Horus Heresy: Raven Guard Preview

 Hello Bunnies! 

Today it’s the turn of the Raven Guard to have a preview of the new rules for 2.0! They have lost quite a lot of units and rules in the new edition. They haven’t seen much love in the way of miniature range, hence why most of the units have gone. Hopefully they will get some love in 2.0! 

Legion Trait - Shadow and Fury:

Raven Guard get a special rule based on it’s unit type. They are broken down below. 

Talons - This is basically for power armoured dudes on foot without jump packs. This gives all of these units Infiltrate, very Raven Guard and infiltrate is now a lot better! It also give them all Shrouded (6+) if they are the target of a shooting attack that is over 8inches away. This is a cool set of rules, and given that the bulk of most RG armies will be made up of Talon units this will be your bread and butter no doubt!   

Falcons - This is basically your heavy infantry and dreads. It allows you to re roll 1’s to wound in the assault phase when you charge. Useful but doesn’t feel quite as good as the Talon’s option. 

Hawks - This is for cavalry and flyers. These units gain Shrouded (6+) or increase to (5+) if they already have Shrouded, as long as they run, move flat out or move as a zooming flyer. Useful no doubt and no range limit on this one but again Talon’s feel like the winners. 

Advanced Reaction - Fade to Black:

This is used in the shooting phase, when targeted by a shooting attack but before it is resolved you can make a move up to your highest initiative in any direction and then gain Shrouded (4+). If you make the shooting attack invalid then the unit shooting can not shot anything else. Love this! It will probably be best used on your Warlords unit due to the higher initiative or units that you know when be able to get out of line of sight. The Shrouded (4+) is going to save a lot of models as well. Remember Shrouded comes after armour saves. 

Warlord Traits:

The Bane of Tyrants - For loyalists, your warlord increases their attacks and strength by 1 whilst in a challenge or by +2 if that challenge is with your opponents warlord. Raven Guard seem to be set up in many ways to deal with characters and warlords, it will definitely be a pretty decent trait but will require you to be pretty aggressive with your own warlord. 

The Hidden Hand - Either loyal or traitor, whilst your warlord is in reserve you can re roll all failed reserve rolls and when deployed he is his unit gain Fleet (2). Interesting and could work well with a Flanking Assault reserve as it would nearly guarantee them turning up in turn when you want them. Fleet will help to get them into position to cause some damage. 

No Gods or Masters - Traitor, when in base contact with an enemy infantry or cavalry whose weapon skill, strength, or initiative is higher than your warlord, your warlord increase those to match the model in base contact. Situational could could be good when fighting people better than you. Most likely good for a Centurion rather than Praetor. 

Rites of War:

Decapitation Strike - A updated carry over from 1.0, some fairly big changes to it though. All RG models gain the Preferred Enemy (Independent Characters). Any model from assigned to a Deep Strike Assault or Flanking Assault gain Shrouded (5+) when they deploy. You also gain an additional 2 VPs for Slay the Warlord. Big limit is only 1 Heavy Support. This seems really solid and no doubt will be a very common selection for Raven Guard. It is very set up on killing your opponents warlord. 

Liberation Force - Very restrictive and will require a really specific army build. You have to select an allied detached of Solar Auxilla or Militia. Further more you need 4 such units. The upside is you can gain Stubborn for a turn, your allies gain Stubborn all game and RG units within 6 inches of any model from your allies gain Hatred (Everything). You need to really want to build your army in a particular way but it does seem strong, as long as the army appeals!

Armoury:

Raven’s Talons - These are lightning claws but they have Rending (5+) rather than 6+. Lighting claws are a winner in this edition and Raven’s Talons improve on this, so make use of them! 

Infravisor - This can be taken by any RG character, it grants night vision and +1 ballistic skill. Nice upgrade, it will depend how often you think you be fighting at night time or if you want to choose night fighting yourself. 

Cameleoline - For Praetors or centurions, it gives Shrouded (6+) or improves they Shrouded already on the model by 1. Seems like a pricey upgrade given that if they fit in Talon’s category they already gain shrouded. 

Corvid Pattern Jump Pack - A different version of the standard jump pack. You gain 14 inch move, all the other rules are the same as jump packs. You do however gain Hammer of Wrath and Deep strike and a 4+ invun against dangerous terrain checks. I see no downside to selecting these instead of the standard jump pack. 

Corvus Corax:

Corax is looking rather nice! He give your whole army Scout and Crusader rules, this is a rather nice ability Scout on top of your infiltrate will really allow you get up close and personal from the get go. He has lost his 5+ invun from the previous edition and has had it replaced with a 4+. This brings him inline with all the other primarch’s but what sets him apart a bit more is he gets Shrouded (4+). Shooting him off the board is going to be very hard. His jump pack gives him a 14 inch move and deep strike. As for his combat ability, he is rather good! He is able to choose between 3 rules at the start of each assault phase. Overall he is a combat master and will destroy everything that isn’t one of his brother, where he is more likely to struggle some but I think he will be seen in many lists.

Mor Deythan:

Well these look good now! They have gained an extra wound, access to basically most of the decent weapons, including the Nemesis bolter which could be a very defining gun of this edition. What makes this even better is that the have Relentless so they can move an shoot those loverly heavy weapons. They still have the Fatal Strike special rule, which gives all shooting weapons Rending (4+). It does however not allow this rule to be applied to any weapon with template or blast. The other thing of not is no way to them score. 

Dark Fury:

These have gained an extra wound. Only Weapon skill 4 but you can have three Chooser of the Slain if you have 9 in the unit, these Choosers have artificer armour and an additional attack over the Dark Fury. They also have Precision strikes and Sudden strike giving them a nice boost in combat. Again these look good and will be a great unit to put with Corax as they can match his move and provide plenty of access wounds for him. 

Whilst they feel a little low on units, the ones they have are a lot better now. I think the RG look like a good fun force to build and play, and would be worth choosing if you really like the idea of an all infantry army! The difficulty will be with how do you deal with vehicles! Raven Guard could be powerful and it will be good to hopefully see them in greater numbers on the tabletop. 

Happy gaming!

Andy

Necromunda: Battle Report - Ironhead Squat Prospectors vs

Hi all

Two of us popped to Warhammer World for a game of Necromunda on the beautiful Mining Facility board. We filmed the battle for a report, so have a look if you fancy it :)

Spice Girls vs Ironhead Squat Prospectors. 

The Ironhead Squat Prospectors play very well :)

Please see the Full report below!

Don’t forget to subscribe. We will be getting some more reports in again soon with the Horus Heresy again!

The Battle Bunnies

Horus Heresy: Iron Hands Preview

Greetings again Battle Bunnies, today I’m taking a look at the Iron Hands legions rules within the Horus Heresy: Legiones Astartes supplement rulebook. This is my first look at the loyalist book and an army I’ve always wanted to build a themed Zone Mortalis list for. 

ARMY RULE

Using the special rule Legiones Astartes (Iron Hands) your units will be subject to ‘The Medusa’s Scales’. Here we see any non-Vehicle unit benefit from a -1 Strength modifier on incoming Shooting attacks. Vehicles instead gain the ‘Feel No Pain’ Universal Special Rule. Great news.Additionally, like the previous edition, any army Praetor can have the Iron Father upgrade.

ADVANCE REACTION - The Gorgon’s Spite

For the Iron Hands legion we’re seeing their unique Advance Reaction ‘The Gorgon’s Spite’ apply during the Assault phase. Single-use of course. When the opponent declares a Charge but before any Charge moves are made, the targeted unit can make a Shooting Reaction against this unit but with double the attacks. One disadvantage is that the Gets Hots special rule applies here. The targeted enemy is denied Cover Saves. 

WARLORD TRAITS

From Hel’s Heart

Specific to a loyalist list this trait grants the Warlord and a joined unit the Fear special rule plus retaliatory D6 attacks should an enemy take his last wound, either at range or in assault. An additional Assault Reaction is gained.

The Eye of Vigilance

Very interesting to see a specifically-traitor Warlord Trait here. I do wonder what a traitor Iron Hands list would look like! Here the Warlord and a joined unit are granted Preferred Enemy against loyalists. A free single-use Reaction is available under this trait.

Silver-iron Will

Here a third trait offering lets the Warlord and a joined unit to be immune from any rule which lowers a characteristic, including Fear,Rad-phage and losing an Assault round. Additionally no Movement Reactions are permitted but instead this grants an extra Assault or Shooting Reaction. 

RITES OF WAR

Company of Bitter Iron

Immortals can be taken as Troops and gain both the Line Sub-Type and Heart of the Legion. 

Furthermore any unit with the Bitter Duty special rule gain Hatred (Traitors). ICs in this ROW may get Bitter Duty for no cost. Limited by being Loyalist only (makes sense given the Hatred), plus Ferrus Manus cannot join the Detachment. 

The Head of the Gorgon

Infantry gain ‘Stubborn’ automatically. If the same Infantry squads have flamers then they can exchange them for graviton or graviton shredders for an uplift of 15pts. Shredders are unique Iron Hands armoury wargear. Castellax automata can be taken as Elite choices in this list with the free ‘It Will Not Die’ special rule. Vehicles can be given Outflank. Iron-Fathers and/or Techmarines can be given Cortex controllers for a small cost. This will be useful to stop the automata from suffering from Programmed Behaviour. Given some useful benefits they’re limited to a single Fast Attack choice and cannot ‘Seize the Initiative’.

ARMOURY

Lots of expected and familiar options are available here for the Iron Hands. Firstly the Iron-Father remains as an unique Praetor upgrade. Cyber-familiars have moved to the Armoury rather than named squad upgrades - this means geneal legion squads can take them. They grant an invulnerable save to Infantry Characters, and re-rolls for specific checks, as before. Not to be left out are vehicles which have access to Blessed Auto-simulacra which does stack with the Medusa Scales rule. Gorgon Terminator armour can be exchanged by any Iron Hands Cataphractii Praetor or Centurions.

Graviton shredders

Here we see a possible new weapon upgrade option for Infantry equipped with graviton guns. Whilst this means a reduced range and losing blast they becoming Assault weapons (not Heavy) with an extra shot. Characters also get the option to exchange their plasma pistols for graviton pistols.

Armatus necrotechnika

A new grim upgrade which allows non-flyer vehicles to regain Hull Points when nearby casualties occur, friend and foe alike. It also reduces their leadership. Interesting to see an upgrade based on life energy-powering technology. . 

PRIMARCH - Ferrus Manus

Here we have updated rules for The Gorgon, Primarch of the Iron Hands. Equipped with his signature weapons including the now popular graviton shredder. Like the other updated Primarchs in HH 2.0 we see a named sire Warlord trait: ‘Sire of the Iron Hands’. This gives all Iron Hands infantry units Feel No Pain except it takes care to point out it doesn’t stack. Vehicles are given It Will Not Die instead. Additionally, here we see an additional Reaction for the Assault phase. 

LEGION UNITS

Some of the most recognisable Heresy units, particularly characteristic of the Iron Hands are back for The Horus Heresy 2.0 - sadly the named character Autek Mor is not with them. We have the Gorgon Terminator Squad and Medusan Immortals Squad. 

Gorgon Terminator Squad

Almost identical to how they were before but no Cyber-familiar option for the sergeant although it can be obtained from the main Iron Hands armoury upgrades. This unit carries the Infantry Heavy sub-type meaning they can re-roll armour saves against Blast and Template weapons, especially handy in Zone Mortalis, but no running around those corners folks!

Medusan Immortals Squad

Hardened Armour didn’t come across into Heresy 2.0 but this unit also has the Infantry Heavy sub-type. Great to see this unit keep the large squad sizes and a wide variety of special weapon options. Likewise to the gorgon their cyber-familiar is now sourced from the central armoury. So, so glad these guys made it into the new version relatively unchanged.as the miniatures are beautiful. 

Light on the ground compared to other updated HH 2.0 legions but still featuring the iron Hands favourites. Useful Rites of War one of which i plan to build a Zone Mortalis list around. What are you feelings on the Iron Hands updates? 

Kiral Red

Horus Heresy: Alpha Legion Preview

Alpha Legion Review.

I have not yet played Heresy 1.0, but have been drawn into this version after it was announced.

Writing a review from my point of view is a little tricky as I don't have much of a point of reference to the current/previous rule set. My last active gameplay of Warhammer 40k was 4th and 5th edition, and I am quite happy that I can see a lot of similarities to those rulesets, so picking this up should be relatively straightforward.

Now that it has been out I have had a chance to take in some of the gameplay videos and other people's views.

So below my interpretation of the special rules and units for the Alpha Legion:

Legion Special Rule

Lies and Obfuscation - This is a very strong special rule, any model with this rule is considered 2" further away for the purposes of shooting, charging and reactions !!

Rewards of Treason you can include a unit otherwise not available to your army list, this is insanely powerful and allows you to field a unit otherwise not available to you, plugging any weaknesses in your army.  There is also the Rites of War Coils of the Hydra which allows you to take up to 3 units.

Advanced reactions

Smoke and Mirrors, a very powerful reaction which can only be used once per battle, but can save a friendly unit from a shooting attack as you can simple redeploy them (within 12 inches and scatter), if you manage to get out of line of sight of the unit shooting you, then they lose their shooting phase entirely!

Warlord Traits

Very interesting rules, they are all worth using, sadly you can only choose 1 !

Mobius Configuration -  An allied detachments units becomes Fellow Warriors and deny VP for the opponent when they are killed, in fact, when they are all destroyed you gain a VP !! (sneaky sneaky), drawbacks are that the detachment may not make reactions of any kind, but the first unit in the primary detachment can do a reaction at no cost, every turn !  

Master of lies - Redeploy 3 units after everything is setup, very strong tactically, and sure to put your opponent on the backfoot.  In addition the Warlord may also make an additional reaction during the opponents movement phase, provided he is not removed as a casualty.

Hydran Excursor - Choose another Legions special rule, your Warlord, and any unit he joins, gains +1 to hit rolls against units who have that particular special rule, in addition the Warlord may also make an additional reaction during the shooting phase, provided he is not removed as a casualty.

Rites of War

Coils of the Hydra - Select up to 3 units using the Rewards of Treason legion rule.  

Although this may sound amazing, as I read it, it is a bit limited as you can only choose the units from 1 Legion and those units will be the ONLY units on the board, they have to be survivable enough to avoid enemy fire, will require some testing but for now it might be better to them as an allied detachment.

Headhunter Leviathal - Take Headhunter Kill Teams as troop choices and fast attack choices.

Slay the Warlord objective is worth an additional +2 VP - seems a little situational as not all missions include this secondary objective

In the first turn all units with Infantry and Legion (Alpha) gain the Shrouded 5+ rule while at least 12" away from enemy units.  Adds a lot of survivability to the units in the first turn.

All vehicles start in reserve and you must take more fast attack than heavy support units.

I like this list but it is less vehicle focussed, so if you are a threadhead this may not be for you.

Armoury/Special Consul

Power Daggers - only Str 3 but AP3 !!!  nice, specialist weapons, sudden strike (1) - increases initiative when charging, and breaching (5+) making them AP2 on rolls of 5+, very nice indeed for a humble dagger !

Banestrike Bolters - Strength 5, Breaching (6+) - if you manage to pull off some 6's there will be dead marines ! It has got a shorter range of 18", but with Headhunters usually infiltrating this should not pose too much of a problem.

Venom Spheres - Strength 1, Assault 6 and Poison (3+), single use

Consul:

Saboteur - Any Centurion in the army can be upgraded to a Saboteur

Special rule - Infiltrate, Scout and False Colours, this last one is very nice, the model may not be targeted for shooting until the saboteur opens fire himself, basically means you can walk into enemy territory and select a target at will.

He comes equipped with a plethora of Melta Bombs, Breacher Charges and Shroud bombs at no additional cost!

Special Squad/Units

Lernaean Terminators

Nice Terminators with Power Axes and Volkite Chargers, their special Rule, Hydran Excursor,  gives them +1 to hit against specific legions

Headhunter Squads 

Infiltrate, higher strength bolters and ability to pick out characters, sounds good to me !

Exodus

Incredible character, lone wolf sniper assassin with a list of special rules and wargear which covers 2 pages !

'Assassins eye' means his BS of 6 can never be modified for any reason, great for taking out centurions and other characters.

'The Instrument', his Sniper Rifle, has a number of special rules and firing modes

Must have in any Alpha army if you ask me, (especially combined with Headhunter Leviathal RoW) and definately opens up some very tasty conversion options !

Armillus Dynat

The Harrowmaster.  His Special rule "The Harrowing" allows you to select 3 friendly units and give them Infiltrate, Scout or Counter attack(1)

You can use an additional reaction in the opponent's turn, as long as Armillus is still in play.

He can also split his attacks and the rules for the sword and hammer (the Prince and the Prophet) he carries are very nice as well.

Primarch

The big man himself!  Alpharius, I presume.

Armed with the Pale Spear, which has the (instant death) rule on it, may have you tempted to get Alpharius charging on the front lines, but even though he is a Primarch, combat is not where his strengths lie.

Alpharius is best used to boost the army's abilities, allowing for a variety of sneaky tactics like infiltration, Scout and Deep strike, for himself and 3 other units.

Once per battle he can also invoke special abilities for the entire army (excluding vehicles), these abilities can give a real boost to gaining the upper hand

I feel Alpharius is best used to cause confusion and cause frustration to your opponent, very much in keeping with the Alpha Legion playstyle.

Conclusion

Overall I feel like the Alpha Legion is tactically very reliable, the inclusion of other legions units and use them as your own is very strong.

The redeployment and other general sneakery is really in keeping with everything the Alpha Legion stand for or against.

This army is also a dream for the painter/converters as it opens up so many things you can do with the Rewards of Treason, characters and units in general. Since the Alpha Legion doesn't follow strict rules on unit markings etc it opens up a lot of personalisation on models.

I look forward to building a force and getting them on the table to try out some of these tactics !

And remember that every model in your army is, or could be, Alpharius !  Keep your opponent guessing ! haha!

Hydra Dominatus!

Horus Heresy: Salamanders Spartan

Hello Bunnies! 

My new Horus Heresy 2.0 is expanding! Following on from my Kratos that I post on Monday is the new plastic Spartan all done up in it’s new finest green! This will most often end up being Vulkan’s personal ride along with his retinue of Firedrakes. 

As with the Kratos, it is a commission painted tank. It isn’t quite finished as we are still deciding what to do regarding flames and awaiting the new transfer sheet to add the final few details. Please check out and support my friend in his commission painting, you can find his work at: https://www.facebook.com/DTB-miniature-painting-141409912551216/

I am very much sticking to the Melta and flamer options for ther army, as such I had to add the Multi-melta pintle weapon and the hull mounted heavy flamers. Probably not the best choices but certainly fit the army nicely! 

The plastic kit is really good, though it does have a lot more pieces than the resin version!! The build was good though and a lot less hassle and better fitting than the old resin one. It weighs a significant amount less as well!! Seeing that the kit clearly makes the new Land Raiders seen in the new Liber books, I am excited to add them into the growing legion when they become available. 

I have loaded up Dave with a huge chunk of additional models as well, so expect to see some updates coming in the next few weeks. He has all the resin I ordered prior to the plastic drop. Vulkan, 20 Pyroclasts, Legion Champion, Praetor or centurion and 8 Firedrakes. To round out the start to the legion I have 20 plastic mk3’s to be tactical support quads all armed with flamers and 4 Rhinos for the Pyro’s and supports to ride around in. Additionally the 10 Cataphratii and plastic contemptor for the new big box will be added in. Further more, plastic Land Raiders will be done when they get released, and hopefully the possible/probable plastic Predator Infernus. 

That’s the great plan anyway! Key your eyes out for updates in the coming months! 

Happy gaming!

Andy

Horus Heresy: Salamanders Preview

Hello Bunnies! 

Hopefully you’re all enjoying your new toys and getting them built into glorious legions!

Today I’m taking a look through the Salamander’s updates in 2.0. They are the legion that I am putting together for the new edition, the first unit of which can be seen in yesterday’s post, the mighty new Kratos. I settled on them because the model range is cool and Vulcan is the nicest of men! The Salamander’s are one of the legions that have lost quite a few units in the no model no rules of this edition. It has left them feeling a little bare bones compared to some of the others, like the SoH, Fists or Word Bearers. 

Legion trait - Blood of Fire

When you roll to wound against a model with this rule from a Flame, Melta, Plasma or Volkite weapon or effect, you reduce the result of that by -1. Though this doesn’t change the strength of the weapon which is important when it comes to instant death. Additionally all models with this rule that have more than 1 wound or hull point gain It Will Not Die (6+). This is a fluffy rule set for the Salamander’s and should be very good on the table, especially for Dreadnoughts and Vehicles. Giving them a survivability over that of other legions. It will also help to avoid a fair portion of the wounds inflicted from these weapons, which will add up a lot this edition with all the extra wounds given out to a lot of units. 

Advanced Reaction - Duty is Sacrifice:

Like every other legion this is a 1 use only. The Salamander one can be used in the Assault phase, when you are the target of charge by a enemy unit. If successful all models in the your unit gain +1 strength, Weapon Skill and Attacks for the duration of that phase. This sounds really good, however unlike most of the other, this one comes with a downside. Once the combat is over you roll a D6 for each remaining model. On a 6 the unit suffers an auto wound is allocated to the unit which you can’t save in any way. The flip side if the charge is failed is that you gain Fearless until the end of your next turn. All around I think this is powerful and could really turn a combat into your favour. The auto wounds could be an issue but then you shouldn’t suffer to many wounds for this and hopefully you have just dealt a big blow to another unit. 

Warlord Traits:

The Weight of Duty - Loyalist only, the warlord and the unit he has joined gain +1 to their strength when locked in combat with an opponent that causes Fear. The unit also gains the Hatred (Traitors). You can’t take Destroys or Moritat’s. A little situational for the first part, but the second part is good, assuming you play loyalist vs traitor most of the time.

Promethean Will - Either, The warlord and the unit they join gain a +1 bonus to their Leadership (max 11) when taking Pinning tests and they reduce the effects of the Fear rule by 1. Again you can’t take Destroyers or Moritat’s. Pinning could be around a fair bit but I’m left thinking it will be a bit situational again, if you fight the right target then it could be really powerful. 

Redemption of Flames - Traitor only, the warlord and the unit they join gain a bonus of +1 for all wounds and armour penetration rolls made with the Flame or Volkite weapons. This seems like the best out of the 3! I can’t see many playing Traitor Salamanders though, which makes it a real shame! 

Rites of War:

The Covenant of Fire - This is going to be the basis of the army that I am putting together and looks solid all around. It makes Pyroclasts and legion tactical support squads with flamers troops in this Rite. Importantly both gain the Line Sub type, which means they are able to score! It also makes Predator squadrons, with flamers all around, can also be taken as troops, but no Line sub type for these. You can’t Deep Strike any units if using this Rite but you can Flanking Assault or Subterranean Assault. Destroyers and Moritat’s can’t be taken and lastly you need to include a Legion Champion. This whole Rite looks great and I think we will see a lot of lists built around this. 

The Awakening Fire - This Rite looks great for those that want to represent the Salamander’s post Isstvan 5, when Vulkan is lost. He, in fact, can’t be included in this Rite. If you want all infantry units can be given the Fear (1) special rule for +20 points. All infantry models in the army also ignore modifiers to Leadership when making Pinning tests. You also gain access to a unique Psychic power, detailed below. On top of all this you also gain an additional non-compulsory HQ choice but you must fill it with a Chaplain and you must also take one within the Rite. Additionally you can’t take any models with the Warhawk jump packs and only one unit with the Cavalry type. Interesting all around I think but perhaps not enough benefits to really make it worth using over other Rites or not using one in the first place. The Fear (1) could be good but will add up quickly if you want to make the best use of it. 

Psychic Discipline - Fury of the Salamander - This seems to only be assessable via The Awakening Fire Rite of War. This is a bit of a shame and it would have been great for this to have been wider ranging and open to all Salamander Psychers. You get 2 powers, Salamander’s Fury is done at the start of your turn. If you pass a Psychic test, then all enemy models within 18 inches treat all Open Terrain as Difficult Terrain and all Difficult Terrain as Difficult and Dangerous until the start of the Pyskers next turn. This does mean your Pysker can’t move, shoot or assault though, which makes it a bit restrictive depending on what unit you put around them. The second power is a Psychic weapon. It’s a strength 7 template with pinning, Deflagrate and Shell shock (3). This looks like it could be good to Pin a unit, shell shock reduces Leadership by the number in brackets for the pinning check. This will work nicely if you give the psyker Fear (1) form the Rite of War. A pinned unit can’t react and could allow you to set up for a good charge. I like these powers but access is a bit restricted. 

Armoury:

Artifice and Flame - This is basically the same from 1.0. You can replace any heavy bolter with a Dragon’s Breath Flamer for no point cost. Character can also upgrade one weapon to be Master-crafter for 10 points. Solid rules that fit with the fluff. 

Dragon’s Breath Weapons - This allows you to change any flame weapon to a Dragon’s Breath version. This version has the same rules but gains +1 strength over the normal version. So a standard flamer becomes strength 5 and heavy flamer strength 6. They all gain the Dragon’s breath rule which means when you use the Wall of Death special rule you inflict D6 hits instead of D3. This will make changing flamer wielding unit very dangerous! Again fluffy, flamers aren’t something I’ve seen much of in my years playing but these rules look great and fit in with the close range fire fight that is the Salamanders preferred style.  

Dragonscale Storm Shield - An upgrade for your independent characters to take. It gives a 5+ invulnerable save or increases an existing save by 1. Great on Cataphractii as it give a 3+ invun. You do need to lose your bolter and can’t get extra attacks for 2 weapons. This is still going to be a near auto include on your characters. 

Mantle of the Elder Drake - This has changed some, it used to give Eternal Warrior but now grants the Battle-hardened (1) rule. This essentially give Eternal Warrior as it increases the toughness of the character by 1 for attacks inflicted with Instant Death. Meaning that double strength attacks won’t instant kill the character but special rules or strength 10 will instant kill. Not as good as before but still really good. You can over give it to 1 character. 

Vulcan:

The nicest of men! His model is also one of my favourites among the Primarch models. Vulkan has a solid looking stat line, as all Primarch do, he does have a few differences to the fairly standard 6’s across the board. He gains a strength and toughness of 7. The trade off for these is an initiative of 5 and a move of 7, which is an inch slower than others. However the units you are going to be putting the primarch’s with can’t keep up with them anyway! To represent the toughness and perpetual nature of Vulkan he does have a 4+ It Will Not Die, killing him off will be a difficult task. Even more so when The Draken Scale gives him a 2+ and 3+ Invun. Vulkan also makes all infantry Stubborn via his warlord trait, very useful in keeping your units on the board. His signature hammer is strength 10 AP1 with armourbane and instant death, most importantly no unwieldy. While that initiative of 5 seems a little lacklustre on the surface when you realise your hitting at initiative 5 with a strength 10 hammer all is forgiven! His shooting weapon is quite nice as well. Strength 7 AP2 pistol that does D6 hits if you hit once. It also has Lance and Shock Pulse, making it probably one of the better guns wielded by a Primarch. Vulkan is very tanky and certainly packs a punch in combat, I am looking forward to getting that hammer squashing and smashing!

Pyroclast Squad:

These look like a great unit! The really good news is 2 wounds, 2+ armour and a 5+ It Will Not die. They also have a 5+ invun against Flame, Plasma, Melta and Volkite weapons. Their gun is a Dragons Breath Flamer with strength 6 or essentially a 12inch Melta gun. The whole unit has to fire in the same ‘mode’ but this is otherwise a super fluffy and effective gun. Much like the Salamander’s as a whole they definitely favour close range fire fights, this gun will win many of those fights! If all that wasn’t enough they also have Melta Bombs, a bolt pistol and a combat weapon, making these guys no slouch in combat either. Especially given that they have 2 base attacks. I’ve brought 20, and they will be forming the back bone of my new legion. 

Firedrake Terminators:

The last unit for the Salamander’s rather short list is another great unit and 1 of the toughest sets of terminators from 1.0. That hasn’t changed in 2.0 either. They are 2 wounds, no longer as special as it was before, but still awesome! They are still Weapons skill 5 and come in Cataphratii armour. They can be upgraded to have, what is actually there most common load out, of Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields. Thunder Hammers are much improved and the Firedrakes have a special rule that allows them to re roll all failed to hits of 1 made in melee. Like the Pyroclasts the also have It Will Not Die (5+). They can be taken as a Retinue Squad for your Master of the Legion. Like much of the army these look like that will hit hard and be a pain to remove from the table. 

The Salamanders are certainly low on units but those units all look above average and board line great! The other special rules are solid and fluffy. I am really looking forward to getting my new legion on the tabletop and will enjoy using the set of rules laid out! 

Keep your eyes peeled tomorrow to see the next edition to my Salamanders legion!

Happy gaming!

Andy 

Horus Heresy: Salamanders Kratos

Hello Bunnies! 

You may have seen my review of the Kratos from a couple weeks back. I had assembled the tank ready for my up and coming Salamanders army. It is the first unit to be painted, for the first time I have decided to have the army commission painted as time is not on my side currently and I would like a new army! My friend has recently taken up commission painting and I also wanted to support him. 

Please check out his work at: https://www.facebook.com/DTB-miniature-painting-141409912551216/

Here is the newly painted tank! I am very please with it and think it’s looking great. Will haven’t worked out flames yet and didn’t want to try them on this tank! I have the transfer sheet on the way and may add the flamers from this or potentially go down the freehand route but trails for this will be done on a lesser vehicle! Once the transfers arrive some additional transfers will be added to finish the tank off but for now here it is in all it’s glory!

I have been lucky enough to get it on the table top, though not for the Salamanders yet. It made an appearance for my Night Lords. It churns out a lot of shots! The main cannon hasn’t had a chance to blow up tanks yet but did finish off a contemptor on it’s own. unfortunately it did meet an untimely end to some melta guns that exploded it in 1 shot! I am looking forward to surrounding it with the rest of the Salamanders in time. The next edition to the army will be shown off soon and I have a host of elite infantry with DTB getting done now, as well as another load of Mark 3 marines and Rhino’s that arrived on release day! 

Happy Gaming!

Andy 

Necromunda: Ironhead Squat Prospectors

Hi all

We were sent the new Ironhead Squats for review recently, so I was incredibly excited to have them as a little intermission from the Horus Heresy Vlka Fenryka project I am on. 

They are pretty awesome models, and very detailed. I think there should have been a bit more posability with the two handed weapons, so they can look like they are aiming along the guns. 

I chose to do them without the head visors, and from the people who have seen them so far, it has gone down quite well which makes me happy. 

The box contains 2x of the same sprue, with a few arm combinations. The only heavy weapon in the box is the Heavy Stubber though. 

The Champion gunslinger with 2x Bolt pistols is damn cool!

The Charter Master standard right arm does not have a gun, but I wanted to have him equipped with a bolt pistol. I had to trim and Greenstuff this arm otherwise it wouldn’t match what I was after. 

Paint scheme: 

Undercoat Wraithbone. 

Helmet and Fatigues:

Yriel yellow layer

1:1:1 Seraphim sepia, Casandora Yellow, Lahmian Medium

Drybrush Wraithbone mixed with Yriel yellow. 

Chipping (5x0 brush) Tinny Tin, black and Dryad Bark

Armour:

Medium sea Grey layer 

Drybrushed with Administraum grey. 

Pin wash with Dryad Bark/Lahmian mix to add grime in recesses. 

Guns:

Fleshtearers Contrast paint. 





Hope to show you the Cargo-8 Ridgehauler shortly. 

Also subscribe to our YouTube channel for a game of Necromunda which we will be playing at Warhammer World between My Ironhead Squats and Honey the Destroyer’s Escher Spice Girl gang this week

Battle Bunnies

Horus Heresy: Sons of Horus Preview

 Hello Bunnies!

The new rules and models are out and hopefully everyone has started to or has received all the new toys that they ordered and enjoying getting stuck in! 

Today we are looking at the new Sons of Horus rules for Heresy 2.0. I have played with the same Sons of Horus army for most of the first edition, a lot of the progress made on this army can be seen on this very blog! I have been looking forward to seeing how this army will change in the new edition. Quick answer is the army below costs more points and no longer scores! Big changes ahead to get it to work! 

Unlike a lot of the legions that lost quite a few units and characters Sons of Horus have been really well supported and have a good model range. As such they have a very full set of rules to play with when compared to some others. 

Legion Trait: Merciless Fighters

This reduces the strength of all Melee attacks made against the SoH in a turn in which they charge or are charged. Vehicles gain a bonus to ramming. The reduction of all Melee strength is huge! That will drop most power fists to strength 7 preventing a lot possible instant death wounds on the, now vastly increases amount, of units with multiple wounds. It really pushes you to want to be in combat but then that is always where they have wanted to be! 

Advanced Reaction: Death Dealers

Once per game in the shooting phase you can make this reaction. When you are targeting by a shooting attack, before that attack is resolved you can make a shooting attack at +1BS. Death Dealers used to be a SoH legion trait in 1.0, but with the drop to 1 in terms of legion traits it is still nice to get access to something similar via a reaction and this reaction looks really good! To shoot before your opponent gets to shoot could really reduce the impact of any attack coming your direction. This could be really impactful if you get the right unit to shoot. I’m excited to see what happens with this in game. 

Warlord Traits:

Chosen by Dark Gods - Traitor only, you roll a D6 at the start of your player turn on a 2-5 your warlord gains +1 strength and toughness until your next turn. On a 6 you also regain a wound. On a 1 you lose a wound with no save. I am loving this trait! But it could certainly be high risk and high reward. Being toughness 5 is going to be great to prevent those instant death wounds. The extra strength will certainly help pile on those wounds, depending on what weapon you have armed them with. 

Wolf of Luna - Loyalist only, the warlord and unit that they join gain +1 attack when they charge or are charged by a enemy that has the Legion Astartes (X) and the Traitor Allegiance. Very fluffy for the loyalist SoH and will definitely help them make an huge impact in assault. 

The Armour of Pride - Can be either, this is very similar to Loken’s old rule. When you’re reduced to 0 wounds you take an immediate Leadership check, if you pass you live on with D3 wounds! If you fail they are removed as a casualty. This doesn’t work against instant death wounds unfortunately. A slightly mixed bag, a safe bet if you don’t like the risk with the Chosen by Dark Gods or aren’t loyal. I feel the other 2 are better though. 

Rites of War:

The Black Reaving - This was in 1.0, it’s updated and I think slightly better. You still gain Rage (2) if you charge an enemy unit already engage in combat or a unit that is the target of a least one other charge in that phase. Additionally Reavers can be taken as troops and when they are taken as troops they gain the Line sub type. Justaerin also gain Deep strike. The downsides are you need to take a Master of Signal and more Fast attack than Heavy. Overall this is looking really strong and with no way to get my 30 Justaerin to score this is looking like the Rite that I will be using. For me the downside is that I now have to take Reavers in my list that will take up valuable Justaerin points! 

The Long March - Another carry over from 1.0, however it doesn’t have much in common with the previous version. Infantry and dreadnoughts gain +1 movement in the movement phase, as long as you don’t run. Legion and Justaerin terminators can be taken as non compulsory troops, however don’t gain Line. Those same terminators gain Outflank. You have to be a traitor to use this Rite and any unit with the Heavy sub type must be in reserve or in a transport. I like the look of this of this Rite and if you’re using a lot of basic troops supported by Terminators then this will be a great Rite for you. Extra movement is great and the new outflanking assault rules will go great with this Rite. 

The Armoury:

Carsoran Power Axe - I believe this is the axe that is available for the Justaerin in the upgrade pack for them on forgeworld. This is looking like an interesting addition to the legion. It is AP3 but with Breaching (5+). It loses the unwieldy of a power axe, which could make this a great choice for a lot of your SoH. 

Banestike Bolters - Banestrike was a bit lacklustre in 1.0, but are now looking like a worth while weapon. They are now Strength 5 AP4 with Breaching (6+). The extra strength is great and what I think will make the upgrade worth it. However it is only 18 inch range. 

Dark Emissary - This is an interesting consul that is intended as the Warlord of an allied SoH detachment. They give stubborn to all SoH in the allied detachment. They will be great if you’re attempting to recreate some of those fluff stories of the SoH working with other legions. 

Horus Lupercal:

Well this is an update to the Warmaster and it is packed with changes. Firstly he is 100 points more now! That is a serious hike in points, he was always in my Justaerin lists but that is a serious investment in points! He has gained an extra toughness and an additional wound. His warlord trait gives all infantry in the army regardless of faction gain +1 leadership and the stubborn special rule. That is a really serious trait that hugely benefits the army. His Master of War is fantastic as well, once per battle you when you’re the reactive player you can increase your reaction allotment by +1 in each phase. He retains the ability to split his attacks between his 2 weapons and he can never be hit in melee on better than a 4+ Regardless of opponents weapon skill. The Serpent’s Scales give him a 2+ 3++. Worldbreaker is solid and slightly better as it gains Brutal and Sunder. The Warmasters Talon is unfortunately not quite as good as it was. It no longer reduces WS and strength like it did and this rule is replaced with Deflagrate. This feels a little disappointing and chances are your going to be using Worldbreaker most of the time now. 

If all of that wasn’t enough, you have the option to upgrade Horus to Horus Ascended for +400 points!! This is a serious chunk of points, and you gain quite a bit for it! For starters you gain +1 strength, toughness and wounds. You also gain Feel No Pain (4+), Rage (3) and 3 other special rules. The first is A Dark Fate, When Horus first loses his last wound he is placed into reserve and you can choose to have him re-enter play but with only 1 wound. You can give up Slay the Warlord twice by doing this though. Secondly is The Power of Chaos Eternal, for 1 assault phase (any assault phase), Horus becomes strength and toughness 10 and ignores the unwieldy on the Worldbreaker. Once this phase is over Horus suffers Perils of the Warp, wounds taken must be allocated to friendly models in the same unit as Horus before Horus himself. Lastly you gain The Spreading Corruption. This allows you to upgrade units to Corrupted units for +25 points per unit, this is a mixed bag of befits and downsides. It makes your units more inline with Daemons, giving you Fear (1) and if you fail morale you lose D3 wounds instead of falling back. 

What a major change to his rule set! Major army wide buffs and serious melee machine, I am very much looking forward to trying him out on the table.

Justaerin Terminators:

Now even better than before! They have gained BS5 and an extra basic attack each. On top of that they have gained Banestrike combi-bolter and the new Carsoran power axe as standard. Most of the upgrade options are the same, but a few extras have also been added, such as volkite and thunder hammers. They can still be in units of 12. All this good stuff comes with a slight increase in points. These still look like some of the best terminators available to any legion. 

Reaver Attack Squad: 

These were very lacklustre before and often a point sink that didn’t achieve a lot. They fitted in my army well but never really added much. Right out of the gate they are instantly better as they have an extra wound and a squad size of 20! Even better is the that they are now WS5. It keeps getting better all around Counter-attack (1), precision strikes and shots (6+). Chainaxes as standard as well. Any model can have special weapons as well. These are now looking very good and no longer the second rate unit to the Justaerin. 

Maloghurst the Twisted:

He remains mostly the same from before, but has gained It Will Not Die (5+). He longer makes Reavers troops but then this ability to make certain units troops seems to have been taken away from nearly all characters. Most interestingly is that he has the Line Sub-type and gives this to the unit he joins. Given the lack of scoring in this edition this could be a really useful feature to boast scoring numbers. 

Ezekyle Abaddon:

Well he didn’t gain Eternal Warrior, which I still struggle to understand given that he survives for 10k years! However he did gain Battle Hardened (1) which increases his toughness when inflicted with an instant death wound. Essentially this means power fist wielding sergeants can no longer kill him outright. A sort of Eternal Warrior. Great news! Even better is that the power sword has been replaced with a Paragon Blade and his power claw gained shred. His warlord trait is great and gives him and the unit he joins Feel No Pain (4+) when deployed as part of a deep strike assault. Abaddon is now more inline with where he should be amongst his peers. 

Garviel Loken:

Very similar to before, he gains the new Wolf of Luna warlord trait and also essentially gains the rules from the Armour of Pride. If you’re building a loyalist SoH look no further for your Warlord. He has gained a BS of 6 and lost an initiative. 

Overall the SoH are looking great! However the unique units are all quite costly in terms of points, but all have improved from 1.0. My army has been thrown on it’s head a bit and I definitely will not be getting as much in my 3k lists as I was. If you’re running the more traditionally SoH in green or perhaps even the white of the Luna Wolves then the rules stand to give you give a great advantage in battle. I expect we will see more Reavers running around the tables and possible less Horus’s as his points increases will make lower point list building much more difficult. As for Horus ascended, well I feel he will probably only fit in those games played well over the standard 3k, he will need a 4K list to just be added to the army anyway and I’m not sure he gains enough to justify the crazy 1000 points! I am looking forward to trying him out though! 

Happy gaming!

Andy

Horus Heresy: Thousand Sons Preview

Hi all

Evening Bunnies, tonight we’re having a look at the new Horus Heresy 2.0 rules for the 15th Legion: Thousand Sons. A few things have changed but overall I feel things are more streamlined, especially now the convoluted psychic phase has been folded into the core phase: gone are the days of long and clunky psychic rounds for fans of Magnus.

Legiones Astartes (Thousand Sons) introduces the provision ‘Cult Arcana’. This applies to any Infantry or Cavalry units making them into Psykers. Characters must select a Minor Arcana Cult Temple option; Raptora, Pyrae, Pavoni, Corvidae, Athanaen. Independent Characters have the upgrade option to select a Core Psychic Discipline for a points addition. All Thousand Sons units gain access to unique armoury choices too.

These Cult Temples can be selected during army list creation meaning the player can tailor their list if a certain theme or style is desired. There are no points costs for picking any Cult Temple. All of the Minor Arcana are activated by choice and involve a Psychic Check by the player. If successful they gain a specified ability. Failing any check results in Perils of the Warp.

Raptora: the unit gains a 6++ save when Moving or Running in the moment phase.

Pyrae: upon a successful Charge, the unit gains Hammer of Wrath Flame attacks.

Pavoni: when Moving or Running the unit gains bonus movement distance plus they ignore Difficult Terrain penalties. 

Corvidae: When the unit makes a Shooting attack, the first wound is allocated by the player not the opponent. 

Athanaen: when making a Shooting attack, the targeted enemy unit drops their Leadership by 1 for Pinning or Moral Checks.

ADVANCE REACTION

Like each legion in second edition, a unique Advance Reaction is available to the player - ‘Fortress of the Mind’. Used during the opponent’s Shooting phase, a targeted Thousand Sons unit gains a 3++ save providing a Psychic Check is passed. If it fails then they gain 5++ but both the attacker and targeted unit suffer Peris of the Warp. 

WARLORD TRAITS

Here Thousand Sons armies have a choice of three unique warlord traits, however, no specific loyalist offering this time around. All sound useful but suit particular playstyles. 

‘Evoker of pain’, specifically for traitor lists, allows the player’s Warlord (and a joined unit) to ignore Perils of the Warp by passing the wounds to an enemy unit in range or locked combat. The downfall is that without an enemy in close range wounds are taken as normal. This trait gives an additional Assault-phase reaction. 

‘Magister of Prospero’ means an extra dice may be rolled, discarding the highest when taking Psychic Checks. An additional reaction, this time in the Movement phase, is also gained here. 

‘Eidolon of suffering’. The warlord can forgo the use of Psychic powers and weapons to gain Adamantium Will. Additionally, in specific conditions the warlord may gain the Rage special rule when another psyker,friend or enemy, uses powers in range on a 2+. A bonus reaction in the Shooting phase is available to the player. 

RITES OF WAR

Detachments of Thousand Sons are given two unique choices here. Carried over from the old edition, ‘The Guard of the Crimson King’ is available, with the main characteristic being the player can take Sekhmet Cabal units as Troops.. Additionally, they can select a total of six Infantry units to gain Deep Strike with the Fear special rule on their arriving turn. Either Magnus, Ahriman or a psychically-upgraded Praetor must be taken. Not a tough restriction since it fits the theme I'd say.

The alternative ROW is ‘The Achaeon Configuration’ and an interesting feature is that the player may take Catellax-Achea as non-compulsory Troops and they gain the Line sub-type when in range of a Thousand Sons psyker. Very interesting. The benefit of bringing these automata is that Thousand Sons units can divert Perils of the Warp wounds into them, essentially making them heath batteries. There are a few restrictions on this ROW but I think they're in keeping with the theme here; a Praevian consul must be taken, the Castellax-Achea unit must be 2 or more in strength, at least one Techmarine covenant must be taken.

ARMOURY

Introducing more flavour to a Thousand Sons detachment there are a number of unique wargear choices open to the player. 

‘Aether-fire Cannons’ sees the player presented with the option of exchanging plasma weapons for their Aether-fire equivalents at no additional cost. iFor a slight reduction in range, -1 Strength and dropping Breaching the weapons lose the Gets Hot! special rule, gain Rending & Achean Force special rules. This variant Force rules gives +2 Strength if a Psychic Chek is passed.

‘Asphyx Shells’ means Bolt Pistol or Bolter weapons can be exchanged for a unique Thousand Sons variant gaining the Shred special rule at a slight range reduction. Very exciting on Shooting attacks. Surprised this doesn’t cover Heavy Bolters.

‘Achea-pattern Force Weapons’ sees Thousand Sons Characters take Achea-pattern force weapons in place of power weapons. They have the same stats as normal Force weapons but gain the Achean-Force special rue. 

PRIMARCH

Magnus is back and grabs the most expensive Traitor Primarch award next to Horus. HIs profile is quite different from that seen in the previous edition errata with only a single variant available. His Warlord trait gives all Infantry the Adamantium WIll special rules and an additional Assault-phase reaction. He carries his familiar unique wargea; The Horned Raiment, Blade of Ahn-nunurta, Psyfire Serpenta. As benefiting his palace as master of the arcane he knows all Core Psychic Disciplines and Minor Arcana switching between them as he desires. 

Sekhment Terminator Cabal

One immediate change here is that Sekhment are fixed to Cataphractii-terminator armour unlike having the choice in previous editions. Equipped with their signature Achea-pattern force weapons but with the option to switch out for more traditional wargear if desired. 

Contemptor-Osiron

This unit is now clearly listed with a specific Elite unit entry rather than being a contemnptor upgrade. Minor Arcana is a specific upgrade for this unit, not an automatic special rule plus  you can further upgrade to an Osiron Magnus Dreadnought for access to a Core Psychic Discipline. 

Castellax-Achea Automata

The very distinctive Thousand Sons automata is retained for the new edition but can be fielded in squads of one to five. Either weapon option can be taken as a mix in this squad. 

Khenetai Occult Cabal

The favourite Blade Occult are listed with an updated profile for squads of five to ten. Their signature melee weapons are taken as standard with options for flame weapons if desired. They have their own, specific Psychic power rather than one from Minor Arcana. 

Like in previous editions we have unit profiles for the infamous Thousand Sons Ahriman and Amon. It’s also a welcome return for the plastic Ahriman miniature on shelves for anyone wishing to collect him. 

SUMMARY

I’m very happy to see clarity on the Thousand Sons unit markings in this book and the new Rite of War with new Warlord Traits gives me a few ideas for lists i’d like to field. It’s time to dust off the Thousand Sons collection and translate into realspace. See you out there Battle Bunnies.

Kiral Red