Horus Heresy - Horus Ascended leads the First Company to war

Hello Bunnies!

Following my posts yesterday that showed off the new Horus Ascended, including an unboxing video and a battle report that can be found on our YouTube channel. Today we get to see him at the front of his First Company! After that are my thoughts on using his Ascended version in actual games. 

I just love this model and how it looks at the front of my army! He looks fantastic on the tabletop and he really stands out as a great centre piece! 

Horus Ascended in games

I have managed to get 2 games in with the new Ascended model and I have had 2 more using ‘little’ Horus with the Ascended rule set. Quite simply he lives up to his 1000 points! I have found the claw to be particularly amazing, at least against the toughness 4 opponents, being strength 8 in his Ascended form means instant death at initiative 6. Top that off with deflagrate and suddenly your cutting your way through whole units of terminators or other elite units. 

Rage (3) and Feel No Pain (+4) really make him a killing machine on one hand and a tank on the other. Every wound that manages to get through your armour has a 50/50 Chance of being ignored and then It Will Not Die adds another layer of protection. Toughness 8 also means small arms fire is of little concern to him. 

If you have watched our battle report I posted in yesterday’s posts then you will see how he quite easily smashes his way through a Contemptor, Preator, Deathshroud, tactical squad and finally a breacher squad all while only taking 1 wound (though I think I forgot to role Perils of the warp after using The Power of  Chaos eternal). In another game he killed 10 Dawnbreakers with no issue. 

He is great fun to use, but much like other characters in this edition there are a few potential issues to watch out for. The first thing is a bodyguard, as soon as they are dead he can become exposed to some serious fire power. In yesterday’s game he ended up taking 16-18 lascannon shots to the face! Fortunately he only took 2 wounds from this but you can begin to see that large amounts of fire power and some bad luck on dice could lead to him dying. Again, once the bodyguard is down, a simple challenge from any character would mean all that pent up killing power will be locked down for a whole round or even longer if its a multi character or chosen warrior unit. 

My feeling is that at 4k he is probably borderline too powerful and I am not sure how you would go dealing with him at that level. Going to higher points levels he becomes more balanced but also has a higher potential to meet his end as the firepower that can be directed his way is substantially increased. 

My last thought, and to quote another great titan, is that he is inevitably. You can try to slow him and shot him down but ultimately he will kill whatever he fights and he will most likely make his points back as a minimum, if things really go your way I think he could take down an army on his own! 

Happy gaming!

Andy

Horus Heresy - Horus Ascended painted

Hello Bunnies! 

Welcome to post 2 on Horus Ascended! If you missed the first please take a look at my previous post, it included an unboxing video, a battle report with the Sons of Horus lead by Horus Ascended facing off against the Death Guard. It also had a review of the model itself. 

I throughly enjoyed painting this model, though to get it ready for the battle report it meant several very late nights and a couple of long 8 hour days at the painting table. Thankfully at no point did it feel like a chore! 

I wanted him to match the rest of my first company and basically followed my painting guide that I did for my Justaerin many years ago. You can find that very guide on this blog. I painted his face in the same way that I did for my original ‘little’ Horus, which again you can find on this blog. 

Here he is compared to ‘little’ Horus. 

And then next to his most trusted advisors. 

Overall I am really please with how he has come out! He is a great match for the rest of the army at looks right at home leading my First Company into battle! 

Check back tomorrow for some photographs of him at the head of my army and my written thoughts on how Ascended Horus plays on the tabletop. You can hear my initial thoughts following our battle report with him on our YouTube channel. 

Happy gaming! 

Andy

Horus Heresy - Horus Ascended Review, unboxing, and battle report

Hello Bunnies! 

We have been lucky enough to be sent the new Horus Ascended model as a preview! Ever since his unveiling I have been very excited to get my hands on this model. For long time followers of the blog you will most likely be aware of my Sons of Horus First company, which was my army of choice for the 1st edition of the Horus Heresy. It nearly always included Horus, so a new much more awesome looking model got me very excited!! 

I will say he is a spectacular model and he was a joy to build and paint! Upon receipt I did an unboxing video which can be found on our YouTube channel and by following this https://youtu.be/D5FSJmiHe-U. 

Drake and myself also got together to have a 4K game to test out Horus Ascended. His 1000 points didn’t disappoint! You can watch the game on YouTube and by following this https://youtu.be/4yj8qDu3uo0

The model itself is just fantastic! He comes with a colour instruction manual, which for the most part is good. Each part fits together near perfectly, likely a result of 3D design as opposed to manual sculpting. Very little clean up was required and the detail is sharp. 

The only thing that I don’t really like is his scenic base, which is much better than I thought it would be from the previews on the community site, but still not to my liking. So I mounted him on his 50mm base and added some rocks so that he matched the bases on the rest of my army. 

The wolf pelt was slightly fiddly to put together and I would recommend leaving the front leg of the wolf off and adding this once you have the main wolf in place as it sits quite specifically and attaches in a certain way that I think may be difficult to get perfect if you build it separate as the instruction suggest. 

The other difficult part was the claw. Each claw is separate and they are all numbered in the instructions but usefully they are not numbered on the resin sprue so it was a little bit of a guessing game to get them to look right on the model. The top and bottom are straight forward but the middle 2 less so. They were also the only bits that I found didn’t slot together like the rest of the model. 

I went for fully assembling him before painting and I didn’t find any part particular difficult to reach during painting. I suspect it will be much easier in sub assemblies but that has never been my style! 

Lastly he is a BIG model! Here he is next to ‘little’ Horus. Ascended is a lot chunkier but the models actually stand at a fairly similar height, mainly due to Ascended being in a more dynamic pose and running forward, rather than standing upright. 

My last thought is that I am glad Worldbreaker grew in size and thickness! I had broken the previous one off too many times! 

If you are a Sons of Horus player this model is a must! If you’re a painter and collector then this is perhaps the best Character series model that Forge World have done! I highly recommend picking this kit up! I will be using him for both Ascended and regular Horus as the model is far to awesome to leave in the cabinet for games of 4k and bigger! 

Check back in 2 hours to see the fully painted version or watch our battle report to see him in all his glory! Come back tomorrow to see him at the head of my First Company. 

Happy gaming! 

Andy

Horus Heresy: New Predator

Hello Bunnies! 

We were lucky enough to get a preview copy of the new Predator that is up for preorder today. This was the version I was waiting for! Every since reading the Salamander’s rules I’ve wanted to add a bunch of flamestorm cannon equipped Predators. I was disappointed when the new plastic kit was announced but the flamestorm was no where to be seen. With no mention of the alternative weapons for the Predator made, I was left waiting. Impatiently I might add, so much so that I when I got offered some resin flamestorm cannons I snapped them up! As a result I have been able to make 3 flamestorm cannons for the Salamander’s, 2 resin and 1 out of the new preview kit. 

The new kit is great, it goes together quickly and neatly, with little need for too much tiding up. The only problems with the kit are those that are present in the standard Rhino kit. Namely the bottom plate being a tight fit, but brute strength fixes that problem. The other is the back door that is again a tight fit, this time I cut down the hinge a bit and this made it go together easier. 

The new weapon options are great, they look good and go together easily enough. They are very faithful to the resin versions and once painted up I don’t think you would be able to pick the resin from the plastic at distance. 

Overall its great and I am very pleased that this version is now out! Run out and buy them up! 

Andy 

Terror Tuesday! Horus Heresy 2.0 Night Lords - Terminator Character

 Hello Bunnies! 

A small break from gaming from myself over the last couple of weeks. I had played a lot in a short space of time and needed to come up for air! The character below was one of the first models I did for the Night Lords. I made him for a small character driven campaign that I had created at my gaming club. However, as is often the way, it didn’t last all that long as others drifted away. He hasn’t made it to the tabletop much since really, as I tend to use Sev all the time! It is a useful model to have lying around though as he can be any number of characters, Preator, Centurion, or Champion. 

This is now the last model that I have fully painted for the Night Lords. All together it is around 2700 points, however it doesn’t really make much of a list! As I am also stuck in list making circles with the Night Lords I haven’t really put paint to brush in a while. 

This, therefore, maybe the last Terror Tuesday for a while! While that is a bit of a shame, I will still be bringing you weekly posts as will soon have 3k+ of painted Salamanders to show! I also will be touching up and finishing of some of my Sons of Horus First Company in preparation for the eventual arrival of Horus Ascended! 

Happy gaming! 

Andy

Terror Tuesday! Horus Heresy 2.0 Night Lords - Legion Terminators

 Hello Bunnies! 

Life got in the way of last weeks Terror Tuesday but the terror returns this week! I have played another few games, each with different lists. First I tried Assault squads, Night Raptors and terror squads. Turns out it wasn’t a good list! Got butchered before turn 1 had even ended! Next up was 50 Terminators and a spartan, this time I did the butchering. Both games were against the same blood angels list who are very brutal on the charge but quite fragile. 

I am ultimately struggling to settle on a list that I like and that fits with what I want to achieve in this new world of 2.0. Realistically if I were starting from scratch I would probably be using Recons and Rhinos for the Terror squads, so I suspect I will be seeing if this is a good plan or not over the coming weeks. 

The 50 terminators list was a brutal deep strike and the guys below were part of that! They were built to be the anti tank of the army as I want the army to basically be infantry. 

The problem I have found with the Tartarus kit is that it tends to look quite plane once painted up. They also didn’t look finished! I decided some more colour was needed. I grabbed some 3d printed legion emblems and then free handed on a bunch of Nostraman runes in red to break the blue up a bit more. 

Happy gaming! 

Andy

Terror Tuesday! Horus Heresy 2.0 Night Lords - Terror Squad 3

Hello Bunnies! 

I’ve ended up taking a few weeks off playing with the Night Lords, due to playing a series of larger games which I could resist taking the Sons of Horus First Company too. I’m feeling the pull back to Night Lords though and have a new potential list running through my mind! More on that in the coming weeks. This week I bring to you my final Terror Squad unit (well at least for now!). This squad is very similar to the others, my next batch will add some variety into the mix! 

Happy gaming! 

Andy

Terror Tuesday! Horus Heresy 2.0 Night Lords - Sevatar

Hello Bunnies! 

He is finished, The Prince of Crows, Lord of the Atramentar, 1st Captain of the Night Lords, Jago Sevatarion or simply Sevatar. My favourite character in the Heresy! I really enjoyed painting this model and I am really pleased with how he has come out! 

He is the basis of my army lists, and for me even owning Night Lords! Although perhaps not as easy to work with for list building, I play for the story and a huge part of that for me will be always be fitting him in my lists! I am really pleased to finally have him painted at the head of my legion!

Happy gaming! 

Andy

Terror Tuesday! Horus Heresy 2.0 Night Lords - List evolution

Hello Bunnies! 

I’ve been getting in some good games recently. Mostly against Dark Angels, which is nice and thematic! I have made a couple changes to my original list following some pretty crushing defeats! Below are some thoughts on what I am currently running and a couple pictures on dreads that have nothing to do with the list! 

As a quick reminder here is the original 3k list;

Sevatar 

10 Contekar Terminators

Terror Squad 10 man

Terror Squad 10 man

Terror Squad 10 man

14 Assault Space Marines

5 Tartaros Terminators

5 Tartaros Terminators

5 Tartaros Terminators

5 Tartaros Terminators 

Storm Eagle Assault Gunship

It struggled in several places, the scoring was the Assault marines but I found trying to keep them safe a waste of points. The Storm Eagle with Sev and the Contekar was being mostly useless being to late to the game to make any impact or being intercepted out of the sky. I was enjoying the deep striking terminators though. I decided to lean a bit more into this and get more terminators in! I have tried out getting in some cheap tactical squads in and running Sev in a Land Raider but the tactical squads were shot to bits and again did nothing for the points. The Land Raider wasn’t quite as resilient as I had hoped and I had to duck and cover with Sev as he was the only model left alive before my terminators arrived. With all this in mind here is the list that I will be now having a go with;

Sevatar 

12 Contekar 

10 Tartaros Terminators 

10 Tartaros Terminators 

10 Contekar

10 Contekar

Spartan Assault Tank

This is a bit of ambitious list! Leaving 40 Terminators in reserve and just the Spartan on the table. I did want to avoid using a Spartan but the other options that I have just don’t quite seem to be cutting it. Lets see if it works! The deep strike will be devastating though and it fits in with how I think Sev would go to battle. I will be giving this list a few games in the coming weeks. Keeping that Spartan alive will be the key or perhaps just driving it straight into the lines of the enemy and causing as much fear as possible will be the way to go! 

The Prince of Crows will come visiting next week!

Happy gaming!

Andy

Terror Tuesday! - Horus Heresy 2.0 Night Lords

 Hello Bunnies! 

Well a massively unexcepted announcement passed last week at the Nova Open, Horus Ascendend! What a model! This has thrown some of my plans into disarray! I played a Sons of Horus First Company army through all of 1.0 and had planned given that army a bit of a rest for 2.0 and focusing on the Night Lords and Salamanders. But that one model has sent shock waves through my plans!! So I will now potentially be spending some time getting my SoH First Company up to a standard ready to receive their new leader!

In the mean time I have several more units to show off for the Night Lords. Today I bring you my contemptor dread armed with Kheres and Chain fist. Aimed at a bit of a mixed role but mostly anti tank. I loved painting this model, it has been one of my favourites. 

I have had another couple of games with the Night Lords to mixed success. I have smashed a army, been smashed by another and then piecemealed off the board in another 2 games. I am generally think my list just isn’t quite cutting it. I have another 2 games this week and be trying out a new version. The one I proposed in my list preview a couple weeks back, still isn’t possible for me to field yet as I am waiting on plastic Land Raider and haven’t built the tactical marines to replace the assualt marines yet. I think I may try and get the tacticals built before Wednesday so I can start to get an idea of whether the improve the army or not. I may also give a Pride of the Legion list ago. If I do I will share with you all in the coming weeks.

Happy Gaming!

Andy

Terror Tuesday! Horus Heresy Night Lords - Terror Squad 2

 Hello Bunnies! 

Another Tuesday is upon us and with it comes more terror!! This week is Terror Squad number 2. They are performing well and I am really enjoying the new infiltrate rules. I do need to learn to be a bit more sensible with this though and work out just how quickly I want them to die! 

I will be adding some more Terror Marines to the army in time, as now I am infiltrating them and they can go up to 15 in squad size, I think it will be really cool! I would like to kit some out with rota cannons and some more with chainglaives as that will also look cool! 

Happy gaming! 

Andy