Horus Heresy 2e Review: Nârik Dreygur

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5 stars. The original Praevian returns under legacy units! 

Background.

Loyal to the Emperor now, but shattered on Isstvan and rebuilt with extensive augmetics. Dreygur survived but was tossed aside by Perturabo as any broken toy would be. Bereft of command he finally broke when the Alpha Legion nearly killed him later on and became a pseudo-Blackshield. He's complex. 

Strengths.

Dreyguy is a consul with a host of special rules above and beyond the typical Praevain in second edition. As well as being a master of the automaton, he gains some A and stubborn bonus when close to Cassian Reborn and can also be taken as a Blackshields marine rather than a loyalist Iron Warriors choice. 

He has a bunch of special equipment like his power fist that also contains haywire (very nice). The cortex controller and designator help a lot with mastering the robots around him whilst the refractor field and artificer armour makes him more survivable. 

Weaknesses.

This is not a long ranged character. Sure he has a master crafted pistol, but he really needs to be in close combat with some robots. Take some Vorax or Castellax to go with him, and get him to where you need him to be (which could be tricky). 

Overall.

Not bad overall, but a bit limited considering the wider builds possible with the Praevian consul overall. You need to get him in position and his robots to help him in close combat realistically to make the most of him. Otherwise, perhaps take a fortification where he can man some longer range weapon and simply use the power fits as a deterrent (a bit of a waste really). The ability to take those robots is great though and not to be wasted; whilst the ability to take him as a Blackshields should not be overlooked either!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Erasmus Golg

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.5/5 stars. Rounded up. Very reasonable, but stuck with a fixed warlord trait. 

Background.

A survivor of the newly found Primarch's decimation, Golg really didn't mind the brutality that much. In fact he embraced it. What he really did mind a whole lot was not being recognised for his talents. He never made it to the inner circle of Perturabo. And he is rather tetchy about it all the time. At his core, he's quite the bully. And on the battlefield too. 

Strengths.

W=4 is certainly a massive boon here. He acts as a praetor in cataphractii terminator armour and has all the pros and cons that you might otherwise associated with such armour. Interestingly he carries both a nuncio vox and an augury scanner, along with his amazing AP=2 and S=10 chain blade fist thing. 

He has a bunch of special rules including hammer of wrath (2), stubborn and relentless which are very reasonable. 

Weaknesses.

The choice of warlord trait is fixed as blood-handed. This is okay, but a choice would have obviously been better. The combi melta is excellent and makes him a massive danger to tanks in general. 

As a terminator, you will also have to think about how you will get him into position. There's a certain rite of war that springs to mind about terminators though (Pride of the Legion). 

Overall.

A very reasonable warlord choice for the Iron Warriors. What stands out here though is that he can be selected for both traitors and for loyalists alike. Hence if you have a terminator squad around him, then this is a warlord you are going to like a whole lot. Fundamentally, he's an anti-tank hero that can readily double up to be a massive melee threat as well. Little not to like other than the fixed trait. 

Second Half of World Eaters Assault Squad

They are brutal. Hardly cunning though. And there's chain axes, and big monster power maul. Plus red. Red everywhere. 

In particular, I like how the red had splattered nicely over one half of some of the models, including the torso and the beakie helmet. The dynamism in the squad is similarly pleasing with all the models looking like they are ready, willing, and able to carry out the Emperor's duty and forge compliance in the best way that they know how. Or perhaps the Warmaster's darker compliance. Either way, that's the squad of ten assault marines complete! Very pleased with this overall. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Iron Havocs

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
4/5 stars. Good rules, but perhaps not quite the same as the previous edition. The extra BS pip really helps them shine and makes them worth taking overall. 

Background.

These marines are the elites of the heavy support squads within the Iron Warriors. They lay down withering lines of fire with heavy weapons to saturate the battlefield and lay waste to everything in front of them. This is also a legacy unit and a break from our usual reviews. 

Strengths.

Choose between shrapnel cannons, las cannons, missile launchers or auto cannons. The BS=5 on these marines is excellent. 

Precision shots is really nice to have - especially for the auto cannons. 

Weaknesses.

Not so great leadership values. You will want to watch out for incoming close combat units who might not want you in situ. 

Builds.

5 Iron Havocs, sergeant with nuncio vox, marines with Shrapnel Cannons or Auto Cannons (145 points).

A baseline build that is effective.

5 Iron Havocs, Vexilla, Augury Scanner, Sergeant with Nuncio Vox, Las Cannons (240 points).

Very expensive in comparison to the plain heavy support version. The BS upgrade will certainly mean that you pretty much get rid of your target though, so yay!

10 Iron Havocs, Vexilla, Augury Scanner, Sergeant with Nuncio Vox, Artificer Armour, Power Fist, all with Missile Launchers (335 points).

For when things just have to die on the first turn. And for subsequent turns with a power fist to create some deterrence. Very expensive. Very effective long range option. 

Half Squad of Heresy World Eaters

Today's painting features a half squad of Heresy World Eaters marine. The other half is coming soon, so enjoy the first half. I've shown a few of these on their own before, but very happy to see them come together like this. 

Three standard marines coupled with the sergeant with falax blades and a marine with a power spear / power lance. Several of them are standing on top of orange barrels, possibly toxic, and green coloured terrain which is to reflect some of my own scenery. There is a dynamic quality to each of the marines, posed might fight, or charging in to the fray, as befits this legion.

The other thought that is lurking in the back of my mind about this force is that they would probably make some nice Blackshields. Yes, I know they're painted in World Eaters colours. But perhaps the narrative here is that after being betrayed, but before ridding themselves of their iconography, they are out for themselves reeving the galaxy with the remnant chain axes of their former legion. Not sure where I'm going with this thought, but I might add Endryd to this force to see how he looks ultimately. 

Hope you like the set, looking forward to showing the second half of the squad soon!

Heresy Pre-orders Day

Good morning (to those of you in the UK; or a very late evening to my mates Down Under). The new pre-orders for Horus Heresy are available to order today! I am actually fairly blown away that there's such a lot being released in one day. These include:

Traitor and Loyalist Overseer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Traitor and Loyalist Herald ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Iron Hands Praetor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars for all praetors, not specifically Iron Hands)

Iron Warriors Warsmith ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Space Wolves Caster of Runes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Arquitor Magisterium ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Secutarii Axiarch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

and a Mechanicum Heavy Support Force

Links to the above units and my reviews of them can be found by clicking above. I've also included my own evaluations here in case anyone is pondering. 

For me, I've made an order for the Iron Warriors Warsmith which has been on my list for a long time and its really nice to have that in place. I've also taken the plunge for an Overseer since I wanted to make a small lasrifle section for fun and this was one of my goals for the year ahead. I was on the fence about the Iron Hands praetor for my shattered legions. I already have a conversion and think I will keep it in place - doubly so given that Shattered Legions are not really playable. 

Looking forward to building these to say the least, most especially the Warsmith (can't lie). 

Another painted World Eater with Jump Pack, Chain Axe and Bolt Pistol

As the title of this posts suggests, here is another completed World Eater with a jump pack, chain axe and bolt pistol ready for deployment.

The splatter on this marine is intended to be very one sided as possible (his right hand side / left as you're looking at the image). This has worked terrifically well on the beak of the helmet and reasonably on the torso. It is accomplished in the same manner as I've previously written about: blood for the blood god provides the thicker blobs, then I've flicked (using my finger nail) contrast red from the correct angle to get the finer splatter and spray going where I want it to land. The overall effect brings everything together nicely.

The observant will also notice the War Hounds iconography on the shoulder pad as well - suggestive of a more loyalist (or old) member of the World Eaters. This is brought up to date with the crossed chains on the grieve indicative of dealing with one of his own legion in the gladiatorial pits. There's also the usual level of grime and chips present, but these are dominated by the splatter which was the intent. Very pleased overall and this squad is almost ready to be brought together for a group photograph soon. Stay tuned. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: The Solar Auxilia Legiones Auxilia

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. A great idea! Albeit with variable legion related rules outcomes. 

Background.

Some solar auxilia were assigned to the legions themselves during the Heresy. They might represent indentured service, home planet forces come to aid their upgraded and uplifted brothers, held under oath, or otherwise. Each has been shaped by the legions and comes with their own rules. 

Rules Evaluation. 

You can play these types of solar auxilia so long as you have a space marine commanding your main detachment and a solar allied detachment. You mortal men gain the Legiones Auxilia (X) special rule. They become fellow warriors (unless already better) and can therefore score (hello Line!). 

On the downside, they get pinned if they see a legion unit in a large area fail a morale check. Just don't let it happen I guess.

What follows are some knee jerk thoughts on the individual legions solar auxilia. Overall, remember that the Solar Auxilia are primarily a shooting force unless you have configured a specialist melee unit. 

Individual Legion Notes.

I grade all legions as "Good", "Average", or "Poor" herein. 

Dark Angels: Good. Your space marines gain the same move or shoot reaction as your mortals if in very close proximity. This is very nice and effective. 

Emperor's Children: Average to Poor. Gain hammer of wrath for a turn if you remove models. Although this seems good, remember you're mortals. Close combat isn't your thing in general.

Iron Warriors: Good. Ignoring modifiers to pinning checks is solid. 

White Scars: Good. Feel no pain in your deployment zone or on top of an objective is solid. 

Space Wolves: Average. Your shooting disallows cover and shrouded saves. This is excellent. But I suspect your enemies armour is better than your shots? Right?

Imperial Fists: Average to Poor. Improve your own cover save by one pip in terrain. Nice enough if you are positioned well. 

Night Lords: Poor. Not being affected by fear is actually solid, but rage is just not what you want your shooting squads to get. 

Blood Angels: Poor. A+1 when close to marines doesn't matter when you are mortals fighting against marines I think. Remember once again your strength is in shooting not melee most of the time. 

Iron Hands: Good to Average. Demonstrating that once again the Iron Hands really should have been a traitor force, they slam augmentations into their brains to destroy their fear. As a result, they remove 1d3 models per failed morale check for falling back. 

World Eaters: Good. Possibly the best of the lot. Having +1 to hit with shooting fulfils their role as being the mopping up detachment when an enemy is either falling back or already has suffered casualties. Very fluffy too. I genuinely like it a whole lot. Perhaps enough to make a squad of these? 

Ultramarines: Average to Poor. You're not really going to use it that much. You only suffer snap shots when charging against a unit you shot and and made casualties in. 

Death Guard: Poor. Minus one to wound against you versus fleshbane and poison is okay, but very situational. Re-rolling dangerous terrain checks sounds good, but you shouldn't be there in the first place. But hey, you are tied to the Death Guard, so perhaps you are intentionally there in the first place?

Thousand Sons: Average to Poor. Adamantium Will is okay if situational. Being able to allocate your failed warp tests to the allied mortals is poor form, but accepted practice I guess. 

Sons of Horus: Good. Really up there with the World Eaters. Adding 2 to charging distances for your marines if the mortals have removed models from that unit by shooting is actually very useful. 

Word Bearers: Average to Poor. Fleet and Crusader have their uses and you will usually activate this since I suppose you will be close to your marine brothers. But yet again remember you want to be shooting unless you have a dedicated close combat squad in your Auxilia. 

Salamanders: Good to Average. Gain a cover save of 4+ when you have an intervening unit of Salamanders. Nice and fluffy if you ask me. But also: try not to shoot through your own allies!

Raven Guard: Good. Ld+1 when they can draw a long line of sight to Raven Guard marines is a great boon for mortal units. 

Alpha Legion: Good. Ablative wounds to an uncaring parent legion. If you target the marines, take a Ld test to NOT shoot at the mortals instead if they are under 12 inches away. Nice. Fluffy. Slightly awkward silence afterwards. They were the diversion after all and knew what they signed up for. Or did they? Just whose side are they on? 

Lotara Sarrin and Angron Transfigured!

What a surprise reveal today in the Warhammer Community! No less than Angron Transfigured into daemon primarch form! And as if that was not enough: Lotara Sarrin herself as Captain of the Conqueror. 

I really like the Lotara miniature, but will freely admit to being very curious about her rules / ruleset. As a mortal, she is probably not exactly going to last too long, but she does have a very storied history analogous to certain other mortals in the Heresy (without naming names, there's some preachers of the Emperor that should get mentioned, and although not mortal, I wouldn't mind seeing some rules for characters like Grammaticus whilst we're at it). I do like the miniature though - its refreshing to see a female character in a powerful position getting her dues. The tight braids coupled with the paint job from the Warhammer community is excellent.

Angron himself in daemon primarch form is awesome too. The sculpt is much more detailed that the 40k version. Which, with all kindness, should be expected from resin. With this said though, I still actually really like the 40k sculpt. Unlike with Fulgrim, I have a hard time trying to pick the "best" between the 30k and 40k versions (Fulgrim's head is easily better in the 30k resin form!). But for Angron I could actually go almost either way. The wings on 30k Angron are truly massive - very reminiscent of Fulgrim in a lot of ways. The leg joints are not quite what I'd imagined though - I thought he would have the extra joint like he is always pictured with. Equally, it could be just the angle we are viewing it from? I'd like to see more. The head is very good regardless and the sheer detail in the skulls is immense. I'd honestly happily play either miniature in a 30k game (as I would with Fulgrim - but honestly the 30k mini looks better despite the rules). Looking forward to hearing more about the rules for 30k Angron to see what he can do in comparison to his primarch form. 

Power Spear/Lance World Eaters - Painted

Continuing on the World Eaters painting theme of recent weeks, I've now completed the power spear wielding assault marine. 

Yet more blood for the blood god and splattered red contrast paint makes for a superlative contrast to the regular whites of the armour. The decals include the assault symbol on the left shin, the legion icon in the middle of the chest, and on the left shoulder pad (not really visible in the above image) is the War Hounds icon, suggestive of a more loyal time and place. Which is how I like it considered that I wanted to suggest that this squad may plausibly be loyalists. 

The base of this marine is also interesting and a blend of a plastic barrel from the 40k battlefield terrain range, coupled with resin parts in my bits box and a liberal application of grunge from Armageddon basing paint. A bit of contrast paint and dry brushing finishes the effects nicely. 

Falax Blades on World Eaters Assault Marine Painted

I had a lot of fun painting this character! This is the World Eaters squad sergeant for an assault squad. Naturally, I upgraded him with a pair of falax blades - because that's exactly what you should do in my opinion!

The painting follows my standard formulation for World Eaters with the off-white of the armour contrasting nicely with the blues of the shoulder pads and jump pack. What really makes most World Eaters come together nicely is the blood. This is the fun part to say the least! Here, I've done something a bit different if you can pick it by eye. I've applied blood for the blood god liberally on select locations of the armour. These are the denser red blobs. 

However, I've followed this up with some careful flicking of red contrast paint. On the torso, it is possible to see the spray from this aligns very pleasingly with the blood for the blood god lines that I've painted diagonally. 

And to think that these monsters are supposed to be the good guys (for clarity: I'm going to run them as loyalists most of the time despite the head swap suggesting otherwise potentially!). It is easy to see how they fell, but equally it is tragic unlike some other legions. 

I will have to get the rest finished and photographed soon! 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Legion Company Command Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars, but rounded down. Great for small points value games and narrative ones but outshone by the actual legion command squad. 

Background.

Within any given legion, there are companies. These are lead by lesser commanders, but all the same, they also have company command squads. They in turn carry the banner of the company into battle which contains their victory rolls and therefore inspires the rest of the troops. 

Strengths. 

The banner that is carried not only gives a Ld=9 aura, but also grants Line to your squad so long as the banner remains on the table. This is good and calls for the unit to be capturing objectives and similar. 

There is incredible flexibility in build available - not quite at the command squad level, of course, but you can kit them out for serious close combat duty, or for more ranged duty. 

I also really like the fact that they can bring a rhino, a drop pod, or a termite into play. This is excellent. 

Weaknesses. 

You can only add a company command squad to an Optae or to a Centurion. My reading of this is that it categorically does not extend to other consul types. This is ... okay, but I would have liked all consuls having access to the company command squad.

Despite the flexibility of builds, the basic equipment lacks chain swords. Ouch. And there's no jet bikes or similar available here sadly. 

Fundamentally though, these are still veterans with no 2+ saves or invulnerable saves. They are cheap enough in terms of points cost for you not to care too much either. 

Builds.

Company Command Squad, 9 Members, Nemesis Bolt Guns, Company Standard, Augury Scanner (290 points).

A back field company command squad to stay put on an objective and ping away at distant targets. Take 2 missile launchers instead to taste for a few extra points - a nice variant. 

Company Command Squad, 9 members, Lightning Claws, Company Standard (280 points)

Get in one of those transport options and get up close and personal with the enemy. Use power weapons instead to reduce the cost - this is actually a good idea in many cases. 

Company Command Squad, 9 members, Company Standard, Nuncio Vox, 2 Melta Guns, 3 Combi-Melta Guns (260 points).

Tank hunting configuration for which you will also need a transport. 

Painted World Eaters Jump Pack Marine

There's just something about the blood for the blood god paint, combined with contrast red paint flicked on to that white of the World Eaters that makes everything come together nicely. Maybe "nicely" isn't quite the right word, but you know what I'm getting at.

This is the one with the Dark Angels power maul coupled with a head swap for the sake of depicting the nails. Naturally, this is a loyalist marine who has been betrayed I suspect! He's a bit angry about everything that has been going on and seeks justice for it all. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Legion Optae

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3/5 stars. Great for small points value games and narrative ones. Otherwise, different choices should be made in a crowded HQ space. 

Background.

These men are marines that have risen modestly through the ranks and have been entrusted with a small quantum of command. This might be for routine tasks or low level missions. They are still well connected to the men that they have shared battles with and have won their respect and the ability to inspire them directly thanks to their (presumably) shared history. 

Strengths. 

They come with a stat line very similar to a Veteran of the legion. Their main strength is arguably the Strength of the Legion special rule which allows an automatic regroup and subsequently suffers zero restriction on charging or shooting in the same turn. This is clearly a nice boon and represents (narratively) their ability to turn their comrades around thanks to their connection to them. How often this would happen is questionable though. 

Their upgrades are a wide selection of possibilities only ordinarily seen in Consuls. As such, you could think of this HQ character as a very low level Consul in many ways. I see them as excellent for small points value games - and they can really shine there. As someone who plays smaller points games more regularly than larger ones, they really are an attractive choice to maximize the points so long as they aren't upgraded too much. 

Weaknesses. 

They are - only - veterans. They don't come with any of the usual upgrades you might otherwise expect for either consuls or praetors. This is an issue. Further, the points value can escalate quickly, so I'd advise keeping the points as low as possible to make this HQ choice work. You also need to reckon on no invulnerable saves when not upgraded.

Speaking of HQ choices, this choice occupies an entire slot on the force organisation chart that even the special rules here (strength of the legion, relentless) won't particularly make up for. You will want something different for your HQ once you go over (e.g.) 750 points, or outside of Zone Mortalis style skirmishes. 

Builds.

Optae, Nemesis Bolt Gun (50 points).

I really like this build as a back field rally-caller. 

Optae, Power Fist (65 points).

Front line. But you are rapidly entering the fuzzy area of "wouldn't a consul be better?". Fluffy for small points value games all the same.

Optae, Thunder Hammer, Boarding Shield (75 points).

Illustration of "too expensive" and "wouldn't a consul be better?".

Optae, Jump Pack, Power Weapon (75 points).

Similar to the above comments really. Combat Bikes and Jet Bikes are in a similar range. 

Second Half: Painted World Eaters Terminator Squad

Following on from the first half (which is more ranged and chain fist orientated), the second half of this World Eaters terminator squad is all about the lightning claws!

I like the choice of the claws here in combination with the lighter terminator armour for their sweeping potential. Of course, the paint work follows my standard pattern for the World Eaters with a good splash and dash of grime and red blood for the blood god!

The bases lighter sand colour contrasts nicely with the whites and blues, whilst allowing any (ahem) running liquids to have a good stain where these marines tread. I think the overall key with the red paint is to try to not overdo it - which is hard because it is such a nice medium to work with!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Endryd Haar

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. Excellent!

Background.

A World Eater presumed dead. Haar came back from the outer reaches to discover the depth of the betrayal and went a little bit crazy. Lacking the butcher's nails, his fury is more cold and numbing, yet somehow righteous in my head canon. Everything a World Eater praetor could have evolved to if the nails and Angron and the betrayal had not got in the way. He's now a Blackshield, and a very good one at that. 

Strengths. 

His stat line is a praetor's, yet he also somehow gets T=5 which is amazing. 

Let's talk about his power fist though - the Terrawatt pattern power gauntlet. It comes with brutal (2) as the baseline, but also the Charged Attacks special rule which allows him to gain Sx3 at a price of halving his attacks (rounded up). This is going to slay a lot of enemies in a straight up fight and be outright dangerous to vehicles as well. 

His Warlord Trait is Fangs of the Emperor which grants Scouts to 3 infantry units that also lack bulky. This will enable early deployment board control when played correctly and hopefully line up some early charges where needed. The extra assault reaction is okay. 

He also gets relentless along with hatred of the World Eaters and battle hardened which makes him an incredibly attractive praetor for any Black Shields force. 

Weaknesses. 

Very few realistically beyond not being able to be taken by other forces I suppose. 

Overall.

Love this character! Superb praetor for the Black Shields and a near "must include" if you're playing them. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Shadrak Meduson

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. A great Praetor level character for the Iron Hands or Shattered Legions. 

Background.

Witnessing the devastation of the Betrayal from orbit, Meduson made his escape and re-forced the remnants of the Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders into a new fighting force. They became guerrillas, deploying behind enemy lines and fighting as a flexible force that took advantage of each of their legion's strengths. 

Strengths. 

The warlord trait here is really strong when you pull it off at the right moment. In short, once per game you can give your Iron Hands or Shattered Legions army Furious Charge and Hatred of traitors. All you have to basically do is line up 2 or more charges and it is probably going to be worth it. The extra movement reaction is a bonus.

As well as being able to flip-flop between Iron Hands and Shattered Legions rules, he comes with a rending bolt gun and a power sword from the days of the Storm Walkers that has S+1 and breaching (at a base of AP=3) which can be deadly. 

Weaknesses. 

WS=5 is okay, but not great. But more fundamentally, who would play a Shattered Legions army under the current rules? Great as an Iron Hands character otherwise! 

Overall.

A great character, but I'm still crying about the Shattered Legions rules in second edition. Play him as an Iron Hands master of the legion and he'll do well enough for the points cost that you are paying. 

Painted World Eaters Praetor / Consul in Terminator Armour

The weekend has seen some really good progress with painting the World Eaters allied detachment! Although I've got more photos to show, today I just wanted to show the completed World Eaters praetor. 

This marine follows the usual proscription for painting the World Eaters. This includes a white spray undercoat (White Scar) followed by a base coat of Corax White and highlights in White Scar. The blue on the shoulder pads is a base colour of Alaitoc Blue and highlights of Teclis Blue. The red helmet is done in contrast paint. Nuln oil follows where appropriate. 

As per the standard formulation, I have grimed up the miniature by applying Guilliman Flesh into the recesses of the joints. Sponge applied Black and Eshin Grey shows some battle damage, and I've also applied some silver scratches to the shoulder pads. 

Finally, of course, Blood for the Blood God has been liberally applied to show the miniature in the middle of a grim dark fight. 

My intent here is that this is actually going to be a Loyalist force! Not that you can tell much difference from this to a Traitor I suppose? 

Overall, I like the conversion, and whilst I might use it as a Praetor with a Paragon Blade, this one will also double up as a Warmonger with a thunder hammer counts-as. The Tartaros shoulder pads are hopefully enough to mark it out as a Tartaros terminator despite the otherwise Cataphractii base miniature from Forge World. What I'm really pleasantly surprised about is just how well Dark Angels weapons blend in and work for the World Eaters. I'm going to keep doing this!

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Hibou Khan

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Rounded up. A traitor turned loyalist with nice rules.

Background.

A Terran born Khan, Hibou naturally gravitated to Horus thanks to involvement in the Vth legion warrior lodges. He resented the legion's growing influence from Chogoris and when the rebellion started, he threw in with Horus along with a number of other Khans (it is easy to forget just how divided the White Scars were when the Heresy began). He then sought contrition but his primarch cast him out to seek his own absolution with the Sagyar Mazan which would bring him into the orbit of the Shattered Legions. 

Strengths. 

The stat line is reasonable and is basically a centurion. The equipment is standard, except for the Breath of the Storm which is an excellent AP2 two handed blade. It comes with a range of special rules such as Breaching and Murderous Strike that would make him competitive in many situations. 

The warlord trait grants Rampage (2) which is very nice along with a reaction that doesn't go away upon his death (it just transfers from movement to assault). He can also join the Shattered Legions, but you won't want to do this. 

Weaknesses. 

The Karash rule will stop him joining other units, but as a leader of the Mazan, he's a potentially good choice. 

Is he worth the points cost though? I'm on the fence a bit. The Feel No Pain helps here, but outside of a dedicated Mazan force, you probably won't be taking him (sad face for the Shattered Legions here too). 

Overall.

Won't be seen outside of very fluffy and specialist builds which is a bit sad for me to say. Indeed, I've never seen him on the battlefield yet - would be interested to hear if you have?

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Tybalt Marr

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Tybalt Marr is relentless in hunting down the Shattered Legions, but his rules are quite good against others as well!

Background.

The Either. The Hunter of the Iron Heart. Tybalt Marr was charged by Horus himself to take down the Shattered Legions and the remains of the Massacre at Isstvan. He did this very relentlessly and almost saw off Meduson himself. But didn't quite. He came to despise the Iron Hands as well as respect them eventually, and proved that the Shattered Legions could not act with impunity. 

Strengths. 

Tybalt Marr is a praetor with some nice special rules and equipment. Let's briefly talk about his equipment first. The Culling Blade is an AP=2 fleshbane affair with murderous strike to boot. It is quite a character killer when in the right position and can equally devastate entire enemy squads. His stat line is on par for a praetor so there's no real complaints here.

He has a special rule (warlord trait) that once per battle he can undertake a shock assault and force every unit in a large range to take a pinning test. This is really amazing - and when done right can turn the tide of an entire battle. That said, you'd better have something to reduce the leadership of enemy squads handy if you can since most units can be expected to pass this outside of mortal forces. 

Weaknesses. 

Hatred of shattered legions is fluffy and appropriate. However. You will almost never play against shattered legions, so it is a waste realistically. Yet another reason that Shattered Legions being unplayable is a terrible thing in second edition. 

Overall.

Worth the points overall and the warlord trait is amazing when deployed at the right moment and your opponent has some unlucky die rolls! Very fluffy as well. 

Horus Heresy 2e Review: Horus Aximand

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Little Horus comes the the Heresy wracked with haunted guilt about the side he has chosen, and armed with Mourn-It-All which is fantastic. A very fluffy choice for the Sons of Horus! 

Background.

Little Horus looked exactly like his gene sire in appearance. He chose to follow the same into Heresy and became a traitor, but was never too sure about his choices. He became wracked with guilt about it, and sought to justify his choice to himself repeatedly, ultimately fighting on Beta-Garmon. He also has a knack for staying alive despite the most grievous wounds. 

Strengths. 

Purely from a points cost point of view, Little Horus is about right for what he brings. He is fundamentally a praetor with a stat line to match. He has a few special rules which are worthy of mention.

His warlord trait let's him return to the game with +1d3 wounds when he first "dies", but not against instant death and similar. 

Mourn-It-All is a very nice blade with a valuable AP2 along with bonus S, and a few special rules which make Little Horus great in close combat against even elite enemies. 

The Castigatus close combat shield on the surface looks good with a 5+ invulnerable save that reflects back attacks at S=4 if he successfully saves with it. But that's about it. It is more of a draw back if you ask me. 

The Haunted special rule is exceptionally circumstantial and represents bonus victory points if Loken is on the opposition. Two bonuses if Horus Aximand does the deed up close and personal. Honestly, it won't happen outside of a narrative game, or that once in a while 3 sigma event!

Weaknesses. 

The warlord trait obviously only effects himself, rather than being a force multiplier. 

The shield should probably just be dropped. He can do better realistically, and it hampers him having two close combat weapons.

Haunted won't happen most of the time unless its forced.

Overall.

Very fluffy! Little Horus is worth the points, and is particularly effective in close combat. You need to get him there. And you need to face off against Loken if you can! It won't happen, but hey, when it does its a dream narrative! 

World Eaters - Half Terminator Squad

One half of my World Eaters terminator squad today!

This is the "ranged" half of the squad with standard combi-bolt guns. The other armaments are either power mauls from the Dark Angels range, or chain fists from the terminator range. The gaming purpose is to give these terminators flexibility to take on dreadnoughts where required thanks to the fists, but to also pose a good strength on the attack thanks to the mauls as well. I really like the Dark Angels range for blending with World Eaters - somehow it just gels magically. 

Painting follows my now standard prescription for the World Eaters. The most fun part of this is the battle damage (sponged on black and grey), as well as dubious quantities of blood for the blood god applied in both a dappled manner, and in streaks and rivulets around key areas. Some of these are on the fists and gloves themselves for obvious reasons. Others are streaked across the miniatures or suggestive of enemies fighting back. Meanwhile the decals feature a mixture of the older iconography, standard crux terminator symbols, and regular legion heraldry as would befit such a force. I am actually aiming for loyalist World Eaters here, but it is hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys with this legion - there's just too much blood to tell them apart successfully! I suppose that's the point!

2025, and a 2024 retrospective

Happy New Year to all my readers - long term and those just joining me!

The past year was busy for a variety of reasons, not least with the slow and steady releases for the Horus Heresy. I aimed to complete an Emperor's Children allied detachment which I happily accomplish with a Sun Killer squad, jump pack assault squad, along with an apothecary and praetor / consul (depending on how I'm playing it). The image below shows the assault squad including the sergeant as an eleventh member. Initially I didn't really want the shields, but they looked so cool that I couldn't go past them. I'm very pleased with the way they all came out, even if they're not totally points cost efficient - but who cares. 

I also commenced a World Eaters allied detachment too. I have the terminator squad at an advanced stage now, but the jump pack assault squad is lagging behind largely thanks to my painting efforts going into a leviathan dreadnought as part of the much celebrated Dreadtober!

I still haven't decided whether to keep the World Eaters detachment when I'm finished with them or not just yet. I'm just going to see how it goes for the moment as I haven't had many games to play test them alongside a full primary detachment. I'm thinking of allying them with my Iron Warriors as they are a nice fit thematically. 

So what lies ahead in 2025?

I'm still yet to finish the reviews of the Battle for Beta-Garmon. This is getting closer to being done though and shouldn't take too much longer (aiming for the end of the season at least). I need to get my hands on the new Mechanicum book as well soon enough. And then there's the rest of the legacy units to plough through. So plenty more reviews yet to come. 

In terms of miniatures, collecting, and painting, I'm thinking of maybe expanding my Mechanicum mini-force slightly to make a full (if minimal) primary detachment. I am more considering some Black Shields though - I just need to determine which my favourite Oaths are. Its actually a really hard choice! I might also get a unit of Solar Auxilia las rifle men to be ruled over by an Overseer when the space marine model for that gets released. 

As for the new model of Fulgrim in daemon form, I think I might give it a pass for the moment. I am not a fan of the face - the Forge World resin one is simply better in my humble opinion, although I do like the rest of it. 

Wishing you all a happy 2025!