The Stoic Defender trait is excellent for more shooty mechanicum forces. It grants a pinning test in the event of unsaved wounds and a bonus shooting reaction. Well worth it for the mechanicum in my opinion.

The Ever-Vigilant grants I+1 when running which can be neat in the right circumstances along with a movement reaction. 

Mechanicum Warlord Traits.

A Soul of Cold Iron means that you can still move and charge even when pinned, because you just don't care. Sure, you're still firing snap shots, but the movement reaction bonus sweetens this deal. Could be excellent against the right army (e.g., Iron Warriors!). 

The Logic of Victory is really interesting and could be almost game changing. If you don't shoot, or are not involved in combat, they you gain an additional reaction in EACH phase of the following turn as the reactive player. During these reactions, gain WS+1, BS+1 for attacking, and I+3, and Movement+3 during movement. This can be outstanding, but you will need the mind of a mechanicum boss to truly take advantage of this. It can be done though. 

The Science of Slaughter grants WS+1 and S+1 on the second turn of combat as the warlord computes accurately the best way to win. Obviously a huge bonus for the warlord, and great if you have a combat orientated warlord who wants to get stuck in against enemy warlords of similar capacity. The bonus assault reaction is okay. 

Mechanicum Advanced Reaction.

Scornful Fire allows a return fire from the warlord and its unit - and anything within 12 inches - against anything that shot against it. Once per battle use is the limit of course, and barrage and templates are restricted. This can be very strong and wipe out entire units when played effectively. 

KEY POINT TO FINISH WITH: automata cannot make reactions. BEWARE!

A Small Update

A small update on the blog today. With the Dark Angels now reviewed, I have updated the Second Edition summary page for the 30k / Horus Heresy unit reviews with them and rounded out the Astartes reviews. This has been a lot of work to reach this point and from the feedback I've received I know the community has valued this! Wow.

A short note then on where we are going next. I got the new black book release on pre-order and had a good scan of it. Although I'm excited by some parts of it, other parts are less interesting I will freely confess. I think then the next faction that I will be reviewing are the Mechanicum! 

Stay tuned - they're coming!

 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Marduk Sedras

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars, generously rounded up to 4/5 stars. I hold mixed views about this characters which arises from similarly mixed rules.

Background.

A very old space marine by any standard. He's seen it all and fought alongside the Emperor himself, the Emperor's Sons, and many others besides, including during the Unification. He asked to remain a master rather than join the central core of the legion is Eskaton of the Dreadwing. 

Strengths.

The warlord trait allows him to take a unit of Inner Circle Knights along with an assault reaction. This, of course, means one less elites slot being used.What really shines here is the Ancient of War rule. Since he's seen it all, he can tell his allies about his experiences. All Dark Angels within 6 inches of him at deployment gain preferred enemy against a chosen faction. This is amazing!

His kit is great: the armour can sweep despite the 4+ invulnerable and you pass dangerous terrain checks. His sword, The Death of Worlds, gives S+5 at AP2 which is amazing, but is also unwieldy. The best bit by far is the ability to cause -1 to invulnerable saves. This is truly unique. Could be good in the right circumstances of course and will instant death many. 

Weaknesses.

The warlord trait gives nothing other than the bonus unit and reaction - its not a "proper" trait in comparison to others. But it gets worse. The unit cannot sweep, while Marduk himself can! I find this such a peculiar contradiction! With this said, it is clear in the fluff it is supposed to be cataphractii armour so will no doubt count as such in the future. Hence no such contradiction. With the Ancient of War rule, also beware of stacking everything in a perfect pie plate formation for the enemy to kill you on turn one. He's also restricted to the loyalists - sorry traitors. 

Overall.

An interesting character that is worth it from the point of view of  the Ancient of War rule alone. Add on his combat potential, plasma burner, phosphex bombs, and the rest, and his is quite the tasty proposition. Just a pity about the peculiar warlord trait and going at I=1 in combat otherwise he'd be absolutely stellar. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Corswain

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. The rules are great - he is a tremendous beat stick!

Background.

All of the legions have recognized "names" that their brothers and cousins will instantly know. For the Dark Angels, Corswain's name is one that echos still some ten millennia later such was his skill. 

Strengths.

Honestly, if you want something dead short of a Primarch, then Corswain is your man. And he might even have a shot at some primarchs as well. I like to think of him as a beat stick legion champion. He has the kit to boot: The Blade has both duellist's edge and murderous strike along with being master crafted. His armour is insane for keeping him in the game by providing 3+ invulnerable in close combat and 4+ otherwise (or a regular 2+ save). Mix in that he has WS=7 and precision striking at 4+ and he will get the job done.

Weaknesses.

The first weakness is that if he is your warlord, you get locked into Marshal of the Crown (Death wing). It is not bad, but there are much better alternatives.

He's loyalist only, so a non-starter for traitor lists. 

Overall.

He kills stuff in close combat while staying alive very well. That's literally all he does. He does it to a maximum standard, to be clear. But he doesn't provide army buffs or anything else. A true beat stick in the traditional sense of those words.