Horus Heresy 3e Review: Alpharius

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. Rounded Up. Alpharius is once again very strong, but not in ways many people might initially guess. 

Background.

Alpharius. Omegon. Someone Else. No One. The Hydra. The Threefold Serpent. The Final Configuration. All Lies. 

Beneath the lies, the double speak, the duplicity, and the mystery is something much more. A master mind more cunning and insidious than his brothers, and one that works outside any regular framework to bring victory. Applying critical force at the weakest points whilst misdirecting everyone else, Alpharius' loyalties were never entirely certain and he operated a very flat structure to take advantage of the natural intellect of his recruits to the Alpha Legion, or perhaps the effects of his gene seed. Oh, and if you drank his blood, then you realized the full history of his plotting and ambition and will to power and survival. 

Strengths. 

Let's start with the stat line which is similar to previous editions. He has a solid WS=BS=I=7 which stands him in reasonable stead. Most are 6's otherwise which at first glance is an issue (especially S and T). He does get an extra pip in Intelligence though which I thought was very pleasing to see - if rather situational - compared to most of his other brothers. 

But let's progress quickly to the Pale Spear. This necron device (I assume it is necron and I've never heard anything to the contrary, so I'm sticking to my head canon) has been enhanced in this edition. It is AP=2 which is strong, yes. But. Here, we also get S+1 (taking his attacks up to a valuable S=7), I+1 (taking his initiative up to a very competitive I=8 against many of his brothers - you will still use I am Alpharius as your opening gambit though). Most importantly, he also has damage=2 now. This gives him more than a fighting shot. But its better. Armourbane and phage against strength combine with critical hit (5+) to truly take his close combat prowess up further notches. In short: he is no longer the outright weakest primarch any longer. He will outclass probably at least Lorgar now! Probably. Horrah! And you know what, I had a challenge recently against Angron which he won. He's still going to lose against Horus and others though. I digress - let's get back on track. 

His ranged side arm, The Hydra's Spite, remains strong with S=7 and breaching on 4+. Try not to forget that he also has venom spheres as standard too. 

Everywhere and Nowhere provides Alpharius with the means to redeploy at the start of the battle. This can potentially be game changing. But you can't go outside your own deployment zone (boo). I think having a choice on each flank is good here, but also riding up the centre is an option. Depends on your terrain configuration. 

Sire of the Alpha Legion gives prime slots to troops if you fill troop slots with tactical squads or assault squads which is appropriate. The ability to gain outflank from reserve rolls is okay, but not very powerful reserve manipulation ability, nor an army multiplier that I might have naively wanted. 

I want to briefly mention two of his traits as well. He has the smoke screen trait, which gives shrouded that can be very nice and useful. 

But. 

Get this. 

He DOES NOT HAVE AN ALLEGIANCE. You can play Alpharius as a Loyalist, or as a Traitor. Rejoice brothers! 

Weaknesses. 

Alpharius and/or Omegon are strictly better than second edition at the price of losing AP=1 on the pale spear (which is offset by other gains like 5+ critical hits) and some other special rules. The only mildly arguable negative here is that Alpharius is only minimally over-costed now. Perhaps by 10 points or so. You know what. There's not much in it. I'll say he is probably on par with his ability levels in Third Edition and not 50-100 points over costed like in Second. Yet he is certainly not the force multiplier he was in First. I miss him being a force multiplier which he honestly should be. 

Overall.

Alpharius is better than his recent incarnation in Second Edition. You can actually win against other Primarchs using Alpharius now (eternal warrior at 2 certainly helps this). I would know - I am Alpharius. Are you Alpharius too?

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Alpha Legion Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. Rounded up. My boys had a glow up and they're back in business in Third Edition. 

Background.

I am Alpharius. 

You are Alpharius. 

I am occasionally Omegon too. 

No one is Sigmar. 

This is all lies. 

One of three legions raised in isolation from the others, the Alpha Legion was ever about ghost operations and uncertain allegiances. In the Heresy they proved their worth to the Warmaster at many different battles and campaigns as he saw in them a rather unique weapon. Appearing almost out of nowhere during the Great Crusade, they were one of the largest legions on record at the start of the Heresy (unknown to either side) and as the Heresy went on, they grew more powerful - even in the face of defeats. More than this, their loyalties are left as an open question and even within the legion there was a pseudo civil war taking place.

Armoury. 

The Armoury retains the critical elements that the Alpha Legion is known for. 

Venom Spheres give you access to poisoned blasts at shortish range for a very cheap points cost to commanders and champions. Worth taking. 

Power Daggers extend this to even sergeants to replace regular power weapons for free. This gives you breaching at 5+ at the expense of lower S, but I+2. Overall I think this is well worth taking. 

Banestrike bolt guns and combi-bolt guns are also on offer from the Legacies update. They breach on a 6+ at the expense of a slightly reduced range. They are a permanent addition to the combi-weapons list which makes a lot of units able to take them. Handy, but the points cost can add up quickly. 

Tactica. 

Lies and Obfuscation carries forward the core trait from second edition of the legion members being 2 inches further away. When I saw this in second edition, I was dismayed at how they'd replaced the mutable tactics. I still am. But this works well in third edition and is potentially even stronger thanks to the changes in the charge range distances. 

Gambit.  
I am Alpharius could well be a contender for the strongest legion gambit in the game. Seriously. There is no downside and you should be using it every time on your first combat round. Setting your opponent's initiative to 1 until the end of the strike step is simply amazing. I cannot underscore enough how awesome this one is. Plus - you get to say out loud "I am Alpharius". I mean, what more could you actually want?! 

Additional Detachments. 
Headhunter Leviathal brings in four slots - 2 elites and 2 recon, but the elites must be either Seekers or Headhunters, but both are primes. This is nice. Fluffy too. And flexible. Makes me want to buy more Seekers and Headhunters - can't lie. 

Advanced Reaction. 
Smoke and Mirrors is different in third edition and forces enemies shooting at a unit to take precision shots on a 6+. You don't know which one is Alpharius after all - the command structure is hidden. Interesting, fluffy, but also a little situational. 

Rewards of Treachery. 

What would the Alpha Legion be without being able to take other units from other legions? This has been a core ability since First Edition. And here, the terrible implementation in Second Edition is done away with and replaced with something much more worthy. For the price of a Command Prime slot, you get to have an additional slot of any battlefield role from any legion except high command, command, warlord, unique, or Lord of War. Simple, and very, very effective. Gone is the nonsense of only having 1 type of unit that you are able to take. Gone is the restriction of a maximum of 3 of that same type of unit. All you need is the command prime slots. Just replace their trait with Alpha Legion and you are ready to go. 

The only real issue here is which unit to select. There are MANY good choices. Examples include but are not limited to Iron Warriors Siege Tyrant Terminators, Salamanders Firedrake Terminators, Iron Hands Morlock Terminators, Raven Guard Mor Deythan, and perhaps Word Bearers Gal Vorbak. Honestly, there's lots of other choices as well - these are just the ones that popped into my head when writing this. Welcome back to the coils of the hydra everyone. Would love to hear about your favourite unit to snare and why. 

Overall, the Alpha Legion enters third edition in a much better way than Second, even if mutable tactics didn't return from First edition. I am re-invigorated by what I am seeing here, but just wait until I review the rest of the units... the Primarch is going to be the next post.