Horus Heresy New Edition, or Just Horus Hearsay?

[Mogger351]

Could they not have just... printed the units in the roster books releasing the same day?

[Lord Marshal]

6 minutes ago, Mogger351 said:

Could they not have just... printed the units in the roster books releasing the same day?

 

If I had to be less cynical about it, given how slim these Journals appear to be they were probably written and sent to the printers at different times.

[Stitch5000]

29 minutes ago, Mogger351 said:

Could they not have just... printed the units in the roster books releasing the same day?

If we're applying this logic, when does the "all-in-one" bundle end?

[Mogger351]

Just now, Stitch5000 said:

If we're applying this logic, when does the "all-in-one" bundle end?

Not following? I'd argue that core army list releasing the same day as additional content to the core army list is poor form.

 

Let people get the core rules and enjoy the game/their armies as complete for a few months, then release these things to add spice once the initial hype has settled.

 

So I'd say any dlc books before 3 months at the very earliest are bad form and the units could have been in the army books.

 

I'm not against a set of missions and some fluff etc or narrative rules. Truly optional stuff on day 1, even if it still doesn't feel great.

[Gorgoff]

On 6/29/2025 at 3:30 PM, SkimaskMohawk said:

I had great fun playing 4th with its area terrain blocking LOS in the same way. You could get stuff like assault Marines leapfrogging large chunks to charge tanks and the like, or holing a unit up in the rear of a ruin to hide them and get the drop on enemies trying to go around the ruin. Though, that latter part only really worked with how barrage couldn't core an entire building, so we'll see. 

I read today a screenshot where it specifically says that blast only hit one floor each but I can't find it again, dammit. 

By the way "draw a line from model to target" can mean both abstract 4th edition rules and true line of sight.

1 hour ago, SalamandersBro said:

Question for people who playex 1.0 and 2.0. How different were army special rules and the rites of war compared to each other?

Like day and night.

2ed had very bland boring Legion rules and splitted the way better (read: immersive) rules from 1ed into warlord traits, Rite of War and the like. I dearly hope the new rules will be more narrative again. 

[Cryptix]

18 minutes ago, Gorgoff said:

I read today a screenshot where it specifically says that blast only hit one floor each but I can't find it again, dammit. 

By the way "draw a line from model to target" can mean both abstract 4th edition rules and true line of sight.

It's in the terrain rules

Spoiler

J

 

Basically, templates can only hit models on the same floor as the attacker, blasts can only hit models on the same floor as the initial target, and barrage can only hit the top most floor they scatter over.

[roryokane]

52 minutes ago, Cryptix said:

It's in the terrain rules

  Hide contents

J

 

Basically, templates can only hit models on the same floor as the attacker, blasts can only hit models on the same floor as the initial target, and barrage can only hit the top most floor they scatter over.

That feels pretty reasonable, no?

[Stitch5000]

1 hour ago, Mogger351 said:

Not following? I'd argue that core army list releasing the same day as additional content to the core army list is poor form.

 

Let people get the core rules and enjoy the game/their armies as complete for a few months, then release these things to add spice once the initial hype has settled.

 

So I'd say any dlc books before 3 months at the very earliest are bad form and the units could have been in the army books.

 

I'm not against a set of missions and some fluff etc or narrative rules. Truly optional stuff on day 1, even if it still doesn't feel great.

But it is optional stuff?

[Mogger351]

13 minutes ago, Stitch5000 said:

But it is optional stuff?

OK, what do you define as optional at that point?

 

If you wanted access to all the appropriate units to your faction, is it still optional? It's more the fact they're releasing a £45 book for the army roster the same day as the assumingly ~£20 splat book. So what's so optional about those units that they were OK to be shoved out in a different book same day?

[Lord Marshal]

Faction Focus for the Loyalist Legions. Traitors tomorrow.

 

Rites of War are dead, long live Rites of War!

 

Quote

Rites of War is now the overarching title for each Legion’s ruleset, encompassing their Legion Tactica, Gambit, Advanced Reaction, and Detachments. Tactica offer unique mechanics to the entire army, while Gambits and Advanced Reactions reinforce the various fighting styles of the Legion archetypes at an individual and squad level respectively. 

 

 

Quote

Force Organisation manipulation was a staple of old Rites of War. All Legions gain an additional Auxiliary Detachment, while some also have an Apex Detachment. These allow players to add units that are thematically appropriate to their culture more efficiently than by utilising the standard options, without removing anything from your toolbox.

 

Finally, you have unique Prime upgrades. which apply a thick coat of Legion gloss over common units. The Imperial Fists Castellan is a great example, modifying a Centurion to capture their role as a defensive heavy weapons expert and line officer.

 

 

Some of the rules for other units are teased.

 

Quote

Medusan Immortals. Their new unit rules really represent their background as the forlorn hope troops. Shields, Expendable (2), and very high Leadership and Cool makes them unflappable in the meatgrinder.

Quote

Lastly, I wouldn’t be an Imperial Fists player if I didn’t put Sigismund up there. At a mighty Weapon Skill 7 with five Attacks and a custom Gambit to improve his Critical Hits, he’s the legendary duelist he deserves to be! And with how much fun Challenges are now, he’s doubly worth it.

 

Edited June 30 by Lord Marshal

[Vassakov]

I'm guessing that the units in the supplemental books aren't planned to have any models, similar to the stuff in Arcane Journals in TOW. It's an alternative take on units/ideas. 

 

They're "optional" in the sense that you need to convert/kitbash and won't be supported through the main range, or they're designed to give hobbyists ideas to convert or expand armies. But if it's in the main Libers it's part of the core range and will have a model available officially through GW.

Now, there's an obvious point that a lot of these used to be available through Exemplary Battles pdfs, but it is in principle the same.

[Loishy]

2 hours ago, Mogger351 said:

Could they not have just... printed the units in the roster books releasing the same day?

 

I think their logic is this : "Units with a reference (or that will have a reference) in the official store are in the roster book, and all special units that will never have an official reference and that you will have to convert will be in Aracane Journals. Even though the Arcane Journal goes on sale the same day as the roster book.

I'm not saying it's a good strategy, but I understand what they trying to do.

I think it was the same with ToW. Bretonia Arcane Journal was released almost the same month as the roster book, also with new units in it. 

[Astartes Consul]

Not to shill for GW here but ‘Big books at launch/for core rules + smaller books as expansions’ has been GW’s business model for over thirty years now? This isn’t some shocking new development…

 

Both 1.0 and 2.0, for different reasons, forced players to buy larger books to access one or two unit types for their chosen faction. This seems to negate that. Judging on what has been said in the preview article and how the journals operate in WFB, these short expansions will mostly be faction specific - maybe we could call them a Codex. And for ones like Istvaan Campaign, the generic unit profiles don’t look to be anything that will be essential for army building. You can go to your local shop and leaf through a copy / read some reviews online and decide if you want to add a Master or Descent to your army. Then you can buy the rules for much cheaper than if they were in a £40 hardback.

 

We’ve spent years moaning about how often Heresy gets left unsupported, so I’m going to chose to be optimistic about the idea that we will be getting new, more accessible books, released several times a year at least. 

[Redcomet]

38 minutes ago, Vassakov said:

I'm guessing that the units in the supplemental books aren't planned to have any models, similar to the stuff in Arcane Journals in TOW. It's an alternative take on units/ideas. 

 

They're "optional" in the sense that you need to convert/kitbash and won't be supported through the main range, or they're designed to give hobbyists ideas to convert or expand armies. But if it's in the main Libers it's part of the core range and will have a model available officially through GW.

Now, there's an obvious point that a lot of these used to be available through Exemplary Battles pdfs, but it is in principle the same.

Arcane Journals are getting a bit muddled. There is a Bretonnian character released and an entire faction. So don’t hold those up as evidence 

[Urauloth]

4 hours ago, Matcap86 said:

Curious what the prices of these will be. At 50ish pages, hope it isn't too high. 

 

Budget £20 each for them and it'll be a nice surprise if you have change.

[Valkyrion]

Sorry guys, what is the 'Expendable (X)' rule, and have you a link to where I might see it if it's already been revealed?

 

Without knowing what it actually does, I'm totally here for our super soldiers now having a rule that makes certain units more disposable than others given the nature of this war - someone has got to be on the front line, someone has got to die first, genetically engineered super solider or not, right?

[jaxom]

Just now, Valkyrion said:

Sorry guys, what is the 'Expendable (X)' rule, and have you a link to where I might see it if it's already been revealed?

 

Without knowing what it actually does, I'm totally here for our super soldiers now having a rule that makes certain units more disposable than others given the nature of this war - someone has got to be on the front line, someone has got to die first, genetically engineered super solider or not, right?

I think it reduces the Victory Points your opponent would get for killing the unit.

[Nephaston]

5 hours ago, Joe said:

Looking at it, outside of the core I only need four books, realistically.
 

• Liber Astartes
• Liber Hereticus
• AJ Dark Angels
• AJ Sons of Horus
   

Everything else is largely optional / interest derived. Isstvan I'll likely pick up at the bare minimum, then anything after that is up in the air.

 

More like, in your case:

• Liber Astartes
• Liber Hereticus
• Journal: Thramas Crusade (perhaps multipart)
• Journal: Dropsite Massacre  (definitely multipart)
• Journal: Siege of Cthonia
• Journal: Battle of Isstvan III
• Journal: Battle of Beta-Garmon
• Journal: Siege of Terra (definitely multipart)
• Journal: Battle of Trisolian
• Journal: Battle of Perditus
• Journal: Battle of Zepath
• Journal: Battle of Molech

probably a dozen more.

 

The article says the will be coming "thick and fast", does that mean quarterly? or are they gonna burn everyone out with bi-monthly(every second month) or even monthly journals?

[Wibbling]

Having fallen into this trap before thinking they'd be supported indefinitely, I have no doubt there will be a tweak or two to the rules that (in later editions) renders the content unusable.

 

At the assumed price of £20-25 a throw I'm sorry GW. I like your stuff, but I also remember when the Chaos Daemons codex from 5-6th was just copy and paste.

[Gorgoff]

To the discussion regarding the journals I am reminded of the fact that I come from northern germany where Klaus Störtebeker came from.

Don't know why this immediately came to mind when I heard that they will release potentially dozens of 20 Flimflops a piece Journals for the game... No idea. 

 

 

I hope that the rule from the Space Wolves isn't their whole ruleset. I dearly hoped they go more in the narrative and in depth direction and away of from the short "get bonus X on so and so" they did in 2ed.

Edited July 1 by Gorgoff

[Marshal Loss]

I don't mind the arcane journal model because of the lower price point and faster pace of release, but it does feel like a bit of a step down and away from heresy's traditional hardback campaign books. The ones we received in 2.0 were far from the heights of the black books but they were still inevitably packed with a lot of colour plates and lore. Masses of 48 page softbacks won't be able to compare and will end up being more expensive per page in the long run than comparatively sized campaign books if you buy a lot. 

 

We'll see how successful this model ends up being. It seems like they're providing a wider range of more fast to produce journals in the hope that people buy in where they like on a regular basis rather than turning their nose up at a larger campaign book which appears once a year that doesn't have anything for them, and banking that across an edition that results in the average person buying more heresy books. Like anybody I'd be thrilled with an arcane journal for my specific legion but the broader model I have mixed feelings on. 

 

Wish they'd put more in the rules article, I can understand not wanting to do an article on every legion but I'd love to understand the logic behind not showing or discussing any Salamanders rules content in the loyalist article when they are the edition's poster loyalists. 

 

[Ayatollah_of_Rock_n_Rolla]

2 hours ago, Valkyrion said:

Sorry guys, what is the 'Expendable (X)' rule, and have you a link to where I might see it if it's already been revealed?

 

Without knowing what it actually does, I'm totally here for our super soldiers now having a rule that makes certain units more disposable than others given the nature of this war - someone has got to be on the front line, someone has got to die first, genetically engineered super solider or not, right?

 

You deduce X from VP scored for destroying this unit.

[TheTrans]

1 hour ago, Gorgoff said:

To the discussion regarding the journals I am reminded of the facr that I come from northern germany where Klaus Störtebeker came from.

Don't know why this immediately csme to mind when I heard that they will release potentially dozens of 20 Flimflops a piece Journals for the game... No idea. 

 

 

I hope that the rule from the Space Wolves isn't their whole ruleset. I dearly hoped they go more in the narrative and in depth direction and away of from the short "get bonus X on so and so" they did in 2ed.

The legion Trait..if thats it..is bloody woeful... they almost had proper legion traits back with the Shattered Legion rules... it looks like Legions Rule Flavour will now be the same single line boring trait, a warlord trait, a gambit and a reaction.....yurk.  

[Marshal Rohr]

Ooof, that’s straight trash. RIP the thing that made Heresy more fun than 40K decrapments and strategems. 

Edited June 30 by Marshal Rohr

[Urauloth]

4 hours ago, Nephaston said:

Journal: Thramas Crusade (perhaps multipart)

 

Sometimes I'm not sure they remember this conflict, it's barely been mentioned since the penultimate Black Book (RIP). All the Solar Auxilia stuff skipped it entirely desipte them being a huge part of that theatre. I really hope we do get a supplement covering it. I'd actually want to see them go multipart on it if it's Journals, but I'm probably alone there.