Skyhunter

A bit of a hobby day today, and first off the table is a skyhunter. 

This particular chap is going to be an Emperor's Children squad sergeant. The build was very simple overall - and remarkably this is also the first sky hunter that I've assembled. I've put the multi melta in place for the weapon as I wanted a squad that could ride up and try to pop tanks up close and personal. In third edition, this is more challenging, but I still like the concept of doing this (that, and the low AP from second edition for plasma cannons has long gone now sadly). The left arm for the sergeant is from the new Warhammer 40k Emperor's Children range and features a jagged power sword which looks suitably vicious. The head meanwhile is from the older chaos space marine range. Overall, the vibe I'm going for is one of pre-fall Emperor's Children who might just be toying with some of the lighter range of excess that the legion would later be known for. Obviously the base needs work yet, and painting is yet to come, but I think the dynamic and the features are communicating the right ideas here for me. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Iron Hands Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. The Iron Hands return to third edition as strong as ever. 

Background.

As always with a new edition, the first legion that I always focus on are the Iron Hands. The simple reason is that this is the legion that I benchmark all others against. And more than this, they are one of the toughest legions out there in the previous editions, able to weather onslaughts of firepower thanks to their special rules. 

Armoury. 

The third edition contains some old staples, and some new entries. 

Armatus Necrotechnika returns with the ability to self-repair Iron Hands vehicles at 5+, but can also gobble up the remains of any casualties to boost this. Very handy, if a bit grim. 

Artificer Power Axe is an interesting one representing Medusan technology. Shred and Breaching are a good bonus for this weapon.

Graviton Pistols are nice and affordable upgrade for command and champion characters to have. 

The Iron Clad adds an extra dreadnought who becomes a champion sub type if you fill a Prime Slot of a command role. This is nice as it thematically represents those Iron Hands who just wanted to keep on fighting. 

Tactica. 

The Iron Hands keep the -1 to wound of incoming firepower from previous editions via The Gorgon's Scales. This is, of course, their core strength and why facing off against them is so difficult in the early turns at range.

Gambit.  
Double the normal bonus for the focus roll from Outside Support thanks to Legion of One - the Iron Hands became very self-sufficient after Isstvan. Meanwhile, their opponents can only gain +2 as the maximum from Outside support. 

Additional Detachments. 
The Spearhead Phalanx is an excellent auxiliary option bringing in three slots (albeit that the heavy transport has to be a land raider or spartan - no problem with that - in addition to the tanks and terminators). 
The Medusan Vanguard meanwhile is an apex detachment that brings terminators, a dreadnought, and more at the price of the command slot here being a Praevian. No problem at all with that and very fluffy.

Advanced Reaction. 
Spite of the Gorgon allows you to fire back at full BS at a unit charging them. The cost is Overload (1) and no reactive volley. This is very reasonable, but obviously the overload is an issue. 

Overall then, an excellent and solid suite of rules that encourages shooting and survival of the incoming shots. The gambit is reasonable without being outstanding, and the armoury is sound as well. A worthy benchmark for other legions to be measured against indeed. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Centurion in Terminator Armour

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. Opening up the force organisation chart, and a terminator. What's not to like!

Background.

Usually accompanying the vanguard of the army, these centurions are similarly commanders and battle officers as more regular power armour centurions are. So go ahead and storm to victory by making some carefully calculated risks and weathering the returning storm thanks to that armour. 

Strengths. 

As with the regular centurion, these men also come with Officer of the Line (2) which opens up your force organisation chart. If you don't have the power armour variant, you will certainly want the terminator armour variant for this fact alone. 

Their stat line is as good as the regular centurion, but given they are now in terminator armour they get 4 wounds, and T=5 which is beautiful really. Of course, they can take Cataphractii or Tartaros armour and the choice depends on how you feel

Don't forget your Prime Upgrades either. 

Weaknesses. 

Cataphractii comes with a slightly slower movement rate, along with Slow and Purposeful (meaning you cannot pursue) which might be something to consider in terms of the trade off. The points cost is the same though. 

Builds.

Terminators have slightly less customisation compared to regular power armour, but that's all good really. 

1 Centurion, Tartaros Armour, Prime: Master Sergeant (100 points). 

Even the most basic set up is vaible. 

1 Centurion, Cataphractii Armour, Twin Lightning Claws, Prime: Master Sergeant (105 points).
Sure, you need to get where you have to be, but that's what land raiders are for. A nasty close combat centurion

1 Centurion, Cataphractii Armour, Chain Fist, Combi-Melta, Prime: Paragon of Battle (120 points).
To face off against vehicles. 

1 Centurion, Cataphractii Armour, Thunder Hammer, Combi-Plasma, Prime: Paragon of Battle (120 points).
An almost all-comers variant?

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Centurion

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. Due to the way in which Centurions can open up your force organisation chart, I'm giving them 5/5 stars. 

Background.

Commanders and battle officers, but some more unsung than others. These are the men who are in charge and know how to get stuff done. They have already demonstrated their worth is many battles and across multiple terrains and are familiar with it all. 

Strengths. 

Let's first of all mention that they have Officer of the Line (2) which means they open up 2 further force organisation slots. This is great for widening your forces and one of the main reasons to take them. 

Their stat line is solid enough overall with WS=BS=I=5, and W=3. They even get a 5+ invulnerable save as standard. Beyond this, they have quite a degree of customization available. 

Don't forget your Prime Upgrades either. 

Weaknesses. 

As with Praetors, you won't see any bikes here, but they are good enough for what they do, and you will want some on your army roster just for Officer of the Line shenanigans. 

Builds.

There are many potential builds for Centurions. Below are just ones I like. Once again, your mileage might vary. 

1 Centurion, Power Weapon (choose variant), Prime: Master Sergeant (90 points). 

Cannot go too wrong with a simple set up like this. 

1 Centurion, Thunder Hammer, Combi-Melta, Prime: Paragon of Battle (105 points).
Charge out of your vehicle and inflict damage, or just shoot away. 

1 Centurion, Jump Pack, Twin Lightning Claws, Prime: Master Sergeant (120 points).
For your jump pack armies. Take Vexilla to taste.

1 Centurion, Power Fist, Disintegrator Pistol, Melta Bombs, Vexilla, Prime: Paragon of Battle (115 points).
Put inside a large squad to beef them up.  

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Praetor in Terminator Armour

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. As with the core Praetor, you will want one flavour of Praetor in every standard points value game.

Background.

Masters of their legions, Legion Praetors are the commanders just below the Primarchs themselves. Every force (apart from kill teams, and probably below something like 1250 points) should take one realistically! They represent the mighty warriors of humanity and are the battle leaders of the legions that carry similarly mighty weaponry into battle and can order the requisition of rare legion detachments when needed. These are simply Praetors in terminator armour, and I am combining all types here. 

Strengths. 

The stat line is excellent and boosted compared to the standard praetor. Cataphractii and Tartaros gain another wound (W=5), whereas the Saturnine has an incredible W=6. These praetors are absolute beasts realistically. 

The Saturnine armour has the added attraction of being able to upgrade with a teleport transponder which is amazingly attractive here as it will carry its unit into play via Deep Strike. 

Weaknesses. 

Terminator armour heavier that Tartaros slows the characters down M=6 for Cataphractii and M=5 for Saturnine. Saturnine gets less attacks and initiative on top of this as well as the Bulky (4) rule. Of course, they also gain slow and purposeful except for Tartaros which retains its fluid movement and ability to chase down enemies. 

Builds.

There are many potential builds for terminator praetors here. Below are just ones I like. Once again, your mileage might vary. 

1 Tartaros Praetor, Paragon Blade (170 points). 
Paragon blades remain a favourite for praetors and terminators are no different. 

1 Cataphractii Praetor, Twin Lightning Claws (150 points).
Very melee orientated. 

1 Cataphractii Praetor, Thunder Hammer, Combi-Melta (165 points).
For all you distraction carnifexes out there. 

1 Saturnine Praetor, Concussion Hammer, Plasma Blaster, Teleport Transponder (280 points).

The teleport transponder is too attractive to ignore. But the points cost stacks up fast. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Praetor

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5/5 stars. You will want one for every space marine army you run realistically, but I can see them being left out at lower points games for third edition. 

Background.

Masters of their legions, Legion Praetors are the commanders just below the Primarchs themselves. Every force (apart from kill teams, and probably below something like 1250 points) should take one realistically! They represent the mighty warriors of humanity and are the battle leaders of the legions that carry similarly mighty weaponry into battle and can order the requisition of rare legion detachments when needed. 

Strengths. 

The stat line is excellent with WS=6 arguing for a close combat orientated monster, although the BS=5 is nothing to sneeze at either. With 4 wounds and A=5=I, they are quick and fearful opponents. The Ld=10 alone is good enough to take them, but the bonus reaction slot that they get will prove absolutely invaluable to all armies, let alone access to the Apex Detachments that they grant. 

Weaknesses. 

There are no real downsides or weaknesses here realistically. Most upgrades are slightly cheaper than second edition as well. 

Builds.

There are many potential builds for praetors, and here I've simply listed configurations that stood out to me, or appealed to me the most. Your mileage may vary. 

1 Praetor, no upgrades (120 points). 
The naked praetor is just as viable in third edition as it was in second. Sure, you are not going to see a praetor played like this, but I'm including it for completeness. Note the points cost is the same as second edition as well. In theory, you could just take Combat Retinue detachment here (hence it is still the same as Second Edition). 

1 Praetor, Jump Pack, Paragon Blade or Thunder Hammer to taste (155 points).
Front line and going places. And cheaper than second edition remarkably! 

1 Praetor, Combi-Disintegrator, Charnabal Sabre (135 points).

Tempting to just take the disintegration pistol here to make it even cheaper. Take a cyber familiar to taste. 

1 Praetor, Lightning Claws, Melta Bombs (145 points).
Cheap and cheerful to charge out of a land raider. Add on a jump pack if you prefer?

1 Praetor, Boarding Shield, Power Fist (140 points).
For Zone Mortalis and similar board configurations. 

Mark II Armour Marine with Heavy Disintegrator

The first miniature that I've built out of the Saturnine boxed set is a Mark II armoured marine with a heavy disintegrator!

I really like the retro feel of these space marines. The disintegration weapons only add to that vibe. The models were really easy to build overall. There are a few issues that are very, very minor such as a gate on the mold being situated on the shoulder join, and some obvious flash that needed scraping off - most notably on the arms. Everything here though is otherwise millimeter perfect overall and I couldn't be happier with the simplicity of the build and the overall look that the marine has. Only one minor quibble is where to attach the bolt pistol holster as the side clamps on the legs get in the way of this a little bit more that I would have hoped.

The overall intent here is to build a small five man veteran tactical squad with disintegration weapons for 24 inch ranged support where needed. I think this squad will be Salamanders (and I will use the prime slot in the Apex detachment to bring in my dreadnought here as well - very convenient). This is a great way to have a primary detachment or allied detachment of Salamanders in my forces. Looking forward to completing the build and getting the entire squad ready and fit for purpose. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Force Organisation Charts

The first review of Third Edition Horus Heresy is going to be about the revised Force Organisation Chart. 

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5/5 Stars. Rounded Up. Confusing at first glance, but actually really good when you dig beneath the surface!

To be clear from the outset: gone are the traditional boundaries for HQ, Elites, Troops, Fast Attack, Heavy Support, and Lords of War. 

Instead we have new tags (and these are ones that I will be using for the forth coming reviews on Warpstone Flux) of:
Warlords (Primarchs and similar) - note the nomenclature change and potential confusion here;

High Command (Praetors and similar)

Command (Consuls and similar)

Retinue (For your commanders company)

Elites (The deadliest members of your army?)

War-Engine (Dreadnoughts)

Troops (as you know and love)

Support (specialists)

Lord of War (Those non-primarch massive units)

Transports (as you know and love)

Heavy Assault (terminators and similar)

Heavy Transport (heavily armoured transports)

Armour (Predators and similar)

Recon (Light infantry and cavalry)

Fast Attack (Speedy units).

But what is much more fundamental is the change to the Force Organisation Chart and the corresponding lack of Rites of War which simply don't exist any longer and don't modify things like "Take Fast Attack as Troops choices" that players might have been used to in First and Second Edition. This is worth a good hard look. The key page is 284 in the core rule book which I display below under "Fair Use" and the corresponding Legio Astartes one in the Libers. 

How does this all work?

Players start with the Crusade Primary Detachment. This consists of:
1x High Command + 3x Command + 4x Troops + 4x Transport. 

In addition to this, players are ALWAYS allowed to take the Additional Detachments: the Warlord Detachment, the Lord of War Detachment, and the Allied Detachment. Note that the first two have points restrictions (no Primarchs below 3000 points games; and only 25% of points on your Lords of War). Note explicitly here that Allied Detachments can be taken MULTIPLE TIMES (core rules: page 281) with a hard limit of 50% of the points value of your army in allied detachments (and this is deep: the allied detachment can get auxiliary detachments of their own). 

Primes.

Now, there are two interesting facets to the Force Organisation Charts that must be looked into with a good hard stare. Firstly, some of the slots have a magic 6 points halo around them which denotes Prime Slots. Units selected for Prime Slots get bonuses. Hence my view (already) is to ALWAYS take Prime Slots if you are able since it will boost your army and its effectiveness. The choices are interesting:

Master Sergeant grants +1 A, WS, Ld, and Champion (or another +1 Ld if already a champion). Only once per detachment, but a very solid gain for a close combat monster. 

Combat Veterans grants +1 to all advanced characteristics which is solid if not outstanding, but critically affects the entire unit.

Paragon of Battle grants +1 A, BS, WS for a command sub type which is suitably flexible and almost the go-to choice. 

Special Assignment grants you a second high command at the price of no additional detachments. Good if you want a pure army of one faction. 

Logistical Benefit: Gain another 1 force organisation chart slot (once per detachment) for your command slot. Very handy. Very, very handy indeed and probably the go-to choice for discerning list builders like myself. Note that this is NOT a new detachment, but adds to the existing detachment. 

It is also worth mentioning here the Officer of the Line special rule which permits an extra selection of auxiliary detachments to be selected. You are going to want Officers of the Line filling those command slots in my opinion. 

Adding more detachments.

Here is where things get more interesting. For your high command slot, you can add 1 Apex or Auxiliary detachment, and for every command slot, you can add 1 Auxiliary detachment. 

Hence for maximum flexibility for your army's choices you will want to fill your primary detachment with:

1x High Command (to access 1 Apex or 1 Auxiliary detachment)

3x Command (Prime with Logistical Benefit) and all with Officer of the Line. 

The above combination will grant you a maximum of 6 Auxiliary detachments + 1 Apex (or 7 Auxiliary if you like), plus an extra slot within the primary detachment. To be very honest, this is overkill and more than you would want in a 2000 to 3000 points game, but things get more restrictive as you go over 3000 points and you may have to think harder. Hence you might not need all of these choice, and in lower points games (like the ones I like, say at 1500 points), even one or two auxiliary detachments will do the job nicely. 

Note explicitly though that Primes are NOT restricted to your primary detachment. They also exist in Allied Detachment (nice), and every Apex Detachment as well. 

Thinking about my armies right now.
I've got enough Alpha Legion bodies to work out almost any combination that I need.
Similarly for the Iron Warriors, I just need to paint up one or two more models and I'm basically entirely sorted. 

My World Eaters don't work yet though. I have an assault squad, a warmonger with terminator squad, and a leviathan. I need at least one more command or high command for this. Or. I could just Logistical Benefit to bring the Leviathan in the primary detachment and use the Warmonger slot for the terminators, so it might work that way, but I'm planning to expand this force regardless.

For the Emperor's Children, I have a praetor, apothecary, assault squad, and a specialist las cannon squad. I actually planned on adding some jet bikes too. So undoubtedly I will need another command slot here. 

For my Shattered Legions, they mostly work right now right out of the box, so I am free to add some things as I see fit. This opens the vista for expanding the Salamanders perhaps. I like the free transfers in the core box so I might actually head down this pathway. I don't like my Mor Dethan Raven Guard being obsolete (melta configuration) so I might have to use them as "counts as" or something else (support squad), but they're fine. Iron Hands are similarly fine with their breachers. 

Hence I'm actually all good to go ahead and expand things for these additional legions, which is now probably going to be more core hobby plan going forward for the Saturnine set. Just got to figure out which force is going to get the new terminators?! 

Overall.
This is a fundamental and massive overhaul of the old systems that we've used for decades. It opens up brand new ways of army building that I (and others) probably haven't thought of yet. I don't think it is broken - I haven't yet fathomed a way to break it, but it may yet exist. At the same time, it does hurt armies like drop pod assault armies - but the Deep Strike rule already curtailed them as you can only bring one unit per turn onto the board via deep strike now (WHAT?! Please FAQ/Errata this!). 

Simultaneously, armies that used to be composed entirely of dreadnoughts are now hammered by two factors: a single dreadnought is a single auxiliary detachment, AND you will need commanders in place to take them. I think this is sensible given that in second edition contemptors and similar were just over-powered, full stop. I do recall a First Edition game against a Salamanders dreadnought army which I only narrowly won by tactical use of terrain screening for my Alphas, I would have wanted to see that in Second Edition, but here in Third Edition it is going to be harder to field, and I would remain confident that an all-comers list could actually do well given the points scoring we have in Third Edition. 

I therefore like these changes, and it allows so much more flexibility than previously to build some very unique, or expansive forces. 

Horus Heresy 30k Third Edition 3e Reviews Summary

This is the summary page for Warpstone Flux's reviews of the Third Edition of Horus Heresy / 30k! 

We will be reviewing every unit as you have come to expect from Warpstone Flux over the previous years (decades even!) and providing tactical and strategic insights in depth. Clearly this is a work in progress, starting from the release date of third edition (1/August/2025). Should readers need it, then the summary pages for the older editions can still be found but are no longer updated:
Second Edition Summary Page | First Edition Summary Page

Last Updated: 31/July/2025. 
Working on: Core Rulebook, and Liber Astartes / Hereticus.
Warpstone Flux Reviews Tag: 3eHHReview

Comments: Open, welcome, and any encouragement or praise, or free glasses of wine gladly consumed. 

Core Rulebook:

Force Organisation Charts

Legio Astartes Army Common Entries:

High Command: Praetor | Praetor in Terminator Armour

Command: Centurion | Centurion in Terminator Armour

Liber Astartes (Loyalist) Specialist Entries: 

Iron Hands: Legion Rules. 

Liber Hereticus (Traitor) Specialist Entries:

TBA

Liber Questoris:

TBA

[...]

More to come. 

Saturnine: Arrived

It. Is. Here.

Finally - I have Saturnine, and slightly ahead of schedule!!

It is big. The parcel weighed nearly 10kg (>1.5 stones). And it is filled with glorious hobby materials! I'm going to spend some time today digesting things, and the I will get going with some THIRD EDITION REVIEWS later this week. Hope you're all looking forward to this adventure!

Excitement building!

UPS Delivery

My consignment of Third Edition is apparently with the UPS delivery company. 

I was optimistic that I might receive it tomorrow (Saturday), but I am now resigned to the likelihood that I won't get my hands on third edition until Monday next week. At that point, the new suite of reviews will begin with a bit of luck! Until then, I shall be living through all of you, looking at the miniatures you are assembling, painting, and trying to not be tooooo jealous!

End of 2nd Wargames Gallery: Strike and Fade

Tacking the traitor elements of the Alpha Legion, the Raven Guard fall back on their tried and tested assault methodology and capabilities: Strike and Fade. 

Although the Alpha Legion went hard with their drop pods and terminator assaults, the Raven Guard were rapidly in position to counter them with their Mor Deythan and a tactical squad led by a consul. The Alpha Legion sorcerer meanwhile readied his next "spell" to use. 

The terminators were ultimately very formidable even if the Raven Guard made them pay heavily. 

There's one more pic from this battle that you can just make out in the top left of the second image here - I'll post a zoom in of that later in the week I think! Then we will be well and truly ready for Third Edition. 

Summer Preview of Mark 2 Assault Squad

The summer preview that recently happened shows close ups of the new Mark 2 Assault Squads for the Legions in Horus Heresy (and presumably 40k if you want to go that way). 

What I like about this kit is not simply the posing possibilities and dynamism that is on display.  It is the presence of the accessories and weapon alternatives such as the power mauls, heavy chainaxes, volkite serpenta, disintegrator pistols, and the combat shields - which for the first time are round ones judging by the Salamanders one that was painted up! 

To me, these scream World Eaters. And it is for that reason alone that I will be buying them. That, and I'm also sick of having almost no reliable option for chain axes for the World Eaters in 30k that are not overly Khornate or come from other ranges. Simply brilliant! But don't get me wrong, I think this assault squad would suit almost any legion to be honest. After all, the legions are very large and not all of them will be equipped with chain swords. 

What I do find interesting on the Warhammer Community web page is this snippet:

"You’ll find the rules for the Legiones Astartes Assault Squad in the Liber Astartes and Liber Hereticus books, where you’ll find that the chainaxes are a points-free alternative to the classic chainsword loadout you might have seen elsewhere."

Why are they the same points values when free replacement of chain swords with chain axes was always (always) a World Eaters boon? Does this imply that chain axes have the same weapon profile as chain swords now? I will find out in a week's time, but if anyone has spoilers for me, I'd love to hear from you (either here or by email). 

Changing Hobby Plans due to Third Edition

At the start of the year, I noted down some hobby plans for the year ahead. These were:

"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."

Due to the announcement of Third Edition, I am now having a bit of a re-think.

Firstly, and probably most obviously, my Black Shields are in a state of limbo (let alone Shattered Legions). We do not yet have sight of how either will be handled in the new edition. Although I liked the Black Shields, it has to be said that the Shattered Legions rules were simply a mess. 

Therefore I will shelve these ideas for the moment in favour of detachment expansion plans. Specifically, I want to look at expanding the Emperor's Children and World Eaters detachments that I already have in place. 

I will need to evaluate what to do with the new boxed set, and where the miniatures will go. I don't think I will start a new detachment just yet (even if Death Guard or Thousand Sons are appealing right now!). Instead, I think I will expand World Eaters and Emperor's Children. I am sorely tempted to also expand my Shattered Legions forces including Salamanders and Iron Hands (maybe Raven Guard, but probably not) with the Mark II miniatures included in the new set. I might assign the terminators to my existing Iron Warriors, but I'm not sold on that concept just yet. I'll have to decide! I think I won't expand my Alpha Legion any more since I have a rather full collections of Alphas already. 

As for the Mechanicum, I remain to be convinced just yet, but it remains viable. 

I also want to see the possibilities for the Overseer joining the Solar Auxilia las rifle men in a bit more detail before deciding on the colour scheme for the Auxilia and whether to glue bayonets on (etc.). None of these decisions are critical, but the new edition feels like it has put a lot of the concepts and ideas I had at the start of the year on hold for the moment. So I'll wait to see the proverbial whites in the eyes of the new rules before planning in any deeper details. 

[Image: World Eaters loyal overseer minus any Solar Auxilia!]

Horus Heresy 3rd Edition: What Will Be Moved to Expanded Units?

Legacy Units. Expanded Units. Non-Core Units.

Call them what you like, but they've been a feature for a long time. 

The first time that I genuinely took note of the movement toward such non-core units was when the Caestus Assault Ram was no longer sold by Forge World. At that point, I did wonder about what people might do to purchase them. There's clearly a reasonable second hand market on eBay, and I would wager that 3D printing can help out (but I have never looked as I don't own a printer). Yet it is the first unit that I think of when considering those Legacies. 

Although I am quite certain that the Caestus will make it into the new pdf release, I am left wondering what may or may not be transferred across from the core rule book into those pdf releases. I realise we already have some shape of that from seeing the contents pages leak for the Libers for the new books. But I'm equally conscious that we've not seen everything yet. 

I also wonder if the pdf booklets will include the unusual armaments that we've become accustomed to else where (like those melta guns on Mor Deythan) or whether we really will be stuck with un-usable conversions in all of our armies. The community - at least to my mind - really flourishes with conversions and bespoke miniatures that I frankly love to see on the tabletop. So many great conversations about conversions and paint jobs whenever I have managed to get to tournaments ensue, and I really want that aspect to continue strongly. But I remain very concerned about how Games Workshop / Warhammer will attend to these notable deficiencies. I remain convinced that power fists on Tartaros terminators will be a day 1 FAQ or similar. But what else will be? And what will be relegated like the Caestus ultimately. My Black Shields plans hang by a thread!

Horus Heresy 3rd Edition: Pre-Order Available and Thoughts Therein

The pre-order has been available since 10am UK today today, 12/July/2025. 

And to kill the tension that might be in the room: I pre-ordered it. 

So why did I pre-order it knowing that some, many, or perhaps most of the changes are not what I really wanted to see? I have to say that the miniatures alone are a massive pull factor for me. I actually like the Saturnine terminators and want them in my collection! I haven't yet planned out what legions I will use the miniatures for, but I'm going to look to see if there's another allied detachment that I might plausibly be able to take. I will also be looking to augment my World Eaters, and am tempted to expand my Shattered Legions Salamanders into a fuller main detachment. Beyond that, I will await reading the new rules. 

I also ordered the Loyalist and Traitor books, along with the Knights / Titans book. I am leaving the others until later - perhaps Christmas? I think it will take longer than that to review the units within those books alone. I am also disappointed that there wasn't a massive re-stock of Heresy items available today. I might have bought (for example) Angron if he were available today since I was ordering. The lack of re-stock for such a major release is a real head-scratcher from an economic stand point. 

Speaking of which: yes. I DO intend to review the units again for 3rd edition. I hope this will once again be a valuable resource to the community and will highlight to the rules designers what we have lost as a community. Indeed, if the rumour and leaks are true, then I will certainly be writing to Games Workshop / Warhammer about the invalidation of army choices. I would also encourage my readers to do the same. It is one thing to moan about it to each other on the internet, but another thing if we as a community get organised a start some petitions and pressure on the game designers to revise and renew unit options. All it would take would be a short pdf file which says something like:

Power Fist = +10 points, available for Tartaros terminators, ++ (etc.). 

Combi-Meltas = +5 points, available for Raven Guard Mor Deythan, ++ (etc.).

Esoteric Weapon X = +20 points. Only available to Praetors or Psykers (etc., etc.).

i.e., it doesn't have to be long, or complicated, but would solve the immediate issue if it comes to pass. 

End of 2nd Wargames Gallery: Illegal Armies on Parade?

I was going to entitle this post something like Terminator Grudge Match. But given the rumours and leaks we have been hearing, it seems like the hashtag "IllegalArmiesOnParade" has been gaining momentum and traction. If borne out, this is not great for the game, or the fan base. I hope Games Workshop / Warhammer Horus Heresy Team are ready for the on-going backlash if it is true and come up with a quick solution. 

Anyway, here are the Alpha Legion engaging the World Eaters in a terminator grudge match! Spot the power fists, chain fists, power maul, and other conversions in my armies (and I'm sure: your armies too). 

This game was ultimately fought to a standstill and was a draw. i.e., time ran out. But what an epic terminator versus terminator match it was overall! 

End of 2nd Wargames Gallery: Garrison Breach

On a lonely colony world, the World Eaters traitors assault an unassuming Iron Warriors garrison that they've kept held for a decade, unaware of the wider conflict like many of their garrisoned legion brethren. 

With the element of surprise, and needing to capture precious resourced, the World Eaters press their surprise attack against the Iron Warriors. The Iron Warriors hold the objective (the agate slice that looks mysteriously like a warp portal behind the tactical squad here!), but suffer a charge which wipes them out to a man.

Nearby, the lac cannons of the Iron Warriors make short work of the leviathan dreadnought which explodes in spectacular fashion as the lasers slice apart its critical components. 

Sadly, it is not enough for the Iron Warriors in the end. The World Eaters over-run their positions and destroy them all. Victory to the World Eaters by tabling their opponents. The narrative rolls ever onward!

Horus Heresy 3rd Edition: Saturnine Pre-Order Next Weekend 12/July/2025

It is official. The pre-order drops next Saturday, 12/July/2025. This is not a drill folks - it is here, and ahead of when I estimated it would be, but still in July!

As announced on the Sunday preview, the Saturnine boxed set and the new rule books for the third edition of Horus Heresy arrives next Saturday, 12/July/2025. 

Citation via Warhammer email, and the Warhammer Community blog, here: https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/zojna4pr/sunday-preview-the-horus-heresy-begins-with-saturnine/

This will make things challenging for me as I've already made plans for next weekend! lol! Wish me luck - I hope I can get online and in the queue for this regardless. 

My hype train has no brakes right now. 

Horus Heresy 3rd Edition Reveals: Tactica, Gambits, Advanced Reactions

This week in Heresy Land, we have been landed with the revelation that the old Rites of War are now being subdivided down into items that will be called Tactica (effecting the entire army); Advanced Reactions (effecting a unit); and Gambits (effecting single miniatures - and champions at that). 

At a legion level, it is clear that there will be some effort present to retain the old feel of the legion and their play styles. This is clear from the Space Wolves example in the Warhammer Community, and the World Eaters "Lost to the Nails" which is very cool. However, I am also very cautious as clearly we are not seeing the full picture emerge just yet. I really want to see the character of the legions come out more clearly. 

The Gambits are a bit hit and miss for me. The Raven Guard example is nice enough and perhaps a prime example of what we might expect from a legion who focuses on a quick dispatch. I also like Perturabo's gun them down for daring to challenge him. 

The Advanced Reactions are clearly going to remain in play. The Dark Angels example of repeating a fight phase is interesting and when timed well is going to swing games. And of course, the Night Lords better part of valour is very, shall we say, fitting. 

In addition to all of this, we are still seeing the focus on centurions unlocking other parts of the loose confederation of force organisation chart elements. Hopefully we will see some legions get some nice unlocks, although the differentiation for Apex ones for some legions makes me want to hold my breath. 

Overall, I now have mixed views, but largely because I have mixed sight of all of this. We know that we are missing critical parts of the puzzle here at this point in time. Without seeing all the parts together, its hard to know how everything is going to hang together. Put in a more blunt fashion: the success of this edition is really going to depend on how the legions special rules have been handled. From what I'm seeing some of this is very flavourful, but we need to wait to see what the rest looks like.

Finally, I note that there cannot be too many more reveals about third edition left to see. We have seen pretty much every phase of the game (not so much psychic abilities arguably). Hence here's my prediction: we are a matter of weeks away from pre-order now. I'm even going to suggest by the end of July. I have no sources for this claim other than my untrustworthy gut instincts based on the fact we've seen most juicy reveals already. 

End of 2nd Wargames Gallery: Alpha Legion Surprises the Salamanders

Coming out of nowhere, the Alpha Legion exploit gaps in the Salamanders formation despite taking heavy losses themselves to break up their lines and try to force them away. 

Taking surprisingly heavy losses for declaring a charge, the terminators close in on the tactical squad after Exodus (sneaking in at the background / top left) takes out their leader with some precise shooting. 

But all is not lost for the Salamanders. Their praetor in terminator armour stands firm against a champion from the Alpha Legion and the remnant of their command squad. His thunder hammer really does the job whilst the invulnerable save keeps him alive. This sub-battle is won by the Salamanders. 

Overall though, the picture is bleak for the Salamanders. After the turn pictured, there's really only the Praetor and the Contemptor left for the Salamanders, and the Alpha Legion have their terminators, Exodus, and their sniper squad (top right) still going. Victory ultimately goes to the Alpha Legion in a well executed plan despite losing their own HQ early on. 

Horus Heresy 3rd Edition Reveals: Allies and Missions

This week in Heresy Land, we have been treated to 1980's adverts for JoyToys along with the Heresy in general. Whilst amazing, what I'm going to write about today are the reveals about allies and missions for the third edition. 

The Allied Detachment follows broad brush strokes that long term players will be familiar with. Choose another faction and add your favourite models from them. Two main differences stand out at this point. Firstly that no force organisation chart entry is deemed to be mandatory. And secondly that there remains a strong emphasis on HQs - or to be more accurate for the new edition - command slots. Only by filling command slots can you open up further auxiliary detachments. You want terminators in you allied detachment? Add a command slot. You want skyhunters? Add a command slot. And so forth.

Lords of war remain as a special choice with the restriction of only being one quarter of your total points cost - but you can have 2 of them in the new edition. There are all sorts of buried opportunities here I think. It would be very easy, for instance, to include a command slot amongst your skyhunters if that was the way you wanted to undertake allies for (e.g.) White Scars or Emperor's Children. The stand out oddity is dreadnoughts which still have to have a command slot. I wonder if any dreadnought could also be a commander? Traditionally not, but I am thinking of Cassian Dracos from the Salamanders explicitly here.

Missions on the other hand seems to be all about victory points (although I am assuming that a traditional clean wipe will also win you the entire game overall). Control of objectives is now done on sheer numbers, and the Line(X) rule adds to the victory points such objectives are worth per turn as well as adds to the worth of the models holding it for the purposes of determining control - labelled tactical strength.  

More rules overlay this with Last Man Standing at the end of the game (nice, somewhat traditional); Slay the Warlord (very traditional); Giant Killer (somewhat traditional as well - applies to primarchs and the like); First Strike (interesting and promises armies will focus fire in their first turn - nasty). 

Vanguard and Expendable round out these basics by providing a strong counter attack against units holding objectives (former) and denying points for first strike (latter). I hope expendable is expanded beyond this to be honest - no victory points for killing those Khorne Cultists helping the Word Bearers. No one cares about those lost souls. 

Its shaping up to be interesting and I remain cautiously optimistic for the main part. 

 

Size of the Legions Prior to the Heresy?

Just how big are the Legions supposed to be?

Following yesterday's posting on Warhammer Community, I thought I would tabulate what the Black Books (in other words: first edition) had to say about the matter! There are, of course, other sources, such as the black library book series. But the canon in them is arguably less reliable. And besides, our liege lord Alan Bligh wrote quite a number of the old First Edition black books and frankly they're still amazing for the lore that who am I to go beyond them! These numbers mainly reflect the strength prior to the Isstvan battles. 

Dark Angels: Slightly under 200,000. 
Emperor's Children: 110,000.
Iron Warriors: 150,000 to 180,000.
White Scars: 95,000.
Space Wolves: 95,000 to 100,000 (note as well probably lower numbers after Prospero).
Imperial Fists: 100,000 (assumed from Black Library).
Night Lords: 90,000 to 120,000.
Blood Angels: 120,000.
Iron Hands: 113,000.

World Eaters: 150,000.
Ultramarines: 250,000.
Death Guard: 95,000.
Thousand Sons: 89,000-90,000 (note disagreement with literature after Prospero Burnt). 
Sons of Horus: 130,000 to 170,000.
Word Bearers: 150,000 up to Ultramarines levels according to some sources. 
Salamanders: 89,000.
Raven Guard: 80,000.
Alpha Legion: Conflicting Sources in Book 3 (naturally): 90,000 to 180,000. 

[Image - an older pic of my Iron Warriors]

End of 2nd Wargames Gallery: Gal Vorbak charge the Loyal World Eaters

With the mantle of loyalty resting firmly on their shoulders, the World Eaters brace the charging and twisted forms of the Gal Vorbak Word Bearers. 

In the image above, the Gal Vorbak have successfully charged the World Eaters assault squad. The ensuing battle is filled with warp laden gore and mutated bodies striking human berserker who regret having the nails hammered into them. Most of the squad are wiped out in the charge, but several remain and whittle the Word Bearers down to two remaining models. 

Meanwhile, the other Gal Vorbak squad fails to make the charge distance and triggers a shooting reaction from the Leviathan. The Leviathan kills several with contemptuous ease and finishes off the rest in its own shooting phase next turn. 

Overall, this eventually results in a victory for the Loyalists over the Word Bearers. And with plenty of thanks to a lot of lucky dice rolling, it has to be said. 

Horus Heresy 3rd Edition: Weekend Thoughts on Saturnine and Disintegrator Reveals

It has been yet another week of reveals from the Warhammer Community about the new rules for third edition Horus Heresy. 

We have now seen the plastic frames for the Saturnine Dreadnought, the Terminators, and the Araknae weapons platform. All of these look "crisp" and highly modern as we have come to expect in recent times of new plastic releases. 

The Saturnine Terminators are - in their own way - beautiful. They are not quite what I was expecting for this model (cross reference a weapon mounted on the top). Regardless, the power that they are packing is staggering. They have the option of plasma bombards, twin heavy disintegrators, or the disruption fist. The only thing that they cannot have is a double fist configuration. Key here is to note that the weapons all have the same range of 24inches which makes most configurations viable. The plasma is very nice for large pie plates everywhere and there's certainly a nice tactic available to rain down support fire everywhere for this unit (and teleporting them in to place to be able to do so). The disintegrators are very nice with the AP=2 and double shots. What is surprising perhaps is that plasma is locked at AP=4. I feel this is a bit of a change. They have breaching to help, but even so, that is not so good any longer. The fists remain very good for close combat purposes and I can see any combination of configuration working here. Although the points cost is obviously high. Yet they are probably - just about - worth taking. 

The Dreadnought is simply immense. There are other weapon options coming out distinctly from the boxed set to make more options. Obviously from the stat line, dreadnoughts are retaining the wound characteristic and toughness, rather than returning to armour values. This is not great. However, there are now reasonable options to deal with things like this via disintegration. The weapons for the beast are all viable here as well. I like the plasma and inversion beamer myself. But again all of them are very viable. The points cost is eye watering, but worth it. 

On the disintegration weapons, these are obviously very new for this edition to be seen in such numbers. I like the mysterious hints in the lore that no one really knows why they fell out of favour, and that only Leetu is a notable marine carrying one these days. Clearly the drawbacks might be severe, but they do look like they are worth taking. The remaining question is what the points cost is likely to be for a full squad of these (and presumably a support squad and heavy support squad variation, plus perhaps squads like veterans I would imagine as well). 

We are also continuing to see a multitude of leaks from various sources. I never post them directly, but I am certainly aware of them. Plenty of folks appear to have advanced copies and are now painting up those miniatures prior to the release date. I suspect it cannot be far around the proverbial corner. 

End of 2nd Wargames Gallery: Emperor's Children and Iron Warriors Reckoning

Unsure of who is a traitor and who is a loyalist (sounds like an Alpha Legion plot if you ask me), the Iron Warriors might takes on the Emperor's Children elegance and arrogance.  

A group of Iron Warriors terminators is attacked by the Emperor's Children assault squad. Swinging slower than the Emperor's Children, the terminators suffer massive wounds - more than enough to see the end of their days. 

In return, the Iron Warriors Siege Tyrants rain down a fire storm on the assault squad to wipe them off the board through a very rapid rout above the remains of a dead rhino. 

But the Emperor's Children are not yet done. A las cannon heavy support squad sits at the apex of a ruined tower and fires back at the siege tyrants. It isn't enough though - the tyrants are able to take them down at range and force enough unsaved wounds to wipe them clean off the board. Victory to the Iron Warriors!

End of 2nd Wargames Gallery: Salamanders test the Iron Without

Continuing the End of 2nd Wargames Gallery, this is the turn of the Iron Warriors against the Salamanders (in an apparent prelude to third edition perhaps?!). 

The Iron Warriors pour out of the Land Raider and make ready to charge into the Salamanders Praetor and assorted Isstvan survivors. The Salamanders have a handy reaction on their side though and will shoot back at full strength before the Iron Warriors make their lines.

Whittled down by one terminator, the Iron Warriors make quick work of the squad, but the Praetor stands firm and counters with his thunder hammer and (after more than this turn) is the sole survivor of this encounter. 

A larger scale overview of the situation can be seen in this second image. There's an Iron Warriors plasma support squad pumping volleys into a dreadnought which is about to exchange fire with an ordinary tactical squad. 

The tactical squad doesn't stand a chance and is readily partially eliminated and routed. 

Toward the end of the game the Iron Warriors support squad is the only one remaining whilst (a very burned and battered) dreadnought and the (rather sliced up) Praetor remains for the Salamanders after destroying the Land Raider. The game ends up a tie overall. 

End of 2nd Wargames Gallery: Corax Smashes World Eaters

Corax smashes into the World Eaters ranks to deliver a severe blow to those who would think the Raven Guard a spent and dead force. 

[I kept the scenic base on Corax here at it fitted so beautifully well!]

The second image shows a slightly wider angle, including the scene from last week, here. 

Victory in this battle went to the Raven Guard who were able to overpower both the long range firepower from the World Eaters dreadnought and dealt with the close combat threat via their Primarch moving very swiftly across the field of play. 

More Leaks Than Fishnets: Horus Heresy 3rd Edition

Yes, I saw the leaks before they were removed from Reddit. 

Its clear that some people already have the goods and are perfectly willing to post such things. I don't have a copy, nor would I post if I did. I don't have to either: there's more leaks than fishnets. 

But then some of the information was duplicated on Warhammer Community. Including the Force Organization Chart. 

On the one hand, I am rather disappointed by the fundamental changes that they have wrought. There won't be any more division of HQ-Elites-Troops-Fast Attack-Heavy Support. This has been with us for an exceptionally long time and the introduction of newer categories certainly feels very strange and unfamiliar at this particular point. 

Yet on the other hand, there certainly seems to be possibilities for new forces to be constructed without losing too much about current armies. If anything, more HQ selections (champions!) will need to be included in order to field certain arrangements. For myself, it probably won't make too much difference for my established armies and I'm grateful for that. But for the more specialised armies that I know friends have collected, I am antagonised on their behalf. 

As for the lack of glancing hits stripping hull points any longer, its certainly an interesting move. I can see how it isn't so bad though as we can still strip the hull points with repeated negatives for vehicles. The option of removing vehicles entirely instead of leaving wrecks is not in keeping with how anyone really plays the game, so I can see everyone agreeing (and tournaments ensuring) that wrecked vehicles will always become cover. 

Its shaping up to be a very fundamental re-write of the rules, not merely the "version 2.1" that the community was really hoping for. 

Warhammer Store: Metro Centre (Gateshead)

It has been a very long while since I wrote one of these pieces. Largely because my travels have slowed down a bit in recent years, coupled with the fact that I seem to visit the same old places all of the time! But lo and behold - a new place was visited recently! This time, my travels took me in the direction of Newcastle, UK. 

The Metro Centre is not even ten minutes by train away from Newcastle train station. It is a large out of town shopping mall containing lots of common UK high street stores, all under one very large (and multi-level) roof. The Centre is physically well served by rail and very regular bus connections, alongside masses of car parking space. It is a wonder more people don't come here instead of going through Newcastle itself - although I think this is at least in part the main attraction for many of the customers. 

The Warhammer store here is in the blue zone, on the upper level, and is located in "The Village" part of the centre. Handily, the Blue Zone is also where the rail and bus interchange are which makes it very accessible to those using public transport. The Village in turn is a rather salubrious part of the mall and very well appointed. 

Physically, the store is not the smallest known to humankind, but is not much bigger. The stock has a range of exactly what you might expect including paints and the basics. The staff here are very friendly and attentive and I rather enjoyed visiting and talking about Horus Heresy and 40k. Highly recommended - a very nice store, well appointed, and in a great location. Not much not to like overall!

Wargames Gallery: Targets Acquired

The World Eaters leviathan made a bit of a mess of a previous squad that tried to crack open its shell. These Raven Guard are all armed with melta weapons though and are in a suitably short range to hope to do something about the target that they've acquired. 

[Part of "Goodbye to Second Edition" -- a recurring Wargames Gallery over the next few weeks!]

Horus Heresy 3rd Edition Weapon Stats

More updates via the Warhammer community came out about the third edition this week, including today's focus on the array of modifiers that weapon stats are getting. 

The new weapon stats do away with Brutal as a rule. I see this as very good stream lining. However, what they also seem to be doing is adding some extra crunch with rules like Heavy. Instead of not moving but firing at full ballistic skill, they now get added bonuses for not moving. Such as a bonus on the number of attacks a weapon gets for staying still (like the heavy bolt gun getting 4 attacks for being stationary instead of 3). Does this mean full ballistic skill at all times? I'm deeply unclear, but it seems so. 

The modifiers to initiative and strength are nice enough, but I need to remember the acronyms which are curiously hard for me to grasp! One thing that stands out is that the power fist is now S+4 rather than Sx2 as the multiplier. That feels very peculiar!

Finally the "Gets Hot" rule now seems to be "overloaded" unless I'm reading things incorrectly. So the disintegration rifle risks disintegrating your own troops on a misfire. Bit of a risk, but I think the AP=3 and D=2 stat more than makes up for this risk. I don't quite like power axes as much as I once did though since they are just getting breaching 5+. I will need to run the math hammer on that unless someone has already beaten me to it. 

We also had the tactical statuses examined earlier in the week. In short, it looks like Routing and Running Away are all still under Leadership. But the rest of them are basically Cool tests (Pinned, Suppressed, and Stunned). Interesting here is that flamers are explicitly getting Panic which can cause routs. 

Buried in all of this is a bit of a give away that Reactions will still exist in third edition since "Stunned hampers your reactions" - or at least I have interpreted it this way. It could, alternatively, mean that you get some kind of initiative penalty. Who know.