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

[Doctor Perils]

3 hours ago, Petitioner's City said:

 

Ah, so they've got the rules/conversion guide for the new Salamanders unit, but not the previous one? Nice, another reason not to buy it despite wanting to play them...

[Astartes Consul]

51 minutes ago, Doctor Perils said:

Ah, so they've got the rules/conversion guide for the new Salamanders unit, but not the previous one? Nice, another reason not to buy it despite wanting to play them...

 

The PDF containing that is free on Warhammer Community still...

[lansalt]

4 minutes ago, Astartes Consul said:

 

The PDF containing that is free on Warhammer Community still...

For now, I bet they'll get removed just like the 10th ed. indexes when a codex is released.

[Astartes Consul]

Sprues and Brews review of the book here - https://spruesandbrews.com/2023/10/14/exemplary-battles-of-the-age-of-darkness-volume-i-review/?fbclid=IwAR1VI-joXMX8fNEWtaLo5NdHx8H31k91EUneI-Ybx1zjxsaMoOxglsrMqjM 

 

 

[Marshal Mittens]

Seems like a very cool concept, though a book with 5 special missions in it, rules for 1 primarch and 1 new rite of war for 1 legion seems kinda sparse? Is there more that I am missing?

[Matcap86]

7 minutes ago, Marshal Mittens said:

Seems like a very cool concept, though a book with 5 special missions in it, rules for 1 primarch and 1 new rite of war for 1 legion seems kinda sparse? Is there more that I am missing?

 

Art and lore, but I think that's about it. 

[Marshal Loss]

According to Goonhammer, the corrupted EC only have access to two (corrupted) rites of war, both of which require Fulgrim to access. No rites of war at all otherwise. That really sucks if accurate.

Edited October 14, 2023 by Marshal Loss

[Noserenda]

Having read both Faux and Goon -hammer reviews i found the Goonhammer one a lot more credulous and balanced, it does feel like a shame to use most of a supplement for reprinting free content and then not even bother to synch up the relevant free content so that say, Salamander and Emperors children players have their stuff in one place, or even better, just not reprint the free stuff and give us all the corrupted legion rules up front seeing as we have the other 3 heresy era daemon primarchs already plus final form Horus. Then you could include generic corrupt Row and traits so the other traitors can field corrupted armies if they want.

https://www.goonhammer.com/goonhammer-reviews-exemplary-battles-of-the-age-of-darkness-volume-one/

Edited October 14, 2023 by Noserenda

[Marshal Loss]

Full EC rules are reproduced (word for word) in this video:

 

 

 

Bit late for me to engage now but look forward to takes from some of the more tactically astute fraters (paging Skimask). At first glance, these aren't what I'd hoped they would be, and if the no ROW without Fulgrim thing is true that's just stupid (a 3rd Company Elite 2.0 allowing you to use the new augments en masse would have been brilliant), but will take a look with fresh eyes in the morning.

 

Edited October 14, 2023 by Marshal Loss

[Noserenda]

Yeah i did think it was odd that the 3rd company elite RoW wasnt allowed given thats a mini version of the corrupted rules.

[SkimaskMohawk]

The one really good thing is that Mandragola's article is much, much more helpful than the Siege of Cthonia one. I'm happy that I came away with all my questions answered.

 

But, those answers were disappointing. 

 

The exemplary battle units in 1st were almost all really really good; a lot of people claimed that they were OP, but regardless, they were straight upgrades in a lot of ways. 2nd toned a lot of them down, but often went too far and required a very specific situation where the exemplary battle unit excelled in a role. There were a few standouts, a few side grades, and a lot of duds. When i saw they were including some of the dudliest of them all in the Atrementar and Red Hands I thought this had to mean revamp in a paid book; really make those Legions' players want to spend the money for new rules. Or not? I'd have to see the points for the Atrementar, but i do still see the tension between taking sevatar to unlock their FOC swap and sevatar giving tartaros deepstrike to start with, so...ya. The one upside is that it seems like salamanders have scored big with another great exemplary battle unit, though this one might be a tad pigeonholed.

 

I hate to say that I called it when they previewed fulgrims stats, but ya, he sucks. His melee output is Curze-lite, while being super expensive, and getting infinitely challenge locked is terrible. Morale bombing is a very valid strategy, but the hardest units tend to be inexorable, stubborn, or fearless. Hilariously, he's just as bulky as current fulgrim, so jamming him into a Spartan with some terminators is probably going to stay your best bet. They really do hate making these really expensive, high point cost centerpiece models do anything in 2nd, don't they? Slight caveat, but I'm not sure if you can put ICs into outflank by putting them with an otherwise qualified unit; the same issue came up with Jaghati on the edition launch. 

 

I'm sure there's a lot to say about the stupified mechanic, how it can catch your opponent off guard, still allow you to score, and all of its cases where it can come in handy. Same with the new implants. But to me, the real question is whether that new stuff is simply better than +1 I step, mass surgical augments from 3rd company elite, and base fulgrim? I don't think so, and that'd be a shame to handicap yourself so hard to play with new rites and units.

Edited October 14, 2023 by SkimaskMohawk

[01RTB01]

I'm coming at this from a point of view that whether stuff is good/ powerful I'm largely indifferent. On this basis I have to say I'm disappointed by the EC content.

 

If you're wanting to play Fulgrim transfigured you can only use one of two rite of war - the Children of Maraviglia seems an interesting concept and reminiscent of Saturnine. However, your most expensive model - points and financially, not doing anything for a third of a game seems odd. 

 

The first RoW seems more useable but nothing that really excites.

 

It really feels like a swing and a miss when Fabius' forces have been totally ignored. Huge potential yet to be realised.

 

I guess it's suitably Third Legion with the euphoria of Fulgrim's new model combined with the "meh" response to the Legiones rules that have dropped to accompany. Invariably I'll give it a go but my initial reaction is one of potential very much missed.

[Astartes Consul]

Essentially reprinting the free rules is…certainly not what was advertised / implied when the book was announced 
 

But then, reading the reviews, it seems like the missions from the PDFs have been updated. So I guess technically each one has been rewritten.

 

I’ll wait until my copy arrives to make up my mind, but it seems like a SoC style book focusing on Transfigured Emperor’s Children v Salamanders would have just been a better bet all round. 

[Bung]

I have been thinking about this a few hours with the Goonhammer article and i think the Traitor EC Rules fit, from a background point of view.

 

This are the EC when they had fallen, there is no real organisation in that Legion anymore, they are even less organised than the SoH at this Point for me it seens fitting that they cant use normal RoWs anymore.

 

Remember its just a few years before Skalathrax when the EC Break down into warbands.

 

[01RTB01]

40 minutes ago, Bung said:

I have been thinking about this a few hours with the Goonhammer article and i think the Traitor EC Rules fit, from a background point of view.

 

This are the EC when they had fallen, there is no real organisation in that Legion anymore, they are even less organised than the SoH at this Point for me it seens fitting that they cant use normal RoWs anymore.

 

Remember its just a few years before Skalathrax when the EC Break down into warbands.

 

No issues with them not being able to use regular RoWs. However, being tied to Fulgrim Transfigured is very limiting. 

 

Considering things like Path to Heaven and aspects of Angel Exterminatus they could have done more.

 

Another point is that it's 112 pages which is about half the content of Cthonia and the price difference definitely isn't half lol.

 

Despite the grumbling though, I have bought it as an EC player. Just need Fulgrim now...

[Marshal Loss]

Having had the time to ponder I have to say I'm a little gutted, not because I was hoping for something really powerful or broken, but because what we've gotten is just so much worse than what we already have.

• Losing Flawless Execution and Sonic Shriekers removes our biggest bonuses and what separated us from the pack in melee. We're not going to be hitting before anybody with unwieldy weapons, and in mirror matchups it's now just 50/50.
  • This makes absolutely no sense to me. I get that the EC trait was themed around the flawless execution of pre-arranged strategies, so if they're drugged up loonies they're probably not executing strategies as well. But Slaanesh is and always has been about being faster than the other guy...so you'd think it would have taken some other form (e.g. a flat +1I to represent their inherent speed, which is more of a tradeoff when compared to the current trait).
• None of the new augments can be taken en masse (other than Palatines/Phoenix), only on characters, so there's no way to replicate e.g. 3CE - you'd think that the corrupted rules would mean more folk have implants, not fewer?
• As above, new rites linked purely to Fulgrim, and absolutely no others available
• No new WL traits or wargear
• Kakophoni are arguably worse under these rules than the current ones
• Phoenix Warden gone (he wasn't great, but they could have replaced with a more evil/corrupted Consul, or given him tweaks like they did for Phoenix Terminators)

If you're not using Fulgrim, you're giving up pretty much everything that makes us good, and everything you get in return is either extremely situational or just bad.

 

Changes are unlikely given 30k's design process, but maybe there will be overlapping/extra rules for corrupted forces that apply here at some point? Or maybe they'll see sense and FAQ so we can use 3rd Company Elite at the very least. But this is a huge miss in my book. I am utterly befuddled how the designers looked at this and thought 'yep this works', unless there's more to come that we're not seeing yet.

 

I'll send a polite email to the HeresyFAQ@gwplc.com team on the off chance they still read that inbox/care.

  

1 hour ago, Bung said:

I have been thinking about this a few hours with the Goonhammer article and i think the Traitor EC Rules fit, from a background point of view.

 

This are the EC when they had fallen, there is no real organisation in that Legion anymore, they are even less organised than the SoH at this Point for me it seens fitting that they cant use normal RoWs anymore.

 

Remember its just a few years before Skalathrax when the EC Break down into warbands.

 

 

Then why not give them a 'Children of the Apocalypse' or 'Circle of Noisy Lunatics' or 'Drugs & Friends' rite of war that gives some bizarre bonuses, e.g. widespread access to augments like 3CE and maybe some Slaaneshi bonuses or random stat alterations to represent their self-experimentation, but nothing to represent any actual strategy? There's no reason why rites of war have to equal an ironclad strategy and list of tactics. By all means prevent access to something like Drop Pod Assault because they're all too high to press the 'release pod' button, but give them something to compensate.

[Bung]

26 minutes ago, Marshal Loss said:

Having had the time to ponder I have to say I'm a little gutted, not because I was hoping for something really powerful or broken, but because what we've gotten is just so much worse than what we already have.

• Losing Flawless Execution and Sonic Shriekers removes our biggest bonuses and what separated us from the pack in melee. We're not going to be hitting before anybody with unwieldy weapons, and in mirror matchups it's now just 50/50.
  • This makes absolutely no sense to me. I get that the EC trait was themed around the flawless execution of pre-arranged strategies, so if they're drugged up loonies they're probably not executing strategies as well. But Slaanesh is and always has been about being faster than the other guy...so you'd think it would have taken some other form (e.g. a flat +1I to represent their inherent speed, which is more of a tradeoff when compared to the current trait).
• None of the new augments can be taken en masse (other than Palatines/Phoenix), only on characters, so there's no way to replicate e.g. 3CE - you'd think that the corrupted rules would mean more folk have implants, not fewer?
• As above, new rites linked purely to Fulgrim, and absolutely no others available
• No new WL traits or wargear
• Kakophoni are arguably worse under these rules than the current ones
• Phoenix Warden gone (he wasn't great, but they could have replaced with a more evil/corrupted Consul, or given him tweaks like they did for Phoenix Terminators)

If you're not using Fulgrim, you're giving up pretty much everything that makes us good, and everything you get in return is either extremely situational or just bad.

 

Changes are unlikely given 30k's design process, but maybe there will be overlapping/extra rules for corrupted forces that apply here at some point? Or maybe they'll see sense and FAQ so we can use 3rd Company Elite at the very least. But this is a huge miss in my book. I am utterly befuddled how the designers looked at this and thought 'yep this works', unless there's more to come that we're not seeing yet.

 

I'll send a polite email to the HeresyFAQ@gwplc.com team on the off chance they still read that inbox/care.

  

 

Then why not give them a 'Children of the Apocalypse' or 'Circle of Noisy Lunatics' or 'Drugs & Friends' rite of war that gives some bizarre bonuses, e.g. widespread access to augments like 3CE and maybe some Slaaneshi bonuses or random stat alterations to represent their self-experimentation, but nothing to represent any actual strategy? There's no reason why rites of war have to equal an ironclad strategy and list of tactics. By all means prevent access to something like Drop Pod Assault because they're all too high to press the 'release pod' button, but give them something to compensate.

 

I rather wait 2,5 weeks until i have my own Book for the rules to form my own opinion If they are weak or miss something.

Cause the article is pretty much hearsay and the Goonhammer Guys arent perfect with their rules POV.

[Marshal Loss]

11 minutes ago, Bung said:

 

I rather wait 2,5 weeks until i have my own Book for the rules to form my own opinion If they are weak or miss something.

Cause the article is pretty much hearsay and the Goonhammer Guys arent perfect with their rules POV.

 

The video I posted above has the rules reproduced verbatim as they are written in the book.

[lansalt]

18 minutes ago, Bung said:

I am utterly befuddled how the designers looked at this and thought 'yep this works'

FW really wants you to buy the new Fulgrim model, that's all

[Mandragola]

Thanks for the feedback on the review. It’s tricky to pitch these things. I’m actually buying a physical copy of the book now, somewhat against my own advice!

 

My take with Fulgrim is that they’re trying not to break the game by introducing something too powerful, and also the books in which we see fights between daemon and “normal” Primarchs remain fairly even. So his stats are probably about right. The challenge thing is crippling though and The Stage is Set is awful. He probably costs about a hundred points too many, too, though they may have wanted to lock him out of 2k games - which is probably fair enough. 

[Noserenda]

It feels kinda weird to have a giant monster Daemon leading units too, but then they made a game with plentiful cheap lascannons so I suspect it's the only way he would work!

[Corswain]

Thanks for sharing reviews everyone.

 

I think I'll skip this one. Got all the free stuff already and there's not enough there to justify the price point. Maybe pick up Siege of Cthonia instead.

[Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf]

So,now Salamanders have two special units with this supplement (1 with supplement and another with the free PDF), right?

[Doctor Perils]

On 10/14/2023 at 11:05 AM, Astartes Consul said:

 

The PDF containing that is free on Warhammer Community still...

Yeah, hence why I don't particularly need/want the book. If it had the new unit for salamanders and updated rules (+ conversion guide) for both of the legion units I collect I _may_ have been swayed

[SkimaskMohawk]

So quick observations:

 

they changed the unit photography slightly from the 1st edition exemplary battle pdfs. In some it's a downgrade in terms of making out the details of the conversions, others it's in upgrade. The salamanders do have a showcase too, though it's mk3 with a mix of weapons and otherwise nothing interesting (paint scheme is nice though). 

 

They have some new colour plates, which is cool for the dominators since it uses the siege tyrant conversion as a base. Less cool is that both the Ultramarines and World  eaters are mostly black destroyers. The salamander unit plate is very boring, as it's just the new mk3 with decals.

 

They definitely padded the book by a few pages, simply by wasting space with the formatting.

 

They did change at least some of the missions, so it's not quite a complete reprint; that being said, I'd bet it's only zone mortalis that changed due to their overhaul of it. It's worth pointing out the salamanders do not get a mini-campaign like the other units.

 

The Atrementar changes are 5 points off each lightning claw option; everything else is the same as the free pdfs rules wise. 

 

The salamander unit rules is veterans with stubborn instead of chosen warrior, and a chainsword. Base, it costs the same as vets with chainswords, but is oddly 2 points more per model than them. Also, they can only take land Raiders as dedicateds, in what might be a throwback to pyroclasts terrible options in 1st. Option wise you can take a vexilla, augury and nuncio, melta bombs for the unit, the option to trade the bolter for a second pistol (why, when that loses you a shot at long and wastes Relentless?), or both bolt weapons for double flame/volkite pistols and get around the pesky warlord trait restrictions on destroyers. You can also take a a special rotor cannon (less range, less shots, no shell shock, but breaching) per 5, and separately, a chain axe/power weapon/thunderhammer per 5 (except the power weapon is twice what a vet pays for it). This unit basically exists to have Destroyers at home for salamanders players who wanted to take the loyalist warlord traits or covenant of fire; vulkan making the army stubborn just makes veterans a better choice for anything else. 

 

Daemon primarchs (fulgrim) are not fearless; instead they auto-pass pinning, but take wounds in the same way as daemons/corrupted units. They count as daemons for any special rule/effect that affects daemons and have fear 2.

 

For fulgrim specifically, the guy (thing?) Is 600 points and is basically...a primarch. 7s on the str toughness and wounds aren't exactly novel when you have mortarion and Horus at that base; otherwise fulgrim gained wings, +1 it will not die, +1 movement, and +1 attack (but lost the 3+ invul in melee and increased attacks for initiative difference). He swings at base STR with murderous strike 4+ ap2, which is....similar to what fire blade fulgrim was doing, or he can do 3 attacks at STR 10 ap1 brutal 2 unwieldy (if only it was pressing to fight vehicles ever, guess it's fine for huge daemons). He's forced to always charge a unit with a ws6 model regardless of shooting target and must issue a challenge, which is funny, because even with flat hitting on 2s, normal fulgrim is just better in challenges due to the attack boost, master crafted and invul. He's actually just straight worse than loyalist fulgrim in almost every way, with the sole exception of piling out of a Spartan with a crew and leap frigging into units faster (since only thallax or venetarri jump packs actually block being transported). 

 

The corrupted EC rules are very odd; you lose a lot and gain some very context dependant bonuses. Most combat res bonus synergy and the initiative increase are gone for the option to shrug off blind, pinning and concussive, gain 6+ pseudo FNP, gain +1 STR, but be disrupted on the charge. +1 STR is usually not worth losing an attack mathwise, but it can be very helpful for scoring, completing charges, and not getting debuffed by your opponent for an oncoming charge. The rites are basically 5 hqs that provide preferred enemy everything and forced allies that get stubborn close to marines (there's more to this one, but not if you want to have a game). Say goodbye to old augments as well, you get hammer of wrath (with a +1 to the value of pre-existing) with rending 5+, precision shot/strikes 5+, and fleshbane and blind flamer template; precision on Pheonix terminators/palatines is good to dodge any character tanking, otherwise they kinda suck. 

 

Also, for what amounts to a new faction, subfaction, and unit type, there's barely any art (one colour plate, one page of daemon fulgrim) and no fluff other what's on the sides of unit entries. 

 

I'm a little confused why they didn't just have all the exemplary battle units from 1st. It's not like they're going to trick people again into buying rules and fluff that are out for free and 13 pages of disappointing Legion Hereticus stuff.