Armillion

Yep, my thoughts exactly.

Homebrew headcannon as mental justification for the sleekness of new MkIII: In the last decades of the Great Crusade, the venerable MkII and MkIII power armour patterns were slowly being phased out of frontline service in many legions by the mass introduction of the technologically more advanced and easier to produce MkIV Maximus pattern. While it was intended that all astartes would eventually being re-equipped with this newer pattern, nevertheless production consistently failed to meet the demand and stopgap solutions were explored. During this time, the MkIII pattern continued to hold some primacy among legions favoring frontal assaults for it's superior protection as compared to MkII and all but the highest grade variants of MkIV. For those forges which had built up capacity to churn out massive quantities of MkIII suits for over a century at this point, the switch to build entirely new production lines for MkIV would result in unacceptable delays in output in the medium term. With a ready market for continued acceptance of the venerable MkIII pattern particularly amongst the 4th, 6th, 7th, and 14th legions, work on a streamlined variant of MkIII commenced in the last decades prior to the Heresy. Known as MkIII "Late" or retroactively MkIIIB as an officially recognized pattern by the Mechanicum, this new version incorporated limited aspects of the MkIV pattern into its design, enabling simplified production and maintenance with minimal modifications to production lines. MkIIIB could not boast to match the advanced auspex packages, range of motion, nor the much more compact and efficient reactor design of the MkIV. Nevertheless, it was at least as easy to produce as MkIV and much less reliant on distant supply chains for specialized components, further supporting localized production efforts. The switch to this updated pattern of MkIIIB was not uniform, with something approaching mass production only occuring in the last decades of M31. Both primary versions of MkIII would remain in production in parallel in different corners of the Imperium, even well into the Heresy until the point where even the simplified MkIIIB was beyond the ability of the forges to mass produce, giving way to the ad-hoc designs of MkV. By the years of the Scouring, MkIIIB was deemed fully obsolete and supplanted in Imperial production in it's near entirety by the much newer MkVI and MkVII patterns.

The new Mk3 looks good, but won't mix well visually alongside my existing masses of "Old-style" Mk3. I'll probably 3d print new old Mk3 pieces once I deplete the last 12 or so remaining Mk3 bodies I have left on sprues if I need to fill out a unit. New Mk3 will be strictly for the next project, once I deplete my backlog...

Realistically regarding Dark Mechanicum though, how different would they really be during the heresy? Daemon engines probably wouldn't be much of a thing yet? At most I see 30k Dark Mech as mostly using the Liber Mechanicum army list but with variant army wide rules, such as access to the corrupted type, a unique cyberthurgy arcana focused on scrapcode, closer allies with daemons of the ruinstorm, variant automata rules representing stuff bordering AI but still uses the same base models, and maybe a unit of cultists or slave servitors as a unique troops choice. Essentially the Word Bearers-esqe faction of the liber Mechanicum still generally using the same army list.

Even if the Chimera chassis did not exist, the design is similar yet different enough to assume they may share some design lineage. The unreliable narrator framing of HH means there is plenty of room for interpretation and speculation due to inherent vagueness. Additionally, even if some legions weren't prone to using sustained artillery, IW and IF would love themselves some siege weapons, just as WS abhor dreadnoughts but here we are with a WS leviathan. For example, you could come up with the following: During the Great Crusade, the Astartes legions were vast apparatuses that were able to conduct warfare on a massive scale unseen in the centuries and millennia to follow, with the ability to commit thousands of Astartes to frontal assaults against entrenched enemies, backed up with equipment and firepower unseen in the smaller chapters that would follow Guilliaman's reformations. To support such a direct and brutal form of warfare, some legions were known to employ large caliber artillery en masse, conducting massive saturation bombardment actions against enemy positions prior to massed infantry and armoured assaults. The Legion Basilisk and Legion Medusa were early developments of mating an existing weapon design to a chassis capable of carrying it. While superficially resembling those heavy artillery platforms employed by the later Astra Militarum regiments, and indeed sharing some design lineage, these were uniquely suited to the Astartes and as such internally derived much of their internal drive machinery and augury systems from the ubiquitous Rhino chassis. As the Great Crusade progressed, new and more advanced means of providing indirect fire support were developed and employed, though the Basilisk and Medusa platforms retained some primacy within some legions, such as the IVth and VIIth. Nevertheless, as the Horus Heresy consumed frontline equipment at a voracious rate, many of these older weapons were pulled out of reserves to commit to the galaxy wide civil war. After the heresy and subsequent scouring, and with the breaking of the remaining loyalist legions, the Legion Basilisk and Legion Medusa were made fully obsolete, neither well suited to the smaller chapter sizes and their mobile ways of war, nor were they ergonomically feasible for smaller unaugmented humans to operate effectively. This was not the least compounded by vast mechanical dissimilarity with Imperial Regiment's supply chain and thus most such vehicles would ultimately be scrapped or repurposed as static defenses for PDF forces. Nevertheless, to support the needs of the Astra Militarum, the design would be examined and used as the basis for development of the highly successful Chimera chassis, with the substitution of advanced materials and technology with more mundane but easily producible alternatives.

The Basilisk and Medusa got nerfed HARD in 2.0, which means my two basilisks will collect dust on a shelf. Vastly overcosted compared to any other option really. This is particularly jarring since the Scorpius is now just sooooo much better by comparison. Admittedly the old 1.0 Medusa statline was just so ubiquitously good because you could just anti-everything and needed toned down. Basilisk Pinning effects from the basilisk definitely make sense in headcannon with big HE shells. Maybe drop the strength to 7 but add shellshock 1 and rending (5+) so you aren't doubling out Terminators anymore but can still use ordinance and rending together to slap vehicles somewhat. You don't do as much raw damage as a Scorpius, but you can sure slow everything down and possibly get those pesky camping HSS to take cover. Then it becomes sort of a longer ranged side-grade to the scorpius, with the ability to mess up light armor but barely scratch AV14 most of the time. It deals slightly less raw damage than a Scorpius and but longer range, better tank busting, and a higher chance for pinning to take effect, though no chance to double out elite infantry. R240" S7 AP4 Ordinance 1, Barrage, Large Blast (5"), Pinning, Shell Shock (1), Rending (5+) Vindicator The demolisher cannon is designed for bunker busting. It would make sense if it could actually bust a bunker, yet given this, the shell wouldn't likely arm when passing through and pasting a random mook, hence keeping a small blast. Replace rending with Exoshock to deal multiple HP against targets, but since it is trying to damage through brute force instead of armour piercing ability, you don't get a chance to explode the target. Its not going to kill infantry very well but that's the point. R24” S12 AP3 Ordinance 1, Blast (3”), Brutal (3), Exoshock (5+) Medusa The Medusa used to be essentially the longer ranged, barrage version of the demolisher cannon. So maybe change it to be that again to allow it to reach out and nuke something. It becomes better against hard targets, while the Basilisk is better against infantry and light vehicles. Exoshock is there to allow multiple HP loss against vehicles and fortifications (if you play those). R36” S12 AP3 Ordinance 1, Barrage, Blast (3”), Brutal (3), Exoshock (5+) Arquitor - Morbus The Morbus Bombard now neatly fits in between the Medusa and the Basilisk, with characteristics between both profiles to be a middle ground. with the chance to double out infantry and mess with enemy tanks simultaneously. R36" S10 AP4 Ordinance 1, Barrage, Large Blast (5"), Rending (6+), Pinning - unchanged Finally, as side topic but an indirect buff to the Vindicator and Medusa, nerf the Contemptor's (and maybe Deredeo) from a 2+ Sv to 3+ Sv. Suddenly Brutal 3 gets a lot scarier, and yet Dreadnoughts still get a 5++ against this to go with its 6 wounds and non-degrading stats, unlike a vehicle. This would also allow Missile launchers to be viable (again Dreadnoughts still have a 5++), as well as allowing power mauls to have a use in wounding on a 5+ but ignoring armour, while existing AP2 weaponry behaves no differently.

We don't have any rules for Lieutenants and some Consuls could maybe be extrapolated to be roughly in that role. That said, if I were to homebrew it, because homebrewing is a lot of fun, I would do it as follows, making them intermediate between a Centurion and a Sergeant (Essentially look at it as either W2 I5 Ld9 Sergeants or WS4 BS4 A2 Ceturions). Intentionally no option for terminator armour, but you get bikes, jetbike, and jump packs as options. 0-1 Legion Optarii Corp/Conclave (placeholder name) 30 Pts- Vibing naming off of the Optio being the rank of the second in command to a Roman Ceturion in roman legions, and while Optiones is the plural form of Optio, it may be a little confusing to go with that name. M7 WS4 BS4 S4 W2 I5 A2 Ld9 Sv3+ Unit Composition 1 Legion Optarii Wargear BP, Chainsword, Power Armour, Frag & Krak - No refractor field option, you have to pick either a boarding shield or combat shield to get an invuln. Special Rules LA (X) Independent Character Relentless Support Squad Optarii Corp - At the beginning of the game, each model must be assigned to another unit (like Apothecaries or techmarines) and may not leave, gaining all types/subtypes and necessary special rules, no more than one Optarii per squad - You gain the benefits of being an IC including wargear selection but lose the freedom to come and go as you please, becoming akin to the dark angels Storm of War RoW Legiones Candidatus - Each one may select from a few consul-junior options for points. Each can select different options. Options: A Legion Optarii Corp may include up to: - 2 Additional Optarii ... +30 pts each May take artificer armour for .... +10 pts Keeps all other power armour Ceturion wargear options Legiones Candidatus Options: Librarian Junior - Similar options as libriarian, but Psychic checks on Ld7, no psychic hood option. Librarians in training, less reliable to cut back somewhat on psychic spam. Champion Junior - Increase WS to 5, free power weapon Now you melee as well as a regular ceturion Vigilator Junior - Increase BS to 5 (would gain infiltrate and scout only if you put it with such a unit via the Optarii Corp rule, like Apothecaries) Armistos Junior - Heavy weapon of Choice "I am heavy vepons gei" for your squads Herald Junior - Vexilla & Stubborn No line, fear, or fearless, get watered down stubborn instead. Chaplain Junior - Hatred (Everything) Good at making your guys chop better, but without leadership buffs Forge Lord Junior - Battlesmith (4+) & Servo Arm, option for cortex controller, no machinator array or cyber familiar Opsequiari - Fear (1), Reduce leadership characteristic to 8. When fail a morale check, unit suffers 1 wound with no saves or damage mitigation of any kind allowed and count as passed instead. A unique option with no Consul equivalent, now you can recreate the Space Wolves unique Space Marine Commissar. Essentially Corrupted unit type lite, with penalties to both you and enemy leadership as a result. The other consul options wouldn't really fit as well dropped down a notch. Primus medicae is already fulfilled with Apothecaries. Either way, you gave me a fun thought exercise.

Since destroyers can now take a pair of hand flamers or a pair of volkite serpenta, it occurred to me that Death Guard could uniquely take advantage of double hand flamers. While hand flamers are kinda meh generally due to wounding on a 5+ (or 4+ if you are Salamanders), since we get Alchem Hand Flamers, it suddenly becomes a lot more viable. Essentially each model in the squad gets: hitting on 2's (due to the interaction between templates and Gets Hot), always wounding on 2's (against everything), and then go double the number of attacks (gunslinging 2 pistols). Anything squad without the Heavy type to reroll saves, or things like automata and dreadnoughts, gets absolutely melted due to the sheer number of saves throws you can force. Even better if used on a Destroyer Assault Squad since you can deep strike them and use your jump pack's 12" movement to get good positioning for all members of the squad to get good coverage. Against Heavy units, your damage drops quite a bit due to re-rolling saves, especially against Cataphractti where its really not worth bothering (only 1/36 chance of failing a save), but Tartaros and artificer armor units without heavy are definitely fair game. Alchem flamers in general are a weird spot because swapping the prior edition's Shred for Fleshbane makes 'lighter' flamer weapons far better to use it on, while something like a heavy flamer or flamestorm cannon is kinda meh relative to Gets Hot.

I will keep using my Phobos as 'counts-as' Proteus Carriers for the purposes of dedicated transports fory units .since they are essentially identical rules and sizewise and were the only option in 1.0, and would let anyone else do the same. Otherwise it gets into nonsensical territory of siliy things like "a unit may take a diemos rhino as a DT" and having a mars rhino or mars predator as legacy pdf, or my tigrus pattern bolter is different from your umbra pattern bolter. As long as you can wysiwyg it is fine gameplay wise. They should just add the following to the pdf: Designer's Note: Any unit that has the option to take a Land Raider Proteus Carrier as a dedicated transport may instead select a Land Raider Phobos as its dedicated transport choice.

Yay, the Sicaran Omega got buffed!! Sicarans across the board look solid. Edit: Arcus still looks OP

...the Thunderhawk has a turbolaser. Forgot about that one, I'm dumb

***Random thought-train just popped in my head as further speculation:*** We have seen the leak of the 'Las Weapons' section of the rules, listing the Turbo-Laser Destructor and the Neutron-wave cannon in particular. Assuming the Neutron-wave capacitor upgrade on the Falchion is going become the Neutron-wave cannon as a weapon upgrade option, where does that leave the Turbo-laser? The terrain pieces in AoD, particularly the Primus Redoubt which is the only thing in the current Legion list which has this weapon, has been OoP for years. And we know how much GW hates letting you use their products that you paid for but they no longer make (and some that they still make). Terrain piece apparently missing in 2.0 as stated by others. Where the heck does the Legion list use a Turbo-laser destructor? I think there is only one option, unless something new is coming down the pipeline that we haven't heard about: ====>Turbo-laser is a weapon swap option for the Cerberus's Neutron Laser Battery. Its the only extant remaining vehicle that could presumably pretend its main gun is either weapon option. Think about it, if a plasma blastgun can fit on a baneblade, then its not implausible that a turbo-laser could fit in a Cerberus. Especially since GW's rules writing and model design tends to produce vehicles and units with escalating sizes in power and it would slot nicely below the Falchion as the 'budget option'.

This would mean the end of a lot of kits, notably something like the Fellblade/Glaive/Falchion which use baneblade as a base. Ditto for Storm Eagle/Fire Raptor using the Storm Eagle (thought this would be a massive improvement and jubilation for all if this became mostly plastic). Admittedly you could do new plastic upgrade sprues to bridge from the existing plastic base parts (I would love a plastic Fellblade, using a heat gun to work out all the gaps and warpage on the resin and getting the tracks lined up correctly on mine was flipping nightmare) Though if the rumormongers are to be believed, I could see a lot of kits being updated such as: Whirlwind Scorpius - ditch the resin hull parrts for complete plastic, rebox with the existing resin turret Sicarans - If there is a new plastic kit coming for the base version, then variants could just keep existing resin for the required front hull (venator), turrets (everything else) and use the plastic for the hull Predators - If not all version make it into plastic then they maybe just sell the weapon swaps to the new base plastic kit Cerberus/Typhon - Rework the resin parts for front hull and weapons to utilize a plastic spartan hull. This would certainly help get rid of the resin-spartan's tendency for the track tips to break off.

Waiting to see what is 100% confirmed in the final ruleset for units. That said, currently would lose the following: Crysos Morturg - converted from spare bits, so whatever 2 Boxnauts - annoying 5 Nullificators - this was a lot of work to convert up with the toxiferran flamers, I don't think I have the heart to rip all that work apart to convert them back to bog-standard cataphractii. I will homebrew these in gameplay if I have to. 2 Basilisks - no good reason why these should be gone 1 Standard Achilles - massive conversion project for the last 2 months from a LR Redeemer since the real thing disappeared back years ago and I had literally planned to buy it the month after it disappeared back then. Probably the closest I have ever gotten to going for a recast but instead I put in dozens of hours, kitbashing, greenstuff and plasticard that has gone into making my own Achilles based upon pictures. I was planning to finally prime it this weekend. Yeah... this one really hurts personally.

I can get behind the nerfing of demolisher cannon/Typhon AP2/AP1 to AP3+Rending, but the pie plate size nerf hurts. REALLY concerned how this is gonna go with 2.0 Custodes when the demolisher is one of the only great equalizers in that regard if you are only clipping maybe 1 per turn and they likely will just tank it since its now AP3. In the camp of wait and see for the final rules on what happens to my 2 flamestorm Boxnauts.