World Eaters during the Great Crusade

So here is my take on the World Eaters during the Great Crusade according to the rules and lore we have in the Horus Heresy books we have so far. One of my favourite legions and glad I have been able to take them on. Ok so here goes:

Rules;

Incarnate Violence

I like this rule as it grants the Furious Charge rule which suits the legion well. With the brutality and terror they express it seems right that with the first kill they become even more vicious. This I think goes with the whole legion even way before the Great Crusade started so I'm happy with this rule.



Bloodlust

As above it shows the brutality of the legion but at the same time brings out the foolhardiness of the World Eaters. After defeating an enemy it seems only right that they would head straight for the next enemy without regard. This I believe suits the fluff even before the Butcher's Nails were fully introduced to the whole legion.



Blood Madness

For this rule it explains that this is where thethe World Eaters had started succumbing to the Ruinous Powers of the Warp, where they had descended into eternal bloodlust after slaying many of their brothers of their own and other legions. Because of the similarity between Blood Madness and Bloodlust I will most likely exclude this rule when playing during Great Crusade times. Where you start with the Rage special rule with Madness, you are able to inherit it in the Bloodlust rule after a failed morale check dice roll. Because of this it makes sense to only use the Bloodlust rule.



Chainaxes

I think we can all can agree that the signature weapon of the World Eaters are allowed all the way through the legions history!

Caedere weapons

Weapons which were revived by Angron himself include the meteor hammer and Excoriator Chainaxes. These are the preserve of the Rampagers. World Eater characters can also wield these if desired.



Rite of War: Berserker Assault

With this Rite of War comes the effects of Berserk Charge and Unstoppable Wave. These give the effects of Hatred and also allows the reroll of 1 on the run result. These effects don't seem to be Heresy only rules so I have no qualms with modifying these for Great Crusade play.





Units

The Red Butchers

These were initiated after the battle of Isstvan III. Due to the madness and barbarism that devoured the World Eaters after their hyper rage of killing so many foes. In history these individuals used to get put down but in this case were moulded into these monstrosities. Because these were introduced after Isstvan III I will not be using this unit during the Great Crusade.



Rampagers

These were part of the initial test subjects where Angron tried to implement the Butcher's Nails implants. These were found soon after Angron was discovered and these are perfectly fine for using during the Great Crusade.





Characters;

Centurion Shabran Darr

This character introduced in the Betrayal book is shown to be a young officer. This character is told to have fought to the end when his unit were betrayed on Isstvan III. According to the bio provided I am mote than happy to include him in a Great Crusade campaign.



Kharn the Bloody

This legendary character is well known for his work before the Heresy. I am very confident about his rules, the only thing I would need to ensure is that he only uses the Cutter and to not use the Gorechild option as this is only viable when Angron discards it after the Ultramarine ambush at Armatura.

Primarch Angron

I'm mostly happy with how Angron is portrayed in the books but I believe he falls behind a little bit when it comes to his statline. I believe they have made him a bit more vulnerable than he is portrayed in the lore. I understand he has his old gladiator gladiatoral armour so the 3+/4++ I have no qualms against this but with the frenzy and physical victories that this Primarch possesses I would like to suggest a tweak or two to his rule, either;

Increase his toughness or wounds by 1. Most realistic would be to increase the toughness because the Butcher's Nails are slowly killing him so excessive wounds make less sense

Or

Increase Angron's Feel No Pain roll to a 5+ rather than 6+. This would go hand in hand with the ferocity and savagery of Angron and give him a little more edge against harder characters and xenos monstrosities.



I hope you all enjoyed my ponderings into the World Eaters. Let me know if you have any ideas that I may have missed or if you agree with the above.

Look forward to more musings from us.



Darko Thane