Horus Heresy Exemplary Battles of the Age of Darkness - Volume I

[No Foes Remain]

So they could have done all the old 1.0 battles in the updated fashion but left out two? Why, do they want to pad the books out?

[Waaagh?]

Makes the rumour about the next book being another IF SoH at SoT look less likely thankfully. 

[System Sound]

4 hours ago, TheHaplessHeretic said:

So I guess this rules out that the next campaign book will feature Fulgrim and the EC?

There was some rumor that said that the next campaign book is Siege of Terra focused. And Fulgrim was there in all of his daemonic glory.

[Gorgoff]

I am happy about it and don't understand all the salt. 

Hopefully they won't hurt my beloved Dominators not too much but we will see. As long as they didn't had the idea to give them those horrible Graviton qeapons instead of thunderhammers I am happy.

We will see.

[Aztek]

52 minutes ago, Misterduch said:

the way he article is written, only the Salamanders are getting a brand new unit outside of the EC.

Yeah I think you're right actually. Still a rewrite of Atramentar rules! They couldn't possibly make them WS4 again.... Right? RIght?

[lokkorex]

34 minutes ago, Gorgoff said:

I am happy about it and don't understand all the salt. 

Hopefully they won't hurt my beloved Dominators not too much but we will see. As long as they didn't had the idea to give them those horrible Graviton qeapons instead of thunderhammers I am happy.

We will see.

Shh! Don't give them more stupid ideas!

[01RTB01]

5 hours ago, Petitioner's City said:

There is more than just Fulgrim in the book for E's C's; as it says

 

 

I can't explain how excited I am by this! I missed it the first time I read it as I was getting ready for work.

[Marshal Loss]

This is such a trademark Forge World mixed bag release.

 

Rules and rites(!!!) for corrupted EC? Amazing! I've been craving these for many years now. Fulgrim's rules not being relegated to a PDF upon release? Excellent!

 

...but printing all this new EC content alongside a reprint of five exemplary battles instead of putting them in a proper campaign book? Feels like a massive missed opportunity given this is FW's first daemon primarch model. Hopefully the "all-new Purging of the Invocastus Sector" also has the Sunkillers rules printed alongside it because otherwise EC players would have to buy one hardback book for Fulgrim Transfigured and another just to get Sunkillers in print, as they were introduced alongside the EC vs WS Kalium Gate exemplary battle, which would be very dumb (and which I am now expecting). Suddenly I'm back to having to carry around a small library of hardcovers to play my army again.

 

The above might have all been taken into account, and who knows we might be in the next campaign book, but I would have thought they'd link the two.

 

Too excited about corrupted EC rules to be annoyed so no biggie but it's just so thoroughly...so thoroughly Forge World to do things this way. Truly, their product planning and release strategy exists on a higher state of being beyond human comprehension.

 

edit: did anybody else notice that Fulgrim doesn't have a spear on the front cover? He's got three swords. That's a nice option to have in the kit if so.

Edited September 7, 2023 by Marshal Loss

[PalatineKnight92]

On the cover does it also look like Fulgrim is holding a sword instead of the spear? Could be nice to transporting him around or magnetizing both weapon options. 

[Astartes Consul]

4 hours ago, Xenith said:

I guess this explains GW's weird timescale, scheduling and decreased time between editions of games, HH2.0 came out end of June 2022, so less than 15 months ago in real time, which is apparently almost 24 months in the Eye of Terror (Lenton).

 

Nottingham is an odd place, tbf

[arnesh88]

4 hours ago, Xenith said:

I guess this explains GW's weird timescale, scheduling and decreased time between editions of games, HH2.0 came out end of June 2022, so less than 15 months ago in real time, which is apparently almost 24 months in the Eye of Terror (Lenton).

The wording in the sentence is weird. I think it's referencing that the Exemplary Battles are over 2 years old, not the current edition.

 

Also, I think there's a typo, as they've omitted "Imperial Fists" and "Sons of Horus" from the list of legions getting updates :P

Edited September 7, 2023 by arnesh88

[Etruscan]

I'm happy this is being released as a book.

 

What do you think the Salamanders Sanctifier Squads will be comprised of?

[Misterduch]

6 minutes ago, Etruscan said:

I'm happy this is being released as a book.

 

What do you think the Salamanders Sanctifier Squads will be comprised of?

I am hoping for a crack melee unit with hand flamers, but I am affraid it's just going to be destroyers with flamers and none of the things that make destroyers cool lol

 

[Etruscan]

5 minutes ago, Misterduch said:

I am hoping for a crack melee unit with hand flamers, but I am affraid it's just going to be destroyers with flamers and none of the things that make destroyers cool lol

 

Personally I would like to see a unit not based on flame weapons, seeing as the other Exemplary Battles Salamanders unit was combi-flamer based. Would be fun to have a melee based unit I agree, something to represent the Salamanders supposed durability; basically being the Loyalist version of the Deathguard.

[tinpact]

It is sort of strange they would publish the Exemplary Battles in a book when they were already digital (and free), but also I like them enough that I can't object too much to having them in physical format.

 

I am looking forward to see what they do for Emperor's Children; I think a complaint I saw frequently was that there aren't a whole lot of options to represent a really wild late Heresy EC force aside from the surgical alterations.

[SkimaskMohawk]

3 hours ago, Aztek said:

Yeah I think you're right actually. Still a rewrite of Atramentar rules! They couldn't possibly make them WS4 again.... Right? RIght?

 

It would be challenging to make them worse than they already are: a unit that never gets to benefit from all its special rules and is otherwise the same statline as it's generic counterpart, for more points.

[01RTB01]

2 hours ago, PalatineKnight92 said:

On the cover does it also look like Fulgrim is holding a sword instead of the spear? Could be nice to transporting him around or magnetizing both weapon options. 

I did tweet on the warcom post but no reply as I'd asked if there were options in the kit or artistic license.

 

Options would be nice but I'm happy either way. Just need my sales stuff to shift to afford him lol.

 

 

[Lord Marshal]

1 hour ago, Etruscan said:

I'm happy this is being released as a book.

 

What do you think the Salamanders Sanctifier Squads will be comprised of?

 

The name makes me think Nullificators, but in Power Armour.

[01RTB01]

56 minutes ago, tinpact said:

It is sort of strange they would publish the Exemplary Battles in a book when they were already digital (and free), but also I like them enough that I can't object too much to having them in physical format.

 

I am looking forward to see what they do for Emperor's Children; I think a complaint I saw frequently was that there aren't a whole lot of options to represent a really wild late Heresy EC force aside from the surgical alterations.

 

Seeing rules for a variety of sonic weapons or Fabius Bile's Terata among other things would be amazing. Rules for Marius Vairosean/ Julius Kaesoran/ Fabius or some form of Kakophoni-esque centurion would be nice. Eidolon with amped up sonic scream... So many possibilities.

 

Even little things like having mixed bolter/ bolt pistol and chainsword squads would be nice.

I remember talking to Andy Hoare years ago at an event [back before the 3rd black book had even arrived] and there was tons of ideas. I'm genuinely excited to see what's coming. 

 

[Corswain]

I probably can't justify spending my limited hobby money on a book that is filled with content I already have for free.

And it suggests that Fulgrims rules will be available in a future release of some kind so I think I will save my money for that.

Don't hate the release though. I'm always about giving people options.

[Marshal Loss]

26 minutes ago, 01RTB01 said:

 

Seeing rules for a variety of sonic weapons or Fabius Bile's Terata among other things would be amazing. Rules for Marius Vairosean/ Julius Kaesoran/ Fabius or some form of Kakophoni-esque centurion would be nice. Eidolon with amped up sonic scream... So many possibilities.

 

Even little things like having mixed bolter/ bolt pistol and chainsword squads would be nice.

I remember talking to Andy Hoare years ago at an event [back before the 3rd black book had even arrived] and there was tons of ideas. I'm genuinely excited to see what's coming. 

 

 

I love all of the above, but there's one thing fellow 3.5 ed veterans will remember (and I'm sure Hoare will too given he was one of the authors): drugs. combat drugs. Drugs drugs drugs. I want my guys to be so drugged up that they start dropping dead mid-game. If I never win a game again it won't matter because my EC will be winning the war on for drugs.

[Trixie]

Corrupted Fulgrim is really cool, there is no denying that., but a compilation of what seems to be pdf content that's just padding out a single HQ profile isn't convincing me to part with my money.

 

Being a veteran of the Black Book era means that the Heresy V2 books are all falling short, really short when compared to what used to be put out for 30k.

 

If other folks are hyped then crack on, buy it up and enjoy.

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by Trixie

[01RTB01]

22 minutes ago, Marshal Loss said:

 

I love all of the above, but there's one thing fellow 3.5 ed veterans will remember (and I'm sure Hoare will too given he was one of the authors): drugs. combat drugs. Drugs drugs drugs. I want my guys to be so drugged up that they start dropping dead mid-game. If I never win a game again it won't matter because my EC will be winning the war on for drugs.

I do remember that yes lol.

 

Add in a walking carpet of humans (Angel exterminatus) so Fulgrim's feet don't touch the ground and we're golden.

 

Hope is the path to disappointment but isn't that to be treasured too?!

[arnesh88]

2 hours ago, Etruscan said:

Personally I would like to see a unit not based on flame weapons, seeing as the other Exemplary Battles Salamanders unit was combi-flamer based. Would be fun to have a melee based unit I agree, something to represent the Salamanders supposed durability; basically being the Loyalist version of the Deathguard.

I'm hoping some sort of unit with Tartaros Armour, just to change things up. My guess is something very thematic/specific to anti-daemons or anti-corrupt units, like their version of Nullificators. Maybe we'll see more of those rules of "do X on a Ld 7 check" with them digging into their hybrid chaplain/librarian shamanism (which would be really cool thematically). I don't expect them to be great because their legion specific units so far have been quite good, and eventually this train has to come to a stop.

[SkimaskMohawk]

I remember a lot of the disappointment of the 2nd edition exemplary battle rules when the pdf finally came in a few weeks after launch. Almost every unit went from being "compellingly/extremely good" to "we can argue that it's a side grade of we really try", and the confusion was they claimed that the units were originally written for 2nd and then back-ported to 1st.

 

Obviously this book was in the cards the entire time, same as siege of Cthonia; it feels like the anemic pdf exemplary battle units were there purely to have the paid ones be an upgrade in comparison.