Horus Heresy 3e Review: Perturabo

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. Perturabo returns with an excellent stat line and weapons to back it up.  

Background.

The Lord of Iron is almost as tragic as Kurze or Angron. Such a keen intellect, but no use for it on Olympia which was already an advanced civilization. Such a drive to build and make things, turned to destroying and pulling down fortifications. And a rebel home planet that he went back to and sorted out but felt that his father would never forgive him and therefore fell to the traitor cause. He is one that probably should not have fallen if he had better relations with those around him, better council, less brutal twisting of his fine mind, and just a touch of TLC; but that's the price that was paid. All I'm saying is that the Emperor could have just given him a hug and a pat on the head once in a while and he'd have been perfectly loyal. But no. That was too much. 

Strengths. 

As an upgrade, Pertruabo can take Forge Breaker - a desecrated version of Ferrus Manus' weapon of choice. This is worth it. The only real difference is D=2 here instead of D=3. But since you will be facing other primarchs who have Eternal Warrior (2) like Perturabo, this doesn't matter in all probability. Take. This. Upgrade. [It is also modeled on the resin miniature after all].

The stat line is powerful. T=7 with A=6 is very impressive. Add to that the Logos providing him with 2+/4++ and he's good to go. His ranged weapons are provided by the Logos Array and features 6 ranged shots with shrapel technology from Olympia at an impressive 30 inch range. They also shred and cause suppression. Now, if you do that math-hammer on these ranged shots, you are likely going to be taking out 4 standard (3+ armour save) space marines per turn. This is simply great. But if you haven't taken Forge Breaker, they also double up as point blank shots in melee. You don't want them though. You want Forge Breaker. Trust me. The AP=2 and D=2 from Forge Breaker is the deal clincher for me over the point blank Logos Array. 

His individual gambit in challenges calls on his men to simply gun down anyone foolish enough to challenge him. He won't waste his time like that. These are only snap shot though. This is good if you have some nearby plasma or melta shots that you want to expend on an enemy sergeant who is the fool for challenging Perturabo, but not another Primarch since you are giving up your own attacks to use it. Only use it for the foolish opponent really. 

Sire of the Iron Warriors grants prime slots to breachers and tactical squads if they fill up the primary detachment. Which they might well do in a fluffy manner. His influence is far reaching with his other ability which makes the army entirely expendable on Turn 1! Fluffy, and funny at the same time! Perhaps not as strong as other force multipliers out there, but its fine. 

Weaknesses. 

Perturabo is a strong primarch with no real weaknesses. As you would expect. 

Overall.

The points cost is right, but you will be wanting Forge Breaker as your upgrade. No excuses. Pay that extra points cost. Then figure out a transport solution. 

Perturabo is great at medium to close range with his Logos Array shots, and excellent in close combat. He really excels with the Forge Breaker in hand and can handle his brothers if you need him to in the main part (but many of the tougher primarchs will be a close call). 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Iron Warriors Legion Rules

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

5/5 stars. The bad guy poster boys for third edition, and they return with vengeance. 

Background.

Grim. Decimated. Arguably unloved by their gene sire. But also sturdy. Unrelenting. Pragmatic. Masters of machine and siege. Bitter through being used as little more than chattel and garrison troops. They brought their fury to both sides of the war and eventually conducted the most epic siege of the war: that of Terra itself. 

Armoury. 

Plenty of carry over from second edition here!

Graviton Crushers. Exchanged from a thunder hammer for free, there's probably little reason not to take this upgrade on commanders or champions to be honest. The addition of shock is nice and armour bane comes as standard.

Graviton Mace [Legacies]. Officer and Sergeant wargear for a very reasonable amount of points means this is also an almost automatic upgrade in many circumstances.  

The Unfavoured. The ability to make a unit Expendable is actually stronger than it sounds for a prime advantage for a unit. It is also very fitting for the Iron Warriors and surprisingly effective when combined with objective sitting or front line assault. Take your pick!

Shrapnel Weapons [Legacies]. Yes it should be been in the Liber. No, that's all I'm going to say. Any unit in the Iron Warriors can exchange their bolt pistols and bolt guns for shrapnel versions for a small points cost increase. The benefit of this is to cause pinning which cannot be overlooked. A few units upgraded like this are fine to take, but it remains true that sometimes you will want the pure fire rate of the regular versions. The cannon adds shred to this and appears under the Heavy Weapons Options (added on) for the legion, as well as sponsons and pintles where appropriate. Certainly worth considering for a heavy bolter heavy support squad. 

Tactica. 

The Bitter End is fluffy and appropriate and enables the Iron Hands warriors to ignore negative modifiers to Panic, Pinning, Stun, and Suppressive special rules (i.e., Leadership and Cool tests). In third edition this is nearly unrivaled. 

Gambit.  
Spiteful Demise arises since Perturabo instructed his men that death was not an excuse for incompetence. If you lose your last wound, you get to hit back with one S=6 D=2 attack that also has breaching. This is a great way to take your opponent out simultaneously or at least inflict an added bit of damage. Play when you are about to perish yourself. It requires a bit of finesse and timing, but when pulled off can be very impactful!

Additional Detachments. 
The Ironfire Cohort is a reasonable way to add in armour and support slots, at the expense of the armour slots having to be Arquitor Bombard units. I think this probably won't see too much play unless you are a fan of the Bombards?
The Hammer of Olympia is almost a "must" for Iron Warriors running Perturabo (sometimes) or a Warsmith (you will often want to). The added heavy assault and troops are great, but the added Prime slots can swing even harder in your favour here - especially Tyrant Siege Terminators.

Advanced Reaction. 
Bitter Fury can be activated when one of your units is shot at. It gives you an increased rate of fire (+1) at the expense of Overload (+1), and even the models that were killed by the incoming fire still get to shoot back. Powerful and impactful when played at the right time on the right squad. 

Overall, I am really, really liking the Iron Warriors in Third Edition. They are a slogging, non nonsense, shooting army that can also cause severe damage up close and personal when needed. The combinations of Shrapnel, Graviton, Hammer of Olympia, and the Tactica and Gambit are brilliant, but the oh so fluffy Unfavoured has to be a stand out for your strategies here. Choose wisely and time your advantages well, and this army can really perform.

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Tartaros Terminator Squad (and Tartaros Terminator Siege Squad)

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. As iconic as Cataphractii, but bizarrely split between 2 types of unit. 

Background.

The most advanced form of terminator armour was the Tartaros. It does not sacrifice the mobility of power armour, but instead adds the durability of terminator armour to create something new and formidable. 

Strengths. 

T=5 and W=2 alone make it attractive. The combinations of builds is excellent here, but restricted by the two variants, as below, which is a frustration. But you can work with this. They are just as expensive as Cataphractii though, so take advantage of the lack of Slow and Purposeful. 

Weaknesses. 

In comparison to the Saturnine and Cataphractii armour, the Tartaros variant lacks the 4+ invulnerable save and "only" has a 5+ one. In exchange, you get a better movement rate slightly, and a lack of slow and purposeful. It is a pity that sweeping isn't a thing in 3rd edition to be honest, but you can chase down your opponent at least in this build. 

What makes me slightly antagonised is the fact that there are two different entries for this squad. There is the regular terminator squad in the Libers. Then there is the Siege terminator squad in the legacy list. More than a bit infuriating for folks carrying over builds from second edition. 

Builds. 

5 Tartaros Terminators, 1 Plasma Blaster, 4 Combi-Weapons (200 points).

Take a mixture of plasma, flame, graviton, and melta to your taste on the combi weapons. You now have your terminator-cide squad all set up and ready. [Side note: flamer causes panic; graviton causes pinning; a mix of these is strong in third edition.]

10 Tartaros Terminators, 8 Pairs of Lightning Claws, 2 Heavy Flamers, Grenade Harness (395 points).

Heavy on the lightning claws, but you need a transport solution here. 

5 Tartaros Siege Terminators, 1 Plasma Blaster, 2 Chain Fists, 2 Thunder Hammers, Grenade Harness (205 points).
A personal favourite set up, now moved to Siege variant. 

5 Tartaros Siege Terminators, 5 Reaper Autocannons, 1 Thunder Hammer, Grenade Harness (240 points).
New for this edition - Siege Terminators get as many heavy weapons as they please. Might as well go big on the reaper autocannons here and see what you can do! I actually quite like this concept and am tempted to build a squad like this. But maybe not yet. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Indomitus Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5/5 stars. Not nearly as popular as Cataphractii, Tartaros, or even Saturnine now. But they have 2 key niche builds. 

Background.

Not as advanced as Tartaros. Not as protective as Cataphractii. Not as old as Saturnine. A compromise. A new design. And one that would ultimately last the next ten millennia due to lack of rare parts and being easier to produce.

Strengths. 

A break in to usual scheme of things to talk about an explicit Legacy unit that is criminally under used. You still get W=2 and T=5 here along with a tartaros like set of special rules. 

But let me be perfectly honest. There are 2, and only 2 reasons to take this squad over either Cataphractii or Tartaros. Those are:
(a) Storm Shields; and

(b) Proteus Assault Cannons. 

If you are not taking either of them, take one of the other terminator variants. End of. 

Weaknesses. 

Salamanders and Imperial Fists have special units that directly compete with the uniqueness of Indomitus terminator armour. Blood Angels if you count the Crimson Paladins too. Hence those legions should probably not bother full stop.

Builds. 

Two and only two builds here should be considered. 

5 Indomitus Terminators, 5 Thunder Hammers, 5 Storm Shields (230 points).

The thunder hammer plus storm shield combination nets you a 4+ invulnerable save and this squad is fundamentally the reason to take Indomitus terminators. It is the only way to get this kind of set up outside of dedicated units like within the Salamanders with regularity. Take with a transport or Warmonger teleport option and aim for objectives. 

10 Indomitus Terminators, 2 with Assault Cannons, Thunder Hammers / Chain Fists to taste (385 points).

The proteus assault cannon is the second reason to take this squad. You can only have 1 per 5 men though. Hence a full squad of 10 is required to take 2 of them. Thunder Hammers and Chain Fists are the same cost, so perhaps take an even spread, or slightly heavier on the thunder hammers. Good hunting. 

Horus Heresy 3e Review: Cataphractii Terminator Squad

Warpstone Flux Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4/5 stars. Iconic and almost quintessential 30k squad. 

Background.

Heavy protection combined with the ability to wield heavy weapons at the price of slowing its wearer. The trade off in protection versus movement is one that is central to the choice of terminator armour outside of Saturnine weaponry. 

Strengths. 

You are paying for a 4+ invulnerable save here at the expense of a movement limit, and slow and purposeful. That is the core trade off. 

In third edition, you get T=5 as standard along with 2 wounds each which makes them even more durable. I am surprised how "cheap" they are in terms of points cost. 

Weaknesses. 

Slow and purposeful and slower movement, but presumably you don't care. Also the rule of cool applies, so you really don't care. There really isn't too much of a strong downside, but I'd recommend thinking about transport or teleport options where you can. 

Builds. 

A selection of builds here, some more what I personally like and own, some that I've seen, and others that I just like. 

5 Cataphractii Terminators, 1 plasma blaster, 2 chain fists, 2 thunder hammers, grenade harness (205 points). 

One of my "go to" squads. I use this with my Iron Warriors regularly. Or exchange the plasma blaster with an autocannon for just a small extra sum?

5 Cataphractii Terminators, 4 with Twin Lightning Claws, 1 with Heavy Flamer and Power Fist, grenade harness (210points).

Another one of my Iron Warriors favourites. With the added bonus of panic thanks to the flamer in third edition! 

10 Cataphractii Terminators, 2 Reaper Autocannons, 5 combi-plasma, 2 thunder hammers, grenade harness (405 points). 

Very points efficient and superlatively deadly at medium range and close up. This has to be the favoured and baseline build. A sensible build even. For sensible players! 

12 Cataphractii Terminators, 12 Volkite Chargers, 12 Thunder Hammers, Grenade Harness (485 points).

Even in third edition, if you are going with volkite: go big or go home. Here I've taken the new squad maximum of 12 terminators. The thunder hammers are hilarious in numbers as well. You now just need a transport or teleport solution. 

5 Cataphractii Terminators, 5 Combi-Meltas, 5 Chain Fists (250 points).

Distraction Carnifex territory combines with a melta-cide attitude. Good hunting to you. 

Disintegrator Squad

We're now calling them disintegrator squads. Sorry, I don't make the rules, that's just the way it is herein!

Any how, here are the members of the disintegrator squad of 5. There's 4 standard rifles, and one heavy disintegrator. These marines will become part of my Salamanders shattered legion detachment. I'm very happy with how they turned out! One head is from the resin upgrade set which I rather like. 

Only now I need to purchase some more White Scar spray paint to get the undercoat done. Hopefully I have more than enough Warp Lightning contrast paint left to get them up to a good standard - the contrast paint works wonders for the Salamanders in my opinion!