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!