Dear Reader, we are taking a short summer break here at Warpstone Flux. Normal service will resume in a couple of weeks! All the best!
Saturday, August 26, 2023
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Horus Heresy 2e Review: Krios Squadron
3.5/5 stars, rounded down. The rules are reasonably good overall.
A battle tank that is swift and deceptively skeletal in appearance. Its armour is essentially provided by overlapping power fields and its true origin is unknown. What is known is that it falls outside of the STC constructs and therefore doesn't appear outside of mechanicum forces.
Strengths.
The main strength of the tank comes from its primary weapon. There are two variants. The first is the lightning cannon which I see as being well able to handle marines and other lighter tanks. The second is the pulsar fusil which is more of a terminator killer overall.
Other worthy notes here are the movement rate of 16 which makes it incredibly fast and easy to position.
Weaknesses.
Watch out for the rear armour of 10!
Builds.
3x Krios, Lightning Cannons (375 points).
In all honesty, the "naked" version is great. I actually don't think the pulsar fusil is quite worth it. Add some hunter killer missiles to taste. The triple tank version is very nice and can take out many targets that you set your sights on short of those all round armour=14 tanks.
Monday, August 21, 2023
Horus Heresy 2e Review: Karacnos Assault Tank
4/5 stars. The rules are great!
Designed to scour the area ahead of organic life, the Karacnos is basically a Geneva Convention violating assault tank. Once the path is cleared, the Mechanicum will eventually come back to sweep up the remains.
Strengths.
The main weapon here is just insanity made real and well able to chew through almost any infantry in the game. With no less than a 7 inch pie plate, it is also radiological, shell shocks, crawls, and barrages. Among the other no less impressive rules and a whopping 60inch range.
Armour of 14 on the front is similarly impressive combined with 5 hull points.
Weaknesses.
Rear and side armour of 12 are not that impressive, but with barrage and the 60inch range, you can just relax and shoot that pie plate most of the game long. If bothered, the lightning locks and shock ram help in a tight spot.
Builds.
There is only one upgrade option: hunter killer missiles. These are probably not the best option for the tank, but you might like them depending on what else is in your army. Overall then, this unit is worth the points cost so long as you treat it well and try not to make it a bigger target than it already is through tactical positioning.
Friday, August 18, 2023
Horus Heresy 2e Review: Myrmidon Destructor Host
4/5 stars. The rules are great!
A sub-sect of the Myrmidons that are dedicated to heavy weapons and the rendering of vehicles and buildings to slag. They were heavily used on both sides of the war, and even by some who would seek to avoid joining either (cross ref: Anvilus).
Strengths.
The stat line is great with an important BS=5 for shooting purposes which is exactly what you want for a unit of heavy support monsters. Combined with T=5 and W=4, they are going to stick around for a while, so its worth making the best of them and their long range shooting abilities.
Weaknesses.
The 3+ armour save isn't the best considering the points cost, although they do have refractor fields as standard.
Builds.
3 Destructors, all with Darkfire Cannons (205 points).
Pretty much the standard configuration here since the darkfire cannons provide a solid AP=2 at heavy 2 and lance with blind. These are great for your long range anti-light tank purposes and provide a good option against terminators given the S=7. Add in more destructors to taste and as your point cost permits.
3 Destructors, all with Conversion Beamers (185 points).
I don't know why people don't like the conversion beamers. Sure, you have to operate at long range. But you were going to do this anyway with this unit. So take advantage of this, and the points cost that is lower than the darkfire cannons. Juicy S=10 and AP=1 makes a deadly force against anything in the game at the longest range.
The other weapons are very build dependent: graviton imploders might be nice at short range, and the irradiation engine is ultimately an odd pick. I don't see players using either. The above 2 builds are superior over even the baseline volkites, so might as well use them.
Monday, August 14, 2023
Horus Heresy 2e Review: Thanatar Siege-Automata Maniple
4/5 stars. The rules are great!
More a mobile artillery platform than an actual combat unit, the Thanatar is a force to be reckoned with. Other than the plasma weapon originating on Ryza, little more is generally known about their backgrounds save rumours about where the Calix variant hailed from (within the sects of the mechanicum itself).
Strengths.
Wow. This beast has an amazing stat line. S=T=8 and 7 wounds with a 2+ save and an atomantic deflector mean that it is going nowhere very soon. Oh, and it can move 8 per turn as well which is impressive.
The Cavas variant sports the plasma mortar and twin shock chargers. These are just about okay to my mind - especially if you like pie plates of plasma landing in the midst of your enemy.
The Calix has the impressive Sollex heavy las that comes with armour bane and S=10. And then there's a graviton ram for close combat. This beast is where things are at for me: a true anti-armour platform.
Weaknesses.
It does cost a fair amount of points, but given the weapons, I suspect that the points cost investment can be made back reasonably well by the Calix variant (the AP3 on the Cavas in close combat is such a shame).
Builds.
1 Thanatar Calix (255 points).
The Calix is my favoured variant here but only one can be upgraded per maniple which is why I've only got one in this squad. The only other choice here is paragon of metal, which I think is viable, but others in the army can benefit from it as well, so it just depends on what you're building I think.
Friday, August 11, 2023
Horus Heresy 2e Review: Vultarax Stratos-Automata Squadron
2.5/5 stars, rounded down. The rules a bit poor considering the points cost.
Created on the Forge World of Anetarbraxus, the design was given to Mars as a tribute. It owes very little to the natural world and instead is a terrible amalgamation of parts that don't look like they should gel together individually, but actually do the part whilst looking almost alright. [Or if you're a 40k player: look even better when Nurgle corrupts them into Blight Drones?].
Strengths.
As usual, I really like havoc launchers. But that's just my prejudice. Better though is the ability to have S=6 blasters with disruption shooting as BS=5. This is great. And then there's the movement rate of 16 that these beasts are able to get - fabulous for both positioning and ignoring difficult and dangerous terrain.
Weaknesses.
The issue that I see here is two fold. Firstly there's the points cost which is just a bit too high to be tempted by. Secondly is that fact you're going to need several of them in order to take down vehicles on their own. There's just better choices out there to be very honest.
Builds.
3 Vultarax (375 points).
There's only two upgrades to consider. The first is to maximize the squad to 3 models. This is something that you should do to try to ensure some vehicle kills, but again, I'm unconvinced that this is a great option for this battlefield role. Secondly is Paragon of Metal which I wouldn't bother with here. I want to like the model more, I really do, but its just not that highly competitive. Still, they do look good!
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Horus Heresy 2e Review: Vorax Battle-Automata Maniple
3/5 stars. The rules are distinctly average, but might be sub-par on a bad day due to the points cost.
Got too much famine going on in the Forge World? Send in the Vorax for a little bit of population culling - that'll cure it. Grim and Dark. Got mutant vermin issues? Same. Got rogue machine problems? Vorax will search and destroy for you. Got a war going down? Well, same thing once again really.
Strengths.
The stat line is adequate with a good movement rate T=5 and 3 wounds combined with a 3+ saving throw. The WS=BS=4 is space marine competitive at least.
The movement is enhanced by the combination of fleet and scout rules, plus the hammer of wrath can really set combat up nicely. The lightning gun itself might be close range, but can do a reasonable duty thanks to rending. I'd certainly be tempted by an irad-cleanser here though. That'll help with the power blade arrays to do some dicing.
Weaknesses.
I can't quite decide if the price tag is worth it or not. Maybe just. I wouldn't bother with the Paragon of Metal upgrade though.
Builds.
3 Vorax, one with an irad-cleanser (205 points).
We have to take 3 models in order to get the cleanser. I think this is worth considering given what they could be hunting down in a game.
Sunday, August 6, 2023
Horus Heresy 2e Review: Ursarax Cohort
2.5/5 stars. I've generously rounded up to 3 stars. The rules are somewhat below average. They're a bit lacking without the power fist upgrades which takes their price tag up into the range where you wonder if there's a better unit.
Thralls, rather than servitors, these beings are purposed as a close combat unit in service of the magos. Formed from human remains of selected people, they retain just enough ability to make good tactical decisions, but need regular grim-dark neural anesthetics to cope which they periodically get. Grim.
Strengths.
Nice Utan jump packs allow them to get where they need to be quickly and although the WS=4 is very average, their toughness (5) and wounds (3) should allow them to survive long enough to initiate a combat if you think carefully about positioning.
Weaknesses.
S=4 here is an issue, hence the power fist upgrades are all but mandatory here. The feel no pain roll is almost not worth writing about.
Builds.
3 Ursarax, each with two power fists (190 points).
The only build that is viable. However, the points cost here is steep and slowly creeping to not-really-worth-it territory.
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Horus Heresy 2e Review: Arlatax Battle-Automata Maniple
3/5 stars. The rules are kinda average.
Prone to malifica more than other robots, the Arlatax was produced in significant numbers by Xana and other Forge Worlds. They are in essence shock assault troops with excellent specs, but widely distrusted by many a Mechanicum force.
Strengths.
The Utan jump booster provides the Arlatax with the means to get where it needs to be quickly. Combine this with the very healthy stat line and you have a recipe for a hard hitting assault unit. The plasma cannon is an excellent addition here and the hammer of wrath only adds to this.
I would strongly consider applying Paragon of Metal to this unit. The points cost overall is worth it for this unit (Paragon of Metal or not).
Weaknesses.
The lack of ultimately reliable AP=2 is an issue here, and they remain on a 3+ save. The latter is offset nicely by T=6 though - these robots will stick around.
Builds.
Arlatax, 1 Arc Scourge, Paragon of Metal (205 points).
A bit nasty to say the least! You didn't want friends, right?
Of course, if you drop the Paragon of Metal and Arc Scourge, and add another model or two, they're still going to be effective, but not quite outstanding.
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