Horus Heresy 3rd Edition Rules Review

Hello Bunnies!

I’m aware that the rulebook has now been leaked online and there are quite a lot of upset people. I truly do feel for those of you who have armies where updates to wargear are going to make some of your army currently invalid. I went through similar in the change from 1st to 2nd. We haven’t had sight of what is include in the legacy PDF yet and I think this will restore some of what is missing. I know it’s a challenging time but stay positive folks the game is great! Let’s dive in to my thoughts!

We have been lucky enough to have access to all the books for new Horus Heresy 3rd edition! We have some great content coming across all our platforms today and in the coming weeks! Below is a round up and review of my thoughts around the core rule book (Spoiler I'm overwhelming positive about this version!). Later today I have a round up and review on the core Space Marine army list. Next weekend or possibly sooner we will have legion overviews and then I will be doing a bit of a dive into my armies to see how that now looks. In the mean time, I genuinely think this is a fantastic update to the rules and the game and I am once again hyped to get back to my favourite game after 2nd edition killed it for me!

How big is the change? I would say it’s both big and small! It’s big because realistically you’re going to need to read the rulebook front to back. It’s small because actually the game is still very similar in the way it plays. The main thing is that there are a lot of clarifications and changes to wording that you will need to know and that have a big impact on the way the game plays. For instance all the special rules are called the same but very few function the same way. Shred is prime example of this, same name, entirely different rules! So let’s jump into the changes that stand out, you will need to be at least familiar with 2nd edition to understand some of my comments.

Rules writing:

I’m impressed with the clarity of the rules as a whole. They have made a real effort to make sure that no rule can be disputed in the way it interacts with the other rules of the game. I have not read a GW game that seems to be this precise. Of course more playing may highlight mistakes or inconsistencies that I haven’t yet seen but overall it looks like they have made a very tight set of rules. The down side of this is that it is quite wordy and not easy to read but I’m happy to take this in exchange for rules that work as intended and can’t be abused. Fingers crossed I’m correct in the long run and it survives contact with the whole community!! 

I really like how they have put in a clear order of how to apply each rule and the process of doing so. I also really like how they have added in a 1 sentence in bold that gives an overview of the rule for quick reference and to jog memory. Then under this is give you the full details if you need further clarity on how and when to use the rule. Clear step by step sections are added in across the board, which again takes away any debate on when something should happen. There is also a clear start and end to the player turn that are used for certain effects and rules. Everything has a place and everything makes sense! Which surprised me!! 

Movement: 

Very similar to what you’re familiar with. Running has been renamed to Rush but is done in the same way as 2nd, add initiative to your movement, no shooting or changing after. Reserves have a particular sub phase to be rolled for and brought in. Again another example of how the rules are very clear on the process of your turn and actions. 

Shooting: 

Clear rules to follow but no real changes in how this operates. Weapon profiles are the real change to talk about here. Damage characteristic are a really good change in my opinion and they have done a great job of adding them but not changing the overall feel of how the game works. 40K this is not! Very little has anything higher than damage 3, outside of special rules applied such as melta. No random damage on any weapons. The damage characteristics have now also brought dreads and speeders back in line with the rest of the army list. Tanks work mostly as they did with armour facings and rolling to pen, more on tanks below. Moving and shooting heavy weapons is now possible thanks to the Heavy rule which gives bonuses for not moving. Again this is good to keep things mobile around the tabletop and not leave you missing out too much. 

Assault:

Assault is very different to previous editions. You now make a set up move that is between 1-6” depending on your initiative and movement speed. Then both sides can make volley shooting attacks with Assault weapons (pistols basically). You can upgrade your volley to an overwatch at the cost of a reaction. Once volley is complete you then roll 2d6 and discard the lowest and that d6 is then your charge distance. If your set up move is enough to get you into base contact then you skip the volley and rolling for charge as you’ve already made it! 

In theory with the right unit you can charge 12” but that is probably just as hard as it was before. I do think that medium length charges are now very reliable and as a whole I think the changes are going to reward good play and planning. No bonus attack for charging now either. Weapon skill chart is the same as 2nd. Statues might apply restrictions to charging. You can still charge with 2 of the 4 statues on your unit but it is disordered. Disordered means no set up move so only a d6. The disordered rules are also very specific about you not gaining the benefit of any rules that require a successful charge, which is a great example of how the rules try to address all of those loopholes that were sometimes exploited. 

Challenges:

Challenges are nothing like they have even been before. I’m a big fan! It’s fun to play, tactical and allows for those big primarch on primarch fights to feel great and actually finish! Those that can issue and accept challenges have gone down too which is great as sergeants in tactical squads punching out named characters or preators is now gone! As is the stupidity of 2nd edition challenges that were often punishing to the more higher ranked model. 

Now the only person you can issue a challenge is the player who did the charging. The reactive player can spend a reaction point to issue a challenge if they want. I think this is a great start to the rules for challenges and can help you plan out what to do if your opponent still has any reaction points left or has used them all up. Once the challenge is issued and accepted, there are rules if you refuse too, you move onto the sub phase proper and each player picks a gambit starting with the active player. The reactive player then selects a gambit but it cannot be the same one the active player selected. Once your gambit is selected you move to focus step where you roll off apply a series of positive and negative modifiers. The winner of the role off gets the challenge advantage and gets to make strikes first. Initiative is a modifier applied to the focus roll and has no effect on who strikes first, the winner of the roll off strikes first. The strike phase works as any combat does. Once all strikes are resolved then you move onto working out who has won. What is interesting here is that the player with the challenge advantage can choose to keep repeating the above steps and thus keep the challenge going in that player turn until there is a clear winner which means you can perform a full Primarch vs Primarch battle all in one turn! If the fight isn’t what you want or you might lose your model and as long as you have the challenge advantage then you can go to the Glory phase which affects the wider combat result. I am really liking this rule set and I think it will be great fun overall! Yes it will probably slow the game down but being able to get to the end of epic duals that will have an impact across the rest of the game is really cool! 

Statuses:

Statuses are a new edition to the game and expand on rules such as pinning from previous editions. Each status tends to be linked to one of the new advanced stats. Currently I’m not sure on what impact they will have on the game. Weapons that cause status checks are not very prevalent so I am not sure how often they will come up. Routed is likely to come up the most and it isn’t hugely dissimilar to failed leadership checks of previous editions. I am happy they are in the game but impact will need to be judged in the longer term. 

Reactions:

I loved these at the start of 2nd, that turned to some dislike, to a lot of dislike by the end of 2nd. A lot was down to armies being build to take advantage of reactions, and they often also shut down some play styles. If you were an assault based army you would tend to be better off not shooting your guns to save you from the return fire. This seemed a bit of a weird way to be forced to play. I was hoping they would be gone or we moved to alternating activations. However they have stayed but I was quickly surprised that they many of my issues had been fixed and I now think they are looking good overall. Limits are now in place! Which is a huge tick from me! A unit can only react once per turn now, rather than per phase. If you have a status you generally can’t react either. You now have reaction points, 1 up to 1.5k, 2 up to 3.5k and then more beyond this. These can be used at any point in the turn once a trigger has been reached. Wargear that gave reactions out, like augary scanners, have changed and no longer give you free reactions. The reactions all have clear processes for them and there is a lot of different reactions completing for your limited resources. Some have also changed a lot or been adjusted in the affects. These very simple changes have changed my mind on reactions and I am less concerned about the impact they will have on the game compared to 2nd edition. No psychic power to shut off reaction, which is great news and people may look at other disciplines for psychic powers! I actually think they maybe fun this time around and I really like that if you want to get any benefit on your opponents turn you will need to use a reaction point. For me I like that! 

Vehicles and tanks: 

Vehicles kept armour facing and they have all gained hill points to reflect the weapon damage changes. The vehicle damage table as we knew it has gone. Glancing hits now cause the vehicle to gain a statues which is roller on the vehicle damage table. The glance doesn’t remove a hill point though unless you apply a status the vehicle already has. Penetrating hits don’t roll on the damage table but reduce hill points by damage stat on weapon. This means no more blowing up to one shot and general much more resilient than we have seen before. All very positive! Vehicles can target different units with all weapons as well, though if they do so they must snap shoot. They can also move full and still shoot normally. You can now move through your own units with a tank and through enemy units as well, enemy units take hits and can make use of Death or Glory, which is now a reaction. You’re also not restricted to half move for disembarking from a vehicle, so you can move full and get out. The only thing you can’t do is move the vehicle some and then get out and then finish moving the vehicle. You can also assault out of any vehicle, but you’re disordered if you do so, which is then only a d6” charge. 

Flyers:

These are hugely different. They can be rolled for from turn 1 and come in on a 3+. Once passed you choose a mission, drop off, pick up (which removes a unit and any status they had, they can then be brought back next turn), shoot and shoot better. You then come in do your move, do your shooting and then get removed from the table and back into reserves. What is interesting is that you’re never on the table for your opponents shooting phase, which means using the intercept reaction is the only way to bring them down and intercept gets buffs and debuffs depending on the mission chosen for the flyer. What I’m still not sure about how good or bad it makes the planes is that once they are removed from the table they can come back on next turn. The part that I’m not sure around is that you still need to roll and each time you come in gives a modifier to the roll required, +1 for each time it’s come on. So turn 1 3+, it arrives and is removed, then on turn 2 you would need a 4+, 5+ and then 6+. So it gets less likely that the flyer will come in. I could see your flyer coming in consistently twice in a game, is this enough time on the table it will remain to be seen. The other interesting point is that you can bring a unit in from reserves, then you go back into reserves and you could pick up and drop off another unit that is in reserves. This would allow you to buy 1 transport for 2 or more units. I see potential with the flyers and potential more so than in previous editions. Fingers crossed for plastic storm eagles! 

Psykers:

All new psychic powers, very clear rules on what they do and how to do it. I will admit that I haven’t read too much into these yet. Units do gain psyker traits so powers are no longer linked to one model, unless the unit is only 1 model. When you cast with a power you unit only 1 model can do so and you select the focus for the power. This would likely be the person with highest Willpower. I think these look interesting and on the surface seem like good changes that will make Thousands Sons more playable this edition. 

Terrain:

It has some loose rules around what to count terrain as, nothing to extreme but potential for some good options overall. Terrain also has placement rules for games as well. Options here for narrative games but I suspect easy options might be used for pick up games or events. 

Other stand out changes: 

• Snap shots depend on your ballistic skill. A BS4 model snap shots on a 5+. A BS10 model on a 2+. 
• Higher ballistic skill doesn’t provide rerolls now but adds critical hits special rule to you roll. BS7 would hit on a 2+ but on a 5+ is a critical hit (Critical hit auto wounds counting as a 6 and adds an extra point of damage). 
• Night fighting has gone. 
• Games are 4 turns and scoring takes place at the end of every player turn, only 3 missions in the rule book. 
• Wound allocation is done by reactive player as in 2nd ed but the good news is units tend to be only 1 save, so no artificer to tank on! Hooray, I was not a fan of the 2+ save taken all the wounds. 
• There is a start and end phase to the player turn, which is where certain actions sit that need resolving. Great that these things are thought of. 
• Deep strike is from turn 2 and only 1 unit per turn, no scatter, no drop pod armies currently due to 1 per turn limit. 
• Outflank is from turn 1 and outside of deployment zones and 7”  away from enemy unit. Again no charging. 
• Objectives are controlled by tactical strength calculation, similar to LI. 
• Blasts no longer scatter in the way, you place your blast then roll to hit like any other shot. If you hit the blast lands where you place it. If you miss you scatter d6”. 

Final thoughts:

I’m really impressed with the rule set! I think nearly all of the points that I disliked (see last week’s post) about 2nd edition have either been fixed or addressed in some way. Why some of these changes had to wait 3 years and an edition change I don’t know but now that the changes have been made I’m very much looking forward to playing Hersey again! I’m currently optimistic that this might just be the best version of the game rules so far and I really hope that I feel that way in 10, 20 and 100 games time! 

Happy gaming! 

Andy