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.