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30k legion numbers. 30k legions ranked. 30k legion rules.

30k legion tier list.

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. Choosing a Horus Heresy Legion is going to be on the front of a lot of minds in the next month. Many people are buying into the new Horus Heresy boxed set (Buy from Element Games), and while the pictures imply that you’re going to split the box up with your buddy, let’s
be real. This is a great way to start a full Horus Heresy army. You can’t do a full 2000 points straight out of the box (Auspex Tactics says you can make a 1980 point Warhammer 40k army, though), but you’re not far off. It’s, at the very least, a very good three fourths of your Space Marine Legion. To help you make this decision, we’ve broken down the
decision into three basic categories.
Any one of these could be the deciding factor in why you want to start a game. You could be 100% lore, or you could live and die by the aesthetics of your army. But for most people it’s going to be a little bit of all of these. So let’s dive in. I’ve already posted an extensive article on the original Horus Heresy paint schemes (and why you don’t necessarily
need to follow any specific scheme as canonical–there’s as much freedom here as there is in Warhammer 40k, with a few caveats). While you can make your Horus Heresy Legion look like absolutely anything that you want, let’s stick to the original schemes. This may determine your decision more than any other factor.

Dark Angels: Black and Silver and RedEmperor’s Children: Purple and GoldIron Warriors: Silver and Hazard StripesWhite Scars: White and RedSpace Wolves: Gray and RedImperial Fists: Yellow and BlackNight Lords: Dark Blue and LightningBlood Angels: Red and BlackIron Hands: Black and SilverWorld Eaters: White and BlueUltramarines: Blue
and Gold and WhiteDeath Guard: White and Pale GreenThousand Sons: Red and GoldSons of Horus: Green and BlackWord Bearers: Red and BlackSalamanders: Green and BlackRaven Guard: Black and SilverAlpha Legion: Green/Blue So, if there’s anything here that jumps out at you, you can start to whittle down your choices immediately. For
example, I know that I don’t want to paint Black, because I’m bad at it. So Dark Angels, Iron Hands and Raven Guard are right out. I also recently finished a successor chapter to the Salamanders (so they’re out) but their armor was red (so there goes Blood Angels, Word Bearers and Thousand Sons). Space Wolves straight gray seems boring, so
they’re gone, and I just don’t like purple, so out goes the Emperor’s Children. I could really talk myself into any of the others–if we’re just talking about painting a chapter. They have other pros and cons, which we’ll talk about. When choosing a Horus Heresy army to play, you’ll want to look at the playstyle to see if it fits your personal preference. And
be careful, because not all Horus Heresy armies fight in the same style as their 40k brethren. So what are the playstyles of the Horus Heresy armies? Dark Angels: Fairly BalancedEmperor’s Children: Close CombatIron Warriors: Long RangeWhite Scars: Fast AttackSpace Wolves: Close CombatImperial Fists: Defensive, BalancedNight Lords: Close
CombatBlood Angels: Fast Attack, Close CombatIron Hands: Balanced, Long RangeWorld Eaters: Close CombatUltramarines: Balanced, GenericDeath Guard: BalancedThousand Sons: PsykersSons of Horus: Close CombatWord Bearers: Balanced, Close CombatSalamanders: BalancedRaven Guard: SneakyAlpha Legion: Sneaky Of course, boiling down
any chapter into single-word playstyles is dangerous because most Horus Heresy Legions are going to be fighting with a lot of the same equipment. They can all take tanks, they can all take bikes. The difference come in the special rules and stratagems.

Personally, there’s not a lot that I would cut out of these lists out-of-hand. I prefer long range, but I also really want to get stuck in in Close Combat. I’d love to see my Spartan drive my Terminators across the board to wreak havoc on the enemy with their lightning claws. I can cut out the Raven Guard and the Alpha Legion, because I’m just not clever
enough to properly utilize sneaky special rules. And while I’d love to get stuck in, I don’t like bikes, which cuts the White Scars, and I have played my fill of Blood Angels for years, so Fast Attack is right out. Ultramarines are a little generic for my tastes, though I guess that goes in Lore more than playstyle. But Thousand Sons are gone because I have
no interest in Psykers. So that leaves me still with a pretty good list to choose from. When choosing a Horus Heresy Legion, now comes the big question: do I want to be a loyalist or a heretic? There is so much delightful lore that goes into all of these legions that I can’t possibly sum up here succinctly. I would point you to my article on the Primarchs,
the Space Marine Legions, and the Emperor (which gets into the final battle between Sanguinious, Horus, and the Big E himself.) I have been a loyalist all my life, but it hasn’t been because I haven’t heard the siren song of Chaos. It’s been because I just don’t have the patience or the steady hand to paint all the gold trim on the Chaos Space Marines.
I LOVE the Thousand Sons Rubric Marines, but I’m terrible with them, and I LOVE the Nurgley Death Guard, but the Death Guard here are not so corrupted–yet. So, now seems like a time to take a walk on the wild side and take a traitor legion. I love the traitor paint schemes, I like a lot of their playstyles, and I like the idea of playing a traitor. And,
honestly, if I’m going traitor, I kinda want to go all the way. Alpha Legion? Not Chaos enough. Word Bearers? Possible. I like their corruption, but I don’t love Lorgar. Sons of Horus? I’d LOVE to, but I bet that there are going to be a LOT of Sons of Horus armies on the table at my FLGS. Death Guard could be fun–I like their place front and center in
the Seige of Terra. World Eaters could be REALLY fun (it’s been a long time since I’ve painted blood effects). Night Lords are some I could really love but I don’t like body horror and there’s just a little too much flayed skin for my tastes.

Iron Warriors have always been a little too stoic for my liking. And Emperor’s Children are neat but they swear allegiance to my least favorite Chaos God, Slaanesh. So choosing a legion for the Horus Heresy has brought me down to Word Bearers, Death Guard, and World Eaters. I already ruled out Word Bearers because I’ve been painting a LOT of
red marines lately.
Death Guard and World Eaters. Both of the color schemes are about the same. We’ve got Mortarion against Angron. To me the answer seems clear: I really need the World Eaters in my life. Paint them a little grimdark (I’ve recently taken a liking to oil washes) and a lot of battle damage, and some flecks of Blood for the Blood God and I think I’ve got
the perfect Horus Heresy Legion. I’ve ordered the full boxed set and the missile launcher/heavy bolter upgrade. I’ve ordered the Liber Hereticus (though my FLGS couldn’t guarantee that I’d get it because their supplier is less than reliable). The only thing I ordered from Games Workshop’s website is the World Eaters decal sheet. And I’m really
excited to get dug in with these guys. And, with any luck and a little saving, I’ll get Angron to add to my army. Pretty stoked all around. Horus Heresy is a tabletop wargame that focuses on Space Marines fighting Space Marines.

While there are other, non-Space Marine armies in the game, the game is designed to simulate the dreadful civil war between the 18 Space Marine Legions that should have been the brotherhood that reunited the Imperium of Mankind, but ended up almost causing its downfall (technically, the jury is still out on that, even 10,000 years later in the
Warhammer 40,000 game). In this article, we try to give a brief overview of two things: The units that are shared by all the Space Marine Legions, loyalists and Traitors alike The faction-specific rules and units for each Legion. So this is our attempt at making a Horus Heresy Factions / Legions / Armies Overview. Each legion has its own warrior
culture and background, and even though most of their units are shared between legions, every legion has a few characters and units unique to them, and they also have special weapons, relics, doctrines and special rules that can change how common units such as Tactical Marines work on the battlefield. This article doesn’t go into much detail about
the statlines or Special Rules of all those units – the rules for all the legions fill up 690 pages of rulebooks, after all – and the shared units are only very briefly presented. Instead, the focus of the article is the question of what makes each legion special, so you are able to get an idea of which legion would fit your playstyle before you go and invest in a
huge rulebook. The rules for the Space Marine Legions can be found in two rulebooks: However, each legion can be played as either Loyalist or Traitor, and each legion has special rules for that. After all, Horus Heresy can also be played as counterfactual “what if?” historical battles, and some regiments and characters, such as Garviel Loken of the
Sons of Horus, didn’t comply with the allegiance to which their Primarch pledged. You can find our Horus Heresy Beginner’s guide here. This section is a quick overview of all the unit types that are available regardless of which Legion you choose to play. HQs Shared by all Legions in Horus Heresy HQs are characters who can lead your armies.
They’re mostly single model units. Praetor – if you don’t have a Primarch in your army, there’s a good chance a Praetor will be your Warlord. This standard version has Artificer Armour, giving him a 2+ Save, and he can be equipped with all sorts of weapons, from chainswords and bolt pistols to Paragon blades and Archaeotech pistols. He has the
Master of the Legion special rule, which allows the detachment he’s in to select a Rite of War, which are special rules that change what units you can field in a detachment (note that the Legion guides below skip faction-specific Rites of War to avoid this article becoming too unwieldy). All in all, he’s a blank slate upon which you can draw up a unique
character with lots of personality – and a strong fighter as well. Catapractii Praetor – this is basically a standard Praetor, but in Cataphractii Terminator Armour, whic makes him even more durable, but also a bit slower. He also has an extra wound, but fewer wargear options. Tartaros Praetor – this is also a standard Praetor in different armour. The
Tartaros Terminator Armour doesn’t have the speed debuffs of Cataphractii Armour, but it has a worse Invulnerable Save than the Cataphractii Armour, so if you want a fast Terminator Praetor, this is the one. Centurion – this is a specialist HQ in Artificer Armour. It has most of the same options as a Praetor, but it doesn’t grant your Rites of War. In
return, it can take a Consul upgrade (see below) and can be equipped with jump packs or even mounted on a jetbike.
Cataphractii Centurion .- Like the Terminator Praetors above, this is a Terminator version of the Centurion, in Cataphractii Armour. As a Terminator, it onlyu has access to 10 different Consul upgrades as opposed to the 16 of a regular Centurion, and it can’t be mounted on jetbikes or equipped with jump packs. Tartaros Centurion – This is the same
as a Cataphractii Centurion, but in Tartaros Armour. Command Squad – This is a retinue squad for a character, consisting of 2 Chosen (Marines who can issue Challenges as if they were characters) and a Standard Bearer. The squad can be upgraded in all sorts of ways and can often fit in the same slot as a Praetor in your detachments. Cataphractii
Command Squad -This is the same as the Command Squad, but in Cataphractii Armour. Tartaros Command Squad – This is the same as the Command Squad, but in Tartaros Armour. Damocles Command Rhino – This is a Transport vehicle that doubles as an HQ choice, giving your transport capacity and Pintle Mounted ranged weapons in an HQ slot
in your detachment. Additionally, Centurions can also take a Consul upgrade, which effectively gives them a new battlefield role. You can choose from the following: All Legions: Librarian – The Librarian is a Psyker who gains access to the Biomancy, Divination, Pyromancy, Telekinesis, Telepathy and Thaumaturgy Psychic Disciplines, as well as
whatever he gets from his Legion’s rules. Master of Signals – This Consul is a communications specialist with the Strategic Comms Special Rule which improves Morale Checks, Pinning tests and Reserve Rolls for your army. He can also choose from a bunch of different communications wargear. Esoterist – The Esoterist is a psyker who uses forbidden
knowledge. He gains access to the Anathemata Psychic Discipline, and if he is fielded in a Traitor army, that army can take Troops or Elites from the Ruinstorm Daemon Army List, which means you can suddenly field Chaos Daemons in your army! Champion – A Champion increases his Weapon Skill to 6 and gains the Never Back Down Special Rule,
which means that he has to make a Challenge in combat if he can! He can also take a Paragon Blade as his melee weapon. The Champion is an expert duellist, and if your Consul is in a melee unit, giving him this Consul upgrade can be a lot of fun. Delegatus – The Delegatus gets the Master of the Legion Special Rule (see the Praetor entry above), and
can be included in armies below 1000 points. He can also rally your units with a Leadership test for a chance for them to stop being Pinned or Falling Back.
Essentially, this turns your Centurion into a mini-Praetor.
Chaplain – A Chaplain is a kind of Morale officer who boosts the spirit of the unit he is embedded with.
If he has a Power Weapon, it becomes Master-Crafted, meaning it can reroll one failed hit roll per turn.
Vigilator – A Vigilator is a specialist sniper with the Master-Crafted Nemesis Bolter and a either the Scout or Infiltrate Special Rule (see the Reconnaisance Squad above). Pathfinder – The Pathfinder is a specialist scout who gets a Shotgun and Scout Armour and a Movement Characteristic of 8, among other scout-related enhancements.
Herald – A Herald is immune to Fear, causes Fear and exchanges his ranged weapon for a Legion Standard. Forge Lord – This Consul is a kind of super-powered Techmarine who lets you field specific Mechanicum units in your army. Primus Medicae – This Consul is an improved Apothecary. Siege Breaker – The Siege Breaker is an artillery officer
with Phosphor Bombs who can improve Rapier Batteries. Armistos – An Armistos can carry Master-Crafted versions of all the most common infantry special heavy weapons. Moritat – a Moritat is basically a Destroyer Consul who can take Disintegrator Pistols and gains the Chain Fire Special Rule (among others) which lets him do tons of attacks with
Pistols on a single target at a time. Mortificator – this is a specialised Techmarine that can be embedded in a Dreadnought unit to buff it. Praevian – The Praevian gives you access to a different subset of Mechanicum units than the Forge Lord. Elites Shared by all Legions in Horus Heresy Elites are specialists and veteran units that are either just
better than regular troops or have a very specific role on the battlefield. Veteran Squad – The Veteran Squad consists of beefed-up standard marines with an extra wound each, the Relentless rule which allows them to ignore most penalties to moving and shooting in the same turn, and they can issue challenges. we’ll get back to what standard marines
can do below, but these are elite versions of them that you can build from an almost endless combination of bits and kits. Great for adding some narrative and personality to your army. Terminator Cataphractii Squad – as mentioned in the HQ section, Cataphractii are Terminators that are stronger but slower than regular marines. They can take some
pretty scary heavy weapons such as Heavy Flamers and Reaper Autocannons, and their standard equipment is Combi-Bolters and Power Weapons. Terminator Tartaros Squad – as mentioned above, Tartaros Terminators are a sort of missing link between marines and terminators, retaining speed while being pretty durable. They have the same
wargear and weapon options as Cataphractii Terminators, apart from the armour, of course. Destroyer Assault Squad – these are close combat fighters equipped with weaponry that other marines aren’t allowed to use, such as radiation grenades, and they get extra melee attacks when another unit charges them.
They carry Chainswords and can dual-wield Bolt Pistols, Volkite Serpenta or even carry 2 Hand Flamers. They also carry Jump Packs in order to jump quickly into the fray with all their brutal weaponry. Mortalis Destroyer Squad – These are Destroyer Squads made for indoor fighting, so they don’t have Jump Packs and are a bit cheaper to gieal as a
result. They can also carry more types of heavy weapons than the regular Destroyers. Apothecarion Detachment – This is a single model (can be upgraded to 8 models total) but each model in this unit has to be assigned to another unit in your army. Apothecaries are medics, and if you have one in a unit, it gains the Feel No Pain rule with gives it a
damage mitigation rule as a means of simulating a medic healing the squad. Techmarine Covenant – this works just like an Apothecarion detachment, but instead of healing infantry, Techmarines repair vehicles and machines, and they can equip all sorts of technical wargear and weapons. Contemptor Dreadnought Talon – These are huge battlesuits
around twice the size of a normal marine.
They are faster, stronger and have better weapons than marines, and can be equipped to be really scary on both ranged and close combat. Rapier Battery – Rapier Batteries are small artillery squads consisting of crew manning Rapiers, which are mobile gun platforms able to carry Laser Destroyers, Graviton Cannons or Quad Launchers. They’re a
relatively affordable artillery option that doesn’t take up a Heavy Support slot. Troops Shared by all Legions in Horus Heresy Troops are the core of your army – infantry tasked with holding and defending objectives and overwhelming the opponent with sheer numbers and firepower. Tactical Squad – You’re probably going to paint many of these guys.
A Tactical Squad consists of 9 Legionaries and a Sergeant, and they’re the standard marines you’ve seen all over promotional material for the game. They’re equipped with Bolters, grenades, and optional Bayonets/Chain Bayonets for close combat. They have two important Special Rules: Fury of the Legion, which gives them extra shooting attacks if
they don’t move, and Heart of the Legion which gives them the Feel No Pain Special Rule when they’re close to objectives. This clearly indicates what they’re supposed to be used for: Claiming and defending battlefield objectives. Like all other non-Terminator Marines, their Power Armour comes in different Marks, the most recent being the “beaky”
Mark VI Tactical Armour from the Age of Darkness starter set. Apart from the weapon bling the Sergeant can wear to battle, Tactical Squads can’t carry any special weapons. Despoiler Squad – This is a close combat version of the Tactical Squad, equipped with Bolt Pistol and Chainsword, and they swap Fury of the Legion for Spite of the Legion
which gives them an additional attack when they charge (on top of the standard +1) if the target is Pinned, Falling Back or doesn’t have any characters in it. Any model in this unit can take a Heavy Chainsword, and 1 in 5 Despoilers can also carry Power Weapons or a selection of other close combat weapons and pistols that are better than their
standard loadout.
Assault Squad -Assault Squads are also close combat marines, but they have jump packs and none of the Special Rules of Despoilers. Breacher Squad – This is a defensive ranged squad with Boarding Shields and the ability to give everyone in their unit Volkite Chargers. They’re specialists in boarding actions against enemy spaceships and can also
carry Lascutters to breach enemy hulls (and kill people, of course). Tactical Support Squad – Tactical Support Squads are regular Legionaries (without the Special Rules) that are equipped with Flamers as their standard loadout, but they can exchange that for Rotor Cannons, Volkite Chargers, Volkite Calivers, Plasma Guns or Meltaguns, so they’re
the specialist gunners of your Troops. Reconnaisance Squad – Reconnaissance Squads are 5 man Legionary units with the Scout and Infiltrate Special Rules, letting them deploy close to the enemy and redeploy after deployment. They can exchange their Bolters for Nemesis Bolters (sniper rifles, essentially) or Shotguns. Scout Squad – These are like
Reconnaisance Squads, but they’re not in Power Armour, so they’re faster but have a 4+ Save instead of a 3+. They can Move Through Cover and otherwise act just like Reconnaissance Squads, so they’re great for forward deployment, but also fragile.
Dedicated Transports Shared by all Legions in Horus Heresy Dedicated Transports are vehicles designed for transporting infantry units and characters quickly to the frontline. Rhino Transport – This is a Transport vehicle that can carry 12 Marines. It has Smoke Launchers, Twin-Linked Bolters and access to a wide array of Pintle Mounted Weapons.
Drop Pod – This is a pod that can be launched as a Deep Strike onto the battlefield close to the enemy, and it can carry 10 models. Dreadnought Drop Pod – This is like the Drop Pod, but instead of infantry, it can carry one Dreadnought into battle. Termite Assault Drill – This is an underground Transport that can drill through the ground to turn up
right next to the enemy. It can carry 12 models. Fast Attack Shared by all Legions in Horus Heresy Fast Attack units are units that can move fast and maneuver quickly, either to scout or to make surprise attacks on enemy flanks. Seeker Squad – Seeker Squads are specialist assassins who can mark an enemy unit that they then reroll Wound rolls of 1
against, and if they can assign wounds to specific models in a unit on a roll of 4+. Outrider Squadron – Outrider Squadrons ride on combat bikes, giving them an impressive Movement characteristic of 14. They can redeploy after deployment and can carry several different close range weapons. Sabre Strike Squadron – Sabre Strikes are really fast
tanks with light armour that don’t carry the heaviest of weapons, but they get Volite Sakers for free if you want to go in that direction. Sky-hunter Squadron – These are jet bike-mounted squads that can Deep Strike and have a Move of 16, a combination that lets them reach anywhere on the battlefield very quickly. Javelin Squadron – Javelin
Squadrons ride on Land Speeders, which aren’t as fast as combat bikes, but that doesn’t matter so much since they’re still fast for a weapons platform. They can carry dual Lascannons, dual Volkite Culverins, Cyclone Missile Launchers, Heavy Flamers or Multi-Meltas, as well as Hunter-Killer Missiles.
Proteus Land Speeder Squadron – This is a different Land Speeder loadout with far more weapon options and a faster Move characteristic than the Javelin Squadron. Storm Eagle Gunship – This is a Flyer with an impressive transport capacity of 22 models, a Movement Characteristic of 18 and a ton of different rockets and guns as well. Xiphon
Interceptor – this is a Flyer that’s more akin to a fighter plane, with the Talons of the Legion Special Rule, giving you access to the Combat Air Patrol Advanced Reaction.
Dreadclaw Drop Pod – this is a Drop Pod that also deals damage where it lands, and it can transport Dreadnoughts as well as regular models. Heavy Support Shared by all Legions in Horus Heresy Heavy Support is all about tanks, walkers, big cannons, heavy infantry weapons and flyers.
Leviathan Dreadnought Talon – Leviathan Dreadnoughts are extra tough Dreadnoughts that can get especially scary in close combat due to the extra attacks it gets from its Hammer of Wrath (3) Special Rule. Deredeo Dreadnought Talon – Deredeo Dreadnoughts are the Dreadnoughts that are most like walking gun platforms, with access to missiles,
Arachnus Heavy Lascannon Batteries, and more Heavy Support Squad – this is just like the Support Squad from the Elites section, but with access to much stronger weapons such as Lascannons and Multi-Meltas. Predator Squadron – Predator Tanks have access to so many special weapons, it’s insane. Their turrets alone have 8 options for the main
gun, and on top of that, it can have two sponsoon mounted guns and a Pintle Mounted one as well. It can also take Hunter-Killer Missiles, Searchlights and a Dozer Blade for mowing down infantry as well. Sicaran Squadron – Sicarans are fast tanks without a turret, but otherwise with access to strong weaponry and Smoke Launchers.
Sicaran Arcus Squadron – these are like regular Sicarans, but with a Turret Mounted Arcus Missile Launcher. Sicaran Punisher Squadron – Punishers are like Sicarans, but with a Turret Mounted Punisher Rotary Cannon – a pretty scary autocannon. Sicaran Venator Squadron – Venators are Sicarans with a Neutron Beam Laser. Sicaran Omega
Squadron – Omegas are Sicarans with a Turret Mounted Omega Plasma Array. Kratos Squadron – Kratos tanks are slow tanks (Movement 10) but with insane firepower, not least from the Kratos Battlecannon, but also from all the other cannons and missiles mounted on pintles, sponsons and the front of the tank.
Land Raider Proteus Carrier Squadron – Land Raiders are tanks with a transport capacity (12 models on this one), but also with some serious firepower such as Gravis Lascannons. They look a bit like World War 1 tanks and really add some character to a force. Land Raider Proteus Explorator – This is a Land Raider with lower transport capacity (8
models) but the ability to redeploy and a Vox Disruptor Array which makes it harder for the enemy to deploy from Drop Pods succesfully. Vindicator Squadron – Vindicators are heavy artillery tanks with really heavy weapons such as a Demolisher Cannon or a Magna Laser Destroyer. Land Raider Spartan – The Spartan is a huge Land Raidert that can
carry a whopping 26 models into battle. Scorpius Squadron – Scorpius tanks are artillery tanks most notable for their Scorpius Missile Launchers. Arquitor Squadron – Arquitors are long range artillery tanks with Morbus Bombards, Graviton-Charge Cannons or Spicula Rocket Systems. Fire Raptor Squadron – These are fighter-bomber Flyers with
tons of firepower and the ability to Deep Strike and perform Strafing Runs. Deathstorm Drop Pod Squadron – These are Drop Pods without any Transport Capacity! Instead, they drop Deathstorm Missile Launchers onto the battlefield. Kharybdis Assault Claw – This is the mother of all Drop Pods, with Deathstorm Missile Launcher weaponry, the Death
Blast Special Rule that can damage units close to where it lands, and a Transport Capacity of 22. Lords of War Shared by all Legions in Horus Heresy Lords of War are huge, terrifying mega-machines of which you can mostly only have one unit in your army. Cerberus Squadron – Cerberus tanks are heavy tank destroyers with good armour, a Neutron
Laser Battery and the fun Reactor Blast Special Rules that makes it do a lot of damage if it explodes due to being attacked. Typhon Squadron – A Typhon is a heavy artillery platform with a Dreadhammer Siege Cannon and the Crushing Weight Special Rule which makes it really good at ramming other units. Glaive – The Glaive is a huge tank with a
Turret Mounted Volkite Carronade gun and 12 Hull Points.
Fellblade -The Fellblade is like a Glaive, but with a Turret Mounted Fellblade Accelerator Cannon. Falchion – This is a super-heavy tank specialized in taking down other super-heavies with its twin-linked Volcano Cannon. Thunderhawk Gunship – This is a gigantic Flyer with a Transport Capacity of 32 models that can also carry Dreadnoughts and
Automata. It also has as much firepower as you would expect from something that’s almost a regular spaceship. Sokar Stormbird – If the Thunderhawk isn’t enough for you, then perhaps you need the 850 point Sokar Stormbird? It can carry 52 models and can even carry Vehicles. Mastodon – the Mastodon is an absolute monster of a tank with a
Transport Capacity of 42, a Siege Melta Array, Heavy Flamers, a Lascannon and a Skyreaper Battery.
List of all Loyalist Legions in Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness Below are the Legions who sided with the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. This section gives you a brief overview of what’s special about each Legion and the options they give to your army. The Ultramarines The Salamanders The White Scars The Iron Hands The Dark Angels The Space
Wolves The Raven Guard The Blood Angels The Imperial Fists Dark Angels The Dark Angels were the first Space Marine Legion, and they’re a lot like Arthurian knights: They excel in melee, carry plumed helmets and have all sorts of secretive warrior-monastic orders to which each unit belongs. They’re monster hunters and all-out warriors who
spend their entire lives defending the Imperium from the most horrific of its enemies. Legion Rules and Wargear for Dark Angels The Hexagrammaton: All Dark Angels units has to select one of 6 sub-types: Stormwing: Stormwing units become better at hitting with bolt weapons. Deathwing: Deathwing units become better at hitting with all kinds of
swords, and their Vehicles become better at making Ram Attacks. Dreadwing: Dreadwing units are more resistant to attacks from Flame weapons, Plasma weapons and a number of other non-projectile weapon types and resist poison. Ironwing: Ironwing units gets bonuses to hitting Vehicles, and Ironwing Vehicles get better at making Snap Shots.
Firewing: Firewing units are better at wounding Independent Characters.
Ravenwing: Ravenwing units, infantry as well as vehicles, move faster. Weapons: Calibanite Warblade: This is an improved Power Sword for Characters. Plasma Repeater and Plasma Burner: These are improved Plasma weapons that all wielders of Plasma Guns or Twin-Linked Plasma Guns can take. The Burner is essentially a Plasma Flamer! Terranic
Greatsword: Independent Characters can exchange a Power Fist for this weapon which causes Instant Death on a Wound roll of 5+ Stasis Missiles: This is an extra type of ammunition for Missile Launchers. Consul upgrade: Paladin of the Hekatonystika: This is a Consul with the Terranic Greatsword (see above) and a free Order of the Hekatonystika
from the inner Circle Knights Cenobium unit profile (see below) Warlord Traits: Marshal of the Crown: This improves other units with the same Hexagrammaton sub-type as the Warlord, and gives you an additional Reaction in a phase depending on the sub-type. Seneschal of the Keys: This Warlord Trait lets you improve the attacks of your Warlord
and his unit in one turn of your choice against a Faction of your choice (so Legiones Astartes, Mechanicum, etc). It also lets you make an additional Reaction in the Assault Phase. Advanced Reaction: The Angels of Death: This is a Reaction you make when someone charges you, and it improves the morale of the unit being charged, with a chance to
even decrease the morale of the charging enemy. Units and Characters for Dark Angels Lion El’Jonson; This is the Primarch of the Dark Angels. He can choose between two terrifying melee weapons, he gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase, and he improves the Leadership of your units. Inner Circle Knights Cenobium: This is a Terranic
Greatsword-wielding Cataphractii Terminator Squad which can choose between 6 different specializations through the Orders of the Hekatonystika, each of which makes them better against a specific kind of target. Dreadwing Interemptor Squad: This is a kind of Destroyer Squad with Plasma Burners. Deathwing Companion Detachment: This is a
retinue squad with Calibanite Warblades and really good melee wargear options as well as access to Jump Packs. It also has the Cytheron Pattern Aegis which are force shields that can either be worn or deployed. When they’re deployed, your unit can’t attack, but it gets really durable. Corswain: Corswain is a Master of the Legion Independent
Character with an excellent melee weapon simply called The Blade, and he even has a 3+ Invulnerable Save against close combat attacks, so he’s an excellent character to use for Challenges, not least also due to his Weapon Skill of 7. Marduk Sedras: Marduk Sedras is another Master of the Legion Independent Character with a special Warlord Trait
called Preceptor of the Shattered Sceptre.
It gives you an additional Reaction in the Assault Phase (lots of those for the Dark Angels!) and you can fit an Inner Circle Knights Cenobium unit into your Detachment as a Retinue Squad for Sedras – among many other bonuses for this ancient warrior. White Scars The White Scars are master scouts, skirmishers and Pathfinders, experts at hit and
run tactics and in many ways a unique Legion that grew distinct from its brother Legions while working far beyond enemy lines as the Vanguard of the Emperor’s forces. They’re lightning fast, great on a Charge and rely on swift jetbikes and razor-sharp blades that can cut through anything as well as fast-firing assault weapons. Emulating their
earliest ancestors’ lives on the frozen steppes and tundras of Terra before the Unification, they even use cyborgized hunting hawks to stalk their prey. Legion Rules and Wargear for White Scars Swift of Action: This Special Rule gives all White Scars models a +1 to their Movement characteristic, and it also lets White Scars players roll an extra dice
when determine who takes the first turn in a game and choose the highest roll of the two. Weapons and Wargear: Legion Shamshir Jetbike: This is a way cooler jetbike that White Scars models with a Scimitar Jetbike can take instead. It gets an extra attack when its in close combat, gets Shrouded (5+) when running, which is great for skirmishing, and
its Save becomes 2+, among other things. Scatterbolt Launcher: This is the weapon Shamshir Jetbikes are equipped with. It’s a Strength 5, AP 4 weapon with a Template for range. Power Glaive: This is an upgrade characters can take instead of their Power weapon that ignores Save characteristics of 2+ or more if its rolls wound rolls of 5 or more,
which is pretty powerful. Cyber-Hawk: This is a cyborgized hawk that Independent Characters can take. It lets you pick an enemy unit and then reroll hit rolls of 1 against it as well as add 1 to your Charge rolls against that unit. Consul Upgrade: Stormseer: This is a Psyker with the Storm’s Fury Psychic Discipline with a strong ranged psychic attack
and a psychic ability that improves the Run distance of all nearby friendly units. Warlord Traits: Heroes Never Die: This can only be taken by Loyalist White Scars armies. It gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase and improves the unit the Warlord is part of, even making them Fearless if the Warlord dies. Born to the Saddle: This gives the
Warlord and all Cavalry models in your army a special Invulnerable Save against Dangerous Terrain as well as an extra Reaction in the opponent’s Movement Phase. The Forgotten Sons: This can only be taken by Traitor White Scars armies. If your army has Sons of Horus allies in it, your Warlord and his unit auto-pass all Pinning tests and Morale
Checks, and they can make the Sons of Horus Advanced Reaction Death Dealers for free once per battle. Advanced Reaction: Chasing the Wind: This Reaction can be made once per battle in the Movement Phase when an enemy unit ends a move close to a White Scars unit. It lets all your units close to the moving unit make a free Move immediately.
Units and Characters for White Scars Jaghatai Khan: This is the Primarch of the White Scars. He has two profiles, one for being on foot and one for riding an 18″ Move Sojutsu Pattern Voidbike. If he is on his bike, he can join Cavalry units. He has an excellent AP2 sword called White Tiger Dao, a likewise great pistol called Storm’s Voice, and he can
be deployed from Reserves without rolling for it. He has a special Warlord Trait called Sire of the White Scars which gives all your units Furious Charge (1) rule which gives them a Strength bonus in the Assault Phase – and it gives your army an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase.
Golden Keshig Squadron: This is a Shamshir Jetbike squad with Kontos Power Lances, which have AP1 (so they ignore all basic Save Characteristics, just not Invulnerable Saves) and have Strength 10, and they also have Hammer of Wrath (1) so they gain an extra attack when they get into close combat after a Charge move. Ebon Keshig Cohort: These
are special Tartaros Terminators called Karash, armed with power Glaives. Awesomely, Karash are units that the enemy can never score Victory Points for killing – they’ve sworn to die anyway, and to take as many foes down with them as they can. Kyzagan Assault Speeder Squadron: This is a special Land Speeder with a Kheres Assault Cannon and
two Reaper Autocannons. Qin Xa: This is a character for Loyalist White Scars armies only. He is in Tartaros Armour, gives any Tartaros Terminators in a Tartaros Command Squad he joins cheap Power Glaives, and he has two AP2 blades called Tails of the Dragon. He has a special Warlord Trait called Chosen of the Khagan which lets you Deep Strike
or Flank a unit into battle automatically once per battle instead of rolling for it – and gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase as well. Space Wolves The Space Wolves are a Legion of brutal berserkers, akin to attack dogs the Emperor unleashes whenever something just needs to stop breathing. Or at least that’s how the rest of the galaxy sees
them. The Space Wolves think of themselves as a proud warrior culture with a deep mythology and connection to the lore and spirits of Fenris, the frozen homeworld of their Primarch. They live their lives as protagonists of great sagas, taking oaths and slaying worthy foes with their axes and sheer ferocity. Legion Rules and Wargear for Space Wolves
Bestial Savagery: Space Wolf Infantry units can run and shoot in the same turn, and even Charge in that turn as well (even though shooting in such a turn becomes Snap Shots). If a unit can’t Run, it instead gets a better Weapon Skill after a Charge, and Vehicles can make better Ram attacks. Weapons and Wargear: Fenrisian Axe: All Space Wolf units
can swap a Chainsword for this Axe with the Reaping Blow (1) Special Rule that gives the wielder an extra attack when they’re in base contact with more than one enemy model. Frost Blades: These are four different melee weapons (Frost Sword, Frost Axe, Frost Claw, Great Frost Blade) that Independent Characters can take instead of their Power
weapons. They all have Reaping Blow (1), great AP, and most of them also give a bonus to Strength for their attacks. Æther-Rune Armour: This can replace Artificer Armour for Independent Characters that aren’t Unique. It gives the model a 2+ Save, an extra wound and the Adamantium Will (4+) Special Rule which is a special save against psychic
attacks. Jarls: This is an upgrade to your Praetors that give them Counter-Attack (2) and can also give them the Skirmish sub-type if you choose so. Consul Upgrades: Pack Thegn: This is like a Jarl, but with Counter-Attack (1) instead of (2). Speaker of the Dead: This Consul gets Leadership 10, gets the Stubborn Special Rule and the Hatred
(Everything) Special Rule that lets the Consul and his unit reroll all their first attack rolls of any combat if they Charged or were Charged by another unit. He also gets a narthecium and a Master-Crafted Power Maul, so he’s basically an Apothecary and a Chaplain rolled into one. Caster of Runes: This is a Psyker with the Winds of Fenris Psychic
Discipline that gives it a powerful Template attack and a shielding ability for protecting one of your units. Warlord Traits: Howl of Morkai: This gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase as well as a once per battle Strength bonus to every Space Wolf unit that Charged in that turn. Hunger of the Void: This gives the Warlord an ability that
lets him heal a wound after each combat where he did any damage, and if he isn’t wounded, he gets an extra attack and an extra Strength instead. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase.
Crown Breaker: This makes the Warlord and his unit better against Independent Characters, and gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Advanced Reaction: No Prey Escapes the Wolf: This lets you perform an immediate Move and a Charge in the Movement Phase with one unit when an enemy unit moves within 12″ of your units.
It can only be used once per battle. Units and Characters for Space Wolves Leman Russ: This is the Primarch of the Space Wolves. He is a close combat beast with a mighty axe that’s like a super-version of the Frost Axe and a mighty sword that even affects Morale Checks of its targets, as well as special Bolter called Scornspitter. His armour has
bonuses against flamers, meltaguns and plasma weapons, and it gives enemies penalties to hit when he’s Charged them. Once per battle, he can use the Howl of the Death Wolf Special Rule that gives +1 Movement to all Space Wolves units and forces everyone else to take a Pinning Test. He also has a Warlord Trait called Sire of the Space Wolves
which gives +1 Strength to all Space Wolves in a turn where you made a succesful Charge with any of your units, and it also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. The Wolf-kin of Russ: This unit of two huge wolves, Freki and Geri, and they can only be in your army if Leman Russ is also part of it. They cause Fear, have Hammer of Wrath
(1) and attack with their Breaching Tooth & Claw weapons.
Deathsworn Pack: This is an elite close combat squad in Articifer Armour that specializes in being the retinue of a Speaker of the Dead or Caster of Runes. Models from this unit can make a single attack in combat before dying when they’re slain, and they carry Power Axes and Ymira Class Stasis Bombs that can disrupt enemy Charges and improve
your own at the cost of damaging your own unit. Varagyr Wolf Guard Terminator Squad: This is a special Cataphractii Terminator Squad with Frost blades that can accept and issue Challenges. Grey Slayer Pack – This is a special close combat squad akin to a regular Assault Squad, but with Fenrisian Axes and Counter-Attack (1). It can choose
between having Bolters or Combat Shields. Grey Stalker Pack – This is almost entirely like a Grey Slayer Pack, but it doesn’t get Combat Shields for free, and it can take a special weapon for 1 in every 5 models. Geigor Fell-hand – This Independent Character is a melee specialist with a crazy Frost Claw weapon , and if he’s your Warlord, he has to
take the Crown Breaker Warlord Trait. Hvarl Red-Blade – Hvarl is an Independent Character in Tartaros Terminator Armour with the axe Hearth-Splitter and a Heavy Bolter. He has the Battle Cunning Special Rule which can give three Infantry units in his Detachment the Scout Special Rule so they can redeploy, and he also has the unique Warlord
Trait Head-Taker which makes him and his unit better against Infantry and gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Imperial Fists The Imperial Fists are great builders and defenders, as well as determined conquerors. They’re excellent at overwhelming the enemy with massive firepower, and they’re disciplined crusaders fiercely loyal to not
just the Emperor, but also unflinchingly to his plan for bringing enlightenment and order to the galaxy. They stand their ground until the enemy closes in, and then unleash their Templars and mighty war heroes into a devastating counter-charge with blades and shields lifted. Legion Rules and Wargear for Imperial Fist Discipline and Resolve: Imperial
Fists units get a +1 to hit rolls with Auto or Bolt weapons.
Weapons and Wargear: Vigil Storm Shield: This is a shield you can take on an Independent Character or instead of a Combi-Bolter on Terminators.
It gives the wielder a 3+ Invulnerable Save. Teleport Strike: This can give the Deep Strike Special Rule to Terminators or Independent Characters. Solarite Power Gauntlet: This can replace any Power Fist, and it has Strength 10 and an amazing AP1. Iliastus Assault Cannon: This replaces Heavy Flamers or the cannon on a Predator, and has the
Rending (6+) Special Rule and AP4. Consul Upgrades: Castellan: This Consul specializes in Heavy Weapons. He has to take either a Master-Crafted Heavy Bolter, a Master-Crafted Autocannon or an Illiastus Assault Cannon, and can do an extra attack with any Heavy weapons. Warlord Traits: Solar Marshal: This Warlord Trait is only eligible for
Loyalist Imperial Fist armies. It improves the Weapon Skill of the Warlord and his unit when fighting Traitors, and it also lets the Warlord and his unit do 1 extra Reaction each turn in any of the opponent’s phases. Warden of Inwit: This lets the Warlord and his unit auto-pass any Morale Checks or Pinning Test when close to objectives or when in their
Deployment Zone. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Architect of Devastation: This gives the Warlord and his unit the ability to reroll hit rolls of 1 when they’re in Cover, and also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase.
Advanced Reaction: The Best Defence: This lets you make a Charge move with a unit as a Reaction to an enemy unit moving within 10″ of your units. The Reaction can be made once per battle.
Units and Characters for Imperial Fist Rogal Dorn: This is the Primarch of the Imperial Fists, and he’s armed with a special Bolter called the Voice of Terra and a massive Chainsword called Storm’s Teeth. He has a 2+ Save, a 4+ Invulnerable Save and nothing can ever wound him at a better chance than 4+, which is a great defensive bonus to have.
Charges against him and his unit are always Disordered, and he has a special Warlord Trait called Sire of the Imperial Fists, which lets other Characters in his army use his Leadership characteristic, and they and their units cause an extra wound in combat for the purposes of determining who won an Assault.
Before a battle, you can choose one of the game’s 3 main Phases in which you get an extra Reaction. Templar Brethren: This is a close combat squad in Artificer Armour with Bolt Pistols and Power Swords, with the ability to also take Combat Shields and Plasma Pistols. Phalanx Warder Squad: This is a special Breacher Squad with improved Charge
abilities and the Shield Wall Special Rule that improves their Invulnerable Save when they’re in base contact with each other. Sigismund : This is an Independent Character with a ton of Special Rules too numerous to mention here, but he wields the Black Sword which kills anything it Wounds outright. He also lets you take Templar Brethren as
Troops choices, and he always has to Challenge or accept a Challenge. His special Warlord Trait, Slayer of Kings which gives him and his army a bonus if he slays the enemy Warlord, and it also gives your army an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Alexis Polux: This is an Independent Character who grants the Deep Strike Special Rule to any of
your units in Reserves. He is armed with a Solarite Power Gauntlet, a Vigil Storm Shield, a Combi-Melta and the ability to attack with Hammer Blows, which gain the Fleshbane (which makes him autowound on a 2+ in combat) and Exoshock (6+) Special Rules. His special Warlord Trait, Master Tactician, lets him redeploy one friendly unit at the start
of the game, as well as granting you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Fafnir Rann: This is an Independent Character with two Power Axes, The Headsman and The Hunter, a Boarding Shield and a Bolt Pistol, and the ability to cause damage automatically to anyone who Charges Rann or his unit. He has a special Warlord Trait called The
Unbroken Wall, which gives all Breacher Squads and Phalanx Warder Squads in his Detachment a bonus to their Weapon Skill when they Charge. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Blood Angels The Blood Angels are noble warriors clad in red and gold – that is, until they enter the chaos of battle, which immediately turns then
into raging berserkers.
Rumours have it that they sometimes drink the blood of fallen foes, but the Blood Angels themselves emphasize their nobility and honour and value discipline highly, even though they remain the cleansing fire the Emperor casts upon worlds that don’t comply with the Imperial Truth. They’re fast, often Deepstriking or using Jump Packs, emulating
their glorious Primarch Sanguinius who enters battle flying in with his shining white Great Wings. Legion Rules and Wargear for Blood Angels Encarmine Fury: Whenever a Blood Angels unit Charges, it improves its chance to Wound by 1 for the following combat, and Blood Angels Vehicles get a bonus to Strength when Ramming. Weapons and
Wargear: The Fires of Heaven: This can replace any Plasma Pistol with an Inferno Pistol, which has Armourbane (Melta), which gives it an extra dice for rolling Armour Penetration against Vehicles. Perdition Weapons: These can replace the Power weapons of Characters with either a Blade, Axe, Spear or Maul of Perdition, which all have the Brutal
(2) Special Rule, which means these weapons do 2 wounds of damage rather than 1 when wounding a target. Iliastus Assault Cannon: These are like the ones Imperial Fists can take, so see their entry just above. Consul Upgrades: Blood Angels don’t have any special Consul options. Warlord Traits: Encarmine Paladin: This Warlord Trait can only be
taken by Loyalist Blood Angels armies, and it gives the Warlord and his unit bonuses to the Fear Special Rule against Traitor armies and units. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Paragon of Unity: This gives a bonus to Leadership to any Blood Angels unit that can see this a Warlord with this Warlord Trait, and it also gives you an
extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Thrall of the Red Thirst: This Warlord Trait can only be taken by Traitor Blood Angels armies, and it forces your Warlord and his unit to Charge enemy units whenever they’re eligible for it, but gives them 2 extra attacks for doing so rather than the usual 1. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase.
Advanced Reaction: The Wrath of Angels: You can use this once per battle when an enemy unit shoots at one of your units. It gives the unit being shot at the Shrouded (5+) Special Rule and that unit can then Charge immediately.
Units and Characters for Blood Angels Sanguinius: This is the Primarch of the Blood Angels. He can choose between two weapon loadouts: The Blade Encarmine is a very strong sword with Murderous Strike (5+) which can kill a target outright. The other option is Spear of Telesto, which is an AP1 Spear that can also be a powerful ranged weapon, in
combination with Moonsilver Blade, an offhand AP2 sword that is escpecially good against Daemons and Psykers.
He also has a special one-shot Melta Weapon called Infernus. He can buff his 8 Movement to 14 by using his Great Wings, but it makes him more vulnerable to the effects of Terrain rules. Finally, he has the Sire of the Blood Angels Warlord Trait that improves the Weapon Skill of Deepstriking or Warhawk Jump Pack-wearing Blood Angels units when
charging, and it gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Dawnbreaker Cohort: This is a special Assault Squad with Warhawk Jump Packs and Falling-Star Pattern Power Spears, which are AP3 and have longer reach than regular melee weapons. The spears can be swapped for an Equinox Power Blade Case, which contains two
Sunrise/Sunset blades with AP3. All models in the unit can take Melta Bombs, and when they Deep Strike Assault, all nearby enemy units suffer a penalty to their Leadership. Crimson Paladins: This is a special Cataphractii Terminator Squad with Power Weapons and Coriolis Power Shields, with the option to take some Heavy Weapons as well as
Power Fists or Chain Fists. They gain bonuses when they’re outnumbered, which will happen a lot since their standard Squad size is only 3.
The Angel’s Tears: This is a special Destroyer Squad which can take a number of Heavy Weapons as well, one option being their unique Angel’s Tears Grenade Launchers, which basically shoot irradiated grenades. Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought: This is a special Contemptor Dreadnought with the Brutal (2) Talons of Perdition weapon (see
above), as well as an Incaendius Booster Pack that either be used to Deep Strike or perform a Shock Assault, which gives it Hammer of Wrath (2) and a higher Movement Characteristic for one turn per game. Dominion Zephon: This is a Warhawk Jump Pack-wearing Independent Character with the The Spiritum Sanguis two-handed Power Weapon
and the dual Volkite pistols Lament and Grief. The first time Zephon dies in combat, he can roll a dice and return with 1 wound remaining on a roll of 4 or higher. He has the special Warlord Trait Exarch of the High Host, which lets you take a Destroyer Assault Squad as part of his HQ slot in his Detachment as his retinue squad with the Chosen
Warriors Special Rule, as well as giving you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Chapter Master Raldoron: This is an Independent Character with a Combi-Flamer and The Encarmine Warblade, which is an AP2 Power Weapon with the Murderous Strike (5+) Special Rule. He can choose Warlord Traits not just from the Core Warlord Traits, but
from the Warlord Traits of White Scars, Imperial Fists, Space Wolves, Ultramarines, Iron Hands, Raven Guard or Salamanders, as long as those Warlord Traits don’t require him to be a Traitor. Iron Hands The Iron Hands are master battlesmiths and strategists, and they’re extremely durable as well as being experts in applying machines and high-
tech weaponry in the field. Their Legion works like a well-oiled machine structured into self-sufficient Clans who can operate on their own for a long time due to the extreme discipline of their forces and the perfectly detailed orders of their mastermind Primarch. Legion Rules and Wargear for Iron Hands The Medusa’s Scales: This gives a -1 Strength
to any shooting attacks against non-Vehicle Iron Hands units, and also increases the durability of Vehicles. Weapons and Wargear: Iron-Father: This lets you upgrade a Praetor to an Iron-Father, which turns it into a really good Techmarine.
Blessed Auto-Simulacra: This can be picked by any Iron Hands Vehicles and gives them the It Will Not Die Special Rules which the The Medusa’s Scales rule above improves upon. Cyber-Familiar: This lets Iron Hands Infantry Characters take Cyber-Familiars, which improves their Invulnerable save and helps them with Characteristic tests. Iron
Hands Gorgon Terminator Armour: This is a replacement for Cataphractii Terminator Armour that also Blinds enemy units that are nearby when the bearer is wounded. Graviton Shredders: This replaces Graviton Guns with either Graviton Shredders (which turn Gravition Guns into Assault Weapons) or Graviton Pistols. Armatus Necrotechnika: This
lets a Vehicle unit heal 1 Hull Point on a roll of 6 with a dice whenever they lose a model, and all units, friend or foe, reduce their Leadership by one when close to a model with this wargear. Consul Upgrades: The Iron Hands don’t have any special Consul options. Warlord Traits: From Hel’s Heart: This gives the Warlord and his unit the Fear (1)
Special Rule and gives the unit free attacks on an attacker who kills the Warlord. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. This Warlord Trait can only be taken by Loyalist Iron Hands armies. The Eye of Vigilance: This gives the Warlord and his units bonuses against Loyalist units, and the Warlord Trait can only be taken by Traitor Iron
Hands armies. If also lets the Warlord and his unit perform 2 Reactions in the same Phase once per battle. Silver-Iron Will: A Warlord with this Warlord Trait and his unit can never have any of their Characteristics lowered. With this Warlord Trait, your army also can’t make Reactions in the Movement Phase, but can choose to make an extra Reaction
in either the Shooting Phase or the Assault Phase. Advanced Reaction: The Gorgon’s Spite: This lets you make a Shooting attack with double the attacks you would normally be allowed against an enemy unit that Charges the unit making the Reaction once per battle – but the shooting weapons of that unit risks overheating and doing damage to your
own unit instead. It can be used once per battle. Units and Characters for Iron Hands Ferrus Manus: This is the Primarch of the Iron Hands, and he is armed with a Master-Crafted Plasma Blaster, a Master-Crafted Graviton Shredder (see above) and a Forgebreaker Hammer that does 3 wounds when it wounds. He is also an excellent
Techmarine/Forge Lord, and he has a special Warlord Trait, Sire of the Iron Hands, which gives Feel No Pain (6+) to all Infantry units in your army and It Will Not Die (5+) to all Vehicles in your army. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Gorgon Terminator Squad: This is a Terminator Squad in Gorgon Terminator Armour, with
Power Axes, Combi-Bolters and a Thunder Hammer for the Hammerbearer Leader of the unit. They can also take a wide array of Heavy weapons. Medusan Immortals Squad: This is a special Breacher Squad that can take either Bolters or Chainswords. Ultramarines The Ultramarines are empire-builders and tacticians able to adapt to any situation.
They wage war with their intellect, analyzing, planning and strategizing before responding to the enemys maneuvers in the most efficient way possible. The ultimate manifestation of this came when they basically established a new Imperium, the Imperium Secundus, when they were cut off from Terra and thought the old Imperium was lost – but in
the end, they always remained loyal to the Emperor and his civilizing vision for the galaxy. Legion Rules and Wargear for Ultramarines The Strength of Wisdom: This improves your chance to hit with shooting attacks against enemy targets that another of your units have already shot at in the same phase, and which are within 6″ of the first of your
units that shot that target. Weapons and Wargear: The Legatine Axe: This lets Independent Characters swap a Power Axe for a Legatine Axe, which has AP2. Argyrum Pattern Boarding Shield: This can be taken by non-Unique Independent Characters and gives the wielder a 5+ Invulnerable Save against Shooting attacks and a 4+ one against attacks
in an assault. The Mantles of Ultramar: This lets a Praetor swap his Artificer Armour for a Mantle of Ultramar, which also gives him the Battle-Hardened (1) Special Rule that makes him resistant to Instant Death attacks and also immune to the Blind effect. Consul Upgrades: The Ultramarines don’t have any special Consul options. Warlord Traits: The
Burden of Kings: This Warlord Trait makes your Warlord more durable and Fearless after he suffers a wound, and it also gives you a free Reaction (not an extra Reaction) in any Phase each turn. It can only be taken by Loyalist Ultramarines armies. The Aegis of Wisdom: This unit lets Ultramarines units that can see your Warlord use his Leadership for
Regroup tests, and it also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Pride’s Dark Power: This lets your Warlord use his Leadership instead of his Toughness once per battle when an enemy tries to wound him, and it also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. It can only be taken by Traitor Ultramarines armies. Advanced Reaction:
Unity of Purpose: You can use this Reaction once per battle when an enemy shoots at one of your units. Then, your unit being shot at and one other Ultramarines unit can then both shoot back at the attacker. Units and Characters for Ultramarines Roboute Guilliman: This is the Primarch of the Ultramarines, and he is equipped with two melee
weapons, the Gladius Incandor sword and the Hand of Dominion Power Fist that does 2 wounds on each succesful wound roll, as well as the Arbitrator Bolter. He has the Armour of Renown, which can reroll his first failed Invulnerable Save in each Phase of the game, and he can reroll hit rolls of 1 in any rounds of a Challenge but the first (he uses the
first round to figure out the tricks and styles of his opponent, of course). At the beginning of each turn, he can give his entire army either the Fleet (2), Counter-Attack (1), Furious Charge (1) or Stubborn Special Rules, making the army instantly better at adapting to anything the opponent might try to pull off. He also has the special Warlord Trait Sire
of the Ultramarines, which gives your entire army a +1 to Leadership, and it also lets him select one Phase in which you get an extra Reaction for the rest of the battle. Invictarus Zuzerain Squad: This is a specialist retinue squad with Argyrum Pattern Boarding Shields and Legatine Axes. Praetorian Breacher Squad: This is a specialist Breacher Squad
with the Hammer of Wrath (1) rule. Remus Ventanus: Ventanus is an Independent Character with the Resolute Planning Warlord Trait, which makes your entire army pass Leadership tests or Morale checks for units within 3″ of an objective. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Salamanders The Salamanders are forgemasters
and flame-wielders who don’t see themselves as destroyers or crusaders as much as the protectors and liberators of ordinary humans across the Imperium. They’re independent and able to think on their feet, and often use flamers or other such weapons that can make a soldier punch above his weight. They’re extremely resitant to heat and
environmental factors, and look even more superhuman than most other Space Marines due to their coal-black skin and glowing eyes. Legion Rules and Wargear for Salamanders Blood of Fire: This makes all Salamanders more resistant to Flame, Melta, Plasma or Volkite weapons, and if the model has more than 1 wound, it also gains the It Will Not
Die (6+) Special Rule. Weapons and Wargear: Artifice and Flame: This can replace Heavy Bolters or Twin-Linked Heavy Bolters with Dragon’s Breath Heavy Flamers (see below). Dragon’s Breath Weapons: These can replace all kinds of flamers (even Flamestorm Cannons) and come in Pistol, Flamer, Heavy Flamer and Cannon versions, all of which
have the Dragon’s Breath Special Rule which lets them inflict D6 hits instead of D3 with the Wall of Death Special Rule that flamers have. Dragonscale Storm Shield: This can be taken by Independent Characters and Terminators and gives them a free Invulnerable Save of 5+ or an improvement to the one they already have. Mantle of the Elder Drake:
This gives one Praetor the Battle-Hardened (1) Special Rule. Consul Upgrades: Salamanders don’t have any special Consul options.
Psychic Discipline: Fury of the Salamander: This Salamanders-only Psychic Discipline with a power that can make all terrain in a large area Difficult or Dangerous (depending on what it was before the power was cast), as well as a big Template attack. Warlord Traits: The Weight of Duty: This Warlord Trait gives the Warlord and his unit a +1 to
Strength in combat with an enemy unit with the Fear Special Rule. The Warlord and his unit also gain a bonus to fighting Traitors. The Trait excludes your army from fielding Destroyer Assault and Mortalis Destroyer Squads, as well as Centurions who are Moritat Consuls. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. This Warlord Trait can
only be taken by Loyalist Salamanders armies. Promethean Will: This Warlord Trait excludes the same units as The Weight of Duty, but gives your Warlord and all units in his Detachment a +1 to Leadership for Pinning Tests and makes them resistant to the effect of Fear. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Redemption of
Flames: This gives the Warlord and his unit a bonus to Wound rolls and Armour Penetration rolls with Flame and Volkite ranged weapons. Is also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. It can only be taken by Traitor Salamanders armies. Advanced Reaction: This can be activated once per battle when an enemy unit Charges one of your
units. That friendly unit then gets a bonus to Weapon Skill, Strength and Attacks, but after the following combat, each model has to roll a dice and takes an unsaveable wound on a roll of 6. Units and Characters for Salamanders Vulkan: This is the Primarch of the Salamanders, and he is equipped with the Dawnbringer Hammer that kills anything it
wounds outright, which is insane combined with AP1, and the The Furnace’s Heart pistol. He has the special Sire of the Salamanders Warlord Trait, which grants Stubborn to all Salamanders Infantry units in your army, as well as giving you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Pyroclast Squad: This is a special Support Squad in Artificer Armour
with special Pyroclast Flame Projectors, which has two assault profiles, one for being Template weapon with Dragon’s Breath, and a short range attack with AP1 and Armourbane (Melta). Pyroclasts are also very resistant to Flame, Plasma, Melta and Volkite Weapons, even more than what the Salamanders rules otherwise give them. Firedrake
Terminator Squad: This is a special Cataphractii Terminator Squad with Power Weapons and Combi-Bolters. It specialises as a Retinue Squad and can reroll all hit rolls of 1 with its melee weapons.
Raven Guard The Raven Guard are king-killers who specialize in taking out tyrants through stealth and swift attacks. They’re like the special forces of the Emperor, often swooping in on the wings of their jump packs and infiltrating enemy strongholds by striking from the shadows. Legion Rules and Wargear for Raven Guard Shadow and Fury: This
Special Rule grants all Raven Guard a bonus based on their type: non-Heavy Infantry get the Talons Special Rule that makes them more resistant to long range attacks as well as giving them the Infiltrate Special Rule. Heavy Infantry, Dreadnoughts, Infantry with Jump Packs and Tartaros Terminators get the Falcons Special Rule which improves their
Wound rolls after Charging. Cavalry, Flyers and Fast unit types get the Hawks Special Rule, which makes them more resistant to ranged attacks when they Run or Move. Weapons and Wargear: Raven’s Talons: This is an upgrade for Lightning Claws that increases how many extra attacks you get when dual-wielding Lightning Claws. Infravisor: This
gives a Character +1 to his Ballistic Skill and the Night Vision Special Rule. However, it makes the wielder much more vulnerable to Blind tests. Cameleoline: This is an upgrade for Praetors or Centurions that either give them the Shrouded( 6+) Special Rule or improves the one they already have. Corvid Pattern Jump Pack: This is a special Jump Pack
that makes the pack work much like the Great Wings of Sanguinius (see above) so they become much faster, but become more vulnerable to the effects of terrain rules. It also lets the Deep Strike, among other bonuses. Consul Upgrades: The Raven Guard don’t have any special Consul options. Warlord Traits: The Bane of Tyrants: This improves the
Warlord’s Attacks and Strength during Challenges by 1, and by 2 if he’s fighting the enemy Warlord. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. It can only be taken by Loyalist Raven Guard armies. The Hidden Hand: This improves Reserve Rolls while your Warlord is in Reserves, and gives him and his unit the Fleet (2) Special Rule,
which improves Runs and Charges. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase.
No Gods or Masters: This Warlord Trait makes your Warlord increase his Weapon Skill, Strength and Initiative to match that of an enemy Infantry or Cavalry Model he is in base contact with if those characteristics are higher than his own, which is pretty crazy. It also lets you make one free Reaction (not an extra Reaction) once per battle. This
Warlord Trait can only be taken by Traitor Raven Guard armies. Advanced Reaction: Fade to Black: This can be used once per battle when an enemy shoots at one of your units. The unit being shot at can then move equal to its Initiative Characteristic and get the Shrouded (4+) Special Rule before that Shooting attack is carried out. Units and
Characters for Raven Guard Corvus Corax: This is the Primarch of the Raven Guard, and he is equipped with the Panoply of the Raven Lord, a set of weapons that let him change between different fighting styles. He also has Wrath & Justice, two Volkite Pistols, and he has wings like Sanguinius, but they don’t make him vulnerable to terrain. He has
the Sire of the Raven Guard Warlord Trait, which gives Scout, which lets units redeploy, and Crusader to all your Infantry and Cavalry units. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Mor Deythan Squad: This is a special Scout squad that can switch its shotguns for Nemesis Bolters, as well as a selection of special weapons. It can
give its shooting attacks Rending (4) once per battle. Dark Fury Squad: This is a special Assault Squad with Corvid Pattern Jump Packs and Raven’s Talons List of all Traitor Legions in Horus Heresy: Age of Darkness The Sons of Horus (formerly the Luna Wolves) The Word Bearers The World Eaters The Death Guard The Night Lords The Alpha Legion
The Iron Warriors The Emperor’s Children The Thousand Sons Emperor’s Children The Emperor’s Children were the pinnacle of Space Marine Legions before they turned to Heresy – they even carried the Emperor’s own standard into battle. They’re a perfectionist Legion fuelled by each warrior’s desire to excel in all the arts of warfare, and they’re
master duellists whose ornate blades have won many a Challenge. As they fell away from the Emperor’s side, excellence became excess, and the Emperor’s Children grew ever more decadent and depraved, until their lives were guided not by perfection but by striving for the very extremes of everything they desired. Legion Rules and Wargear for
Emperor’s Children Flawless Execution: This improves the Initiative of Emperor’s Children models when they Charge, giving them a chance to fight before the enemy in the ensuing combat. It also gives Emperor’s Children Vehicles a bonus to hit rolls with Defense weapons when making a Reaction in which they shoot. Weapons and Wargear: Surgical
Augments: These are three different upgrades non-Unique Emperor’s Children Characters can take.
Sonic Shriekers gives a penalty to hit rolls for enemy units being Charged by, or being locked in combat with the character in a phase where he was charged. Sub-Sonic Pulser makes a character and his unit ignore the penalties of Night Fighting to Leadership and Ballistic Skill. Sonic Lance is a Template weapon with Breaching (6+) and Pinning.
Phoenix Pattern Power Weapons: Non-Unique Emperor’s Children Characters can swap Power Weapons for either a Phoenix Rapier with Rending (6+) or a Phoenix Power Spear with Breaching (6+). Both weapons have Murderous Strike (6+). Consul Upgrade: Phoenix Warden: Tartaros Centurions can become Phoenix Wardens, which get a Phoenix
Pattern Power Weapon of choice (see above) and an Iron Halo, as well as two Special Rules: Skill Unmatched represent three different fighting styles you can choose from in a combat when it reaches Initiative Step 10. A Perfect Guard gives you +1 to Weapon Skill when defending, but reduces your Attacks by 1. A Perfect Strike gives you +1 to
Weapon Skill when attacking, but also reduces your Attacks by 1. A Perfect Fury increases your Attacks by 1 but decreases your Weapon Skill by 1.
Living Icons gives this model and all nearby Emperor’s Children models a bonus for determining who won a combat in the Assault Phase. Warlord Traits: The Broken Will: This Warlord Trait lets a unit close to the Warlord – or the Warlord and his unit – automatically pass a Morale Check by taking a wound instead.
It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. It can only be taken by Traitor Emperor’s Children armies.
Martyrs of Isstvan: The Warlord and his unit gets a +1 to hit rolls when they’re locked in combat with a Traitor Astartes unit. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. This Warlord Trait can only be taken by Loyalist Emperor’s Children armies. Paragon of Excellence: This gives the Warlord, his unit or a friendly unit close to them a +1
to their Weapon Skill for a turn when they pass a Morale Check. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Advanced Reaction: The Perfect Counter: This can be used once per battle when a Charge is declared against one of your units. When the Charging unit rolls its Charge roll, you can also make a Charge roll for the unit being
Charged. If your Charge roll is equal to or higher than the enemy’s Charge roll, your unit gets to make a Charge instead of the Charging opponent. If the roll is lower, your unit gets to make a shooting attack against the Charging opponent unit before that unit gets to move its Charge distance. Units and Characters for Emperor’s Children Fulgrim:
This is the Primarch of the Emperor’s Children, and he is equipped with either The Blade of the Laer or the Fireblade, two sword weapons with AP2, and he gains extra Attacks equal to how much better his Initiative is than his opponent’s when fighting in a Challenge (he has Initiative 8).
He also has the Firebrand Pistol, and once per battle, he can force an enemy unit to pass a Leadership Test before they can use a Reaction against him. He also has the special Warlord Trait Sire of the Emperor’s Children that make all Emperor’s Children models who can see him use his Leadership for Morale Checks and Pinning Tests and all your
units get a +1 to wounds caused in the Assault Phase for figuring out who won the combat. Finally, it also makes the first Reaction made by Fulgrim or his unit per turn free. Phoenix Terminator Squad: This is a special Tartaros Terminator Squad with Phoenix Power Spear and the Skill Unmatched and Living Icons Special Rules that the Phoenix
Warden Consul also has (see above).They can be the Retinue Squad of an Emperor’s Children character with the Master of the Legion Special Rule. Palatine Blade Squad: This is a special close combat squad in Artificer Armour with Charnabal weapons or the option to take Phoenix Pattern Power Weapons and Surgical Augments. Kakophoni Squad:
This is a special weapons squad with Sonic Shriekers and the The Cacophony Assault 3 weapons with Deflagrate (like Volkite weapons). Lord Commander Eidolon: This is a Unique Character with the Glory Aeterna Power Weapon (AP2 and doubles your Strength) the Death Scream, which is a Sonic Shrieker implanted into him so that he himself does
the shrieking. He has the special Warlord Trait Prideful Onslaught, which has him selec a Rival among the enemy HQs or their Primarch. He then gets +1 to hit rolls against his Rival. Captain Saul Tarvitz: This Loyalist-only Unique Character gets bonuses to Weapon Skill, Toughness and Strength when fighting enemy Emperor’s Children Independent
Characters. He also grants you a Victory Point if he kills an Emperor’s Children Independent Character in a Challenge, and 2 Victory Points if it’s Captain Lucius (see below). He has the special Defiant unto Death Warlord Trait. If Tarvitz’ army has gained fewer Victory Points than the enemy army in a turn where you count the points, or his army has
fewer units on the battlefield than the opponent(s) have, or Tarvitz is close to an objective or he is locked in combat with two or more units or a unit that outnumbers him and his unit, then Tarvitz and any nearby friendly units get the Fearless Special Rule. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Captain Lucius: This Unique
Character is equipped with the blade Nineteen, which gives him a bonus to his Weapon Skill when he fights in a Challenge, and if Lucius’ Initiative Characteristic is higher than that of an opponent in a Challenge, Lucius gets an extra Attack as well. He has the special The Blade Alone Warlord Trait that prevents any of your units to ever use Lucius’
Leadership Characteristic, but any units in the same combat as Lucius get the Fearless Special Rule. It also makes the first Reaction Lucius and his unit makes per turn free. Iron Warriors The Iron Warriors are siege specialists who have purged all creativity and humanity in favor of (what they perceive as) cold logic and unyielding force. They don’t
see themselves as individuals, but are all part of the great warmachine led by their ruthless Primarch.
They supplement their Space Marine forces with great numbers of artillery and even Automata.
Legion Rules and Wargear for Iron Warriors Wrack & Ruin: All Iron Warriors units get +1 to Strength when attacking Dreadnoughts, Automata, Vehicles or Buildings. Weapons and Wargear: Warsmith: One Praetor in your army can become a Warsmith, which gives him a Cortex Controller, a Servo-Arm, the Battlesmith (3+) (for great Vehicle repairs)
and the Master of Automata Special Rule (which lets him join Automata units). Graviton Crushers: These are powerful Graviton melee weapons that can replace Power Weapons on Characters (Graviton Mace), Thunder Hammers on Characters (Graviton Crusher) or the Gravis Power Fist on a Dreadnought (Gravition Maul). Olympian Shrapnel
Weapons: This is a replacement for bolt weapons that can be taken by either Independent Characters for free or at a points cost for other Iron Warriors units (Shrapnel Pistol and Shrapnel Bolter), by Vehicles (Shrapnel Cannon) or by Dreadnoughts (Gravis Shrapnel Cannon).
They all have the Pinning Special Rule, causing their targets to take Pinning Tests. Consul Upgrades: The Iron Warriors don’t have any special Consul options. Warlord Traits: Tyrant of the Apolokron: This gives the Warlord the Fearless Special Rule, but it also forces the Warlord and his unit to shoot and Charge the nearest enemy whenever they’re
able to. It also give you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Tyrant of the Dodekathon: This lets you choose a piece of terrain, a Building or a Fortification at the beginning of the game.
The chosen terrain loses its ability to grant Cover and becomes Difficult and Dangerous Terrain. A Building or Fortification chosen in this way becomes easier to damage. This Warlord Trait also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Tyrant of the Lyssatra: This gives the Warlord and his unit the option to roll an extra dice for a shooting
attack with Rapid Fire, Assault or Heavy Weapons without Blast or Template rules, but those weapons then get the Gets Hot Special Rule. The Warlord also forces the Warlord and his unit to make a Return Fire or Bitter Fury Reaction whenever they can – for free (Bitter Fury can still only be used once per game). Apart from that, the Warlord and his
unit can’t make other reactions than the Interceptor Advanced Reaction. Advanced Reaction: Bitter Fury: This can be used once per battle when an enemy unit targets a friendly Iron Warriors unit with a shooting attack. Just before that shooting attack allocates wounds, the targeted friendly unit can retaliate with a shooting attack of their own against
the attacker – and their weapons do twice as many attacks as they normally do, but gain the Gets Hot Special Rule so they risk doing damage to their wielders. Units and Characters for Iron Warriors Perturabo: This is the Primarch of the Iron Warriors. He is equipped with The Logos Array, a weapon system with a special heavy bolt weapon and an
AP2 melee profile, but for 35 points, he can also be equipped with Forgebreaker Desecrated, which is the Iron Hands Primarch Ferrus Manus’ weapon Perturabo has taken from him when he killed him. Perturabo is also an excellent Battlesmith and can join Automata units, and he has the special Sire of the Iron Warriors Warlord Trait, which gives all
Infantry in his army a bonus to Morale Checks and Pinning tests caused by shooting attacks, as well as giving your army an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Iron Circle Maniple: This is an Automata unit with Shrapnel Cannon, Graviton Mauls (see both above) and Karceri Battle Shields that gives them a bonus against Instant Death weapons and
Charges made against them. They’re designed as a special Retinue squad for Perturabo.
Tyrant Siege Terminator Squad: This is a special Cataphractii Terminator Squad. Like Perturabo, they ignore the effects of Night Fighting, and they’re equipped with Combi-Bolters, Power Fists and Tyrant Rocket Launchers which are long range launchers with a Frag, Krak and Flak profile to choose from when shooting. Night Lords The Night Lords
are masters of shock tactics, terror, brutality and night-fighting, utterly dedicated to making the enemy flee in horror. They’re fierce predators who become more effective when chasing down fleeing or broken enemies, with no regard for honour or glory, only the rapture of uncontrolled murder. Legion Rules and Wargear for Night Lords A Talent For
Murder: This gives Night Lords units a bonus to shooting against Pinned or Falling Back units, or to fighting in combat against outnumbered units. Weapons and Wargear: Nostraman Chain Weapons: These are replacements for Power weapons for Characters. There are three versions: The single-handed Chainblade and the two Two-Handed weapons
Chainglaive and Headsman’s Axe. They all have the Shred Special Rule which lets them reroll failed wound rolls in combat, and the Breaching (6+) Special Rule which gives wound rolls AP2 if you roll a 6 or higher (with modifiers). Escaton Power Claw: This can replace Power Fists for Independent Night Lords Characters, and it has the Shred and
Murderous Strike (6+) Special Rules.
Lords of Murder: Non-Unique Independent Night Lords Characters can take the Bloody Murder Special Rule that improves the Charge Roll and the attacks of the subsequent attack when that character Charges a unit that i Falling Back or Pinned. Prey Sight: This is an upgrade that gives Night Vision to a Night Lords unit. Trophies of Judgement: This
is an upgrade that gives Fear (1) to a Night Lords Character. Consul Upgrades: The Night Lords don’t have any special Consul options. Warlord Traits: Warmonger: This gives the Warlord and his unit a bonus to hit against Independent Loyalist Characters.
The Warlord and his unit also gets the Fearless Special Rule if you include a Sons of Horus Detachment in your army, and it gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. This Warlord Trait can only be taken by Traitor Night Lords armies. Jadhek Clanlord: This Warlord Trait gives the Warlord and his unit the Counter-Attack (1) Special Rule, lets
them ignore any negative effects of terrain, and gives your army an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Flaymaster: This gives the Warlord the Fear (1) Special Rule, which gets better the first 3 times the Warlord is part of a combat or Challenge where all enemy units are destroyed. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase.
Advanced Reaction: The Better Part of Valour: This can be used once per battle when an enemy Charges one of your units. The Charged unit immediately Falls Back and Regroups and can then still Move, Charge or shoot as if it hadn’t fallen back. Units and Characters for Night Lords Konrad Curze: This is the Primarch of the Night Lords. His armour
makes him immune to negative modifiers to his Movement and greatly improves his running speed, and his melee weapons Mercy and Forgiveness are special Nostraman Chain Weapons. He is also equipped with a Rending (4+) short range weapon, and he has the Glimpse of Death Psychic Power that can give him the Feel No Pain (4+) Special Rule
and +1 Attacks in one Assault Phase.
If Curze and his unit wipes out all enemy models they’re in combat with, all enemy units that can see them have to take a Pinning Test – ie. he’s really, really scary. He also has the special Sire of the Night Lords Warlord Trait gives Bloody Murder (see above) and Night Vision to all Infantry, Dreadnoughts and Cavalry in his army and render them
immune to Fear.
It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Terror Squad: This is a special close combat unit in Power Amour with Bloody Murder, Infiltrate and Preferred Enemy (Infiltrate), but they can also change into a kind of Support Squad with Bolters/Volkite Chargers/Rotor Cannons/Flamers for a few points each. Night Raptor Squad: This is a
special Assault Squad with jump packs, where one in 5 models can take special ranged weapons. They also have Bloody Murder and Fear (1). Contekar Terminator Squad: This is a special Tartaros Terminator Squad. It’s designed as a Retinue Squad for Sevatar (see below), and can choose between Heavy Flamers or the Heavy 4 Volkite Cavitor.
Sevatar: This Independent Character has the Shadows of Past and Future Psychic Power which can give him a bonus to Weapon Skill and Attacks in the Assualt Phase, the AP2 Master-Crafted melee weapon Night’s Whisper, and he gets the Instant Death Special rule on all his attacks in a Challenge against an opponent with Weapon Skill 5 or higher.
He also has the special Master of the Atramentar Warlord Trait, that gives Deep Strike to all Tartaros and Cataphractii Terminators in his Detachment, and when those Terminators Deep Strike, they get Preferred Enemy (Everything).
It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase.
World Eaters The World Eaters are ravening madmen and remorseless butchers who train by fighting each other to the death in gladiatorial arenas.
They favor melee combat above all, and in battle, they never back down from a fight. Even their leaders, such as their Primarch Angron or Khârn the Bloody, are mostly all about charging into the fray, knee-deep in gore, chainaxes whirring. Legion Rules and Wargear for World Eaters Violence Incarnate: This gives a Charging World Eaters unit a +1
to attacks on top of any other bonuses. Weapons and Wargear: World Eaters Berserkers: This is an upgrade for non-Psyker World Eaters Characters which gives them a +1 to their Attacks Characteristic and the Ravening Madmen Special Rule that give models attacking this unit in combat a -1 to Strength, and units attacking this unit in combat are
also always treated as Weapon Strength 3. Savage Fervour: This lets any World Eaters model swap a Chainsword for a Chainaxe. Caedere Weapons: This is a special selection of melee weapons with a wide array of different Special Rules, and you can choose between a Meteor Hammer, Excoriator Chainaxe, Falax Blade or Barb-Hook Lash. Consul
Upgrades: The World Eaters have no special Consul options. Warlord Traits: Blood Hunger: This Warlord Trait gives the Warlord an extra Wound every time he slays a model (up to a Wounds Characteristic of 6), and it makes the Warlord and his unit Charge enemy units whenever they’re able. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement
Phase. It can only be taken by Traitor World Eaters armies. Cloaked in Blood: This gives all non-World Eaters units a -2 to Leadership when they’re in combat with your Warlord and his unit. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase.
The Butcher’s Claws: This Warlord Trait adds a +1 Strength bonus to the Violence Incarnate rule (see above) for the Warlord and his unit. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase.
Advanced Reaction: The Savage Tide: This can be used once per battle when an enemy shoots at a World Eaters Infantry unit. The Infantry Unit then gets the Feel No Pain (5+) Special Rule for that attack, and once the shooting is done, the unit can Charge their attacker. Units and Characters for World Eaters Angron: This is the Primarch of the
World Eaters, armed with two special Chainaxes and an AP2 pistol. He can make as many Challenges per turn as there are eligible enemies close to him, but must divide his Attacks between all the models he Challenges in a Phase. That isn’t too bad though, as he gains a +1 to his Attacks for every turn he is part of (to a maximum of 10), and an
enemy trying to hit him in combat always has Weapon Skill 3 for that attack. He also has the special Sire of the World Eaters Warlord Trait which gives him and his unit the Feel No Pain (6+) and Adamantium Will (3+). It also lets you do 3 (!) Reactions in the Movement Phase, but they all have to be Advance Reactions. Red Butchers: This is a special
close combat Cataphractii Terminator Squad.
Each model has two Power Axes or two Lightning Claws. They have Hatred (Everything) and Ravening Madmen. Rampager Squad: This is a special close combat squad with the Chosen Warriors rule (so they can issue Challenges). They carry Caedere Weapons (see above) and Power Armour. Khârn the Bloody: This is an Independent World Eaters
Character. He is armed with The Cutter, a devastating Chainaxe, and he can also be armed with Angron’s Gorechild if Angron isn’t in the army. He has the special Savage Assault Warlord Trait which prevents enemies from declaring Reactions against a Charge from Khârn unless the target of the Charge is a Primarch. It also gives you an extra
Advance Reaction in the Movement Phase. Death Guard The Death-Guard are known for their ability to keep advancing in the most terrible of fighting conditions, stoically marching on under fire and against any odds. They became famous as exterminators of alien Xenos overlords across the galaxy, but slowly became more and more inhuman
themselves as they started ritualistically experimenting with toxins and using terrible biochemical weapons of destruction. They are also known for their hatred of Psykers and their mastery of applying mobile tactics for units with heavy weapons. Legion Rules and Wargear for Death Guard Remorseless: This makes any non-Cavalry, non-Artillery
Death Guard units ignore any negative modifiers or restrictions in the Movement Phase, such as terrain or pinning, as long as they don’t run, use Jump Packs or anything like that. As long as they don’t do any of those things, they also count as Stationary when they shoot. This means that Heavy weapons and other weapons with movement restrictions
can fire at their full capacity rather than Snap Shot after having moved. It also means that Tactical Squad marines always get the extra Attack from Fury of the Legion to their Bolters, which instantly grants you a lot of firepower in any situation. Weapons and Wargear: Alchem Munitions: This list of weapons can replace various Flamer weapons at no
points cost for Death Guard units, so that they get the Fleshbane Special Rule, meaning they always wound on a 2+, but also the Gets Hot Special Rule, which deals a wound to the wielder of the weapon on a roll of 1 with the AP value of the weapon being fired. The following weapons are available: Alchem Pistol (replaces Hand Flamer), Alchem
Flamer (replaces Flamer), Alchem Combi-Flamer (Secondary) (replaces the Flamer part of a Combi-Flamer), Heavy Alchem Flamer (replaces Heavy Flamer), and Alchem Cannon (replaces Flamestorm Cannon). Toxin Bombs: This is an upgrade for Characters that can deal wounds to a unit Charging the bearer, which can only be prevented by
Invulnerable Saves.
The wounds are dealt by rolling a dice for each model in the Charging unit, and each roll of 1 deals 1 wound. Power Scythes: This is a replacement for Power weapons for Death Guard Characters. It’s a Two-Handed weapon with Rending (6+) and Reaping Blow (1). Consul Upgrades: The Death Guard don’t have any special Consul options. Warlord
Traits: The Reaper’s Visage: This Warlord Trait reduces the Leadership of enemies within 12″ of this Warlord when they make Leadership-based tests, unless they’re Indepent Characters or Primarchs. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. This can only be taken by a Traitor Death Guard army. Witch Hunter: This gives your Warlord
a bonus to Toughness and Weapon Skill when fighting Psykers, and it gives Death Guard units close to the Warlord a 6+ Invulnerable Save against Psychic Weapons, Psychic Powers or Perils of the Warp. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assailt Phase. The Blood of Barbarus: This worsens attacks with the Rending, Poisoned, Murderous Strike
or Fleshbane Special Rules when used against the Warlord and his unit. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Advanced Reaction: Remorseless Advance: This can be used once per battle when an enemy unit shoots at a friendly Death Guard unit. That unit then gets the Feel No Pain (4+) Special Rule, auto-pass Morale Checks or
Pinning Tests (all active for just that shooting attack), and after the shooting attack is over, the friendly unit can move up to 7″ towards the attacker.
Units and Characters for Death Guard Mortarion: This is the Primarch for the Death Guard. He can redeploy 10″ in the Shooting Phase (!) , he is highly resistant to Poisoned, Rending, and Fleshbane (as per the Blood of Barbarus rules seen above) and he is armed with the Instant Death-dealing Power Scythe Silence and a Plasma weapon called The
Lantern. He has Hatred (Psykers) and the special Warlord Trait Sire of the Death Guard, which makes your entire Death Guard army ignore penalties to Leadership from Fear and Shell Shock and from casualties in combat. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Deathshroud Terminator Squad: This is a small special Tartaros
Terminator Squad specialised in being a Retinue Squad. The Deathshroud are armed with Power Scythes and Alchem Pistols. Grave Warden Terminator Squad: This is a special Cataphractii Terminator Squad with Assault Grenade Launchers that can fire both Krak and Toxin Grenades, a Death Cloud Projector that shoots Poisoned attacks in a
Template area, and Power Fists. Enemies Charging Grave Wardens always end up with a Disordered Charge. Calas Typhon: This is an Independent Character with an Alchem Pistol, Death Cloud Projector, Rad Grenades and the Power Scythe Lakrimae. He is a Psyker with the Witchsense Psychic Power that can buff his Weapon Skill and Attacks, and
the Toxin Cloud 5″ Blast Psychic Weapon. He also has the special Comes the Reaper Warlord Trait which improves Poisoned ranged weapons of Death Guard models close to Typhon and lets them reroll failed Wound rolls for Fleshbane weapons. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Thousand Sons The Thousand Sons is the
Legion most attuned to the powers of the warp, which especially manifests itself in the fact that almost everyone in the Legion are Psykers, even regular Infantry. Noone can match their Psychic Powers, but they also drank to deep of the chalice of the Warp, causing mutation as well as the distrust of their fellows. In battle, they combine Psychic
powers with a lot of arcane weaponry replacing both bolters and blades, and they even field Warp-attuned Automata and Psyker Dreadnoughts. Legion Rules and Wargear for Thousand Sons Cult Arcana: Any Thousand Sons non-Artillery Cavalry or Infantry Unit becomes a Psyker (but doesn’t get any new Disciplines from that). Any Characters get a
Minor Arcana option (see below) and Independent Characters can pay 15 points to gain a Psychic Discipline. The Prosperine Arcana: These are the Minor Arcana that Characters can choose: Raptora: This lets a Psyker in a unit make a Psychic Check before it moves or runs and ends within 12″ of an enemy unit. If succesful, the moving unit gains a 6+
Invulnerable Save (or improves the one it already has) – if unsuccesful, the Psyker suffers Perils of the Warp. Pyrae: This is a similar check to the one made for Raptora, but it is made when a unit Charges. If succesful, it gives the Charging unit Hammer of Wrath (2) and its attacks become Flame attacks for that Assault. If unsuccesful, the Psyker
suffers Perils of the Warp. Pavoni: Similarly to above, this is Psychic check you make, but this time, it’s when you move or run. If succesful, it adds 3″ to the distance you move and you ignore any effects of Difficult Terrain. If unsuccesful, the Psyker suffers Perils of the Warp. Corvidae: Like above, this lets you make a Psychic check, but it happens
when a unit with a Psyker with this Minor Arcana makes a shooting attack. If succesful, the first wound you cause with this shooting attack is allocated by you instead of the opponent, letting you damage a specific model in a unit. If unsuccesful, the Psyker suffers Perils of the Warp. Athanaen: This is also a Psychic check made when shooting, but if it
is succesful, it worsens the Leadership of the target unit when it makes Pinning tests or Morale Checks. If unsuccesful, the Psyker suffers Perils of the Warp. Weapons and Wargear: Æther-Fire Cannon: This is a set of special weapons that replace Plasma weapons for free. Æther-Fire Pistol replaces Plasma Pistol, Æther-Fire Blaster replaces Plasma
Gun or Plasma Blaster, Æther-Fire Cannon replaces Plasma Cannon, and Æther-Fire Magna-Cannon replaces Gravis Plasma Cannon. They all have the Achaean Force Special Rule, which gives you a +2 to to Strength for attacks on a succesful Psychic Check. Asphyx Shells: This is a set of replacements for Bolt weapons: Asphyx Bolt Pistol replaces
Bolt Pistol, Asphyx Bolter replaces Bolter and Asphyx Bolt Cannon (presumably) replaces Heavy Bolter. They all have the Shred Special Rule. Achea Pattern Force Weapons: Characters can replace Force Weapons with these weapons, which all have the Achean Force Special Rule (see above). The options include: Achea Force Sword, Achea Force Axe
and Achea Force Maul.
Consul Upgrades: The Thousand Sons have no special Consul options.
Warlord Traits: Evoker of Pain: This Warlord Trait makes your Warlord and his unit immune to taking damage from Perils of the Warp. Instead, you get to do the damage to an enemy locked in combat with, or close to, the Warlord. If no enemies are nearby, you suffer the damage like you normally would. It also lets you make an extra Reaction in the
Assault Phase. This Warlord Trait can only be taken by Traitor Thousand Sons Armies. Magister of Prospero: This gives you an extra dice when making Psychic Checks (discard the highest of the dice rolls) and gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Eidolon of Suffering: The Warlord with this trait can’t use Psychic Powers or Psychic
Weapons, but anyone making a Psychic Check close to the Warlord has to roll a dice, and on a 2 or higher, your Warlord gets Rage (2) for the rest of the game. Every time it happens, Rage gets a +1 to a max of Rage (4). It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Advanced Reaction: Fortress of the Mind: This can be used once per
battle when an enemy unit tries to shoot one of your Thousand Sons Psyker units (which, per the Cult Arcana rule above, is mostly everybody who’s not a Vehicle). It lets you make a Psychic Check – if you succeed, the targeted unit gets a 3+ Invulnerable Save against that shooting attack.
If it fails, you get a 5+ one instead, and both your unit and the attacking unit suffer Perils of the Warp. Units and Characters for Thousand Sons Magnus the Red: This is the Primarch of the Thousand Sons. He has access to all the Core Psychic Disciplines, as well as all the Minor Arcana (see above), whose Psychic Checks he automatically passes. He
is equipped with Ahn-Nunurta, a Force/Power melee weapon, and Psyfire Serpenta, a Plasma/Force ranged weapon. He also has the special Sire of the Thousand Sons Warlord Trait, which gives Adamantium Will (6+) to all Psyker Infantry Thousand Sons units in your army (mostly everyone on foot), and makes them more resistant to Perils of the
Warp. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Sekhmet Terminator Cabal: This is a special Cataphractii Terminator Squad with Achea Pattern Force Weapons and Combi-Bolters. Contemptor-Orison Dreadnought Talon: This is a special Contemptor Dreadnought that can be upgraded to be a Psyker in addition to a ton of other
upgrades. Castellax-Achea Automata: This is a special Automata of the Psy-Automata unit type. This unit type has to shoot or Charge any enemy within range if they’re not close to a Thousand Sons Independent Character. They count as Stationary even when firing weapons that would normally get penalties when you moved before firing them (see the
Death Guard rules above), and Thousand Sons Psykers can even use Castellax Achea Automata as the origin of their own shooting attacks when close to them. Khenetai Occult Cabal: This is a special close combat unit with dual Achea Force Swords, the Chosen Warriors Special Rule so they can issue Challenges, and the Mindsong of Blades Psychic
Power which can improve their Movement, Weapon Skill and Attacks. Ahzek Ahriman: This is an Independent Thousand Sons Character with the Corvidae Minor Arcana,, acces to the Thaumaturgy and Divination Psychic Disciplines, and equipped with the AP2 Force weapon The Corvidaean Sceptre. He also has the special The Pattern of Fates
Warlord Trait that lets him redeploy three friendly units before the game begins, and it gives you an extra Reaction in one Phase of your choosing each turn. Magistus Amon: This is also an Independent Thousand Sons Character. He has two Poisoned (4+) weapon profiles, both from the weapon The Reliquary of Dust, and he has the Telepathy and
Divination Psychic Disciplines. He also has the Lord of Hidden Paths Warlord Trait which gives Shrouded (5+) to all units with Infiltrate or Scout in your army for the first two turns of the game, as well as an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Sons of Horus The Sons of Horus, formerly the Luna Wolves, were the honoured Legion from which the
Emperor of Mankind chose his Warmaster, Abaddon, to rule the Great Crusade in his stead. Proud, relentless fighters held together by an unbreakable bond of brotherhood and the veneration of their Warmaster, the Sons of Horus tragically became the centre of the Heresy rebellion against the Emperor, as the Warmaster Horus openly declared war
against his Father. After the death of Horus at the end of the Heresy, the Sons of Horus became the Black Legion that haunts the Imperium under the leadership of Abaddon the Despoiler even 10,000 years later. Legion Rules and Wargear for The Sons of Horus Merciless Fighters: When a Sons of Horus unit Charges or someone else Charges them,
the opponent in that Charge gets a Strength penalty if they’re not Vehicles. Sons of Horus Vehicles inflict more damage on non-Vehicle units when they Ram them. Weapons and Wargear: Carsoran Power Axe: This is a replacement for Power weapons that any Sons of Horus units can take. It adds Breaching (5+) and Specialist Weapon to its rules.
Banestrike Bolters: Independent Characters and Legion Seeker Squads can take this replacement for Bolt weapons, which gets the Breaching (6+) Special Rule. It comes in both a Banestrike Bolter and a Banestrike Combi-Bolter version.
Consul Upgrades: Dark Emissary: Centurions can take the Dark Emmisary upgrade, which gives Stubborn to everyone in an Allied Detachment where he is the Compulsory HQ, and he also gets a Staff of Dark Authority, which is an AP3 melee weapon and lets anyone near him increase their Leadership to 10 when taking Pinning tests or Morale
Checks. Warlord Traits: Chosen by Dark Gods: This Warlord Trait lets you roll a dice at the start of each of your turns. If you roll a 2-5, your Warlord gets a bonus to Strength and Toughness, and if you roll a 6, he also regains a wound. On a roll of 1, however, the Warlord suffers a wound instead. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement
Phase. This Warlord Trait can only be taken by Traitor Sons of Horus armies. Wolf of Luna: This Warlord Trait gives the Warlord and his unit a +1 to Attacks when they Charge or are Charged by an enemy Traitor Space Marine army.
It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. This Warlord Trait can only be taken by Loyalist Sons of Horus armies.
The Armour of Pride: This lets your Warlord take a Leadership test the first time he goes down to zero wounds. if he passes, he survives and heals D3 wounds. If he passes, he is removed as a casualty. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Advanced Reaction: Death Dealers: You can use this once per battle when an enemy unit
tries to shoot one of your Sons of Horus units.
Your unit that was targeted by the shooting attack can then make a shooting attack directed at the attacker with a +1 to Ballistic Skill. Units and Characters for The Sons of Horus Horus Lupercal: This is the Primarch of the Sons of Horus. Once per battle, he can give you a extra Reaction in each Phase of that turn. He can never be hit by a melee
weapon on a score of more than 4+ and he can split his Attacks between his melee weapons. He is equipped with Worldbreaker, a massive maul, and The Talon, a mighty Lightning Claw with a special Bolter attached. He also has the Sire of the Sons of Horus Warlord Trait, which give all friendly Infantry units a +1 to Leadership and the Stubborn
Special Rule. He can be upgraded to Horus Ascended for 400 points, and then things go completely off the rails. He then gains Feel No Pain (4+), Rage (3), A Dark Fate (which lets you place him in Reserves and return him to the game the first time he loses his last wound), The Power of Chaos Eternal (which gives him Strength and Toughness 10 for
once combat in the game, and then makes him suffer Perils of the Warp), and The Spreading Corruption Special Rule, which makes all Infantry, Cavalry and Dreadnought in his Detachment Corrupted (See the Word Bearers entry below). Justaerin Terminator Squad: This is a special Cataphractii Terminator Squad with Banestrike Combi-Bolters,
Carsoran Power Axes, and the Chosen Warriors Special Rule. They’re designed to be a Retinue Squad for Sons of Horus Characters. Reaver Attack Squad: This is a special close combat squad in Power Armour with the Chosen Warriors Special Rule, Bolt Pistols and Chainaxes. Maloghurst the Twisted: This is an Independent Sons of Horus Character
with a Legion Standard, who can’t run (it’s a long story) and he has the special Bearer of the Eye Warlord Trait, which gives his unit the Line sub-type. The Warlord Trait makes it impossible for enemy Denial units to cancel or contest an Objective Maloghurst and his unit controls. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Ezekyle
Abaddon: This is an Independent Sons of Horus Character (yes, he’s the big bad Abaddon of Warhammer 40,000!) with a Cthonian Power Claw with AP2, and he also has the The Vengeful Spirit Warlord Trait, which gives him and his unit Feel No Pain (4+) in the Movement and Shooting Phases in a turn where they Deep Strike.
It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Garviel Loken: This is an Independent Loyalist Sons of Horus Character. He has a Paragon Blade, the Born Survivor Special Rule, which makes him survive the first time he is reduced to zero wounds by making a Leadership test. He also has to take the Wolf of Luna Warlord Trait (see above).
Word Bearers The Word Bearers Legion was the origin of the seeds of Chaos corruption that led to the fall of Horus and the ensuing Heresy. They schemed behind the scenes for years after having made pacts with the Ruinous Powers, and in many ways, they were more like a cult or a monastic order than a military legion, and they field Chaos-
mutated units and Daemons in their ranks. Legion Rules and Wargear for Word Bearers True Believers: Word Bearers units can never have a Leadership Characteristic lowered to less than 6, and if they’re in a combat that ends up as a draw, they win it instead. Weapons and Wargear: Burning Lore: This is an upgrade for Word Bearers Praetors,
which makes them Corrupted, which makes them very vulnerable to Force weapons, but instead, it gives them Fear (1) and make them very resistant to Leadership-based tests. Rather than Fall Back, they take damage instead. The Burning Lore upgrade also gives the Praetor the Psyker sub-type and access to the Diabolism Psychic Discipline. Dark
Channeling: Word Bearers Infantry or Dreadnoughts can also get the Corrupted subtype as an upgrade. Tainted Weapons: Word Bearers Characters can swap Power weapons for these weapons with Murderous Strike (6+).
They come in many varieties: Tainted Blade, Tainted Axe, Tainted Maul, Tainted Claw, Tainted Talons.
Warpfire Weapons: All Word Bearers units with Plasma weapons can swap them for Warpfire Weapons: Plasma Pistols for Warpfire Pistols, Plasma Guns or Plasma Blasters for Warpfire Blasters, Plasma Cannons or Grasvis Plasma Cannons for Warpfire Cannons. They’re a lot like regular Plasma weapons with the notable exception that they don’t pose
any danger to their wielders since they don’t have the Gets Hot Special Rule. Boltspitters: These are replacements for Bolt weapons: There’s a Boltspitter and a Greater Boltspitter, with AP 5 and AP4, respectively. Consul Upgrades: Diabolist: This is a Consul Upgrade for Word Bearers Centurions, which gives them the Corrupted and Psyker subtypes
and the Diabolism Psychic Discipline, as well as a Force weapon as an option. Diabolism gives them the A Dark and Terrible Power Psychic Power, which is a Psychic Check before a Charge, and if succesful, it gives the Charging Unit Hammer of Wrath (3), and a bonus to Strength and Toughness for that Assault Phase. If unsuccesful, the same things
happen, but the Psyker also suffers Perils of the Warp. It also gives him the Hellfire Psychic Weapon, which is an AP4 Template weapon with Deflagrate. Warlord Traits: Enslaved by Darkness: This Warlord Trait makes your Warlord’s Strength and Toughness improve for every turn of the game that passes. When the Warlord is attacked by weapons
that have bonuses against Daemons, he is treated as one. The Warlord Trait also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase, and it can only be taken by Traitor Word Bearer armies. Unswerving Devotion: Word Bearer units close to this Warlord auto-pass the first failed Pinning Test or Morale Check they take in a turn.
It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Iconoclast: This makes the Warlord and his unit get an extra Attack when in combat with an enemy Independent Character or with a unit with a Legion Vexilla or Legion Standard. They also get a bonus to Strength when attacking Buildings, Fortifications or Terrain, and you get an extra
Reaction in the Assault Phase. Advanced Reaction: Glorious Martyrdom: This can be used once per battle when an enemy unit shoots at one of your Word Bearers units. Instead of them making any attack rolls at all, you just select one model from your unit that’s under fire, and then that model dies instead of anyone else in his unit taking damage. It
doesn’t work on Ordnance, Destroyer, Blast or Template attacks, though.
Units and Characters for Word Bearers Lorgar: This is the Primarch of the Word Bearers. He is a Psyker with the Thaumaturgy and Divination Psychic Disciplines, and he is equipped with the Devotion Gravition Pistol and the Illuminarum Power Weapon. He can grant Fearless and Fear No Pain (4+) to a number of different units he can join, and once
per game, he can also give that to a friendly Infantry or Cavalry unit within 18″. He has the Sire of the Word Bearers Warlord Trait which improves the Charge Distance rolls of all Word Bearer units that can see him, and they may also use his Leadership (10) for Leadership-related tests. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Finally,
Lorgar can be upgraded to Lorgar Transfigured for 25 points, which gives him the Corrupted subtype and replaces his Psychic Disciplines with Anathemata and Diabolism. It also lets you fill in non-Compulsory slots in your army with Ruinstorm Daemons! Gal Vorbak Squad: This is a mutated infantry squad with Boltspitters, Tainted Talons, the Chosen
Warriors Special Rule and the Corrupted Subtype. Ashen Circle Squad: This is a Jump Pack squad with Akkadic Hand Flamers (a Pinning Hand Flamer) or Inferno Pistols (AP1 Melta Pistols!) and Axe-Rakes, AP3 melee weapons. It also gains extra Flame hits from the Hammer of Wrath Special Rule whenever it can apply it. Mhara Gal Dreadnought:
This is a special Dreadnought with a Warpfire Cannon and a Tainted Claw with a Built-In Boltspitter. It has Shroud of Dark Fire which makes it resistant to Plasma/Flame/Melta/Volkite attacks, a 5+ Invulnerable Save and resistance to Instant Death weapons, among other effects. It also has a 6″ aura within which Daemons, Psykers and Corrupted
reduce their Strength and Toughness. Zardu Layak: This is an Independent Word Bearers Character with a retinue of 2 Blade Slaves. He is armed with Azurda Char’is, a Force Weapon, and his Blade Slaves have Anakatis Blades, which are AP3 and have Murderous Strike and Brutal.
He has the Soul Binding Psychic Discipline, which gives him the Soul Binding Psychic Power (which can cancel enemy Reactions) and the Telepathic Chains Psychic Weapon. He also has the special The Eater of Wisdom Warlord Trait, which lets you choose 3 friendly Corrupted units from your army to get a bonus to Strength and Movement in return
for taking Leadership tests at the end of each turn. If that test is failed, they suffer Perils of the Warp.
It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Argel Tal: This a Corrupted Independent Word Bearers Character with AP3 Daemonic Talons melee weapons, who can fly in much the same way as Sanguinius (see the Blood Angels entry), and he has the The Crimson Lord Warlord Trait which gives him and a Gal Vorbak unit he joins a 5+
Invulnerable Save and the Line subtype. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. High Chaplain Erebus: This is also a Corrupted Independent Word Bearers Character. He has the Crux Malifica melee weapon, a Plasma Pistol and the Harbinger of Chaos Psychic Discipline, which gives him the Esoterist Consul Psychic Powers. He can
also add Ruinstorm Daemons to your army, and he has the Shadow Behind the Throne Warlord Trait, which makes it impossible to do damage to him as long as there is at least one more model in the unit he’s joined. It also gives you an extra Reaction in one of the three Phases of a turn of your choice, chosen before a game begins. Kor Phaeron: This
is, once again, a Corrupted Independent Word Bearers Character. He gets a penalty to Leadership and gains Hatred (Everything) if he or Lorgar aren’t the Warlord of the army he’s in, and a bonus to Weapon Skill and the same Hatred Special Rule if he and Lorgar are part of the same unit. He has a Digi-Flamer and the AP2 Patriarch’s Claws melee
weapon. His Warlord Trait, Dark Oratory, lets you choose from the following two every turn: Cruel Invective, which makes all enemy units close to Kor Phaeron take a Pinning Test, and Threatening Entreaties, which gives Phaeron and his unit Fearless but gives the unit a penalty to Weapon Skill and Ballistic Skill. The Warlord Trait also gives you an
extra Reaction in the Assault Phase. Alpha Legion The Alpha Legion are masters of deception, which is most evident in the fact that that’s about all we know for sure about them.
There are endless rumours and superstitions about them, who their Primarch really is, and whose side they’re actually on: While they’ve sworn allegiance to Horus, regiments of the Alpha Legion often show up fighting for Loyalist armies in what seems to be a grand scheme to play both sides for some larger, unknown purpose.
In battle, they’re experts at guerilla warfare and stealth, and through deception and misdirection, they’re often able to field units from other Legions in their armies. Legion Rules and Wargear for Alpha Legion Lies and Obfuscation: Alpha Legion units are always treated as being 2″ further away than where they really are when measuring distances
for enemy shooting attacks, Charges or Reactions. The Rewards of Treachery: You can select one unit from a different Space Marine Legion in each of your Alpha Legion detachments. Weapons and Wargear: Power Daggers: This is a Power weapon with Sudden Strike (1) (a bonus to Initiative in the Assault Phase so you can strike before your
opponent) and Breaching (5+) that all Alpha Legion Characters can take for 5 points. Banestrike Bolters: This is an upgrade to Bolters for Independent Characters and Seeker Squads. It comes in a standard version and a Combi-Bolter version, both of which have Breaching (6+). Venom Spheres: This is a one shot weapon Alpha Legion Characters can
take with Assault 6 and Poison (3+). Consul Upgrades: Saboteur: Alpha Legion Centurions can be upgraded to Saboteurs, which gives them Scout, Infiltrate and the really thematic False Colours Special Rule, which prevents the Saboteur from being targeted by shooting attacks as long as he hasn’t made any shooting attacks himself in the ongoing
game – because he is in disguise, of course. It also gives him Melta Bombs, Breach Charges and Shroud Bombs for free. Warlord Traits: The Mobius Configuration: A Warlord with this trait counts any allied Space Marine Detachment as if it had the Fellow Warriors level of Alliance, no matter what Legion it is from.
Killed units from that Detachment doesn’t grant the opponent Victory Points – instead, you gain 1 Victory Point if everyone in that Detachment has been killed by the end of the game. Units in that Detachment can’t make any Reactions, but the first unit from your main Detachment that makes a Reaction in a turn does it for free. This Warlord Trait can
only be taken by Loyalist Alpha Legion armies. Master of Lies: This Warlord Trait allows you to redeploy three friendly units at the start of the game.
It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Hydran Excursor: This lets you choose another Space Marine Legion against whose units the Warlord get a bonus to hit rolls. It also gives you an extra Reaction in the Shooting Phase. Advanced Reaction: Smoke and Mirrors: This can be made once per battle when the enemy tries to shoot
one of your Alpha Legion units.
The unit being targeted by the shooting attack can then redeploy. Units and Characters for Alpha Legion Alpharius: This is the Primarch of the Alpha Legion. He can choose between getting Infiltrate, Scout or Deep Strike at the beginning of a game, and he can choose three friendly units to get that rule alongside him. In each turn, he can also give all
non-Vehicle Alpha Legion units in your army either Fleet (2), Preferred Enemy (Everything) or Sudden Strike (1). He is armed with The Pale Spear, an AP1, Armourbane, Instant Death two-handed weapon, and the Plasma Pistol The Hydra’s Spite.
He has the special Sire of the Alpha Legion Warlord Trait, which lets him redeploy 3 friendly Alpha Legion units at the beginning of the game, and it also lets you choose a Phase in each turn in which to get an extra Reaction. Lernaean Terminator Squad: This is a special Cataphractii Terminator Squad with Power Axes and Volkite Chargers, as well as
a selection of Heavy weapons. They can choose a Space Marine Legion at the start of the game against which thei get a +1 to hit rolls. Headhunter Kill Team: This is a special Scout Squad specialised in taking out Independent Characters. They’re armed with Bane-Strike Combi-Bolters and Power Daggers, as well as a Venom Sphere on the Sergeant.
Exodus: This is an Independent Alpha Legion Character who specializes in stealth and long range precision shooting. His shooting’s range can never be affected by penalties, he can deploy anywhere on the board more than 9″ from the enemy, and he is armed with the excellent The Instrument Sniper Rifle. He can never be your Warlord, and can only
join Reconnaissance Squads or Headhunter Kill Teams. Armillus Dynat: This is an Independent Alpha Legion Character. He is armed with a Bolt Pistol and the two Power weapons The Prince and the Prophet, between which he can split his attacks in the Assault Phase. The Prophet has Thunderstrike, which means you can make one free attack with it
if you score a hit with The Prince first. He has the special The Harrowing Warlord Trait, which lets him pick three friendly Alpha Legion Infantry units at the beginning of the game and give them either Infiltrate, Scout or Counter-Attack (1). The Warlord Trait also gives you an extra Reaction in the Movement Phase. Welcome to Horus Heresy Tactica,
our series that provides a deep dive in a specific mechanic, interaction or aspect of play in Warhammer: the Horus Heresy. So the first FAQs of the new edition have come and gone and it’s clear that they were intended more to fix errors than to provide a balance pass. That’s not a bad idea, given how early days it is in the edition (we don’t even have
rules for all the armies out yet) but it does leave a large dreadnought-shaped elephant in the room. Imperial Fists converted Carab Culln Leviathan Dreadnought. Credit: Jack Hunter Yes, dreadnoughts: you love them or you hate them, and which it is tends to depend on if you brought them to the table or not. Dreadnoughts (particularly Contemptors
and Leviathans) have quickly come to be a dominant force, especially when run in skew lists such as with the Fury of the Ancients Rite of War.
Many events are limiting them in some ways, and numerous fixes have been suggested. Well, we’re not interested in “fixes” here, we’re interested in the game as it exists.
So today we’re going to try to answer two questions: What’s the best way to run a dreadnought? How do I stop the person asking question number 1?
Before we jump in, it’s worth saying that you should not run a dreadnought skew list. You will win unless your opponent does the same. It is tedious and unfun and negative play experience taken to the extreme. So we’re focusing on the situation of “you’re bringing some dreadnoughts” not “you’re bringing all the dreadnoughts”. A reasonable rule of
thumb if you want to keep friends and get games with the same person more than once is roughly one dreadnought per 1000 points of your list. And just don’t run Fury of the Ancients unless your opponent knows it’s coming and is also running it (we fully endorse running Fury mirror lists, epic robot smackdowns rule and it’s cool as hell). In addition,
we’re not going to be looking here at the Deredeo or the Castaferrum dreadnoughts. Why?
Because those aren’t the ones tearing up tables generally. Both can be great additions, but they’re not quite so overwhelming. We’re also not checking out the Custodes dreadnoughts, because while they look like terrors they’re still in early days right now and we need to see how they impact things. What’s the best way to run a dreadnought? The
most second most frequently asked question we get about Horus Heresy at Goonhammer Towers is “How should I arm my dreadnought?”. Let’s tackle the Contemptor first them move onto the Leviathan. Alpha Legion Contemptor Dreadnought. Credit: Lupe There are broadly three “builds” you can go for with a Contemptor Dreadnought: The
Rifleman, which is two ranged weapons and using the dreadnought as a shooting platform and more or less ignoring melee entirely (yes you can kick things to death and you’ll do ok against Tactical squads but it’s not the focus). There are a few decent builds here: Lascannons are great anti-armour and anti-heavy infantry weapons and you get a very
tough platform to put them on Autocannons are a midweight weapon and though they struggle a little against heavier armoured targets and won’t cause Instant Death on marines, they have good power for the points Kheres Assault Cannons are a mid to short range mass fire weapon, and while they’re a little lacklustre against marines they really
come into their own against other armies Conversion Beam Cannons are “as long a range as you can” and by far the most niche pick here. However as other armies than marines become more common they’ll have more impact, and if you can get to that longest range category you’ll absolutely rip things to shreds. Don’t overlook Blind either, which
can have a big impact. The Gladiator, which is one ranged weapon and one melee weapon. This is a good mixed build if you’re not sure what to do with the dreadnought, and want to keep your options open.
The melee weapon should always be a Gravis Power Fist, and you can either run it with the stock combi-bolter if you want to save on points or put in a meltagun (for heavy infantry and armoured targets) or a graviton gun (for anti-dreadnought shooting).
The ranged weapon choices that jump out are: Gravis Melta Cannon which is a devastatingly good weapon (being basically two multi-meltas strapped together) and will soften up heavy targets or just pop a nearby vehicle if you’re lucky Gravis Lascannon which is a good all-rounder and means if you get stuck out of position you can still do something –
it’s a safety blanket Kheres Assault Cannon works nicely as side-arm as it lets you soften up infantry groups if those are your targets Conversion Beam Cannon seems an odd pick on something that’s going to want to run up and hit stuff, but you’re basically picking this for Blind – it’s not a guarantee to go off by any measure, but it only needs a hit and
blinding a unit makes them exceptionally vulnerable to a charge from the dreadnought The Berserker, which is a Gravis Power Fist and a Gravis Chainfist for a strong melee build. They guys want to get stuck in as fast as possible and go to town on the enemy – they’re great dreadnought hunters especially. If you want to go down that route, then
graviton guns are your friend as they’ll take wounds off a dreadnought better than almost anything else. Otherwise look at meltaguns because they’re a great all-rounder. You can keep it cheap with combi-bolters but it’s almost always worth bringing the heavier stuff. There are some additions you can add on too. The Havoc Launcher is not a great
pick, sadly, because for 10 points it’s expensive, and because the Dreadnought can’t split-fire it’s limited in targets. If you’re running a Rifleman you’re better served with a Helical Targeting Array to ensure you can deal with any flyers that turn up – otherwise, just leave these off. Blood Angels Leviathan Dreadnought. Credit: Corrode Leviathans then,
and this is where things get spicy. Against there are the three builds: The Rifleman is, for the Leviathan, all about giving you a lot of firepower on a very tough platform. But this is where we change things up, because while the firepower available to the Contemptor can be very long range, the Leviathan has a lot of medium range runs, which means
you’re probably going to be moving up to get good shots, rather than hanging back. Storm Cannons are your pick here – sure it’s a 24″ threat range, so you’re going to be moving up, but it’s a tasty upgrade to the autocannon. Two of them puts out an eye-watering 12 shots and will do some serious damage to almost anything. The other options fall a
bit short in pairs – bother a shorter range and the melta in particular you need to be really close for, while the grav is… disappointing in general.
The Gladiator is probably your default build for the Leviathan for a couple of reasons. First the Leviathan is so deadly in combat that you probably want to give it the option, but also the Melta Lance is very very good and you want to be close to use it. It’s a combination made in heaven/hell (delete as appropriate). Yes the Leviathan is slower than the
Contemptor, but the deployment maps in Heresy mean you’re probably not missing out on more than one round of shooting and you’re almost certain to hit combat at least once. The Claw is your pick here for sure, because though it’s not as effective against vehicles it’s still Strength 10 and AP 1, and Brutal (3) is just… insane. Absolutely bonkers. The
Beserker is a risk but potentially a rewarding one. Put one claw one drill on the thing and go to town, murdering whatever it hits with abandon. However, if you do run one of these either be prepared to spend a lot of the game with it trundling around, or figure out a way to get it up close – a drop pod is not to be sniffer at, despite its hefty price tag.
You can also do a couple of additions or tweaks to the other armaments. You can switch out the Heavy Flamers for Volkite Calivers, which is fine but probably not worth the points in most cases. It’s most convincing on the Rifleman. Death Guard Contemptor Dreadnought – Credit: Serotonin However you should, basically, always take the Phosphex
dispenser. You can fire it time and again leaving little pools of difficult terrain across the battlefield, and it’s very dangerous. It’s an enormous deterrent against charges (your charge is now through difficult terrain, have fun) and useful on basically every build. Take one. How do I stop these terrible things, help me please Now we really come onto the
exciting and difficult question: what the hell do you do about these things? That’s not an easy question to answer, but it really boils down to three main approaches. However before we get to the ones that work let’s talk about the ones that just don’t. Support Squad w/ Assault/Rotor Cannons. Credit: Rockfish Volume of Fire. Though it has a 2+ save
that still means every shot levelled at it, even if it doesn’t have the ap to punch through, has a chance to scrape a wound off… right? The real issue is you also need high strength shooting to actually wound the damn thing, and high volume poor ap shooting is mostly overpriced compared to other options.
Let’s consider Volkite shooting at a Contemptor as an example. A full Heavy Support Squad of 10 marines armed with Volkite Culverins, with a Techmarine with a boarding shield (for heavy) and cognis signum (for a +1 to hit for the unit), is a total of 300 points.
It throws out 50 shots within 45″, so you can keep them high and relatively safe from retaliation. Of those 50 on average you’ll hit with 41 and a third, wound with just under 14, and they’ll fail, on average, two of those saves.
That means your 300 points will need three rounds of shooting to kill one. It’s just not going to pan out for you because that dreadnought is already doing its job many times over by then. Other options are even worse. Bolters can scrape maybe a wound off a Contemptor when used in genuine volume, but can’t hurt leviathans at all. Missile launchers?
Yeah that’s not going to work. Overall, you need some way to crack that ap2. Power Fist Terminators. Another tempting option, but another trap. Yes, your guys have a good chance to hit and punch through armour if they live, but a) the chances of them living are poor and b) you’re scraping one wound off max with each one that goes through and
they have a 1 in 3 chance of saving it.
Power Fists just struggle to keep up, and Chain Fists are just not really that much better in this scenario (though armourbane does help a little). The issue is really the exchange – every hit from a dreadnought melee weapon is instant death and usually Brutal (3), so that’s a lot of chances to fail a save and just be dead. Most dreadnoughts into most
terminators are going to end with at least a couple of terminators dead before they can strike. Ok so that doesn’t look promising. What can we do? Imperial Fists Lascannon Support Squad. Credit: Jack Hunter Volume of Quality Fire. That means lascannons, autocannons or meltaguns in short. Anything that either has ap2 innately or have a decent
chance to Rend is worth looking at, and autocannons are definitely the less good option here (but the cheapest). That 10 marine Heavy Support Squad but with lascannons might be 50 points more but they’re scraping an average of more than 4 wounds off a contemptor with a single volley. That makes their points back at a much faster rate and you
have a genuine chance to stop the contemptor before it really gets up in your grill. They struggle a little more against leviathans, but even then two full volleys should do the job. Enduring the Fury. If you have a way to survive the hits and then strike back, that can work out. Terminators do badly with this but anything with Toughness 5 can enduring
the Contemptor Gravis Fist a lot better, if not the Leviathan Siege Claw. Biomancy can be a handy way to get up there, and a librarian with a block of cataphractii with thunderhammers is a genuine threat to a Contemptor. Add in combi-meltas and you have a unit that will make a dreadnought stop in its tracks. Sure, it’s very expensive, but you can
also use it to bully… pretty much anything else in the game. The other thing to be aware of is Weapon Skill – dreadnoughts are WS5 and you need some way to even the odds. So bring your fancy terminators or bring a praetor with a thunderhammer to really get your way. Fury Meets Fury. Meet it in combat with something equally scary. There’s a
running joke in this edition that dreadnoughts are the only thing that beats dreadnoughts and while that’s not true, it’s not far off. Bringing your own dreadnoughts is the best response, but if you can’t then there are still options. Some legions have their own answers – anything that can hit at decent strength at ap2, especially at initiative has a good
chance of wrecking face. Some legion bonuses with various buffs applied can shift the balance in your favour considerably – Blood Angels assault marines can do a shocking amount of damage to a Contemptor. Finally there are the big golden guns: custodes can absolutely mince dreadnoughts, not just with their own but with their line troops and their
terminators because they’re all hitting at Initiative 5 before the dreadnought gets a chance to swing. Plus, against Contemptors, they’re not suffering instant death so you might live (just beware how fragile a 6+ invulnerable save can be in this situation and plan for it). Tarpit. Meet it in combat with a unit that has a lot of tough bodies or just a lot of
bodies and is stubborn or even better fearless.
Sure, the dreadnought will kill the unit… eventually. But every turn it’s mincing through a block of auxilia that cost you 100 points is a turn it’s not doing anything else of note.
Custodes Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnought. Credit: Pendulin In conclusion, taking on a dreadnought is tough. You need a lot of scary firepower, your own dreadnoughts, or some carefully considered melee threats. Never engage a dreadnought up close unless you’re sure you have the upper hand – they will absolutely wreck a lot of units, they can
sweep them, and you will lose. However, getting them locked in endless combats is a viable tactic, so consider a large mob that can stand up to punishment to keep them occupied. There’s no doubt that dreadnoughts are overtuned in this edition – they’re too good for their cost. But they’re not immovable. Who Needs Dreadnoughts Anyway Imperial
Fists Contemptor Dreadnought. Credit: Jack Hunter Dreadnoughts are an iconic part of the setting, and few people are happy to just say “hey let’s not play with them”, and I don’t think that’s a good idea. But communicating with your opponent ahead of time can stop a lot of pain – you need to know if they’re bringing a Fury of the Legion list, or just
filling their heavy slots with leviathans. You need to know, prep, and sometimes say “hey, can you not?”. At the recent Goonhammer Open event we made Contemptor Dreadnought Talons and Leviathan Dreadnought Talons 0-1 choices (you couldn’t take more than 1) and while that’s potentially still a lot of dreadnought, people understood the intent
and limited themselves. In future a solution might be to take away the talon rule, and force people to take dreadnoughts singularly in their slots. Whatever you decide with your opponent make sure everyone is happy with it, and let’s have fun with dreadnoughts.