Monday 23 January 2017

The Heresy and Beyond - Settings for your 30k army

Howdy Guys and Gilrs :)

Today I want to do something different - not a finished unit or an army planning, but a little overview of time settings you can use your 30k armies - beyond the classic Horus Heresy.



The topic came up when the new 'Gangs of Commoragh' box went up for pre-order and I said "Can't wait to add the contents to my 30k Commoragh Eldar army". Of course people started to ask - 30k Dark Eldar? Where are the rules?

Now, my personal oppinion on that question - rules are just a framework. If it makes sense for the story and the setting - and if it's ok for your opponent - go for it. At the end of the day, just view any of the 40k codices and expansions as exactly what they are - expansions for your gaming experience. Try them out, tweak stuff after the first games if you need it, and have fun. Fall of Cadia has an awesome warp storm table (perfect for re-creating battles near the Ruinstorm in 30k) and even the dreaded Decurion-style Detachments and formations could work if you trim down some of their rules (to make them more like the CAD versions for Xenos - since the CAD is actually based upon Space Marine structure).

But enough talk about the rules - let's take a look at some potential settings to explore with your 30k army - if you need some vacation from the dark times of the Horus Heresy :)

The Unification and the Great Crusade



Probably the most obvious choice - Late Unification Era and the Great Crusade.

The Legiones Astartes saw first use during the last days of the Unification and the pacification of the Solar System. Back then, most of them were just grey, but Forgeworld has added some cool "pre-Primarch" schemes for some of them in the Black Books (aswell as the classic yellow and black scheme for the Salamanders - they used it during their first big battle!). 

Rules wise you probably just need a few tweaks here and there - of course no traitors rules for your Astartes. All kind of Eldar, Orks and Necrons can be used easily. Solar Auxilia and Militia army lists can be used to represent Human Empires, Space Skaven or even Squats! 

The Great Scouring 



Moving forward - the Heresy is over. Sorry guys, you lost (and with that I mean - it doesn't matters on what side you were, you lost - the big dream of the Emperor is over). Now, not all is bad - we still have a great time of loyalists hunting down traitors, some Primarch vs Primarch battles and even newly created Space Marine Chapters at the end of it.

An addition to your Scouring games could be another army that saw first use there (and actually fought longer than just seven years during the Scouring). Of course I'm talking about the Grey Knights. After all the build up they got during 30k - who doesn't want to use them to kill some traitors? Another newly created faction would be the Inquisition, lead by a certain Inquisitor using a relic suit of power armour ...


The Legion Wars


Also known as the Eye of Terror Slave Wars, this event was basically a civil war between the surviving Traitor Marines within the Eye after the Scouring was over. This conflict marked the final collapse of unity between the Chaos Marines that fought under Horus, aswell as the rise of the Black Legion. Who doesn't want to replay Abaddon vs Horus 2.0?


The 1st Black Crusade


Launched roughly 500 years after the Horus Heresy - the 1st Black Crusade of Abaddon the Despoiler. Also known as the First Battle of Cadia, it was the first big assault of the forces of Chaos after the Scouring. Both Sigismund and Rogal Dorn were alive and kicking during these events - Fists and Templar fans rejoice ;)


The Beast Arises


The biggest conflict between the Horus Heresy and the Gathering Storm - The War of The Beast. For me, this is the last big conflict that screams to be played out using a mix of 30k and 40k rules - you have the Successor Chapters and First Founding Chapters, Sisters of Silence, Custodes, Mechanicus, Deathwatch, Iron Warriors and even one of the Primarchs.

For the Xenos side of things - of course Orks (giant one!) and Harlequins played a part in it.



I also want to recommend anyone to read 'The Beast Arises' - if you are a fan of the Heresy from it's first hour you will love it, and it also ends some plot lines started with the first HH novels!

That's it from me today - I really hope I inspired some of you to play out one of these events, or maybe even the start of a new army. Be creative - this hobby is wonderful and you can make a lot of cool things if you really want it. And always remember ...

Rules are just a framework!

Regards,
Lady Atia

15 comments:

  1. I think FW and BL will continue the HH series through the Scouring... the story of the Primarchs and the overarching war doesn't conclude until the last Traitor Legion was driven into the Eye of Terror and the different loyalist Primarchs disappear in pursuit of them. The Siege of Terra marks the end of the Heresy but it was only a turning point in the "war" that continued as the Scouring. It's the same way WWII didn't end at Stalingrad... while the Horus Heresy ends with the Siege of Terra and Horus' death the Scouring concluded it and shaped the setting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FW might go into the Scouring but I think once the Heresy era is concluded they will go full throttle into the "reboot" of Specialist Games.

      Delete
    2. Anurien, FW and specalist games are two parallel studios. Unless they reorganise, I wouldn't expect massive amounts of crossover.

      Delete
    3. Indeed. I would expect FW to continue with the scouring - it's just a natural progression :)

      Delete
  2. I loved The Beast Arises, the politicking especially. Some of the resolutions and hints of what might be were appreciated. The Beast himself was great and I'm absolutely clamouring for a model of him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Me and a group of friends started a Scouring campaign on new years day. It's proven to be great fun, we have even included a few skirmishes between loyalist forces in the two sides of the "codex debate". We are currently building an iron cage board.
    It's proven to be one of our more enjoyable campaigns, with so many layers to it, blending 30k rules with 40k, set building, and research. It's one period I would suggest to anyone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi.
      Would love to see a well presented Iron Cage board. Take some pics on the progress of the scenery, the painting and the gaming too. Would be happy to put a post up for you if it is well polished, researched and if you do it justice :)

      Delete
  4. I'm intrigued by your reference to 'Horus 2.0'.

    I guess that's a reference to clones? Is there any literature that expands on this, other than the old codex fluff?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep it's his clone - and you should read 'The Talon of Horus'.

      ;)

      Delete
  5. The Great Scouring will be great fun. Really would be good to see Legion Wars too

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yeah! The Eye of Terror is a great place to have battles *_*

      Delete
  6. Skalathrax, with night falling. Kharn acts every turn and attacks whatever is closest to him.

    I don't expect FW will even finish the Heresy before 2020, so we've got a while. The interesting thing going forward will be to see how much they rely on 40k models and to a lesser extent rules. We're going to need a whole new traitor legion list for Terra, with Berzerkers, Plague Marines, chaosified primarchs, etc. They should feel different from the loyalists by Terra, but how close they will be to traditional 40k chaos is anyone's guess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Death Guard is full plague mode on Terra.

      Just imagine a plastic DG army with Daemon Mortarion from GW supported by FW upgrades / models for the siege ...

      Delete
  7. I'd love to see a guide to the gradations of history, when particular tech and units came in or fell out of easy use. That and i'd love to know a ton more about things like the Moirae Schism and the War of the Golden Cog and other such major events.

    ReplyDelete