Looking for help - Sons of Horus 1500 points

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Greetings!

 

I will be attending in a small tournament next year march, and I would like to ask for some help on building together a list for it. I hope that I will be able to practice with my would-be-army before the event, but right now I'm totally unsure what to take. 

I choose my Sons of Horus army, because it would give me the opportunity to bring them to a playable stand, and not just a side project. Also, I like to paint them 

 

The tourney would be 1500 points, no LoW, no Psyarkana, no Allies, no Fortifications and Relics. Using the Crusade FoC. And it isn't Zone Mortalis too...

 

I'm thinking on rolling with a standard Pride of the Legion list, using two Veterans (I have a plasma and a HB squad complete) in Rhinos and a Terminator Squad as the backbone. Maybe one unit of Justaerin too.

As support I didn't have many thing. Only one unbuilt Contemptor and a Laser Vindicator. 

I know that it isn't much, but I haven't played the game in ages... 
I will be facing mostly other Astartes armies, but someone got a Mechanicum and a Cult army too.

 

It would be nice to have some friendly suggestions where to go. I've been playing with BattleScribe for the last couple of hours, but I'm completely lost 

Edited December 15, 2019 by TheDreadfulSagittary

[Unknown Legionnaire]

Given you already have two units of Vet Tacs build and battle-ready, I'd seriously consider Maloghurst at this points level.

He's a swiss army knife character, providing multiple useful abilities, amongst them is unlocking Vet Tacs as troops, so you wouldn't need to resort to PotL (which can bleed 2 VP when things go tits-up). Other than that, he's also Fearless and a Master of the Legion.

 

So, using the things you might have, maybe something like this:

 

Maloghurst, the Twisted 

 

Legion Veteran Tactical Squad (9 strong) - Melta Bombs, Sergeant w. Artificer Armour & Power Fist, Plasma Gun, 4 Combi Plasma, Veteran Tactics: Machine Killers, Dedicated Transport: Rhino w. Dozer Blade 

 

Legion Veteran Tactical Squad (10 strong) - Melta Bombs, Sergeant w. Artificer Armour & Power Fist, 2 Heavy Bolters, Veteran Tactics: Stalkers, Dedicated Transport: Rhino w. Dozer Blade 

 

Justaerin Terminator Squad - Multi Melta, 2 Power Fists, 2 Chain Fists, 1 Pair of Lightning Claws 

 

Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pod 

 

Contemptor Mortis Dreadought - Two Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon

 

Legion Vindicator - Laser Destroyer Array, Dozer Blade

 

 

Comes down to 1.478 points, so you could buy 2 power weapons for your Vets, or some pintle guns for the Rhinos or whatever strikes your fancy.

And you'd only have to shell out for the Anvillus (and maybe some weapon bits or bits to build a custom Maloghurst).

 

 

 

EDIT:  Oh, you'd be running 'The Long March' as your RoW of course.

Edited December 15, 2019 by Unknown Legionnaire

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Given you already have two units of Vet Tacs build and battle-ready, I'd seriously consider Maloghurst at this points level.

He's a swiss army knife character, providing multiple useful abilities, amongst them is unlocking Vet Tacs as troops, so you wouldn't need to resort to PotL (which can bleed 2 VP when things go tits-up). Other than that, he's also Fearless and a Master of the Legion.

 

 

 

Sorry, no named characters also... I left it out from the list of restrictions...

[Unknown Legionnaire]

Hmm, not a big deal.

 

Instead of Maloghurst take a Legion Delegatus and run the Chosen Duty RoW. 

 

Leaves you with even more leftover points to play around with.

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

I have a Lascannon arm for the Contemptor. Would it be viable to use it, or do I need to get the Kheres AC-s?

 

I plan to get this kit with the Justaerins (btw, I would LOVE to have a dual LC dude...): https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-EU/Cataphractii-Special-Weapons-Upgrade-Set-2016

So I might be throwing some combi-meltas and -plasmas in the lot too...

 

Also, what about a Sabre as Fast Attack?

Edited December 15, 2019 by TheDreadfulSagittary

[Unknown Legionnaire]

Depends, both the dual Lascannons as well as the dual Kheres Contemptor Mortis have their applications. One is (obviously) better in regards to anti-tank, the other offers a rate of fire that cannot be matched by many other units.

 

Normally, I'd not suggest Lightning Claws in a Terminator unit, but with 'Merciless Fighters' as their Legion rule, I'd include a single pair in the Justaerin. Just make sure you have those Chain Fists in there a well. 

 

A Sabre Tank is a nice piece of kit, just be aware that it is quite fragile. But the Neutron Blaster is very good.

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Okay, I played with BattleScribe a bit more. What about this:

 

HQ
Praetor, Legion (Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol, Digital Lasers, Iron Halo, Power Maul) - because of my custom Lodge Master (chaplain) figure...

 

Elites
Contemptor Dreadnought Talon (Twin-Linked Lascannon, CCW)

 

Troops
Justaerin Terminator Squad /5 (2x Chainfists, 2x Power Fists, 4x Combi Weapons, Pair of Lightning Claws)

Veteran Tactical Squad /9 (Plasma Gun, AA and PF of Sergeant) - Rhino (extra armour, dozer blade)

Veteran Tactical Squad /10 (2x Heavy Bolter and Suspensor Web, AA and PF on Sergeant) - Rhino (extra armour, dozer blade)

 

Fast Attack
Anvillus Pattern Drop Pod (could/should I use a regular Land Raider insted for the Justaerin?)

 

Heavy Support
Vindicator Siege Tank Squadron (Laser Destroyer Array, dozer blade, armoured ceramite)

Edited December 15, 2019 by TheDreadfulSagittary

[Unknown Legionnaire]

A Praetor at this points level tends to be costly IMHO. Also, a Praetor with an AP4 weapon is a waste of points. You take Praetors for the Paragon Blade. Might as well run a Chaplain Consul in that case, but then you'd have no MotL and no RoW. Speaking of which ... you're really set on Pride of the Legion, aren't you ?  

 

A Contemptor wants either two shooting weapons or two close combat weapons. Mixing is generally a bad idea, except for the Kheres & Chainfist (& Cortus) combo. That's why I suggested the Mortis with two guns. Also, it's much cheaper.

 

Justaerins look fine.

Yes, a LR Phobos is also an excellent option, I merely suggested the Dreadclaw because it's much cheaper at this points level, and gives you a turn 1 'in-your-face' threat.

 

I'd skip the Ceramite on the Vindicator. His forte is being cheap, don't make him expensive.

 

A single Plasma Gun in the Vet Tacs seems a bit lackluster. I'd definitely advice on sprinkling some Combi Plasma in there.

In case you cannot do that, then run the 'Plasma Squad' at ten strong with 2 Plasma Guns, and drop one Hvy. Bolter instead so your HQ can join that unit.

[Vykes]

I'm pretty much in agreement with our resident Unknown Legionnaire here, just more or less experience from playing predominantly 16th legion lists of a few different types.  I'll go over and red ink some thoughts in. 

 

Short prelim question: if you're set on pride of the legion, all power too ya, though can those vet squads be configured downwards into bolter, or bolter/chiansword squads?  They're often fairly useful at this point level and gives you more flexibility for other rites like the Long March etc. 

 

What's your full force pool look like? (IE distinctive wargear on models, etc).

 

 HQ

Praetor, Legion (Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol, Digital Lasers, Iron Halo, Power Maul) - because of my custom Lodge Master (chaplain) figure...

A Praetor at this level is definitely expensive (it can be ghastly effective, sure, but it's a big point investment and a Deligatus or Chaplain Consul could suffice).  To keep that custom model, is there any possibility to proxy in that maul as a Thunderhammer?  While the Paragon blade is awesome, there is definitely a case to be made for the Instant Death quality that the hammers provide especially against other characters where you can't count on Murderous Strike.  

 

Elites
Contemptor Dreadnought Talon (Twin-Linked Lascannon, CCW)

While yes, the Kheres Mortis is always going to have a lot of support, I personally really like the kheres and chainfist option.  If there's a close combat weapon on a contemptor, it -has- to be a chainfist, for me.  It's a fantastic way of knocking out other vehicles if you're using it aggressively, and it won't be suspectable to getting jumped and tarpitted. That said, depending on how you want to use is, a Contemptor Cortus here may also be a great choice as it's cheap at this point level, has a lot of flexibility, and while more vulnerable, it does have some added versitility from overcharge while twin-linked evens out even something pricey like a lascannon. 

 

Troops
Justaerin Terminator Squad /5 (2x Chainfists, 2x Power Fists, 4x Combi Weapons, Pair of Lightning Claws)

Yeah, looks good to me.  Maybe a touch pricey but it'll work.  Like Unknown legionnaire says, while lightning claws/swords are rarely ever seen as ideal, the Sons of Horus are one of the groups that can leverage it with their Merciless Fighter rule, thus it can work... just yeah, chainfists are still a must. 

Veteran Tactical Squad /9 (Plasma Gun, AA and PF of Sergeant) - Rhino (extra armour, dozer blade)

Fine here, I mean, having 1 plasma gun is a bit odd, 2 with a ten man probably makes more sense and combi-weapons are nice, but if you're just going for a generalist squad, it's perfectly workable. Not the usual scalpel force but it doesn't have to be if it's just replacing tacs. 

Veteran Tactical Squad /10 (2x Heavy Bolter and Suspensor Web, AA and PF on Sergeant) - Rhino (extra armour, dozer blade)

The heavy bolters are definitely a touch strange, again not necessarily bad just I don't think I've seen one without pinning or melecular shells or something like that. 

 

Fast Attack
Anvillus Pattern Drop Pod (could/should I use a regular Land Raider insted for the Justaerin?)

Conventional wisdom says Anvilus are better, and for this sort of thing, is appropriate.  I like my Raiders, but they're proteus with Exploratory Arrays for outflanking, often meaning they get the angle (and enclosed combi/special weapon teams in on a crucial target).  Both work, but the more you fortify one deathstar unit, the more work it has to do and the more susceptible t is to a few strokes of disastrous luck. 

 

Heavy Support
Vindicator Siege Tank Squadron (Laser Destroyer Array, dozer blade, armoured ceramite)

You probably won't need the ceramite, but the machine spirit instead may pay dividends against some foes who might just be shaking the armored box around.  Still, at this level, a blank destroyer array with dozer blade is often more than enough... if a javelin outflank and nails it in the exhaust, upgrades typically won't matter. 

Edited December 15, 2019 by Vykes

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Thank you for all the suggestions!

Honestly, I'm absolutely not a fan of the PotL RoW, but at small points it seems the most standard way to bring some better equipment to the battle. 

 

So, I give another try:

 

HQ
Delegatus (Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol, Refractor Field, Thunder Hammer)

 

Elites
Contemptor Dreadnought Talon /1 (Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon, Chainfist) - I'm not a fan of the Mortis from the modelling side....

Jusaterin Terminator Squad /5 (2x Chainfists, 2x Power Fists, 4x Combi-Weapons, Pair of Lightning Claws)  + Anvillus Pattern DC 

 

Troops
Tactical Squad /10 (+CCW, Vexila, Sergeant Artificer Armour, Power Sword) + Rhino (Extra Armour, Dozer Blade)
Tactical Squad /14 (+CCW, Vexila, Sergeant Artificer Armour, Power Fist) 

 

Heavy Support
Vindicator Siege Tank Squadron /1 (extra armour, dozer blade, Laser Destroyer array)

 

RoW: The Long March

 

 

How about that? I still have 172 points to play with. 
 

Edited December 16, 2019 by TheDreadfulSagittary

[Vykes]

It looks pretty good, if you're happy with it (and yeah, I definitely get what you mean about PotL being a little underwhelming but aye, it's good way to get vets, and that's big). 

 

I do have a few suggestions for that last 172 points if ya like.  If the plasma gun/heavy bolter model is what ya got, you do have the option to shift the Rhino and 4 of the troopers in the larger (admittedly really nice looking) 15 man squad.  With the plasma gun, you have a 5 man vet team, which you can give melta bombs and work them as an 'on the spot' fire team and try to use the Rhino to block some avenues of fire.  So they can potentially one-up smaller units trying to seize objectives, or knock out vehicles.  

 

If I'm counting right, that'll leave you with 87 points: now you even have the option of re-upgrading the deligatus to a Praetor (if you so choose), adding a melta gun or grav gun to the contemptor, machine spirit to the vindi, or including other things in your collection.  

 

Of course, if you have that Land Raider, the 172 could easily cover those with some small reductions.  Now, the last little point of note isn't a change so much as a slot shift: that dreadclaw.  If you shift it to the Fast Attack slot, you can choose before the game who gets to use it.  While the Justarian are the natural choice, there are some things such as Voidwalker for a Warlord Trait that could see them potentially deepstrike, leaving the dreadclaw open to transporting the contemptor.  It's not a big thing, but it just opens up some options. 

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

It looks pretty good, if you're happy with it (and yeah, I definitely get what you mean about PotL being a little underwhelming but aye, it's good way to get vets, and that's big). 

 

I do have a few suggestions for that last 172 points if ya like.  If the plasma gun/heavy bolter model is what ya got, you do have the option to shift the Rhino and 4 of the troopers in the larger (admittedly really nice looking) 15 man squad.  With the plasma gun, you have a 5 man vet team, which you can give melta bombs and work them as an 'on the spot' fire team and try to use the Rhino to block some avenues of fire.  So they can potentially one-up smaller units trying to seize objectives, or knock out vehicles.  

 

If I'm counting right, that'll leave you with 87 points: now you even have the option of re-upgrading the deligatus to a Praetor (if you so choose), adding a melta gun or grav gun to the contemptor, machine spirit to the vindi, or including other things in your collection.  

 

Of course, if you have that Land Raider, the 172 could easily cover those with some small reductions.  Now, the last little point of note isn't a change so much as a slot shift: that dreadclaw.  If you shift it to the Fast Attack slot, you can choose before the game who gets to use it.  While the Justarian are the natural choice, there are some things such as Voidwalker for a Warlord Trait that could see them potentially deepstrike, leaving the dreadclaw open to transporting the contemptor.  It's not a big thing, but it just opens up some options. 

 

I like it. Even as it has no Veterans in it. Athough a unit with plasma would definitely help - but then, I have to go with PotL...

I might add some more bodies to the big Tactical unit. I have 40 or 50 SoH Marines built but only 6 Special Weapons (2 melta, 2 plasma and 2 heavy bolter). And then I could throw some gadgets on the machines to fill up the points.

 

Thank you for the suggestion, I might consider moving the Dreadclaw to the FA slot. 

Unfortunately I didn't have the Dreadclaw, nor the Land Raider, so it has to be my next purchase in the new year. Definitely early January if I want to build and paint it for the tournament. I think I like the idea of the Dreadclaw a bit better, because of that whole "Tip of the Spear" theme.

Right now I'm a bit busy irl, but I will try to alter the list a bit in the next days.

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Before the holidays kick in I made some alterations to my list. 
Honestly, I would rather take the Long March RoW, but at this point level I need some punch in the list.
I hope that it will stand his ground... any further suggestions?

 

HQ
Delegatus (Artificer Armour, Bolt Pistol, Refractor Field, Thunder Hammer)

 

Elites
Contemptor Dreadnought Talon /1 (Kheres Pattern Assault Cannon, Chainfist, Extra Armour) 

 

Troops

Jusaterin Terminator Squad /5 (2x Chainfists, 2x Power Fists, 4x Combi-Weapons, Pair of Lightning Claws) 

Veteran Tactical Squad /10 (+CCW, Vexila, 2x Plasma Gun, Sergeant: Artificer Armour, Power Fist, Plasma Pistol - Machine Killers) + Rhino (Extra Armour, Dozer Blade)
Tactical Squad /20 (+CCW, Vexila, Sergeant: Artificer Armour, Power Fist, Meltabomb) 

 

Fast Attack
Anvillus Pattern Dreadclaw Drop Pod

 

Heavy Support
Vindicator Siege Tank Squadron /1 (extra armour, dozer blade, Laser Destroyer array, Machine Spirit)

 

RoW: Pride of the Legion (1498 points)

 

And after that I have some ideas for 2000 points to... But it will be another story to tell 

[Unknown Legionnaire]

Looking good there (except for the potential 2 VP / PotL issue, but let's skip that), the only thing I'd change would be dropping two Tac Legionnaires and getting Melta Bombs for your Vet Tacs (so they get a bit more mileage out of them being Machine Killers).

[TheDreadfulSagittary]

Looking good there (except for the potential 2 VP / PotL issue, but let's skip that), the only thing I'd change would be dropping two Tac Legionnaires and getting Melta Bombs for your Vet Tacs (so they get a bit more mileage out of them being Machine Killers).

 

Thank you!

I know that it isn't ideal, but it is a bit difficult to fit in everything in a 1500 points list  And I didn't have that many thing to play with... but I hope that I still stand a chance, and will have a good time playing with this list. One thing for sure is, that my motivation back to build and paint my minis (and to buy some more... )!