What is considered the best Melee weapon for Cataphractii Terminators?

[Orange Knight]

I'm thinking of getting two boxes of the new Cataphractii Terminators for a large unit of 12 to transport in my Spartan.

 

I want to equip all of them all with Volkite chargers.


Should I go for the power fist on all the models, or the Thunder Hammer? I have almost no experience with Horus Heresy 3.0 or it's meta, hence my puzzlement.

[Gorgoff]

7 hours ago, Orange Knight said:

I'm thinking of getting two boxes of the new Cataphractii Terminators for a large unit of 12 to transport in my Spartan.

 

I want to equip all of them all with Volkite chargers.


Should I go for the power fist on all the models, or the Thunder Hammer? I have almost no experience with Horus Heresy 3.0 or it's meta, hence my puzzlement.

Luckily there isn't a meta in HH. Just what your friends play is your "meta".

So take whatevery you fancy, both is good, both has it's uses, there isn't a best weapon.

Only best use cases for each of them. 

 

 

So you have to decide what their job will be and equip them accordingly. 

The choice of legion also get thrown in the mix. 

Edited November 12, 2025 by Gorgoff

[W.A.Rorie]

2 hours ago, Gorgoff said:

Luckily there isn't a meta in HH. Just ehat your friends play is "meta".

So take whatevery you fancy, bith is good, bith has it's uses, there isn't a best weapon.

Only best use cases for each of them. 

 

 

So you have to decide what their job will be and equip them accordingly. 

The choice of legion also get thrown in the mix. 

This

 

or go with Rule of Cool.  I play Raven Guard in HH so Lightning claws is my go to. 

[Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf]

11 hours ago, Orange Knight said:

I'm thinking of getting two boxes of the new Cataphractii Terminators for a large unit of 12 to transport in my Spartan.

 

I want to equip all of them all with Volkite chargers.


Should I go for the power fist on all the models, or the Thunder Hammer? I have almost no experience with Horus Heresy 3.0 or it's meta, hence my puzzlement.

 

Power fist for the unit. All of them. Thunder hammers are cool, but I think it's better left them for characters 

[Razorblade]

12 hours ago, Orange Knight said:

I'm thinking of getting two boxes of the new Cataphractii Terminators for a large unit of 12 to transport in my Spartan.

 

I want to equip all of them all with Volkite chargers.


Should I go for the power fist on all the models, or the Thunder Hammer? I have almost no experience with Horus Heresy 3.0 or it's meta, hence my puzzlement.

To give you an actual answer to your question: Depends on what unit you run them as, and the best option here is probably "not at all". Heavy is incredibly stupidly rough for expensive Melee units and Catas generally speaking bring nothing to make up for that.

With that out of the way, if your going with regular Cataphractii, Mauls are the way to go. You pay the same points as elite units for heavier weapons without the associated WS or Attacks and you are not going to win fights against anything you'd need them for anyway. On the Flipside, tacticals and similar units can't do much against you anyway, so there's little to no downside to taking the Mauls initiative penalty in order to maximize your output. 

If you decide to run them as a Command Squad, Hammers all the way with a Chainfist or two. You do not want to be going last in a mirror match for no reason, and the few units against which S7/8 makes a difference tend to relatively easy prey anyways. Neither weapon will open a heavy tank, so you'll need the chainfist anyway.

On an added Note: Lightning Claws are good on either unit and Combi-Bolters just seem straight up better than Volkite, for the same cost. 

[SlickSamos]

I feel you're actually asking "Are there any terrible choices for loading up a unit of 12 Cataphractii with Volkite in a Spartan?" to which the answer is "Not really as it's so expensive anyway and there are no weapon choices that are going to make or break the unit so that it doesn't work."

 

If you are asking, "How do I make 12 Cataphractii with Volkite in a Spartan competitive and meta in a 3k game?" the answer is "You don't, unless you turn it into a Death Star using up half the points in your army by running them as either a Command Squad or a Legion Special unit with maybe a character to lead them"

 

I'm personally in the 'do whatever looks cool' camp but that's because I'll only get a few games in a year, which will end up being around 6 per edition, and probably only 3 this edition as my army isn't finished yet...

[Shark in Exile]

I play Wolves so go power swords/axes a fist or two and some Thunder Hammers